Something Good to Talk About Part 1
“After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, (and also some women)” Luke 8:1-2a
Intro: We’re starting a new series titled “Something Good to Talk About.”
It is a real honor for me to talk to you about Jesus Christ.
Having a relationship with Jesus is a real life changing connection.
Serving Jesus Christ journey filled with exciting and joyful benefits to serving God.
Christian faith is the most important thing you will ever have and know.
Being involved in church matters.
Actively participating in the life of the church matters.
I am talking about going above and beyond just attending worship service or attending a meeting.
I am talking about when your faith is a real active part of your everyday life.
This is what allows us to see the world through not only God’s eyes
but through the eyes of love, compassion and hope and understanding.
Here in Luke chapter 8 Jesus is on the road.
Jesus is traveling from place to place talking about the Holy message of God.
Along with him are his twelve disciples and some women
Jesus specifically mentions the work the women were doing in service and fellowship.
By allowing women to travel with him
he was asserting to the Jewish culture that everyone was equal under God.
These followers supported Jesus’ ministry with their service, their money and their time.
They followed Jesus because they had a great debt they owed to him.
Jesus had delivered them from the bondage of sin.
Jesus had healed them from sickness.
Jesus had set them free from the slavery and chains of world.
They were following Jesus because they had “Something Good to Talk About.”
They had “Good News”
Let’s say the words, turn to the person sitting beside you and say “Good News” again “Good News.”
“Good News” is powerful a thing.
We talk about so much bad news.
We are bombarded with news about terrorism, shootings, death
We hear a hundred times more bad news that we do good news.
So we begin to think that there is nothing else to talk about but the bad stuff.
When the truth is there is so much good going on all around us.
I am going to follow Jesus.
I am going to share the Good News.
I am going talk about the benefits of serving God.
Today my job is to be a cheerleader.
To get you fired up about what Christ can do in your life.
To quicken you by the Holy Spirit,
To get you to dream bigger, live better, love louder, serve long.
John Wesley had three simple rules to live by.
1. Do no harm
2. Do all the good you can do
3. Stay in love with God
Do no harm, Do good, stay in love with God. Sounds pretty simple right?
These should be easy to live by
but unless you have tried to live by these 3 rules don’t judge the person who has tried and had fallen short.
Do no harm, is anybody ever truly successful in doing no harm?
If you have done no harm to anybody this week.
Then you should be the first one on the altar today thanking God because most of us can not say that.
Second Rule, Do good.
We believe because we aren’t bad people so that must mean that we are good people right?
The disciples came to Jesus and called him, Good Teacher,
and Jesus immediately asked them why do you call me Good, no one except for the Father is Good.
Jesus himself said that only God is worthy of being called good.
This means that all of us have truly missed the mark.
Third Rule, Stay in Love with God.
Do we really need to be reminded of this?
Don’t we read the Word of God like we should,
Don’t we pray like we should,
Don’t we live our lives in the most holiest way like we should.
John Wesley was a mighty man of God.
He felt in his own heart and life like he needed these rules to remind him every day to be faithful.
Because he understood what it was like to fall short.
Maybe we need to follow in the footsteps of John Wesley and know our own human weakness.
You see life is often such a struggle.
We take vacations to get away from our regular life.
Not that our life is all bad.
But that there is so much negative and hurtful and depressing stuff that happens at work and home
and in our lives we have to take a vacation to get away from it all.
The thing about living in Eastern Kentucky is there is not much to do or talk about except one another.
So we are all like sheep for the slaughter.
People are going to find something negative to talk about.
But thanks be to God who gives us Good News.
My challenge to you today is to find “Something Good to Talk About.”
Talk about Jesus.
Talk about salvation.
Talk about forgiveness.
Talk about love.
Talk about the benefits your faith and the being part of the great church you have right now.
There good things that you already have
Good things that you are part of as a Christian.
Good things that come from being active in church.
The truth is when you are serving Jesus Christ you’re going to have good things, great things to talk about.
Here is what I have learned:
When something really bad happens in my life.
The first thing I think about is Jesus.
My faith.
My relationship with God is the first thing that I turn to when I receive bad news.
This what real faith is.
When the worst things are happening in your world.
The best thing you can think of is Jesus.
Romans 8:28. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”
God does not cause everything to happen.
God doesn’t cause the bad things that hurt people.
He doesn’t make you sick
He doesn’t break your heart
He doesn’t attack you.
But God is at work when bad things are happening to us.
God is working to heal you
God is working to fix your brokenness
God is working to restore your life back to normal.
God is working in everything.
When evil comes upon us.
It is not because God is out for lunch.
No God is working overtime.
If he wasn’t we wouldn’t stand a chance.
The only thing that keeps you and me from utter destruction
and complete annihilation
is that fact that God is at work to protect you and shield you and your family from harm.
Jesus is working to redirect the fiery darts that satan is throwing at you and yours.
What gives you and me a chance to overcome the struggles in life is because we believe.
We have a support system in the church.
We have brothers and sisters in Christ and family of God who see the best in us.
God changes our perspective.
The Holy Spirit give us a new heart
A new mind set.
God doesn’t quit when we are in pain.
God knows what our pain is like
Because when Jesus was on the cross. (Hello)
When Jesus was on the cross he suffered and bled and died to feel our pain.
The temptation is when someone brings something to you
You immediately start thing the worst.
You start thinking it must be true.
And that is when sin enters in.
That is what we have to ask God to forgive us of.
I have my faults. I have many of them.
Sometimes when someone brings something to me I start thinking the worst
And that is my sin
And I have ask God to forgive me.
I have my faults. Many of them.
Sometimes not seeing the good.
Not looking for the Christ
Not hearing and not speaking the good is one of them.
When the worst things are happening in your world.
The best thing you can think of is Jesus.
So what are you believing in?
What are you trusting in?
What changes us is this knowing that we are children of God.
Claiming the identity that our Baptism represents. (Baptism marks you as child or God)
Baptism invites you to connect with church and to become a member of a local church.
Show me a teenage who doesn’t know that he or she is child of God
and I will show you a teenager who is confused
and has lost their purpose and doesn’t understand the meaning of life.
Tim had graduated from college.
He had just gotten married.
He was working a good job.
He was planning to start his new family.
He thought he had his destiny planned out.
Tim’s story is our story. Tim could be anyone one of us. Tim’s story goes like this.
First everything is pretty good for Tim.
He is successful.
His life is relatively stable.
His kids grow up healthy
Things go along pretty normal.
But unless Tim discovers that he is a child of God he will never become the person he was born to be.
Do you know what the number one crime in America is today?
It’s identity theft.
Do you know what the number one crime in the church is today?
Spiritual identity theft.
As long as you don’t know who you are in Christ somebody else is writing the script,
Somebody else is writing the story of your life.
Let me ask you a question, “Who is writing the story of your life?”
Does your boss at work tell you what to do, when to do it, how to do it.
And so you do what you are told
Even if what you are told goes against everything you know that is right.
Maybe it is your spouse or your friends.
Do the people you live with or hang out with
Influence the decisions you make?
Are you going along with the crowd because that is what everyone else is doing?
What if God determines who you are?
What changes do you need to make in your life to let God be in complete control of your future?
Some people will say, “I have a family to provide for.”
My answer is exactly.
Of course you have your family to think about.
Don’t think about anything else but your family.
What lessons are you teaching them?
What values are you modeling?
Dad’s if you are doing anything less than what God is telling you to do
you are doing your family a disservice.
You are not giving your best to children unless you are giving the Jesus
Are you giving your kids “Something Good to Talk About?”
If you’re not putting Christ first in your marriage your not giving your spouse real love.
1 John 4:8 “God is Love.”
You don’t really know what Love is unless you know God.
Without God, all you have is just a shadow.
It is just a shallow, superficial, one-dimensional emotional feeling.
Your life is being written by some other person.
Your marriage is based on what you experience from your parents marriage.
Your relationships are based on t.v. shows, advertisements, and bad news.
Know wonder over 50 percent of all marriage fail.
Know wonder suicide is on the rise.
Know wonder the over 50 million prescriptions for xanxax will be written this year.
Who is writing the prescription for your life?
Do you think your life could be better when you let Jesus write if for you?
Do you know someone who needed to hear this sermon today?
Next week we are going to continue the series “Something Good to Talk About.”
I pray that you will have “Something Good to Talk About” this week.
I hope you will come to altar and ask Christ help to come into your life.
I hope you will bring someone to church next week.
I encourage you to bring the first person who speaks something negative to you this week.
I want you to look them straight in the eyes and say, you need “Something Good To Talk About.”
Come to church with me and let’s discover how faith can make a difference.
