Up And At 'em Series

Scripture: Jude 1-4

Theme: The best way to defend the faith, is to know what you believe and live like you

believe it.

Seed: Personal Study

Series Wake Up!

Purpose: Challenge the congregation to make certain the KNOW WHAT THEY BELIEVE and then live it out!

THE POINT: The best way to defend the faith, is to know what you believe and to live like you believe it!

ME

Open your bibles to the book of JUDE…if you don’t have a bible with you, the ushers will gladly hand you one.

[Ushers hand out bibles to any who need them]

While they’re handing out Bibles, let me begin by giving you some background and a little bit of set-up as we start our study through the book of Jude.

• Jude…was the brother of Jesus…actual flesh and blood brother…son of Mary and Joseph, brother of James (who wrote the book of “James”)

• Scholars agree that Jude did not come to believe that his big brother was the Messiah…the SON OF GOD…until AFTER the resurrection

• The letter written by Jude is called a “General Epistle” or a general letter. It’s not written to a specific congregation but to believers in general…more on that later.

• Jude is considered to be somewhat controversial because, in order to make his point, he quotes texts that are not considered to be scripture but that were widely know and understood by the people who would have received his letter…(he was culturally relevant…)

• It’s a VERY SHORT book…only has 25 verses

But those 25 verses are PACKED with great truth that is incredibly relevant for us today…so, let’s get started…

WE

And as we start, let me ask a couple of questions…questions about sleeping?

Who in here feels like you need more sleep?

Who has ever fallen asleep while trying to watch a move?

Every Sunday afternoon I try to turn on the Cards and watch the game until I fall asleep and then I, bleary eyed, attempt to keep tabs on the score…

Who in here has ever fallen asleep in church?...remember that I can see you from up here…

have you ever fallen asleep at the wheel? Seriously, have you ever fallen asleep while driving? I have…it scared me silly. No one got hurt but it put the fear of God in me and I didn’t have any trouble staying awake the rest of the trip…fear proved to be a pretty good motivator.

Have you ever driven to work and not remembered the drive? You weren’t physically asleep but you were completely checked out mentally. You got in the car and started driving and the next memory was walking across the parking lot at work…you honestly have no appreciable memory of the trip because you weren’t alert, you were on autopilot and slept your way to work.

Falling asleep while watching TV or at church…probably won’t get anyone killed

Falling asleep behind the wheel of a car can have DISASTROUS consequences.

There are certain times when been asleep, being complacent, being unprepared can make a lot more mess than we can clean up…that’s why, from time to time we need to get a BIG LOUD WAKE UP CALL!!!!

And that’s exactly what Jude does in his letter to the church…it’s a call to wake up because, as the church has been complacent, those who would distort and twist the faith have slipped into the church and the risk of shipwrecking the faith of many while destroying the church is a very real possibility!!!

And I think that this is exceptionally relevant for us today. I believe that, for far too long, the church in America has been asleep at the wheel…driving with our eyes closed…and we have begun to see and feel the impact of that carelessness…

So let’s look at how JUDE dealt with the issue at hand and how we can follow his example in DEFENDING THE FAITH.

He calls the church to get UP AND AT ‘EM in a effort to defend the faith. And I want to add that, The best way to defend the faith, is to know what you believe and to live like you believe it!

That’s the ONE THING I want you to walk out of here with today…that THE POINT. the best way to defend the faith, is to know what you believe and to live like you believe it!

Let’s dive in and see where Jude takes us today…

GOD

1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

Jude identifies himself…not as the brother of Jesus, but as a servant (?????? – slave) of Jesus and as the brother of James…

To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: