a nation of selfies AKA: We Would See Jesus John 12:20-21
Selfie Parodies
Our Obsession With Self Image
APA Reports on NPI Studies 85 studies conducted with college students between 1982 and 2006 and found that narcissism scores significantly increased. There were of course a number of factors cited as contributing to the over-all issue, but one in particular, the Internet, Dr. Twenge claimed, was especially significant as it encourages people to constantly promote themselves as they broadcast the minutiae of their lives on blogs and through social media.
John 12:20-21 Passover Time Sought out Philip, from Bethsaida of Galilee, and who possessed a Greek name. Requesting Sir, we would see Jesus. Greeks- Rich in History, in the Arts and Sciences and in philosophy; Plato, Aristotle, Socrates.
From Skeptic to Believer Lee Strobel - journalist for the Chicago Tribune who set out to disprove Christianity, but ended up becoming a Christian and created the famous Case for series. Josh McDowell - set out to write a paper in college to expose Christianity as a myth, but ended up being so convinced that he became a Christian himself and wrote the influential book Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Andre Kole - created tricks for the greatest magicians in the world including making the statue of liberty disappear for David Copperfield. He was commissioned to study the miracles of the bible to expose them as magic tricks and thus disprove its legitimacy. Through his investigation Kole became a Christian and has since dedicated himself to spreading the Gospel via the art of magic
Col. 1:15-17 15 And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Where s Liza? Crowded Out! Do we ever crowd Christ into the background of our thinking.?
Preoccupied? We think so often in terms of classes: who will teach them, how we may get more to attend them, and where they will meet. We think so often in terms of seminars and camp-meetings: who will lead the singing, who will preach and all of the other details. We think so often in terms of bulletins to be printed and powerpoints to be finished!!! We think in terms of buildings to be built: money to be raised, plans to be drawn, construction to be begun, and all the details that go with it. We also often think in terms of numbers--more people. In the midst of all the details we forget the why.
The WHY Question! Why do we need Classes? Why do we need Worship Services? Why Bulletins & Buildings? Why Fellowships and Food Giveaways? Etc., etc. WHY?
Because Because men need to see Jesus. Because men need to know Jesus and love Jesus. Because men need to obey Jesus and live for Jesus. The focus of your lives is not YOU. It is JESUS. It is our SAVIOR.
CHRIST FOCUSED For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. In other words- MY FOCUS IS JESUS!
Picture This Who should be in the FOREFRONT of all of our lives?
GLORIFY GOD! He is the head. We're merely his body. He makes the decisions in our lives. We simply cannot allow ourselves to become so self-focused and so selfobsessed that we forget this. We are NOT here to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God.
A Love Story Think of your relationship with Jesus as being like a young couple getting married. We see a fine young man and a fine young woman. They fall in love, pick a date for the marriage, and establish a home. After a while children come. Of course the most important element in that home is the love that binds them all together.
A Love Story By necessity the father must earn a living. And more than not today - the Mother as well. He goes to his office each morning, works eight hours or more, while she goes to her office and does the same, each hoping to bring home enough money to pay their bills.
A Love Story As the years go by, they spend less and less time together. Long hours at the grindstone just to put a roof over their heads, begins to take its toll, and soon, the central thing which binds them together--the love which is in truth the proper foundation of the home, begins to suffer. Through preoccupation with work the two have become practical strangers.
What can they do? A Love Story They need to stop and take their eyes off of the secondary, and refocus on thing that matters, on the main thing--the love that they share for each other. Even so, you and I need to lift our eyes to focus on the love that we share with Christ, and one another.
Jesus in Almost Every Verse! The letter begins; Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:1-2).
Jesus in Almost Every Verse! The foundational statement of every heart, For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. (Phil. 1:21).
Jesus in Almost Every Verse! The climax of his exaltation of Christ : Have this mind in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea the death of the cross
Jesus in Almost Every Verse! The climax of his exaltation of Christ : Wherefore God also highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:5-11).
What About God? Doesn t the emphasis you are placing on Christ leave God out? I would answer this question in two ways: First, I would answer by saying that God and Christ, while two separate persons, are of the same substance.
What About God? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1,14). Jesus is God in the flesh.
What About God? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. (John 14:9). (Same in Nature) It is almost entirely in terms of Jesus that we have our truest conception of God, so when you and I honor Jesus we are honoring God the Father as well.
What About God? In the second place: Is there a man in this audience who has a son who has received some great honor? Did the honor given the Son lessen the honor afforded his Father? No. The honor that came to the Son honors his father.
What Makes Christianity- Christianity? Christ s own nature: His Exalted Truth, His Perfect Life, and His Matchless Love. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, (I) will draw all men unto Me. If you will allow me, He is saying, if you will just share my image, my life if you will focus on Me and get out of the way, I WILL CHANGE MEN S LIVES.
Sir Lew Wallace Ben Hur Wallace began his research project to destroy the so-called Jesus myth. The stubborn facts eventually led him to write, not the book that he had thought to write, but the great novel, Ben Hur, about the impact of Jesus had on a man of the ancient Roman days. It was a story written as a tribute by a devout worshipper of Jesus.
Mary Magdalene, a woman of ill repute, becomes a pure and devoted disciple of the Lord. (Mt. 27:55-56) The wee-little tax collector from Jericho climbs out on the Sycamore tree just to see Jesus - and found himself saying, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to feed the poor and if I have wrongfully exacted ought of any man I restore fourfold. Then Jesus said, This day shall salvation come to thy house. (Lk. 19:8-9). The Woman at the Well, Mary, & Zacchaeus Come out and see a man who told me all things whatsoever I did. (John 4:29). They came out to see Jesus.
As Edward Perronet wrote: All hail the power of Jesus name Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem And crown him Lord of all.
The Way of the World? But Christians are not to be like the world, are we? (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Jn. 2:15) We are supposed to be like HIM, and we are supposed to share Him with all the world. (Lk. 6:40; Matt 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16) *When those Greek men came to Philip and said, Sir, we would see Jesus. They were Led to Jesus.
The Way of the Lord Many non-christians in our world still today need to be led to Jesus. Will you show them The Way? Will you humbly stay in the background so that the life of Jesus may be center-stage? That is how Christ is best seen today- In the lives of His humbled followers
1 Cor. 11:1 Paul told the disciples of his day- Be imitators of me, even as I am an imitator of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1). He had one goal in mind: That Christ would be seen- IN US. May Christ be seen in you?