Sermon- Sept 27th- VERY POWERFUL!

Between 2 Worlds:

1 Peter 1:1
We as Christians (believers) have been left behind by our family of origin and have to figure out how to live on earth. We are in a sense like E.T.- we are aliens to earth. We are born on earth but earth is not our home. We are caught between earth and heaven. God wants us to live to the beat of a different drummer here on earth. We cannot live like those here on earth because we live between two worlds. Everybody else doesn’t live like us or carry the same value system that we carry. We live only to bring glory to God. Our great temptation here on earth is to withdraw from where God wants us to live on earth. We can get caught up in arrogance of not wanting society around us and withdrawing or separating ourselves from the world. Our great tendency is to duplicate the values and morals of this fallen society. There must be a difference between how we view family, finances and our way of thinking.
We reside on earth as aliens (foreigners) but this is all temporary, we will be in heaven in the end.
We will face trials and pain and it will get the best of us if we are using an earthly mindset. Sometimes we pray for God to deliver us from things he puts in our lives and we waste our time asking God to remove ways He has already placed out for us.
We are displaced here on earth but for a specific reason. If we get too comfortable we will not be able to be ambassadors for God. We can either avoid society or become ambassadors to the society that we live in. We are living too earthbound and need to transform out thinking to living as aliens. We are living too much for other people and satisfying them (too concerned about what they think of us and not what God is calling us to do). As we go through pain, God may not take it away but we should be comforted knowing that God is there for us.
One day Pastors son was sick and in bed crying and Pastor tried to get him to cry it out but his son kept crying for a long time. So pastor went in his room and started to rub his back and his tears turned into snoring. Pastor didn’t take his pain away or heal him but his son was comforted with the fact that his daddy was there.
That is how we should feel in Christ. He may not always take the pain away but He is always there to comfort us.
When was the last time you thought about sharing your faith? When was the last time u shared your faith?

When we come to Jesus it shouldn’t just change our destination but also our thinking, morals and values as well.
The world is concerned about your image and your outside but God is concerned about your heart. We need to stand up and say this isn’t Burger King but the King of Kings and you cant “have it your way” once you are saved!
We cant control what is around us and we will suffer but we need to align ourselves with Christ and not with society. We are scared of man now a days when our real fear needs to be of God. We are scared of our boss and of what people might say but we need to instead be obedient to Christ first. We will still suffer in our obedience and disobedience because there is only place that we will NOT suffer and we are not there yet. Only one place is perfect and that is HEAVEN. God had to save the best for us for later.
Just remember that we will encounter suffering. When you live for Christ you will be ridiculed. Any culture or society that is not influenced is influenced by Satan. There is no in between. You can only be influenced by God or Satan. There is no will is not influenced by one or the other.

If you think that God is calling you or asking u to do something- consult his Word. God leads through His Word and His direction will never conflict with his Word.