Saturday, September 19, 2009

What you don't know...


This week, between the TV camera and the repetition of a 24 hour news media, we have been privy to some amazing feats of immaturity.  Mark Twain once wrote "It's not what you don't know that kills you, it's what you know for sure that ain't true."    What Kanye, Serena, and Joe did not know [or realize at the time] was that they were all acting like 3 year olds in the line at Wal-mart.  Unfortunately there has been ample opportunity for them to learn from their mistakes, albeit the hard way.   



Ephesians 4:11-15
11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ...


The Apostle Paul makes it clear that God gave the church to help Christians equip themselves for the work, and for their maturity to manhood.  Now some might think that manhood is achieved at some certain age level, or by the number of hairs on one's chest, but  as we saw this week immaturity still likes to sneak out of the house. (sometimes for a national audience)  What we don't know as Christians is that most of us are woefully immature.  We act like spiritual children screaming for the candy, and demanding our way. 


So God, in His infinite wisdom, gave us the church, and in the church he gave us pastors.  Now as pastor is simply a shepherd who leads the sheep to where the good grass is growing.  See sheep tend to wander and need a shepherd to lead them.  God also gave them teachers.  Teachers help us get from a place of ignorance by graduating us one level at a time.  We need teachers so that we do not remain in immaturity.  The old proverb says "What you don't know can't hurt you." but in reality what we don't know, hurts us deeply.  Our own acts of selfishness and immaturity keep us from experiencing the life that God has for us.  Our tantrums hurt other people and embarrass us.  Our selfish ways cause us to always want the toys that the other kid is playing with and we are never satisfied.  


This weekend we start a new message series entitled DEEP.  Deep is a word that scares a lot of people because they fear the unknown, they fear what lurks beneath the surface, they fear getting in over their head.  In reality, these same fears keep them from getting in all the way.  Many Christians are drowning in an inch of water, claiming that they are experiencing the Christian life, but are never fully immersed in it.  Sure once in a while they sit on the edge dangling their feet over the side, but never really get immersed.


It is my goal that everyone at Cornerstone, and all Christians everywhere would realize the joy that comes when you stop splashing around in the shallow end, and dive into the deep.  Maybe for you that means getting in a small group, or perhaps reading a book without Fabio on the cover.  Whatever form it takes, it is my prayer that we will all, as Paul wrote, "grow up in every way."

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Rifqa Bary's Testimony Before the summer of 2009