Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, September 1, 2024

Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-54xf2-...

Get Off the Couch!
Today, Pastor Michael talks about how much being a Christian has changed in our culture.  The prevailing values of our culture were ‘Christian-ish’, but you could escape by without proving too much.  For the longest time, one could be a Christian from the couch!
The days of couch Christianity are over.  Even the illusion of it is gone now.The reality of today’s Christianity is that people are not used to being challenged; it’s time to learn spiritual endurance now.
Today, Michael is talking of Jesus’ death and the Roman soldiers casting lots to take his clothes.  And David predicted this in Psalms over 1,000 years earlier.  And this is further reason to believe in the bible and its specific predictive prophecies!
Why did Jesus choose to endure this?  He put God’s plans over the pains of Golgatha.
We must learn to put the plans of God over the pains we endure.  It’s the only path; life will be hard anyway!  Might as well receive something wonderful in return!
It’s time to get off the couch!  The culture used to be ‘Christian-ish’, but now we face pressure for the first time in a long time.  But we’re back in the game!
The world needs us to be a shining light. 
How to Get Off the Couch:
Live it. Don’t just talk about it; live for Jesus every single day.
Engage the culture with positivity and compassion.
Get off the course and build spiritual endurance, but expect some resistance.  Don’t let it make you bitter, nor let it stop you from being who God made you to be.
If you don’t like the trajectory the world is on, GET OFF THE COUCH!
Today’s verses can be found in Mark 15: 22 -  27 and Psalms 22: 16 - 18.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.