CHANNEL CHRISTIANITY

I am glad that Mark was able to be here today. This message has something to do with him. Back when he was still wet behind the ears he and my dad purchased a 38 foot long snapper boat called the "Old Buddy". Those of you who have been to my parents house in Pensacola have had the privilege of seeing the Old Buddy. It is sitting in my parents yard looking very much like a duck out of water. But, back in her day, she was a fine vessel. It was the Old Buddy that got me from the west coast to the gulf coast when I left Sacramento, California, to spend a summer trying my hand at commercial fishing. The summer turned into two years when a local church in Pensacola called me as their youth director. It was at the church that I met my wonderful wife. Because the Old Buddy had gotten me to Pensacola I ended up at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary instead of Golden Gate Seminary in San Francisco. From NOBTS I was called to a wonderful place of ministry known as Mt. Zion Baptist Church. If you don't know where that is see me after class. None of this would have happened if I had not been living what I call "channel christianity".

The story continues on with my brother in law and sister, Mark and Denise. They began visiting us here from Pensacola and before long they were living here also. Isn't it wonderful how God will use the most unlikely things to help us navigate the waters of life.

I was taught all about navigation on the water by the Old Buddy. With four foot draft she was not very forgiving if you got out of the channel. So, I had to learn to read the markers----also known as "aids to navigation" or "Atons". Aids to navigation found on federal waters, commonly known as buoys, are designed, built and maintained by the United States Coast Guard. While some ATONS (Aids to Navigations) are buoys, many others may be daymarkers, ranges, or many other types of markers that provide the boating public with a "sense of direction" while on the water. Generally speaking, green markers are kept to the RIGHT when leaving a harbor and red markers are kept to the RIGHT when returning to harbor, thus coining the phrase, "Red, Right, Returning".

God has placed markers along the way that clearly mark the channel. They are put there for our protection to keep our lives from being shipwrecked on the rocks--to keep us from veering to the right or to the left.

I. GOD'S MARKERS

A. His Word---"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105).

1. His commandments---Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32).

2. Positive role models from the Bible---"Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). The key to Paul's admonition here is that he was following Jesus Christ so we are safe to follow in his footsteps. Ultimately we must follow the supreme role model and that is Jesus Himself. Time and time again in scripture He issues the invitation to follow Him. He is our channel marker leading us to safe waters.

3. Negative role models from the Bible. These are examples that cry out to us, "Don't go there!" There are many such examples and each serves to mark for us the waters that are not safe.

B. Open and closed doors---God uses these to direct our lives and keep us in the channel of His will for us. In Romans 15:20-25 we see that God closed and then opened the door of opportunity for Paul to preach to the church in Rome. Certainly He will use this to steer our lives. I shared with you at the beginning of this message how God used the Old Buddy to open doors in my life.

II. THE BENEFITS OF CHANNEL CHRISTIANITY

A. Deep water---support of the Father and the church

1. Support of the Father---The eternal God [is thy] refuge, and underneath [are] the
everlasting arms: (Deuteronomy 33:27).

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings (Psalm 40:2).

Jesus is the "living water" and our ship is surrounded by and held up by Him.

2. Support of the church---"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

"We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak,
and not to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1).

"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Corinthians 1:4).

B. Direction---arriving at our destination. Anything short of Channel Christianity is wandering aimlessly in the shallows. The channel carries us to great destinations and we stay on course as we follow God's markers. That gives our life direction and we will arrive at God's destinations for us---His ports of call and that final port of call---heaven!.

C. Smoother sailing---the waves kick up higher and crash as they approach shallow water. Even when the waves do kick up we know that when we are in the channel we know that Jesus is sailing with us. We have the wonderful example of what happens when the Master of the wind and waves is with us---Matthew 8:23-27.

D. Protection---all along the way you may see the rusted hulls of ships that have strayed out of the channel, failing to follow the "red, right, return" rule of navigation. Often times at my parent's house when the wind is blowing hard you can look out and see barges that have been blown out of the channel and are stuck in the sand. That is what happens when we run aground in life. We are stuck, going nowhere. If you feel that tug on your heart today it is God's tugboat, His Holy Spirit trying to pull you into the channel. If you resist you will stay stuck. If you let go you will be pulled to saftey.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In closing I would like to share with you that beautiful Psalm that folks have turned to for comfort for thousands of years. It is Psalm 121:

{A Song of degrees.} I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help [cometh] from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD [is] thy keeper: the LORD [is] thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Are you living your live in the channel?

Back to Sermons