S-ubject: Change
C-entral Theme: The church changing the world
O-bjective: The Church can effectively change the world around it by avoiding three negative attitudes that can make it ineffective.
R-ationle: Attitude #1: COMPLACENCY
Attitude #2: COMPROMISE
Attitude #3: COLDNESS
R-esources: Introduction: "Change is inevitable"
Visual Illustration Props:
1. Lazy Boy Chair for COMPLACENCY
2. Ice Chest with Ice Cream in it and a bottle of Chocolate Syrup
3. Legal Document for COMPROMISE
4. A plate with some Brownies on it.
5. Heater and blanket for COLDNESS
Conclusion: "Are You God?"
E-valuation: Has the potential to move people to be world changers and not world watchers
INTRODUCTION:
Change is never easy. It’s neither easy for me or for you. But change is inevitable. Yet change is a choice. Today’s message is not about you and I changing but you and I acting as the agents of change in a world that is in desperate need for change. Actually not a mere change on the surface of things but a complete transformation.
SCRIPTURE TEXT:
Mark 16:15 through Mark 16:18 (NIV)
15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT:
In order for the Church of Jesus Christ to change the world in which it has been placed it is going to have to rid itself of three detrimental attitudes, first of which is................
I. ATTITUDE OF COMPLACENCY
A. CREATURES OF COMFORT
1. One of the greatest tools that the enemy has used against the church to keep it from being an effective agent of change in our society and world is COMFORTABILITY.
Illustration: Lazy Boy & the Christian
We all like comfort and don’t want to give it up. The church world and the secular world, it doesn’t matter because we are all human.
2. We have been lured into believe the lie that we are to be comfortable at all times and at all cost. Think about Jesus the Son of God, He didn’t even have a house to call his own. And we grip and complain about whether it is too hot or cold in church.
Matthew 8:20 (NIV)
20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
3. Instead of us the Church of Jesus Christ affecting, effecting and infecting our American society and changing it we have allowed the American society to affect and change us. We have gotten used to convenience because it’s our culture.
4. Convenience is great but it has been a curse for the church. God hasn’t asked us to love and serve Him at our convenience but due to our American mindset we do just that with God we serve Him at our convenience.
5. The curse of comfort will keep Jackson First Assembly of God from being the agent of change in Jackson, Alabama. God has never told us to be the initiators of change or even to promote change but He has called us to be the perpetrators of change. We are to actually change the world in which we live.
B. Getting Out Of Our Comfort Zone
1. If we are ever going to rise to the level of influence in our city that God has called, and destined this church to we are going to have to get out of our comfort zones.
2. Complacency will keep us from growing numerically, physically, and most of all spiritually. If we don’t grow spiritually we will never grow numerically. It has never been about us four and no more. It is always about those that are on the fringe, on the outside that need a home.
Luke 14:16 through Luke 14:24 (NIV)
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ’Come, for everything is now ready.’
18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ’I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19"Another said, ’I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20"Still another said, ’I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ’Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22"’Sir,’ the servant said, ’what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23"Then the master told his servant, ’Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.
24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’"
3. God will use circumstance to "squeeze" us out of our comfort zones. Many times we mistake "trial and tribulations" as misfortunes when all God is doing is trying to get us to move out of our comfort zones and simply do what He has called us to do!
ILLUSTRATION: "The Pressures of Ice Cream & Chocolate Syrup"
I used the element of pressure to "squeeze" what inside this bottle out so that I can use it for its intended purpose, to fix myself a great Ice Cream Sundae. So it is with our "misfortunes" in life. God uses them to squeeze us to get us to be the church that He has called us to be and to change the world in which He has placed us.
4. Our "misfortunes" are really nothing more than God’s way of keeping us on our toes and, keeping us from the sin of complacency. It’s not that God doesn’t want the best for His children but He wants the best from His children. And complacency is the enemy of excellence.
TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT:
Understanding that complacency is nothing more than a weapon in the hands of the enemy to stop the church of Jesus Christ from changing it’s society will drive us to serve God from a heart of passion and intensity thus ridding the church of a lukewarm attitude. The second attitude that will hinder the church from being the effective agent of changing in society is…………..the …………
II. ATTITUDE OF COMPROMISE
Illustration: "Contract made by man"
Have a contract and show how each side make certain request or demands based on what the other can and will do in return.
A. DEAL MAKERS
1. Compromise is nothing more than making a deal with someone. Giving and taking a little here and a little there. But compromise is an opponent of commitment. You see God could have compromised on the sacrifice of Jesus and "bent" the rules a little so that Jesus would not have suffered so much but then where would we be today if that was His attitude?
Illustration: "Brownies & My Secret Ingredient"
Have a plate of brownies on a table and call for a volunteer from the audience. Make sure this person will not eat the brownie. Make sure it will repulse and disgust them. Then tell them you have used the best ingredients in the world for the brownies and a my special ingredient that make them brownies to "die" for. Tell them that you have laced them with Cyanide a lethal but tasty substance. Let them know that I have only put a small amount in the brownies, so small that you can barely taste them. And then invite them to eat a brownie. Once they refuse offered some to the audience.
Application: Compromise is like the cyanide. Just a little can kill you. No matter how well you dress it up or what kind of deals you make, with yourself and God compromise is the adversary of total commitment to Jesus Christ.
2. We as the body of Christ that have the great responsibility of changing our world can not afford for one minute to give in to compromise. Not only will it affect us detrimentally but it will also be deadly to a lost and already hopeless world that is in desperate need of real commitment.
3. God is not in the deal making business. God’s not some high brow lawyer that we can sit down with and map out our proposal for our commitment to Him. With God it is all or nothing, just as it was with Jesus. The ransom for you and I meant Jesus had to give His all or nothing.
4. There are no inbetweens with God. Yes, it is either black and white with God. Sin is Sin is Sin is Sin. There is black in white in a gray world. Lying is sin no matter if it gets you off the hook from your girlfriend or you husband or boss. If we allow for one second compromise to be a part of our life it will be like a fast moving cancer that will within a short period time destroy us from within.
B. The Weak Don’t Survive
1. In the world in which we live in today there is no room for the spiritually weak to be able to survive. Compromise is a sure sign of spiritual weakness. Compromise show is the indicator where we are in our relationship with Jesus.
2. The Church has lost its influence in society because we have compromised and given into the ways of the world. We have allowed the thoughts, trends, and temperament of a godless society to infiltrate the church and change us instead of us changing the world.
3. We must build our spiritual muscles by constantly exercising our faith. How can we tell the world to be like us if we aren’t being like the one who saved us from our sins? How can we change our world if we aren’t letting Jesus change us?
4. To say only the strong survive is not a false statement. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 10:22 that he that endures till the end will be saved, indicating that we must survive by stay strong. But it’s not about simply survival it is about change. Changing the world in which we live, the hearts of men and women being changed. Families that are broken by anger, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, incest, adultery, hatred and the likes can be changed and restored by the power of the Holy Spirit working through His church. But He can never do that if we are weak and give in to compromise.
TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT:
"Compromise and complacency must be avoided at all cost or it will cost us all. The third and worst attitude and most visible and obvious attitude that will keep the church from being the effective agent of change it the horrific…………
III. ATTITUDE OF COLDNESS
Illustration: "A Heater and a Blanket"
Nobody like to be cold. We use things such as heaters, blankets and the such to keep us warm. Neither does anyone like to be around "cold" people. We were at one time cold toward the gospel of Jesus Christ, but now God has used His Holy Spirit to "warm" us up.
A. It’s a Cold Cruel World
1. This is the one attitude that has the potential to do more damage to the influence and impact that the church has on the world than any other attitude. Why? Because it says, "I don’t care about changing the world." It is the most selfish and detrimental attitude.
2. Yes, the world outside of the church is cold and cruel but that’s mean that we as the church must become cold and cruel. Unfortunately the church in America has become known as a heartless and cruel institution. We as a body of believer at Jackson First Assembly of God must seek to have the compassion of Jesus Christ be the motivating factor in all our relationships, whether they be at school, church, work, or elsewhere in the community.
3. People will respond to genuine love. Not a fake, "I’m only doing my duty" kind of love. People know if we are genuine or real in our treatment of others. One of the sixties slogans was "make love not war". The only thing was, was most people didn’t know what real love was. It is up to the church of Jesus Christ to show them who real love is.
4. In order to be the true agent of change in our society and not merely seen as an ancient relic that has no relevancy in today’s world we are going to have to warm up. People both young and old alike in all parts of the world sees the church as a cold, lifeless, irrelevant institution. We must allow God to use us to change the perspective of the world toward His church.
B. THE WORLD IS NOT OUR ENEMY
1. Yes, we are not to love the world but let’s not confuse the world (the people) with the system (the way of thinking and behaving) with each other.
2. People are not our enemy. People are not our problem. Once we truly understand this spiritual truth as a whole body it is no telling what God can and will do through us. Hurting people hurt people. We must look beyond their masks and see their hurts and needs.
2 Corinthians 10:7 (NIV)
7You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
3. So many times we as the church waste valuable time on frivolous, trivial, and petty things. Most of the times we fight each other instead of focusing on the one who began it all in the first place; Satan.
Ephesians 6:10 through Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
4. We have not been called to fight with the world but to change it! How do we change it? By allowing the Holy Spirit of God to use us to love it and reconciled it to God. We are called to be the agents of change in a world gone mad. What are you going to do with that call?
Conclusion: ARE YOU GOD?
Shortly after World War II came to a close, Europe began picking up the pieces. Much of the Old Country had been ravaged by war and was in ruins. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of little orphaned children starving in the street of those war-torn cities.
Early one chilly morning an American Soldier was makin his way back to the barracks in London. As he turned the corner in his jeep, he spotted a little boy with his nose pressed to the window of a pastry shop. Inside, the cook was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence, with his nose pressed against the window, drooling and watching the cook’s every move. The soldier pulled his jeep to the curb, stopped, and got out.
"Son, would like some of those?’
The boy was startled, "Oh yeah....I would."
The American stepped inside and bought a dozen, put them in a bag and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning. He smiled, held out the bag and said simply, "Here you are."
As he turned to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat. He looked back and heard the little boy ask quietly, "Mister.....are you God?"
Application: The soldier was moved with compassion because he saw the condition that the little boy was in and knew it was of no fault of his own. He took a step and met the little boy’s need. No finger pointing, no blaming, no nothing other than pure, unadulterated love. The little boy saw the man as a loving and kind being and mistook him for God. Remember the only Jesus people will ever see is the Jesus in you and me.
