World Day of Prayer Sermon 2007
World Day of Prayer Sermon
With today's technology, we can tape a TV program and fast-forward past the commercials to get to the program. With the sorry state of a lot of shows today, it might be smarter to fast forward past the program and just watch the commercials. A lot of them are more entertaining than the show they're part of! There's one I've seen recently that's a little strange, but I sure do remember it. It's advertising a particular pain reliever. They start their fairly annoying advertisement for the product and then suddenly interrupt it for this one aggravated person looking at the camera. They've got this great line, addressed to the company whose product is being advertised: "I hate your commercials - but I love your product!"
I have to be brutally honest with you about this Christian thing. A lot of people really don't like our commercials. The advertisements for Jesus are the people who claim to follow Him - like me; the churches and organizations that claim to operate in His name. And it may be that your experiences with Christians and Christianity have caused you to say, "I hate your commercials." There are many bright and attractive representatives of Jesus, but there are also a lot who don't represent Him very well.
My appeal to you is this: Don't miss the product just because you don't like the "commercials." The issue is, in the Bible's words, "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:2). Jesus and the cross where He died for you.
There's a great story in the Bible about Jesus that makes the point pretty well. Let me just let the story speak for itself. It's in Mark 2, beginning with verse 1, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. "When Jesus entered Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven' ... He said to the paralytic ... 'Get up, take your mat and go home.' He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all."
Here was a man whose only hope was Jesus, but there were all these people and obstacles between him and Jesus. They could have turned away, and this man would have never experienced the healing and the forgiving touch of Jesus. But they didn't let the hindrances stop them. He got to Jesus, no matter what it took, and he was healed.
That can be you, if you'll look past the disappointing commercials - beyond Christians - and just look at Christ. He said, "Follow Me," so it's all about Jesus. He didn't say follow My followers or follow My religion. He said, "Follow Me." Don't let bad commercials make you miss the product - the only man who loved you enough to die for every sin you've ever committed. The only man who was willing and able to go through our hell so we could have heaven. The only man in history powerful enough to beat death by walking out of His grave under His own power. There's nothing not to love about this man. And this man is who you have to decide about. The hypocrites, the poor examples, the mistakes Christians make; none of those have a thing to do with where you'll spend eternity. It's all about Jesus - now and forever.
And today this Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, giving you an opportunity to find what you've been looking for your whole life. His "product" is eternal life. And only He can provide it, because He's the only One who could pay for it with His life. You could make this your Jesus-day by reaching out to Him in your heart and saying, "Jesus, I've missed you all these years, but I want You. I need You. You're my only hope of knowing God, of having my sins forgiven, of going to heaven when I die. Jesus, I'm Yours."
There will be one question on God's final exam one day: "What did you do with Jesus?"
2 Chronicles 7:-14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chron. 7:14 lists four conditions for revival: humility, prayer, earnest seeking of God, and repentance.
Introduction: His eye is on the Sparrow. . .and I know he watches me!
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[1]Osbeck, K. W. (1990). Amazing grace : 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions. Includes indexes. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications.