Welcome to The Journey Church. I'm Pastor Paris Pasch.

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I’m not sure what was true for you when you decided to seek God out, but I was a bit desperate.  I was 23 years old; the economy was floundering, my business was having a number of income deficiencies and I was a young father, married to a young wife as an unskilled husband and sensing a bit of failure fatigue.  I needed a solution to all this brokenness and then one day heard a message of hope because I accepted an invitation by my wife to attend a Christian gathering.  I heard that Jesus would save me from my burdens and rescue me from my missteps.  I needed that kind of savior.

 

I think my initial response to God was, yes come fix my problems.  My immaturity had as its primary focus, ME.  Jesus save me, Jesus rescue me and Jesus fix me.  Since those early days I have had many opportunities to ask a common question.  It’s a question that was often on my mind and also on the mind of many people who consider a walk with God.  “Is Christianity Really A Better Life?”.

 

It’s true that after I got saved I felt a great burden of responsibility leave my shoulders, but it took a great length of time to remove the circumstances I was in.  I’ve always been hardworking and resourceful, but that doesn’t always fix life quickly.  Then I crossed paths with a part of the Christian church that took the Bible at face value.  They refused to spout empty religious platitudes like; “everything happens for a reason” or “God must be teaching you something with your problems”.  Instead they read God’s words, applied them and acted on their meaning as if it was true.  For example; these Bible believers heard that God was a healer and so believed that God was good for what He stated in scripture. 

 

Psalm 107:19–20 (NIV) Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

 

They taught that God would heal your mind and your body, and all you had to do was seek Him to know Him, then healing would eventually take place.  They taught that faith was something real and tangible.  Here is another powerful portion of God’s word that speaks to why we have special prayer after every service.

 

James 5:14–15 (NIV) Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

 

As a young Christian I was clearly instructed that if God says it, then it is true.  They refused to disbelieve what God had declared as true.  I owe those early faith builders in my life a world of gratitude. I will never relent from believing that God’s word is true.  This same group of Bible based believers saw God as a rewarder, a benefactor and a God who blesses His children, He doesn’t curse them or make their lives more difficult.

 

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 

Matthew 7:9–11 (NIV) “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

 

Sadly most people, even many Christians, have not understood that there are three primary forces at work in the earth today: God, people and Satan. God does good and Satan does bad, and mankind chooses between them period.  Stop believing otherwise.  Satan wants to make your life a trainwreck and God wants to bring you to victory.  Victory implies that there is a battle to be fought.  You will never know this truth if you don’t open the pages of your Bible and read to believe.

 

John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 

1 John 5:4 (NIV)  for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

 

So is Christianity a better life?  It is, if you are truly seeking after more God every day.  Now don’t conclude from my words that life gets easy.  Life is never easy for anybody.  Satan makes sure of that while He can, because one day He will be locked up for eternity.  You may believe your life is the hardest of all lives, but I can assure you that others have greater and more difficult issues than you do and many of them are plowing forward.

 

Maybe you’re is a financially burdened life.  Did you know that God has a plan to give you prosperity?  But what is the prosperous life?  Well it’s not becoming rich or full of stuff in life.  That life has ruined more people than helped them.  Prosperity is having the capacity to meet a need that arises with enough left over to be a blessings to others.

 

Psalm 25:12–13 (NIV) Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. 13 They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.

 

Deuteronomy 30:9–10 (NIV) Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

 

Unfortunately people who have wealth often have no desire for God.  They don’t need Him.  Maybe you have a few nickels to rub together.  Well listen to what God says about that.

 

Deuteronomy 8:17–18 (NIV) You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

 

We must as believers understand where our prosperity comes from, no matter its size or amount.  We must learn to honor God with whatever our measure is.

 

Proverbs 3:9–10 (NIV) Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

 

I have long chosen to live this prosperous life.  Many of you here today have made the same choice and together we encourage those who are seeking to live this better life to simply hear God’s word and believe it.  We are thankful and joyous with what lot God has given us.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:19 (NIV) Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.

 

So when asked if the Christian life is better, I consider the alternative.  With God I have hope and without Him I have the unknown.  With Christ I have peace and without Him I have chaos.  The very word for salvation in the Greek “Soteria” means: safety, ease, deliverance, soundness, spirit, soul and body.

 

However, why does this better life elude some folks?   Why are so many rich people still unhappy?  Is poverty a sign of faithlessness?  Is prosperity being able to buy anything you desire?  Is a better life one that has all kinds of trinkets?  If I get more stuff will I eventually be happy? As I’ve said; true prosperity is having enough to meet an immediate need?  True prosperity does not end in eternal separation from love? 

 

Poverty can enter life for several reasons.  Note this is much more than financial poverty it is also spiritual poverty.

 

Proverbs 22:16 (NIV) One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

 

2 Chronicles 24:20 (NIV) Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’ ”

 

I’m so pleased to lead a group of people who don’t need a building project or a new roof expense in order to be motivated to give to God.  You give out of love for God and based on a foreseen need.  That’s how God gives to us.  We are not in pursuit of riches, but to be rich in Christ.

 

Since those early days, I’ve moved away from some of the more extreme side of prosperity teaching, but the word is still true.  God is not trying to make us all rich, because true riches are not found in coins.  However the fact is that God blesses His people.  Satan destroys and robs people and mankind is often in pursuit of selfish pleasure.  But we can move out the ditches and walk on the road when we seek the truth.

 

John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 

You get to decide which life you are going to pursue.  It’s all about the source you seek after.  The evidence sits among you today.  Choose to obey God’s word and the answer will become for you also, YES, Christianity is a better life.

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Next week Pastor Ben speaks to us about resolutions or living the resolved life.

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      Message Questions

1. Why Does pastor Paris believe God heals us?

2. Can you make a case for God helping us prosper?

3. What does the word SALVATION mean in Greek?

4. Why do some people get money and still aren’t happy?

5. What are the three primary voice categories in the earth today?