Time of year when we set the table for our families to get together
- Time of thankfulness
- Time of community
- Putting up with family
All about Good Food
- And serving people
No one is serving a McDonald’s thanksgiving
This is what we want…
New Series
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Talking about our “SPIRITUAL TABLE”
Spiritual Table:
What you present to the world through your actions, words, and responses
We might be serving McDonald’s when we think we are serving a beautiful meal
The table is an allegory of your life
- How you represent yourself
- What you are representing
- What you are serving others
BIG QUESTION:
Are you offering an inviting picture of what the Holy Spirit Offers through your life?
Scripture gives us two options of what we can serve at our table..
Galatians 5
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Fruit of the Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
As Christian believers, we are to be serving the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT to those around us
- You can’t fake it, it only comes through the spirit
As you can see, our table up here isn’t ready to serve anything
Looks like this table has become a catchall
On the table we have…
- bills
- Kids stuff
- Laundry
- Unfinished projects
You wouldn’t invite anybody over with a table that looks like this
But this is often how our spiritual table looks
Full of junk and unfinished things
Today is about cleaning our Spiritual Table
To clean your spiritual table you must…
1: Realized the table needs to be cleaned
Easy it is to overlook your own mess
- Living our own mess and not bother us
- Immediately notice other peoples mess
The foundation of Christian Faith is recognizing that you are indeed a sinner in need of Grace
Culture says either…
1: I’m not perfect but I’m not that bad
2: Sin doesn’t exists. It’s what makes you unique
Let’s look at how King David looked at sin…
Psalm 51
1 Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.
2 Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
King David helps us understand some powerful things about sin…
1-Sin is going against God
Against his design for you
2-Sin is something we are born into
We enter life as sinners against God
3: Only God can forgive this sin
Only the one something is against can forgive the wrong
Recognizing we are sinners is only the start…
Next step of cleaning our spiritual table is…
2: Throw Away The Junk
Being Sentimental
- It makes getting rid of stuff hard
We can be sentimental about things that are just junk
We keep it around even though its no good
To clean our heart, you have to decide to get rid of the JUNK
Those things that you are holding onto
Specifically:
HABITUAL SIN
- Sin that is continual. A habit
Habitual sin is CHOSEN SIN
- Different than accidental sin
Let’s be honest about sin…
- It feels good
- It’s fun
- It gets us what we want
- Hard to change
We can be sentimental about our sin
- We know it NEEDS to go
- but it’s had to LET IT GO
We can have a million excuses for the sin we keep in our life
- But it has to Go
No one wants to sit at a table full of our sentimental junk
Psalm 51
10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.
David is asking God to CLEAN his junk
To get rid of the habitual sin in his life
You will NEVER get to the place God needs you to be while holding onto habitual sin
The GOOD NEW IS:
There is freedom from habitual sin
God forgives us because he a merciful father
He can turn our broken things into beautiful things
The last thing we need to do to clean our spiritual table is…
3: Put Things Where they Belong
A table gets messy because we just sit stuff there without dealing with it
- Not where it belongs
Deuteronomy 6
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.
Moses instructs the people to know what matters…
- Loving God with everything
Then instructs them to place reminders everywhere
When God isn’t first, our lives get messy and out of control
How we live is training for our children
We must train them to clean their SPIRITUAL TABLES
For your spiritual table to be put in order, God must be FIRST
- Not when you have time
- Not When you need him
That is how we get a Spiritual table that is in a mess..
Put God first, and everything else will follow
Matthew 6
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.