Upcoming Events to Know About!

Thank you so much for attending the parent meeting on Sunday! I hope it was helpful.

Our prayer walk through downtown Fairborn went extremely well! The students really stepped up to the plate and were bold in praying out loud, even if they were praying for a complete stranger. I am proud of them and you should be too!

As we look forward to our new 6th graders joining the youth group officially on September 4th (Promotion Sunday); to help ease the transition there will be several dates over the summer in which we would love to have them join us.

June 26th 5:00pm - 7:00pm Cook Out

We will cook out at Osborn park, play some ultimate frisbee and have a blast!

June 30th All day, Kings Island Trip

The park opens at 10:00am and closes at 10:00pm. We will leave the church at 9:00am to take advantage of the entire day. We will be back at the church by 11:00pm. Tickets cost $29 dollars.

August 31st, 6th grader & Parent get together

September 4th, Promotion Sunday

This is the Sunday when all the new 6th graders are officially accepted into the youth group.

 

Wednesday Nights in the Fall

This Fall on Wednesday nights we will be implementing a new discipleship program and I need your help! There is a separation between the church and the home which we need to overcome in order to be more effective in training our youth. Studies show that a student will go to their parents for spiritual advise long before coming to their youth pastor. With that in mind, I want to make sure that you are equipped to answer any questions they might have in a Biblical way. We also need to form a partnership so that you know what your students are learning here at church and can continue to help them apply it to their lives. On the other hand, I need to know what you are doing in your families to lead them spiritually so I can continue to re-enforce it. If you are not doing anything then let's talk so I can assist you in starting up some discipleship in the home!

We are loosing the battle of training students to run the race to completion. So many of them walk away from the church after graduation! We need to make sure that they are not simply leaning on your faith in God, but that they have a relationship with Christ that is real, personal, and grounded.

This Fall we will begin to use Wednesday nights in a small group format. I will lead a study on a specific topic and then we will break into small groups to help dissect the information. This way the students are learning how to find truth with your help. The amount of assistance I will need depends on the number of youth in attendance. At this point in time I can project that we will need two adults every Wednesday night to help lead small group discussion. All the material for leading group discussion will be provided. As we get closer to our launch date I will hold a meeting for all those interested in helping.

The idea behind this program is to not just preach at your kids until they assimilate some Biblical information, but it is designed to challenge them to think through issues and help them with integrating scripture into their lives. Once a month on a Wednesday night we will have an activity that will put what we have learned into practice (Prayer walking, sharing their faith, writing testimonies, service projects...). It is my prayer that you will get involved with our youth and help lead them by example. Thank you for your prayers and support!

 

S.A.L.T. Group

I would love your help for the above mentioned changes to the Wednesday night structure! Let me know if you have any comments/concerns/ideas on how to make this successful. You all give so much time and effort already and I do not want to tax you even more! Hopefully through this new process we can recruit some new help.

Thank you all for your help on Sunday! Mark, thank you for donating the drinks. Denise, thank you for jumping in and helping get things set up while I was picking up the food. Everyone else, thank you for helping set up tables and chairs. You are awesome!

 

Youth Camp, Cancelled

We will not be attending youth camp at Seneca lake this year. We voted it down unanimously at the parent meeting. 

 

Garage Sale, June 9-11th

Need money for summer events? Come help with the garage sale! Sign ups are in the youth wing.

Parents, if you have a truck, or a friend with a truck, we will need help with donating the left over sale items to Goodwill. The garage sale ends at 2:00pm on Saturday June 11th. Let me know if you are interested in assisting!

 

Mosaic

I am putting some major effort into our "Young Adult" class. This class consists of 20 - 30 somethings that are seeking to grow in their relationship with Christ. The point of this group is to connect with other like minded students/career/young married couples and help them as they learn what it means to function as a part of the church.

We will be studying through the book "Radical" and will begin to meet on Monday nights at 6:00pm starting June 6th.

This Friday, May 27th, we are going to Osborn park for a cook out! Anyone is welcome to join us. Spread the word!

Sunday mornings we meet at 10:00am for breakfast and Bible study in the "Young Adult" classroom.

They also have a Facebook group called "FBC Mosaic" where you can stay up to date on all happenings.

Prayer Walking This Wednesday!

What better way to finished a series on prayer then to put it into practice? The youth and I will be prayer walking through the streets of Fairborn this upcoming Wednesday. Anyone is welcome to join us! Just bring $5 to eat out afterwords.
We will meet in the youth with at 6pm and be back around 8:30 - 9:00pm. 

Nerf War!

Bring your Nerf weapons and be ready to end our Sunday night youth program with a bang! If you don't have a Nerf gun, don't worry about it. There will be plenty to go around! As always, food will be provided! Join up with us and have a blast! 

5pm - 7pm

Session 5, "Standing Strong" “Clarity” 5-11-11

The Armor

            Are you familiar with armor? Our military uses quite a bit of armor when going into battle. You wear armor so that you can avoid serious injuries. Although most of the time it doesn’t guarantee absolute protection, you can go into battle a little more confidently than without it! On the other hand, you wouldn’t wear it to go see a movie, or to take a walk in the park would you? No. There are times where armor is not needed and it would be silly to constantly be wearing it.

            Tonight we are going to be looking into the armor that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6.

The Armor of God lined out

*Ephesians 6:13-17 ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

            Why would it be important to have the belt of truth? We need it so that we are able to discern the lies or distractions that the enemy will try to use against us.

            How about the breastplate of righteousness, why would we need something like that? You are not going to go to a war zone without a bullet proof vest are you? No way! The breastplate not only protects you, but righteousness should be an integral part of our lives. We are supposed to live in a righteous way. Making sure that you have it will remind you of the importance to live as Christ.

            As shoes for your feet, put on the Gospel. We have to have God’s leadership to guide us into places that the Gospel as not been taken. This could be Africa, or simply to talk to one of your friends that you know has no relationship with God. As Christians we should always be ready to give an account of the Gospel.

            Take up the Shield of faith. Have you ever doubted God in anything? I have. But we know that as we pursue a relationship with God that He will want to take us deeper in faith with Him. We have to do that through faith. Faith can be a shield against the trials that Satan tries to throw our direction. We can block his attacks simply by taking up faith in God.

            Take the helmet of salvation. Why would it be important for us to protect our heads? We need to have our minds protected from evil thoughts, from temptation, from reasoning and ideas that go against God’s will in our lives.

            The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. As you have noticed, everything so far has been about defense. We are protected from head to foot by the armor of God, but what good is a soldier without a weapon? Scripture is our weapon to dispel wrong ideas, to protect our faith, to point out false motives and to convict hearts. However, we can’t use it if we don’t know it.

These are all attributes that God wants us to have aren’t they? We are supposed to exhibit righteousness, truth, faith, salvation, and the Spirit of God aren’t we? Was Paul just using a word picture to show us how we are supposed to live? That seems a little farfetched.

He said to put it on! Why? Because this is real spiritual armor and because we are up against a real spiritual force. Look at what comes next…

Who do we wrestle against?

*Ephesians 6:12 ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”

            If we just took the previous passages for what they said and didn’t look into the context of the passage we would miss out on the literal importance that Paul is trying to convey to us. He says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of the spiritual realm. If we are battling in the spiritual realm, we need spiritual armor to protect ourselves! Like we just talked about, you would not walk into a war zone without protection. Paul was being literal about this armor, because we literally need it.

            Going up against the forces of evil sounds almost like a comic book or superhero movie doesn’t it? Where do you think they got the idea? There is a real struggle between good and evil.

Strong in Who?

*Ephesians 6:10-11 ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Does anyone want to be the wimpy kid? Who wants to be like that? No one! You want to be seen as strong and confident. You want to overcome anything in your way.

We are weak when left on our own. We are given to our whims, whatever feels right at the moment. The world tries to tell us that what is right for them is good, and what is right for us shouldn’t affect them. There is a right and wrong and we are supposed to stand strong for what we believe.

            You may not feel like the strongest person in the world. In fact you may feel kind of lazy. Physical labor may be the on the bottom of your favorite things to do list. But how strong are you spiritually? Anyone here seen the Matrix? I know, it is a rated R movie… so don’t go watch it, just let me explain this to you. When Neo is learning to fight in their computer training program, Morpheus asks him why he is losing. “Is it because I am stronger than you… in this place?” It was a different realm, one that had nothing to do with the physical.

The spiritual realm is quite similar in the respect that our physical strength has nothing to do with our spiritual strength. Looking at it from this angle, how strong are you?

I have always been uncomfortable with the saying, “Believe in yourself”. Look within for the power to overcome your circumstances. That really is not biblical. Paul says to be strong in the Lord, and the strength of His might. Not to be strong in yourself or your own power. After all, if I have access to the most powerful being in all of the universe, why wouldn’t I tap into that instead of my own strength?

The spiritual realm can be a pretty scary place. Once God starts to open your eyes to it you will begin to understand more and more the intensity of the battle that is waging around us. You will begin to understand the reason for spiritual armor.

Understanding who we are up against should not frighten us. We have a God that stands before us and gives us power over all things.

*1 Peter 1:5 “...who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

*Psalms 33:20 “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.”

Stand Firm

When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~Author Unknown
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.  ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Consider the postage stamp:  its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.  ~Josh Billings
The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.  ~Author Unknown
Fall seven times, stand up eight.  ~Japanese Proverb
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.  ~Newt Gingrich
He conquers who endures.  ~Persius
One may go a long way after one is tired.  ~French Proverb
Never think that God's delays are God's denials.  Hold on; hold fast; hold out.  Patience is genius.  ~Georges-Louis Leclerc
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.  ~Thomas Foxwell Buxton

*Ephesians 6:13 ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

            We need to daily put on the armor of God so that we can stand up against the schemes of the devil and his minions. We have an incredible responsibility laid out before us. When you look at it this way, any time you stumble into sin, the enemy rejoices. Strength isn’t always measured by never failing, it is measured by how many times you will get back up and face it again until you overcome it by God’s strength. We have to get back up and do everything we can to stand firm. That is when the forces of heaven rejoice and we can aid in a quick victory against evil.

What does this have to do with prayer?

*Ephesians 6:18 ¹⁸ “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

            The point is this; prayer is a weapon used on a battlefield that is very real, and very dangerous. Satan doesn’t care about Christians who live lazy lives and do nothing to carry out the things of God. He does get worried when you start to claim the power that is in Christ and begin to pray.

            If we are going to be praying Christians, we need to know how to be protected as well. Once you stand up for Christ, see how long it takes before Satan starts to attack you, either through circumstance or relationships. But you must stand strong. The great thing is that you do not have to stand strong in your own strength, but God’s. And His is limitless.

Session 4, Becoming a “Prayer Master” Clarity 5-4-11

Becoming a “Prayer Master”

            Tonight I want to talk to you about the idea of becoming a prayer master. Do you feel awkward when praying? Is that because you either don’t know what to say, or that you haven’t been taught how? Do you just run out of things to say or get stuck?

Jesus is our Sensei

Let’s look to Jesus as being our example, or teacher in prayer.

*Mt 6:9–13  

⁹ Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your

name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it 

is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread, ¹² and forgive us our debts, as we also 

have forgiven our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Jesus told us to pray like Him in this prayer, so how can we break this prayer down? “Our Father in Heaven”, first of all this prayer has an address. God wants us to pray to Him specifically. It may seem silly that I need to add this in, but some people don’t realize the importance of addressing your prayers. Many catholic beliefs say to pray to the saints, pray to Mary, but they have no power to help us. We pray to the Lord and we address our prayers specifically to Him.

On this subject, it is also important to know how we approach God. Jesus not only paid for our sins on the cross, but He allowed for the gap between us and God to be bridged. When we come to God we do so in Jesus name.

*Jn 16:23–24 ²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

*Jn 14:12–14 ¹² I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Praying in Jesus name is important! He tells us that whatever we ask for in Jesus name will be done for us.

This brings us to the next part of the prayer, “Your will be done”. Of course, when you are praying in Jesus name, you must also be praying in accordance to God’s will. We talked about this a little bit last Wednesday. If you are praying selfishly and for your gain, you are praying for your will, not God’s. Those prayers will most likely be disregarded.

“Forgive us”, We have already talked about going to God for forgiveness. We need to be constantly fighting with sin and asking God to cleanse us.

“Lead us not into temptation”. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of the spiritual realm. We need to pray for God’s protection and guidance so that we can avoid unnecessary temptations in our lives.

Practice, practice, and practice some more!

            So we have broken down Jesus prayer, but how do I put it into practice. Well, by doing exactly that! Prayer is something that is natural for those who do it often.

            A martial artist does not simply become a master overnight. He has to put in hours and hours of practice and rigorous training. There is a need for us to be going to God in prayer to the point of it being a natural process throughout the day, or our natural reaction to hardship or difficult situations.

            After you have been praying for a while, you will be more comfortable praying with others, in front of others, and for others.

Don’t forget that you are talking to a person! Don’t feel awkward, but allow time for pausing and just listening to God’s voice. Talk to God as if you were talking to your best friend. When you have a great experience about something, share it with God. When you see an amazing sunset, thank God for His artistry and allowing you to see His creation. When you narrowly escape a car crash or a sticky situation, thank God for being there with you. If you are in a car wreck, as God to calm your nerves. Lean on Him for everything and share everything with Him. That is part of praying without ceasing.

As you continue to seek God through prayer you will begin to notice His voice in different ways.

           

Our Spiritual Kata

            As a martial artist you have to train through a series of moves called a “Kata”. You may have seen this before. The martial artist goes through a flurry of kicks, punches, and blocks as if he were fighting off a crowd of enemies. It can be a pretty impressive display of force!

There are very specific motions you have to use to accomplish the Kata correctly. If you miss a block or kick, then you must restart. Kata’s are practiced for the purpose of passing belt tests, but also to ingrain the fighting moves into your mind. If a situation arises you pretty much have a playbook of memorized defenses and attacks that you can use. The impressive thing is how they just instinctively go into action through muscle memory!

            So you may be thinking. Ok, prayer is just a memorized list of things to say. Jesus gave us a specific prayer to pray and that is what I should do. No. Just as if a martial artist encounters a dangerous situation, the things he has memorized will come in handy, but if he follows a Kata to the tee he will be punching the air and waste a lot of energy! Most likely he will fail in his attempts to subdue whatever enemy he faces.

There isn’t a script when it comes to prayer and there isn’t a specific position that you have to assume when you pray. Just like Jesus told His disciples, there are guidelines to help you get started! It is kind of our own prayer “Kata” that you can use to get the principles down.

Have you ever heard the acronym “A.C.T.S.” before? ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

This is a great way to order your prayers to God. Do you always have to come to God with this method? Nope. But it is a good way to get started. Begin with adoration; “Lord, you are incredible! You deserve all glory and honor.” Move to confession; “Forgive me for not ….” A lot of my prayer times can get consumed with praise. Those times are some of the sweetest I have ever had in prayer. You just start to thank God for everything. That list can keep going and going and the more you praise Him the more you fall in love with Him. Then you can end with supplication; asking God for your needs or intercession for others.

The Student Becomes the Master

            It is incredibly important that we become a praying youth group. We need to be in prayer for each other so that we can continue to stand strong for Christ. So we can school the opposition! We need to be in prayer so that we can determine what God’s will is for our youth group. If you feel like God has spoken to you about something we need to do as a youth group, talk to me! We need to be about His will and not ours.

You need to have a specific time that you set aside for prayer. I spend time with God in the mornings, but I also spend a lot of time in prayer while I am driving. I can shut the radio off and spend a 30 minute drive talking to God.

Position is not all that important to God as long as we are going to Him. You can pray while walking, pray while checking out at the grocery line, or while on the couch. Personally, praying while kneeling helps me to stay even more focused on what I am doing. Try it out this week. Go off by yourself and pray while kneeling. See if you are more focused. Plus assuming that position before God allows us to take on a humble attitude while coming to Him.  

Staying Pure

This is a great article about staying pure before marriage and waiting for the right girl or guy. Guys, even though it is about a wedding, read it! Girls, you will enjoy this too! 
http://www.94fmthefish.net//Article.asp?id=2170913&spid=24544

Africa Trip Fundraiser!

     On May 15th, Ryan Singerman will be coming to FBC Fairborn to put on a magic show at 1pm. Join us after the worship service! We will be serving a spaghetti dinner before the show. There is no up front ticket cost for the meal or the show. All donations will go towards the Africa Missions trip in July. Come on out and join us for a good time! 

     Check this video out and see what he can do!

Disciple Now 2011, Session 4: Lukewarm? Or on Fire?

Passion or laziness?

The video we just watched is pretty silly isn’t it? Here you have a group of firefighters that never go out of the station. They are relaxed, enjoying their fellowship, cooking on the grill or watching TV. They never answer the call.

I am sure that you have heard the statement “Lukewarm Christian” before because we have discussed it on Wednesday night in the past. But what does being a lukewarm Christian mean? For a long time I thought of it this way: A lukewarm Christian is one who can just coast by in life. They are someone who doesn’t ever getting convicted of big sins and who doesn’t get involved in God’s work because they just aren’t called.

You can almost get envious of them cant you? They have all the perks of being a Christian, the hope of heaven, but they don’t have to get their hands dirty with God’s work. Their lives don’t ever get complicated because they have “Just enough” of God.

It kind of makes you sick doesn’t it? When you have a passion for the things of God, or you have experienced Him in amazing ways, it is very difficult to imagine that kind of a lifestyle isn’t it? It’s pretty much laziness. Who here likes lazy people? How about when you are working on a group project with a lazy person, or persons? It is a terrible experience because it seems like they just do not care. They affect your grade because of their work ethic.

I want to challenge you tonight to examine this idea of being lukewarm. It is so important that we go to Scripture to find out truth and not allow for other people to influence us in what we believe. With that being said, what does Scripture say about being lukewarm? Or being a lukewarm Christian?

*Re 3:14–16 ¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. ¹⁵ “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

            The first thing we need to see here is that this is a letter to the church in Laodicea. A church is receiving this message. It is a group of people who actually think that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing for God. Or at least they are trying to squeak by with the least they can do and still inherit God’s kingdom.

            Let’s look at Jesus’ reaction to a lukewarm group of people. He wishes that they were either cold or hot, but because they are neither one He will spit them out of His mouth. There isn’t a lot of room for interpretation here. Jesus will expel them from His mouth, in effect, from His presence.

            I hate lukewarm coffee. It is pretty much the worst thing in the world. Boiling hot coffee is amazing. Cold, iced coffee is incredible. Coffee that is room temperature is terrible! If I make the mistake of sipping a cup of lukewarm coffee, I do my best to swallow it, but it is a struggle.

            Just based off of this scripture you can already surmise that it doesn’t look good for anyone to be lukewarm. Let’s take it a step further.

Breakdown of Being Lukewarm

*Re 3:17–18 ¹⁷ For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

            These are the people at the church replying in this way. Don’t worry about it, I don’t need anything. I am rich, why would I need anything else? I am safe because I prayed a prayer. You can see that we are blessed because we are prospering. Guys, we have been talking about our identity this weekend. Doesn’t this reaction make you a little uncomfortable?

Let’s contrast this with what the Bible says about followers of Christ.

*Luke 24:49 ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

            We are promised to be clothed with the Holy Spirit. We will have His power evident in our lives because the Spirit will be a physical part of ourselves.

*Romans 13:14 ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

            Our identity is to be like Christ. We should not look to gratify our own selfish, sinful desires, but to be set apart for Him. In other words, we should not be lazy before Him seeking our own pleasure.

*Galatians 3:26–29 ²⁶ You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

            We have the promise of the inheritance of God’s kingdom. Once again we see the analogy of being clothed with Christ. We are safe in Him if we have believed in Christ as Lord.

*1 Peter 1:3–9 ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Our lives are lived through trials and tribulations so that our faith will be refined and prove to be genuine (vs.7). That doesn’t sound like an afternoon on the couch does it? That sounds like putting our faith to action.

Our faith, once found to be true, will result in praise and glory and honor for Jesus Christ (vs.7). Jesus will rejoice with us because we are following after Him. He finds pleasure and joy when He looks at our lives because He sees a people that long to serve and honor Him.

We are filled with joy because of Him. We are obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls (vs.9). Our lives are visibly different. What does it mean to be filled with joy? To be overcome, giddy, with happiness! We should have joy in our lives because we know that following God has caused us to be different. We should have joy because Jesus Christ Himself is happy to look at us!

Lukewarm, or Unsaved?

Pretend this is the first time you have read this scripture in Revelation. What is the Bible really saying about people who are lukewarm? Jesus will spit them out of His mouth. There is no room for it, it is disgusting to Him. He goes on to say that the lukewarm are poor, blind, and naked. People to be pitied. Is that what Jesus says about people who are found in Him? No! We just looked at a fraction of the scripture that talks about people who are found in Christ. They have eyes wide open; they are clothed, rich, and blessed.

Here is the gut wrenching reality. Lukewarm Christianity does not exist. There are Christians who long to follow God, and people who have been fooled into thinking that they can just squeak by and still inherit God’s kingdom.

Going from lukewarm, to on Fire

Those firefighters we watched just a little while ago were dressed like firemen. They had all the equipment. They even have the uniforms. But they never answered the call. If you stepped back and looked at that situation what would you say? Those guys are even firemen!

Revelation 3:14 says that the letter was written to a church. They looked like a church, acted like a church, but they were lukewarm. They were unsaved people pretending to have a relationship with God. This is what Jesus goes on to say to them:

*Re 3:18 ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

Christ is pleading with them to turn to Him, to have their eyes open and that they would be clothed by Him. He was pleading with them that they would actually follow Him in faith and be saved. Do you know what this tells me? It tells me that being in church doesn’t guarantee your salvation.

Do you know what else this tells me? That Jesus wants us to be passionate about following Him. You can’t partially follow directions and get to where you are supposed to go. You will end up somewhere you weren’t planning on going to. We can’t be halfhearted in a decision to follow God. There is only one way.

If your life is not a reflection of a passion for Christ, you need to pray that God changes your attitude towards Him. Being lukewarm leads to judgment, not a smack on the wrist. We tend to think of being lukewarm as a Christian description. But that is not how Jesus portrays it.

It’s dangerous to be lukewarm, so let’s change that mentality. Let’s move from allowing others to accept this position and lead by example.

Wear it, live it

We have been talking about finding our identity in Christ, not putting on an act, have you thought about it? Are you found in Christ and are you being transformed by Him on a daily basis? Or are you playing the game? Jesus saw people in this church at Laodicea that were playing the game and they thought they had it made. But Jesus says that they were wretched and to be pitied because they were heading towards judgment, not His grace.

We are to be clothed with Christ. There is no faking that and there is no reality to being a lukewarm Christian. They don’t exist.

This topic breaks my heart because I look at our congregation and I see the lie of being a lukewarm Christian being accepted. Stay comfortable, you don’t need to give anything up for Christ. But that is another lie that the devil will try to spread so that Christianity is no threat to his plans.

We know that our identity is in Him alone and we need to make sure that we are making Him known so that we may help save some.