Sermon Cloud

    Dealing with Bad Reviews – 2:17-3:5
    Sermon 3: Playing Your Part in the Gospel Drama
    FCOCLH – 4/27/08

INTRODUCTION:
•    Ruthe Stein, reviewing Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 – "Spending an hour and a half inside a uterus might be more entertaining than this tiresome sequel."
•    E! Online review of Alien vs Predator–"Who wins? Not the paying customers..."
•    Ty Burr, reviewing Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement–"...the only things missing are a script, a pulse, and a reason why."
•    Ben Muller, reviewing XXX–"As for performances, Diesel may be the first actor in the history of cinema to be outperformed by his tattoos. They emote more than he does. He's so wooden that he should be propped up in front of a cigar store."
•    The Truth about Charlie–"Mark Wahlberg is to Cary Grant what the kazoo is to the violin."

Anytime you do anything in public you open yourself up to bad reviews.  Paul faced that in Thessalonica.  Paul never stopped preaching the gospel.  As a freeman in the synagogue or as a prisoner in Philippi, Paul preached the gospel.  Chained to a guard in Rome, Paul had a captive audience.  He never stopped preaching the gospel.  How did he do it?   How did he handle the bad reviews?

1.    Christians really care
    a.    About sin – Do you grieve the abortion clinics and drug houses, or just complain about them.  Does corporate greed anger you because it costs you money, or because it is sin?  Have you mourned the sin of the unwed teenage mom pushing a stroller and another one obviously on the way, or simply scorn her bad decisions.  “Blessed are those who mourn.”  Not just about death, but the state of the world.
        i.    Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.  Psalm 119:136 
        ii.    Our reaction to sin should mirror God’s.  More grief than anger.
        iii.    "Sin is not to be ignored, nor minimised. It is the most patent fact in life, the darkest experience in the history of the race. It is the root of all the world's tragedies. It is that which makes "conscience a thousand swords," "the torture of an inward hell," "the worm that doth begnaw the soul." (James M. Campbell. The Heart of Gospel: A Popular Exposition of the Atonement. Fleming H. Revell Co. 1907. pg 47.)
        iv.    For the wages of sin is death.  Romans 6:23a
        v.    How do we show we care about sin?  We model a better way.  (We take up the call of the Israelites.)
    b.    About sinners – For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. Phillippians 3:18-19
        i.    Paul didn’t want to leave he was “Torn away”
            (1)    Lit: “Orphanized”
            (2)    In person, not in thought (by presence, not by heart)
        ii.    “Intense longing”; “every effort to see you”
        iii.    Paul, Silas & Timothy were concerned for the souls of the new believers in Thessalonica.
        iv.    Our focus should be on people, not ideas, things, or dogma.  Those things serve the people, not the other way around.
        v.    We are not policemen (enforcers) we are parents (nurturer). A parent may come to the end and yell and condemn a child, but inside even the condemning parent would rather open his or her arms and love that child back to righteousness.  We should cherish lost, not loathe them.
2.    The lost who find Christ because of our ministry give meaning to our life.
    a.    “You are our glory and joy.”
    b.    Of all we invest in during this life, only people will remain to the next life.  They will be our boasting in heaven.  (Like stripes on our sleeves)
    c.    Jesus expects us to touch people:  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'  Matthew 25:35-36
    d.    These acts of service combined with the gospel will change lives. – Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  2 Timothy 4:2
    e.    At the end of the day, no matter how bad that day might be, I hope you can look back and say “That person will be in heaven, in part, because of what I’ve done – maybe not that day.
3.    A strong faith multiplies our joy “Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love.” (3:6)
    a.    It is a gift to fellow believers
        i.    Your strong faith brings those who brought you the gospel joy.
        ii.    The strong faith of those you have preached to brings you joy.
    b.    Difficulties are inevitable we need strong faith to overcome them.
        i.    For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
        ii.    The difficulties in this life help us to look toward what is ahead.

CONCLUSION:
    Sow some seeds of hope: Care a lot.  Be a part of someone else’s salvation.  Enjoy strong faith –yours and those you love.