“Necessary Traumas – Surrender”
Proverbs 3:5-6; Romans 12:1-2                                                                                         January 21, 2024

Sermon series recap

There are two types of people in this world;

The listeners

Heed instructions

The take-actioners

Find out for themselves

Most of us are the latter.

Which means that there will be these times in life, these “Necessary Traumas” that enable you to grow up, acquiring the necessary wisdom to live life as a Christian.

We’ve all had similar experiences

Last week, I told you about my Underoos experience.

The trauma of waking up to the fact that sin isn’t just other people’s problem, that’s it’s our own
We talked about how if we wanted to grow in this life and to see this church grow, we were going to have to take very seriously this proposition

That, at some level that we can correct with God the Father’s power both ourselves and this church through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ.

We can grow individually and we will then grow congregationally.

Growing up in life is inevitable.

Growing up in the FAITH is not guaranteed

We have legions of Christians who’ve been baptized but are not really engaged with their faith
We have scores of Christians in the pews who’ve been baptized but aren’t really engaging with their faith much outside of a one-hour window on Sunday mornings…occasionally.

The promise is that what God has begun. God will complete.

The First Trauma is realizing that you’re part of the problem, that you’re a sinner.

Remedy – by the power of the Holy Spirit, you become a Christian.

The Second Trauma is when you realize that just because you’re a Christian, there’s no guarantee you’re not still sinning.

The Miss Barksdale Story

Go back to first grade
At some level, I’ve never really gotten better

On my laptop right now are about three books I’ve completed

Haven’t edited – I hate that.

But you see the point remains

Nobody likes being corrected.

We call churches that expect certain behaviors from their members cults, and for good reason.
But that doesn’t negate the fact that we just naturally deviate from the flightplan so to speak, even being Christians.

Doughnut Hole STORY

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Moved the Hole.

Gluttony – Cute, but it’s sin.

One of the dangers of grace is that it gives us an even easier out than you might imagine

We can come to our shortcomings and say, well, God forgives me.

Paul in Romans

Should sinning go on that grace may abound?
BY NO MEANS! He says

YES GOD FORgives you
YES GOD WANTS YOU TO DO BETTER

The fact of the matter is that we need ongoing correction WHICH REQUIRES SOMETHING OF US

We submit ourselves to some sort of authority

That’s the role of your relationship with the Word

Jesus Christ as forgiver
The Bible as the lens by which we see ourselves as sinners.
I also suggest an Anam Cara – a soul friend

Someone you’re talking to about your struggles and your troubles

My struggle is doughnuts, at least that’s the one I’m telling you about. There are others.  My friends know about them.

Things are getting worse

Pop Tart story – SKIMPFLATION
There was a meeting in that boardroom. People were there.

Let’s just say that for a person there, the personal payoff for the change was $2000.

Would you?

HINDSIGHT BIAS

We always believe that we’ll choose right or virtuously but the science says otherwise.

And here’s where it gets really sticky

That person, the one who profited? Guess who put him there?

Well, chances are, you had a hand in it.

You hold that stock in your portfolio YOU have entrusted a board of directors and given them one mission – make MONEY which.

Yes, you have to admit, you probably would.
What would change the calculus?
The fact of the matters

A relationship with Jesus Christ would
Now think, what if everyone in that room had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Is the outcome any different? Maybe
But what’s certain, the hearts of the people in the room will be right.

How Churches formed in the Ancient Times

2 years of practice, training, education, support
Now, we dump some water on your head, hand you a giving envelope and head you out into the world

We are getting substandard results because our practice of the faith is insufficient.

What the heck happened to the church

People left
Consumer Churches gave people more of what they wanted and less of what they didn’t

Gone were committees and commitments

Just come and see the show, really. Toss whatever you’ve got in the bucket

Gone were catechisms and communion

Relics of slower times and less hurried lives

In were flashy bands and screes,
Gone were pews and stained glass windows
In were laser shows, levitating drummers and stadium seating
And, yeah, we kind of resent them.

But if we had been doing our jobs, people wouldn’t have left.

The truth of the matter is that we abandoned the Word generations ago

Through sophisticated theologians like Karl Barth and Paul Tillich, we simply do NOT believe in the same way as past believers

We’ve been blinded by philosophy

Don’t miss that – the Bible TOLD US THAT WOULD HAPPEN in works like Second Timothy, Second Peter and Jude.

There is a real way to practice the faith.  AN easy way to be a quote-unquote “real” Christian….

Come to church, that’s the first step
THEN…

Read your Bibles

Look for moral instructions not trivia

I remember getting a book all about the types of stones on some relic mentioned in the Bible

An entire book? Good for the curious, a rabbit trail for the seeker.

Stay on the ethical teachings in the Bible.

Concordances
Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, James – Seek out the wisdom of the Bible

Confess your Sins

To Jesus Christ
To a soul friend
To everyone