Enjoying Jesus – Part 2
PART 2 – ENJOYING JESUS.
Who is He?
(Mark 8:27-29) Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
Week 1 – Authentic – real
Week 2 – Relevant – up close and personal
Today – dispelling the myth that Jesus is serious – depressed
Not true – actually enjoyable
If you read your Bible – will see that people loved to be around Jesus
Children, sinners, skeptics, etc
The only people who did not enjoy Jesus
Inauthentic, fake, religious people
Everybody else enjoyed Him
Sometimes – religion today paints a different picture of Jesus
I remember growing up in church – loved God – hated church
Grew up thinking you get extra points if not enjoyable
When I was asked – “Do you want to go to heaven?”
Not if it’s like church – what else do you have?
Hell doesn’t sound good – but friends there
No Laughing Matter
For years I thought it was heresy to consider church “fun”
Why? Devil doesn’t want you enjoying Jesus – Christianity
(Nehemiah 8:10) “…for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
(Psalm 2:4) “The God who sits in the heavens laughs…”
Laughter is good – Satan would love for you to consider Christianity
No laughing matter
Wants to take the joy and pleasure out of Christianity
Joke – Heard a pastor tell a story about witnessing on the street
Demon in a Baptist church
Satan has the world fooled into thinking
Sin is exciting/fun – serving God is dead/boring
The result? Many have all an incorrect view of church – Jesus
Let’s set the record straight
(John 10:10) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
- The devil wants to steal your faith.
See him three times in scripture – wedge between you and God
How? By putting a different face on Jesus – not fun
People’s thoughts about prayer, church, Bible – negative
(1 Peter 5:8-9) “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”
- The devil wants to kill your freedom.
(Galatians 5:1) “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Freedom to laugh
Freedom to worship
Freedom to be yourself
I remember my first experience in a church like this one
So different from how I was raised – thought irreverent
Deep down inside wanted to be free – wanted what they had
(2 Corinthians 3:17) “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
- The devil wants to destroy your future.
This is the ultimate goal – you to miss heaven
Because relationship is the only way to heaven
(Luke 22:31-32) “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”
Enjoying Jesus
A lot of people are going to heaven not enjoying the journey
Why? They’ve never learned how to enjoy Jesus
Here’s how…
- Change your view of Jesus.
See it the way it really is
Don’t let Hollywood, art, religion determine your view
Appreciated Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ
Scene where Jesus is having fun with his mother Mary
(1 John 5:11-12) “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
What is your testimony? Who is He?
Your answer will determine your relationship with Him
- Approach Him through relationship not rules.
Time when I thought you had to do certain things a certain way
Trying to find God in the system or structure
Approached the Bible with a negative bent
Example – 10 commandments – law or life
Today – people try to connect with God through rules
Rules are important – but it cannot substitute relationship
(John 5:39-40) “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
(1 John 5:3) “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
Here’s a real secret to a life-giving relationship with Jesus…
- Give Him your whole heart.
(Jeremiah 29:13-14) “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.
You’ll never know how great it is until you go all the way
Some are afraid – have misconceptions
If you give Him your whole heart – will lose something
(Hebrews 11:6) “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Once you have this life-giving relationship – must guard it…
- Respond to sin with life.
Greatest challenge to enjoying Jesus will be on the tough days
When you do something wrong or
When someone else does something wrong
Apostle Paul – Romans 7 – shares his struggle with his flesh
(Romans 8:1-2) “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
It does not we’re rejecting any moral standard – or a license to sin
But you need to view your struggle the way Jesus does
Doesn’t want to punish – wants to help you
He came to set you free – not make you sorry
- Guard your heart from going back.
Prone to systems and rituals – easier than relationships
Guard your relationship with Jesus
Don’t let people pull you into vain systems/structures
(Proverbs 4:23) “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”