The link to the latest sermon and notes is  here.

On Labor Day weekend, we want to continue our discussion on what it means to be an authentic Christian.  We started out this discussion several weeks ago highlighting 14 statements that relate to “behaviors” of the Christian life through our guest speaker, Chris Vengala.  Since that time, we have been breaking down the statements one at a time.  Last week, our discussion focused around authentic Christians being those who take the responsibility of stewardship as being a genuine priority.  Prior to that, we discussed the necessity for not just reading the scriptures, but doing what they say, and in addition, we have discussed not comparing our Christian lives to others.

This morning, we will be taking a look at a very common struggle, wanting to be seen and acknowledged by others.  We know this is an inherent drive in humans, something our culture brings to the forefront of our thinking, and something that church members struggle with as well.  Jesus had something to say about doing righteous deeds for the masses to see.  He uncovers the motivation behind the activities and exposes the desire, especially in the hypocritical, as wanting an earthly reward rather than the reward of obedience, a heavenly one.

So as we dive deeper into definitions on authenticity, let’s examine what is in our hearts concerning the praise of men.  Do we indeed volunteer to serve in certain areas so we can be more highly esteemed by our peers?  Do we hope people take notice of the value of our input, our giving, and our sacrifices?  Are we focused on living the Christian life first in secret and allowing our public display to complement our secret lives?  We’ll take a Labor Day trip into a further look at authenticity as it relates to our “Christian” deeds.

Kingdom Blessings, Pastor John