Message: Christ in You (05/12/2024)

Message:
Christ in You
Colossians 1:24-2:5
Pastor Ryan Francis
For more information, please visit: ibc.church
Services at 8:00am, 9:30am and 11:10am
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6911 Braddock Rd
Springfield VA 22151

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A primitive farmer in a primitive land suffers two consecutive bad harvests. The following spring, he sacrifices a chicken to the rain god hoping to change his fortunes. That year, the rainfall is steady and just right: not too much and not too little. His crops grow tall and strong. He has an excellent harvest. “The rain god answered my prayers because I offered a chicken sacrifice to him,” the farmer says to himself. For the next four years the farmer offers a chicken sacrifice and each year the rainfall is just right and his harvests are green and bountiful. His life changes dramatically. He is incredibly happy. Once angry and short-tempered, he is now kind and generous. He experiences incredible peace and a profound sense of security knowing that he has pleased his god and is now reaping the benefits of his god’s good favor.
Question: Do you believe that the chicken sacrifices had anything to do with this man’s five consecutive good harvests and his change in character and demeanor? Of course you don’t. The five consecutive good harvests were simply a rare but very natural phenomenon. Statistical variation perfectly explains this man’s good fortune.
As an evangelical Christian, you believe that a spirit lives inside you; a spirit who has unlimited knowledge and powers; a spirit who answers your prayer requests and performs miracles for you. However, if you can’t see, hear, or touch this spirit how do you know this spirit is really there? How do you know that your perception of a spirit dwelling within you is not just your mind playing tricks on you?
Gary
Author, Escaping Christian Fundamentalism Blog