Sermon Study # 274 – WHO YOU ARE…
Humor: One Sunday when a faithful Christian had no sermon to attend he took his father’s advice to do something that he had never ever done before. He went bear hunting as his father suggested. Believe it or not, the first time he goes bear hunting ever he sees a bear who grows rather suspicious of him. The bear advances toward the Christian man and the man gets shaken from this and he runs away from the bear (not a good idea!) He tries to climb up a near-by tree but fails and loses his balance completely! The man his numbed in fear but he still tries to pretend like he’s dead. But the bear knows better and he gets up on his hind legs and he makes himself big. The bear is ready to attack the man. Just as the man thinks that he is surely going to die he prays to god in his head and he says: "Please God don’t let me die! Not now! Not today!" He prays to God and says: "please God I wish for you to transform this bear into a Christian!" The man looks up and he is relieved as the bear kneels down to the ground, puts his paws together and says: "Dear God thank-you for this food that I am about to receive!"
1. You are the salt:
Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Ill: Too much salt… salty burgers… salty chicken…
Salt has many qualities: Preserves, heals, gives flavor, one must note though that too little salt will not make a difference and too much salt will do harm. As Christians we must know how to be the right salt – not too little… not too much.
2. You are the light:
Mat 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Mat 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Mat 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Ill: In D.R. – the light goes out at least 4 times a week… what’s interesting is that the people are so custom to the darkness that they don’t need much light to get things done at night. They’ve been in the dark so long that the light doesn’t make a difference. Are we making a difference to our family or friends, or do we turn off the light so often (like in D.R.) that when the light is on… it doesn’t make a big difference?
3. You are the branches:
John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Ill: At home, I planted two vine plants near an arbor…. in the matter of one week… the vines took hold of the arbor… few weeks later… the vines reached the top of the arbor… once, I went to check on the vine and found bugs (centipedes) at least 100… on every leave… eating away at the vines… after destroying them all… the vine continued to grow – but only b/c I cut away the bad leafs & got rid of the bugs. Bugs represents sin, and bad leaves represent unconfessed sin… if left too long… the vine will stop growing.
4. You the body of Christ:
1 Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Ill: Bible teaches that there are no insignificant parts to the body. Think of a insignificant part of your body… one you don’t think much, or give much attention to… if I take a needle and pierce that part… it would be very significant. Every member of the body is significant.
5. You are chosen, royalty, holy, God’s possession, God’s people:
1 Pet 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (10) Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
a) Chosen –as a child, did it hurt when two captains were picking sides for kickball and you not chosen to play?
b) Royalty – has to do with kinship, you are royalty b/c you are of God’s family, there are 1,000 of kids in the stadium watching the Bucs and Colts play… but one kid is in the sideline next to the coach, hearing every play, why? b/c he is royalty… he’s Coach Dungy’s son.
c) Holy – set apart from your past…
d) God’s possession – I posses something that I owned for over 10 years, it goes with me everywhere I go and holds my valuables. What is it? My wallet. We are God’s possession, we hold His valuables… His Spirit, and His message!
e) God’s people – b/c we are His people, we must be different from the world…
