Matthew 12: 25-30 & 36-37

We’re living in a different time in our lives than our parents and grandparents did. We are living in a time where there is no room for lukewarmness, or indecision. The Holy Spirit is calling the church to a place of established TRUTH AND POWER, and the gray area is now gone, we must choose a side.

You’ve crossed the line! I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase used. I know I have. It usually means that you have crossed a boundary.

It may be a boundary of acceptable behavior, or it may be that somebody has acted inappropriately toward you and crossed that line and lost your respect.

When I was young and in school sometimes at the point of confrontation someone would draw a line in the dirt and dare me to cross the line. Remember those silly days.

But if I accepted and crossed the line it meant I was committed, no turning back, or no more words; it was time to fight. In other words put up or shut up, and I mean your fists.

There are many lines in this world; boundaries if you will, some invisible, yet no less real…

* There is a line where water turns into ice.

* Where water turns into steam

* There’s even a line where speed catches up to sound and penetrates a barrier called the sound barrier.

There is a line between right and wrong, good and bad. There is a line between true and false, pure and perverse, and there is a line between spectator and participator.

This is what I call the line of no return or the point of no return. Once you are committed, you’re in for the long haul. You have gone from being a spectator to a participator.

So many times, we have people in churches today that enjoy church. They want to come to church when they feel like it, and they even contribute sometimes, but there is a difference between contribution and commitment.

When I think about commitment I am reminded about the chicken and pig who are walking down the road together and they come across a restaurant. The chicken looks at the pig and says I’m hungry and the pig agrees and says I’m hungry too.

Then the chicken says; hey I’d like some ham and eggs, I’m willing, how about you? The pig looks at the chicken and says:  Are you crazy? For you it’s just a small contribution, but for me it’s the whole hog.

The point I’m making is there are a lot of people in the churches who are willing every now and then to make a contribution, but not that many who want to go the whole hog, not willing to commit.

GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR HALF HEARTED, HALF-BAKED, HALF IN, HALF OUT, HALF UP AND HALF DOWN, MAYBE YES OR MAYBE NO CHRISTIANS.

I am sorry to say that this is a line that many Christians never cross. They go to church, they sing and shout, maybe even dance occasionally and yet never cross the line.

THE LINE I’M SPEAKING OF IS THE BATTLE LINE. IT IS THE PLACE OF COMMITMENT…

* IT’S WHERE WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH

* IT’S WHERE WE PUT UP

* IT’S WHERE YOU’RE ALL IN, NO TURNING BACK

* YOU CAN’T BACK UP OR BACK DOWN, THERE IS NO RETREAT.

Time and time again God has pledged Himself to be the helper and strength of his people.

God is asking us to cross the line, to come out of our hiding places, to leave the comfort of our homes and to begin engaging the enemy.

THE ENEMY IS NEVER REALLY TOO CONCERNED ABOUT OUR SOWING, OUR SINGING, DANCING AND SHOUTING. ALL OF PREACHING AND TEACHING DOSEN’T BOTHER HIM AS LONG AS WE KEEP IT WITHIN THE FOUR WALLS OF THE CHURCH.

* AS LONG AS NOBODY GETS SAVED OR HEALED OR DELIVERED

* AS LONG AS NO MARRIAGES ARE RESTORED

* AS LONG AS BROKEN HOMES ARE NOT MENDED

* AS LONG AS OUR PRAYERS ARE SELFISH AND SHALLOW

THE GLORY AND PRESENCE OF GOD WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR MIDST, AND WE WILL WALK IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

NOW CROSS THE LINE AND SEE WHAT GOD HAS TO OFFER. YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!

Pastor Dan Pacheco

College Heights Baptist Church