“Give Yourself to God”
Sunday, June 5, 2011
John 1:14-18, 3:16-18
Introduction: If I were to ask you, what is your favorite restaurant, how would you answer? For me, my favorite is Roy’s. Roy’s food is described as Hawaiin Fusion. It is some of the best fish dinners I have ever tasted. The sauces are really what makes the meal exquisite!!
Why is it that we like to go to restaurants? Of course, one reason is because we enjoy the food at that particular restaurant. But when you go to a restaurant it is also a nice experience because you are waited on by a waitress or a waiter; service is part of the experience.
Jesus challenged people by asking them to ‘follow Me.’ With this call people have a choice to make: will they follow Jesus or not? Part of the challenge of life is to figure out whom we are going to serve. Many people choose to not follow Jesus Christ because they don't want to have to serve anybody. But the truth is, we serve either God or Satan.
I. Serve God or Satan- (Luke 11:23; Ephesians 2:1-2; Joshua 24:15)
a. Gotta Serve Somebody- Back in 1979, world renowned song writer
Bob Dylan was playing around with being a Christian, and he wrote a very telling song called “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Let me give you a few of the lyrics from this song: He says,
You may be an ambassador to England or FranceYou may like to gamble, you might like to danceYou may be the heavyweight champion of the worldYou may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeedYou’re gonna have to serve somebodyWell, it may be the devil or it may be the LordBut you’re gonna have to serve somebody
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stageYou might have drugs at your command, women in a cageYou may be a businessman or some high-degree thiefThey may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeedYou’re gonna have to serve somebodyWell, it may be the devil or it may be the LordBut you’re gonna have to serve somebody
Now Bob Dylan is not a theologian, but He did get it right when he said
that we will serve somebody, and the two choices are the devil and the Lord! How is this? If many people are doing their own thing, how are they serving the devil? In Luke 11:23, Jesus said: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” The one who does not support Jesus and walk with Jesus opposes Him.
You might argue that just because you don’t walk with Jesus means that you follow Satan. You might argue that You don’t make a visible choice to follow Satan. The truth is, there is the side for good (God’s side) and the side for evil (Satan’s side). The one who does not side with Christ and choose to be in battle with Christ against evil, is against Christ. Since Satan is the one who opposes Christ, then the person who makes this decision is inadvertently choosing Satan over Christ!!
b. Not serving God- Now, most people don't purposely serve Satan. Most
people don’t think: I’m going to be a Satan worshipper. I’m going to tell others about Satan and how they can follow him just like I do. But if you are not serving God, then Satan has control of your life even though you don't realize it. As we are told in Ephesians 2:1-2, "1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."
The ‘kingdom of the air’ refers to Satan, the ruler of this world.
Satan is a deceiver. He would never come right out and say, ‘Come follow me’ as Jesus did. Satan knows that people would not outright follow him. Satan knows that people have to be led to think they are following themselves; making their own choices. So Satan makes the ‘things of the world’ look attractive. As we think about our sermon today, ‘Give yourself to God,’ we must realize that the first issue is who are we going to serve? The choice is there for us each day. In the Old Testament, Joshua saw the people struggling with this decision of whom to serve, so he sought to make his choice clear in Joshua 24:15; "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." I am thankful that Jesus Christ is my savior and Lord, and that I serve Him. I like Joshua choose each day to serve the Lord.
II. Following Our Selfish Desires- (Romans 6:12)
a. Our selfish nature- In Tyler’s baseball game a couple of weeks ago
our team started out great. We took a 14-3 lead on the other team! At the Juniors level (13-14 year-olds), they have a mercy rule that says if you are winning by 10 or more runs after 5 innings the game will end. Well, it was about 8:15p (and cold) when we started the bottom of the fifth. We had an 11 run lead. All we had to do was keep them from scoring and the game would be over. We put in a new pitcher, one whom we were trying to give some work to so that he would be ready for the upcoming tournament. He proceeded to walk 2 batters and hit another to load the bases. So here we were, there were 2 outs, but the bases were loaded. One more out and the game would be over; give up 2 runs and the game would continue. The next batter hit a ground ball to the first baseman……the first baseman took his eye off the ball and it went under his glove ……..it then went under the right fielders glove all the way to the fence!! Three runs scored. After that 2 more runs scored, but because the inning took so long the game was called because of time.
The error didn’t turn out to be as costly as it might have been, but it did cost us extra time and frustration. The pitcher was frustrated, the 2 kids that made the errors were frustrated, the rest of the team was frustrated since they had to stand out in the cold longer, and the coaches were frustrated. Hey, I bet if you asked him the umpire was probably frustrated that the game hadn’t ended there.
The truth is, we make errors like this in our lives all the time. More often than not we make these errors because we are not focusing on God, but rather we are focusing on our selfish nature. We are taking our eyes off of God and looking at what WE want to do. When we give in to our selfish nature, we are not giving ourselves over to God!
In Romans 6:12 the apostle Paul tells us: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” When we choose to look away from God, and don’t choose God in our decisions, then we are letting sin reign and we give in to our selfish desires.
b. Breaking away from our selfish nature- Let’s go back to the baseball
example. What could that kid have done differently? He could have first kept his eye on the ball, so that he could see it rolling along the dirt, then he would have known to keep his glove on the ground so that he could field it, and then run the ball over to first base to get the out. Who knows what he was thinking about, but it wasn’t about fielding the ball. Maybe he was scared it would bounce up and hit him, so he lost focus and made the error.
What can we do differently when we are challenged with our sinful, selfish nature? The apostle Paul has an answer for us in Romans 6:13, “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” We can keep our eyes on Jesus, offering all of ourselves to Him, who offers us life, and who bring to us His righteousness. With our eyes on Jesus we stay in the right position to make the right decision and keep ourselves away from sin.
III. Do I Want to Give Myself to God?- (John 1:14)
a. God took on flesh- The truth is, God has given Himself totally to us.
When God took on flesh in Jesus Christ, He came to live among us so that we might see who He is. As John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” When Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, He gave us the ultimate gift; Himself. That is why we are told in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
b. The Lord’s Prayer- The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful prayer; full of
truth and grace; full of meaning and purpose. We say it every week, so I hope it hasn’t lost its meaning for you. So, I want to do something a little different, I want you to hear it sung. This version you will see is by Andrea Bocelli, a world renowned Tenor. There is a full orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing along with him. As you hear this song, I want you to let it bless you, and lift you to that place where you understand how important it is to ‘give yourself to God.’ Let’s listen to it… (http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/bocelli_lord_prayer.html).
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine Is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Conclusion: Ask yourself the question: Do I want to give myself to God? I don't mean sometimes; I don't mean half-hearted. I mean really give yourself to God. To do this, you have to make God a priority.
Just like it is important to give of my time and energy to my kids and my wife, so I need to make my time, my energy, my efforts, and my possessions… God's. How I love others is a way to give myself to God. How I find ways to serve others is a way I give myself to God. Taking time to read the Bible or pray is how I give myself to God. The list could be endless, but each of us has to decide which of these ways we can and should give ourselves to God. We have to decide not to give in to our selfish desires, or follow Satan. So the challenge is: today, will you make a commitment to give
yourself to God? How will you do that? I hope you say “yes” tothis, and follow through with it throughout this week. Amen.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
John 1:14-18, 3:16-18
Introduction: If I were to ask you, what is your favorite restaurant, how would you answer? For me, my favorite is Roy’s. Roy’s food is described as Hawaiin Fusion. It is some of the best fish dinners I have ever tasted. The sauces are really what makes the meal exquisite!!
Why is it that we like to go to restaurants? Of course, one reason is because we enjoy the food at that particular restaurant. But when you go to a restaurant it is also a nice experience because you are waited on by a waitress or a waiter; service is part of the experience.
Jesus challenged people by asking them to ‘follow Me.’ With this call people have a choice to make: will they follow Jesus or not? Part of the challenge of life is to figure out whom we are going to serve. Many people choose to not follow Jesus Christ because they don't want to have to serve anybody. But the truth is, we serve either God or Satan.
I. Serve God or Satan- (Luke 11:23; Ephesians 2:1-2; Joshua 24:15)
a. Gotta Serve Somebody- Back in 1979, world renowned song writer
Bob Dylan was playing around with being a Christian, and he wrote a very telling song called “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Let me give you a few of the lyrics from this song: He says,
You may be an ambassador to England or FranceYou may like to gamble, you might like to danceYou may be the heavyweight champion of the worldYou may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeedYou’re gonna have to serve somebodyWell, it may be the devil or it may be the LordBut you’re gonna have to serve somebody
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stageYou might have drugs at your command, women in a cageYou may be a businessman or some high-degree thiefThey may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeedYou’re gonna have to serve somebodyWell, it may be the devil or it may be the LordBut you’re gonna have to serve somebody
Now Bob Dylan is not a theologian, but He did get it right when he said
that we will serve somebody, and the two choices are the devil and the Lord! How is this? If many people are doing their own thing, how are they serving the devil? In Luke 11:23, Jesus said: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” The one who does not support Jesus and walk with Jesus opposes Him.
You might argue that just because you don’t walk with Jesus means that you follow Satan. You might argue that You don’t make a visible choice to follow Satan. The truth is, there is the side for good (God’s side) and the side for evil (Satan’s side). The one who does not side with Christ and choose to be in battle with Christ against evil, is against Christ. Since Satan is the one who opposes Christ, then the person who makes this decision is inadvertently choosing Satan over Christ!!
b. Not serving God- Now, most people don't purposely serve Satan. Most
people don’t think: I’m going to be a Satan worshipper. I’m going to tell others about Satan and how they can follow him just like I do. But if you are not serving God, then Satan has control of your life even though you don't realize it. As we are told in Ephesians 2:1-2, "1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."
The ‘kingdom of the air’ refers to Satan, the ruler of this world.
Satan is a deceiver. He would never come right out and say, ‘Come follow me’ as Jesus did. Satan knows that people would not outright follow him. Satan knows that people have to be led to think they are following themselves; making their own choices. So Satan makes the ‘things of the world’ look attractive. As we think about our sermon today, ‘Give yourself to God,’ we must realize that the first issue is who are we going to serve? The choice is there for us each day. In the Old Testament, Joshua saw the people struggling with this decision of whom to serve, so he sought to make his choice clear in Joshua 24:15; "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." I am thankful that Jesus Christ is my savior and Lord, and that I serve Him. I like Joshua choose each day to serve the Lord.
II. Following Our Selfish Desires- (Romans 6:12)
a. Our selfish nature- In Tyler’s baseball game a couple of weeks ago
our team started out great. We took a 14-3 lead on the other team! At the Juniors level (13-14 year-olds), they have a mercy rule that says if you are winning by 10 or more runs after 5 innings the game will end. Well, it was about 8:15p (and cold) when we started the bottom of the fifth. We had an 11 run lead. All we had to do was keep them from scoring and the game would be over. We put in a new pitcher, one whom we were trying to give some work to so that he would be ready for the upcoming tournament. He proceeded to walk 2 batters and hit another to load the bases. So here we were, there were 2 outs, but the bases were loaded. One more out and the game would be over; give up 2 runs and the game would continue. The next batter hit a ground ball to the first baseman……the first baseman took his eye off the ball and it went under his glove ……..it then went under the right fielders glove all the way to the fence!! Three runs scored. After that 2 more runs scored, but because the inning took so long the game was called because of time.
The error didn’t turn out to be as costly as it might have been, but it did cost us extra time and frustration. The pitcher was frustrated, the 2 kids that made the errors were frustrated, the rest of the team was frustrated since they had to stand out in the cold longer, and the coaches were frustrated. Hey, I bet if you asked him the umpire was probably frustrated that the game hadn’t ended there.
The truth is, we make errors like this in our lives all the time. More often than not we make these errors because we are not focusing on God, but rather we are focusing on our selfish nature. We are taking our eyes off of God and looking at what WE want to do. When we give in to our selfish nature, we are not giving ourselves over to God!
In Romans 6:12 the apostle Paul tells us: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” When we choose to look away from God, and don’t choose God in our decisions, then we are letting sin reign and we give in to our selfish desires.
b. Breaking away from our selfish nature- Let’s go back to the baseball
example. What could that kid have done differently? He could have first kept his eye on the ball, so that he could see it rolling along the dirt, then he would have known to keep his glove on the ground so that he could field it, and then run the ball over to first base to get the out. Who knows what he was thinking about, but it wasn’t about fielding the ball. Maybe he was scared it would bounce up and hit him, so he lost focus and made the error.
What can we do differently when we are challenged with our sinful, selfish nature? The apostle Paul has an answer for us in Romans 6:13, “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” We can keep our eyes on Jesus, offering all of ourselves to Him, who offers us life, and who bring to us His righteousness. With our eyes on Jesus we stay in the right position to make the right decision and keep ourselves away from sin.
III. Do I Want to Give Myself to God?- (John 1:14)
a. God took on flesh- The truth is, God has given Himself totally to us.
When God took on flesh in Jesus Christ, He came to live among us so that we might see who He is. As John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” When Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, He gave us the ultimate gift; Himself. That is why we are told in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
b. The Lord’s Prayer- The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful prayer; full of
truth and grace; full of meaning and purpose. We say it every week, so I hope it hasn’t lost its meaning for you. So, I want to do something a little different, I want you to hear it sung. This version you will see is by Andrea Bocelli, a world renowned Tenor. There is a full orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing along with him. As you hear this song, I want you to let it bless you, and lift you to that place where you understand how important it is to ‘give yourself to God.’ Let’s listen to it… (http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/bocelli_lord_prayer.html).
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine Is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Conclusion: Ask yourself the question: Do I want to give myself to God? I don't mean sometimes; I don't mean half-hearted. I mean really give yourself to God. To do this, you have to make God a priority.
Just like it is important to give of my time and energy to my kids and my wife, so I need to make my time, my energy, my efforts, and my possessions… God's. How I love others is a way to give myself to God. How I find ways to serve others is a way I give myself to God. Taking time to read the Bible or pray is how I give myself to God. The list could be endless, but each of us has to decide which of these ways we can and should give ourselves to God. We have to decide not to give in to our selfish desires, or follow Satan. So the challenge is: today, will you make a commitment to give
yourself to God? How will you do that? I hope you say “yes” tothis, and follow through with it throughout this week. Amen.
posted by Logan's Blog at 4:41 PM
2 Comments:
That was really inspiring and it ment alot to me, I already believe in the lord but I dont go to church as much as I should, after reading this I feel more dedicated to the lord than I have in a while, thankyou
-britt
I am the poster child for evil.
As such, I have felt like the scorpion riding the frogs back across the river.
Doing good works, in fact trying to change the world for the better dose not seem like enough as I have been muddling through without God.
I am letting go of the darkness within my heart, the need to sting the frog.
I am choosing now, tonight, to be a warrior for heaven.
I pray that I will have the fortitude to allow my work to be divinely inspired. To praise the lord and not stand in the way of his will with my hubris. I beg you Lord to strengthen my heart on my walk away from Satan. Finally Lord I beg(trembling after realizing your greatness) for forgiveness for my sins. My once strong shoulders sag under the weight of Satan's influence. In Jesus name I pray. Thank you, thank you, thank you amen.
I wanted to share that with you as this new state of being was brought about partially by what I read on this site.
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