The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth and
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Is 29:13
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matt 7:21-22
"These people come near to me with their mouth and
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Is 29:13
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matt 7:21-22
What’s The Difference?
As usual, God knows what He is talking about. George Barna does surveys, and as a Christian, he often investigates and writes about Christians. He has found that it is statistically almost impossible to tell Christians from non-Christians. His studies show that most Christian teens and adults think and act virtually no differently than non-believers. Well over half of all Americans claim to be Christian, but his research shows that less than 10% actually possess a Biblical view of life in accordance with Church teaching. For example, only 30% of Catholics go to church on Sunday, less than 20% agree with the Church’s teaching on birth control, over a third of Catholics say abortion is morally acceptable, and close to half of all Catholics say they do not believe in a personal God.
Guilt Trip
This can lead to a lot of confusion and feelings of guilt. Christians know they are supposed to "be different", but many realize that to a great extent they are pretty much the same as those around them who don’t profess to follow Jesus. At some point they made a commitment to Christ, but since then they have not been consistently involved in worship, prayer, Bible study, or discipleship training. Because of this, there has been little progress in their maturity as a Christian. This leads to many failures to live up to Biblical principles and examples, resulting in feelings of guilt and an attitude of defeat.
Connected To The World
We are like a television, ready to play whatever is connected to us. We already have one very strong connection—"the world" is providing input from many sources, such as media and the internet, that are antagonistic towards Christianity. This input seeks to shape us and motivate us to be a certain way, and to desire and purchase more things, even if we already have more than enough. There is so much coming in these days that many people feel overloaded, and keeping up with everything that is available takes up most of our time, leaving little time for God.
Connecting To God
There is another source of input available to us from God. In Jeremiah 29:11-13, God says: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
So God has a plan for our life ready to play as soon as we make the connection. We establish that initial connection by accepting God’s Son Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Savior. While people have written prayers, such as the "Sinner’s Prayer", for doing this, God wants to establish a connection with us, and He will meet us wherever we are. One atheist established the connection with the simple and somewhat skeptical prayer, “God, I know you don't exist, but if you do, please show me!” That was all it took for them to begin to feel God’s presence and start down the path to giving their lives to Christ and walking with the Lord. Others are raised in a family and a church, such as the Catholic Church, which encourage devotion to God and His Son Jesus. Even then, each of us has to make that personal commitment to dedicate ourselves to God, and to seek only His will for our lives.
The Problem With “Churchianity”
While most active Christians attend a church, it is possible to be very involved in church without taking the step of actually surrendering to God. I know this, because that was my experience. I grew up in a family that went to church every Sunday, but otherwise had no other spiritual emphasis or activities. I went to Sunday school. I completed the Episcopalian confirmation process, which consisted of memorizing the answers to a set of questions and then responding with those answers at my confirmation ceremony. We moved often, so my parents sent me away to a private Episcopalian High School where we went to chapel once a day and twice on Sunday. I was an acolyte. I took religious education classes.
It was all good stuff, and most of it was based on the Bible. The problem was that nobody ever told me that it was personal. Nobody every challenged me to open the door of my heart to Jesus; so, like many young people, I went through the motions and then fell away from church after I went to college. I believed in God, and could even see Him working in my life on occasion, but I didn’t go to church, I didn’t read the Bible and I didn’t pray. I didn’t have a connection to God!
Reeled In By God
(This is an abbreviated version--for the full story, please see Reeled In By God)
At the age of 30, I was divorced with two young children and living with a woman in Tucson, Arizona. We had a good relationship for almost a year, so I was surprised when she told me, “I am not the woman for you,” and insisted that I move out. I checked the rental ads in the newspaper, made a list of possible locations, and started my search. As a flight instructor I made very little money, so I was looking at the low end of the scale. The first places I looked at were not at all suitable, especially for someone with children. I arrived at the third apartment on my list and found two small single story apartment buildings that were off of a side street and even had a small area away from the street where the kids could play. It wasn't the best part of town, but not nearly as bad as the other ones.
The landlady was there because someone else had called her. The other person was worried about the cost of the electricity for the air conditioning, and I had to finish my list, so we both left. As I drove to the next location, I suddenly felt God telling me to “call the landlady now!” We didn't have cell phones back then, so I pulled into a convenience store, called the landlady on a pay phone, and was writing the check for the rent when the other person called. If I had not called right away, the apartment would have been rented to someone else.
My neighbor was an older woman named Cheryl with two teenagers. We became friends, and one day she invited me to church at Casa Adobes – a large Baptist church with about 1,500 people in each service. The message that day “just happened” to be on gate-leaners—people who walk up to the narrow gate and watch other people going through the gate, but never actually go through the gate themselves. It was obvious that message was intended for me.
God’s Sense Of Humor
I gave my life to Christ at that moment, but it gets better! At the end of the service they started playing the “will you come” songs for people who had made a decision to go forward. I was standing there holding on to the pew in front of me so tightly my knuckles turned white, when Cheryl suddenly went forward and I followed behind her, but she didn’t know I was there. It turned out she was a new Christian and had made the decision to be baptized. The pastor finished talking with her, looked up at me and said, “Is he with you?” Cheryl turned around, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Jay, you don’t have to come up here with me!” I explained why I was there, and everyone had a good laugh and then celebrated my new relationship with Christ.
Consider/Discuss
1. What particularly impacted you in this lesson?
2. What has been your personal journey to God?
3. Do you feel that you have a personal relationship with Jesus?
Scripture Memory Verse
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12
Let's Pray! - Praising God in the Morning
Sometimes I have a hard time getting out of bed, so I asked God to give me a prayer I could use for this purpose. Over the next few days I came across these verses in the Psalms that were exactly what I needed:
It is good to praise the Lord, proclaiming His love in the morning! (Ps 92: 1-2) In the morning you hear us, O Lord; in the morning we offer you our prayer. (Ps 5:3) My heart is ready, O God; I will awake and greet the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth, (Ps 57:8-11) and fill us with your love in the morning. (Ps 90:14)
As usual, God knows what He is talking about. George Barna does surveys, and as a Christian, he often investigates and writes about Christians. He has found that it is statistically almost impossible to tell Christians from non-Christians. His studies show that most Christian teens and adults think and act virtually no differently than non-believers. Well over half of all Americans claim to be Christian, but his research shows that less than 10% actually possess a Biblical view of life in accordance with Church teaching. For example, only 30% of Catholics go to church on Sunday, less than 20% agree with the Church’s teaching on birth control, over a third of Catholics say abortion is morally acceptable, and close to half of all Catholics say they do not believe in a personal God.
Guilt Trip
This can lead to a lot of confusion and feelings of guilt. Christians know they are supposed to "be different", but many realize that to a great extent they are pretty much the same as those around them who don’t profess to follow Jesus. At some point they made a commitment to Christ, but since then they have not been consistently involved in worship, prayer, Bible study, or discipleship training. Because of this, there has been little progress in their maturity as a Christian. This leads to many failures to live up to Biblical principles and examples, resulting in feelings of guilt and an attitude of defeat.
Connected To The World
We are like a television, ready to play whatever is connected to us. We already have one very strong connection—"the world" is providing input from many sources, such as media and the internet, that are antagonistic towards Christianity. This input seeks to shape us and motivate us to be a certain way, and to desire and purchase more things, even if we already have more than enough. There is so much coming in these days that many people feel overloaded, and keeping up with everything that is available takes up most of our time, leaving little time for God.
Connecting To God
There is another source of input available to us from God. In Jeremiah 29:11-13, God says: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
So God has a plan for our life ready to play as soon as we make the connection. We establish that initial connection by accepting God’s Son Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Savior. While people have written prayers, such as the "Sinner’s Prayer", for doing this, God wants to establish a connection with us, and He will meet us wherever we are. One atheist established the connection with the simple and somewhat skeptical prayer, “God, I know you don't exist, but if you do, please show me!” That was all it took for them to begin to feel God’s presence and start down the path to giving their lives to Christ and walking with the Lord. Others are raised in a family and a church, such as the Catholic Church, which encourage devotion to God and His Son Jesus. Even then, each of us has to make that personal commitment to dedicate ourselves to God, and to seek only His will for our lives.
The Problem With “Churchianity”
While most active Christians attend a church, it is possible to be very involved in church without taking the step of actually surrendering to God. I know this, because that was my experience. I grew up in a family that went to church every Sunday, but otherwise had no other spiritual emphasis or activities. I went to Sunday school. I completed the Episcopalian confirmation process, which consisted of memorizing the answers to a set of questions and then responding with those answers at my confirmation ceremony. We moved often, so my parents sent me away to a private Episcopalian High School where we went to chapel once a day and twice on Sunday. I was an acolyte. I took religious education classes.
It was all good stuff, and most of it was based on the Bible. The problem was that nobody ever told me that it was personal. Nobody every challenged me to open the door of my heart to Jesus; so, like many young people, I went through the motions and then fell away from church after I went to college. I believed in God, and could even see Him working in my life on occasion, but I didn’t go to church, I didn’t read the Bible and I didn’t pray. I didn’t have a connection to God!
Reeled In By God
(This is an abbreviated version--for the full story, please see Reeled In By God)
At the age of 30, I was divorced with two young children and living with a woman in Tucson, Arizona. We had a good relationship for almost a year, so I was surprised when she told me, “I am not the woman for you,” and insisted that I move out. I checked the rental ads in the newspaper, made a list of possible locations, and started my search. As a flight instructor I made very little money, so I was looking at the low end of the scale. The first places I looked at were not at all suitable, especially for someone with children. I arrived at the third apartment on my list and found two small single story apartment buildings that were off of a side street and even had a small area away from the street where the kids could play. It wasn't the best part of town, but not nearly as bad as the other ones.
The landlady was there because someone else had called her. The other person was worried about the cost of the electricity for the air conditioning, and I had to finish my list, so we both left. As I drove to the next location, I suddenly felt God telling me to “call the landlady now!” We didn't have cell phones back then, so I pulled into a convenience store, called the landlady on a pay phone, and was writing the check for the rent when the other person called. If I had not called right away, the apartment would have been rented to someone else.
My neighbor was an older woman named Cheryl with two teenagers. We became friends, and one day she invited me to church at Casa Adobes – a large Baptist church with about 1,500 people in each service. The message that day “just happened” to be on gate-leaners—people who walk up to the narrow gate and watch other people going through the gate, but never actually go through the gate themselves. It was obvious that message was intended for me.
God’s Sense Of Humor
I gave my life to Christ at that moment, but it gets better! At the end of the service they started playing the “will you come” songs for people who had made a decision to go forward. I was standing there holding on to the pew in front of me so tightly my knuckles turned white, when Cheryl suddenly went forward and I followed behind her, but she didn’t know I was there. It turned out she was a new Christian and had made the decision to be baptized. The pastor finished talking with her, looked up at me and said, “Is he with you?” Cheryl turned around, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Jay, you don’t have to come up here with me!” I explained why I was there, and everyone had a good laugh and then celebrated my new relationship with Christ.
Consider/Discuss
1. What particularly impacted you in this lesson?
2. What has been your personal journey to God?
3. Do you feel that you have a personal relationship with Jesus?
Scripture Memory Verse
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12
Let's Pray! - Praising God in the Morning
Sometimes I have a hard time getting out of bed, so I asked God to give me a prayer I could use for this purpose. Over the next few days I came across these verses in the Psalms that were exactly what I needed:
It is good to praise the Lord, proclaiming His love in the morning! (Ps 92: 1-2) In the morning you hear us, O Lord; in the morning we offer you our prayer. (Ps 5:3) My heart is ready, O God; I will awake and greet the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth, (Ps 57:8-11) and fill us with your love in the morning. (Ps 90:14)