Abandon

Abandon

Matthew 7:13,14

As you are turning I want to tell you a story

The story of Champion Coach

Champion Coach is a charter bus company ran by Craig and Hazel Dance out of Greenville S.C.

The Dances are devout Christians and they run this very successful business that caters to college and professional sports teams among other clients

Craig’s dream was always to be a sportscaster

So after stepping out on faith I 1998 and starting this charter bus business

You can imagine his excitement when he got to sign the Duke basketball team up as one of his clients

And then when he was approached by CBS Sports for a SEC bus tour

Including the Auburn/Alabama game, the SEC Championship and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta

This was a great deal, working amazingly for Craig and Champion Coach

In 2011 CBS approached Craig about doing a national tour for CBS, a separate entity from CBS Sports

To promote the network, their television programs, the whole 9 yards

Craig was excited, but he also had reservations because of the programming on CBS

He called his contact at CBS and shared his concerns

He blatantly told them you need to know more about me and my business

I am a Christian and I do not want anything on my buses that will conflict with my beliefs and my values

He didn’t want any violent or sexual images to be included on the wrap on his Champion Coach bus

Craig was assured that he would have the final say on the wrap

Well, when the first draft came out, sure enough it had a guy holding a gun and a woman that was not dressed appropriately

Craig did not approve the wrap and they respected his decision

They came back with their final wrap design

This one included promotion for CBS’s new fall line up for 2012

This included a show created by the same people that created Will and Grace several years back

This new show was called “Partners” a sitcom about two life long friends that were architect business partners

One was engaged to his girlfriend

The other was gay

Craig called his contact again saying as a Christian he could not support this at all

And he was told maybe you just need to compromise

Craig said no, and lost the contract

Not only that he had to call his friends at CBS Sports and fill them in on his choice

It eventually led to him losing his contract with them as well

The deal he so desperately wanted

Worked a solid year on, gone in an instant

Craig Dance was willing to abandon all he had in order to take a stand

Abandon the wide, to follow his God

READ MATTHEW 7:13,14

Abandon

There are only two religions in this world today

That which has emanated from the heart of man

And that which has come out of the heart of God

The one is only imagination

The other is a revelation

The narrow gate, and narrow way

Verses the wide gate and the wide way

As a Christian, we have chosen the narrow gate, the narrow way

But too many Christians today are trying to live in the wide, live in the world

Yes they have chosen the narrow gate

The narrow gate of Jesus

Yes they are on the narrow way that leads to life

But are still caught up in living the way of the wide

Lets look at the two ways and see what it means to abandon one and live the other

Live with abandon

Warning, this sermon is likely to cause some discomfort

According to a recent survey, 70% of adult Christians believe there are no moral or ethical absolutes that apply to everyone

In other words most Christian adults have been poisoned by the drug of moral relativism and political correctness

Most Christians have joined the non-Christian culture and believe we set our own standards

In essence this survey reveals that 70% of adult American Christians have decided that God is not capable or worthy of establishing guidelines for living

In a similar survey only 20% of adult Christians said that living a life according to God’s will is the single most important thing in their lives

Only 20%? That means 80% are telling God to take a number

Get in line. Your will is not the most important

These facts are lived out before our eyes every day

As a matter of fact they are more than likely lived out to some degree by the man or woman we see in the mirror every morning

The people of the Way have strayed off course

The people of the Book have relegated it to a spot on the coffee table or mantle and rarely open the Book