CHRISTIANS AREN'T PERFECT

Melvin M. Newland, Minister
Central Christian, Brownsville, TX

(Changed e-mail address: Powerpoint slides for this sermon are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com with your request - #262.)

INTRO: Have you ever heard someone say, "That is the first mistake I’ve made today?" Or, someone who is a little more arrogant might say, "That is the first mistake I made this year." And, of course, someone who is totally obnoxious would say, "Well, that is the first mistake I’ve ever made."

We like to joke about the fact that we make mistakes. We all make mistakes! We might make mistakes because we have poor information, or because we have bad judgment, or just because we made the wrong choices.

Mistakes aren’t necessarily sin, but they can become sin, because of the domino reaction. One mistake often leads to another as you try to excuse or cover up your mistake. Soon you are getting deeper & deeper, & a chain reaction has begun.

Now, I am not an expert in most things, but I am very nearly an expert when it comes to mistakes. Just ask my wife, if you don’t believe me. I have made enough mistakes in my lifetime to pretty much make me an expert.

So, this morning I have taken some of my mistakes, & added some of yours - shaken them all together - & have reached the conclusion that there are at least 4 major categories of mistakes, & all 4 of them are found in the Bible. Listen carefully, & I think we will see ourselves in each of these 4 areas.

I. PANIC-PROMPTED MISTAKES

First, there are panic-prompted mistakes - mistakes that we make because we are in too great a hurry, or because we are afraid that something is going to happen. So we take quick action to try to keep it from happening.

We are worried about something & we mistrust God’s ability to take control. So we take control, & in our panic we make mistakes.

ILL. You remember the story of Abraham. God spoke to Abraham & told him to leave his homeland & go to a land where God would bless him & his family. He would be the father of a new nation, & all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. And Abraham went.

When Abraham got to the end of his journey, he built an altar to God, & God told him, "This is the land I promised you. Stay here, & don’t move from this land."

Time passes, & Genesis 12:10 tells us, "There was a famine in the land. So Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for famine was severe in the land."

That is a panic-produced mistake. Abraham had promised God that he would stay put. But when a famine came, Abraham was afraid that he & his family would starve. So because he was worried, he panicked & packed up his bags & family & moved down to Egypt. The first domino fell.

The 2nd domino is found in vs. 11, "When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, ’I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold; & when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ’This is his wife;’ then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, & that my life may be spared on your account.’"

That was mistake #2, & the dominoes began to fall. One mistake led to another, & the first thing you know Abraham & Sarai were in some very hot water in Egypt, & only the intervention