Untitled Sermon (2)

James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Lets define a term here. When it says to be friends with the world it means people who are of this world. Well we all live on this earth. What does it mean not to have friends here? When the Bible talks about people of this earth it is talking about people who are not focused on things of God. God is not on this Earth, He is in heaven which is somewhere out there apart from us. When you are saved, Christ comes into our lives and He begins to change things. The way we act, the way we talk, the conversations that we have, the thoughts that we have, the way we behave with others. Everything changes, and for the better too. Jesus comes into our lives and He begins to make the best version of you that there can possibly be…if you will let Him. One of the biggest decisions you will make is to be saved. The next biggest decision will be living out your life as a changed Christ follower. A major aspect of deciding to follow Christ, an area that He will change you is separating yourself from who you once were. The old self. Sadly, in the majority of the cases, that begins with cutting you off from some of your friends. You made a great decision to change your life forever, but many of them have not. You have made a wonderful decision to live your life in the right way, but they have not. You have made a righteous decision to intentionally please God, and they have not.

Do you see the issue here? You are living right in the eyes of God, and they are not. It is as different as white is from black. Now you may have nice friends, you may have friends that just everybody loves, but until they have given their life to Christ and they are living for the Lord earnestly with their lifestyle then they will only bring you down. It is only a matter of time. It’s not if they will bring you down, but when and how.

I am sure some of you know that what I am saying is true, and you are right now struggling internally being faced with the fact that you need to distance yourself from some people in your life, but you know that it will affect you here in school. Let me read you something from Galatians, maybe something that you have already heard before..

Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

If you are going to follow Christ you will have to make difficult decisions. Decisions that you know are right, but do not make them any easier. It may cost you an invite to that party, or that hangout, or whatever it is. It may cost you some other friends that seek to stay loyal to worldly ones. It might cause you to think that you are “less cool”, but I assure you that there is nothing better in this world than pursuing Christ. All of this will fade away. High school, heartaches, friendships, what you did on the court, what you did on the field, what you did in the ring, even what you do in the classroom. It fades away, but your relationship with Christ remains forever, and if you choose your worldly friends over Him while you are in these moments then you will live with regrets, and those are not easily shaken. Trust me.

It will be hard, but you can lean on me. You can lean on Richard. You can lean on coach Goodwin, or any teacher who stood here before you and proclaimed Christ. Everyone has come to support YOU. That is what we are here for. Christians helping Christians. If you need a little support, reach out.