Untitled Sermon (11)

When your pressured to not be christian like what can we do to stay and trust in God still.

Last week you guys asked a ton of questions and so Im thiking for the next few weeks we are going to tackle some of the questions you guys have, just in a more formal style. Questions are so good. yal. You ever missed out because you didn’t ask a question. For instance you know growing up my older sister and brother would go to the movie without me, I guess they really didn’t like me. But they would come back, and I would be like, hey why did you go without me? and they would say because you didnt say anything. ORrr that guy for you girls, or the girl for you guys, you are wondering if yall like each other, yall been looking at each other and finally hopefully the boy gets the courage to really ask her out. that ever happen to my kings. here is what the bible says about asking questions right here in Matthew 7:7 we see the words of jesus

““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” I have read that verse and sometimes thought this okay ima ask, nicely, then Im going to wait and if you don’t give me the answer Im gunna try to look for it myself. ok if I can’t find it im gunna ask again more intensely.

But really when I look at these verses that Jesus says right here, these are a promise, Matthew 7:7–8 ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” IT doesn’t say maybe, and it doesnt say youre going to be given what you want.

When look at asking a little deeper how we should ask for things 1 John 5:14–15 says “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” Here is what we shouldn’t do James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

So we need to pray to God, and ask him intently, and ask him for his will to be done and sought out. and have confidence in him doing that. I have gotten myself a lot of things just by simply asking.

When we ask God he doesn’t look down on us and laugh at us, or gets angry with us, he hears it., and in fact maybe we should ask him as intently as we ask for the things on this earth. Some of you guys will ask your parents something over and over again but maybe that is the same attitude we should have with the Lord.

Now with all of that being said I told you guys that we are going to kinda continue our session for last week on the questions you all had about God and the bible and everything. The question that we are talking about today is “When your pressured to not be christian like what can we do to stay and trust in God still.”

When you are pressured to not be a christian, I would first ask you where your pressure is coming from, there are 3 places I believe that you could be feeling pressure to not follow christ.

the first one is the world. John 15:18–20““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

There was some great things that were said this past weekend, One thing that Jason the speaker said was this, if you are listening to olivia rodrigo all of the time don’t wonder why you are sad, if you I listen to folklore by taylor swift all the time, I shouldnt ask why I feel depressed, If I listen to rap music all of the time, why am I thinking about cussing. and sure you may listen to the beat, but I know you listen to the words too. we ought to be careful about what we listen to and what watch. Becuase the world doesn’t want you to follow Christ. So you have to ask yourself, is it worth it for me to stay scrolling through my instagram reels for entertainment, when I know theres something I shouldn’t see. And you might say, I will scroll past it, but it just will come up again. Is it seriously worth having it. is it seriously worth having tik tok. Its great all up until that one video when someone is talking about how they believe God isn’t real. and you are now contriplating and questioning. These phones have time limits on them. set one if thats you. quit watching things just to be in the know of things.

Mark 4:24 “And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” the nkjv version says take heed to what your hear.

so if you feel this pressure and want to keep the faith, I would challenge you to what you are hearing and what you are watching.

The second place where you might feel pressure to be is your friends, this is great, we love friends, how many of yall have friends? How many of yall have one friend that say and do stupid stuff? how many of yall is that you

Here is what scriptures says,

1 Corinthians 5:11 “But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”

Notice how it says brother here, this is talking about people who claim to know jesus but are living that seperate lifestlye. We shouldnt associate with them Paul says, and not in the aspect of us not loving them but He says this for our own good, if I surround myself with people who think that it is good to say they love christ, but do otherwise thats not okay.

Some of yall are thinking ok what about my friends that don’t believe I can still be friends with them

2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

Listen I will be the first one up here to say that quitting friendships is tough, and my freshman year of college I stopped being friends with people in high school, not in a way that is rude to them but in way that just says Im going to do me. Eventually you have decide if you know that the friends you hang out with are bad for you, to stop being friends with them. being best friends with them and kicking it is one thing, being friends at a distance is another.

Lastly you might feel pressure to stop being chrsitian from yourself your flesh. you ever here that song Come thou fount. there is a line of it that says “Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. There are many ways where I myself feel prone to leave the Lord, prone to wander. Whether its me having had struggled with doubt, or if its me wanting to just give into my sin

Paul in the bible says this in Romans 7:19 “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

So what do we do with all of this pressure?????

Hebrews 10:35–39 “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Be confident,

Be strong,

Trust in the Lord by reading the word,

Trust in the Lord by being obedient in your life

We have the promise.