Part 3 - What Moves You?

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." - Acts 20:24

In our last post we discussed some of the things that Paul would not allow to move him. In this post we are going to look a few things that seems to move the average church goer.

We must realize that when we join a church we are in fact joining a family. We are all part of one big family in the name of Christ. We come here to worship together, to pray together, to share testimonies together, and through it all, we spend a lot of time together. When folks spend a lot of time together they get to know each other. Just like a family, we are going to have our differences. We are not always going to see eye to eye with each other. But, just like our family, it doesn’t mean we are going to abandon our church family. I know feelings get hurt. I understand wanting to be loved and accepted, everybody wants that. But, there comes a time in your life when you have to grow up and quit being a spiritual child.

Another thing we must all realize is that we are all human. We call ourselves Christians because we strive to live our lives as Christ would. Unfortunately there is not a single person on earth that could ever live a perfect, sinless life as Jesus did. We are human. We are going to fail. We don’t always do the things we should. We will say the wrong things. We will act the wrong way. We will unintentionally and intentionally hurt each other. But, where do you draw the line as to what moves you? Do you allow anything to move you? Or are you like that tree that’s planted by the water, “I shall not be moved!” Are you so wrapped up into yourself and thinking about yourself, and worried about yourself, that you quit focusing on Christ and the reason we are here? I think we have forgotten that it’s not about US, it’s about HIM. What moves you?

What would the Apostle Paul think about the church today? All of the pain and suffering that he went through just so we would one day have the opportunity to freely worship Christ. Peter, Paul, John, all persecuted. Was their work all in vain? Was Stephen stoned to death for nothing? Did John the Baptist have his head chopped off for the likes of me and you? Did the Apostle Paul endure 195 lashes with a whip so we could wear our feelings on our sleeves?

What moves you today? Are you deep rooted in Jesus Christ? Are you willing to endure? Are you going to be able to say “I fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”? Is Christ going to say to you, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” “enter thou into the joy of thy lord”?

In our 4th and final post, we will look at a few things that will help us in our walk with Christ. Some things we can do to insure that nothing will move us!

You can read each of the post by following the links below:
Part 1 - What Moves You?
Part 2 - What Moves You?
Part 3 - What Moves You?
Part 4 - What Moves You?