Tonight I’d like us to think about our relationship with God…where do we
stand?
To get us thinking about this, we’re going to watch Homer the Heretic
[Homer the Heretic: Video 22 minutes]
The middle bit
In that episode of The Simpsons, we saw a range different attitudes
towards God
Which character are you most like?
Homer / Bart / Lisa / Marge / Ned / Rev Lovejoy
Out of all the people in the Simpsons, who is most “Christian”?
What is it that makes them “Christian”?
Behaviour
Praying
Being nice
Singing hymns
Going to Church
Reading Bible
Belief / faith
Why are we supposed to be “nice” and all that?
Ned Flanders said “Christian life is not all praying and sacrifice”
What do you think he means?
If the “Christian life is not all praying and sacrifice” what is it
about?
It’s about living your life with God at the centre…keeping your
relationship going
Sometimes we find this hard…
In that episode Homer was struggling with the idea of going to Church
He said “What the big deal about going to the same building every Sunday”
How do you feel about going to Church?
What do you like / dislike about it?
Why do Christians go to Church?
The Bible tells us that as Christians we should get together to support
each other…
It’s not supposed to be all about you and how you feel…
Like a good friend will put our feelings before their own, we should put
God first…treat him as special
This is kind of what this word “Worship” means
Homer goes on to say “and what if we picked the wrong religion?”
What do you think about that?
Where do other religions fit into Christianity?
What makes Christianity different to other religions?
Personal relationship with God…
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.'"
God always gives us a second chance, even though we don’t deserve
it…”grace”
1 John 1:9 P1316 ”But if we confess our sins, he will forgive ours sins, because we can
trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have
done”
Conclusion
Being a Christian is not about being a Ned Flanders
It’s about you having a personal relationship with God
Luke 10.27 P1022 "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your
strength and your mind"…
To finish, I’d like you to spend a moment and think about where you are at
with God
And if you have any big questions write them down…