“Don’t Leave Jesus in the Building”

Text: Colossians 3:17 (NIV)  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Main Idea:  “If you are a believer, always take the name of Jesus with you.”

Key Points‘

• Too often when the church addresses social issues it addresses them in a secular way… Our challenge in these times, as believers is to connect the social issue, in a real and relevant way, to the promise of new life in Christ.
• This means remembering our top priority is to promote Jesus, and staying engaged with Him in order to be receptive and responsive to His promptings in whatever else we may be doing.
• “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28).  Failing to see each other this way is not racism or sexism, it is worse than that.  It is a different gospel.  Which makes it heresy.
• 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.  The important thing is not the thing that we do but the name we attach to whatever we are doing.  And that starts in our hearts.
• Let us remember that even in the chaos of the now, the Lord has a master plan that is going along just as He planned.  The turmoil that is taking place is not from God, but God is using it for His purpose.
• The Lord is faithful to give us what we need, moment by moment. We don’t need to worry about what we will need going forward. We aren’t there yet   The Israelites didn’t need the Red Sea to part the day before.