don't be a 666 Christian

“at this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted him.” john 6:66

Jesus fed 5,000 people with a little boy’s lunch the day before the above verse happened - then He walked on water! - what more does Jesus need to do to hang on to His followers?

the problem with miraculous signs - awesome worship - emotional highs - etc. - next week you’ve got to have more of the same - or you think something is wrong – but certainly not with you - it must be the worship team - or the pastor – wrong songs - or wrong sermon

Needy Christian: one who embraces what Jesus does FOR them but doesn’t like what Jesus wants OF them

ouch! - that was a sucker-punch of a definition - mostly this neediness is the result of pure selfishness - people who are only happy if church is all about them - doesn’t describe you does it?

the crowds in john 6 loved Jesus - well at least when He was feeding them physical bread - and spiritual bread through His teaching - but when He began to challenge them to a greater depth of commitment? - when He began hinting of scrifice? - of the effort needed for true spirituality? - they deserted Him - and surely Jesus chased after them - He had to bring them back - right? - wrong

what do you do with “needy Christians”? - those who threaten to leave if you don’t feed them what they want? - at 29:11 we let ‘em go - not because we want to - because we have to

if you look at our vision statement you can tell we believe church is not about us - when we were lost - unchurched - struggling - then yes - church was all about us - calvary and Jesus’ sacrifice too - but once we become Christians? - it’s not about us anymore - it’s about reaching the next struggling unchurched person that needs to know Jesus as their personal Savior!

we can’t spend our time working to please and hang onto those Christians who do not embrace a vision of discipleship - who only desire to enjoy His blessings and are not committed to doing the WORK of Jesus - there are plenty of churches that minister to the “needy Christian” - the vision God has given us - is for the needy unchurched!