Jesus Is God (1 of 4)
Series: John
Patrick Edwards
John 1:1-5
Introduction
I've been a Christian for 25 years. I was raised by Christian parents; attended church faithfully; heard the Gospel; went to summer camp. I've spent the majority of my conscious life knowing that Jesus died to save me from my sin and bring me eternal life. And I say all of this simply in acknowledge of what a blessing that is! I used to think I had a 'boring' testimony because I hadn't been addicted to crack or homeless or an alcoholic. I didn't have a dramatic conversion story, if you know what I mean. But over time I've come to be so grateful for how the Lord saved me early in life, has kept me safe from so many things that could have gone differently, has protected me from myself so often. God has been so good to me.
And yet, at the same time, I think that because of the longevity of my faith and the relative peace of my life that it's easy for me at times to perhaps take God for granted, namely perhaps to treat Jesus lightly. Forget, perhaps; no doubt there have been many seasons of life when I know for sure how flippantly I was viewing and treating my God and my salvation. Some of you, I'm sure, will remember these t-shirts: Jesus is My Homeboy. And I'm ashamed to say, but I've got to own the fact, that I owned one of these; I wore it around. I thought it made me cool. I'd walk around and people would say, ''Cool t-shirt, man,'' and I'd be like, ''Yeah, man, I'm really hip.'' Jesus was a fashion accessory to me, a way to get others to think highly of me.
Now, rest assured, I no longer own that shirt, but church, I have to admit that I can still at times treat Jesus just as casually as I did in my late teens and early 20s. Even as a pastor it's really easy to do things in the name of Jesus; to proclaim the name of Jesus, but to sometimes forget to simply acknowledge and enjoy who Jesus really is. We do it as Christians; we do it as churches. We have all these ministries ...
Series: John
Patrick Edwards
John 1:1-5
Introduction
I've been a Christian for 25 years. I was raised by Christian parents; attended church faithfully; heard the Gospel; went to summer camp. I've spent the majority of my conscious life knowing that Jesus died to save me from my sin and bring me eternal life. And I say all of this simply in acknowledge of what a blessing that is! I used to think I had a 'boring' testimony because I hadn't been addicted to crack or homeless or an alcoholic. I didn't have a dramatic conversion story, if you know what I mean. But over time I've come to be so grateful for how the Lord saved me early in life, has kept me safe from so many things that could have gone differently, has protected me from myself so often. God has been so good to me.
And yet, at the same time, I think that because of the longevity of my faith and the relative peace of my life that it's easy for me at times to perhaps take God for granted, namely perhaps to treat Jesus lightly. Forget, perhaps; no doubt there have been many seasons of life when I know for sure how flippantly I was viewing and treating my God and my salvation. Some of you, I'm sure, will remember these t-shirts: Jesus is My Homeboy. And I'm ashamed to say, but I've got to own the fact, that I owned one of these; I wore it around. I thought it made me cool. I'd walk around and people would say, ''Cool t-shirt, man,'' and I'd be like, ''Yeah, man, I'm really hip.'' Jesus was a fashion accessory to me, a way to get others to think highly of me.
Now, rest assured, I no longer own that shirt, but church, I have to admit that I can still at times treat Jesus just as casually as I did in my late teens and early 20s. Even as a pastor it's really easy to do things in the name of Jesus; to proclaim the name of Jesus, but to sometimes forget to simply acknowledge and enjoy who Jesus really is. We do it as Christians; we do it as churches. We have all these ministries ...
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