Week 4: My Faith is a Hot Mess

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Week 4: My Faith is a Hot Mess

Big Idea:

We as Christians would probably all agree that if we were to rank our daily priorities, God desires our faith would be at the top.

But even though we strive for this, what do we do if our walk with Christ, our faith, seems like a hot mess?

This week, we spend some time talking about how to gain or maybe regain intimacy with Christ once again.

Prayer: “Lord, life is a chaotic place. It’s easy to put faith on the back burner and lose focus. Help us today to re-engage with you, our faith, and the peace you have for us.”

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-6; Colossians 3:16; James 1:22; Acts 2:46-47a; John 9:25

(All scripture is taken from the NIV unless otherwise noted)

Introduction

Good morning once again church! Welcome back to the final week of our series “Hot Mess.”

I hope you have joined us for the past three weeks. But, if this is your first week in this series, you picked a great one to come to.

We have arguably saved the most important topic for last.

STORY: Talk about a time when you felt like you lost intimacy with God. What was happening? What did it feel like? Share about the empty feeling you probably had and the associated feelings that came along with it.

In my early 20’s I walked away from God. I still tried to be a witness for the Lord, but during that season in my life, I lost that intimacy with the Lord I once had.

Have you ever been in a position like this before?

Maybe you are here today and currently exploring this whole Jesus thing for the very first time.

For others, you have been a follower of Christ for a while, but you’ve also encountered seasons where you feel as if intimacy is harder to gain than in other seasons.

Either way, I want to chat with you about a few practical steps we can take when we hit these points.

My hope is that each of them will help you either discover a personal relationship with Jesus or get back to a thriving one.

Main Teaching

I want us to begin with a question. If we feel like our faith is a hot mess, that is out of control, that is chaotic and disconnected,

we must ask ourselves this: What has been my what, and what has been my why?

These two curious questions will reveal some key things about our current season.

I. Don’t Be a Religious Box Checker

The Bible makes it clear that what we spend our time doing matters.

It also helps us understand that why we do what we do matters.

If you have a Bible, turn with me to Matthew 6. This section of scripture records Jesus preaching a sermon,

some would argue it was His greatest sermon I believe anytime Jesus had something to say, it was going to be epic!

In this sermon, He covers a lot of important material, clearing up some popular misconceptions for His listeners.

I want us to look at one thing He says in particular when talking about prayer…

Read Matthew 6:5-6

Matthew 6:5–6 NKJV

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

You may see that word “hypocrites” and wonder who Jesus is talking about.

Scholars usually point to the Pharisees as His intended “target” with that phrase.

Pharisees (and other religious sects like them) were the religious teachers at the time.

They thought of themselves highly, even to the point where they often elevated their own status in the religious community above those who had more public sin in their lives.

Jesus says that these Pharisees were “hypocrites.” Why? Well, that word is the very reason.

You see, these Pharisees had the right “what” but with the wrong “why.”

Have we been doing all the right things with all the wrong motives? Maybe it looks like coming to church to just check the box that you were here.

Making an appearance to allow folks to see you being “religious.” That kind of lifestyle can be really draining.

This was the very lifestyle the Pharisees were living. They would stand on street corners, Jesus says, and pray out loud, making themselves sound holier than they actually were.

They would show up at the synagogues, a place of worship, where everyone could see them.

If your faith is a hot mess, it may be due to doing and saying all the right things with all the wrong motives.

This is why it’s important for us to question our motives.

ILLUSTRATION IDEA:

Find a way to use a demonstration about your own shadow.

Make the point that it follows you around and never goes away.

No matter what I do in life, it’s important to have the right motive

If we want to be used by God, be sure it’s not for our glory!

Just like our shadows, it follows us around every where we go.

You see, love ones, we all have a shadow side to the things we do.

There is a less than godly motive trying to bring itself to the front of our lives and daily decisions.

If we are not careful, we can allow these wrong motives to present themselves in our spiritual, religious rhythms.

But maybe for you, it’s not about re-addressing the “why” that causes your faith to be a hot mess.

You have figured out that your motives are usually the right ones. Maybe for you, it has to do with your posture when reading and studying scripture.

II. Read for Transformation

The Bible is, without a doubt, God’s message. The message of the Gospel is seen clearly throughout the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When we sit down with the Bible, we will learn something from it.

But here is the reality: anything we read will first go to our heads, our minds.

It is our responsibility to then allow the words we read to sink down into our hearts.

Read Colossians 3:16

Colossians 3:16 NLT

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Paul calls us to allow this book to saturate every part of our lives.

The only way for that to happen is if we take what we read and let it go to our hearts.

Then, what dwells in our hearts will be produced out of our lives.

But is this how we actually read the Bible?

STORY:

Talk about your personal devotional time habits each day. Be sure to mention that sometimes, you are already thinking about the tasks that you must do later in the day, so you miss the beauty of that moment.

You see, if I only viewed this book as a means to crafting sermons like this one, then I would view this book as an applicable source to YOUR life, rather than also my own.

I would rarely or never be convicted when reading something.

There would be no real transformation that comes out of my time in the word. This is not transformative reading…

This is why James says,

Read James 1:22

James 1:22 NKJV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

This isn’t one of those things that puts your faith into a position of a hot mess overnight.

Instead, it is a slow but sure transition from intimacy with God to knowledge about God.

Similarly, maybe you’ve come here today with much knowledge about Jesus, but you don’t know Him personally. There’s a huge difference between these two positions.

It’s important to be in God’s word each day, not just so we can quote more Bible verses to our friends and family, but most importantly so that we can experience its transformative power personally.

This will truly change everything.

III. Tell Someone Your Testimony

Chances are, even though we have talked about some practical steps today, you may be still wondering what you can do to keep your relationship with Christ strong.

My advise would be to tell someone!

This calls for, two different conversations.

The first has to do with your community, People you know who cares about you and wants to encourage you in your walk with Christ.

This is not some new development in the Christian world. Instead, it is something that the early Church modeled for us.

Read Acts 2:46-47a

Acts 2:46–47a NKJV

46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

This segment of scripture comes just after the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit powerfully came upon believers meeting together.

In a season when we feel like we’ve lost intimacy or passion in our faith, we must return to the community God has given us. Who are those people in your life?

Maybe the first step for you today is to text or call several people in your life who can be this type of community for you

and can be consistently in your life week to week, not just when you need it most.

But telling someone doesn’t just refer to telling them about your current season and situation.

There’s also the wonderful privilege we receive of sharing our own stories with others to provide encouragement to them as well.

Read John 9:25

John 9:25 NKJV

25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

This is one of the most incredible stories in all of scripture. Essentially, Jesus heals a man who was born blind.

But when doing so, he is questioned by religious leaders as to how this healing happened.

They are confused because they are trying to hold up two things alongside one another that, in their minds, seem to be present realities in the situation at hand.

First, “this guy Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath, which makes Him a sinner.”

But second, “how could a sinner like this heal someone like we’ve seen?”

Upon being questioned, the man healed makes the profound statement in verse 25. Simply put, he tells his story.

If you follow Christ, you have a story. A story of redemption.

Our stories consist of who we used to be, who we are now, and Jesus Christ who has changed us.

This is the story God wants other people to hear. Maybe your story will take place in a coffee meeting with someone who is curious about your faith, even though right now it is a hot mess.

Or maybe your story will take place at your child’s soccer or basketball practice this week that you get to continue deepening a new-found friendship with another parent. Whatever the case may be,

God is calling you and me to share our stories!

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot of ground today, and I don’t presume to know how you’re feeling in your faith. But there is one thing I do know. God sees you, and He knows exactly where you are.

We can often go through long seasons where we feel that God is distant, or we are distant, or we just don’t have the motivation to engage. We can feel disconnected, confused, and discouraged. And on some level, this is all natural and part of the ups and downs of life, but no one wants to feel that way in their faith.

The good news is this, your faith doesn’t have to be a hot mess. It can be a place of refreshing, healing, and hope… Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

If you’re weary and burdened today, then you’re in a good place.

Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Re-engage with Jesus today, get back on the path and remember again why you decided to follow Him in the first place.

And if you’ve never made that decision, then today is a great day to begin your everlasting journey with Jesus. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Let’s pray together.

Salvation:

The Word of God says in:

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:13 NKJV

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you’d would like to receive Jesus today, please pray this prayer with all of us:

Lord I believe that Jesus is the son of God, and that He died On the cross for my sins and His resurrection from the dead gives me eternal life. I ask forgiveness of my sins, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

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