Rhapsody of Realities Teevo
Sunday, November 11 , 2018
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
CHRIST IS FOR REAL!
(Christianity Isn’t A Religion)
TO THE BIBLE
Acts 11:25-26 CEV
“Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. He found Saul and brought him to Antioch, where they met with the church for a whole year and taught many of its people. There in Antioch the Lord’s followers were first called Christians.”
LET’S TALK
It’s interesting to know that the term “Christian” didn’t originate from the Church. Rather, it was some folks in Antioch who described the followers of Jesus Christ as Christians back in the days. This fact is essential to understanding why Christianity is regarded as a religion, and why Jesus is called a religious leader. But “Christianity” isn’t a religion, and Jesus is no religious leader.
As believers, we obviously share some semblances with some religious groups of the world. We believe in God and talk about Him; many religious groups also do the same. They gather to worship and pray the same way we do in church. These similarities have therefore caused a lot of people to misconstrue Christianity as another religion.
However, you have to understand the content of the Gospel to know what you’re into as a believer. Christianity isn’t a religion at all; it’s the pulsating life of God in a human being. Christianity is Christ alive in you; it’s a relationship. And just as your relationship with your earthly parents isn’t a religion, your relationship with God isn’t a religion. In Christianity, you have the divine life of God, and you’re in an everlasting fellowship with Him.
GO DEEPER
Colossians 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
SPEAK
I have the life of God in me; I’m not ordinary. Christ in me makes me insusceptible to failure, sickness or death. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I’ve been called into the fellowship of the God-kind.
DAILY BIBLE READING
ONE YEAR
Hebrews 10:1-18, Jeremiah 19-22
TWO YEAR
John 11:24-34, 1 Chronicles 11
ACT
Meditate on the words of Colossians 1:27: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”