Why Am I a Christian?

Why Am I A Christian?

I like this topic. Why? Because so many times in our lives, we fail to remember this, or question this, or think about this. Most times we are happy to just live our hunky-dory lives and forget that Christ has a place in it.

So why I am a Christian?

I could get up here and tell you a ton of reasons why I am a Christian.

• I could say that Iʼm a Christian because I believe the Bible to be entirely true. That it is really the words that God had put down on paper when he used people like Abraham, Moses, Paul, John, and many others. • I could say that Iʼm a Christian because of the evidence around me. That the fact the the entire world and universe arounds us screams that it was created by God. I can look at my own body and see the complexities that were designed by a much more intelligent being than I am, and that all this did not come about over millions of years or by accident. • I can tell you that Iʼm a Christian because I feel it. I can tell you the story of how I sat on a couch at a church camp 16 years ago and cried my eyes out because I knew how much I needed God in my life.

I guess the last one is the most accurate. I could sit here and tell you about dinosaurs and fossil records and intelligent design theories and Biblical truths and proofs, but that wouldnʼt really tell you why Iʼm a Christian.

Donʼt get me wrong, those things enforce and strengthen my Christianity every day. They are almost like spiritual food, if you will, feeding me knowledge and giving me strength and courage to combat everything this world says thatʼs wrong about Christ.

No, Why I Am A Christian boils down to one word: connection.

You see, connection is what brings us together. A connection to Christ, through His blood, through baptism. A connection to each other, as fellow Christians, struggling and fighting temptations and sins every day. And donʼt forget our connection to this world. We are in this world, but we are not to be of this world. More on that later.

I want to start with a story from an unlikely place: Facebook. I have had the privilege of watching this internet site go from dinky little college site to a massive 550 million member site whoʼs economic dynamic and population rival that of an entire country. I signed up for the site when there was less than 10K members in 2004, and to see it grow and develop and evolve is astonishing.

What do you think makes Facebook so successful? Is it site design? Probably not. In my opinion, there are lots more sites that are better looking. Is it the cool thing to do? I guess, although for Facebookʼs popularity to be able to stick around for 6+ years is quite a feat. Most stuff you teenagers like barely sticks around for a couple of months. So what is it?

Itʼs connection. If there is one thing people love, itʼs connecting with other people. Think about it! Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to feel connected. Everyone wants to belong. And thatʼs what Facebook does, it connects.

Some crazy stats on Facebook • 550 million people on FB - thatʼs one for every 13 people on earth. • Half of people ages 18-34 check their FB when they wake up, 30% of those check it on their smartphones before getting out of bed (guilty!). • “Liking” “drugs” is up 1,131% in 2011. • On New Yearʼs Eve 2010-11, a record 750M photos were uploaded to FB. • In just 20 minutes on Facebook, there are: 1.3M tagged photos, 1.4M event invites, 1.9M status updates, 10.2M comments made, and 2.1M friend requests made.

You see? Everyone wants to be connected, and the place weʼre seeing it primarily is on Facebook nowadays.

What about in our church? What about our connection to God, and our connection through Christ?

Weʼre going to spend a lot of time in the book of Colossians…

Weʼre going to talk about 4 things:

• Christʼs Connection to God • Our Connection to Christ • Our Connection to the World • Our Connection to Each Other

1. Christʼs Connection to God

• You ever done a Connect-the-Dots puzzle? At first it looks like nonsense. At first you canʼt tell what the picture is going to be, but then as you start to connect the dots, it starts to come together. Once all the dots are connected, then you see all the connections, the whole picture. • The Bible is kind of like that. Specifically Colossians. As we approach Colossians, itʼs important to remember the “why” of Paulʼs writing. Colossae, like a lot of churches, struggled to remember what the faith was really all about. As we study, what we learn is just as useful today as it was back then.

Colossians 1.15-23

Jesus is…the image of God, firstborn of everything, before everything, head of the Church, the beginning, firstborn from among the dead, supreme…Jesus does…created everything, holds all things together, reconciles all things, peacemaker…

Do you guys understand the full implication of what we just read? When we say Jesus is God, we are saying that He created everything. He not only created it, but He holds it together. Weather patterns and tectonic plates and human emotions were invented by Him. They are subject to His authority. Nothing happens unless He gives the okay.

Jesusʼ connection to God is evident: He IS God. Thatʼs hard for us to understand. How can someone be God but be a human at the same time? Ever boiled water in a pot? Water is a liquid. What happens when it becomes steam? Itʼs still water, just now itʼs water vapor. What would happen if you froze that water? It would still be water, just in ice form. All three things are water, but they arenʼt. Theyʼre separate forms. Just like Jesus. Jesus IS God. God IS Jesus.

2. Our Connection to Christ

Colossians 1.24-29

Our connection to Christ, according to this passage, is available to everyone. The mystery of the Gospel is no longer a secret, it is the Good News for all to hear! Itʼs like the ah-ha moment in a mystery movie where the whole thing is solved. (The Mystery Trip) We donʼt have to wonder about Jesus anymore!

Christ is available to everyone, but remember these 4 things:

1. Available to all - all races, nationalities, and peoples

2. Not automatic - we must be baptized and be willing to recieve his gift, and live faithfully

3. Continual - it never stops, never fails, never fades

4. Through Christ alone - the world tries to tell us there are many paths to Heaven, but there is only one Way, Truth, and Life, and thatʼs through Jesus.

5. Our Connection to the World

If you were an alien and you landed on earth, and you had to report back to your chief alien what you saw, what would be some characteristics that you noticed in humans? (Focus on behaviors more than appearances)

Here, in Colossians 3, Paul encourages the reader (which is you) to live differently than the world around him.

So what does make Christians different from anyone else? What sets us apart?

Colossians 3.1-17

As Christians, weʼre supposed to rid oursleves of things like sexual immorality, idolatry, and evil desires. What does that mean? It means weʼre supposed to keep ourselves pure before marriage. It means that anything in our lives can creep up on be our idols: girlfriends, sports, video games - anything that you place ahead of worshipping God. It means that we shouldnʼt seek revenge when someone hurts us, even though thatʼs what all the movies and TV shows tell us to do.

“Stale to the World”

[Ask students to take one from each, and then ask them about the difference.] The idea of becoming stale to the world is applicable here, we become stale by leaving ourselves exposed to it. Only when weʼve wrapped ourselves in Jesus are we fresh and able to make a difference to those around us.

It seems like Paul is saying that we need to separate from the world. But I want you to hear me clearly, we arenʼt different than everyone else so that we can beat the world over the head or so that we can feel like weʼre better than other people. The Bible is clear that our difference, our set-apartness, our holiness (thatʼs what set apart means), is for the glory of God and to draw people to Him. Thatʼs what it means to be salt and light. Weʼre not supposed to be a bright flashlight shining right in someoneʼs eyes, weʼre supposed to be a beacon, lighting the way so that they can find Jesus.

You are not Jesus. Our job is to lead people to Him.

We are in this world, but we are not to be of the world.

We are obviously a part of this world. But the “normal” of this world has turned out to be something very “abnormal” to God.

Craig Groechel, the author of this book Iʼm reading right now, says that we a Christians need to start being weird again, because normal just isnʼt working. Itʼs time to take our fast-paced crazy lives and slow them down to remember God and our service to Him. We must influence this world for Christ but still remain faithful to Him.

4. Our Connection to Each Other

I am a Christian because of people like you.

I am a Christian because someone saw fit to invite me to a church camp, a retreat, and talked to me about Christ.

We need to be influencers of each other for Christ.

In the passage weʼre about to read from Colossians, we need to follow the statues that Paul sets forth about how we treat each other.

Colossians 3:18-4:6

You may read this and say, “Wow. Iʼm supposed to be different from the world. God says so. But if I do that, the world wonʼt accept me. Iʼll be an outcast of sorts. How can I make it? How can I stand alone against such a world.”

The truth is, weʼre not alone! We have other Christians to stand beside. We all feel alone sometimes, we all feel unconnected. But we have to remember that we have a great support system that we can always rely on. Other Christians are what keeps us going, what keeps us encouraged.

So why am I a Christian? Iʼm a Christian because Iʼm connected. Iʼm connected to Christ through baptism, Iʼm connected to the world to try to do my job as a Christian and influence people for Christ, and Iʼm connected to other Christians, like you, who help me, encourage me, and lift me up.