Stay the Course

This morning on the way in to work listening to a Francis Chan sermon he was referencing the need to stay focused on ourselves in the midst of the storms of life. The verses he was teaching on were 2 Timothy chapters 3 and 4. Paul writing to another pastor and telling him to remain faithful and fight the good fight. Reminding him that in the end there will be unrighteousness beyond measure. There will be churches that teach to a level that they are simply tickling the ears of those individuals that want to listen. This got me thinking that there will be churches who will think of more and more carnal ways to get people to come to the church. In 2 Timothy 3 the list that Paul presents is a list of things that people who appear to be godly are actually doing and this is going on INSIDE the church. This then is a list of deeds that the people who are supposedly believers and they are doing them inside the church. If this is us church how do we ever expect the world to want to change?

We must STAY THE COURSE we have to not be distracted by the things of this world. We must maintain our boat in the midst of this maelstrom called life. When we maintain our boat and stay focused on the destination, which is glorification in the revelation of Christ we can weather any storm! Therefore, we can not get distracted from the mission at hand. We must pursue a church that teaches the Bible and calls for the people to be holy and righteous. We need a church that looks after one another and is pursuing oneness exactly like the oneness that we find in John 17. “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:9-11 ESV) Jesus asks God that his children can have oneness just like THEY have oneness. This oneness that the trinity has is not just GETTING ALONG for the sake of the church kind of oneness. This oneness supersedes all oneness it is the very definition of oneness.

Because of this let’s seek oneness with one another not just getting along and let’s not lose sight of what we are supposed to be doing. Stop focusing on the world around us and trying to change them all the while we have hypocrites in our 4 walls. Let’s maintain our boat (church) and stay focused on God so that we can reach the destination intact and one in Christ Jesus. There are the 6 D’s that can lead us to lose sight of our Lord:

Delusion - An unclear vision of reality that will lead away from God
Division - Exactly as it sounds not having the oneness we find in John 17 like the trinity
Doubt - Doubt in ourselves, doubt in our church, doubt in others and doubt in God
Discouragement - We can be discouraging to ourselves and those around us, count it all joy
Distraction - Do not pursue the shiny things of the world, just ask the fish who bit the lure
Disappointment - In others , ourselves, and the curch. Go to God he does not disappoint.

Father let us all stay focused on you and seek out your word above all else. Let us not be the generation that seeks out teachers that will affirm our sin, let us seek out your word that through the Holy Spirit will convict us of our sin. Let our church be that Ark that will stay afloat during the storm and ultimately get us to the destination which is glorification in our Lord Jesus Christ…Amen