FIRST TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2020

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN?

Key Verse: Luke 10

Just going to church doesn’t mean we are Christians.  The devil comes to church and he twistsGod’s word.  Demons believe in God and they shudder (James 2:19).

Being a Christian is going to cost us and challenge us. We are to read God’s word and do what Jesus taught.

Luke 10:25-37

TWO THINGS THIS MAN WANTED

1. He wanted to justify himself.

What makes me worth something?  We have anxiety because we need to know our life matters.

   2. He wanted to identity his group

He wanted to know who he had to love and who didn’t he have to love.  He knew the answer he wanted from Jesus but Jesus shocked him.

Shares the story of the Good Samaritan.

LUKE 10:30

The man that fell was not in his group.

People who don’t hang out together should love each other.  This happens by the work of the Holy Spirit.

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN?

1. Jesus is going to challenge our very identity.

He will ask us to forsake what we think our identity should be and tear down what we are trying to build up.

Luke 9:23

John 1:11

Jesus was not held captive to the priorities of the group.

2. Jesus is going to challenge our groups priority.

We find validation in our group, whatever group that is for us.

Other people define themselves by their group which is different from our group. There is a gravitational pull in the middle of our group that says stay with us or we will castigate you.

To be a Christian we need to let the Holy Spirit of God help us break free from the gravitational pull of the group and look at how we can actually love the other group.

Only through Jesus we can serve and love other people outside of our group.

Matthew 11:16-19

Some people cannot be pleased not matter what we do and that includes our group.  Jesus Kept reaching out to those that did not belong to his group.  He was always looking out for the outcast. Example: Woman who had 5 husbands. The Leper, etc.  He was always challenging members of his group, i.e. Peter etc.

It’s going cost us to love someone not in our group.  Christ demands us to forgive!

‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

3. Jesus is going to challenge our cultural sensibilities.

Luke 6:35

Love your enemies.

Can we forgive? What laws can’t do, Jesus steps in.

Luke 10:33

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN?

Being a Christian demands we love the one who devalues us but we cannot do it ourselves, we need the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:3-4