Things We Should Be Talking About in Church
This might be one of the toughest messages I have ever delivered. It is tough because I have spent the last 10 years of my life working over 70 hours per week working on the Messianic movement. Sometimes that is on a local level, sometimes that is on a national or international level. Either way, as I spend time with the Lord, I often ask him why haven’t the things you gave me visions of coming true now? Was I wrong in what I saw? Was it from you God or my own foolish heart?
You see crisis of beliefs normally come from chaos and the calling is always in the chaos.
Chaos is not of God and normally chaos is used to draw us back closer to God. At least those who are generally working on walking out their faith. We all get lazy, we all get a little overweight, a little slow in our first step. God give us wake up calls.
Recently God gave this community a wake-up call. I would count it a joy, cause the movement, in general, is getting a wake-up call.
I am glad each one of you answered the call today cause we are going to talk about things we should talk about in the church. It’s time to get real.
For some of you, this is going to be uncomfortable, when the Lord started working on me a couple of months ago with this message it was highly uncomfortable for me.
You see topics like lust, greed, pride, they don’t bother me. But what about that word enemies?
Enemies. You know the one we alienate from our lives due to some small nonsensical issue? You know the one Yeshua commands us to love the same way we love our self. Ouch if we characterize someone as against us we have automatically named them an enemy and then we have up’d the stakes. We must love that person the same way we love ourselves……. (Matthew 5 43-47)
Anxiety. Anxiety is one of the most detrimental disorders of our current culture. Our digital culture has created individuals who lack the attention span of a goldfish. They are anxious about everything. Their job, marriage, and finances. Anxiety is crippling for some. It becomes the 21st-century Pharisees veil we see our world through. We see God through. Yet Matthew 6 25-26 and 31-33 all tell us not to be anxious.
How many Messianic congregations are midrashing on overcoming anxiety? Let alone even talking about it.
Bigotry- The Bible clearly outlines that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that God raises him from the dead we have salvation. God doesn’t really care what YOU want. It was never about YOU. It was always about HIM. Our intolerance towards someone over the calendar, fringes and all the other nonsense must stop.
Your opinions are only relevant in your home, when the community comes together the Holy Spirit is the only statement that matters and if you aren’t walking in love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control then you don’t even know the law.
Selfishness- Luke 9 23-25 tells us we must deny ourselves daily and take up our cross (burdens) and follow Jesus. Cause if we will lose our life for the sake of Jesus we will actually save our life. Marriages splitting, friendships splitting, daddy issues, mommy issues. We are some of the most selfish and entitled human beings to ever walk the planet. While we are fighting over Starbucks kids are literally fighting over ounces of water. While we are imposing our selfish will on woman’s rights vs men’s rights we are too stupid to see our spouse filing for divorce. This is a topic we could spend a year on. Whether it is intentional or subliminal all of us are selfish.
Trust- We can’t trust our neighbor we are always applying motives to people’s actions. We are always implying motives to God’s actions. There are people in this room today who don’t fully trust God or His promises. I’d venture to say the majority of us in this room today would not last a minute in the lion’s den like David did.
Financial and Physical Giving- Opps I think I went too far.
There are so many things I cannot even scratch the surface today. Things that we should be talking about inside these walls. They have been labeled taboo or off-limits. But if we can’t talk about them here, where?
It’s time for us to get real. It’s time for us to take the gloves off, the political correctness, the baggage we continue to carry around. It has and is destroying our homes, our churches, our relationships.
It’s time for us to start talking about the hard things. We have created a false narrative in a lot of the Messianic congregations across the world. A narrative that we have things figured out, that because we are pursuing the Torah, not observing, cause let’s be honest how many of us went to Jerusalem this year for the Feasts? We are Torah pursuant, covered by the blood of Messiah.
The blood of Messiah isn’t a dark corner for us to hide our weaknesses, shame, and sin. It consumes every inner part of our physical and spiritual bodies. We are all addicts. Addicted to something that prohibits the true power of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in us.
This is not what God intended for us. John 10:10 states” the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.
As a Pastor I have been guilty many times in the past of unintentionally creating an environment in my gatherings that people feel they have to be perfect, they have to have it all figured out.
That is not a church.
A church is like a hospital, full of human beings. All get sick. Some are doctors who are trained to help cure sickness. They are not immune from getting sick themselves. Some serve others, and others get served. When Doctors get sick they go to the same place. This is a church. A place where imperfect people learn how to heal. Learn how to rebuild.
It’s time we all get real. Too many of us are hurting, too many of us are sick, too many of us are on the verge of death. It’s time we allow the Creator to start healing us, so we can help heal others.
Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it. To offer hope, to offer salvation. He left us with this task. Go into all the world and share the news of the healing power in Jesus so that all may have life. So that others may join us on the most important mission of all. Helping usher in the return of the King to his throne on this earth.
Never forget that we are stronger together. Never forget that you were bought with a price. Never forget that you are not too far gone. Today is your day, today is your chance to start talking about the things you are scared of, the things you don’t have control over. Today is the day for you to embrace your eternal life.