Things to do and to expect

sermon by Manfred Schreyer

We often ask ourselves which is the right way to live our life in the Body of Christ and how should we minister to others?

I believe Jude explains that very well in his verses and he makes it clear nothing sinful should be acceptable to us as Christians, because we are in the process of waiting for eternal life by our mercy of Jesus Christ.

We as Christians must eliminate every stumbling block that is set before us by the evil one by an answer God gives us. Nothing but nothing should be acceptable to us that looks suspect.

Jude says that we should hate even the stained clothing by corrupted flesh.

What Jude is also saying is that we should show mercy mixed with fear. Mercy not upon their understanding, but how they came to their conclusion. We have to try to identify how they came to their conclusion that led against the will of God and then we should bring the message of God to them.

There is no other God, as Jude states that no other will keep us from falling into the eternal lake of fire then our God. And He has saved us by giving His son Jesus Christ for us as the ultimate price.

Jesus said that our purpose of living is to make this world a better world and to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. What does that mean? It means that we are to convince others that there is God and that we are to follow God in ways that glorify God.

As we are out and about in our lives we meet several different types of people who approach life and the sins of life in different characters. Imagine for just a second that the car symbolizes life and the defect of the car represents the sin in our life.

Now this car is meant to reach a destiny. And we as Christians call it eternal life.

(1) When you have a car, sometimes little things go wrong. Now some people, they just let it go. I don’t know what they think, but I must believe that they think this little problem will fix itself over time.

Will it . . .of course not! In fact it will get worse and the end effect is that they will more likely not be able to reach their destiny.

(2) Others are willing to live with the condition of a malfunctioning piece of the car. .

Is that OK?

Well, I guess it is OK, except that that condition does Not get any better as times progresses. Either everything will fall apart, or the driver has to take special precautions(s) while he or she is driving.

(3) Then there are those who do not want to know about the problem, the broken part. . .they are those who state. . ."Oh, it has always been like this. . .it is OK"

(4) Others say that they will fix it tomorrow!

Tomorrow? What risk are you taking? Are you willing to get stranded and not being able to reach your destination point?

(5) Then there are those who believe they can fix it themselves. . .No, they are not certified technicians. . but they are bandage fixes. They fix what is on the surface. . .you may not see it is broke, but it will come back like a bad ulcer

Now I have always like them :-) These are the people whom you can talk to all day. You can tell them that in the end it would be cheaper to select a good garage. That they have tried in the past to fix it and that they were no able to. . .but they are not listening. They are the people who buy tool boxes of tools, manuals for car repairs, just to prove that they can do it themselves. . . .These are the people who know their life is in shambles, but they go to local library and read about astrology, new age gods, they listen to seminars of far away religions. . .their life condition remains the same. . .they are unable to fix their life. And all they would have to do is to look at the cross and tell our God to take them in. To go to the local certified garage and say fix it.

Well, I am sure there are several other illustration I could use, but these are the most common ones I think.

Jesus has told us to recognize that we have a broken car and that He can fix it. And once he fixed it, He asks us to tell others how our car got fixed. . .to tell others that if they do not get it fixed quick the car will eventually stop and you will no longer be able to start it and you will not arrive at the place that is meant for you.

I like the words of 1 Peter: The end of all things is near. . .he is right and all of us can be sure of that. All things will eventually come to an end. Even the best car ride. And depending how you will take care of your car will determine your journey’s final parking place.

Peter is encouraging that those who have fixed their car to tell others about it.

Well, how do we do that? We tell them first of all about the only auto-mechanic who can save their journey. Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We keep a business card of that mechanic in our car. And on that card it talks about how we can reach Jesus. There will be no operator, no charges. . .it is better then a toll-free number. Oh. . .and then (a) we make sure that we stay together as people who have their car fixed. We travel together. . .(b) we encourage those who encounter problems along the way to stay on course with us. (C) We seek our course by prayers. Sort of like a GPS system which many cars have now installed in their car. In times of trouble we call our on-star system and ask for assistance. . .and help will arrive. . .

We look along the road and act like a road side assistance ourselves. We hand out our business cards and tell those who are stranded or drive in broken cars that there is help. . .

I don’t know in what condition your car is or at what point you are on your journey. . .but look at your car. . .is it ready for the journey? No, the color of the car does not matter, the age does not matter, the model does not matter, the size does not matter. . .all what matters is the condition of the car. Are you ready to travel the road toward eternal life? Are you ready and equipped to tell others about the journey and are you willing to take others in your car and take them along?