Spiritual Garbage Mountain (sermon series 1/3)

In our post Tibet in Words! we talked about how in the Old Testament, there are countless examples of people climbing mountains to be nearer to God. Then, in the New Testament, Jesus explains that because the Spirit of God and the communion He offers us, God will meet us where we are – bringing the mountain top to us. Here’s a sermon I shared in a city that was described to us as a “spiritual garbage mountain”.

 

In a city we’ll call Hindistan (also the legitimate word for “India” in Turkish), we were met by ministry friends that explained there was a strong history of Hindu idolatry and Buddhist ideology in the area. Our Christian friends found it challenging to teach people about God because they would have to climb to the top of the spiritual garbage mountain which was Hindistan before they could find communion in the glory that is God. This sermon was intended to be encouragement to our Christian friends in Hindistan. I’ve tried many formats at this point, none of which really communicated it how I intended. Here is my best shot at an outline format (this really isn’t a user friendly platform), but I’d love to talk about it more. If you’re interested in hearing me explain, or want the audio recording of the sermon, please comment or message us.

• I’ve always been a believer, but I haven’t always known God
  • expectations upon becoming Christian
    • walk in favor
    • happiness and rainbows
  • the closer I got to God, the farther I felt
    • we can identify righteous versus unrighteous which allows us to see everything keeping us from knowing God intimately; makes it seem like more than before
    • we know the difference between living in light versus dark
  • we hide from the darkness to preserve ourselves in God’s eyes
    • recognizing temptation and discontent in our lives; striving to minimize temptation
    • Mark 7 – what defiles us isn’t what we experience but what we internalize
      • recognize the strength and power God has instilled in us; accept it as our protection
      • temptation has no power over us; deliverance isn’t absence of temptation, its freedom from influence
  • as a believer, this life is the hardest experience we will ever have
• Spiritual garbage mountain
  • local gods of anger, lust, and drunkenness and the environment it creates with the local population
    • Christian desire to avoid spiritual oppression in this city/environment
    • avoidance of interaction with locals/evangelism because of the oppressive spiritual garbage mountain and difficulty it presents
  • don’t celebrate sin, but don’t hide from it – there is power in recognition and acknowledgement
    • trying to live in happiness and rainbows is living blinded to God’s calling
    • be a light in the darkness
      • choosing to exist in the darkness isn’t empowerment of sin, it’s identification of a stronghold, and fighting it
      • venture into the darkness; know what to pray against and how
  • bringing them into the light
    • if you shine a light into the darkness, you can see; if you shine a light IN the darkness, they can see
      • demonstrate what it is to live a Godly life, demonstrate the blessings He has provided you
      • let them know you’re different, then take the opportunity to explain why
  • we don’t need to feel spiritual oppression, but we accept it out of fear of what it can do to us
    • scripture tells us we have been awarded victory in the name of Jesus Christ
      • accept Christ; accept His power and authority within us
      • Old Testament battles – the Covenant of God went before the Israelites; God would prepare the way for them, there is no difference now – we are God’s chosen people and He continues to lead us
• We are protected; what about the people of Hindistan?
  • Acts 17 – Paul and the Athenians
    • Paul identified a city full of idols, much like Hindistan, and taught against them in the marketplace
    • Special circumstances/events/people are not necessary to reach the lost; anyone can help anyone understand the glory of God
  • Living in fear versus truth
    • Fear: we will fall to temptation, sin, and darkness
    • Truth:
      • Ephesians 6:11-20 The Whole Armor of God
        • God gave us 6 pieces of armor, only 1 piece is offensive (the sword of the Spirit)
        • God prepared us for a beating, but He is with us
          • God commanded us to stand against evil
          • God goes before us; victory is won; God will prevail
      • the church exists bigger and greater than it ever did; we are winning
        • the apostles were persecuted by several governments
        • Paul wrote many letters to encourage churches while in prison
        • we are still here