What Is Your Life Slogan?

2009-10-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Back a few years ago, when I was pastoring a small church in Kansas, the capital city of Kansas, Topeka, started looking for a new slogan that would promote tourism and help foster a positive image for the city. The new slogan would be especially important since Topeka would be celebrating its 150th anniversary. So with that thought in mind, local officials launched a slogan campaign that would be open to all the residents of Topeka. Local officials had high hopes that the residents of their city would come up with a winning slogan. Unfortunately, the residents of Topeka did just the opposite of what local officials wanted them to do. Residents started submitting slogans that were sly put-downs of the very city where they lived. Residents of the fair capital of the great State of Kansas submitted slogans like, “Topeka, you won’t get a lot of unwanted relatives visiting you.” And this one: “Topeka – not as bad as you think, it’s even worse.” The list went on, mostly with slogans that aren’t positive at all. The submissions were so discouraging that according to an AP news release, the Topeka Convention and Visitors Bureau was considering forgoing a city slogan entirely.

Now I don’t know if Topeka was really that bad of a city or not. I never visited there and I only passed by it once on the highway. But it seems to me that before Topeka could lay claim to a slogan that would have promoted a positive image of itself, there needed to be damage control done to correct the city’s image among its own residents.

In thinking about this story in relation to our series on the Judgment Seat of Christ, I want us to realize that one day – the Judgment Day to be exact – the way we lived our lives will tell the whole story of who we really were on earth. When our lives will be opened up for judgment by Jesus Christ, Himself (see John 5: 17 – 30), our words, actions, motives, attitudes and intentions will all be examined – whether they were good or bad. So then the question that we ought to be asking ourselves now and answering now, is what does the way we have lived our lives say about us? Relatively good things or bad things?

The apostle Paul gives us some interesting words about how Christ will judge our lives in 1 Corinthians 3. Paul says the first thing that will be examined is the foundation of our lives. Any builder will tell you that if a building has a poor foundation, it will start having all kinds of problems. Eventually, the building itself will at the very least become too dangerous to live in, and may even collapse. If you are a Christian, you needn’t worry – the foundation of your life is Jesus Christ. And the foundation of Christ is always solid, able to stand up to anything life throws at it. Any other foundation that we choose to build our lives on will ultimately not be able stand the test on Judgment Day.

But after the foundation, what do we do then? That is the question we will be looking at in a two-part sermon “How Will We Be Judged?” I invite you to join us or to download the sermons when they become available. It is my hope that after we are judged, our lives will not have been disappointing to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the slogans were to the city of Topeka. I hope to see you on Sunday!

The Coming Judgment Day

2009-10-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Think about all of the important days of your life: the day you were born, the day you graduated from high school and/or college, the day you got married, the days your children were born. Think about the not-so-great days, too. The day you lost a job you really liked. The day your marriage ended. The day a dear loved one or friend passed away. The fact is, all of us have had both good days and bad days in our lives.

What you may not realize though, is that every day of your life - the good days, the bad days, the neutral days – will all lead up to the most important day in your life. That day is the Day of Judgment. It is a divine appointment set for you by God. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 9:27 says that man is appointed to die once and then after that to face judgment. The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that every person will stand before Christ to give an account of the things done in the body, whether good or bad. You will not be able to avoid, escape nor delay that day – it is out of your control.

Now I realize that talking about a judgment day is not very popular. As a matter of fact, most of humanity is not crazy about the idea. So, how can I be so sure that there will be a judgment day? Because the apostle Paul tells us in Acts 17:31 that the proof of judgment day rests in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In other words, because Jesus was raised from the dead, all of the world, including you and me, will face Jesus Christ as our judge on Judgment Day. Judgment Day was not a strange concept to Jesus. Jesus, Himself, talked about his future role as judge over all humanity in John 5: 22-27. He also taught frequently about it, especially in his parables (stories) to the crowds. In practically every case Jesus touched on the subject of judgment day his warning was clear: be prepared for it.

At Sandy Church of the Nazarene, for the next six weeks, we will be examining this very important subject – the Judgment Day of Christ. The object of this series of sermons is not to scare anyone, but to make you aware this day is coming and what you need to do to be sure you’re ready for it. If you can’t come to our church for this very interesting series, then I invite you to download my sermons on this very important topic. And please, take the Judgment Day very seriously – because Jesus Christ certainly will.

Pastor's Blog

What Is Your Life Slogan?

The Coming Judgment Day