Taking the Christian Life Seriously
Notes
Transcript
Preliminary:
Preliminary:
Invite to 1 Peter 4
Thanks: Songs & Testimonies
We are living in a time of wars and rumors of wars. A time when the thought of living off the grid and stockpiling weapons and food is a popular and growing trend.
We are hit with an onslaught of entertainment and desensitizing media to help numb and dumb our sensibilities
One has rightly stated:
All the great empires were wrecked in wars engaged on the periphery of their reign
We are rife with extreme dividing lines, parties, groups, and politics
While I am not here to add to the hype and drama of our age - I am here with a message from God - that in a world and society that screams, “Don’t take yourself too seriously” I want to remind you that God declares we are to take the Christian life very seriously
I would like to talk to you about that a little bit this morning with God’s help:
Taking the Christian Life Seriously
Lets begin by reading some scripture turn with me to 1 Peter 4:7.
1 Peter 4:7 reads
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
On average, there are approximately 648 cyber-attacks per minute
If that statistic is true, then there has been over 1000 cyber-attacks while I have been speaking this morning.
This staggering number highlights the constant threat that organizations face in the digital age.
A corporation, a company, a municipality, a person cannot afford to have their data and computers attacked although many of us have been there.
This underscores the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and continuous vigilance to protect sensitive information and systems from malicious activities.
A current and growing issue is what is referred to as ATM Jackpotting
Through either physical access, malware installation or some other form of illegal hacking and cyber attack a criminal is able to manipulate and force an ATM machine to dispense large amounts of cash.
Millions of dollars have been taken this way.
Instead of using brute force, my brother Jeff worked for a time at a meat market in Winfield, MO called Browns.
It was a successful little business for awhile. On one occasion when Vernon wanted to expand his business he purchased an ATM and installed it in the store.
One night some guys backed a big truck up to the store, put a chain around the ATM and just dragged it off.
Instead of brute force like that - attacker the weakest link is targeted. Its interior software and operating systems.
In the next chapter Peter reminds us that we have an adversary the devil, who is as a stalking roaring lion just looking for whom he may devour.
This frightening description is prefaced with the same command and imperative as our text, “Be sober”
Take it seriously, be self controlling, be thinking clearly,
“Be ye therefore sober” or clearly thinking, self-controlled
To think and live wisely in self-control over one’s passions and desires
Three ways I want to encourage you to take the Christian life seriously:
Take a resolute and firm stand against sin
A Christian is out of the sin business and says NO
1 John 3:8–9“8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. .... 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
Temptations abound, thinks may appeal and allure - but the Christian says because of grace and the regenerated heart - NO!!!
The Bible abounds with examples of this but I’ll just share two extremely familiar
Hebrew boys and the fiery furnace
Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.
Taking the Christian life seriously means we are intentional and deliberate about our choices, motives, and actions
Jesus teaches that anything that would draw us away from a closer relationship with Him should be stopped, cut off, taken away.
He gives us an example of the seriousness of sin and how seriously we should take it saying we should take even radical measures to avoid it.
Matthew 5:29–30 “29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
In his book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” Aron Ralston's recounts his harrowing story
Aron Ralston was an experienced outdoorsman and adventurer. Born on October 27, 1975, he developed a deep love for the wilderness, especially the canyons and mountains of the American West.
On April 26, 2003, Ralston embarked on what was supposed to be a routine day of canyoneering in Blue John Canyon, a remote and narrow slot canyon in southeastern Utah. He didn’t inform anyone of his plans, which became a critical detail in the unfolding of events.
The Accident
While descending a narrow section of the canyon, a boulder dislodged and trapped Ralston’s right hand against the canyon wall.
Despite his best efforts, he was unable to free himself. Ralston was trapped, completely alone, with little food and water.
For five days, he tried everything he could think of to dislodge the boulder or free his hand, but nothing worked. As his situation grew more dire, Ralston recorded farewell messages to his family, fully expecting that he would not survive.
The Decision
On the sixth day, Ralston saw the arm trapped by the boulder had begun to decompose and after accidentally slicing the tip of his thumb while trying to chip away at the boulder, he had a sudden realization.
In an interview with TLC recounting his miraculous escape, Ralston explained: "It ripped part of the skin off of my thumb, kind of like the way an old blister will rip away.
"And so that made me curious, and I started prodding around and I stuck the knife down in and at my thumb at that spot. It slid in like I was just sliding it into a pad of warm butter."
He continued: "It went in - I couldn't feel it of course - but it went in about a half inch and then this this hissing sound of gas, the decomposition gases releasing from inside my arm where they'd been building up, as my arm was decomposing over those five days."
If you allow sin to keep you trapped it will be like your flesh decomposing while still attached. It was Paul who talked about the reality of sin being like a body of death
A gruesome form of punishment and execution in that day where a condemned murderer would have the body of their victim tied to them their decomposing and rotting flesh eating away at their own.
Sin is not anything to trifle with - especially as Christians - we have to take a firm and resolute stand against it - its NO
Ralston noted hearing the alarming sound 'threw [him] into a panic' and went further than just 'scaring' him.
"It appalled me. It was a gruesome concept that my hand was decaying while still attached to my body and I started yanking my hand, my arm, and I was giving it everything that I had," he continued.
And as he was 'twisting [himself] around trying to slide [his] arm up and down' suddenly it 'came to' him.
"This epiphany, that I could break the bones because my arm was caught so tightly that I could torque myself."
Using his body weight, Ralston slammed himself against the opposite wall of the canyon snapping both the bones with the sound reverberating throughout the valley.
Facing almost certain death, Ralston realized that his only chance of survival was to amputate his own arm.
Using a dull multi-tool knife, he performed the harrowing task, severing his arm just below the elbow.
This excruciating process took several hours, but Ralston’s incredible will to live drove him to complete it.
After the Amputation
After freeing himself, Ralston still had to find a way out of the canyon. He rappelled down a 65-foot cliff one-handed and then hiked for several miles before finally encountering a family who was hiking in the area. They were able to alert rescuers, and Ralston was airlifted to safety. His remarkable survival story became widely known, and Ralston later wrote a book titled, which detailed his experience.
Spiritual Parallels
Aron Ralston’s decision to amputate his arm can be seen as a literal example of the drastic action Jesus advocates in Matthew 5:29-30.
Ralston recognized that losing his arm, though an extreme and painful measure, was necessary to save his life.
In a spiritual sense, Jesus calls believers to take similarly radical steps to remove sin from their lives, even if it involves great sacrifice. We’re not just talking about getting out of a Canyon - we’re talking about our eternal soul - that will live forever somewhere -
TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!!!!
Follow the will of God - no matter what
No matter where He leads - He will take you where you are most happy and satisfied.
In the center of God’s will is the only place of true contentment and happiness. Even if it is hard and rough.
No one said it would be easy, but sometimes you have to do the difficult things to get to where you want and need to be.
No one said it would be easy - but they have said It’s worth it!!!
It’s worth it to follow God
It’s worth it to take the Christian life seriously
It’s worth it to take time to be holy
it’s worth it to live in the center of God’s will
it’s worth it to be what Christ intends for you to be!!!
It’s worth it because you will be blessed in good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over,
It’s worth it because God is with you
It’s worth it because you are living in God’s smile and peace that passes understanding.
Oh the joy of sins forgiven oh the bliss the blood washed know oh the peace akin to heaven - where the healing waters flow -
That’s what it is to follow God we can have the testimony of the Apostle Paul
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
But that only comes to those who take the Christian life seriously who fight the good fight , who contend for the faith , who keep the faith.
Take seriously the urgency of the moment:
We are not promised tomorrow - we really are not even promised the rest of today
If at this very moment - this very second you were called on by God to give an account of your life - how would it be?
We are admonished by Peter to take the Christian life seriously because we are on a timeline, we are on time crunch, we are running out of time
We don’t know how much time we have - it is imperative that we let the distractions go, let what others think of us go, and take our Christian walk seriously.
In May of 2022 Darren Harrison, 39, was flying on a single-engine Cessna plane from the Bahamas to Florida along with one other friend when the pilot experienced a medical emergency and passed out.
The single-engine Cessna began a rapid nose-dive descent
Harrison called it “the "scariest" moment of the entire ordeal.”
Things are going to come upon us at the most inopportune and unexpected places and times and we are going to need to be taking our Christian walk seriously
It’s not time to be rearranging pictures on the wall when the house is burning down to borrow lines from an old Gaither song
It’s not time to be praying up in a crisis - being a person who takes their Christian walk seriously and soberly is alert and watching for these things. Expecting the unexpected - the traps and tests of the devil who is out to devour
Harrison climbed over three rows of seats into the cockpit as the plane was in a nosedive and moved the unconscious pilot out of the way so he could put on the headphone and alert air traffic control to the situation.
"I’ve got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane," Harrison said, according to audio from a call he made to air traffic control at the Fort Pierce tower.
Air traffic controllers and part-time flight instructor Robert “Bobby” Morgan instructed him in how to safely fly and land the plane at Palm Beach International Airport.
Now here is the part I want you to get:
An incident report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office says a call came in at about 12:27 p.m. for an unconscious pilot with “three souls on board." About 10 minutes after the call, around 12:38 p.m., the plane landed safely.
10 MINUTES - to react - if he had been carried away with some other distraction, or lost in his own things, or just taking it as a joke - we would have a whole other story.
This morning I want to ask - are you taking your Christian walk seriously or is it just a Sunday morning thing?
Just a camp meeting time thing?
Just a , when I’m around religious people thing?
Just as All the great empires were wrecked in wars engaged on the periphery of their reign - we are hit with many temptations to just live and let live - but God’s word calls us to an alert, and committed, devoted life a life that Take’s the Christian Life seriously
Give some time to pray if anyone is interested.