July 17, 2008

  • 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.

    ·       
    Believe—personally trust in the promises of God
    for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in His Son, in whom He glories.

    ·       
    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.