Pastor Deon's first sermon point was not as simple as it sounded. I believe it is the foundational, root cause of the failure of Christianity to impact the world as it did in the early church.
Imitators of Christ must have a personal experience with God.
We have somehow come into a notion that church attendance is sufficient for individuals to claim that they are Christian, and that is wrong. Christianity begins and is sustained not by sitting in a worship service, but by confessing our sins and asking the Lord Jesus Christ to live in us and rule over us.
If I may add an addendum to this, I would argue that most people who claim to be Christian are not- because their lives do not adhere to the above definition. They have never made confession of their sins, and they have never asked God's opinion concerning the way in which they live their lives from day to day.
Friends, who do you rely on? And what is your proof for that reliance?
If you tell me that you rely on God, yet you have no idea where your Bible is (because you don't read it), you only pray when you're in a crisis, and your church attendance is done out of routine rather than out of a love for God, then perhaps you're not really relying on God. I would say you're kidding yourself. You can sing and shout and dance all you like, but your physical expressions don't make Him your Lord: your obedience and submission to Him do.
Lord, help us to stop putting on a show every Sunday, and to really demonstrate our personal experience with You: we will obey You, and we will submit to You. In Jesus' Name, let it be so.
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