Influence the Culture

Living Stones Church - South Bend

Sermon Point #1 – God is not intimidated by our questions 1 Corinthians 13:12 – MSG – We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! Sermon Point #2 – Following Jesus requires humility 1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty right hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Sermon Point #3 – I don’t know everything – I can learn from others with different experiences 1 Peter 1:1-2 – Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Sermon Point #4 - We are exiles in this world Sermon Point #5 - Exile – someone who is forced out of their country and is now living somewhere else. Philippians 3:20-21 – But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Sermon Point #6 – Don’t run from culture. Don’t assimilate into the culture. Don’t war with culture. Influence the culture. Jeremiah 29:4-7 – ESV – “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Sermon Point #7 – Our faith should influence our politics, not our politics influencing our faith 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 – “I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” – but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.