We have spent so many yrs asking ourselves questions that are subject to our ever changing culture.  Think about it, we ask ourselves what is right or wrong, what is legal or illegal, what is moral or immoral.  Those questions are all subject to our surroundings, and things that are culturally excepted. 

Those questions are far more complicated than we need to make them.  They are also the same question that everyone else is asking.  If we want to step away from what everyone else is doing we have to ask ourselves a different question.  The correct question is found in Ephesians 5:15-17  Paul is asking the Christians in Ephesus to start asking themselves a different question than everyone else in their culture.  To start living to a higher standard than those around them.  He tells them to live as the wise and not the unwise which means they have to begin to ask themselves different questions. 

The question we need to begin to ask ourselves is not what is right or wrong, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, but to ask ourselves what is the wise thing to do.  This question needs to be asked at 3 levels in our lives.

1. What is the wise thing to do in light of my past experience?
2. What is the wise thing to do in light of my current reality?
3. What is the wise thing to do in light of my future hopes and dreams?

If we begin to ask ourselves these questions we will have fewer regrets in our lives.  If your like me though you will have a decision or situation arise that you want to happen and will begin to say "ya but" or it isn't wrong and begin to turn a bad decision into a good decision in our minds because we have deceived ourselves. 

This question, if we are willing to ask it, will eliminate that problem. 

My goal is to get our kids to start asking themselves this question, not only because it will help them have fewer regrets in their lives, but it will also cause them to start to step away from the crowd and what everyone else is doing.  That choice will allow them to go further faster with God and his plan and purpose for their lives.

Or if we really think the Gospel is relevant.

Now I know that this could get into a huge theological discussion about what the Gospel or Good news is really all about, but I am talking about the practical application of what Christ did.

Looking at the sacrifice that he made, the suffering he went through, the abandonment he must have felt, all the while knowing that there would be people and whole people groups and nations that would turn their backs and in a sense spit on the cross and what he went through.  

Those are the very people he died for.  That is the great thing about The Gospel.  He died for the guy that you know that is as far from God as you can get.  That is what it is all about.  Giving that guy access to forgiveness, healing and a right relationship with God.  

That is where I find comfort and hope knowing that I used to be that guy.  Completely separated from God and all the while The Gospel was calling me and drawing me closer to him.

It is in that moment, when I look at what Christ did for me that I see my love for him.  Where I begin to really appreciate the love he has for me.  When I focus on his sacrifice I become free.  It has nothing to do with what I have done or how much I can love him, but has everything to do with how much he has done, and how much he has loved me.

That is what makes it so easy to lay down my life and what I want to do and pick up the cross and fulfill what he wants me to do.

So, is the Gospel Relevant?  Now more than ever. 

But I think that is the wrong question.  I think we should ask:

"How have I made the Gospel Relevant to those around me?"  

That is a life long journey for me and I pray that I get become less and less and he becomes more and more.  

That is where people find Relevance in what Christ has done.  In you and me!

I also love the story of the birth of Christ.  That is something that I never get tired of talking about.  As I was looking at that story this week I found something that I haven't seen before from the story.   That is what I love about the bible, it is like opening a gift that has so many different layers each time you read it.

I saw how Joseph handled the whole situation.  Matthew 1:18-24 what an embarrassing thing to have happen and yet his love for Mary was so strong that he didn't want to obey the Jewish law at the time and have her stoned to death.  He just wanted to end his marriage in secret.  Joseph in verse 20 got alone to think and to pray before he made any decisions.

Here he was in his most difficult time in his young life and he doesn't react to the problem he gets alone to think and to pray.  After he does that an angel appears to him in a dream, and gives him the answer and direction he desperately needed in his life.

That is what God does when we draw close to him he draws close to us.  When we seek him we find him.  The move is ours God is waiting for us to move.

How many of us take time to get alone and seek God before we make a decision?  As we enter this season lets all take time to get alone with God and allow him to direct our decisions and lives.

Some of you have some very important decisions coming up and God is just waiting for you to seek him, to draw near to him and he will give you direction (Lk 11:9,10)

Which begs the question what is the object of your worship?  If it isn't the one who created you, sent his son to die for you, gave you everything you need here on this earth.  Then the object of your worship is incorrect.  

Every decision we make is a worship decision.  What you watch, worship decision.  What you listen to, worship decision.  Who you hang out with, worship decision.  Every decision we make tells people where our heart is.  

Paul understood this in Romans 1:1 he says that he is slave to Christ.  Which means he understood that his life was bought and paid for by his master.  He was free to choose and chose to worship and serve his master (Christ).  His sole purpose was to live for what Christ wanted and not what he wanted.  

Every decision he made, a worship decision.  Letting everyone know the object of his worship.

What is the object of your worship?  What decisions do you need to change in your life?

My prayer is that we all begin to live a lifestyle that says we are slaves to Christ.  Worshiping him in everything we do.

Tomorrow night we will dive into this discussion.  How could a loving God allow terrible things to happen in this world?    I am excited because so many people struggle with that question.   The challenge with that is that God never promised our life would be easy.  

In fact his word says quite the opposite.  Look in John 16:33 that pretty much sums it up.  The question that I have is If there were no evidence of God working in your life would you still follow him?  Your answer to that question will determine how you will respond in an uncertain world. 

The nation of Israel spent 400 years in slavery waiting for God.  Not that God wasn't doing anything in fact the opposite is true.  In our darkest moments is when God does his greatest work.

He sent his son to die a horrible death, but out of that tragic event came the greatest gift God has ever given man kind....Salvation.

We all want a miracle, but none of us want to be in a spot to need one.  

No matter what our circumstance tells us God is always in control, but his timing is not ours and Romans 8:28 is unchanging.

Tomorrow night will be awesome.

1.)  Am I doing a good job as a dad of instilling Godly principles into my kids?

2.)  Am I doing a good job as a Pastor of instilling Godly principles into those I reach?

I know that my personality will never be satisfied with what I am currently doing.  I can always be doing more.  I understand that, but I have a small window of time to speak life into my kids and really anyone.  What am I doing with that time?  Am I wasting it on frivolous things that add no value to my life?  I would say in some areas yes! 

it isn't enough to recognize it though I have to change it.  If you knew you only had 1 hour to spend with someone what would you tell them?  We have those opportunities all of the time.  We come into contact with people who we will never see again.  What did we do with that time.  I am not talking about being weird, just intentional. 

Jesus said he never did anything with out his father telling him to do it.  He was intentional.  As a parent you know starting out you get about 13-16 years to really speak into the lives of your kids.  What are you doing with your time?

I lost a hole weekend with my kids that I can't get back.  Now I needed the time with my wife however this was the first time in 6 years.  How often are you gone away from your kids?  Why?  Just asking the question.  We have been trusted with raising God's children not ours.  Are you going to be able to stand before him and say you did everything you could or are you going to make excuses about what a sacrifice you made and how you needed certain things.  I am in a process of evaluating things in my life and how intentional I am with it. 

I think it is healthy to question things as long as you are really seeking God's truth and not your own.

The thing that made it easier was that this man Loved Christ with every ounce of his being.  So I sat and listened to people talk about his love for Christ and the confidence he had in his eternal destination. 

That got me thinking.... What are people going to say about me when that day comes?  Does my love for Christ come out of me in everything I do?  I am not talking about being weird or irrelevant, but am I genuinely interested in people and their place in eternity? 

Bottom line death is going to come to all of us and it will be too late to change your decisions when it does.  We have to be intentional with what and who we spend time with.  One of the coolest things I got to see at the funeral was my best friend get up and talk about his Dad not that he was an All-American at Stanford or how great of a Dad he was, but he shared about how much his Dad loved Christ and how that affected his life personally.  What a great moment to be able to sum up a life not by how a person lives, but by who they live for. 

I Hope my life is as impactful as Warren Newell's life was, and continues to be in the lives of the people who knew him.

Live Intentional

BRIAN HEAD WELCH - I AM SECOND from BRIAN HEAD WELCH on Vimeo.