Revolution

Sneak Peek

As I was preparing my sermon for this Sunday morning, our Sr. Pastor gave a talk that really paved the way for the talk that I would give one week later. He spoke from the passage where Jesus withers a fig tree that isn't bearing fruit. One of the big ideas was that the tree had all the signs of having fruit, yet upon closer inspection the tree was a fraud. The connection? When we go through life saying that we are "Christians", we are giving people a preview of what the Father must be like. Yet what are people finding when there is really some close inspection? Is there any fruit?

The wild thing is that I had planned to speak from John 15 with the familiar vine & branches metaphor. My point was going to be "We Are Giving The World A Sneak Peek Of The Father, But Unless We Are Connected To Christ & To The Church, We Will Never Connect To Our Community." I love it when God does this. My pastor & I had not collaborated on our talks, yet God has made a connection between them that is pretty cool.

So if we are a "sneak peek" of the Father, what picture are we giving to the world around us? Is that picture making it easier for people to connect with God through Christ, or is it distorting who God is & pushing people away from pursuing the truth? What can you do to better insure that the preview that you are presenting is a clear picture of our Father in Heaven?