Sermon - From self to Christ
- On Friday Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New year began. It runs from Friday at sunset
to Sunday at sunset.
This is the celebration of the Jewish New year, & it is the beginning of the Ten day’s
leading up to Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.
- This is ten days in which you look back on your life with repentance.
- Life is full of disasters, struggles, & heartaches.
- Look at the New Year. The Jewish people first looked back at where they were, & had
been. Now a new day has begun, a day of atonement. The past is gone. It is but a
memory. This new day has taken center stage, & the slate is clean.
- Today’s message, we look back at what has become, & now we press on for what is
now, it’s a new day.
- Something I never gave any thought to, but it is something that is of great
importance.
- When someone would ask me what denomination I attended, I would proudly state
I’m a southern baptist. I have always looked at the outreach of this denomination for
our outreach, sending missionaries, & planting churches. We are sharing the good
news.
- Then I noticed the response of one person, “oh, I’d never be a southern baptist”
Q- I wondered, Why, wouldn’t you want to be part of this great outreach?
- Well, it’s in the name, Southern.
- Immediately all eyes are taken off the Christ we represent, & placed upon a
past that doesn’t represent us, or Christ.
- In 2012 the SBC grappled with this name, & agreed that any church that wanted to
go by “great commission baptist” could & even are encouraged to do so.
- This same issue came up a few days ago.
- It looks to be slated in June of 2021, the SBC May vote on a name change to great
commission Baptist’s.
Q- What’s the purpose of doing that?
- This leads me up to our opening scripture.
Ephesians 4:22-24
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Q- Does the name change who we are?
- No it doesn’t.
- The name simply represents what has already taken place within this church.
* I am a child of God. I will take this Good News to every person that is willing to
receive it. It doesn’t matter who, or what you are. What matters is, you are God’s
creation, & He sent His only begotten Son to die, & be resurrected for you.
- Think of this impact & let’s pray.
Prayer
Q- Will the change of our name change anything?
- I would love to think that it would.
- Then I go to our common way of thinking, & the response goes to the same way
the people of Galilee responded to Jesus.
Matthew 13:55-56
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
- The change is evident, but people’s perceptions are limited. They can’t see passed
your old name.
Q- So, Why should we even consider changing our name?
- Once again, consider the impact.
Luke 15:7
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
- If the name change convinced just one person to follow Christ, it’s worth it.
- I’ve told you before, but over the years I have received quite a few nicknames. Two
of which came out of the blue. They were bird egg, & Gatorade. They were names
I never understood why I was called them. Here’s the thing though, the people
who called me by those names didn’t know my real name. To them, that was me,
& I never corrected or acted like it was wrong.
- The People that called me by those names have already gone on to Glory, & I look
forward to the day I will see them, & hear them call me bird egg, & Gatorade.
Q- When thinking about someone, what are people going to remember, the name, or
the person?
- People remember the person.
Q- How many times do you look at someone & think, I know them, but I can’t remember their name?
- What If People, instead of trying to remember our name, simply remember the
person we are trying to represent, Christ?
- What should People see Then?
- If People see Christ, & not us. They will see people who are,
1. Obedient to God. Jesus humbled Himself, & in obedience, died on the cross. Phil 2:8
- We present Christ, not our name, our person, or our pride.
2. Loving. John 3:16.
- When it comes to giving for another the impact comes when the receiver realizes
how much you actually love them.
- You could buy someone a bottle of water, & it wouldn’t mean anything in the world
to them. Until they realized you used your last dollar to buy it, because you
thought they needed it.
- People need the real Jesus, not the counterfeit one.
- I know this is somewhat of a short sermon, but I want to start to close on this idea.
- We are not hypocrites, we’re not perfect, but we are growing, day by day, & more &
more like Christ.
- Here’s my last scripture 2 Corinthians 3:18
2 Corinthians 3:18
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
- Now, Think again about that name change. It’s not just the name that we are trying to
change.
- Paul said to the Corinthians that Christ is changing them from glory(or Christ’s
work) to Glory(Christ’s work).
- The notion of changing the name came from the heart of Christ. I will put away my
greatest & deepest cherished of things to save more.
Q- Do you remember all Jesus layer down for us?
- Let’s make this a week that people see the child of God, Before they see the
name, or title Christian.
Prayer
