Avoiding Shortcuts (3 of 3)
Series: Building The Church
Jeff Strite
Acts 11:19-26
OPEN: Several years ago the Chattanooga Free Press told the story of a woman who had decided to take a short cut to cleaning the birdcage that housed her favorite canary Chippie. Having a busy schedule that day, she decided to clean the cage with the vacuum cleaner.
Shortening the process even further, she took off the attachment and was using the full hose to remove debris from the cage. Suddenly the telephone rang. She turned to answer it when she heard the loud "whoosh." She knew immediately what had happened: Chippie had been sucked into the vacuum bag. Quickly she hung up the phone, opened the bag and found Chippie - still alive but filthy. She went to the bathroom, turned on the faucet full force and stuck Chippie beneath it. A few minutes later he was clean but shivering. Seeing the hair dryer on the counter, she picked it up and turned it on high and quickly had Chippie dry, warm and back in the cage. The entire procedure had taken only a few minutes.
Days later, someone asked, "How is Chippie?"
"Well," she said, "he seems OK except that he doesn't sing anymore. He just sits and stares out into the room."
APPLY: This lady had decided to take a short cut… and nearly succeeded in taking the life out of her poor bird.
There are times when shortcuts are ok. But there are other times when you don't dare take those short cuts. One of those times is when you're dealing with your faith and your relationship with God. If you take short cuts with your Christianity, you can end up taking the life out of your faith
The leaders in Jerusalem understood this, that's why (when they heard about the exciting things taking place in Antioch) they sent one of their best men - to find out what was going on.
I. Just to give you a little background…
Three years before, the church had undergone the most terrible experience in its existence. A deacon by the name of Stephen had b ...
Series: Building The Church
Jeff Strite
Acts 11:19-26
OPEN: Several years ago the Chattanooga Free Press told the story of a woman who had decided to take a short cut to cleaning the birdcage that housed her favorite canary Chippie. Having a busy schedule that day, she decided to clean the cage with the vacuum cleaner.
Shortening the process even further, she took off the attachment and was using the full hose to remove debris from the cage. Suddenly the telephone rang. She turned to answer it when she heard the loud "whoosh." She knew immediately what had happened: Chippie had been sucked into the vacuum bag. Quickly she hung up the phone, opened the bag and found Chippie - still alive but filthy. She went to the bathroom, turned on the faucet full force and stuck Chippie beneath it. A few minutes later he was clean but shivering. Seeing the hair dryer on the counter, she picked it up and turned it on high and quickly had Chippie dry, warm and back in the cage. The entire procedure had taken only a few minutes.
Days later, someone asked, "How is Chippie?"
"Well," she said, "he seems OK except that he doesn't sing anymore. He just sits and stares out into the room."
APPLY: This lady had decided to take a short cut… and nearly succeeded in taking the life out of her poor bird.
There are times when shortcuts are ok. But there are other times when you don't dare take those short cuts. One of those times is when you're dealing with your faith and your relationship with God. If you take short cuts with your Christianity, you can end up taking the life out of your faith
The leaders in Jerusalem understood this, that's why (when they heard about the exciting things taking place in Antioch) they sent one of their best men - to find out what was going on.
I. Just to give you a little background…
Three years before, the church had undergone the most terrible experience in its existence. A deacon by the name of Stephen had b ...
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