Sermon: Not a Fan

Sunday April 27, 2014

Joshua Bell
INTRO:
Greet Church
Tell Church who I am
Tell them about myself
o Age
o College
o Younglife and Wyldlife
o Working in the kids room most of the time
o Preaching is what I want to do
Break the ice
o Public speaking joke
PRE-CONTENT:
Not a Fan
o Give credit where credit is due
Book by Kyle Idleman
If you like it/ If you dont
Kendrick Lamar
o Fan of his music
Have his cd
Know all his lyrics


o Saw him in concert
Met him before concert
Awkward
o I didnt know him
o Only knew about him
o Just a Fan
Casting the net
o Not a fan of him but Fan of something
TV Show
The Walking Dead
Doctor Who
Sports
Football
o Colts
Baseball
o Phillies
Hockey
o Flyers

Music
Good Music
o Johnny Cash


o The Head and The Heart
o twenty one pilots
Bad Music
o Justin Beiber
o Lady Gaga
o We are all a fan of something. But one thing that we cant be
Fan of is God
CONTENT
What is a Fan?
o Definition: Enthusiastic Admirer
Example: Crazy Football Fan
o Be descriptive
Season tickets, painted body, at every game, might
switch teams if they start to bottom out
Never has to take a hit or break a sweat he is just a fan
and nothing more
Being a fan has no level of commitment
Example: Women about celebrities
o Be descriptive
Maybe you love Ryan Gosling and you just drool every
time you see him
Always have freshest issue of People Magazine, know all
the movies they have been in, everyone they have dated,
what their real hair color is, where they grew up,
everything


They know all these things about that person, but they
dont really know the person. They are just fans.
Its okay to be fans of things but it isnt okay with be a fan of Jesus
Being a fan of Jesus just like both of those you don't have to give anything
up and also don't really know him.


Scripture
Look at a story about Jesus encountering someone who is a fan. This
is the story of the rich young ruler.
o Mark 10: 17-22 :
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees
before him. Good teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal
life?18 Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good
except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: You shall not
murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not
give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and
mother.[a]20 Teacher, he declared, all these I have kept since I was a
boy.21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said.
Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.22 At this the mans face fell.
He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
The rich young ruler is like the sports fan. When it comes down to it
he doesnt sacrifice anything. He doesnt want to. He is content
watching from the side line he doesnt want to join the team and
contribute.
o Because he is just a Fan
TRANSITION:


Jesus isn't content with us being fans of him. He wants more from us
he wants to leave the sideline and join him on the field. He doesn't
want us to sit on the side line and watch he wants us to come and
get in the game. He doesn't want us to just read and know things
about him he wants us to be with him and know him.
DTR:
Some might know what this means but you that dont
o Three letters that will strike fear in any young mans heart
o They dread this talk
o Avoid it at any cost
o Comes point where it no longer can be avoided
DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP
o Talk in any romantic relationship where you must determine
Where you stand
Where youre going
Level of commitment
And if this is for real
o We need to do this with Jesus we need to do all these this
He is going to be very clear that you must be more than a
fan
Have a higher level of commitment than that
He wants us to be FOLLOWERS
Jesus calls us to be followers of him not fans
FOLLOWERS


Definition: Someone who is devoted to a particular person cause or
activity
o It requires a higher level of commitment
Jesus never asked us to his be FANS he asks us to join his team to go
straight to the field.
SCRIPTURE:
This is a story of Levi the tax collector and his encounter with Jesus.
Luke 5: 27-28
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at
his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything
and followed him.
Jesus is straight to the point with Levi saying follow me and Levi
does just that.
o He later called Matthew and is one of Jesus 12 disciples and
writes one of the Gospels
COMPARE:
Rich young ruler
o Rich
o Has been following all the laws
o But was only a fan wasnt willing to sacrifice
Levi the Tax collector
o Rich
o Was raised to be a Pharisee
Tell by his name/ named after the Levites of the old test
and expected to serve God the way they did


Most of his life was following the commandments
o But when Jesus asked him to follow he gave it all up to be with
him and follow him.
PAINT:
What does it look like to be a follower of Jesus
o Titanic
Preacher named John Harper
From the United Kingdom
Spent his time on the ship sharing gospel
Took his daughter and put her on a life boat
Gave away his Life jacket
Yelling Get all the women, children and unsaved
people on the life boats
He realized that people were unprepared for eternity
and that was more important that his survival
When ship went under he floated to everyone he could
find and asked if they were saved and if they were he
shared the gospel with them.
This man up to his last second on earth was a true and
obedient follower of Jesus he knew Jesus and that was
displayed in his actions.
o ME
We have all been impacted by a follower of Jesus in
some way that goes for me too
High school


Young life
Winter Weekend
Meeting Jesus
Changed life
Not easier but worth it
What does that mean to them?
It means taking a step of faith
o waking up earlier to read your bible
o not being afraid to tell people about Jesus
o be friend the weird kids or the kids that arent
cool
o maybe it means not going to the parties on
the weekend where there is nothing godly
happening.
CONCLUSION:
Following the Lord has been amazing
o Not always pretty and easy
o Worth it all
o I get to be on the field and not in the stands
o I get to live it not watch it
If you decide to go from fan to follower I cant promise you if life
will get better or easier but life will be worth it. I am convinced it
the life we are made for Let me pray for you all