Consumerism vs. the Vision
2023 Monthly Gatherings • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 12 viewsThe point of this sermon is to help people see that consumerism is a cancer in all of us, by way of our culture - it has no place in the church, no place in our hearts, and his a roadblock to the vision God has given this church
Notes
Transcript
Why do you come to church?
Why do you come to church?
Top 5 reasons people select a church, according to Pew Research
1) The Quality of the Sermons 2) Feeling Welcomed 3) Style of the service 4) Location 5) Programs for kids
Top 5 reasons people continue to attend a church
1) To become closer to God. 2) So their children will have a moral foundation. 3) To become a better person. 4) For comfort in times of trouble or sorrow. 5) They find the sermons valuable
Do any of these reasons seem bad or problematic?
What do all of those reasons have in common?
They are all about receiving from the church
“I want to go where I am being fed”
This is the problem...
This is the problem...
Consumerism is so ingrained in us, we don’t even see a problem with choosing a church community for selfish reasons
“Wait a minute! Shouldn’t I expect to receive all those things from the church?”
Yes! But you’re also supposed to be providing them
Providing these things to others was nowhere on those lists
This is not a personal attack!
I am saying every single one of us has this problem - it is endemic and we must root it out
So let’s look what the scriptures say should be the reason and the way that we come to church:
So let’s look what the scriptures say should be the reason and the way that we come to church:
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
26 Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
“Go to church so that you can be fed” is nowhere found in scripture
The Apostle Paul is quite harsh against what we would call a consumer mindset:
2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
Our Vision for 2023
Our Vision for 2023
“To pour into others what God has poured into us”
This means that:
We gather to feed each another
The consumer culture will kill what God wants to do through us
Selfishness is a cancer and we must be proactive against it
When Jesus saved us he made us all priests, not just some of us:
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. 5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
Think about this! Each one of us can bring the power of God to the hurting, the sick, the lonely, the brokenhearted.
You don’t need a pastor to do it - you are a priest of God
Now we’re going to administer communion together as priests...