Sermon Central
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Do You Like Mushrooms? Parts 2 Of 2 Series
Contributed by Ryan Akers on May 1, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Christ has called us as a church to not be busy and compete with the world but to learn how to be a place that we can help people be energized, refocused and standing firm on the foundation of Christ.
Do You Like Mushrooms? Part 2 of 2
Pastor Ryan Akers
Me- (Recliner Chair) This is my favorite place. Comfortable, it fits me. I know this chair. To get a different one would be unthinkable. It would be stiff and awkward. It would not feel right. But at the end of the day this is where i love to be because it allows to just sit back and breath. Relax even for a minute from my busy life.
We- We lead busy lives. There is no denying that we have a million things to do today, but we know that when we come home that is where we can relax, open a soda sit in front of the TV and just veg out
Young or old we are busy- Dance, gymnastics, school, sports, karate lessons, cheerleading, FFA, girl scouts and boy scouts.
It’s become increasingly hard for us to put everything that needs to be done into our schedule.
Role of man and woman have changed- crazy busy wear different hats. No longer a time where the man works and the woman stays home. Now we just throw in a pop tart and we are out the door. We have instant everything and we just don’t have time for anything for any more.
“If only I could just sit down for a minute, if only I could get there. (reach for recliner make really dramatic)
Even when we get to relax our mind starts wandering- locked doors, curling iron plugged in?-never ending cycle
Now I know what your thinking, “Oh great here is another sermon where the pastor is going to tell us to slow down and stop doing all this stuff that we want to do. That we need to use our gifts and we should be serving here in the church and be on the board or volunteer for ministries and that we should be here every time the doors are open and that coming to church and being a part of the church is what should be most important.”
Actually I am going to tell you something closer to the opposite of that. The church is a place where believers are intended to come together, worship together, encourage one another, ask questions about God and faith. It’s a place where we should find opportunities to serve where we are most passionate.
Church is the spiritual recliner
I’m not up here today to tell you to quit doing anything you are doing. I don’t want you to and it’s totally unrealistic to believe that you would or should. You see I think the modern church philosophies have strayed from what God intended.
Church gets frustrated with its own people for doing things they love to do.
I think where the church has made the mistake is that they believe they have to compete with the world by giving you tons of stuff to do. They believe that in order to be successful that you must be busy and have 300 ministries that affect every single age group and every single problem that people could possibly go through.
Church feels it has to be attractive so they…
*big loud services/shallow preaching
*Activities inward focused
*Expect you to be here every time doors are open- smile on your face, ready to serve- How could you call yourself a real Christian? How could you choose the world over God?
People too busy with life and school so they begin to make a choice- can’t quit job, can’t quit school- so you quit church Why would you want to go some place that makes you feel guilty because you missed an event? Or because you don’t tithe or you don’t serve?
What if I told you that the most successful church is not driven by 300 hundred ministries but 1 ministry?
And through that one ministry when done correctly you would begin to see a change in people that not only showed them how to grow in their walk with Christ but actually got them excited about church again. Where you couldn’t wait to be here each and every week to worship God, to be energized to pray together and you couldn’t wait to tell others about where you go to church and you couldn’t wait to tell others about this awesome God we have.
Where this one ministry started to impact your life so much that you not only had no problem choosing God over everything else you couldn’t ever imagine not choosing God over everything else. That would be awesome.
God- When our savior died and rose again he desired a church like this one. A church that is totally focused on one thing. Him. And it was the role of the church, which is a body of believers, to have Christ as our foundation. And everything we do as a church was to be driven towards expressing his love to others through pushing each other and serving others. It comes down to loving God, loving people, following Jesus.
