Good evening

(Pray)

(Hold up bottle of Gatorade)

Gatorade

Now I am sure that we have all seen the commercials that depict different athletes drinking this stuff.  They show us boxers that drink blue Gatorade and then when they are hit they bleed blue.  We see soccer players drink orange Gatorade slide and get cut, and we see them bleed orange.  Runners and basketball players drink a bottle of yellow Gatorade and when they sweat they sweat yellow.

Whatever color they drink is what we see.

Better put, whatever they put into them, they let out as well.

Their slogan is “Gatorade, is it in you?”

As each athlete bleeds or sweats, it becomes very evident what color of Gatorade they have been drinking.

Well my question is why is it that Christians are not the same way?  Why don’t we show what we have been filled with?  We get filled up with God, but it seldom shows through in out lives.

Romans 8:11 says, “1”

The key part here in verse 11 is, “…the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you.”

God is living in each of us and He has taken the form of the Holy Spirit.  And at our baptism we are filled with Him.

Why is it then that we do not show Him in our lives as Gatorade commercials show the athletes letting out what they have been filled with.

A little girl one Sunday morning began an interesting conversation with her mother.   She said mom, help me understand the service from today.  The preacher said that God was so big right.  The mother replied, why yes dear He is.  The little girl then said okay and he also said that God lives in me right.  The mother again replied, yes dear He is inside of you.  There was silence for a little bit and then finally the little girl said, well if God is so big and He lives in me then shouldn’t he show through.

This is a very interesting story.  Even a little girl realizes how it doesn’t make any sense that we don’t show God in our lives and that He doesn’t show through in us.

Truly God should show through in our lives every day and not just on Sunday and Wednesday as some are in the habit of.

Just as Gatorade can restore energy, God can make us healthy as well.  However this can only happen if we let Him show through in our lives. 

Now in order to become healthy in Christ we need to go out and pass God’s word and His teachings on to others, in the way that we act, in the way we talk, and in the way that we teach others.

How many of you know the difference between the Dead Sea and any other Sea in the world?

All of these seas have intakes, rivers and lakes that empty into them.  The only difference between the Dead Sea and all other seas is that the Dead Sea has no outlets, rivers or lakes that empty the water out of the sea.  It takes in and takes in, but never gives out what it has taken in.  Therefore it remains dead and stagnant not allowing anything to live or grow in it.  The other seas that release water flourish with life and are very healthy.

Many times Christians are like this as well.  They receive the Holy Sprit and enjoy being filled, but they never want to pour that out to others.  They never really want to pass it on.

In I Corinthians 15:3 we read, “2”

And again in II Thessalonians 2:15 it says, “3”

Here it is evident that we need to pass on to others what we have been given by God.

Christianity is not an inward feeling it’s an outward expression.  Meaning that we can’t keep it on the inside, it has to be showing through.  It must show in our words, our deeds, and in our everyday actions.

Another great example of what I am talking about occurred shortly after World War II came to a close.  Europe began picking up the pieces.  Much of the Old Country had been ravaged by war and was in ruins.  Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities.

Early one chilly morning an American soldier was making his way back to the barracks in London.  As he turned the corner in his jeep, he spotted a little boy with his nose pressed up against the window of a pastry shop.  Inside, the cook was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts.  The hungry boy stared in silence with his nose pressed against the window, drooling and watching the cook’s every move.  The soldier pulled his jeep to the curb, stopped, and got out.

Son, would you like some of those?

The boy was startled. Oh yes…. I would.

The American soldier stepped inside and bought a dozen, put them in a bag and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning.  He smiled, held out the bag and said simply, “here you are.”

As he turned back to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat.  He looked back and heard the child ask quietly, “mister… are you God?”

Here is a man letting God shine through in his life, and people around him can notice that.  This is an image we should all strive to achieve in our Christian lives.

Someone once said to me, “You may be the only Jesus that a person may ever sees.” 

That is a true statement.  As Christians, it is an honor to be able to represent Christ to the world.  Here is a story about a little boy doing just that in a different way, but we can still gain a lot from his demonstration of showing us what Jesus looks like.

A little boy sat down at the kitchen table with his crayons and a big sheet of blank paper, and he started to draw.  His father, noticing the youngster hard at work at the table, stopped to look.  “What are you doing, son?”  I’m drawing a picture of God, said the little boy.  But son said the father, you can’t draw a picture of God.  Nobody knows what God looks like.

The little boy thought for a moment and said, well they will when I get through!

Here again we see a perfect example of showing God in our lives.  We may very well be the only Jesus that some people may see, so let’s make sure that we represent him accurately.

Now a key verse to remind us that we do receive the Holy Spirit can be found in Act 2:38 when it says, “4”

Now we receive the Holy Sprit when we have repented and have been baptized.  It is then that God in the form of the Holy Spirit comes and dwells or lives in us.

An activity that I used with the youth is a good way of showing the ideas of the scripture here.

(Explain the cup and flame activity)

Again I go back to my first illustration, “Gatorade, is it in you?”

Now try and look at it from a different perspective.  Maybe one of a Christian and say, “Jesus is He in you?”

I certainly hope so and I hope that He can begin to show through in our lives in the way that we live.

Will you please pray with me.

(Offer Invitation)