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Thomas Kempis wrote this describing the attitudes of Christians in his day, “Jesus has now many lovers of His heavenly Kingdom, but few that are willing to bear His Cross. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to suffer with Him. Many love Jesus as long as they are met with no adversity, and they have become lovers of themselves rather than lovers of Christ, thinking only about their own profit and gain.” He wrote that in 1472!!!!

Do you know what was happening in Italy in 1472? The Renaissance had begun. There was a guy named Leonardo Da Vinci who was just getting going, and they were reaping in wealth from maritime trade and intellectual revival. In short, they were successful. And success always leads to lukewarm Christianity, whereas persecution always leads to an explosion of faith. China and the Middle East have the fastest-growing Christian populations, even though Christianity is not welcome. But here in the US, the most successful country in the history of the world, not so much.

From 2000 to 2023, over 30 million Americans left the faith. 2024 did see an uptick, with more people calling themselves Christians than we lost. So, at least the carnage has stopped, but you can not call that flourishing. And the question becomes, what type of Christians are we turning out? Kempis was lamenting a lukewarm Christian, someone who says they are a Christian but only lives for themselves. I believe the Church today has mastered the art of bringing people in with a watered-down, lukewarm message. This Sunday, we will take a stroll down Lukewarm Lane and see how the major thrust of teaching in this country is leading to a Christian that, by and large, can not be discerned from a non-Christian. There is almost no difference. We will explore how that is happening and what to watch out for; it will be a very interesting and enlightening sermon. I am pumped for it. I hope to see you there at 10:30 this Sunday at 900 Cripple Creek Dr., Lawrenceville, GA, or stream it online on our YouTube channel @TheGreatAwarenessChurch. I hope to see you then, you won’t regret it. Peace out!

Pastor Brian

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You have likely heard it said that the Bible says, “Fear not” 365 times, one for every day of the year. And we think in our heads, yes, I won’t fear. We want to stand our ground and just be brave as if the thing is not really fearful. But when you go to the original Greek or Hebrew, the word for fear in this phrase means essentially being afraid of something more powerful than you. It is the giants in our lives that come at us. To just say, “don’t be afraid” is not accurately what the Bible is teaching; it is actually teaching to not be afraid BECAUSE your God is bigger. The fear you have is real, the giant is real, but the Bible is telling you not to fear but instead to trust something even bigger, as David did with Goliath.

There is another root word for fear used in Proverbs 29:25, “the fear of man is a snare”. Here it is talking about a fear of something that is not more powerful than you, a fear that is silly and ultimately a snare or trap in your life. These types of fears are things like “worrying about what someone will say” or “worrying about what someone else thinks”. When you go to the root of this word fear, it is essentially saying it is foolish to worry about such things. It doesn’t tell you not to be afraid of it because there is nothing to be afraid of; it is a silly fear that should not be entertained. It is like the Bible is dismissing it as unimportant. How many times do we allow the fear of what people might say or think to stop us? According to the Bible, that is such a silly thought that it is not even worth being fearful at all. It is a trap, and we do not have to go far to see how this fear of man is indeed a trap. Interestingly, the root word of fear in the Bible verse, “The Fear of the Lord,” is the same root word as the root word in all the verses that say “fear not”. It speaks of being afraid of something stronger than you. Interesting right?

We often say the fear of the Lord is a reverential fear, and we think of it like respect. Like

respecting your elders. But the original Hebrew and Greek clearly said, we need to have a fear of God that is real. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus said, “ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This Guy brought you into the world. He can take you out, literally. It is not OK for you to call yourself a Christian and then do whatever you want because God is love and there are no repercussions. There IS a Judgment Seat of Christ, there IS a God in heaven, and the only reason He has not taken you out IS His great love. But I would strongly encourage you not to keep pushing the “sin” envelope, thinking He is not watching, He does not care. He is watching, He does care, and He may discipline you if you keep it up. A good father does discipline His child. It will be for your good, but discipline can happen. According to Jesus, you need to be fearful of that. It will keep you on the right track. Have a great week!

Pastor Brian

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You can’t avoid decisions, every day, you make tons of decisions. Some are simple, “should I move to the next lane in this traffic,”some are more difficult. This Sunday I will be breaking down some ways to help make better decisions. It is backed by Scripture and borne from a lifetime of both good and bad decisions and learning from them both. I strongly encourage you to join us this Sunday at 10:30. Yes, it is the day after the 4th , but it is NOT the 4th , it is the 5th and I promise you that you don’t want to miss this message.

If you have made bad decisions in the past, you need to move past them. Dragging the past up will absolutely NOT help you at all. Jesus said “sufficient for today is it’s own trouble.” Matthew 6:34. Meaning, stop bringing the past into your present and stop worrying about the future-all you can control is today. Make good decisions today. One way to make good decisions is decide what the center of your life will be. This is VERY important. The secular world view has you at the center-from your phone to the commercial and even the churches, everything is all about you. Curated messages, latte’s in the lobby, synchronized music and dance-all with the goal of adding people and claiming victory. If you are the center of your world then every decision will have a key question, “What’s in it for me?”. Many people, possibly most people, make decisions based on what is best for them in their opinion. Makes decision making easier, but does it lead to good decisions? What is the outcome of you being on the throne of your world? My experience has been the end result is havoc and destruction.

There is another option of course, a Christ centered world view. Where Christ is the center, not you. Where decisions are made with this key question, “What would Jesus do?” As I have grown in my faith, and Christ has become my life center, my decisions have been much better. They are bearing wonderful fruit, and after 30 years of testing I can attest, putting Christ at the center and following His lead is a MUCH superior decision and leads to MUCH better results.

I will be sharing 7 keys to making great decisions this Sunday, you won’t want to miss it. Your life right now, is the sum of your past decisions. Start making better decisions and start seeing a better future. I hope to see you there. Have a Happy 4th of July!!!!

Have a blessed day!
Pastor Brian

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Matthew, Mark and Luke all record an amazing moment in time, it is called the Mount of

Transfiguration. The exact location of the mountain is not completely agreed upon, some

scholars say Mount Hermon, others Mount Tabor. To me, that is not as important as what

happened on that mount.

In Matthew 16, at the end, Jesus says that some of His disciples would not die without seeing Him in His glory and then Matthew 17 describes the next event, the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew 17 says that Jesus took Peter, James and John to a mountain by themselves and “He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.” Matthew 17: 2-3.

Jesus is shone in His glory, and two of the biggest players in the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, come and talk to Him. But lest we are confused about who is the star of this show, God Himself clarifies it in verses 5 & 6, “behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.”

When Jesus comes back it will be in power and glory and the people will be cowering in fear, it says so in Revelation. He doesn’t come back with rainbows and kittens riding on a unicorn, He comes back on a white horse with a mighty sword and destroys His enemies once and for all. Jesus, who was there in the beginning, who came and bled and died for your sins and mine, will come back in power and glory. When He does, the only question that matters is “do you know Him?” If you have a friend or loved one that does not know Him-pray for them and be open to God using you to reach them. Time is short! None of us is promised tomorrow. It is time to get busy reaching our loved ones…who knows if they were not put in your path for such a time as this. Be ready, be working, be loving. Loving God and loving others and going and making disciples IS our main job. Yes, you may have a job that pays your bills, but it is still a place where you can reach the lost. Let’s get busy reaching those we love…Amen? The time, my friends, is now! Have a blessed week!

Brian

Have a blessed day!
Pastor Brian

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” Proverbs 1:7

The few times this verse is preached on the preacher often expounds on it by saying it is a

“reverential” fear. But what does that mean? Most people just see that as respect. And then they go on focusing on the fun stuff, the Lord as love, and His desire to give us goodthings. And He is love, and He often does give us good things. But love is not always rainbows and kittens. Love, true love, does not condone evil, does not allow the loved one to do something that can harm them. It is not loving to let your kid put a knife in a wall socket and it is not loving, as a Heavenly Father, to wink and turn the other way on sin. Sin hurts people, other people and the one sinning and God hates sin and He loves us. Can the Lord discipline us out of love? Can that be backed by Scripture?

Proverbs 3:12, “For whom the Lord loves, He corrects. Just as the father, the son in whom he delights,” God delights in you…as such, He may correct you. You may say, that is the Old Testament God, New Testament God is all love and sunshine and kittens. That statement is false as the Bible says He is the same yesterday, today , and forever (Hebrews 13:8). But what about the New Testament-does it confirm the same thing? Check out Hebrews…

Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” To scourge, that is what they did to Jesus-beating with a whip. You don’t hear that preached much today. God is more a cosmic Santa Clause, love and blessings. But real love does discipline sometimes.

Do you have a consistent sin? Something you repeat often, something you know you shouldn’t do but occasionally do anyway? Then you say a quick prayer of repentance, wink at God, and move on? Do you think God, who HATES sin, is winking back? Saying, hey buddy, no problem, go watch your porn. I will look the other way? That is NOT the God of the Bible. He HATES sin. A strong word. He hated sin so much, He sent His Son to pay the penalty. His own Son, scourged. Will He forgive you when you ask for forgiveness? Yes, the Bible says so…every time. But do not be deceived and think He condones it. And there may be a day when discipline comes.

Maybe, when the fear of the Lord becomes greater than whatever it is you are getting from that consistent sin, maybe that is the day the sin finally stops. And freedom, real freedom, becomes yours. He freed us from the punishment of sin, but that doesn’t mean you are magically perfect. The Holy Spirit will work in you and work on cleaning you up. And discipline may be needed. So heed the Lord today. If He tells you to do something, do it. If He convicts you to stop sinning, stop. Just obey. And in so doing, you will find a freedom you have never known.

Have a blessed day!
Pastor Brian

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