Growing Your Faith in a World That Hates It

Today’s message was given at BCBC by Cody Montandon today. I’ve never seen this pastor deliver the message but I enjoyed it very much.

He started out by having us remember what it was like in school, wanting to hang out with the cool kids, or the popular crowd. We may or may not have liked the popular kids, but we wanted to be in that crowd.

He said, in today’s world, Jesus is not the cool kid. Have you ever noticed when you attempt to bring His name up in conversation, the room gets awkward?

Loving Jesus means that:

1. The World is Going to Hate You. Yep, sorry, but it’s true. You will not be the popular kid in the crowd. Satan is trying to take over the world, and unfortunately, he is the cool kid. Don’t think so? Bring up Jesus at your next gathering and see what happens. But what does that mean? It means that loving Jesus and spreading His word is hard and it’s work. However:
2. But Leaving the World is Not an Option. Because God still has plans for you and me. We can’t just sit around and wait to see what happens. Our job is to make sure we glorify God by spreading the message far and wide that the only way to Him is through Jesus. We need to pray every day that He reveals our purpose. God loves you even when you don’t yet know Him. And even when it’s hard:
3. We are Called to be Faithful Anyway. We need to study his word and pray daily. But that’s not all. If the Bible doesn’t change you, it is worthless! We can study and becomes scholars but if we don’t glorify Him by sharing what we’ve learned with others in some way, we are not doing our job. In other words, we don’t get a ticket to heaven just because we know the Bible. We have to live like God wants us to. This is hard. It’s work. But if we practice daily and make it part of our lives, it will get easier. Lastly:
4. A Faithful Life is Built Upon, and Maintained Through the Word of God. Once we are saved and accept Jesus we have justification to evangelize to others. Then we spread the truth of the gospel, giving us sanctification. “The sum of your word is truth.” Studying the word and spreading it to others provides the glorification of God.

The pastor said to attack your plan like you do when you are on a diet. The first day is the hardest. Making the decision to open your Bible and read for five minutes. Then daily, journal what you are praying for and how your prayers were answered. Then get others involved so you are kept accountable. And it grows and grows from there.

I need to do this more myself and I understand how hard it is when say, your partner or your friends aren’t exactly on the same page. That is the hard part of the work, and I struggle like everyone else in doing this. Be patient with me as I grow and learn.

Thanks for being here, thanks for reading and hopefully, you understand what I’m trying to convey.