Sermon Summary – Sunday 15 July 2018RELIGION VERSUS RELATIONSHIP (Calven Celliers)

Read 2 Timothy 4: 1 – 4 This Scripture paints a very accurate picture of the times that we are living in right now. Many church going Christians today have the exact same biographical profile of these people that Paul was warning Timothy about. They don’t apply the Word of God taught to them because they don’t want the Word of God to impact their lives. They may think they are following Jesus, but the reality is that they have inverted the gospel by inviting Jesus to follow them. They may call Him Saviour but they’ve never really surrendered to Him as Lord.

That’s religion, but not a relationship! Religion is manmade, me-centric, based on me trying to get to God through rules, regulations and works. Religion is based on people's efforts at reaching God and being made right with Him through their own efforts, rituals, customs, and habitual activities.

“A lot of people think that Christianity is you doing all the righteous things you hate and avoiding all the wicked things you love in order to go to heaven. No, that’s a lost man with religion. A Christian is a person whose heart has been changed; they have new affections.” (Paul Washer)

Relationship goes beyond a habit. It’s a connection, a kinship, a camaraderie or companionship that exists between you and someone else, in this case God, the Creator of the Universe. He wants to be in a relationship with you. That’s why He made us in the first place. And it’s the only way we will ever be truly fulfilled in life, because relationship with God is what we were made for. But there’s a big obstacle to that relationship. It’s called sin, and no one is exempt.

Read Titus 3: 4 – 5 A personal relationship with God begins by putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord, thereby acknowledging that your own efforts to earn God’s acceptance are inadequate.God sent Jesus to earth to pay the penalty we rightly deserved. Why? Because of His great love for me and for you! He wants to be in a relationship with you that much.

“My greatest concern as a pastor is that people can go to church every week of their lives and never go all in with Jesus Christ. They can follow the rules but never follow Christ. I’m afraid we’ve cheapened the gospel by allowing people to buy in without selling out. We’ve made it too convenient, too comfortable. We’ve given people just enough Jesus to be bored but not enough to feel the surge of holy adrenaline that courses through your veins when you decide to follow Him no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.” (Mark Batterson)

More than a century ago there was a revival and during that time a holy dare was issued – The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by every man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him. A man who heard and was challenged to take up that call to consecration was none other than D.L.Moody. When those words hit his eardrums they shot straight to his soul. The call to consecration defined his life. Moody left an indelible imprint on his generation, his sermons contributed to a great spiritual awakening worldwide, and more than a century later his passion for the gospel continues to indirectly influence millions of people. He left an amazing legacy. That kind of passion begins with salvation evidenced in a consecrated relationship.

“…people want to see passion. They want to see us do church and follow Christ like we mean it … People need to see that God is the all-consuming reality in our lives. Our sincerity and earnestness in worship matter ten times more than the style we use to display our sincerity and earnestness … people want to see that our faith actually matters to us … we cannot pass on what we do not feel … [people] need to hear the mighty deeds of God. And they need to hear the message from someone who not only understands it but has been captured by it … and to grab them with passion, we must be gripped ourselves. The world needs to see Christians burning, not with self-righteous fury at the sliding morals in our country, but with passion for God.” (Kevin de Young)

In order for God to do amazing things in your life and mine we need to consecrate ourselves to Him. It’s a pattern that was established way back in time, before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and conquered the Promised Land (Read Joshua 3:5). Amazing always begins with consecration and consecration always results in amazing.

Consecration is not going to church once a week, consecration is not having a daily quiet time, consecration is not fasting during Lent, consecration is not keeping the Ten Commandments, consecration is not sharing your faith with your friends, consecration is not giving your tithe to God, consecration is not saying the sinner sprayer, consecration is not volunteering for a ministry within the church, consecration is not attending or even leading a Fellowship Group, consecration has nothing to do with lifting your hands during worship, or going on a missions trip. Don’t get me wrong, those are all great things, but they need to flow out of a relationship with God. Consecration is more than just behaviour modification, it’s more than conformity to a moral code. It’s more than doing good deeds. So what is consecration? The word consecrate means to set yourself apart. By definition, consecration demands full devotion. It’s dethroning yourself and enthroning Jesus. It’s the complete divestiture of all self-interest (Read Romans 12:1). It’s surrendering all of you to all of Him. It’s a simple recognition that every second of time, every ounce of energy and every cent of money is a gift from God and for God. Consecration is an every deepening love for Jesus, a childlike trust in our heavenly Father and blind obedience to the Holy Spirit, all summed up in the word relationship.

Read Mark 10: 17 – 20This young man had everything that money could buy. He had his whole life in front of him, he called the shots. Yet something is obviously missing. He was following the rules but he wasn’t following Jesus. He kept all the commandments, he did nothing wrong, but at the same time was not doing what was ultimately right. The Rich Young Ruler became the Old Rich Ruler. We don’t know what fired across his synapses as he lay on his deathbed, perhaps it was the moment Jesus said, “Follow me.” Those words may have echoed in his ear until the day he died. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, but he didn’t have the guts to go for it. He held his hand instead of doubling down for Jesus … Faith is pushing all your chips to the middle of the table. You can’t hedge your bet by setting aside one or two chips. It’s all or nothing. And that’s what Jesus challenged the Rich Young Ruler to do.Religious people don’t go to heaven, not even good people go to heaven, born-again, saved people in intimate relationship with Jesus go to heaven. Paul made that quite clear (Read Ephesians 2: 8 – 9) and Jesus Himself spoke of this too (Read Matthew 7: 21 – 23). Religion is manmade, me-centric, based on me trying to get to God through rules, regulations and works. It’s based on people's efforts at reaching God and being made right with Him through their own efforts, rituals, customs, and habitual activities. Religion wants to see your report card, Jesus wants to see your heart. Relationship goes beyond a habit. It’s a connection, a kinship, a camaraderie or companionship that exists between you and Jesus. You know Him and He knows you, because you’ve not only bought in, but you’ve sold out! Consecrated, living for an audience of One!