Bulldog Chapel Transcript
Bulldog Chapel—GLORY
John 1:14 “The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory. The glory of the One and Only, who came from
the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Made it to state!
·
Our joy isn’t our own, but we rejoice because
our boys rejoice.
·
Our pain isn’t our own when our son flubs a play
(or when the team loses), it is as parents, vicariously experiencing the boy’s
pain.
·
Why do we get nervous, have diarrhea or throw up
in the bathroom when we’re not even playing the game? (Richard Hood) Because, we glory in our sons.
o Illus.
Gordon Beckham, 8th overall pick to CWS; grad of UGA and local Atlanta
hero. The mother had cried in the
bathroom for half an hour because Gordon had grounded into a Double-Play in CWS
4 yrs earlier as a freshman. Not out of
shame or failure, but for her son.
Why? Because she gloried in her
son.
o E.g.. Can you imagine, I approach my son, saying,
“You can no longer carry our last name because you have dishonored us! You will simply be known as “Timothy,
formerly known as Chun…”
§
Movie: Princess
Bride: Inconceivable!
o Not
totally inconceivable: Rashid Chaudry, of Jonesboro,
GA, accused of strangling his daughter for
dishonoring the family name. And he’s
declaring he’s not guilty because of freedom
of religion—namely, Islam allows honor killings as a righteous act.
§
TRUE: Two cases this week alone in Iraq
and Afghanistan;
both cases, the father and the brother were set free. (Don’t get me started with
Islam….I have a LOT to say about it).
Often hear:
There are so many religions in the world. How can we know which one is the right one?
Isn’t there more than one way up the mountain? So, isn’t there more than one way up to God?
Doesn’t every religion have some element of truth?
As long as one does his best to obey his religion, isn’t
that good enough?
A pastor I know was asked once, “OK, tell me in 15 minutes
or less, what is so different about Christianity compared to the 5,000+ religions of the world?”
Bill Hybels took up the challenge and said, “I can do it in less than that. The difference between Christianity and the
5000+ religions of the world can be described with two words.”
All religions of the world
come down, in its bare fundamentals, to the word DO.
·
You have to DO in order to gain the favor of its
god.
·
You have to DO what’s required to get rewarded
by its god.
·
You have to DO all that it’s necessary to gain
eternal life, if they have such a concept.
Illus.
o Islam—follow the 5 pillars of their
faith to get a chance at paradise; if you fight “jihad,” and become a suicide
bomber, you can guarantee paradise, where you get 72 virgins serving you and
meeting your every imaginable need.
(Haven’t had a chance to ask a Muslim woman how she feels about that…cuz
they won’t talk to an infidel like me).
o Buddhism—follow the 8-fold path and
hold to the 4 Noble truths.
o Hinduism—reincarnate about a million
times and then you’ll reach “Oneness.”
Christianity can also be
described with one word: DONE.
·
2000 years ago, Jesus, who is the glory of God
incarnate, came to earth and died on the cross to pay the penalty of all our
sins. Six hours he hung upon the cross,
and when he paid the price for the sin of the world, his last words on the
cross were, “It is finshed.” It is
DONE.
·
Unique doctrine of Christianity (not found in
any religion) is that when we come to recognize
and know Jesus personally as Lord and Savior, ALL our sins are
forgiven…PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE!
o Other
religions, if there is a forgiveness doctrine, is only for past sins.
o In
Colossians and Ephesians, the Bible tells us that all our sins are
forgiven!
·
It is DONE.
On that note, another key difference that follows is that all the
religions of the world are based on LAW;
but Christianity is based on LOVE.
o
(NIV, CJV) John 3:16—“For
God so loved the world that He gave
His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life.”
·
And if Christianity is based on LOVE, then it
really is a RELATIONSHIP with God,
not a RELIGION of God. What’s the difference?
o
Illus.
To Timothy: If you pitch a no-hitter for 4 innings, I’m gonna get you a
new cell phone. Next game, he bombs
it! Coach Kiley: “It’s not your day in
the sun, Timothy.” Brings in __________,
and he pitches 4 innings of no-hit ball.
Imagine ________ comes to me and says, “Can I have a new cell
phone?” My answer: Go ask your dad.
·
Reward is not based on performance; DOING
it. It’s based on a loving relationship
between father and son.
·
In the same way, when God promises eternal life,
it’s not something you can earn it with DOing good works. It is a loving gift of God, received by faith/relationship
from father to son.
·
If Christianity is not a religion; it’s a loving
relationship with the Father God who created all of us. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes that God
had placed in each of us, ETERNITY in
our hearts, which simply means that every human being has a sense of the
eternal…something beyond ourselves, and the five senses, that point to the
Creator God.
o
Just like a compass
points to true North wherever we are, God placed in us a “feeling in the gut” that
tells us we belong to something greater than ourselves.
o
Almost every toy your children have, when you
look underneath, it says, “Made in China.” Everything seems to be made in China! In the same way, ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS is
like a stamp under our butt that, when we look beneath, it says “MADE BY GOD.”
How do you establish that loving relationship
with God?
ABC’s of Faith.
·
Accept—the bad news/good news of the Son of God.
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Believe—personally trust in the promises of God
for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in His Son, in whom He glories.
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Confess—that you are a sinner. That you do not measure up to the standard of
moral perfection, but you freely receive His gift of forgiveness that was
accomplished through His Son; it was DONE.
Closing
Core of the Bad News/Good News of the Son of God is this:
We are more evil and wicked than we ever imagined (far greater than
any and all legalistic, strict, Bible-thumping, shove-it-down your throat
message you have heard), yet, at the
same time, in Christ Jesus, we are more loved and accepted that we dared hope (far
greater than any and all sugar-coated, liberal, Bible rejecting message you
have ever heard).
Thank you so much for giving me 15 min of your life to share
this great news with you.
Since the beginning of the season, my prayer has been…and still is…that one day,
you willingly give all of your life to God, with the same love and devotion, and
with the same glory, that you have for your children.
Let us pray.
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