Culture Shock part 1: Home is Where the Heart Is

Victory Fellowship Church Podcast

The Bible says that we are not of this world. So where are we from? And how do we live here in the meantime? In this message, Pastor Jamie launches a new series with a message called "Home is Where the Heart Is."
Culture shock is the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is subjected to an unfamiliar culture or way of life.
Jesus' prayer to the Father:
John 17:15-16 “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”
Home is Where the Heart is:
1. You are not from here. Phil 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven.”
Passion Translation: “we are a colony of heaven on earth”
You know what’s weird to me? It’s not the sinners who sin, but Christians who don’t change.
Second Cor. 5:20 – we are “Ambasadors,” a representative from another land, culture or government.
2. This world is passing away. 1 John 2:15-17
The only thing this world can offer you is pleasure, possessions and pride; and none of these things can fulfill you and none of these things will last.
1 John 5:19 “We know that we are children of God andthat the world around us is under the control of the evil one.”
Too many Christians are like soldiers sent to a foreign land where we are supposed to be waging war against evil, freeing people from prison, but instead we are distracted in the souvenir shop.
3. We are told to hold on to our spiritual heritage.
Colossians 3:2 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Christianity is a counter-cultural movement. We are friends TO the world, but not friends WITH theworld.
4. We must protect ourselves from our surroundings. James 4:4 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”
Boats are built to be in the water, but not get water in them, in the same way, we live in this world, but the world is not supposed to live in us.
John 15:19
If you’re truly following Jesus, at some point you’ll be unfollowed by the world.
5. We must cling to the truth of God’s Word while in this world.
John 17:17 “Make them holy [sanctify them] by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”
You will be different from the world around you when you adopt God’s truth, not the fleeting, unstable truth of the culture around you.
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
NIV: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world”
NLT: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world”
Passion: “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you”
Passion commentary - Aramaic: “Don’t be squeezed into the mold of this present age.”
Final question:
Are you in the world, or of the world? Where is your heart? Because that’s where you home is.