Biblical Christianity
Pt 2 ¡V The Centrality of Christ
Colossians 3:1-17
Acts 2:43-47 - Acts 4:31-35
Tell me this morning ¡V do these passages describe the church of the 21st Century?
Is it ok that we don¡¦t look like the early church? Is that alright with you?
I confess as I did last week that I grow frustrated with Christianity that is less than what God has called us to be. I have come to the conclusion that it¡¦s not alright with me. Now understand that I can¡¦t control what you do ¡V or how you respond ¡V I¡¦m talking about me now ¡V I was at this alter for me last week ¡V I am not satisfied to remain where I am and I am determined to press on to be all that God has created me to be.
Last week we began be talking about falling in Love with Christ ¡V not being in love with the idea of Christ. If you want a copy of the message last week to catch up just let us know in the office and we will get you one.
This morning I want to talk about another aspect of the early church that was essential to their being who they were.
For these early Christians ¡V Christ was the center of their world.
There was a powerful time in Christianity in this community ¡V a time when Christ and Faith were at the center of the lives of His people. During this time ¡V churches overflowed, camp meeting started in the spring and they met every night until it was too cold to keep meeting outside. That is the founding of this church ¡V a group of people so centered on Christ that they couldn¡¦t stop meeting together so they moved indoors and the room wasn¡¦t big enough, so they built a church and the church wasn¡¦t big enough but soon the fire died and the church had plenty of room.
Understand something clearly with me today ¡V I am not laying this at the feet of this church or us alone. Look at this early church ¡V it happened to them too. The church at Corinth ¡V got worldly, the church at Ephesus love grew cold, the church at Galatia got religion, the church at Pergamum accepted false teachers, the church at Sardis died spiritually, the church at Laodicea was lukewarm and tepid. That¡¦s the problem what starts as a fire becomes the smoldering embers of religion. But why ¡V partly because our love grows cold from lack of relationship building, and partly because we become distracted and divided in our hearts. Three ideas that divide our heart.
ƒß Competition ¡V There are too many things competing for the center of our hearts. A W Tozer talks about the world of today. ¡§Practically everyone has too much, knows too much, see too much, hears too much, goes too many places and comes back from too many places.¡¨ His point is that life has a center and a perimeter ¡V the center of the soul is Christ ¡V but that¡¦s not where we live. We live on the outer edges with life spinning wildly out of control. Have you ever played crack the whip as a child. The person in the center simply needs to turn around but the further out you go you are out of control. Folks that¡¦s what the church looks like today ¡V families, husbands, wives, children ¡V out of control because Christ is not the center. He is competing with your TV, your leisure time, your ¡§family time¡¨, your books, your laziness ¡V on and on and on. Christ is not only not the center of our lives he is not even close.
ƒß Compromise ¡V Paul said to young Timothy ¡§For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,¡¨ Too the church at Laodicea God sends a message in Revelation 3 ¡§¡¥I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ¡¥So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.¡¨ Compromise with sin, compromise with holiness, compromise with commitment and the heart grows cold, the witness non-existent, and like Laodicea we will be described by Christ as wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Compromise with Christ ¡V and He says He will spew us out of His mouth.
ƒß Conceit ¡V Conceit is the heart of self. It is the heart of the nature that we are born with. Conceit teaches us that we are the be all end all of the world. The church and life revolve around me and what I want. Conceit is the ¡§I¡¨ of the church. Churches today are crippled by ¡§I¡¨ thinking. I think, I want, I like, I don¡¦t like, I deserve, I have a right, I , I , I. Church division, Church splits, Church apathy, and Church ineffectiveness can be laid at the feet of ¡§I¡¨ thinking. You see it¡¦s really not important what I think, what I like or what I want ¡V what is important is what God thinks, what God likes, and what God wants. We have too often turned the church into our private playground instead of using it as a gathering place to discern the will of God.
So what do we do Pastor? How do we get to the place we need to be? Look at what Paul has to say to the Church at Corinth ¡V a church that had lost it¡¦s focus, lost it¡¦s witness, and lost it¡¦s center.
1) Re-center our Minds on Christ (v.1-3) ¡V Paul tells them to center their minds again on Christ. This church needed re-centered thinking, they needed re-centered priorities, they needed re-centered lives in Christ. Tozer says on this subject ¡§We have too many gods. We have too many irons in the fire. And we have too much theology that we don¡¦t understand. We have too much religion and too much ¡§churchianity¡¨ and too much institutionalism, and too much too much. The result is that God isn¡¦t there by Himself. He says, If I¡¦m not in your heart by Myself, I won¡¦t work. When Jesus Christ has everything cleansed from the temple and dwells there alone, He will work.¡¨ Most of us need Jesus to step into the temple of our hearts and drive out the money changers. With a scourge He needs to drive out those things that have set themselves up in our hearts and have turned our hearts from a place of prayer into den of robbers.
2) Re-Center our Lives on Christ (v.5-11) ¡V What we do is what we are. Too often we think that what we say defines us ¡V but in truth it is our actions. We talk a good talk in the Church today but we are not walking a good walk. Our lives are not centered on Christ. Paul says that our bodies should be dead to immorality and the things of the flesh. Dead doesn¡¦t mean sick or feeling bad ¡V it means dead. The problem is that we have compromised the message ¡V compromised with the world so we can fit in. Paul said to the Romans ¡§if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.¡¨
3) Re-center our relationships on Christ ¡V (v12-14) ¡V this is the place we fall all too often. Gossip, slander, anger, bitterness, resentment all still exist as primary players in our relationships. Marriages, parental relationships, friendships all are marked with discord, name calling, fault finding, criticism, and shameful behavior. We need to re-center our relationships on Christ. Finding in Him the courage to reconcile, the strength to submit, the peace to surrender, and the grace to forgive. Broken relationships litter the church ¡V this friends is the place to fix broken relationships ¡V God is the healer of the broken but it can only happen when our relationships are centered on Christ.
I want to close with this 17th verse ¡V Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Does that describe your life? We need to be Christ centered.
