Sermon Tone Analysis

*VIP CHRISTIANITY (Vital, Influential, Practical)*

*         1        Christianity and You                       Col.

1:15-29*

*         2        Christianity and Your Life             James 4:13-17*

*         3        Christianity and Your Faith            Rom.

10:11-21*

*         4        Christianity and Your Church       Mt.

16:13-20*

*         5        Christianity and Your Home           Ps.

127*

*         6        Christianity and Your School                   Mt.

18:1-14; Prov.

22:6*

*         7        Christianity and Your Friends        Jn.

15:11-16*

*         8        Christianity and Your Time            Eph.

5:15-20; 1Cor.

7:29-31*

*          9        Christianity and Your Work           2Thes.

3:6-13*

*         10      Christianity and Your Play             Ps.

16*

*         11      Christianity and Your World                   Mk.

16:14-20*

 

The next 11 messages will focus on the subject of vital, influential, and practical Christianity.

It is all these things because the Christian message is relevant, and because of that, you are important as a Christian.

You are the one whom God has chosen to reveal his message of truth through various means.

It is relevant because Christianity works – at least it is supposed to – at least we would like it to – and it does when we get it right – and by God’s grace, sometimes even when we haven’t got it all right yet.

After all, it cost enough that it should work well.

It cost the blood of Christ.

A young boy was overheard as he stood with his father during a major auto show listening to the manufacturer’s representative tell about all of the visionary electronic and mechanical technological features of the new prototype models to come out in the next 2 to 3 years.

The excited lad edged up as close as he could with some inevitable questions on his mind.

“Daddy,” he started, “please ask the lady how much this car costs.”

The good-natured speaker, overhearing the child’s request, supplied the answer, naming a considerable sum of money.

“My,” remarked the father, impressed, “our new church cost as much as that!”

The words were hardly out of his mouth when the boy, pointing at the automobile, innocently interjected, “Yes, Daddy, but /this/ works!”

A fair number of years in the Christian faith have shown us that many in the church have this same attitude of realization as the little boy, although perhaps not so innocently.

They have looked to the church for answers but have found much failure.

The church has not met all our expectations, and from the stream of seekers that come in and go out of the church, it hasn’t met all theirs either.

Of course, some problems and unrealistic expectations are our own fault.

Many people are just not yet ready to submit to the Lordship of Jesus.

But there is some justification for acknowledging that things could work better in most churches.

Vital Christianity, rightly related to everyday life, is hard to find in much of the organized religion of today.

In the words of the practical proverb coined upon our lips by all of us at one time or another, we must practice what we preach.

To show how Christianity /can/ /work/ and /should work/ in everyday life is the aim of this series.

It is important because the Christian is God’s example on display.

The world wants to see how God works.

They want to see if God is real for them.

God wants to reveal himself through us.

According to the /Bergen /(N.J.) /Record, /the zoo in Copenhagen, Denmark, recently put a human couple on display.

Henrik Lehmann and Malene Botoft live in a see-through cage, in the primate display, next to the baboons and the monkeys.

Their 320-square-foot habitat has a living room with furniture, a computer, a television, and stereo.

The kitchen and bedroom are part of the display.

Only the bathroom is excluded from public view.

Unlike their neighbors, who aren't allowed out, the two humans occasionally leave their fishbowl existence to shop and water the flowers on their porch back home.

"We don't notice visitors anymore," said Lehmann.

"If I want to pick my nose or my toes now, I do it."

We would do well to remember that people are watching the way we live.

"In everything set them an example by doing what is good" (Titus 2:7).

/-Parade Magazine /(12~/29~/96) /(Marriage, Privacy)/

 

 

*/SERIES:    VIP CHRISTIANITY /*

*/SUBJECT/*: Christianity and You

*/READING/*: Colossians 1:21-29

*/TEXT/*:        “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27).

*/DATE:/*        March 14, 1999

* *

*     I.

The Majesty of This Life in Christ (1:15)*

*1)  His Creative Life (1:16-17)*

*2)  His Redemptive Life (1:18, 20)*

*   II.

The Mystery of This Life in Christ (1:27)*

*1)  The Miracle of His Incoming (1:27)*

*2)  The Measure of His Indwelling (1:27)*

*  III.

The Ministry of This Life in Christ (1:28)*

*1)  The World Must Be Reached Through Us (1:27-28)*

*2)  The Word Must Be Preached Through Us (1:27-28)*

Introduction

Captain Reginald Wallis, whose evangelistic crusades and convention ministry blessed thousands of young and old on both sides of the Atlantic, used to define the word “Christian” as follows: He would say, “Spell out the word C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.

Then take the letter ‘A’ from the end of the word and put it at the beginning.

Now what do you read?”

The answer, of course, was —“A CHRIST IN.”

With great earnestness he would then add: “A Christian is a man or woman who has Christ living in him, or her.”

The Bible teaches that man by nature is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.

2:1).

In other words, because of sin, he is devoid of that divine element which makes him alive to God.

This fact can be true of any man or woman, regardless of educational, cultural or even religious refinements.

God’s answer to this basic deficiency is life as it is in Christ.

I.        The Majesty of This Life in Christ

Christ “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (1:15).

Here is a statement which declares that all that God represents is embodied in what Jesus Christ is.

He is the image of the invisible God; He is the radiance of the glory of God.

In the passage before us, this outshining of God is manifested in:

*1)      His Creative Life*

“By him were all things created…and by him all things hold together” (1:16-17).

As John tells us in his gospel, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).

The countless constellations of our universe were brought into being by the creative act of the Son of God.

What is more, they hold together, or consist, by the same outgoing of divine power.

Only in recent years have scientists realized that everything that holds together must have an integrating point.

And they are absolutely correct in their assumption, for, centuries ago, Paul declared that by Christ all things consist or hang together (1:17).

What a glorious concept this is of the majesty of the creative life of Christ.

Scientists tell us that everything in the universe is expanding at an equal rate away from everything else.

They use this to support the Big Bang Theory.

Whether or not you believe that theory, I have wondered something else.

If everything is expanding away from everything else, there must be a center away from which everything is expanding.

Even though everything is expanding, it is that center which holds it together.

It is what everything in the universe has in common.

That center must be God.

And God is Christ.

He is not only the center of the universe and of all creation, he is the center of your life.

And he has place his creative powers in you.