Time to Choose
May 8, 2016 Evening Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: Time to stop playing church.
Focus Passage: 1 Kings 18:18-39
Supplemental Passage: "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15 NASB)
Introduction: When I was a kid, a phrase I heard over and over was “In or out, but shut the door.” Sometimes it was, “Don’t just stand there with the refrigerator door open, choose something and shut the door!” Today, it is more like, “I don’t care what channel we watch, just choose something and quit flipping channels!” As Americans, we are presented with an incredible amount of choices. On our first day of furlough, after having lived in West Africa for 4 years, I went to the grocery store to get some cereal. In West Africa, there was a choice between 5 or 6 different boxes of cereal. Here in America, there is an entire aisle of cereal! Just the bran flake varieties are endless. I ended up leaving the store, after about an hour with no cereal. I stopped and got some donuts instead. Too many Christians seem to hesitate between the world and God. God is pretty clear about it; you can’t serve two masters. It’s time to choose!
I. Fence Sitting
a. Causes feelings of frustration
b. Causes feelings of dissatisfaction
c. Causes feelings of inadequacy
II. Choosing the World
a. no gods can hear or answer
b. no gods can care about you
c. no gods can forgive you
III. Choosing God
a. God hears and answers
b. God cares about you
c. God will forgive you if you trust Jesus
Application/Invitation: Right now, choose God. Reject trying to get comfort and satisfaction from the world. Recognize God as God!
