Many Christians ask Christ into their life, often not knowing what they just have done, or what to do afterwards, other than just “go to church”.
Eventually, one will become tired of that…they want to experience the “new life” and “faith” that they hear preached about, but don’t know where to begin.
Church becomes somewhat of a ho-hum activity until someone or something shakes things up a bit.
Then our attention becomes focused on that individuals strengths and or faults if the case may be.
But what happens when a believer does not want to live the life of holiness that God has called us to? What happens when a believer just want’s people to get used to the way they live their lifestyle without wanting to change and transform their lives to that which is modeled by Christ?
Listen to what happened to one church that decided to not pursue a holy calling, but became caught up in the world’s attractions...
DENVER — Connection Metro Church, which used its foyer coffee bars to attract visitors to its eight satellite churches in the Denver area, has decided to abandon ministry altogether to focus on coffee.
"People liked the coffee a lot better than the ministry, according to congregational surveys, so we’re practicing what we preached and focusing on our strengths," says former teaching pastor and now chief marketing officer, Peter Brown.
Many in the congregation seem downright relieved.
"The sermons were okay, but the vanilla frappes were dynamite," says one woman who regularly attended the church for two years so she could enjoy the special brews. "I even brought my Jewish neighbors and they loved them."
The staff of Connection Metro Church began noticing last year that more money was coming in through the coffee bar than in the offering.
"People complimented us about the pastries and mochas but didn’t really mention the teaching," says Brown. "After feeling disappointed, we got pragmatic about it and realized God was telling us where to put our efforts."
The church renovated each of its locations into Connection Coffee Houses and removed most traces of its spiritual past. Now crowds are up and many former members are flourishing.
"Who knew I was so gifted at making foam?" says the former head usher, now the head barista, as he makes a heart-shaped design on a cappuccino.
The church’s small groups have been turned into neighborhood reading clubs, with some reading Christian titles and others following Oprah’s recommendations. The only visible remnants of the coffee house’s past are the offering bucket which serves as a tip jar, and the greeters stationed at the door to give a more welcoming feel than the nearby Starbucks.
Some former members were stunned to arrive at church Sunday morning to find the sanctuary transformed into a seating area with newspaper racks and coffee-themed gift items.
"I guess we’ll go back to the Methodist place," said one father who had brought his family. "But only after we try those delicious looking chocolate cream-filled croissants."
People in the surrounding neighborhoods say they are far more likely to stop by now. One man who came occasionally says he feels less guilty standing around the coffee counter now that there is no service taking place.
"Before, we had to sit through the service and pay our dues," he says. "Now we go right to the good stuff — the double espressos."
The staff also feels liberated now that the pressure of ministry is off.
"The best way to be relevant is to give people what they want," says Brown. "In our case, that’s coffee drinks." •
Now that was just a satirical joke article about what some churches would LIKE to do to spice up their services or keep attendees entertained. but many times we come to church, then portray someone completely different, yet only leave the services as the same when we arrived.
Often times we’re afraid that we will be misunderstood for our actions as opposed to what we really meant…Peter experienced this with Jesus
Have you ever been misunderstood? You really mean well---
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
--Romans 7:15, 18
Many times in we are confused on what we are to become in Christ
We try to live for Christ, but often our personality flaws overcome us and we become defeated by hearing the enemy laugh at us.
Why can’t I just be me? Lost the closeness of a friend over that sentence…
Peter was probably really confused when Jesus was telling him that He will use him as a rock to build his church and then the next moment, rebuking Satan from him!!
Peter thought the best, but Jesus saw the rest...
Peter later understood what Jesus meant by dying to yourself and becoming alive in Christ.
We find in II Peter 1:4-11 the stages that a Christian grows and learns to achieve.
Many of us never know what happens after we accept Christ, we never know how to become like Christ…
READ II PETER 1: 4-11
I believe Peter found how to discover your purpose in Christ through these 8 callings.
He discovered how to die unto himself, and let the power of Christ transform him into a new creature.
1. FAITH – the Repentance of Salvation – the beginning point
Rom 10:9-“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as}Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”
Many times, we have spiritual doubts that arise in our lives in regard to the beginning point of our salvation. Some of them are:
“Second Thoughts” about childhood decisions -
An unforgiving spirit toward a defender: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. 6:15
An Unwillingness to make past offenses right: If we have wronged someone in the past and are not willing to ask their forgiveness and make any necessary restitution, doubts about salvation often result.
A particular sin we are unwilling to give up: Becoming a Christian means receiving and confessing Jesus as Lord. If He is Lord or “boss” then He decides what all our activities should be.
A point of pride in becoming a Christian: Many want to come to Christ their way or on their time, One person purposed that she would never “walk forward” in a meeting. If this has become a point of pride, it will cause doubts.
2. VIRTUE – Separation From Darkness – discerning and turning from evil in all its forms.
1Pe 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR {God’s}OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
One of the greatest cause for diminishing your life’s message is the failure to turn from al the thoughts, words and actions which we know grieve the Spirit of God.
Either we separate ourselves from our sins, or our sins will separate us from fellowship with God.
3. KNOWLEDGE – Dedication to the Light – committing ourselves to the light of the Scripture
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
--------------ILLUSTRATION: How To Train An Elephant
Have you ever wondered how to train an elephant?
The first step is making it believe it can’t run away.
Get your elephant—preferably a baby one—and tie it to a strong steel stake in the ground, like you would tie a horse to a hitching post.
The baby elephant will try to break free, but it won’t have the strength to do so.
Eventually, the little elephant will give up and stop trying to escape from the rope and the stake that limit its range.
Once the young elephant has learned that it cannot pull the stake from the ground, you can replace the strong stake with a smaller wooden one, even though it wouldn’t have enough strength to hold the elephant.
An elephant trained in its babyhood to believe that the stake is strong and won’t budge won’t attempt to break loose and run away—even after it has grown strong enough to easily yank almost any stake out of the ground.
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We are also best trained in our youth by a strong stake in the ground that teaches us where the limits are, by a certainty about the difference between right and wrong.
2Timothy 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
4. SELF CONTROL – Investment in Service – become involved in lasting achievement
Service involves laying up treasures in heaven and building spiritual maturity in the lives of those around us
Mat 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
-------------ILLUSTRATION: Let There Be Peace
“Those kids will drive you crazy!"
That’s what the old man’s friends told him when he bought the small, well kept house just down the street from the local junior high school. Contrary to their warnings though, the man’s first few weeks in his new house went without a hitch.
Then the new school year began.
The very next afternoon three young boys, full of pent up energy, whooped their way down his street, beating merrily on every trashcan they passed. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the man decided it was time to take some action.
One afternoon he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way home. He said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your excitement like that because it reminds me of the things I used to do when I was your age. In fact, I like it so much that I’ll give you each a dollar if you’ll promise to come around every day and do your thing." The kids grinned at each other and agreed to continue their afternoon trash can performances.
After a few days, the old timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face. "This recession’s really putting a big dent in my income," he told them. "From now on, I’ll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the trash cans."
The noisemakers were obviously disappointed, but they accepted his offer and continued their daily ruckus. A few days later, the wily retiree approached the kids again as they drummed their way down the street.
"Look," he said, "I haven’t received my Social Security check yet, so I’m not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?"
"A lousy quarter?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we’re going to waste our time beating these cans around for a quarter, you’re nuts! No way, mister. We quit!"
And from that day on, the old man enjoyed peace in the afternoon.
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Through self-control, the old man was able to use wisdom in handling the matter with the boys in a calm way without losing his temper or doing something that would not be Christlike.
Yet on the other side of the coin, the boys lost their self-control when they shifted their focus on the money, rather than banging on the trashcans for their enjoyment. When the money starting decreasing, they lost the joy of what they were doing.
5. ENDURANCE – Endurance in Suffering – expect to be misunderstood
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
Suffering is God’s way of freeing us from that which hinders us from “setting our affections on things above”
This is when God starts refining the edges after He has you molded
-----------------ILLUSTRATION: The Emperor Moth
A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth and took it home so he could watch the moth come of the cocoon. One day a small opening appeared.
The man sat and watched the moth for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress. To the man it appeared as if the moth had gotten as far as it could in breaking out of the cocoon and was stuck.
Out of kindness, the man decided to help the moth. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon so that the moth could get out.
Soon the moth emerged, but it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth, expecting that in time the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would simultaneously contract to its proper size.
Neither happened.
In fact, that little moth spent the rest of it life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.
The man in his kindness and haste didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle require for the moth to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body into the wings so that the moth would be ready for flight once it achieved it freedom from the cocoon.
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Just as the moth could only achieve freedom and flight as a result of struggling, we often need to struggle to become all God intends for us to be.
Sometimes we wish that God would remove our struggles and take away all the obstacles; but just as the man crippled the emperor moth, so we would be crippled if God did that for us.
God doesn’t take away our problems and difficulties, but He promises to be with us in the midst of them and to use them to restore us, making us into better, stronger, people.
6. GODLINESS – Humility in our responses – Respond as God would to circumstances and those who wrong you.
2Pe 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of {the}divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
God is far more concerned with our responses than He is with our experiences.
---------------ILLUSTRATION: A Cup of Coffee
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.
It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.
She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The
daughter smiled as he tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"
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Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with
pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial
hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?
Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you—through humility—you display godliness.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you show humility? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
7. BROTHERLY KINDESS – Alertness in sharing with others – Be alert to others who have been hurt or are in need (physically or spiritually).
2Cr 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Your story may be someone’s stepping stone in life.
The reward of suffering (endurance) and our response to it, becomes a new ability to understand the real needs of those around us.
-----------------ILLUSTRATION: Think of Me
The young man said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan.”
The elderly woman breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way she could have changed her own tire.
Bryan had the spare tire on and the jack down in less than ten minutes. As he was tightening the lug nuts, the woman rolled down her window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through.
She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. She asked him how much she owed him. Any price would have been all right with her. She’d already imagined some of the awful things that might have happened if Bryan hadn’t stopped.
Bryan never thought twice about asking for money, even though he could have used some financial help. Changing a tire was not a job to him; it was a matter of helping someone in need.
He told the woman that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed. “And when you do,” he added, “think of me.”
Bryan waited until the woman started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed home.
A few miles down the road the woman saw a small diner. Though the place didn’t look like much, she went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home.
Her waitress brought a clean towel for the woman to dry her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet all day couldn’t erase. The woman noticed that the waitress was pregnant. She wondered how someone who seemingly had so little could be so generous and kind to a stranger.
Then the woman remembered Bryan.
After she finished her meal, she gave the waitress a $100 bill. While the waitress went to get change, the woman slipped quietly out the door.
When the waitress came back to the table, she noticed something written on a napkin. When she picked it up to read it, she noticed four $100 bills that had been left underneath it.
There were tears in the waitress’s eyes when she read what the woman had written: “You don’t owe me anything. I’ve been there, too. Somebody nice helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: don’’t let this chain of love end with you.”
That night when the waitress got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the woman had written. How could the woman have known how much she and her husband needed that money?
With the baby due in a month, she knew how worried her husband was. As he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered softly, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan.”
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Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you" (Luke 6:38). The unselfish life is the abundant life. God blesses us whenever we are willing to bless others.
Jesus is the supreme example of what it means to be a servant.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant...He humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5 8).
And like Bryan in the story, Jesus says to us, “The next time you see someone in need, think of me.”
8. LOVE – Reproduction of maturity – Guiding someone else through the steps that God has taken you.
Col 1:29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Your wisdom may become someone else’s walk.
Your prayer may become someone else’s path.
The answers to your prayers and how God leads your life will be a light to others.
---------------ILLUSTRATION: New Ears
Danny was born with no ears. He could hear all right, but he didn’t have ears like normal people. All his life, Danny endured ridicule and rejection because of his deformity. But he learned to live with it. Thankfully, he had loving parents and a strong family to sustain him.
When Danny was in high school, his doctor told him of a new procedure that made it possible to transplant ears from one person to another. That meant Danny could get new ears if someone who was compatible to him ever donated theirs.
This was exciting news. After all, people donated body parts all the time hearts, lungs, kidneys. But Danny soon found that donor ears were extremely scarce.
Danny didn’t give up hope, however. He knew that someday he would get new ears. He graduated from high school with honors and was accepted at a major university thousands of miles away.
He kissed his parents good bye and began his life as a college student. Again, though, he found it hard to make friends and fit in because of his ears.
One day he got a phone call from his father. "Go to the hospital tomorrow, Danny. A donor has been found."
The very next day Danny checked into the university hospital where doctors were ready to perform the surgery. A few hours later, Danny had new ears.
When the bandages came off, Danny gazed into the mirror for hours. He finally had ears like normal people.
For the first time in his life, he wasn’t ashamed of the way he looked. He not only had new ears, he had a new life.
A few weeks later, Danny received another phone call from his father. "Son, your mother is very ill," his father said. "She may not live through the night."
Danny was on the first plane home. When he arrived, his father gave him the sad news that his mother had died.
Together they went to the funeral home, where Danny was able to see his mother for the last time. He leaned over to kiss her cheek. Brushing her hair back from her face, he noticed that she had no ears.
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It was a mother’s incredible love that provided Danny with new ears. And it was a Father’s incredible love that provided us with new life.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Each time God takes us through these eight callings, our understanding of them grows deeper, and our ability to lead others to spiritual maturity grows greater.
And upon doing so, you will find that you have become a new creation and learn to crucify your old self on a daily basis until we see the King
Why can’t I just be me? Because it is the will of God to change us into that which he sacrificed on this cross.
What is keeping you from being transformed in the new person that God wants you to be?
Is it pride? Is it hurt? Is it anger? Are you mad at God?
Where did you see yourself in the 8 callings mentioned today?
Have you found it difficult to move past the first calling of “Salvation” or perhaps you’re here today and need to experience the love of Christ.
What will you do, now that your eyes have been opened by the Word?
