To Be Or Not To Be

Acts 15:11 "But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved"

"To be or not to be is not the real question. For most of us I do believe that we all want to be but maybe we have questions of our own as far as what it really takes to actually Be.

I am talking about being a Christian and what we must be as a Christian. The black and White fact is either are, or you are not. And it is a choice. To be, or not to be.

We must BE Christians to have eternal life, and forgiveness as it says in the WORD.

How are we to live as Christians? How are we to BE?

Most of us know the BE-Attitudes. We are to be pure in heart, be merciful, and be peacemakers. How else does the Word of God put it? We are to BE many things.

Be Strong, Be Loving, Be Kind, Be Forgiving, Be Patient, Be Joyful, Be Helpful,

Be Giving, etc.

But what is the greatest BE to the Christian. What is it we are to BE to even become a Christian. First and foremost,

I. We are to BE-LIEVE.

A.You can’t BE a Christian if you do not BELIEVE. So it all starts with BELIEVING.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1.This is an area in which a vast majority has issues with. We are too gullible to the world’s lies and seem to be faithless to God’s Word.

2.We too easily believe things that are just plain and simple, “our there”.

3.From believing in haunting Ghosts to believing in magicians, we are very gullible. But for some reason, it is harder for people to believe in Christ.

4.What is really sad is that not believing in Jesus isn’t just with people that believe wacky things. The Lack of belief is within many normal thinking people as well.

5.We say things like, “I need hard core concrete proof right in front of me.” “If I can’t touch something or see it in person, it’s not real.”

6.I can understand this way of thinking, I really can but here is where I debate this thought. We want hard evidence. We want to have our faith validated!

Illustration: Has anyone in here actually seen the Titanic up close where it now lies at the bottom of the ocean?

We have all seen photos; we all have read or have even heard stories of the Titanic. So I am sure we all agree that the Titanic is real. In a sense, don’t we all have some sort of faith, that the Titanic is real? I mean we all believe right?

So, why is it so easy for people to believe in a sunken ship but so very hard for many to believe in a risen Savior? We have drawings, stories of actual accounts, and yes the biggest validating part, the Bible.

7. A man’s life is governed by his thoughts; he will ultimately become that which dwells most on his mind. “You are what you eat.” Engulf yourselves with his presence, put Him in your mind, Become more Christ like and have Faith.

8. Our faith is validated each time we go through hard times, we should view them as a blessing because it is where we can grow stronger with our belief in Christ.

9. If we keep our faith throughout the hard times, we then can look back and realize that God saw us through it all, just as He promised. Our faith becomes validated.

10. What scientist can argue with that? They do all their research and studies upon the validation of their results. Christians do likewise.

James1: 6-8 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

TO BE - is to be BELIEVE in Christ. The Question is..DO YOU BELIEVE or NOT?

Once we believe,

II. We are to BE -HAVE.

A. We are to behave as followers of Christ. Hence the name, “Christian”, which literally means Christ like.

1. Accepting Jesus into your life is just the beginning of the battle. Living the Christian ideals is another.

2. Non-Christians look at Christians for the slightest flaws. In churches it is not uncommon to hear he or she is a Christian and yet they are such awful people. Professing you're a Christian is good, but it is even better if you adhere to Christ’s teachings