VITAL MATTERS OF FAITH

It is sometimes necessary to step back and remember the most important things.

It has always been the

tendency of religion to

forget the “WHY”. How

true this has become

today.

We have turned:

Øtheology into psychology

ØChurch into rehab

ØWorship into therapy

ØAnd the cross into a couch!

It is not wrong to serve and meet felt needs, as long as we never forget that the SICK, the BLIND, the POOR, and the HUNGRY can still go to heaven; while the HEALTHY, the SEEING, the WELL-OFF, and the WELL-FED can still go to hell.

When will we make the main thing the main thing again?

Today we zoom out the lens of our faith and ask the larger question, “What should the church of God REALLY be focusing on today?”

1. GOD!!!

The most obvious answer is sometimes the most neglected. How many churches have shifted from being about God to being all about programs, numbers, or a whole host of other things?

We NEED GOD- not our own “god-idea” or some description of what we want HIM to be!

It is both man’s deepest need and highest ambition to seek after God. It is truly the root aspiration of living!

MATTHEW 22 : 36-40

(36)"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?“

(37 )Jesus replied: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

(38) “This is the first and greatest commandment.

(39) And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.'

(40) All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

ECCLESIATES 12: 13

(13) Now all has been

heard; here is the

conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his

commandments, for this is

the whole duty of man.

When we, especially as restoration churches, forget that it is ALL ABOUT GOD, we have truly lost our way!

2 .THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST!

Jesus is THE answer

JOHN 14 : 6

(6) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

It is not CHRIST “plus”

something else.

Colossians 1:18-19

(18) “And he is the head of the

body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

(19) For God was pleased to have all

his fullness dwell in him,”

Christ and His sacrifice is the very center of all that we are, all that we do, and all that matters! At His name EVERY KNEE WILL BOW!

Philippians 2:9-11

(9)“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

(10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”

(11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

3.TRUTH IS ABSOLUTE

JOHN 8:32

“Then you will know the

truth, and the truth will

set you free."

Relativism has consumed our culture. People today are so very afraid to confront or proclaim that there is an absolute right or wrong.

Truth is under attack! Not the definition of what the truth is, but the very concept of truth itself. This philosophy will leave mankind bankrupt and hollow!

2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-6

(3) “And even if our gospel is

veiled, it is veiled to those who

are perishing.”

(4) “The god of this age has

blinded the minds of unbelievers,

so that they cannot see the light of

the gospel of the glory of Christ,

who is the image of God.

(5) For we do not preach ourselves,

but Jesus Christ as Lord, and

ourselves as your servants for

Jesus' sake.”

(6) “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

ROMANS 1:25

“They exchanged the truth of God

for a lie, and worshiped and served

created things rather than the

Creator--who is forever praised.

Amen.”

EPHESIANS 4:15

“Instead, speaking the truth in love,

we will in all things grow up into

him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

EPHESIANS 6:14

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.”

2 THESSALONIANS 2:10

… “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

4. MANKIND IS PERISHING
WITHOUT THE GOSPEL

ROMANS 1:16

“ I am not ashamed of the gospel,

because it is the power of God for

the salvation of everyone who

believes: first for the Jew, then for

the Gentile.”

We must again have fear FOR the lost so that we might save them!

When did we lose the “fire in our bones???”

Jeremiah 20:9

“But if I say, "I will not mention

him or speak any more in his

name,“ his word is in my heart

like a fire, a fire shut up in my

bones .I am weary of holding it

in; indeed, I cannot.”

When we stop making the main thing the main thing, what kind of church are we?

Sometimes we need to step back and focus on the bigger things that REALLY matter:

GOD, CHRIST, the TRUTH, and

EVANGELISM. Without those, what hope do any of us have???