Christian Living

Dear Brethren,

America was founded on the belief in a Creator God who bestowed on us the nation-building laws, statutes, and judgments that we needed to succeed in this new land.  Our founding fathers looked to Divine guidance for direction.  He was our God and we were His people.  Not perfectly by any means – but we openly proclaimed ourselves to be a Christian, a God-fearing nation.  As a result of God's fulfillment of His promises, we have enjoyed the freedom of religion to openly practice our faith.  It is only because we are Abraham’s children that we are the recipients of these national blessings of greatness.  God promised, “All these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God.”  (Deuteronomy 28:2)

Today, if you mention “Christianity, ” a lot of people are immediately turned off.  Why is that?  Let’s recognize the facts.  “Christianity” has a bad name, and often, deservedly so.  Take history, for example, and see how many wars have been fought in the name of “Christianity.”  Unethical teachers, judges, politicians, and immoral priests continue to give religion a bad name.  Look at the outlandish wide-eyed religious "kooks" that the news media so frequently represent as typical of all preachers.  And, too many mainstream “Christians ” say one thing and do another, causing some to say that all Christians are hypocrites.

There is another way that “Christianity ” is suffering a reversal:  While many citizens would still hold that America is a Christian nation, there are strong secular forces at work who wish to remove every vestige of faith-based religion from society.  The mainstream media and the liberal left are actively working to impose the removal of every trace of God, prayer, religion, and the Ten Commandments from the public domain in an effort to make America a full-fledged atheist nation in unity with the godless heathens of the world.   Our current political regime is supplanting the founding Judeo-Christian principles upon which our great nation was founded.  Those who do not recognize that it was God who bestowed great national power and wealth on this, our modern Israelitish nation, have usurped our Constitutional form of government.

We in God’s Church tend to stay above the fracas – knowing that we are true Christians who enjoy a special relationship with God.  But, therein, lies a potential danger.  We must be careful because Satan is able to sow the seeds of spiritual vanity in us when we take for granted our unique status as children of God.  We know and keep the Ten Commandments – almost by rote.  We are appreciative of our national blessings – almost to the point of smugness.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we are just a little better than others.  “ …God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are."  (Luke 18:11)

The next thing you know, we can get to thinking that we are privileged persons – forgetting that judgment is on us right now – not on the world (1 Peter 4:17).  We do so much “church stuff” that we forget the finer points of Christian living.  We forget to stick to our commitments; we forget to honor our parents; we disregard the fact that we are to be living sacrifices; we fail to remember to keep our word; we get a little independent; and we forget humility and reconciliation – all the while “ knowing” what good Christians we are.  Let’s not forget that our high calling calls for a conduct quite a few notches above the rest of this passing world we live in.  “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conduct and Godliness.”  (2 Peter 3:11)

It is almost like we become “ Entitlement” Christians.  “We’ve paid our dues – we ’ve been in the Church a long time – we’ve gotten so comfortable that we might even begin to think that we’ve begun to live a life of privileged rewards.  Why has God preserved these Biblical epistles – these letters – for us today?  They are given to us so that we may know how to live according to Godly Christian principles – so that we have God’s instructions for Christian living.

In Paul’s letters we are given a snapshot of life in the Corinthian Church.  We are shown their misconceptions, sins, carnality, and the inspired correction that they received.  These words are words of life for us if we apply the principles and lessons in our daily lives.  Everything we have received and become has been given to us by God – it is for serving others – it is not ours to boast of, or to cash in on.  “ Who makes you to differ from another?  And what do you have that you did not receive?  Now if you did receive it, why do you sing your own praises, as though you had not received it?”  (1 Corinthians 4:7)

In this world of darkness, let us live our lives as shining lights to all, as Jesus Christ gave us example.

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Sermon:

"Christian Living"