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NOTE:
This sermon relies heavily upon a visual illustration. It’s based on Paul’s statement that we are a ’letter from Christ’.
Here is a description of the visual I made for this lesson:
Before the sermon, I prepared a manilla envelope, addressed, "To the local community" and put "heaven" in the return address section.
Enclosed in the envelope are several things:
1. a Letter that is supposedly what God might say to the community. Here is the text of my letter:
’To Every Non-Christian in Rose Bud,
First of all, I love you. Since before you were born, I fashioned you in your mother’s womb, and I have desired for you to love me like I love you.
But as of right now, we have a problem. A sin problem. Because I am a good and just God, I cannot tolerate sin in my presence, and no matter how badly I want to, I just can’t let you inherit eternal life unless we do something about the sins in your life that keep you apart from me. There has to be justice.
I’m so serious about dealing with this problem, I sent my own Son to die and suffer everything on your behalf. He paid the full penalty for your sins, and if you cloth yourself with his righteousness, your sins can be forgiven.
I’m providing you with an important book. It’s called the Bible. Everything that built up to Jesus’ time on the earth, is described in the first section. In the second section, you’ll find four different accounts that describe what my Son taught, and what he did on this earth. You’ll also find great teachings that will show you how I want my people to live with and relate to one another. In short, this book will teach you how to be eternally saved.
I realize that this is a pretty large claim to make about ANY book. You’re not going to just take this book and accept it as truth unless there are some credentials to go with it. So, also enclosed, you will find evidence of this book’s credentials. I am giving you the Bible’s letter of recommendation. Please see the enclosed attachment.
Love,
God’
2. Insert Yourself. I created a basic page with a generic large smiley face on it and it says in big letters "Insert Yourself here".
3. Phone Calls. I copied a phone bill and pasted large letters on top of it "Your Phone Calls".
4. Bank Transactions. Ditto.
5. Time Chart. I made a colorful pie chart that is titled, "How you spent your time last week". It doesn’t matter how many sections you include, as long as some pieces of the pie are larger than others.
6. Conversations. A page titled ’Your Conversations’ that includes a sections that appear to have detailed conversations beside them. I included some like, "What you said to your family; To the people at cash registers; to your co-workers; what you taught your children; Jokes you told".
All of the above items are attached to the Letter with a paper clip.
During the sermon, you will utilize these. But start out with having all of them sealed in the envelope.
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(Open your Bible to 2 Corinthians 3)
As we begin, I wonder if you’ve noticed the way a lot of churches of all different denominations use the Bible.
-“Sola Scriptura…we believe in the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing BUT the Bible!”
-“If you want to know what our church believes, just open the Bible and you’ll find it.”
-“God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”
-“We believe the BIBLE”
I’ve begun to notice more frequently that some denominations are starting to incorporate the Bible into their names.
-Now you see churches called things like, “Fellowship BIBLE church” or “First BIBLE church”
In some ways, I think a lot of Christians have started to use the Bible in the same way that a lot of us would use a letter of recommendation.
-“Well if you want to know about what my church believes, we follow the Bible.” --I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a church that WOULDN’T tell you something like that.
And let’s be clear…I’m a big fan of more and better Bible study for ALL Christians. And we should always strive to be a BIBLE-based Church.
But I found something in our reading for this week that really challenged the way I think about how I might want to use God or the Bible as MY CREDENTIALS.
ILLUS: Imagine a scenario. We know that God wants people to become Christians. That he wants to save the lost.
-But what if tomorrow, God decided to send out letters to all the non-Christians in Rose Bud to encourage them to become Christians.
-No miracles or signs…just letters in Manilla envelopes; encouraging them to read their Bibles and follow what their Bibles teach.
-What do you think God would include in that letter? (Pause)
I have one idea…
(OPEN ENVELOPE…..READ THROUGH COVER LETTER)
What could God include as a letter of recommendation?
(Take off paper clip……..BEFORE YOU Show the first ‘Insert Yourself’ Page, say “This has got YOUR picture on it!”) ‘Come on! That can’t be right….can it?’
2 Cor. 3:1-3
Since we’re talking about our lives being like a letter, what if we could take your life and put it on PAPER?
-Yes, there are things like biographies and books….
-When I think about the contents of my life being written on Paper, I think about the judgment day.
-When the book of my life…all that I’ve done…is laid open beside the Word of God to see what I’ve done….and of course, my primary concern is whether or not my Name is WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.
-But honestly, I think a lot of your life can be reduced to a paper format much more easily than you might realize.
I ask again, If God sent a letter tomorrow to the people you know and included your life as his letter of recommendation…what all would he include?
(GET FIRST PAGE….PHONE CALLS)
-Don’t your phone calls say a lot about you?
-We can look right down the list and see who it is you’ve been calling.
-Would there be any calls on there you wouldn’t want anyone to know about?
-We could read down the list, and we might see your boss’s number…your office number had been called…maybe your wife’s number could be listed several times.
-If you got your last phone bill, and looked down the list…..I wonder how many phone calls we would see that were made to the shut-ins of our congregation.
-I wonder how many phone calls we would see that you made to invite someone to church with you.
-I wonder how many calls would be on that list for the people you called to encourage who were going through a hard time.
What else could God include that would describe your life?
(GET BANK TRANSACTION PAGE)
-If you got out your last bank statement…Would it be evident from how you spend your money that you are a follower of Jesus Christ?
-What if you got out your statement and divided it into categories…
-I wonder how much we spend on selfish things we don’t need compared to how much we give to help people who ARE in need.
If God sent your bank statement to a non-Christian and said, “This is how a Christian manages their money”….would there be any difference between what you do with your blessings, and what the average non-Christian does?
Would you be ashamed for anyone to look at what You’ve done with your money?
(GET TIME CHART)
-What if God made a big pie chart of how you spend your waking hours.
-Would a large block represent the time you spent with your spouse and your children and your grandchildren?
-Would there be a big block representing the time you spent in prayer and reading your Bible.
Or would the biggest block be the time you spent watching TV?
-Am I saying it’s wrong to do things you enjoy, or to watch TV? ABSOLUTELY NOT…
-I’m just trying to ask a simple question…does the way you spend your time reflect what you say your priorities ought to be? Could a person looking at your schedule be able to see your dedication to Jesus Christ?
(GET ‘YOUR CONVERSATIONS’ sheet)
-(GO through the list)
Perhaps I have gotten a little too into my illustration this morning, but I hope you’re getting my point.
-Most people in this world like to believe that they’re basically good. Christians are no different.
‘I probably do things I shouldn’t, and I probably don’t do enough of what I SHOULD be doing…..But I’m a GOOD person….I’m DEDICATED to Jesus Christ.”
-I don’t think I’m being unreasonable to suggest that these items I’ve listed out for you are a pretty good representation of WHO YOU ARE.
-Could someone not summarize your life by describing: how you spend your time, who you talk to, HOW you treat people, what you do with your possessions?
-If that doesn’t describe you, then WHAT DOES?
YOU ARE THE CURRENCY WITH WHICH GOD BUYS CREDIBILITY IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD. (repeat)
How will people ever believe that Jesus Christ really CAN make a meaningful difference in their life?
-How can people be convinced of this?
-Rarely, you’ll find a person who will study Christian evidences, and will reason
through the historical credibility of the Bible, and through years of Scholarly
efforts, will become convinced of the need to become a Christian.
-How do most people come to faith in God?
-How do they come to believe that the Bible really is the Word of God?
-They do so because they read God’s letter of recommendation. Not a letter like the one I brought up here…..it’s the one that’s written in your heart and in your life.
-I told you that hypothetically, God could send letters out tomorrow to our community.
But in truth, that’s exactly what he’s doing…HE’S SENDING YOU.
-I can’t read what you’re thinking, but perhaps you’re thinking what I’m thinking. “If my life is a letter, then this ‘letter’ has got a lot of mistakes in it!”
-The good thing is that God can work his most powerful works through our weaknesses.
3:1-6
-You may think you’re Incompetent, but your sufficiency comes from God, who makes you competent.
-APPLICATION: I want to really give you a challenge for this week. I want you and your family to decide on one area you are going to improve on. Talk about it in the car on the way home, or on the way to the Rambler, or to the Crossroads Express.
-It is a Herculean task to alter ALL parts of your life at once, but I KNOW you can improve one.
-Take out your most recent cellphone bill or bank statement or daily planner and take an honest look at what you’ve been doing.
-I challenge you to put it in writing, and all of you sign it that, “IN NEXT MONTH’S STATEMENT, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR DEDICATION TO CHRIST IS MORE EVIDENT THAN IT WAS LAST MONTH.”
-Pray and ask for God’s help, then Do what needs to be done.
-Then one month from now, Compare that statement to this one…I am confident that you can improve an aspect of your life if you’re willing to try.
-Even though you’re imperfect—Paul even calls us Jars of Clay…fragile, leaky pots—even though you’re imperfect, you are God’s chosen method to show the world that he loves them and can give them peace.
YOU ARE THE CURRENCY WITH WHICH GOD BUYS CREDIBILITY IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD.
-No amount of preaching or teaching can make a bit of difference if we don’t live noticeably better lives than the people around us.
Perhaps this morning there is someone here who needs to respond to this message because you know if we summarized how you lived your life for the last month, it would not be something to be proud of…we’re here to encourage you; to help you in any way that we can.
Maybe you are not a Christian, but you HAVE been witnessing the love of Christ in the lives of the people here and you would like to become a Christian.
-Please come.
