First he read from Luke 7:20-22.
If people came to us and asked us the same question would we have anything to point to - except ideology and doctrine. Ideology and doctrine are OK, but you can't love them.
In church we often recite creeds. How about we recite the beatitudes.
Jesus never said to make believers, he said to make disciples.
"Oh I love Jesus I just wish the Christians would take him more seriously." - Ghandi
Research group Barna identified the top 3 perceptions of Christians as
- AntiHomosexual
- Judgemental
- Hypocritical
The current generation the least giving to church.
But the are also the most generous givers. (Just not to church)
1 in 6 people are dying because they don't have clean water - and we need a heater to get baptised. (Said in an astounded tone*)
Independence might be an American value but it's not a gospel value. When we ask God "Why didn't you do anything?" if we listen carefully we might hear him say "I did I made you".
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(The heater was a real thing. A church Shane attended had a water pool in the church for full-body water immersion baptisms. As baptisms took place later in the church service the water was a bit cold for people's comfort. So the church was asking for money for a heated baptism pool.)
