Sticky Faith - Contagious

We have been in an interesting time over the past couple years correct?

COVD 19 has placed us in a position our lives have been forever changed.

ELABORATE HERE ABOUT THE CHANGES WE HAVE SEEN

We can literally look around and see that nothing will ever be the same.

One of the words that has been thrown around a lot is the word CONTAGIOUS.

What does it mean to be contagious?

Contagious: is something that is transmissible by direct or indirect contact

If someone is infected then surely we are contagious.

The original reason for the mask when COVID first started was to make sure that no one would spread the infection that if they were INFECTED they were CONTAGIOUS.

IF YOU WANT TO FLOW HERE THATS FINE MAKE IT FUN

We are familiar with this concept.

Now let’s make it biblical.

As believers we want to be contagious…..we want who are, what we do, what we believe….be contagious. We want people to catch what we have and that is the Spirit of God that lives on the inside of us.

Side note because I want to make sure that you all know What lives on the inside of us the believer and that is the Holy Spirit:

John 14:17: even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

2 Tim 1:14 - By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

1 Co 3:16–17 God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Cor 6:19 - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Contagious  means that we are to be the example which brings us to our foundational verse for today.

****Get to Work ****

Paul tells Timothy to be the example.

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

But this is hard sometimes right? When you want to do something else or be someone else, but you know that God has called you to a higher standard. As believers we have a commission to live a different life.

We are called to be salt and light, we are called to light up the dark places and set the tone.

As difference makers, we are called to set the temperature not adjust to it.

But sometimes…….we that person is pushing the right buttons, when that family member is telling all your business, when that assignment is just not coming together we have the temptation to do something out of character.

I have personally had some struggles with this. With being the example, it is hard! It’s hard waking up every day knowing that eyes will be on me, that people know I am Christian and I have to deal with the constant probing and surveying of how I do things, how I answer question, how I react to what is said to me, what is said about and most of all what is said about my God.

However, being the example for me, is a must. I have a family to lead. My wife and children need to see my prayer life, they need to see me studying the word of God, listening to worship music, they need to see my worship.

Being the example for you may look complete different, some of your friends need to see and have you pray for them as a reminder that God actually loves them. Some of you need to pray for each other for you have a reminder that God loves you.

I know that my life is an example for others.

I know that I have to be CONTAGIOUS.

WE all have to be Contagious Christians.

Being a contagious Christian means that something is on the inside of you, that you know the Spirit of the Living God, lives on the inside of you.

You may not be able to HIM but HE is there

We often hear when people say someone’s laughter is CONTAGIOUS or someone’s smile is CONTAGIOUS

And this is exactly how we should want to live, when people see our lives they want to know about the God that we serve.

People should want what we have.

Being the example for people is a way that we are contagious. Paul explains to Timothy that he needs to be an example in different areas of his life, so that others will know what it means to be a man or woman of God.

If we look in the book of Hebrews we see in Chapter 11 there were men and women who’s life was contagious. It wasn’t perfect and they had to have sticky faith, but God always comes through on His promises.

It says in

Titus 2:7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Our lives are on display, I heard a quote before and it said:

Some people will never come to church, listen to a minister, read their bible. They’re reading your life and watching you closely. Be the light God has called you to be.

Be CONTAGIOUS

(Transition) When we are contagious and we want people to feel what we have we have to get close to them in order to infect them.

When it comes to being contagious or being an example for other people we have to ask ourselves this question are we AFFECTING PEOPLE OR ARE WE INFECTING PEOPLE?

AFFECT MEANS: touch the feelings of (someone); move emotionally.

INFECT MEANS: spread from one to another what is in or on

“We don’t want to affect people we want to infect people.”

Affecting people is good for a moment but infection changes lives.

Example:

We meet someone we have a good conversation, we share similar interests, we mention something about how blessed we are.

But we leave it there we don’t talk about Jesus, we don’t ask them if they know Jesus.

When we INFECT someone, when they leave the conversation there should be no confusion that we are believers. We talk about how great God is, how we have what we because of the Grace of God.

And listen we don’t have to make it weird or awkward, just give Glory to God.

Affecting someone has everything to do with how we make them feel right then and there. We hear it all the time about the vibe we get from someone. We get an emotion but when we infect someone there is a transformation to their insides.

Illustration:

My son is in daycare and my daughter is in Kindergarten. Now if you have little siblings or are around them, you know that little kids always spread what they have. When both of my kids where in daycare I remember picking them up and of course as the kids are playing on the playground I am watching and enjoying that my kids are playing with their friends and having fun.

Then I seen a little girl on the other side of the playground, do the biggest sneeze for a 2 year old.

Now she did do it in her hand, but what she did next was out of this world.

She went right back to playing with the toys and the other kids.

She was touching the other kids and all the toys.

So of course I’m thinking oh man, that little girl just spread all her germs on all the other kids.

Just like that little girl though, we should be spread the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone that we know as well. All those kids probably took home what that little girl had.

When we was the last time you did something, said something, that gave God glory, that when you did it, the people around you took it home with them.

When we have an amazing service on Sunday, how many of us make statuses about it that day or Monday, how many of us talk about it on Monday. How many of us think about it on Monday.

Some of you had a life transforming experience a youth camp how many shared that with one of your friends?

Affecting people means telling them about the zipline, the paintball, the water fight

Infecting people means telling them you worshiped different then you ever have, telling them how Holy Spirit spoke to the hurt you were experiencing, telling them how God impacted other around you and you saw their lives change.

We want to INFECT PEOPLE NOT JUST AFFECT PEOPLE.

What does the WORD of GOD say about spreading what we have:

Matthew 28:18-20 is called the great commission. Here we are specifically called to infect people.

18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“We are called to go out and share what we have, exposing people to the power that is on the inside of us, the love that God showed when he sent Jesus to die on the cross.”

Psalm 96:3

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

Mark 16:15:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Romans 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The bible encourages us to spread what we have in order for others to experience the LOVE OF GOD.

The only way that we can INFECT people is that we have to be CONTAGIOUS.

WE have to

POINT #1

GET CLOSE:

We have to get close enough to people for them to catch what we have. This means not shying away from opportunities to be around people and living the Christian life.

***I am not saying that we have to partner with people to do and live in sin, because we are reminded that we are in the world but not be of it.

What I am saying is that we have to be bold Christians, courageous Christians and not cower away when it comes to saying I’m a Christian, I know Jesus is my Lord and savior.

I will put it this way……we serve a powerful God, one that loves us, cares for us, provides for us…..it would be a shame if we were praying for God to come on the scene for us and he is cowering because he doesn’t want people to think some type of way…..so lets not do that to our creator, our savior, our lord.

2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

We have to get CLOSE ENOUGH TO PEOPLE FOR THEM TO SEE THE GOD ON THE INSIDE OF US, BECAUSE THEY CAN SEE IT FROM A DISTANCE

FIRE IS SPREAD THROUGH PROXIMITY.

IF

WHEN SOMETHING IS ON FIRE IF WE ARE FAR AWAY FROM IT WE MAY FEEL THE HEAT BUT WE DON’T GET BURNED.

WE MAY HAVE A PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO IT, BE AFFECTED EVEN

BUT IT IS NOT UNTIL WE GET UPCLOSE WILL WE HAVE A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE WITH IT

WE HAVE TO GET CLOSE IN ORDER TO INFECT AND MAKE TRANSFORMATION HAPPEN

POINT #2

“GET FREE”

“take off the mask”

“get free from the imposter”

Discuss ⇉When we affect people they often do not have symptoms, when we infect them they soon will show symptoms.

You every try to hold back a sneeze or a cough.

You look weird right?

I remember when COVID was at a all time high and we couldnt even sneeze or cough in public, because we didnt want people looking at us weird.

But listen we can no longer hold back what is on the inside of us, Holy Spirit gives us symptoms and spend so much pushing it down. And if we do that long enough we will we suppress Holy Spirit when we need Him the most.

“Pray for those youth that have been having a hard time sharing their faith”