malnourished at the table

Give us a visual picture of the church

Let us think about a dinner

table is a place for us to gather

who gathers?

guests

baby

child

parent

What is done at the table?

sometimes conversations

games

dinner is served— FOOD!

table is the church— just a gathering place

many different people sit around the table

different things are brought to the table at different times

people come in for a longing to fulfill their lonliness - to be with others

- people come in for a longing to fulfill their lonliness - to be with others

others come to get the latest gab

some are here just to play games

others come in hungry ready to eat

Just because this building is called the church and is designed to be a place to meet with and hear from God does not mean that is the only thing that can happen here

THINK ABOUT THIS....

restaurants all over CBus

and we are in a culture struggling with being overwieght

ALSO churches all over CBus

BUT we are seeing such spiritual immaturity because people are spiritually malnourished

Food is brought to a dinner table so that people may eat and be filled

Jesus is brought to the church/table because without Him we are just a gathering

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

I desire (because it’s laid out this way in Scripture) that BCC would be a diet and exercise church

eat clean

work out

SPIRITUAL MATURITY is not only for a select few

it is actually pretty easy

give your seat to Jesus

let Him run your life

feast on Him regularly

PROBLEM:

sometimes we don’t grow because the right food isn’t brought to the table or there is no food at all

often times though I see that the food has been offered but some are not eating

others are just picky eaters only taking what they want and leaving the rest

dessert first!

BECAUSE OF THIS:

many people claim a seat at the table

but their lives look nothing like Christ

say that they are being fed

but show signs of being malnourished

church is the table

jesus is the food

often times as pastor I get to prepare your Sunday dinner

I don’t cook a lot but there are some foods that you just can’t hardly mess up

good news about the Gospel of Jesus

as long as I follow the recipe book I will bring a good and healthy meal to you every week

IF WE GATHER AT CHURCH AND DON’T HAVE JESUS THEN WE ARE JUST A GROUP OF PEOPLE IN A BUILDING

JESUS IS THE KEY INGREDIENT TO OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES

Different seats for different people:

Guest seat

Baby seat - infants

children

parent

guest seat is for people who are not part of the family

not yet children of God

actually they are far from Him

BCC— it is our job to keep sending out dinner invites to people that we share life with

when they come we will serve them Jesus and when they choose to partake then we will watch them move through the chairs

when lost people hear the Gospel they will be compelled to allow Jesus to have control over their lives

at this moment they will no longer be a guest but they will become an infant in God’s family

HOW DO WE HANDLE GUESTS?

they have different rules than the rest of the family

I let my guests do things that my kids aren’t allowed to do when they come over

because they are not part of the family they have different expectations

As guests come into our church they are free to act differently than the rest of the family

they will be sinful minded

they will dress different

talk different

walk different

and think different than we do

I HAVE NO EXPECTATIONS FOR THEM TO BE LIKE PART OF GOD’S FAMILY BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT YET EXPERIENCED GOD

On the other hand I would not allow a guest to come in and harm my family

If you sit at my dinner table and begin to use foul language in front of my kids

I will kindly let you know that we don’t talk like that while we are here

I don’t have expectations they won’t talk like that on their own but it’s not okay for my kids to be exposed to that

If I think that someone is going to hurt my kids in a serious way I have plans of action to insure that my kids and wife are safe

NO MATTER THE COST

It is the same way here...

if you are here as our guest.... I am so glad that you are here

BUT if you think that you can come in a hurt my family

you don’t want to meet the protective dad side of my and you certainly don’t want to meet the protective dad side of our heavenly Father!

Seat 1 our guest

who have you invited to join you for dinner lately?

do you have expectations from your non-believer friends and family that are only family rules?

SEAT 2

infant seat

this is where baby Christians sit

they are starting to learn how to be a part of the family but there is grace and mercy extended because of their immaturity

they should not be in the infant seat for more than a few months— supernatural growth when you are being fed the milk of the word

Sarah & travis analogy

feed her

clean her

hold her

comfort her

teach her basics of life

we do this because she is a baby

travis

not as willing to feed him

clean him

hold him

comfort him in the same way

expect the he should know the basics of life

BECAUSE he is in his 20’s

let me use an annalogy

let’s say that my friend Timmy just came to faith

I won’t be upset when some of his sinful past shows itself

I will teach him how to look to God for direction and watch his life transform

I’m willing to clean up some of his messes

and to carry him when necessary

my other friend Tommy has been a believer for a couple of years and is still sitting in the infant seat because they have been malnourished for so long

they spout off anytime they don’t get their way

ADULT TANTRUM

their lives do not reflect Jesus and they keep making excuses

THIS IS NO LONGER CUTE!

IF GOD HAS NOT CHANGED YOU THEN HE HAS NOT SAVED YOU!

We will not be the same but the old ways will pass away and we WILL become new

I am asking that you look at your life and check to see if you are still in an infant seat and if you’ve been there longer than maybe 6 months that you are overstayed your welcome in that seat

it’s time to take what Jesus has brought you and apply it into your life

How do we react to babies?

with grace

we know that they are learning and will still make bad decisions

we help show them the right way

teach them how to mature in their faith

Chair 3

Child-teenager

spend more time in this chair but continuously grow in maturtiy

IF WE ARE NOT GROWING IN OUR FAITH THEN WE ARE NOT ALLOWING CHRIST TO MOVE IN OUR LIVES

kids no longer act like babies

quit messing themselves

feed themselves

clean themselves

have chores and responsiblities

still learning

learning the importance of not dating or marrying non-believers

even though that limits the dating pool significantly it’s not worth the compromise

Begin learning financial responsibility

10% of everything that you make give to the church

enjoy being a baby

but as we grow we learn why we give

feed themselves

begin reading Bible

Chores

it’s harder for a while for my kids to “help” clean their room

causes me more work

BUT it helps them to grow

SO how do we interact with spiritual children

with the appropriate grace for their spiritual age but with discipline so that they will grow and mature

with a heart to teach them and invest in them

Chair 3

PARENT

continue doing what you’ve done to get into chair 3

and repeat

not only feeding yourself but now you are feeding others

handle situations with maturity

faith is now more consistant in your life

continuing to flee sin and pursue rigtheousness

YOU WILL NOT GROW IF YOU ARE NOT FEASTING ON JESUS REGULARLY

YOU WILL NOT PLEASE GOD IF YOU ARE NOT GROWING

JESUS IS AVAILABLE TO YOU FOR GROWTH BUT WE MUST EACH MAKE A CHOICE TO DIGEST HIS TRUTH— THAT MEANS THAT WE WILL HAVE TO EAT SOME THINGS THAT WE DON’T LIKE