july 27-aug 2 boxcar christianity

The Word of Life Study BibleThe Word of Life Study BibleTMTM

When preparing for this week’s lesson I ran across a good

article in The Word of Life Study Bible.TM The article was

taken from the message in Isaiah 52:7.

Messenger Announces Messenger Announces DeliveranceDeliverance

Isaiah 52:7 NET How delightful it is to see approaching over the

mountains the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a

messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"


The good news of peace and salvation prophesied by Isaiah was effectively

delivered by Jesus. Later, Jesus' followers spread this good news

throughout the Roman world, and from there it passed down through the

centuries to us who live today.


The gospel is very good news for sinners who stand under

the judgment of God. Through Christ, we can have

forgiveness of sins and peace with God.


Acts 13:38 NET Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that

through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,


Romans 5:1 NET Therefore, since we have been declared

righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ,


Romans 6:23 NET For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

Lord.And this salvation is a free gift of God's grace, even though by nature

we were "children of wrath"


Ephesians 2:3 NET among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives

in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature

children of wrath even as the rest…


4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with

which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions,

made us alive together with Christ — by grace you are saved!


6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly

realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages

the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ

Jesus.


8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not

from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so

that no one can boast.


Thus we begin our life in Christ "by grace . . . through faith." But how do we then continue our life with

Jesus? How do we grow into spiritual maturity as believers,

which is what God wants us to do?


Ephesians 1:1 NET From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus],

the faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace and peace to you from God

our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!


3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. 4 For he

chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight

in love.


Notice the truth Paul just stated. “he chose us in Christ before the

foundation of the world” Can we wrap our minds around this?

Before creation Jesus knew He would come to earth to die &

provide salvation.


5 He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will — 6 to the praise of the

glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly

loved Son.


7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the

forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us

in all wisdom and insight.


9 He did this when he revealed to us the secret of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in

Christ, 10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up

all things in Christ — the things in heaven and the things on earth.


11 In Christ we too have been claimed as God's own possession, since we

were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 12 so that we, who were the first

to set our hope on Christ, would be to the praise of his glory.


13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) —

when you believed in Christ — you were marked with the seal of the

promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God's own

possession, to the praise of his glory.


15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for

all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers.

"Boxcar Christianity""Boxcar Christianity"

For many Christians, the journey of faith might be called "Boxcar Christianity" which works like

this: When we place our faith in Christ, Jesus becomes the new

Engineer of the train we call our life.


Up until then, we had tried to run the train on our own, according to

our own wits and by our own power. But we failed. As sinful

people, we simply couldn't make the train run, certainly not the way

it was intended.


But now that we have placed Jesus at the controls of our life, we hope for better things. We

expect the train to start moving, and eventually, to

arrive at its final destination.


Obviously any illustration will be inadequate to express the wonder of salvation in Christ. But what

happens in "Boxcar Christianity" is an appropriate illustration of what many people actually do

today as they try to follow Jesus.


They start hooking on "boxcars" that they have reason to

believe should be a part of their Christian, experience,

For example:


We need to spend focused time with Jesus each day, because we need to get to know our Lord. Therefore, we need to

pray every day, and we need to read the Bible.


Then we need to find a good church to join. We need to be with God's

people. And once we are in a church, we should not only

participate in the worship service, but join a Sunday school class for instruction, if the church has any.


If there is an evening service, we should attend that too.

Then, if we really want to grow, we should join a mid-week

group such as a prayer meeting.


And if the church has a gathering for fellowship, we should consider

being a part of that. We'll make new friends, we'll have a sense of

community and we'll also have fun.


To understand our new faith, we need to begin reading some good Christian literature. A growing

Christian is a reading Christian, so we might start borrowing books

from the church's library, or frequenting a Christian bookstore.


Meanwhile, as we mature in Christ, it's important to start using our gifts. If we have

musical ability, we might join the choir or church ensemble


We might become a leader in the youth group. We might teach a

Sunday school class or serve as an usher. There is always something we can do, and our service will be

appreciated.


In the summers there are summer programs, such as Vacation Bible School. That's only a week or two

long. Why not volunteer some time for the spiritual nurture of

children?


During the week, there may be a Bible study in our community.

Joining it will allow us to spend time with people around God's Word, focusing on the

things of the Lord.


And somewhere in town is probably a group meeting for coffee and prayer before the workday begins. Attending

that might be of great help to our spiritual progress.


Then from time to time a spiritual retreat will be offered, perhaps for a weekend. If we go, we'll have a great opportunity to be renewed in

our faith, to build some closer friendships, and to draw closer to

the Lord.


Back home, there are always committees, councils, and boards that need capable

people to serve. Why not serve the body of Christ in this way?


We might also consider becoming part of the church's visitation team, welcoming new people to the

congregation. In fact, that would be great preparation for joining an

evangelism or outreach team, which will help us actively share our faith

with unbelievers.


Not that ministry stops with evangelism. Many churches sponsor homeless shelters, meals-on-wheels, and other resources for people's basic needs. Here is a place where the Lord

could use us to "give a cup of cold water in His name."


All the while, it's important to support the church and other

ministry organizations financially. We should be mindful of what our church's missionaries are doing,

and pray for them regularly.


We might even consider participating in a short-term

mission project. We should also be actively involved as citizens,

influencing the political system through our faith and values.


We should be concerned about racial reconciliation and other

social justice issues. If we have children, we need to be

involved in their schools, whether public or private.


We should be active in ... We should do ... We should

become . . . We should . . . We should . . . We should . . .

What Happened?


Obviously this list is a bit exaggerated, maybe not by much! "Boxcar

Christianity" has a way of adding load upon load of expectation to what

started out as a pure and simple faith—faith so simple that even a child can

demonstrate it.

"Boxcar Christianity""Boxcar Christianity"What happens? How does the gospel

become so complicated and so freighted with demands? How is it that so many

believers start out with Jesus pulling the train, only to wind up completely

exhausted as they strain to pull the whole train, which grows ever longer with heavy

boxcars?


All of the boxcars are full of valuable opportunities and

experiences. Any of these can be enormously beneficial to

our spiritual growth.


But the most important thing on the train is not in any of the boxcars, it's in the engine. That's because

nothing is more important than our relationship with Jesus. Everything else on the train is merely a means

of drawing us closer to Him.


This Is Eternal LifeIf we miss Jesus in our lives, then we miss the One who gives life to

us. Jesus challenges "Boxcar Christians" as He did His disciple Philip, who had known Him for

about three and a half years:


John 14:9 NET Jesus replied, "Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The

person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say,

'Show us the Father'?


Shortly thereafter, Jesus prayed to His Father, "And this is

eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus

Christ whom You have sent." John 17:3 The gospel is all about

knowing God.


"Boxcar Christianity" can lead to failure, frustration, and

wretchedness. The situation is not unlike that described by

Paul in Romans 7


Romans 7:7 NET What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not!

Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means

to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said,

"Do not covet."


8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the

commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.


9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended

to bring life brought death!


11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment,

deceived me and through it I died. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous,

and good.


13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be

shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that

through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.


14 For we know that the law is spiritual — but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. 15 For I

don't understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want —

instead, I do what I hate.


16 But if I do what I don't want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But

now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that

is, in my flesh.


For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 20 Now if I do what I

do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.


21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.


23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against

the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin

that is in my members.


24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of

death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I

serve the law of sin.

Well Versed in God’s WordWell Versed in God’s Word

We cannot do it alone! Jesus must be at the controls. I

believe my main job standing in front of you speaking is to

encourage you to be well versed in God’s Word.


That is why the past three years I’ve done my best to get you reading

the Bible. We read the NIV Chronological Bible, then The

Message New Testament, and this year a daily reading schedule using

your favorite Bible.


If we want to know God, grow in maturity as Christ’s

followers, there is no other way besides knowing what

God reveals about Himself in His Word.


Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice so we could be forgiven of our sins. Several times He tells us if we love Him we will obey His commandments. How can we know what He commands if

we don’t open His book to see?

july 27-aug 2 boxcar christianity

Spiritual