Why Are Many Self-Identifying Christians No Different From Their Unbeliever Next Door?

MESSAGE SUMMARY: As Christians but in our non-Christian behavior: we are mean; we are angry; we are judgmental; and we are selfish and self-centered. Also, in our non-Christian behavior, we are often in bondage to debt, drugs, and extramarital sex. In all these non-Christian behaviors, we are not different from the unbeliever next door. Therefore, we are not very different from God’s people in the time of Hosea described in Hosea 11:7,10-11: “My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all . . . They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.". We need to ask ourselves: “Am I being faithful to Jesus Christ; what needs to change in me and my life; and how am I disobeying the Lord?”. If enough of us get serious with God, then, perhaps, God will heal us and this land. When we, as both individual Christians and as a country, turn to the Lord, will we hear God’s call and answer as in Isaiah 6:8: “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’”.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Heartlessness. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Kindness. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f).

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV):  Hosea 11:1-11; Isaiah 6:8-13; Matthew 13:13-17; Psalms 13:1-6.

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.awordfromthelord.org/bible-search/

 

THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Following Jesus – Jesus Calls Us to Follow Him Without Reservations", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/.

 

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Becoming God’s Broken Vessels to Serve the Needs of Others)”: www.AWFTL.org/watch

 

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