When Bad News is Good

 

Communicating the message of Christ is more then just listing off some Bible passages and saying “God loves you!” Really so many Christians think telling someone “God loves you” is a way of evangelizing the world. They think that “love” is enough and that “love will always win.” Yet their expression of “love” is empty, meaningless and shallow.

It’s like we think we are in some kind of game and we need to play nice. We don’t want to offend anyone least they won’t pick us to be on their team. We have deluded ourselves with an idea that we are still on the playground on recess. Although the signs of something much greater are all around, we think people are too fragile to handle the truth. We close our eyes and ears to the indicators around us that eternity is on the line.

In particular I believe the American church has been lulled to a sleepy apathy due to the prevalence of earthly pleasures. We feel so self-sufficient and our need for God seems so distant. Instead of fighting a spiritual battle daily, we Google search for our answers and PayPal to some humanitarian group to appease our guilt. We would rather talk about the latest movie, the weather or some Miley Cyrus rumor then broach the topic of the scandalous grace of Jesus Christ.

The Bad News (Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12)

If I have thoroughly ticked you off so far, then good. If I haven’t, keep reading. Have you ever been to your doctor, or a financial adviser who said, “I’ve got good news and bad news, what would you like to hear first?” Which would you choose? I for one always go with the bad news first so I can walk out with the good news. However, the fear is that the bad news is so bad that even the good news isn’t good.

At first blush, the bad news I’m about to say is that bad. It’s really bad. So bad that there isn’t anything you or I can do about it. We can’t escape it. It’s tied into the human condition; no it is the human condition. In one word, it is depravity. The bad news is that you and I are sinners. We like to pretend we are on some playground and avoid reality because we are all in the same sinking boat. Sin is the reality that we fall short of the holiness of God. Depravity means that we are so sinful that we cannot do anything about our sin. It’s like trying to clean yourself with muddy hands, your just not going to get clean.

The bad news is we are broken and we can’t fix ourselves. When we go to communicate the message of God, we have to remind ourselves, and those we are sharing with, that we are broken because of sin. We need a Hero, a Savior to put us together again. We cannot do it on our own.

Pushing Blame (Romans 1:20)

You may disagree with me that you are broken, or you are coming up with excuses for the sin that you have done. “If you grew up in my house with my situation you would do the same things!” “It’s my dad’s fault!” “My friends made me do it!” And the list goes on. We like to blame others for our sinfulness. James tells us that we sin because our hearts are sinful. We all blame others, but none of us are blameless. Part of the bad news is that, even when you push blame, the Bible says that “no one is without excuse!” We will all give an account one day to the One who knows and no excuses will work.

The Good News (Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Now is where it gets fun. Nobody likes to talk about the bad news. The Good News is that there is a Hero who has come to save the day. There is One who can fix our brokenness and forgive our sins. His name is Jesus Christ. And yes, Jesus loves you!

Earlier I mentioned that we think saying, “God loves you” is enough. It is a truthful statement, but 90% of the Word Religions will agree with that statement. It’s not enough to just say that, but it is a start. What the world needs to hear begins with what they already know: they are broken. And then what they don’t know: Jesus came to die for them.

We are sinners because we all disobeyed in Adam. We have hope because of the obedience of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:19). Jesus lived a perfect life and made the ultimate sacrifice for you and me. His resurrection shows that His sacrifice was accepted. If and when you trust Jesus as your Savior, God gives you His righteousness.

It’s like you have a really dirty shirt on and you only have dirty water to clean it in. Jesus comes and takes your dirty shirt and puts His own perfectly clean shirt on you. In reality, He comes and takes your sinfulness away and puts on His righteousness.

Go and Tell (Matthew 28:18-20)

Sometimes bad news is the way to make the good news seem all the better. It’s like going to the doctor to find out you are sick and there is a medicine that will cure it. Don’t settle for playing nice, tell the truth in love. Show people their need for a Savior and that Jesus is that Savior. “The only way to save the world is to tell the Story, the Gospel is that Story!”

Vacationing from God

Summer Break!

As a high school student I could not wait for summer break! I hate to admit it, but I began to get the itch for summer break by mid October. What is not to like about summer break? Sleeping in, no schedule, vacation, freedom, BBQ, church camp, missions trip, late night bonfires, etc.

Vacationing from the normal schedule and school is fine, but taking a vacation from God is not. However, too often we get out of our normal routine and the first thing to go is our time with God. Some like to refer to it as a daily Quiet Time, daily Devotions, or RE:Charge as I am trying to call it. Why is it that this discipline is often to the most overlooked and easiest to drop?

One obvious answer is our sinful nature gets in the way. How many times do we begin to make plans and have our own agenda for it? We actually plan it all out without really including God in it, because we want to control our plans and think we want the outcome. I praise God for His gift of the Holy Spirit who always brought me back into check before I could really make a fool of myself.

I’m thinking of the time I went to East Harbor State Park for a camping trip with my family. I grew up in church, Good News Clubs, youth group and Christian schools. I had about a bazillion Christian event t-shirts (still do! Ha), and I distinctly remember not wanting to pack them for this trip. I was finally old enough to hop on my bike and go down to where all the teenagers hangout by myself and just be “Brad.” Actually I wanted to be “Bad Brad!” I wanted to be on vacation from God and do my on thing, to rebel with the crowd and do whatever. However, I have never been real good at lying. And anytime I found myself in a situation like this, someone would ask a question that opened the door for my faith to enter the story. Once my faith was out in the open I knew I had to live a testimony. For some reason I just couldn’t lie and pretend. Like I said, I thank God for His Holy Spirit that helped keep me from doing the foolish things I thought I wanted to do.

I know too well the temptation to go on “vacation from God.” We always justify it and say we will get back to it when we get home. However, it’s has a snowball effect. You skip one day, then the next and then the next. The next thing you know you haven’t picked up your Bible all summer except to carry it to church. This is not a healthy pattern for a Christian.

Spiritual Nourishment

Here in America, most of us eat pretty regularly. Due to technology, cars and sedentary lifestyles of most Americans we develop an attitude of “eating for pleasure” rather then an “eat out of necessity” attitude. Yet when we begin to train physically for something or we look at athletes and soldiers we see how important the proper nutrition is. Yet we all eat.

Only two types of people don’t eat. Can you name them? Sick people and dead people don’t eat. Dead people don’t eat because they are dead. I know that was redundant. Sick people, whether it is physical, emotional or psychological, may go through seasons where they don’t eat. In physical sickness, the body might turn off cravings and appetites as it try’s to heal other areas, but loss of appetite typically is an indicator that something is wrong. Emotional and psychological sicknesses that lead to one not eating means that their view of food or themselves is out of whack. When your not eating, you should be aware that something is wrong.

Spiritually speaking, we need a regular and proper feasting on God’s Word to maintain a healthy growing Christian life. If we are not going to the banquet table of God’s Word on a regular basis then it indicates one of two things: we are spiritually sick or spiritually dead.

Unconfessed sin in a believers life will rob them of the joy and desire to read God’s Word. You begin to think about yourself and the Word of God wrongly. Your spiritual mind is out of whack and in need of realignment.

Maybe you’ve grown up in a Christian home and in church but you have no desire for God’s Word. You may not even be a Christian. You should begin to ask yourself the basic questions to determine if you have truly trusted in Jesus Christ or have you been trusting your family tradition?

Either way, if you are spiritually sick you need to run to Jesus for healing and forgiveness. If you are spiritually dead, you need to run to Jesus for a spiritual quickening, to be made spiritually alive.

RE:Charge

Look for a few moments each day to get away from the business of life to listen to and talk to Jesus. Don’t get stuck in the rut that there is only one way to do a quiet time. Don’t think about your devotions out of guilt, like you may not do it right or you might disappoint God. The idea is to go to Jesus to recharge you, to encourage you to inspire you. You want to spend time with Jesus.

Think about the times you hangout with your best friend. Do you always do the same thing together? How many of you would still have a best friend if every time you saw them you said the exact same phrases, half-heartedly read an old letter, shared a few thoughts and said goodbye without any variation? That sounds boring!!

With my best friend I sometimes go golfing, hiking, eating, grabbing a cup of coffee, or just being silly. We talk about everything! Nothing is off limits. Sometimes we are just together, no verbal communication needed, just knowing we are there for each other is enough. Other times we talk real serious like and pray together. It’s organic, alive and fun.

I want you to think about that this summer when you have extra free time and an open schedule. Spend time with Jesus the way you do with a best friend. Listen to Him, talk to Him, just hangout with Him. Grab your Bible and go for a hike. Do your favorite activity and talk to Him about it. Tell Him everything. Try forgetting form prayers and just chat with Him.

Don’t take a vacation from God. Vacation with God and get recharged!

Welcome to LOFT

Tonight we are welcoming up the graduating 6^th graders to youth group! I am excited for them to begin to participate in our youth ministry and activities. Tonight’s lesson is really just about who we are as a youth group, what we are all about and what they can expect over the next 6 years of youth group.

What is the Bible? (2 Peter 1:12-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

This may seem like a simple and basic question, but it is one of the most important questions to ask. The answer to this is of ultimate importance and carries eternal consequences. For within the pages of Holy Scripture is the story of God, His revelation to man, His incarnation and redemption. If this Book is not what it claims to be then we are hopeless.

The Bible is a book like no other book. Actually it is not just a book, but a library of books. It is 66 books (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament) written by over 40 different authors (most of whom never met each other) on 3 continents in 3 different languages over a period of 1500. It speaks to many different topics, yet is in harmony with it’s message and all points to Jesus Christ.

What is It’s Message?

The Bible tells us how God created the world in 6 days. How He created man in His image, with meaning, purpose and value. He created man to be in a relationship with Him, but mankind rebelled against God and brought sin and death into the world. Sin makes us enemies of God and deserving punishment, but God loved us so much that while we were actively sinning against Him, Jesus died for us (Romans 3:23; 5:8). By covering the great cost of our sin, Jesus us offered us new life by following Him. Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life that starts now and lasts forever!

What is our response? (Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:18-20)

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, His response was to love God with everything you are and to love your neighbor as yourself. He said that these are the summary of the Law and the Prophets. That’s a big claim! All the Old Testament can be summarized in this, loving God and caring for others.

Love God

Loft exists to help teenagers connect to Jesus Christ. This is a place will you will hear of the greatness and goodness of God and his love and kindness toward us. We are told that “we love because He first loved us.” If we are to love God we have to know that we are loved by God. We gather to worship God through songs, teachings and small groups. You will learn more about God and why He is worthy of our love and praise here.

Care for His People

Loft exists to help teenagers connect to Jesus Christ and His Church. Jesus did not save you to isolation, but to a community. Jesus said that the world will know we are His disciples by our love for each other. Loft strives to be a group that takes care of each other. You will meet new friends here that will last a lifetime. Our friendship is centered on the cross of Christ and therefore provides a judgment free zone where you feel like you belong.

Communicate His Message

Loft exists to help teenagers connect to Jesus Christ and His Church and to share the Good News with the World. When Jesus saved you, He called you to a mission. In Loft we will challenge you weekly in the Gospel and help you develop the knowledge and skill to share this message with your friends, family and the world. We have local service projects, local missions trips, conferences and even international trips to share the Good News of Jesus to the world. Even as Paul told Philemon “I pray that the sharing of your faith maybe effective in order that you might now the fullness of the goodness we have in Christ Jesus!’

Living Our Faith Together

Just a few years ago we named our youth group Loft and Abby Reichenbach suggested we use the phrase “Living our faith together.” Since that time it has stuck. Loft is a place to come together to learn these truths, to be encouraged by other people your own age who are living it out. We cannot survive on our own. We need each other. The joy I have found in Loft is seeing you become a group that loves Jesus and loves each other. I am so excited to welcome you into this group!