I Believe in God but I Don't Go Overboard

Speaker 1: 0:00

Good morning everybody, happy Sunday. I'm trying to channel some of that energy that Renee just had. There's free coffee in the lobby if you need some help with that. But I have a question for you guys. Just a show of hands. Who in here has a weak stomach? You know like things easily make you like maybe want to throw up, maybe you see certain things. I've seen some friends I'm in good company with a couple of you.

Speaker 1: 0:23

You're just one of those people that gets nauseous really easily by the things that happen regularly in our lives. Right so Jacob? Right, my husband, he gets food poisoning regularly. And when I say regularly, I mean more often than anybody I've ever met in my entire life, more often than anybody that I've ever come in contact with. And to be honest, in those times when he is so sick, I just cannot be a good wife, I am not helpful, I can't be near him, I can't be like in the earshot of the scenario that's happening, right? I'm just one of those people I have to remove myself from the situation. I'm just not built for this situation.

Speaker 1: 1:09

And my daughter Kingsley, she's similar, unfortunately, and she has this really unique thing where when she just gets regular sick, like she doesn't have food poisoning and she's totally fine. She just gets coughing fits and she'll just be coughing and coughing and very often she'll just cough and cough and gag and then throw up everywhere, and I mean everywhere. And in those moments I also can't be a good mom. I'm just not made for it. You guys, I'm not. And a week ago, like just last week, kingsley wasn't. You know the allergies, the seasons are changing. Kingsley wasn't feeling real well and she's coughing in her bed and we're trying to go to sleep and I hear her running down the hallway right Coughing. So I leap out of my bed and she busts through the door in a way that only Kingsley can, where she doesn't really open it all the way, but she just slams into it and she comes in and I try to redirect her to the bathroom real fast and I wasn't quick enough and she just throws up all over my floor. I get her into the bathroom and I just want to throw up everywhere. Also, I don't, by some sort of miracle, the Holy Spirit was with me and Jacob gets up and he goes into the bathroom because he is so wonderful and he helps Kingsley and they get through this together and then he takes her back to bed and I know it's going to take him a while to get her back to sleep. Right, and you guys would be so proud of me. I, by some sort of miracle, managed to clean up the massacre that happened between our bedroom floor and the bathroom and to this moment I have no idea how I made it through. But y'all can pray for me, y'all can give me a pat on the back for like I did it, I did it OK, and it smelled like Lysol and things were better. I'm just not made for vomit, ok, and why do I talk about vomit? I'm going to tell you guys in a little bit. We're going to get there today.

Speaker 1: 3:00

But what I want to tell you is that we're currently in a series called the Christian Atheist. So what is a Christian Atheist? So it's somebody who believes in God but lives as if God does not exist. So we believe in God. We say that we believe in God, but our lives and maybe our actions and the things that we're doing don't really reflect that. We believe who God is. The first week of this series, we talked about those who believe in God but do not really know Him. Last week, we talked about those who believe in God but do not fear Him, and today's topic is one that I feel like I can relate to the most, and I think that it's something that God has honestly been working on in my life since I've become a Christian. And I'm going to talk today about those who believe in God but don't want to go overboard. Right, you believe in God, but I don't want to be one of those Christians who, like it's all consuming, it's all about everything in their lives. I believe in God, but I don't want to be one of those people that takes it too far.

Speaker 1: 3:58

So today we're going to talk out of the book of Revelation Always fun, and I want to give you guys some context about what we're going to talk through. So the book of Revelation Jesus actually wrote seven different letters to seven different churches and John recorded these in the book of Revelation and to six of the churches. Jesus, he's offering correction, but he typically starts out with something that they're doing well. You know, like the compliment sandwich that you get at work, where somebody tells you something that you're doing well and then they tell you all the things that you need to fix, and then there's one church and the letter that we're going to look at today. And Jesus didn't have anything good to say. They were just not doing well, and Jesus did not start with a compliment sandwich. Jesus just went right in to what they needed to fix. So interesting, and we're going to follow along.

Speaker 1: 4:45

The church that we're going to look at today is known as Laodicea, and in the history of Laodicea it's a very wealthy city and about 35 years before this letter was written, laodicea was destroyed by a massive earthquake, so leveled the whole city. But then, because they were so wealthy, they were able to rebuild, and rebuild quickly. And back in that time they were able to rebuild with all of the things that you could have ever wanted in a massive, wealthiest city. They were known for their massive theaters, for their huge stadiums, they had these lavish public baths I'm not really sure what that means, but they were popular back then and they had these massive shopping centers. So in the middle of the desert we're just imagining Las Vegas pops right up and during this time in history, this type of city that was rare, and it's somewhere that you would have had everything that you wanted to live an awesome, comfortable life.

Speaker 1: 5:40

And so there's a group of Christians there, the church in Laodicea, and this is what Jesus says to this very wealthy, very blessed group of people in Revelation. He says I know your deeds. I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one one or the other. So because you are and this is our keyword today lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Other translations say vomit you out of my mouth. Right, jesus continues and he says you say I'm rich, I've acquired wealth and I do not need a thing, but you do not realize that you are wretched and pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Here I am. He says I stand at the door and I knock, and anyone who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me.

Speaker 1: 6:41

Jesus is talking to the people in Laodicea and he says I know your deeds, I know how you're living your life, not just what you say that you believe, but how you're living. And there is a difference, because how we live actually reflects that true reality of what we believe, regardless of what we say. We've always heard it said actions speak louder than words. So Jesus says, I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot. I wish you were just one, just pick one. It's like if you drink a cup of coffee, right, hot coffee which we have in the lobby, is great, delicious, nice and warm to the soul, in like an early morning. Cold coffee, iced coffee from Starbucks also great, right, lukewarm coffee that's been sitting out for about four hours and you accidentally drink that because you thought it was your most recent one. That doesn't go so well, right? That's pretty gross. So we don't want it to be Lukewarm. What's interesting here?

Speaker 1: 7:39

If you study about Laodicea, they did have some challenges, like I mentioned, they're kind of a city out in the middle of nowhere and they had these long. They had some challenges getting water brought to them, so they had these long underground pipes because the goal would be to get water shipped in from hot springs or cold springs and then to get it into the city as fast as possible. So they wanted to get their water fast and because they didn't have microwaves or refrigerators at this time. So holding cold and hot drinks were a big deal. At the time it was pretty rare, and so at the religious festivals they would serve drinks before people were preparing their hearts to make a sacrifice. And if you were an important person or a noble person, a wealthy person, you would be at the front of the line, right. So as the water's coming in you or your drinks coming in, you would get a hot drink or you would get a cold drink, depends on what they're serving up, right. But if you weren't important and you just kind of fell into like the middle of the pack, you would be towards the back of the line and so the drink that you received would be pretty lukewarm.

Speaker 1: 8:40

And when Jesus uses this language, it's more than just saying hey, you're lukewarm and you know that's not enjoyable. It had more of this symbolism that lukewarm is for those who are at the back of the line. Lukewarm is for those who are not really that important. You're not really pursuing me. Jesus calls his followers to be more than that, to be more than the people that are just passively standing at the back of the line. He said I'd rather you just be hot or cold, but instead you are lukewarm. And in verse 16, we can look at that again. And he says because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. He said I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Speaker 1: 9:20

Now the word here, spit that comes from the Greek word, is only used this one time in all the Bible and it does in fact mean to spit, but it really means to vomit. It specifically means something that is repulsive. It means utter rejection, somebody who is supremely repulsed. So what Jesus is saying this is a pretty serious imagery that Jesus is going with. He's saying when you don't show any passion at all, when you're apathetic, when you're comfortable, when you're complacent in your pursuit for me, he can't stomach that. He rejects it. He's repulsed by it. He is ultimately saying from the deepest part of me, I can't tolerate it, I vomit that out, I spit that out. Now, is anybody familiar with the word like what an oxymoron is? An oxymoron is like when you take those two words and they come together and they seem like they're gonna contradict themselves like tight slacks or jumbo shrimp act, naturally, genuine imitation. And perhaps the greatest oxymoron in the history of the world could be Lukewarm Christian. Lukewarm disciple of Jesus, lukewarm Christian.

Speaker 1: 10:36

So what is a Lukewarm Christian? I think we could talk about the different things that come to mind and the ways to describe it, and today I'm gonna walk us through seven qualities that we may see in Lukewarm Christians. And chances are, guys, when we see this list, you may have some light bulb moments where you say I've interacted with somebody like that or I know somebody who is like that. They don't wanna go all in, but they say that they believe it, but their actions don't quite match up. And some of us, if we're really honest, we may see ourselves in this list. We may see some of these qualities in ourselves. I know that I have, and I honestly, the more that I went through this message, I believe that we can have seasons in our life where it kind of ebbs and flows and maybe you're gonna find yourself in one of these seasons, or you have in the past. So let's walk through some of those qualities of a Lukewarm Christian. I'm gonna drink this Lukewarm water, not hot or cold, guys. So the first quality that we see is they crave acceptance from people more than acceptance from God. So Timothy in the Bible, he warns us that there are gonna be people who are lovers of themselves. And he's not talking about the good self care, make time for yourself. He's talking about it in that self-centered way. But, guys, doesn't our culture, especially right now, make it so easy to have this self-centered point of view.

Speaker 1: 12:09

Social media, where we participate a good majority of our lives, social media gives us this perfect platform to compare our lives to others, to put snapshots of our life and our thoughts. We put it out into the world, into an audience that we've mostly chosen, and then we wait and we hope that people will respond. They'll respond positively, right, they'll like our things or they'll comment back and they'll validate our feelings or the way that we're living our lives. And often we're living in this place where we don't necessarily feel good enough, or we don't feel like our kids are as good as the other peoples that we see on Facebook and on Instagram or our neighbors, and maybe think that our jobs aren't as good or our titles aren't as high, or our families are not as perfect and put together as those in the pumpkin patch farm picture that we just saw Right, anybody ringing a bell here and we go overboard with trying to compensate.

Speaker 1: 13:06

So we do the same thing. We put it out there and we say do you like me? Do you approve of me? Do you like my shoes? Do you like my hair? Do you like my house. Do you like what I did with my yard? Do you like what I spent my trip? Do you like these thoughts that I have? And we put it out there and we're saying to people please approve of me, please approve of me, please like my picture, please tell me that I fit in.

Speaker 1: 13:30

And we all do it. We crave that acceptance from people and we seek it out. And when they say, hey, I don't really like that, a lot of times we'll change it. Hey, just give me another chance. I'll change the way that I think, I'll change the way that I act, I'll change my values to conform to yours, because I want you to love me, I want you to accept me. But if we are honest, how often do we seek Jesus the way that we seek approval from people? How often do we really spend time contemplating the changes that God may be wanting to make in our lives and in our families and in the characteristics that we have? But instead, we do spend time contemplating the latest trends and the latest ways that we could be fitting in with the people around us so many of us without even knowing it, and culture has swept it like a riptide. Honestly, we are truly living for the approval of people rather than the approval of God.

Speaker 1: 14:26

Secondly, a lukewarm Christian rarely shares about their faith, so we're rarely sharing the goodness that God is doing in our lives with other people, and there's a lot of reasons why we don't do this right. We don't want to be rejected we just talked about that in the first bullet. We don't want to offend anybody, we don't want to be weird, we don't want to be vulnerable and all of those make sense. And honestly, guys, I can relate to this, and growing up, I had this certain perception a false perception, I think of Christians that were maybe pushy to invite or always wanted people to come to their church. And when I became a Christian in my early 20s, I did not want to become one of those Christians that was always making people uncomfortable or always inviting them to go somewhere or do something, and so sharing my faith is not something that came naturally to me.

Speaker 1: 15:18

But if we're really honest, if we boil it all down, the reason that we don't share our faith is because sometimes we forget that the gospel actually has the power to transform lives. It actually has the power to transform lives. Just the same way that it's transformed mine, it can transform somebody else's, but I don't share that all the time if I forget that the power doesn't lie with me and it lies with God and the power of His gospel. So for me, work has always been a place that regularly, after spending like eight hours a day in close proximity with people, I have gotten to experience that God starts to move. Right, he started to move and I am so thankful that in the very natural process of creating relationships with people in my workplace, I have gotten to see God move and be faithful in the lives of other people, because I was able to share my faith and most recently I'm reminded of the importance of sharing our faith.

Speaker 1: 16:16

I work remotely now, some 100% at my house, and let me tell you it is a lot easier to kind of forget to share your faith when you're not bumping into somebody in the break room. You're very rarely gathering around some coffee and telling people what you're doing this weekend or what you're doing with your life or anything that's going on. It's a lot harder to do in the virtual world in Zoom land. So I've had to get really intentional and I had to catch myself and call that to attention. So for those times when somebody does ask, or somebody kicks off a meeting asking what we're going to do over the weekend or how we spent our week, I could very easily tell them about the movie that I watched on Saturday, which is what everybody else is talking about on this phone call.

Speaker 1: 16:58

But I am intentional to talk about what we're doing at Alpha, or what we're doing last Sunday with baptisms, or the opportunity that I have to serve in my church on Sunday, because that's what I do, right, that's where I spend my life and that's what God is doing in my life. And when people ask me, I make that intentional choice to actually share those things. And I was reminded when I started my most recent job. I was assigned a peer buddy, right. So, like somebody who helps you onboard and gets you used to the company. And as she was talking and asking me some of those get-to-know-you questions, I could have answered with what I did on Saturday, but instead I started talking about what I do on Sunday and what I do in my life and I ended up talking about the adoption that we're going through and how we're adopting this little boy, and that gave her the freedom and the vulnerability to get honest with me about her faith and what God was doing in her life and her infertility journey, and it gave me the space to open up for her to talk about miscarriage that she had just recently had, and it gave me the opportunity, over Zoom, to just pray with somebody who, thank God, he opened that door so that he could come in and all I was was just the instrument of obedience and I just opened up the conversation and let God do his loving work in her, because we are called to be more than lukewarm, because the people around us need Jesus just as much as we do.

Speaker 1: 18:21

Number three lukewarm Christians. We tend to rationalize sins, rationalize sins so as everyday people who are learning how to become Jesus followers. This can be a tough one, and I think that it's something that we'll probably go back and forth with in our lives, but we have to get good at calling sin sin, just calling it what it is. We don't need to make an excuse. We don't need to justify why we did it or why it's not really quite as bad. The truth is that we're all human, right and we do human things, and we often do hurtful things out of the undoubt, with hurt and trauma in our own lives and that can sometimes come out.

Speaker 1: 19:01

And for me, I recognized a couple of years ago that I have this really bad tendency to judge people. We're going to be honest in church today, because if we can't be honest here, then where can we be honest? Right, I had this natural tendency to think critically about other people, even just random little things, and it's probably because I was so incredibly critical of myself as a child and as a young adult. And then I grew up and I placed people around me who were also critical. We would just call it chit chat or gossip, but we were criticizing, right, that was the conversations we were having.

Speaker 1: 19:33

And when God began to convict me of that, at first I was like, no, god, I don't say those things out loud, like they just go through my head, right, like I'm just processing, like that's just the natural thought that I had about that person, about the situation. Sometimes I'm not wrong. That's what I was going through with God, right, I'm trying to rationalize this sin. And God was like no, it's not your job to judge, but I have called you to be better than that, to be different than that, to see people in a different way than that, because I'm going to use it Like God wanted to use that in me to be able to relate to people, not to judge them. So I had to get really honest with that. I had to confess it to myself to some really close spiritual advisors that I have in my life, and then I asked God to help me change it, to help me change that characteristic about myself.

Speaker 1: 20:22

So one thing that we do like in our family, the way that I'm raising my kids, is we never talk about other people if there is no solution. If there's no solution at the end of the story we don't even bring up the story because it has no point, it's only hurtful. And we're teaching our kids that we never have conversations about people that you wouldn't be willing to have with that person. And that's for me. I'm learning that as I go and as we make these intentional changes. And maybe that's me. Maybe I've got some things, some sins, that I rationalize and that could just be me. But my point is that God's grace is so good that we don't have to rationalize it. We just need to bring it to him because, guys, he has better for us. He has actual freedom from our sin and not just freedom from the guilt that we feel when we do it. I thought that point was really important, so I'm gonna say it again God has actual freedom from that sin. He can help us change that character that we don't wanna have. He can change that, help us change those actions that we don't want to do, not just wipe away the bad feelings about it. He is a God that is more powerful than that.

Speaker 1: 21:33

Number four is that a lukewarm Christian might think of life on Earth more than eternity in heaven. This one's hard guys. Life is happening all around us, so I feel like this is one of those ones that's easy to fall into right. We can get so consumed with our life on Earth because it's so visible, and not our eternity in heaven.

Speaker 1: 21:54

And there's this guy in the Bible. His name is Paul. You might know him. He said something crazy in one of his letters. He said to live is Christ and to die is gain. And what he's saying is on Earth, our purpose is to actually make a difference with our lives. Our purpose on Earth is to live the way that Jesus lived. That's the mission. That's why we're here. And then when we die, it gets better. He's saying to die is the gain. To die is to be with Jesus, that we have hope, that there is actually life after death. There is more for us, so we can use what we're doing right now. This isn't the end all be all, this isn't it. This is the mission field, this is the battlefield where we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus. So let me live each day of this life with that heart of obedience towards Jesus.

Speaker 1: 22:40

And number five, luke, we're Christians. We only turn to God when we need something, only turn to God when we need something, and we all do that, don't we? It's those things that trigger you to automatically pray, right, and sometimes we get mad at God when things don't go the way that we hoped. Or we come to God when we need something. We believe that God might be a genie that grants our requests, or often he's a punching bag for our problems. But there's more to our relationship than that. God is there for us in those moments, but he has so much in between the good and the bad, and the highs and the lows of our life, and he wants us to walk with him in the middle.

Speaker 1: 23:25

So, number six a lukewarm Christian might only give when it's convenient. Well, I'll give if I feel like it. You know, I'll give if it looks good or if it's going towards something that I decide is good. And I'll give if I won't miss it. Oh well, I'll give that away. That's not a big deal. I'll give if I want to. But oh my gosh, god, don't dare ask me to do something that is a sacrifice, right? Don't ask me to do something that I don't want to do because it's my stuff, it's my money, it's my things, it's my time.

Speaker 1: 24:01

But the committed follower of Jesus realizes that it's all God's right. Giving is really just giving a portion back to God of all of the things that he's already given to us, because they're all his to begin with. But the lukewarm Christian would say mine, oh no, we don't like talk about that kind of stuff. You got to keep that stuff separate from the spiritual stuff, like that's my business, that's my money, my things, that can't really play a role in my spiritual life. Right, it's separate Giving is for the holidays and when I feel moved, that is all. But when we partner with God, guys, when we partner with God, I was reflecting on this and, truly honestly, I have experienced some of the most spectacular parts, the most awe-inspiring parts of my walk with God when I've been able to give Number seven the lukewarm Christian. Honestly, they're not that much different than the rest of the world. Yeah, not all that much different, besides where we spend Sunday mornings and how we sometimes have a more positive outlook on life occasionally. They're not that much different. Right, that's what we would say of somebody who's lukewarm.

Speaker 1: 25:14

Now, what makes a Jesus follower different than anyone else? Because as a Jesus follower I hate to break it to you in case you haven't noticed you still may suffer with depression or anxiety. You still may have difficult moments. You still may have fear in your life. You could still have fear of the future and fear of failure and fear of people. You might still occasionally have a bad attitude before coffee. You might drop some bad words at the golf course. You might not be the kind of spouse or the kind of parent that you want to be. You might talk negatively about someone even though you knew you shouldn't.

Speaker 1: 25:55

Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everybody, not just the people that are saved and the people that are not saved. Everybody has fallen short. But the biggest difference, guys, is that as a Christian, you won't be comfortable staying in that place and you know that there is more. There is more to that.

Speaker 1: 26:16

As a Jesus follower, I have access to God. So even though I might struggle with depression, I can bring that to Jesus. I can get healing for my life and he gives me supernatural peace in the middle of a storm that goes beyond my capabilities, my understanding. I'm not always the best parent or spouse, but when I live my life connected to the heart of God, I can take those moments where I know that I'm not being the person that I want to be to my husband or to my kids, and I can let God's gentle correction lead me in the direction that I know that I want to go to build the character that he wants me to have. Instead of being afraid of the future that's a big one I can live in the present right. I can know that God has promised and he is faithful, that he has a plan and a future for my life, because I spend daily time with God.

Speaker 1: 27:07

I just can't be comfortable with this lukewarm, halfway comfortable Christianity we are not meant to live, guys, in the space of. I want enough of Jesus to get me into heaven and keep me out of hell, but not enough that it's my whole life. That's not where we're meant to live. Jesus calls this kind of person lukewarm and it makes Him want to vomit. He can't stomach it and it repulses Him. And I want to stop here because I was reading that and I was like man, jesus really went in. He didn't say anything lightly. He said you make me want to throw up when you do that, and I don't know about you guys, but I don't really want to make God throw up. That's kind of intense. But I want to pause here because I think that we need to recognize that it's not shame-based. It's not. You are doing this thing and I hate it and I don't like you and I don't like it. That is not what we're doing here. That's not who Jesus is. So the same guy that tells us that he came to give people life and life to the fullest, he's now writing a letter that says when you do things like this, it makes me want to throw up. So I think we have to lean into the heart of who God is, the character that God has, and listen to hear he is repulsed by this because it's a gross way to waste the life that he has given you, not because he just hates it and you're wrong, but because he has more for you.

Speaker 1: 28:28

I was thinking about this and I think that parents of toddlers can grasp this concept quicker than almost anybody else, and maybe you've experienced this with your previous toddler or small children that you have around you in your family. They regularly do gross things that they just do because they don't know any better and they haven't quite figured it out yet and it just seemed good at the time. Have you ever witnessed somebody eat condiments as a meal? No, if you've ever watched somebody eat ketchup with a spoon, you would also be repulsed, right, and you were like buddy, we have some french fries. It would get so much better if you would do that. Have you ever watched somebody eat butter? Like here's any bread, any crackers, literally anything but that doesn't taste good. But I know that Both of my kids have eaten all three of them really have eaten ketchup and butter on just like a singular spoon.

Speaker 1: 29:27

And recently guys, this is the worst one it gets me because of the whole weak stomach thing At the end of my toddler boys. They take a bath together and at the end of the bath I've just recently been catching them where they think it's absolutely hysterical and I do genuinely think they might be thirsty they just start drinking the lukewarm bath water and it would be one thing if only one person's in the tub, but they're both in there and I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, please don't do that. No, no, no, there's better. I can get you a bottle of disani, like you have a cup full of milk. We can do literally anything if you would just stop drinking the dirty, soapy, lukewarm bath water.

Speaker 1: 30:07

And, guys, that's what Jesus is saying to us. He is not coming at us with this intense correction because something is wrong with us. He said listen to me, I can see the bigger picture, I know what this was supposed to be like for you, and if you live your life as a lukewarm Christian, you're missing like 95% of it, 95% of the good stuff. He said this is not it. He's promising a life for us that, if it is on fire for Jesus, it's the best one that we can live.

Speaker 1: 30:35

Tragically, I feel like there are so many people that they're just living this complacent, comfortable, just not quite living the fullest that God has for us and they're kind of coasting in their relationship with Jesus. And it's interesting in this particular letter because when you picture this kind of city that he's writing to, it really speaks to the culture that we have in our society today. Right, the worldly wealth, the theaters, the shopping centers, the stadiums it's busy guys. Anybody else busy, anybody busy. You've got lots of things to do, like. Your calendar is sometimes like overwhelming to you because you have so much to do and when we are comfortable and consumed with the things around us, like most of you guys, I don't work full-time for the church.

Speaker 1: 31:17

I don't work technically on payroll for the church at all. I have a corporate job and I'm raising three children and Jacob. I have to pay attention to Jacob, right too, because he's my husband. So it's easy to lose sight of my relationship with God. And I'll be honest with you guys when we moved up here to start the church plants, I got so caught up being a full-time mom and a full-time corporate employee and a full-time church. All of a sudden my relationship with God had dwindled down to just the areas that I was serving the church. And you wanna know what? After doing that for time and time, I started to feel really empty. I started to feel like something was missing. I started to feel a little helpless and hopeless, like there has to be more to my spiritual journey than this. And there is. And maybe you have become a full-time mom and a part-time follower of Jesus. Maybe you have become a full-time business owner and a part-time follower of Jesus, maybe you're a full-time student and a part-time follower of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 32:20

And God's best, you guys, is not just comfortable, it's not complacent. He has so much more, but we have so much. In this part of our world it's often that we feel like we just don't need God. We get caught up and that verse goes on. And he said you say I'm rich, I've acquired wealth, I don't need a thing. And then Jesus gets honest with them. He said but you don't realize. You don't realize that you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. He said you don't realize that's nasty bathwater and we have some good filtered water from the fridge. Guys, here's the way that he put you. That you could also put this you say I'm rich, so we're saying I have enough money to satisfy and enough materials to keep me busy, but they don't satisfy.

Speaker 1: 33:10

You feel maybe wretched, meaning I always feel like I'm a step behind. I always feel like I can't catch up or keep up. I feel pitiful, sad or anxious or nervous, poor, that could be feeling empty. Even with all the things around you, you still don't feel. You feel like something's missing, blind. Maybe you don't have a great vision for your life. You have no idea what the next three, after the next three months, what does that look like? Blind, naked, you may feel vulnerable. You may feel vulnerable and insecure that if people knew the real you would they really accept me, would they really love me.

Speaker 1: 33:54

And about right now, if God does what he does so lovingly, you may be feeling that nudge of the Holy Spirit, that gentle conviction to say, maybe I do believe in God, but I've been comfortable, I've been complacent, I haven't been pursuing Him In all of the areas that I could or that I should, that I want to. Maybe in the season you haven't been able to be fully committed to Him. So, if that's you right, if that's you in this room, let me tell you what we do. It's super simple, and Jesus continues in that verse when he says open the door to your heart and invite Jesus in, invite me in. It's that simple. He says open up the door to your heart. Jesus, come into my life, come in right now.

Speaker 1: 34:41

Because what he says in verse 20, and we look at it again he says I'm right here, I'm just standing on the other side of the door, I'm knocking, and if anyone hears me and opens the door, I'll come in. You don't even have to invite me. He didn't even say you have to say hello. He said I'll come in and I'll eat with you. Like who doesn't love good food, I'll eat with them and they with me will have life together. We'll create conversation, we'll have a meal, you'll get sustained. Guys, he's offering us more. If anyone hears my voice and opens up the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. And the good news, guys, is you don't have to change anything first. He didn't say fix your house, clean it all up, vacuum the floors. He just said open the door. Open the door right where you are.

Speaker 1: 35:24

And if God is like, if we believe who he says he is, if we really do, then it's Him that's going to do the work when he comes in and he sits with you and he eats with you. It's the Holy Spirit that's going to do the work in you. You do not have to do anything to let Him in. He accepts you right where you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay there. You become a new creation in Christ. You become somebody who is new. And maybe you say, well, I've done that, I've done that, we did that, and now I'm here in the season of my life and I've gotten comfortable or complacent. What do you do then? Right, you already know Him.

Speaker 1: 36:04

But I think it's the same thing that, like when I leave the house for a long day and I come home as soon as I not even get to the front door, my kids, they run to me. Right, they run to me and I love it. It fills my heart to know that they understood that I'm still here. I was just on the other side of the door. I'm coming in and they run to me and I hug them and I love on them and we sit down and I ask them about their day. Guys, god is a loving Father and if you run to Him, he's going to sit with you and he's going to hug you and he is going to ask you how was your day? And all you have to do is you have to say I need you, I need more of you in my life. I want more from this thing. I want it to go deeper. This can't be all that there is. And let me tell you guys, as someone who has asked that question, there is more, there is more.

Speaker 1: 36:50

And so I want to make this really practical that if you're in that season, I would challenge you to do one of three things, or maybe all three things this week. I want you to spend some time with God. It can be five minutes and you go to God and you tell Him where you're at, as if he just came in. You're sighted, see Him. You sat on the couch. Where are you? Where you're at in your life. And then I would ask you, because God is faithful, ask Him to light that fire. God, I feel lukewarm, but I need you to light a passion in me. I don't even know what that is, sometimes you won't even know, and when you ask the Holy Spirit, he is faithful to start sparking something. That's what he does, and I promise you, if you literally did that Monday through Friday, by Saturday.

Speaker 1: 37:31

I would be shocked if you didn't have some idea, some idea of where God wants you to do something new or start to work on something, something deeper in your life. Spark that passion. Ask Him to break your heart for what breaks His. That's a powerful prayer. Break my heart, God, for what breaks yours. Show me what that is, and then I would say, lean into your community. You guys are sitting in here not just because we like to sit in this middle school on Sundays, but there are people around you who are also going through really crazy things in their lives. They may have had experiences that maybe that's the person that God has put in your life. Or Jacob and I. We would love to meet with you, to talk with you about spiritual disciplines, about ways that you can pursue God deeper in your life. If you are craving that there is more, and we would love to be a part of that let's talk about ways that you can go deeper and then get outside yourself.

Speaker 1: 38:25

Sometimes we just get all caught up in like everything that's going on with me Volunteer, serve mentor, a youth mentor, a kid Get outside of yourself and see what God will do with all the things that he's already made you to be and created you and walked you through experiences to pass on to somebody else or to serve using your gifts. Because he says when you seek Him, you will find Him and he has not left you. So we just come to Him and we say, god, we want more of you and he is faithful. Because when we do those things guys I know that we went through the lukewarm Christian today but when we really get that revelation of who he is, what he's doing in our lives, as we start to spend daily time with God we talk about this almost every week, everyday people just pursuing God, trying to spend every day getting a little bit closer to Him. As you start to do that, he will be faithful to spring up those new things.

Speaker 1: 39:26

You won't have problems really sharing your faith because it's all just going to come out. It's going to be part of what you're doing in your everyday life, right? You're going to be starting to pour out those things in your life. When you see Him moving, it comes naturally to share. When you know that Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly, it's easy to confess those sins and want new things in your life, to give up those old ways and to want new ones and to let go of your mistakes. The moment that you recognize that your resources, your money, your time, even your kids and all the things that you have are really not your own, that they already belong to God, it makes it so much easier to go out and to use those resources to make a difference in your life and in the lives around you.

Speaker 1: 40:08

When we don't rationalize sin right, we just want to let it go. You ask the Holy Spirit to transform you because in our lives we are daily being transformed and conformed into the image of Christ. God is using your life, guys. You guys are on mission. We are on a mission as a church. We are on mission as individuals to be the light of the world, and no part of this, if we start to activate these pieces of our lives. Good news, no part of our lives is going to make God want to puke.

Speaker 1: 40:39

Good news, right, for all of us with a weak soul. We don't want to do that when you're on fire and you're pursuing Him, recognizing what he did, because it really boils down to one thing and that is that he gave His life for us. The only reasonable response Because I'm all in, god. I'm all in. You gave it all, so I can also give it all. You gave it all for me, so I can give it all for you. Use me, lord, help me to make a difference with my life. So pray with me, church God.

Speaker 1: 41:16

We thank you, lord, for just your character. God, we thank you for your tender fatherly love. Lord, even if we haven't experienced that in our own humanly relationships. God, that you demonstrate this love that so gently points us to the better things in life. That you are the Creator of this world, god, and we yield to you, lord, that you know more, that you see the bigger picture, that it is beyond some of our understanding, god. So we trust you in some of the areas that we don't have all of the answers. Yeah, we trust you, god. We trust you that you know that bathwater isn't great for us and that you have different things for us. We trust you, lord and God.

Speaker 1: 42:11

I pray for each person in this room, lord, that wherever they're at on that journey, that you would meet them. Yep, as we move into the rest of our day, god, and even into our Monday and our Tuesday, lord, the things that rang true today as we were speaking. Lord, whatever those words are that are from you, god, because we believe that you speak. So, god, whatever I said, that's not from you, let that fall away. But whatever was from you, god, I pray that that would be such a burden in our hearts that we would want to pursue you more, that it would be something that we can't ignore, like somebody constantly knocking, knocking, knocking at the door, lord, and I pray for those who are interested in opening it up and letting you in, god, that you would meet them in a way that only you can, and maybe You're in here and you have never experienced that before.

Speaker 1: 43:02

You say you know, I like what you're saying, aaron, but I've never really even opened the door one time. I don't even know this Jesus that you're talking about, and it's just as simple as we talked about in the message. You simply let Him in. So if that is you today, you can simply in your seat. You don't have to raise your hand, you don't have to say it out loud, but between you and God, he's on the other side of the door. You just say God, I trust in you today. I don't have all the answers, but I'm opening the door. Forgive me for my mistakes, make me new. God set us on fire for you, lord. Help us to be passionate about the things in us that you have created us to be passionate about. Today we follow you, god. Today we trust you, lord, in Jesus' name, amen.