1. What are some areas in which you need to put Jesus first?
2. Why do you think it is difficult to do so in those areas?
3. What are some areas in which you have put Jesus first?
4. How does it feel to have put Him first in those areas? Can you see blessings? Do you feel better about those areas?
5. Are there areas of your life in which you do not put Jesus first and are afraid to so you do not pray about them?
Born to Die Myrrh 12.18.11 Sermon
Sometimes gifts trigger memories (Surfboard and Kenny)
Today we are going to look at the gift of Myrrh and what it should bring to memory when we hear this famous Christmas account.
Matthew 2:11 It is evident that these were more then just gifts but they were symbolic and intended to be reminders of Jesus is.
1. Myrrh is a reminder of Jesus’ death
Because myrrh was used in the embalming or anointing of the dead, it came to represent mortality, suffering, and sorrow. The Israelites used perfumed ointments of myrrh in their funeral preparations to postpone the decay and alleviate the odors of the deceased. Although less than one pound was normally used in Israelite funerary preparations, Nicodemus brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds" to prepare Jesus's body for burial (John 19:39). This was to show his respect for Christ. Other people burned myrrh as incense during cremations.
This gift is a foreshowing of what is to come. Jesus’ death
John 10:14-18 Jesus lays His life down -GOSPEL-
What should our Response be to Christ’s Death?
Non-believer –should believe
Believer- Die to self – Luke 9:23-24 We are called to lay our lives down… the Christian life is about dying to self daily.
How does this work out? The simple answer is… we think of Jesus first in every area of life. QUESTIONS
- Is Jesus first in my relationships with others? Am I at odds with anyone? Dating…am I remaining pure?
- Is Jesus first in the way I use my time? Do I spend time serving? Helping others? Do I spend time in the Bible?
- Is Jesus first in the use of my finances and the resources God has blessed me with? Do I give? Do I use what I have for the benefit of others?
- Is Jesus first in my work place or school?
As a believer it is no longer my life but it should be Christ living through me. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me, the life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me ”
T* You might say that is painful to die to self
2. Myrrh is a reminder that Jesus eases the pain.
Until the invention of morphine and other modern painkillers, myrrh was a common painkiller. In ancient times it was often mixed with wine to make the drink more potent. As was the custom among the Jews, Christ was offered "wine mingled with myrrh" to ease the pains of the cross. (Mk 15:23).
It can be difficult to die to self and live for the Lord.
-People will hassle you for not joining in with their sinful ways. -People will mock you for living a different way then they do. -You may face resistance when you are doing what is right.
Mark 15:23 Jesus refused to drink it. I would say He did this to display His reliance on the Father and Holy Spirit to get Him through this terrible experience. He didn’t rely on a painkiller.
When we feel that it is too difficult to live a Christ centered life of dying to self we need think about the how the Father is in control how the Holy Spirit is with us to guide and comfort
and that Jesus said to Paul 2 Cor 12:9 “my grace is sufficient, my power is made perfect in weakness” Jesus says to all in Matthew 11:28-30 “come to me” “my yoke is easy my burden is light” Jesus is also know as the “Great physician” who can ease our pain.
T* You might say…I can’t die to self, I need help. And I would say you are right you need to beckon the Lord daily for help
3. Myrrh is a reminder to pray. When burned as incense, myrrh is a symbol of prayers rising to heaven.
James 5:16b The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (Who is righteous? Believers)
When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart. ~John Bunyan
Where is your heart?
Many times we don’t go to the Lord in prayer because we really don’t want these things to change, we really don’t want to “die to self” We don’t care. Our heart is hard or cold and we become more concerned with living for ourselves.
CS Lewis in Mere Christianity shares this illustration in his chapter about “Counting the Cost” He talks about not wanting to tell his mom about having a toothache because if he lets the dentist in his mouth he will do work on other teeth and find other problems and want to correct those as well.
It is the same way with the Lord when we start to daily go to Him in prayer He is going to start to troubleshoot in areas that we did not want Him to go to. He will say “ok I took care of this area… now I am going to work on that area with you”
Lewis was saying we don’t go to the Lord because we are afraid of how He will work and what He will put to death in our lives.
Part of dying to self is being open to God’s will
Jesus was prayed before He went to the cross, He prayed because was open to the Will of the Father to lay down His life.
We need to be praying in order to be prepared for daily self death.
Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. ~Søren Kierkegaard
When we hear or read the account of the Magi giving the gift of Myrrh we should remember that Jesus was born to die for us and we were born to die for Him daily and in that daily death we will truly live.
1.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
12.4.11 Community Group Questions
From Pastor Steve's Message
1. Have you recently had the opportunity to point someone to Jesus? How did it go?
2. What is something you commonly worship/place on the throne of your heart? What are some ways your group can think of to keep Jesus there?
3. How does it make you feel to know that because of Jesus' resurrection - we will one day be resurrected to heaven and we are Justified?
4. Does the picture of Jesus in Revelation 19:11-16 change the way you think about Jesus? Does it help you to do anything in your relationship with him?
1. Have you recently had the opportunity to point someone to Jesus? How did it go?
2. What is something you commonly worship/place on the throne of your heart? What are some ways your group can think of to keep Jesus there?
3. How does it make you feel to know that because of Jesus' resurrection - we will one day be resurrected to heaven and we are Justified?
4. Does the picture of Jesus in Revelation 19:11-16 change the way you think about Jesus? Does it help you to do anything in your relationship with him?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Snapshot Series: "The Importance of a Person"
Snapshot12 Mark 5:1-20 The importance of a person
Questions for Community Groups
1. Do you know any outcasts you can reach out to?
2 Have you ever felt like an outcast? Why?
3 Are you generous with your resources on behalf of other people?
4. Have you ever experienced someone going out of their way for you?
5. Why do you feel compelled to help others?
Vrs 1-2 This is a sad account of man who is possessed by demons
Vrs 3-5 The life of this man was miserable and he was dangerous to others and himself. What a sad existence (this is why I chose not watch evil movies)
The function of demonic possession is to destroy and distort people who were made in the image of God.
Vrs 6-8 Here we have the demons talking to Jesus through the this man and the idea that Jesus “was saying, come out of the man”. Again in Mark we see that demons know who Jesus is, calling Him “Jesus Son of the Most High God”
Vrs 9-10 Jesus asks the demons name and the reply is Legion, which means 6,000, so there is literally an army of demons possessing this man.
Vrs 11-13 The demons had a particular affection for this area and wanted to stay. The presence of the herd of pigs (swine) illustrates the pagan area because swine were unclean. They ask for permission to go into the pigs.
Why does Jesus allow this? William Lane in his commentary on Mark offers to two possible suggestions.
1. The time of total binding of the demons in hell has not yet come.
2. Jesus allows this to illustrate that demons just want to destroy life.
Vrs 14-17 The response of the herdsman. They were upset with their financial loss and want Jesus to leave. What a callous response, here the town demoniac is healed and they care about the herd because of finances.
Vrs 18-20 This man just wanted to be with Jesus, but interestingly enough Jesus had a different plan for him. He wanted him to go and tell others about how Jesus helped him.
Why did Jesus not silence him? This man was a Gentile so Jesus probably did not silence his preaching because Jesus was not welcome to preach in Gentile areas
There are many things that we can take away from this account but what I want to focus in on is the importance of individual people to Jesus and He teaches us that he values people by helping this miserable man. He also helps other miserable people like us.
Jesus will help…
• When you are an outcast. GOSPEL (we are all outcasts)
Do you feel like an outcast? Do you feel like it is hard to have close relationships or that people do not understand you or like you? Do you feel unwelcome?
Maybe you feel like an outcast because of your situation. Rough family, no money, relational status.
JOHN ORTBERG, says “Jesus ... associated with the outcasts; he spoke with them, touched them, ate with them, loved them”.
So if you are feeling like an outcast know that Jesus is there for you, He listens and cares 1 Peter 5:7
• When no one else will.
Do you feel like no one is there for you? You need to talk and no one will listen? The people around just don’t seem to be there when you need them? Do you feel like you can’t share the depths of your heart with anyone because they don’t seem to care?
Maybe like in the account of these people who lost their pigs the people around you feel that their possessions or money is more important then you or your relationship, or your value and worth as human.
This is when we normally come to the conclusion that we need to help ourselves… then we realize we are unable to.
• When you can’t help yourself.
God helps those who help themselves. Benjamin Franklin That is not a biblical concept. As if God is saying…”he gave it shot it is time for me to intervene”
No actually it is very different. God puts us in situations that we can’t possibly do it alone and we realize we need to lean on Him and others.
So when the Lord helps us we have to come to the conclusion He has helped us…
• So you can help others.
-When we see an outcast, how can we help? Are you trying to be an example of Jesus to the outcast? (The demon possessed man was an outcast)
Norman Rice said “Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light”
It is a risk but it is what we are called to do.
-When we see someone in need, do we go out of our way for them?
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.
William Shakespeare
Do we use our resources for them? Are our resources more important then the people around us?
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill
You may say…I don’t have much to give or help.
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith
Jesus helped you and validated your importance and He can use you to help and validate the importance of those around you.
Questions for Community Groups
1. Do you know any outcasts you can reach out to?
2 Have you ever felt like an outcast? Why?
3 Are you generous with your resources on behalf of other people?
4. Have you ever experienced someone going out of their way for you?
5. Why do you feel compelled to help others?
Vrs 1-2 This is a sad account of man who is possessed by demons
Vrs 3-5 The life of this man was miserable and he was dangerous to others and himself. What a sad existence (this is why I chose not watch evil movies)
The function of demonic possession is to destroy and distort people who were made in the image of God.
Vrs 6-8 Here we have the demons talking to Jesus through the this man and the idea that Jesus “was saying, come out of the man”. Again in Mark we see that demons know who Jesus is, calling Him “Jesus Son of the Most High God”
Vrs 9-10 Jesus asks the demons name and the reply is Legion, which means 6,000, so there is literally an army of demons possessing this man.
Vrs 11-13 The demons had a particular affection for this area and wanted to stay. The presence of the herd of pigs (swine) illustrates the pagan area because swine were unclean. They ask for permission to go into the pigs.
Why does Jesus allow this? William Lane in his commentary on Mark offers to two possible suggestions.
1. The time of total binding of the demons in hell has not yet come.
2. Jesus allows this to illustrate that demons just want to destroy life.
Vrs 14-17 The response of the herdsman. They were upset with their financial loss and want Jesus to leave. What a callous response, here the town demoniac is healed and they care about the herd because of finances.
Vrs 18-20 This man just wanted to be with Jesus, but interestingly enough Jesus had a different plan for him. He wanted him to go and tell others about how Jesus helped him.
Why did Jesus not silence him? This man was a Gentile so Jesus probably did not silence his preaching because Jesus was not welcome to preach in Gentile areas
There are many things that we can take away from this account but what I want to focus in on is the importance of individual people to Jesus and He teaches us that he values people by helping this miserable man. He also helps other miserable people like us.
Jesus will help…
• When you are an outcast. GOSPEL (we are all outcasts)
Do you feel like an outcast? Do you feel like it is hard to have close relationships or that people do not understand you or like you? Do you feel unwelcome?
Maybe you feel like an outcast because of your situation. Rough family, no money, relational status.
JOHN ORTBERG, says “Jesus ... associated with the outcasts; he spoke with them, touched them, ate with them, loved them”.
So if you are feeling like an outcast know that Jesus is there for you, He listens and cares 1 Peter 5:7
• When no one else will.
Do you feel like no one is there for you? You need to talk and no one will listen? The people around just don’t seem to be there when you need them? Do you feel like you can’t share the depths of your heart with anyone because they don’t seem to care?
Maybe like in the account of these people who lost their pigs the people around you feel that their possessions or money is more important then you or your relationship, or your value and worth as human.
This is when we normally come to the conclusion that we need to help ourselves… then we realize we are unable to.
• When you can’t help yourself.
God helps those who help themselves. Benjamin Franklin That is not a biblical concept. As if God is saying…”he gave it shot it is time for me to intervene”
No actually it is very different. God puts us in situations that we can’t possibly do it alone and we realize we need to lean on Him and others.
So when the Lord helps us we have to come to the conclusion He has helped us…
• So you can help others.
-When we see an outcast, how can we help? Are you trying to be an example of Jesus to the outcast? (The demon possessed man was an outcast)
Norman Rice said “Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light”
It is a risk but it is what we are called to do.
-When we see someone in need, do we go out of our way for them?
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.
William Shakespeare
Do we use our resources for them? Are our resources more important then the people around us?
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill
You may say…I don’t have much to give or help.
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith
Jesus helped you and validated your importance and He can use you to help and validate the importance of those around you.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Jesus Calms My Storm"
Snapshot11 Mark 4:35-41
Community Group Questions
1. When you are in a storm situation what is a common way you "freak out"?
2. Have you found it to be beneficial?
3. Are you currently going through a storm? Share that with your group.
4. We learned that Jesus is in control, we have to exercise faith and have a healthy fear of the Lord. Which of these do you struggle with when it comes to the storm you are in?
5. Think about a storm that you went through, how was your perspective changed?
1995 Hurricane Felix sat and turned in the Atlantic and never just on the Jersey shore that storm claimed five lives to drowning’s and the storm never hit here. My bright idea to paddle out, tell the story.
It changed my perspective on what to surf, when to surf and how to judge the conditions and my limitations.
Many times in life a close call, scary situation or a storm puts much into perspective.
I believe in the account of Mark 4:35-41 the disciples had much put into perspective.
Vrs 35-37 Because of the great details Mark recorded an eyewitness report, probably from Peter.
Having details reminds us of times in which we were caught in a storms in life. We remember smells, things that we heard, strange silence as if we are in a movie.
When I say storms I don’t mean a weather event, I am talking about difficult situations that come our way.
There are quick terrible storms that take some time to clean up after, these are tragedies that take us by surprise and we had no idea they were coming. They happen and we deal with carnage
There are storms of long durations of time. These are things that we deal with for a long period of time. Marital problems, health issues, a health issue of a loved one, a disobedient child, being bullied
There are storms that we put ourselves in because of our terrible decisions. Sinful decisions in life can cause severe storms that we need to deal with.
There are so many different types of storms in this life and I can’t possibly begin to tell you the specifics of what to do in each situation. Lets look at how the disciples handled this…
Vrs 38 How they respond in the storm…
• They freak out
Common “freak out” practices
-Cry uncontrollably
-Rage (this is equivalent to a child throwing a temper tantrum)
-Blame (gives the person someone to vent toward) “Jesus don’t you care?”
-Depression or Comatose (never the same again, nothing phases them anymore)
-Self medicate-drugs alcohol (escape)
-Run-Storms of problems that have solutions but we run because they are difficult, such as marital.
• They call out to Jesus
We all need to come to point in which we realize we are in trouble, we are in a storm called sin. In that storm of sin we need to call out. We are all in peril because of sin…GOSPEL
How does Jesus respond?
He gives us perspective changers by what He does and what He says…
Vrs 39 Jesus calms the storm. Regardless of the storm of life we need to understand that Jesus has control of it.
• Jesus is in control
Vrs 40 “Have you still no faith?” Jesus challenges what they have been putting their faith in. When we act in freak out mode, we are acting like a person with no faith. We are acting like a non-Christian, we are acting like a person with no hope.
• Exercise Faith
God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing. Martin Luther.
This is why it is extremely important that we teach and disciple people, so when the storms come we don’t act like people with no hope. Our hope is in Jesus (may list all the promises that we can claim because our hope is in Jesus) Pro 13:12 “Hope deferred makes a heart sick” If we don’t exercise faith we get sick.
• Have Healthy Fear. Vrs 41 They are afraid when He does something about it. The fear that the disciples had of the storm was much different.
As Matthew Henry states on this point “…now they feared the power and grace of the Redeemer in the calm; and it had pleasure and satisfaction in it”
We should be afraid not to trust that Jesus will take care of us. If you are in a storm, realize that He will see you through it, don’t be afraid of the storm because that will keep you from have a healthy fear of the One who is strong enough to bring you through it.
After the storm is over…isn’t the air so much sweeter? Don’t we appreciate the sun so much more? Isn’t there more of a sense of community among the people? Don’t we learn so much more about Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us?
Community Group Questions
1. When you are in a storm situation what is a common way you "freak out"?
2. Have you found it to be beneficial?
3. Are you currently going through a storm? Share that with your group.
4. We learned that Jesus is in control, we have to exercise faith and have a healthy fear of the Lord. Which of these do you struggle with when it comes to the storm you are in?
5. Think about a storm that you went through, how was your perspective changed?
1995 Hurricane Felix sat and turned in the Atlantic and never just on the Jersey shore that storm claimed five lives to drowning’s and the storm never hit here. My bright idea to paddle out, tell the story.
It changed my perspective on what to surf, when to surf and how to judge the conditions and my limitations.
Many times in life a close call, scary situation or a storm puts much into perspective.
I believe in the account of Mark 4:35-41 the disciples had much put into perspective.
Vrs 35-37 Because of the great details Mark recorded an eyewitness report, probably from Peter.
Having details reminds us of times in which we were caught in a storms in life. We remember smells, things that we heard, strange silence as if we are in a movie.
When I say storms I don’t mean a weather event, I am talking about difficult situations that come our way.
There are quick terrible storms that take some time to clean up after, these are tragedies that take us by surprise and we had no idea they were coming. They happen and we deal with carnage
There are storms of long durations of time. These are things that we deal with for a long period of time. Marital problems, health issues, a health issue of a loved one, a disobedient child, being bullied
There are storms that we put ourselves in because of our terrible decisions. Sinful decisions in life can cause severe storms that we need to deal with.
There are so many different types of storms in this life and I can’t possibly begin to tell you the specifics of what to do in each situation. Lets look at how the disciples handled this…
Vrs 38 How they respond in the storm…
• They freak out
Common “freak out” practices
-Cry uncontrollably
-Rage (this is equivalent to a child throwing a temper tantrum)
-Blame (gives the person someone to vent toward) “Jesus don’t you care?”
-Depression or Comatose (never the same again, nothing phases them anymore)
-Self medicate-drugs alcohol (escape)
-Run-Storms of problems that have solutions but we run because they are difficult, such as marital.
• They call out to Jesus
We all need to come to point in which we realize we are in trouble, we are in a storm called sin. In that storm of sin we need to call out. We are all in peril because of sin…GOSPEL
How does Jesus respond?
He gives us perspective changers by what He does and what He says…
Vrs 39 Jesus calms the storm. Regardless of the storm of life we need to understand that Jesus has control of it.
• Jesus is in control
Vrs 40 “Have you still no faith?” Jesus challenges what they have been putting their faith in. When we act in freak out mode, we are acting like a person with no faith. We are acting like a non-Christian, we are acting like a person with no hope.
• Exercise Faith
God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing. Martin Luther.
This is why it is extremely important that we teach and disciple people, so when the storms come we don’t act like people with no hope. Our hope is in Jesus (may list all the promises that we can claim because our hope is in Jesus) Pro 13:12 “Hope deferred makes a heart sick” If we don’t exercise faith we get sick.
• Have Healthy Fear. Vrs 41 They are afraid when He does something about it. The fear that the disciples had of the storm was much different.
As Matthew Henry states on this point “…now they feared the power and grace of the Redeemer in the calm; and it had pleasure and satisfaction in it”
We should be afraid not to trust that Jesus will take care of us. If you are in a storm, realize that He will see you through it, don’t be afraid of the storm because that will keep you from have a healthy fear of the One who is strong enough to bring you through it.
After the storm is over…isn’t the air so much sweeter? Don’t we appreciate the sun so much more? Isn’t there more of a sense of community among the people? Don’t we learn so much more about Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Is It Hidden?"
Snapshot10 Mark 4:21-34 “Is It Hidden?”
Community Group Questions
1. Have you ever had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a friend? What happened?
2. How does it make you feel to know that God is the one who makes the Gospel take root in a person’s life?
3. Who has helped you grow as a disciple of Jesus?
4. Have you had the opportunity to help another person grow as a disciple of Jesus?
5. Who in your life seemed to be the biggest “miracle”?
• We make the message known. Verses 21-25
Vrs 21 the question (observing everyday life)
Vrs 22 The Gospel brings things to light.
Some people will change when they see the light. Others change only when they feel the heat.
I want to help you feel the heat.
There is a problem with the world and us SIN (describe the crucifixion and how ugly sin is), The light is shed on the problem and we need to respond to the light. GOSPEL
Vrs 23-24a Listen up
Vrs 24b-25 We have a responsibility to make the Gospel known and God rewards those actions
The more you use your gifts the more the Lord will give you gifts to use…why? Because He knows His investment is being well used, you are a faithful steward. Remember the parable of the talents Matt 25:25-30 buried it.
Illustrations about the youth ministry and sharing the light.
Not only did sharing the Gospel benefit their friends it also benefitted them because now they had an entire crew of Christian friends.
I don’t share these things to say look at us look at our church look at the youth ministry. I share them to remind you and myself that this is a work of the Lord, which the next passage teaches us.
• Jesus makes the message take root. V 26-28
What did the guy do? Planted seed and went to sleep.
Vrs 27 It is a mystery how this happens, but it does. This is why we continue to proclaim the message… because we see the fruit of it.
This farmer would not continue to do what he was doing if it never worked. This does not mean what he was doing was not hard work, but in the end he sees fruit.
The same could be said of our efforts. We all have seen friends and family members or people in the community come to Jesus, we are not sure exactly how but we know it works.
Michael Pupin Inventor
Look at those cows and remember that the greatest scientists in the world have never discovered how to make grass into milk.
Vrs 28 The kingdom of God grows steadily even among and adverse environment.
• We are called to disciple.
Vrs 29 Discipleship, for us as Christians part of a church we can understand this point to be what we do with those who do come to know Jesus.
We disciple them!! We harvest the gifts that the Lord blessed them with and help them to understand how to use them, we help them grow by offering opportunities for growth.
DL Moody said it this way…”It is better to train ten people than to do the work of ten people. But it is harder.”
So now we are at the point in which we realize we share the GOSPEL Jesus impacts the hearts of people and makes that seed take root and now we have another job to harvest (disciple). But we have to understand that all this occurring is a miracle.
People we know becoming Christians, growing and learning and changing and being agents of change.
I have to say that the more you see this and are a part of this the more this becomes the norm in your life.
• We see the miracle
Vrs 30-34 and guess what it gets bigger then you can ever imagine or plan. Our problem is we plan and forget about being the light and planting the seed and allowing the Lord to do the work. We fall into the trap of thinking this entire thing depends on us…but it doesn’t
So we see in this parable a summation of what the message will do…it will grow bigger then you can ever imagine and it will be a miracle.
The amazing thing is if we are obedient and don’t hide it we can be a part of it.
Community Group Questions
1. Have you ever had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a friend? What happened?
2. How does it make you feel to know that God is the one who makes the Gospel take root in a person’s life?
3. Who has helped you grow as a disciple of Jesus?
4. Have you had the opportunity to help another person grow as a disciple of Jesus?
5. Who in your life seemed to be the biggest “miracle”?
• We make the message known. Verses 21-25
Vrs 21 the question (observing everyday life)
Vrs 22 The Gospel brings things to light.
Some people will change when they see the light. Others change only when they feel the heat.
I want to help you feel the heat.
There is a problem with the world and us SIN (describe the crucifixion and how ugly sin is), The light is shed on the problem and we need to respond to the light. GOSPEL
Vrs 23-24a Listen up
Vrs 24b-25 We have a responsibility to make the Gospel known and God rewards those actions
The more you use your gifts the more the Lord will give you gifts to use…why? Because He knows His investment is being well used, you are a faithful steward. Remember the parable of the talents Matt 25:25-30 buried it.
Illustrations about the youth ministry and sharing the light.
Not only did sharing the Gospel benefit their friends it also benefitted them because now they had an entire crew of Christian friends.
I don’t share these things to say look at us look at our church look at the youth ministry. I share them to remind you and myself that this is a work of the Lord, which the next passage teaches us.
• Jesus makes the message take root. V 26-28
What did the guy do? Planted seed and went to sleep.
Vrs 27 It is a mystery how this happens, but it does. This is why we continue to proclaim the message… because we see the fruit of it.
This farmer would not continue to do what he was doing if it never worked. This does not mean what he was doing was not hard work, but in the end he sees fruit.
The same could be said of our efforts. We all have seen friends and family members or people in the community come to Jesus, we are not sure exactly how but we know it works.
Michael Pupin Inventor
Look at those cows and remember that the greatest scientists in the world have never discovered how to make grass into milk.
Vrs 28 The kingdom of God grows steadily even among and adverse environment.
• We are called to disciple.
Vrs 29 Discipleship, for us as Christians part of a church we can understand this point to be what we do with those who do come to know Jesus.
We disciple them!! We harvest the gifts that the Lord blessed them with and help them to understand how to use them, we help them grow by offering opportunities for growth.
DL Moody said it this way…”It is better to train ten people than to do the work of ten people. But it is harder.”
So now we are at the point in which we realize we share the GOSPEL Jesus impacts the hearts of people and makes that seed take root and now we have another job to harvest (disciple). But we have to understand that all this occurring is a miracle.
People we know becoming Christians, growing and learning and changing and being agents of change.
I have to say that the more you see this and are a part of this the more this becomes the norm in your life.
• We see the miracle
Vrs 30-34 and guess what it gets bigger then you can ever imagine or plan. Our problem is we plan and forget about being the light and planting the seed and allowing the Lord to do the work. We fall into the trap of thinking this entire thing depends on us…but it doesn’t
So we see in this parable a summation of what the message will do…it will grow bigger then you can ever imagine and it will be a miracle.
The amazing thing is if we are obedient and don’t hide it we can be a part of it.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
"Snapshot Series": Do You Understand?
Community Group Questions
1. Who do you know that has responded to the Gospel like…the path, the rocky soil, the thorns and the good soil?
2. Think of the last time you were struggling with a sin. When you were exposed to biblical teaching, how did you respond?
Was your heat hard?
Did you seek to understand the teaching and develop roots?
Were you distracted from the sin by the business of life?
Did you apply the teaching and gain victory over the sin?
Snapshot9 Mark 4:1-20 Do You Understand?
Vrs 1-2 Intro
Reasons for parables Nelson Study Notes:
1. Interesting and grabs the listener’s attention.
2. Easy to remember
3. They reveal truth to those who are spiritually ready
4. They conceal truth from those who oppose Christ’s message. (in the climate Jesus was preaching in He was weighing the words He spoke because of the accusations against Him)
Vrs 3-9 Parable
Vrs 10-13 Understanding. Do you understand that spiritual truths can be seen in the physical world
Vrs 12 This statement is not that Jesus is hiding or making it difficult for people to understand but it stating that those who reject the plain message of salvation He offers will not “get” the teachings because He is speaking in parables.
Vrs 14-20 So what should we understand from this parable? Lucky us Jesus explains it. Explanation
When you go out and sow the Word (preaching the Gospel) (The seed is always the same = the Word is always the same) The means in which we get the word out may be different. Remember that is not wrong unless it is by sinful means
Vrs 14-15 The path: These people are hard hearted, stiff necked people (not the blinded as far as ignorant of God’s truth) When you are telling others about the Lord some of them just don’t want to hear it. Anything that may bring up some points of interest are snatched away by Satan.
Vrs 16-17 The rocky soil: Sometimes when you tell others, they love it they are like… yeah I am down with that but unfortunately they don’t develop a root because of the limestone. When troubles come or people are telling them “that is dumb” they fall away because they have no roots.
Vrs 18-19 The thorns: Sometimes when you tell others they hear it and say “that may work” but their conflicting worldview of worldly cares, money and desires choke out what they heard.
There a two commonalities with these three. 1. The seed. 2. No fruit
Vrs 20 Good Soil Accepts and bear fruit.
It’s a heart condition
By observing people and life experience we see these are on target as far as responses to Jesus go, but what about our personal response.
Rather then looking at this from an evangelistic standpoint lets look at if from a discipleship standpoint.
We hear a Biblical teaching or maybe we are confronted with a biblical teaching.
1. Is your heart hard toward it?
2. Are your roots not deep so you find it difficult to understand and it does not matter?
3. Is there too much going on in life that you can’t pay attention?
4. Are you applying it to your life so there is a result.
1. Who do you know that has responded to the Gospel like…the path, the rocky soil, the thorns and the good soil?
2. Think of the last time you were struggling with a sin. When you were exposed to biblical teaching, how did you respond?
Was your heat hard?
Did you seek to understand the teaching and develop roots?
Were you distracted from the sin by the business of life?
Did you apply the teaching and gain victory over the sin?
Snapshot9 Mark 4:1-20 Do You Understand?
Vrs 1-2 Intro
Reasons for parables Nelson Study Notes:
1. Interesting and grabs the listener’s attention.
2. Easy to remember
3. They reveal truth to those who are spiritually ready
4. They conceal truth from those who oppose Christ’s message. (in the climate Jesus was preaching in He was weighing the words He spoke because of the accusations against Him)
Vrs 3-9 Parable
Vrs 10-13 Understanding. Do you understand that spiritual truths can be seen in the physical world
Vrs 12 This statement is not that Jesus is hiding or making it difficult for people to understand but it stating that those who reject the plain message of salvation He offers will not “get” the teachings because He is speaking in parables.
Vrs 14-20 So what should we understand from this parable? Lucky us Jesus explains it. Explanation
When you go out and sow the Word (preaching the Gospel) (The seed is always the same = the Word is always the same) The means in which we get the word out may be different. Remember that is not wrong unless it is by sinful means
Vrs 14-15 The path: These people are hard hearted, stiff necked people (not the blinded as far as ignorant of God’s truth) When you are telling others about the Lord some of them just don’t want to hear it. Anything that may bring up some points of interest are snatched away by Satan.
Vrs 16-17 The rocky soil: Sometimes when you tell others, they love it they are like… yeah I am down with that but unfortunately they don’t develop a root because of the limestone. When troubles come or people are telling them “that is dumb” they fall away because they have no roots.
Vrs 18-19 The thorns: Sometimes when you tell others they hear it and say “that may work” but their conflicting worldview of worldly cares, money and desires choke out what they heard.
There a two commonalities with these three. 1. The seed. 2. No fruit
Vrs 20 Good Soil Accepts and bear fruit.
It’s a heart condition
By observing people and life experience we see these are on target as far as responses to Jesus go, but what about our personal response.
Rather then looking at this from an evangelistic standpoint lets look at if from a discipleship standpoint.
We hear a Biblical teaching or maybe we are confronted with a biblical teaching.
1. Is your heart hard toward it?
2. Are your roots not deep so you find it difficult to understand and it does not matter?
3. Is there too much going on in life that you can’t pay attention?
4. Are you applying it to your life so there is a result.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Am I In God's Will?"
Snapshot8 3:31-35 “Am I In His Will?”
Remember in verse 21 Jesus’ family thought He was out of His mind. Then in verse 22 the scribes said He was possessed by Beelzebub.
Now in verses 31-32 His mother and brothers came to get Him and Jesus has an interesting statement when the crowd beckons Him.
Why do you think His mother and brothers wanted Him? They wanted to stop Him doing what He was doing.
Vrs 33 “Who are my Mother and brothers”? Obviously Jesus was not confused about who was looking for Him.
Vrs 34-35 Then He makes a statement that says my family does “the will of my Father”.
So then we are forced to ask these questions…What is the “will of God”? and am I in (or doing) God’s Will?
You may have asked this question or someone may have asked you this question.
Many times it comes down to questions like, what school should I pick, what career choice, what job to take, should I stay at my current job, who should I marry, how many kids should I have, who should I hang out with, what car should I buy, what house should I buy do I get the extended warranty, what should I eat for dinner….WHAT IS GOD’S WILL????
But then there are the questions like, am I at the right school, did I choose the right career am I at the right job, did I buy the right home or the right car?
What is God’s Will?
Am I in God’s Will?
Biblically there are many answers, but tonight I want to generally answer these two questions in view of what those surrounding Jesus at that time already knew to do from the Gospel of Mark. The people that Jesus is referring to may be saying to themselves “so far I have learned what God wants me to do”
God’s Will
1. Confess sins and believe 1:5
2. Realize “the Law” does not save Jesus does. 2:23-3:6 (Have you trusted in Jesus?)
3. Be obedient 1:6-11 (and baptism) (Are you doing what the Lord has commanded?)
4. Don’t give in to temptation 1:12-13 (Are you falling for the temptation that is before you?)
5. Proclaim the Gospel 1:14-15 (Are you concerned for the lost souls around you?)
6. Follow 1:16-20, 2:13-14, 3:7-12 & 3:13-21 (Are you following Jesus and what He says?)
7. Prayer and fasting 2:18-22 (Do you bring life’s decisions to Jeus in prayer?)
At some points we say… “My life is a mess, what is up?”
Then based upon this knowledge we see times in our lives in which we sit back and say “that was not what God wanted me to do” I bought that car because I wanted it and ignored the advice of others and didn’t pray about it” “When temptation came my way I gave in” “ I don’t really follow Jesus, I just like to hang out with these people”
But sometimes you have all these things in line and in the situation neither option is sin and you get confused. We just need to be sensitive to what God wants and He will let you know
Lets move now back to the passage vrs 31-35
So if we were to answer the question…what is God’s Will we see in this passage that it is… not going against God and now for you to answer Am I in God’s Will? Maybe the more appropriate question you should be asking is “Am I going against God?” If the answer to that is NO, they you are seeking to following His will.
Remember in verse 21 Jesus’ family thought He was out of His mind. Then in verse 22 the scribes said He was possessed by Beelzebub.
Now in verses 31-32 His mother and brothers came to get Him and Jesus has an interesting statement when the crowd beckons Him.
Why do you think His mother and brothers wanted Him? They wanted to stop Him doing what He was doing.
Vrs 33 “Who are my Mother and brothers”? Obviously Jesus was not confused about who was looking for Him.
Vrs 34-35 Then He makes a statement that says my family does “the will of my Father”.
So then we are forced to ask these questions…What is the “will of God”? and am I in (or doing) God’s Will?
You may have asked this question or someone may have asked you this question.
Many times it comes down to questions like, what school should I pick, what career choice, what job to take, should I stay at my current job, who should I marry, how many kids should I have, who should I hang out with, what car should I buy, what house should I buy do I get the extended warranty, what should I eat for dinner….WHAT IS GOD’S WILL????
But then there are the questions like, am I at the right school, did I choose the right career am I at the right job, did I buy the right home or the right car?
What is God’s Will?
Am I in God’s Will?
Biblically there are many answers, but tonight I want to generally answer these two questions in view of what those surrounding Jesus at that time already knew to do from the Gospel of Mark. The people that Jesus is referring to may be saying to themselves “so far I have learned what God wants me to do”
God’s Will
1. Confess sins and believe 1:5
2. Realize “the Law” does not save Jesus does. 2:23-3:6 (Have you trusted in Jesus?)
3. Be obedient 1:6-11 (and baptism) (Are you doing what the Lord has commanded?)
4. Don’t give in to temptation 1:12-13 (Are you falling for the temptation that is before you?)
5. Proclaim the Gospel 1:14-15 (Are you concerned for the lost souls around you?)
6. Follow 1:16-20, 2:13-14, 3:7-12 & 3:13-21 (Are you following Jesus and what He says?)
7. Prayer and fasting 2:18-22 (Do you bring life’s decisions to Jeus in prayer?)
At some points we say… “My life is a mess, what is up?”
Then based upon this knowledge we see times in our lives in which we sit back and say “that was not what God wanted me to do” I bought that car because I wanted it and ignored the advice of others and didn’t pray about it” “When temptation came my way I gave in” “ I don’t really follow Jesus, I just like to hang out with these people”
But sometimes you have all these things in line and in the situation neither option is sin and you get confused. We just need to be sensitive to what God wants and He will let you know
Lets move now back to the passage vrs 31-35
So if we were to answer the question…what is God’s Will we see in this passage that it is… not going against God and now for you to answer Am I in God’s Will? Maybe the more appropriate question you should be asking is “Am I going against God?” If the answer to that is NO, they you are seeking to following His will.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Attributing Evil to God"
Snapshot7 Mark 3:22-30
Vrs 22 the accusation of Jesus was that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan. (In essence He was on Satan’s side)
Why Beelzebub?
Quick History 2 Kings Ahaziah was reigning in Israel and he became sick so he asked His messengers to “Go ask Baal-zebub god of Ekron if he was going to recover” But an Angel of the Lord went to Elijah and told him to go meet these messengers and ask them and Ahaziah “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you inquire with Baal-zebub?” Baal-zebub is no god in fact he is Satan “Lord of the Flies” And guess what? You will die. And he did.
(I haven’t read this anywhere but I like it) As we go through Mark we will see people say Jesus is Elijah or a Prophet. So I think that these scribes were saying because most people know this account and what happened.
“Jesus is so far being on Elijah’s side that He is on Baal-zebubs side” and what they were actually doing was Attributing evil to the Lord.
Interestingly enough these religious leaders attribute evil to Jesus after He did something good. Normally people attribute evil to God when something bad happens. But people in this case are saying He is evil when He stopped evil. It actually shows how lost they really are.
Vrs 23-27 Jesus’ response is almost like saying you guys are fools…
1. Vr 23 Satan will not leave on his own. How can Satan cast out Satan? The reason He asked this was because He was reminding them when Satan takes residence He sticks around and continues. That is why in our society you see areas in particular in rough city sections where things are dark continue that way for so long. That is why you see darkness and evil continue in some families (abuse and broken relationships). That is why criminals continue in their evil ways. Satan is not going to chase his own away where he has a foothold or leave on his own
2. Vr 24-26 Division will eventually take its toll. We don’t mix Jesus with…anyone else. COEXIST sticker Plotr Mlodozenieic first came up with the design to promote religious tolerance in 2001 Over 100 people have claimed to have invented this design and there has been lawsuits as well.
Yes we are supposed to be tolerant…”they can believe that and I will not rob them of their rights” but my responsibility to the Lord and love for human beings should tell them the truth of where there broken system will bring them in the end. GOSPEL
Another note…Churches will always have issues on how we do things. Remember as long as we agree on the big things…like the Gospel, calling Sin..Sin and following the Bible.
3. Vrs 27 Jesus came to the strong man’s house. That is why He is doing things like casting out demons. (they all realized the power of Satan.) The strong man is Satan and Jesus enters in and through His blood is setting us free. GOSPEL
Vrs 28-30 The unforgivable sin. (attributing God’s work to Satan)
-They knew who Jesus was but still rejected Him. Some people are at the point in which they are so far gone, their view of the Lord is wrong and not only is it wrong they persist and develop arguments against Him, Jesus is not saying it is not possible for these people to ever be forgiven but if they persist down this same road and die in that rejection there is not hope or forgiveness for them.
In some senses we can go back to the account of Ahaziah, It seems he knew who the God of Israel was but he chose Baal-zebub over Him and he physically died, but we realize that he did not go to be with the Lord.
If we dissect this verse further is illustrates that a person who knows the Lord is already forgiven and no matter how we fall, it is covered under the Blood of Jesus but a person who never enters into a relationship with the Lord has committed the eternal sin of rejection.
Back to the issue of attributing evil to God, now in 2011, as Christians are we ever tempted to attribute evil to God.? When evil comes it is not from the Lord (don’t blame Him) Deut 32:4, Gen 18:24, Job 34:10, James 1:13
Maybe you realize that God did not cause the evil but…
Here is the way the argument goes…if God does not stop evil then He is not good.
When evil comes remember. (from this passage)
-Satan hates you, he wants the evil to continue by you having a bad response to it .
-Stick with Jesus. Dabbling in other explanations besides the truth of the Lord will confuse you and get you off focus.
-Jesus loves you and He is stronger and He shows us that through the Gospel.
Vrs 22 the accusation of Jesus was that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan. (In essence He was on Satan’s side)
Why Beelzebub?
Quick History 2 Kings Ahaziah was reigning in Israel and he became sick so he asked His messengers to “Go ask Baal-zebub god of Ekron if he was going to recover” But an Angel of the Lord went to Elijah and told him to go meet these messengers and ask them and Ahaziah “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you inquire with Baal-zebub?” Baal-zebub is no god in fact he is Satan “Lord of the Flies” And guess what? You will die. And he did.
(I haven’t read this anywhere but I like it) As we go through Mark we will see people say Jesus is Elijah or a Prophet. So I think that these scribes were saying because most people know this account and what happened.
“Jesus is so far being on Elijah’s side that He is on Baal-zebubs side” and what they were actually doing was Attributing evil to the Lord.
Interestingly enough these religious leaders attribute evil to Jesus after He did something good. Normally people attribute evil to God when something bad happens. But people in this case are saying He is evil when He stopped evil. It actually shows how lost they really are.
Vrs 23-27 Jesus’ response is almost like saying you guys are fools…
1. Vr 23 Satan will not leave on his own. How can Satan cast out Satan? The reason He asked this was because He was reminding them when Satan takes residence He sticks around and continues. That is why in our society you see areas in particular in rough city sections where things are dark continue that way for so long. That is why you see darkness and evil continue in some families (abuse and broken relationships). That is why criminals continue in their evil ways. Satan is not going to chase his own away where he has a foothold or leave on his own
2. Vr 24-26 Division will eventually take its toll. We don’t mix Jesus with…anyone else. COEXIST sticker Plotr Mlodozenieic first came up with the design to promote religious tolerance in 2001 Over 100 people have claimed to have invented this design and there has been lawsuits as well.
Yes we are supposed to be tolerant…”they can believe that and I will not rob them of their rights” but my responsibility to the Lord and love for human beings should tell them the truth of where there broken system will bring them in the end. GOSPEL
Another note…Churches will always have issues on how we do things. Remember as long as we agree on the big things…like the Gospel, calling Sin..Sin and following the Bible.
3. Vrs 27 Jesus came to the strong man’s house. That is why He is doing things like casting out demons. (they all realized the power of Satan.) The strong man is Satan and Jesus enters in and through His blood is setting us free. GOSPEL
Vrs 28-30 The unforgivable sin. (attributing God’s work to Satan)
-They knew who Jesus was but still rejected Him. Some people are at the point in which they are so far gone, their view of the Lord is wrong and not only is it wrong they persist and develop arguments against Him, Jesus is not saying it is not possible for these people to ever be forgiven but if they persist down this same road and die in that rejection there is not hope or forgiveness for them.
In some senses we can go back to the account of Ahaziah, It seems he knew who the God of Israel was but he chose Baal-zebub over Him and he physically died, but we realize that he did not go to be with the Lord.
If we dissect this verse further is illustrates that a person who knows the Lord is already forgiven and no matter how we fall, it is covered under the Blood of Jesus but a person who never enters into a relationship with the Lord has committed the eternal sin of rejection.
Back to the issue of attributing evil to God, now in 2011, as Christians are we ever tempted to attribute evil to God.? When evil comes it is not from the Lord (don’t blame Him) Deut 32:4, Gen 18:24, Job 34:10, James 1:13
Maybe you realize that God did not cause the evil but…
Here is the way the argument goes…if God does not stop evil then He is not good.
When evil comes remember. (from this passage)
-Satan hates you, he wants the evil to continue by you having a bad response to it .
-Stick with Jesus. Dabbling in other explanations besides the truth of the Lord will confuse you and get you off focus.
-Jesus loves you and He is stronger and He shows us that through the Gospel.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Why Do You Follow?"
Snapshot 6 3:7-21 “Why Do You Follow?”
Vrses 7-8 We see that Jesus’ popularity had spread to the surrounding regions
“When the crowd heard all that He was doing they came to Him” This is an interesting statement because we see here that people were following after Jesus because what He had to offer…in this case healing and deliverance from demons.
In this first section these people are following after because there is…
-A possibility of their immediate needs being met.
The question becomes…did these people even understand who they were following and what He really had to offer?
It makes me think of today when people come to Christians or the church for help and assistance. So many people call and ask the church for help with certain things and it is usually followed by statements like “I am going to start coming out on Sundays” or “I would like to help and give back” or “I was thinking of becoming a member” these are probably well intentioned statements but it is not what we or Jesus is looking for.
The church is here to be what Jesus calls the salt and light
Verses 9-10 show us that Jesus is not mad at the fact that their intentions are to have their immediate needs met.
At this point He is concerned for His safety and protection.
Again when we as Christians or the church are approached with need we should not be critical or mad at the peoples intentions but we should make sure that they are not going to harm us. (for the church sometimes we need to evaluate, if someone is taking advantage of us and using up all our resources and making it difficult for us to help other people as well.
Vrs 11 the irony that the demons realize who Jesus was but the people did not, they just thought He was a miracle worker and they wanted a miracle to happen to them.
We are here to help others but it should always be in the Name of the Lord Jesus because He is who they really need. We are not a social service agency. Guess what the demons would love us to have a church with only a message that says we help other people with immediate needs.
So when we do help people it is in the Name of the Lord Jesus and we do our best to spell that out.
Vrs 12 Jesus orders the demon possessed not to make Him know. It seems that He says this because it was evident the demon possessed people were not trustworthy testimonies of who Jesus was. It was bad press to have a demon running around talking about you.
But we see these people are only following after Jesus because of the possible benefit to their immediate needs.
Many people do not realize their real needs so they may follow but it is with wrong intentions or they are uninformed of the real reason to follow Jesus
Reminds me of a picture I say floating around Facebook .
Commentary of our society and what it means to follow, basically is “I check out what you are doing every once in a while and if it benefits my immediate needs I will draw closer”
If we follow because we think that we are going to get something out of it we will not follow when our expectations are not met.
The real need that everyone on the planet has is Salvation and only Jesus can meet that need. GOSPEL
But now we are going to enter into a leg of the Mark’s gospel which really challenges all of us to what true followership is all about. And we will only scratch the surface today.
At this point in the Gospel I don’t think the disciples really understood what it meant to follow Jesus, but this is the beginning for them to understanding that.
The first thing we will see is that…we follow because…
-He seeks us out. Or in this specific case He seeks them out.
Vrs 13-19
Vrs 13 “and He called to Him those whom He desired”
There is a term called “irresistible grace” that we can use here. Attributed to John Calvin’s Theology.
Irresistible Grace Expressed
The Westminster Confession of Faith expresses this doctrine by saying, "All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." (Chap. X, Sect. 1)
Vrs 14-15 Notice it is Jesus the one who calls, appoints and give the authority to do His work.
Vrs 16-19 The Twelve
No one is willing to seek after God on their own Romans 3:10-12…it is a drawing of His power
We follow because He calls us to follow.
So…
How do we know we are following?
-We have the tools. Vrs 14-15
-When we realize the cost and keep following.
Verses 20-21 when you are called to follow people just don’t understand.
Matt. 13:55-56 Jesus’ brothers and sisters
In the negation form “Why do you follow?”
Vrs 21 Maybe you feel like this…because you follow Jesus you are the outcast of the family, you get mocked, you are misunderstood. The advice we can take here from Jesus is keep going, don’t be discouraged, they are blind. The comfort that we have is that Jesus was misunderstood and doubted by His own family.
Vrses 7-8 We see that Jesus’ popularity had spread to the surrounding regions
“When the crowd heard all that He was doing they came to Him” This is an interesting statement because we see here that people were following after Jesus because what He had to offer…in this case healing and deliverance from demons.
In this first section these people are following after because there is…
-A possibility of their immediate needs being met.
The question becomes…did these people even understand who they were following and what He really had to offer?
It makes me think of today when people come to Christians or the church for help and assistance. So many people call and ask the church for help with certain things and it is usually followed by statements like “I am going to start coming out on Sundays” or “I would like to help and give back” or “I was thinking of becoming a member” these are probably well intentioned statements but it is not what we or Jesus is looking for.
The church is here to be what Jesus calls the salt and light
Verses 9-10 show us that Jesus is not mad at the fact that their intentions are to have their immediate needs met.
At this point He is concerned for His safety and protection.
Again when we as Christians or the church are approached with need we should not be critical or mad at the peoples intentions but we should make sure that they are not going to harm us. (for the church sometimes we need to evaluate, if someone is taking advantage of us and using up all our resources and making it difficult for us to help other people as well.
Vrs 11 the irony that the demons realize who Jesus was but the people did not, they just thought He was a miracle worker and they wanted a miracle to happen to them.
We are here to help others but it should always be in the Name of the Lord Jesus because He is who they really need. We are not a social service agency. Guess what the demons would love us to have a church with only a message that says we help other people with immediate needs.
So when we do help people it is in the Name of the Lord Jesus and we do our best to spell that out.
Vrs 12 Jesus orders the demon possessed not to make Him know. It seems that He says this because it was evident the demon possessed people were not trustworthy testimonies of who Jesus was. It was bad press to have a demon running around talking about you.
But we see these people are only following after Jesus because of the possible benefit to their immediate needs.
Many people do not realize their real needs so they may follow but it is with wrong intentions or they are uninformed of the real reason to follow Jesus
Reminds me of a picture I say floating around Facebook .
Commentary of our society and what it means to follow, basically is “I check out what you are doing every once in a while and if it benefits my immediate needs I will draw closer”
If we follow because we think that we are going to get something out of it we will not follow when our expectations are not met.
The real need that everyone on the planet has is Salvation and only Jesus can meet that need. GOSPEL
But now we are going to enter into a leg of the Mark’s gospel which really challenges all of us to what true followership is all about. And we will only scratch the surface today.
At this point in the Gospel I don’t think the disciples really understood what it meant to follow Jesus, but this is the beginning for them to understanding that.
The first thing we will see is that…we follow because…
-He seeks us out. Or in this specific case He seeks them out.
Vrs 13-19
Vrs 13 “and He called to Him those whom He desired”
There is a term called “irresistible grace” that we can use here. Attributed to John Calvin’s Theology.
Irresistible Grace Expressed
The Westminster Confession of Faith expresses this doctrine by saying, "All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." (Chap. X, Sect. 1)
Vrs 14-15 Notice it is Jesus the one who calls, appoints and give the authority to do His work.
Vrs 16-19 The Twelve
No one is willing to seek after God on their own Romans 3:10-12…it is a drawing of His power
We follow because He calls us to follow.
So…
How do we know we are following?
-We have the tools. Vrs 14-15
-When we realize the cost and keep following.
Verses 20-21 when you are called to follow people just don’t understand.
Matt. 13:55-56 Jesus’ brothers and sisters
In the negation form “Why do you follow?”
Vrs 21 Maybe you feel like this…because you follow Jesus you are the outcast of the family, you get mocked, you are misunderstood. The advice we can take here from Jesus is keep going, don’t be discouraged, they are blind. The comfort that we have is that Jesus was misunderstood and doubted by His own family.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Snapshot Series: "Made For You"
“Made for You” Mark 2:23-3:6
Tonight we are going to look at two accounts in which Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees for His actions on the Sabbath.
We will also find out what Jesus feels people are more important then the law. He show us this by what He performs on the Sabbath.
Works of necessity: 2:23-28 In this passage we see the Pharisees have a narrow interpretation of the Law and what was permitted.
First of all in Duet. 23:25 it was lawful to pass through another persons field you were allowed to pluck grain that you could carry and eat your fill.
The idea was that God cares about peoples needs so it is evident that if a person was hungry they could eat but the Lord does not want people to take everything their neighbor had.
But then we see that Jesus uses the account of David and his companions, the Lord allowed it because David and his companions had a need.
Jesus’ use of the account of David was communicating to the Pharisees that God cares about people and their needs
Then He reminds them that the real purpose of the Sabbath and it was made to serve us not us to serve it..
Ceremonial law in all its parts is established as a means to an end--the highest good of men. Maclaren, Alexander
In the next passage we see Jesus heal a man with a withered hand.
Works of Mercy 3:1-6 In this account Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
Vrs 4 The question they would not answer because they knew the could not saw it was ever wrong to do good. But for the Pharisees it was only lawful to help someone if their life was in danger.
The question rests on the principle that good omitted is equivalent to evil committed. If we can save, and do not, the responsibility of loss lies on us. Maclaren, Alexander
Vrs 5 Jesus’ anger over this. The reason for this is that He made the Sabbath to benefit people and they were twisting it and making it a burden rather then a pleasure. “The Lord’s commands are not burdenson” 1 John 5:3
Vrs 6 This is the first place in the Gospel that we see a plot to kill Jesus.
Back to the Sabbath issue.
Sabbath was made for man, what about for today? Isn’t that amazing, the Lord made all days and He wants us to make the best use of them because the “days are evil”. That means we should spend much time in service working for Him but here is saying, This day is on me, rest and recharge enjoy yourself, relax.
Now we celebrate the “Lord’s Day” Sunday because it is the day Jesus Rose from the grave.
What should a Christian be doing on the Lord’s Day?
1. Worship (this is why we did not do the 5 on Saturday as some suggested) One of the things I love about the 5 pm time is that it really caps off the end of the week and weekend. But in our church we have the opportunity to go at 3 different times.
2. Rest: This is not a new concept with the risen Lord or even the Law of Moses, this was something instituted from the creation account. God rested, we all realize that God does not need rest so we have to understand that God was setting an example to us.
3. Family time: In our hectic lives we need to spend time with the ones closest to us. What should that consist of? Fun & recreation. Many times people let their family dictate how their Sunday will be spent and they neglect worship for those who do not believe in the Lord.
4. Prepare: Mentally prepare yourself for the week ahead. This may be spending some time making a list. Who am I going to be around, how can I pray for them, what needs to be done, how am I going to accomplish those things etc.
So does all this mean you can’t work on Sundays if I have a job that demands that? Here is what I would say…
1. Yes… if you are not given any other day off.
2. Yes… if your work times do not allow you to worship at all.
3. Yes… if it means neglect of family time, this is where it gets tricky because if you are a parent and your kids are in school if you a have a schedule that does not allow you to spend quality time with them you are missing valuable opportunities to have an impact on your children.
But here is what I will say as well…it is not just work, if you are involved in something that takes you away from observing the “Lord’s Day” in a healthy way then that would be just as harmful to your walk.
I don’t think a lifestyle without Sabbath type rest will be spiritually, emotionally and physically unhealthy for you.
Jesus cares more about the person then the rule/law and that is why He gave us a means to rest and recharge so we can be more effective for Him.
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher.
Vrs 28 Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, we can take this statement and apply the fact that it communicates Jesus deserves a day and then notice what His day is…it is a day in which we can enjoy Him and everything He has blessed us with.
Tonight we are going to look at two accounts in which Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees for His actions on the Sabbath.
We will also find out what Jesus feels people are more important then the law. He show us this by what He performs on the Sabbath.
Works of necessity: 2:23-28 In this passage we see the Pharisees have a narrow interpretation of the Law and what was permitted.
First of all in Duet. 23:25 it was lawful to pass through another persons field you were allowed to pluck grain that you could carry and eat your fill.
The idea was that God cares about peoples needs so it is evident that if a person was hungry they could eat but the Lord does not want people to take everything their neighbor had.
But then we see that Jesus uses the account of David and his companions, the Lord allowed it because David and his companions had a need.
Jesus’ use of the account of David was communicating to the Pharisees that God cares about people and their needs
Then He reminds them that the real purpose of the Sabbath and it was made to serve us not us to serve it..
Ceremonial law in all its parts is established as a means to an end--the highest good of men. Maclaren, Alexander
In the next passage we see Jesus heal a man with a withered hand.
Works of Mercy 3:1-6 In this account Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.
Vrs 4 The question they would not answer because they knew the could not saw it was ever wrong to do good. But for the Pharisees it was only lawful to help someone if their life was in danger.
The question rests on the principle that good omitted is equivalent to evil committed. If we can save, and do not, the responsibility of loss lies on us. Maclaren, Alexander
Vrs 5 Jesus’ anger over this. The reason for this is that He made the Sabbath to benefit people and they were twisting it and making it a burden rather then a pleasure. “The Lord’s commands are not burdenson” 1 John 5:3
Vrs 6 This is the first place in the Gospel that we see a plot to kill Jesus.
Back to the Sabbath issue.
Sabbath was made for man, what about for today? Isn’t that amazing, the Lord made all days and He wants us to make the best use of them because the “days are evil”. That means we should spend much time in service working for Him but here is saying, This day is on me, rest and recharge enjoy yourself, relax.
Now we celebrate the “Lord’s Day” Sunday because it is the day Jesus Rose from the grave.
What should a Christian be doing on the Lord’s Day?
1. Worship (this is why we did not do the 5 on Saturday as some suggested) One of the things I love about the 5 pm time is that it really caps off the end of the week and weekend. But in our church we have the opportunity to go at 3 different times.
2. Rest: This is not a new concept with the risen Lord or even the Law of Moses, this was something instituted from the creation account. God rested, we all realize that God does not need rest so we have to understand that God was setting an example to us.
3. Family time: In our hectic lives we need to spend time with the ones closest to us. What should that consist of? Fun & recreation. Many times people let their family dictate how their Sunday will be spent and they neglect worship for those who do not believe in the Lord.
4. Prepare: Mentally prepare yourself for the week ahead. This may be spending some time making a list. Who am I going to be around, how can I pray for them, what needs to be done, how am I going to accomplish those things etc.
So does all this mean you can’t work on Sundays if I have a job that demands that? Here is what I would say…
1. Yes… if you are not given any other day off.
2. Yes… if your work times do not allow you to worship at all.
3. Yes… if it means neglect of family time, this is where it gets tricky because if you are a parent and your kids are in school if you a have a schedule that does not allow you to spend quality time with them you are missing valuable opportunities to have an impact on your children.
But here is what I will say as well…it is not just work, if you are involved in something that takes you away from observing the “Lord’s Day” in a healthy way then that would be just as harmful to your walk.
I don’t think a lifestyle without Sabbath type rest will be spiritually, emotionally and physically unhealthy for you.
Jesus cares more about the person then the rule/law and that is why He gave us a means to rest and recharge so we can be more effective for Him.
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher.
Vrs 28 Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, we can take this statement and apply the fact that it communicates Jesus deserves a day and then notice what His day is…it is a day in which we can enjoy Him and everything He has blessed us with.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Snapshot Series: "The New Order"
Snapshot4 Mark 2:18-22 “The New Order”
Vrs 18 Fasting was part of a grievous time of mourning it was also a time of repentance (change of mind about sin) It was an expression of showing the Lord you were serious about your commitment.
According to the law in Lev. 16:29 the Jews were only required to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement as an act of repentance. The Pharisees as an act of piety promoted voluntary fasts on Mondays and Thursdays. The Pharisees believe that their fasting made them more godly then other people.
So here they question…”Why are you (Jesus) not promoting this or having your followers follow in this tradition or law?
Jesus then gives two answers and both staring with questions back..
1. It is not the right time. Vrs 19-20 When Jesus said this no one really understood what He was talking about…not even the disciples.
Jesus was speaking of Himself and How He was now with them and then He eludes to His death, which is the first mention of this in the Gospel of Mark.
2. There is a new order. Vrs 21-22
What is old? The Law John 1:17 “Law through Moses, Grace and truth through Jesus
The law is a Tudor or school master.” The Law was given to instruct people that they were not going to measure up.
So then that brings us to the question…did God deceive the people and make them chase after something that could never save them? The answer to that is no, the average Law abiding Jew had faith if they followed the law that God would deliver them. They were having faith in His promises. But the Pharisees took the law to a different extreme and added to the law and therefore they were the ones who were deceiving the people.
A healthy view of the law was to realize that they did not measure up and were in desperate need of the Lord.
What is the new? Grace & Truth This is a challenge to what we can “works based salvation” although we don’t have Pharisees today we have people who are deceived into believing if they do the right thing or are “good” God will accept them. GOSPEL
Old & New wine This is why we do not mix Judaism with Christianity. (Werner’s Illustration, eventually they lost sight of Jesus and who He is)
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with the old Jewish traditions
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with trying to be good to earn our way to heaven.
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with other religions and philosophies
So what do we do with this?
Should we fast? Yes we can…Biblically the occasion would be a mourning along with a plea to the Lord about sin in our lives or the suffering of another human.
Fasting possesses great power. If practiced with the right intention, it makes man a friend of God. The demons are aware of that. - Tertullian
Matthew 6:16-18 gives us some parameters. Don’t flaunt it, it is personal
There is a purpose for fasting. By Grudem’s Systematic Theology list
• Increases our sense of humanity and dependence on the Lord.
• Allows us to give more attention to prayer.
• Reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. And this helps us to be reminded of how we should give our entire lives to the Lord
• Exercise in self discipline. We refrain from eating food that we normally desire it strengthens are ability to refrain from sinful behaviors. Along with that if we expose ourselves to small sufferings like hunger we will be better equipped when other sufferings come our way. 1 Peter 4 and Heb. Reminds us that we will suffer for righteousness.
• Takes our focus off the things of this world.
• Communicates our urgency in prayer.
In closing I also want to bring up the fact that fasting can also be abstaining from any desirable activity.
Martin Lloyd-Jones said Fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not... be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special peculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That is fasting.
Vrs 18 Fasting was part of a grievous time of mourning it was also a time of repentance (change of mind about sin) It was an expression of showing the Lord you were serious about your commitment.
According to the law in Lev. 16:29 the Jews were only required to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement as an act of repentance. The Pharisees as an act of piety promoted voluntary fasts on Mondays and Thursdays. The Pharisees believe that their fasting made them more godly then other people.
So here they question…”Why are you (Jesus) not promoting this or having your followers follow in this tradition or law?
Jesus then gives two answers and both staring with questions back..
1. It is not the right time. Vrs 19-20 When Jesus said this no one really understood what He was talking about…not even the disciples.
Jesus was speaking of Himself and How He was now with them and then He eludes to His death, which is the first mention of this in the Gospel of Mark.
2. There is a new order. Vrs 21-22
What is old? The Law John 1:17 “Law through Moses, Grace and truth through Jesus
The law is a Tudor or school master.” The Law was given to instruct people that they were not going to measure up.
So then that brings us to the question…did God deceive the people and make them chase after something that could never save them? The answer to that is no, the average Law abiding Jew had faith if they followed the law that God would deliver them. They were having faith in His promises. But the Pharisees took the law to a different extreme and added to the law and therefore they were the ones who were deceiving the people.
A healthy view of the law was to realize that they did not measure up and were in desperate need of the Lord.
What is the new? Grace & Truth This is a challenge to what we can “works based salvation” although we don’t have Pharisees today we have people who are deceived into believing if they do the right thing or are “good” God will accept them. GOSPEL
Old & New wine This is why we do not mix Judaism with Christianity. (Werner’s Illustration, eventually they lost sight of Jesus and who He is)
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with the old Jewish traditions
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with trying to be good to earn our way to heaven.
-We cannot combine the newness of the Gospel with other religions and philosophies
So what do we do with this?
Should we fast? Yes we can…Biblically the occasion would be a mourning along with a plea to the Lord about sin in our lives or the suffering of another human.
Fasting possesses great power. If practiced with the right intention, it makes man a friend of God. The demons are aware of that. - Tertullian
Matthew 6:16-18 gives us some parameters. Don’t flaunt it, it is personal
There is a purpose for fasting. By Grudem’s Systematic Theology list
• Increases our sense of humanity and dependence on the Lord.
• Allows us to give more attention to prayer.
• Reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. And this helps us to be reminded of how we should give our entire lives to the Lord
• Exercise in self discipline. We refrain from eating food that we normally desire it strengthens are ability to refrain from sinful behaviors. Along with that if we expose ourselves to small sufferings like hunger we will be better equipped when other sufferings come our way. 1 Peter 4 and Heb. Reminds us that we will suffer for righteousness.
• Takes our focus off the things of this world.
• Communicates our urgency in prayer.
In closing I also want to bring up the fact that fasting can also be abstaining from any desirable activity.
Martin Lloyd-Jones said Fasting, if we conceive of it truly, must not... be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functions which are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for special peculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That is fasting.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Snapshots Series: "Jesus Came to Forgive"
Questions for Community Groups
1. Do you have any broken relationships because of a lack of forgiveness?
2. Looking back at a time when you failed to forgive, do you see how it hurt you?
3. Have you ever been in a situation in which forgiveness given or taken made the relationship better?
4. Have you had a situation in which you did not want to forgive someone because of what other people would think?
5. Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive? Why don’t you forgive them?
6. What is the reason that the Bible gives us to forgive others?
Chapter 1 shows Jesus meeting needs and we see a rising popularity and in Chapters 2 & 3 we see a rising opposition against His mission and teaching (Nelson Study notes)
One of the main points of His mission was that “He came to forgive”
People generally do not like forgiveness unless it is coming their way. People generally want to make others pay.
Joke: Like the husband that asked his wife how she keeps calm during their fights. Her reply was “I just work it off by cleaning the toilet.” The husband asked “how does that help?” her reply was “I use your toothbrush”.
There is actually a new TV series out now that is called “Revenge” and the premise of the show is a women returning to hometown and getting revenge on the people that wronged her family 20 plus years earlier. Obviously this makes for a better tv drama then a women coming back to her hometown to forgive all the people that wronged her, but what is Biblical?
In Mark 2:1-17 we see two snapshots that illustrate how Jesus forgives or is willing to. John Mark is very aware of the power of forgiveness because he left Paul as kind of as a failure so forgiveness would be something that he valued. Acts 15:38 & 13:13 & 2 Tim 4:11)
Forgiveness heals: Verses 1-12 The men that lowered the paralytic man down believed that his physical need is great but Jesus’ response is that this man had a deeper spiritual need of forgiveness. Then in order to prove to the doubting Scribes He then meets the physical need.
These men cared enough about their friend to help him get to Jesus. We realize the Lord offers forgiveness so shouldn’t we care enough about the people around us to lead them to Him and His forgiveness.
If forgiveness brings spiritual healing we then have to ask ourselves…are there people in my life that I need to forgive in order to bring healing to our relationship?
Maybe you have someone that hurt you and you are holding onto that, maybe they are sorry and you are still holding this against them, maybe they are not sorry but you are broken everyday because you will not let go of what was done to you.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. ~Lewis B. Smedes
Forgiveness breaks down barriers: Verses 13-17 Levi was a tax collector (also called Matthew Mt 9:9 &10:3) Tax collectors were people that no one liked because the sinned against everyone.
Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees because He is eating with sinners and Jesus communicates His mission is to call sinners v17.
Interestingly enough the Scribes and Pharisees were concerned about their reputations “what would people say if they saw us with these people?” Jesus was not concerned with His reputation.
How often do we find ourselves not willing to forgive because we are afraid what people may think of us. “I can’t believe he or she allowed that to happen with no consequence”…”what a doormat” “what a fool”
Like Levi who realized Jesus was someone special and I should listen to Him. We should realize what Jesus has done for us (forgave our sin) and because of that we should listen to and follow Him.
In order to forgive we need to realize…
-we need to be humble. Vrs 17 Not that there are people who are righteous, Jesus is basically saying that He is not here for people who will not humble themselves and realize that they are sinners in need of forgiveness. He came for those who are willing to admit that they are sinners. GOSPEL
-sin is a sickness that everyone has. Forgiveness becomes difficult because people are sick and messed up so our natural response to that is making them pay, take revenge or hold it against them. The Scribes and Pharisees saw how messed up the tax collectors were and they had no interest in even being around them.
Doesn’t that happen with us, someone wrongs us or does wrong things and we are disgusted with them and don’t want to be around them.
But as a believer we need to realize that sin is a sickness and they need prayer and they need forgiveness modeled to them.
-no one is worthy, that is why it is called grace. Another reason why forgiveness can be difficult is because we think people are not worthy of it.
The Scribes and Pharisees whose hearts are hard and they feel that the people Jesus is with are not worthy enough to be with.
The cost of forgiveness can be heart wrenching, look at what Jesus went through to forgive us John 1 “He came to that which was His own”
Forgiveness is the final form of love. --Reinhold Niebuhr
There are benefits…Mayo Clinic Article: Forgiving can lead to…
• Healthier relationships
• Spiritual and psychological well being
• Less stress and hostility
• Lower blood pressure
• Fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and chronic pain
• Lower risk of alcohol and substance abuse
We really have no other option other then to forgive…
Robert Frost Said… If one by one we counted people out for the least sin, it wouldn't take us long to get to a place that we had no one left to live with. For to be social is to be forgiving.
If we do not learn how to practice forgiveness we will live a lonely existence and we would fail to understand the fact that Jesus came to forgive.
1. Do you have any broken relationships because of a lack of forgiveness?
2. Looking back at a time when you failed to forgive, do you see how it hurt you?
3. Have you ever been in a situation in which forgiveness given or taken made the relationship better?
4. Have you had a situation in which you did not want to forgive someone because of what other people would think?
5. Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive? Why don’t you forgive them?
6. What is the reason that the Bible gives us to forgive others?
Chapter 1 shows Jesus meeting needs and we see a rising popularity and in Chapters 2 & 3 we see a rising opposition against His mission and teaching (Nelson Study notes)
One of the main points of His mission was that “He came to forgive”
People generally do not like forgiveness unless it is coming their way. People generally want to make others pay.
Joke: Like the husband that asked his wife how she keeps calm during their fights. Her reply was “I just work it off by cleaning the toilet.” The husband asked “how does that help?” her reply was “I use your toothbrush”.
There is actually a new TV series out now that is called “Revenge” and the premise of the show is a women returning to hometown and getting revenge on the people that wronged her family 20 plus years earlier. Obviously this makes for a better tv drama then a women coming back to her hometown to forgive all the people that wronged her, but what is Biblical?
In Mark 2:1-17 we see two snapshots that illustrate how Jesus forgives or is willing to. John Mark is very aware of the power of forgiveness because he left Paul as kind of as a failure so forgiveness would be something that he valued. Acts 15:38 & 13:13 & 2 Tim 4:11)
Forgiveness heals: Verses 1-12 The men that lowered the paralytic man down believed that his physical need is great but Jesus’ response is that this man had a deeper spiritual need of forgiveness. Then in order to prove to the doubting Scribes He then meets the physical need.
These men cared enough about their friend to help him get to Jesus. We realize the Lord offers forgiveness so shouldn’t we care enough about the people around us to lead them to Him and His forgiveness.
If forgiveness brings spiritual healing we then have to ask ourselves…are there people in my life that I need to forgive in order to bring healing to our relationship?
Maybe you have someone that hurt you and you are holding onto that, maybe they are sorry and you are still holding this against them, maybe they are not sorry but you are broken everyday because you will not let go of what was done to you.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. ~Lewis B. Smedes
Forgiveness breaks down barriers: Verses 13-17 Levi was a tax collector (also called Matthew Mt 9:9 &10:3) Tax collectors were people that no one liked because the sinned against everyone.
Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees because He is eating with sinners and Jesus communicates His mission is to call sinners v17.
Interestingly enough the Scribes and Pharisees were concerned about their reputations “what would people say if they saw us with these people?” Jesus was not concerned with His reputation.
How often do we find ourselves not willing to forgive because we are afraid what people may think of us. “I can’t believe he or she allowed that to happen with no consequence”…”what a doormat” “what a fool”
Like Levi who realized Jesus was someone special and I should listen to Him. We should realize what Jesus has done for us (forgave our sin) and because of that we should listen to and follow Him.
In order to forgive we need to realize…
-we need to be humble. Vrs 17 Not that there are people who are righteous, Jesus is basically saying that He is not here for people who will not humble themselves and realize that they are sinners in need of forgiveness. He came for those who are willing to admit that they are sinners. GOSPEL
-sin is a sickness that everyone has. Forgiveness becomes difficult because people are sick and messed up so our natural response to that is making them pay, take revenge or hold it against them. The Scribes and Pharisees saw how messed up the tax collectors were and they had no interest in even being around them.
Doesn’t that happen with us, someone wrongs us or does wrong things and we are disgusted with them and don’t want to be around them.
But as a believer we need to realize that sin is a sickness and they need prayer and they need forgiveness modeled to them.
-no one is worthy, that is why it is called grace. Another reason why forgiveness can be difficult is because we think people are not worthy of it.
The Scribes and Pharisees whose hearts are hard and they feel that the people Jesus is with are not worthy enough to be with.
The cost of forgiveness can be heart wrenching, look at what Jesus went through to forgive us John 1 “He came to that which was His own”
Forgiveness is the final form of love. --Reinhold Niebuhr
There are benefits…Mayo Clinic Article: Forgiving can lead to…
• Healthier relationships
• Spiritual and psychological well being
• Less stress and hostility
• Lower blood pressure
• Fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and chronic pain
• Lower risk of alcohol and substance abuse
We really have no other option other then to forgive…
Robert Frost Said… If one by one we counted people out for the least sin, it wouldn't take us long to get to a place that we had no one left to live with. For to be social is to be forgiving.
If we do not learn how to practice forgiveness we will live a lonely existence and we would fail to understand the fact that Jesus came to forgive.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Snapshots Series: "Meeting Needs"
Questions for Community Groups
1. Has anyone ever met a need that you had? Was it physical, emotional or spiritual?
2. What are some ways you can meet the physical needs of the people around you?
3. What are some ways you can meet the emotional needs of the people around you?
4. What are some ways you can meet the spiritual needs of the people around you?
5. What is the greatest need you have in life right now?
6. Have you ever had a time in your life when you feel that God just led you to meet a specific need of another person?
7. Have you ever had a time in which you met a need of another person and Jesus got all the glory
Snapshot2 Mark 1:21-45 “Meeting Needs”
Tonight we see Snapshots of Jesus meeting needs…
The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
When we look around we see people with many different needs. The concept that the Good Samaritan that MLKing pointed out was a concept that originated with Jesus. When on the earth Jesus thought not of Himself but thought about the needs of the people.
In tonight’s passage we see Jesus meet 3 types of needs that all humans have…Physical, emotional and spiritual.
-Physical needs V29-34 & v40-45 In these two passages we see Jesus heal the sick.
V 41-42 Jesus touched the untouchable and cured the incurable. Only in two instances in the OT do we see a leper healed by God.
(this is something to think about when it comes to helping people…because many times the people who need help are not the people we want to be around)
Jesus performed these miracles to authenticate His message. It awakened people to the fact that something special was happening.
But Jesus also realizes that the majority of people only really care about their physical needs.
This is a problem with us and our society… Our lives are sometime dictated by the physical needs. We become consumed with how we feel, how hungry we are, how comfortable we are.
Because of this Jesus told the man not to tell other people v45 illustrates why, because Jesus would not be able to enter into towns.
What the Lord does for us today can be threefold. 1. The Lord meets our daily physical needs. 2. The Lord also heals the sick. 3. We take this one for granted…Jesus keeps everything together.
-Emotional needs V21-22 Sound authoritative teaching meets the emotional needs. Our emotions need to be touched in order for us to accept teaching.
When are you most willing to learn? (normally when you are emotionally connected) “I am broken so I need teaching”
When are you least willing to learn? (normally when you are emotionally connected) “I am upset so I am not willing to accept teaching”
They were “astonished” When teaching is going on it usually touches your emotion. That is why Biblical teaching is so important, no gimmicks or bells and whistles but the preached Word will touch the emotions.
Concepts that originate or point to Biblical truth also touch the emotions.
A group of motion-picture engineers classified the following as the ten most dramatic sounds in the movies: The sound that causes the most emotional response and upheaval than any other, has the power to bring forth almost every human emotion: sadness, envy, regret, sorrow, tears, as well as supreme joy. It is the wedding march. Why? Because it is a picture of Christ and us.
It is like when we see stories of a person laying down their life for their friends always touch the heart GOSPEL
-Spiritual needs v23-27 & v38-39 Jesus casts out demons and preached the life giving message.
V23-24 This exorcism set the pattern for the sustained conflict that Jesus had with demons.
We see here that Jesus has the power of Satan and demons and we also see that His message is spiritual life giving.
Billy Graham said “People have to great spiritual needs, one is for forgiveness and the other is for goodness” The Gospel forgives and the gospel makes us righteous
CS Lewis in Mere Christianity
"The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ."
"[The natural life] knows that if the spiritual life gets hold of it, all its self-centredness and self-will are going to be killed and it is ready to fight tooth and nail to avoid that."
Our physical needs war against our spiritual needs but our spiritual needs are the primary needs we have.
Our call is to meets these three needs…
We can meet needs when we…
-Prayer v35
If you truly want to meet the needs of the people around you, we have to follow the example of the Lord Jesus and pray.
Where does the power to meet these needs come from? The Lord
Prayer not only gives us the power to meet the needs it also gives us the direction to figure out what needs to be met.
-are concerned about the fame of Jesus.
v28 fame, because of what Jesus did His fame spread. When you meet needs of others you will be noticed (your fame will spread). The challenge is to make Jesus’ name famous, not take the glory, not take the credit, not get filled with pride or self importance.
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~Nelson Henderson
We don’t meet needs for personal benefit.
Jesus was here meeting needs for the benefit of others and the kingdom, we should focus on meeting the needs of others for the benefit of Jesus & His kingdom.
1. Has anyone ever met a need that you had? Was it physical, emotional or spiritual?
2. What are some ways you can meet the physical needs of the people around you?
3. What are some ways you can meet the emotional needs of the people around you?
4. What are some ways you can meet the spiritual needs of the people around you?
5. What is the greatest need you have in life right now?
6. Have you ever had a time in your life when you feel that God just led you to meet a specific need of another person?
7. Have you ever had a time in which you met a need of another person and Jesus got all the glory
Snapshot2 Mark 1:21-45 “Meeting Needs”
Tonight we see Snapshots of Jesus meeting needs…
The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
When we look around we see people with many different needs. The concept that the Good Samaritan that MLKing pointed out was a concept that originated with Jesus. When on the earth Jesus thought not of Himself but thought about the needs of the people.
In tonight’s passage we see Jesus meet 3 types of needs that all humans have…Physical, emotional and spiritual.
-Physical needs V29-34 & v40-45 In these two passages we see Jesus heal the sick.
V 41-42 Jesus touched the untouchable and cured the incurable. Only in two instances in the OT do we see a leper healed by God.
(this is something to think about when it comes to helping people…because many times the people who need help are not the people we want to be around)
Jesus performed these miracles to authenticate His message. It awakened people to the fact that something special was happening.
But Jesus also realizes that the majority of people only really care about their physical needs.
This is a problem with us and our society… Our lives are sometime dictated by the physical needs. We become consumed with how we feel, how hungry we are, how comfortable we are.
Because of this Jesus told the man not to tell other people v45 illustrates why, because Jesus would not be able to enter into towns.
What the Lord does for us today can be threefold. 1. The Lord meets our daily physical needs. 2. The Lord also heals the sick. 3. We take this one for granted…Jesus keeps everything together.
-Emotional needs V21-22 Sound authoritative teaching meets the emotional needs. Our emotions need to be touched in order for us to accept teaching.
When are you most willing to learn? (normally when you are emotionally connected) “I am broken so I need teaching”
When are you least willing to learn? (normally when you are emotionally connected) “I am upset so I am not willing to accept teaching”
They were “astonished” When teaching is going on it usually touches your emotion. That is why Biblical teaching is so important, no gimmicks or bells and whistles but the preached Word will touch the emotions.
Concepts that originate or point to Biblical truth also touch the emotions.
A group of motion-picture engineers classified the following as the ten most dramatic sounds in the movies: The sound that causes the most emotional response and upheaval than any other, has the power to bring forth almost every human emotion: sadness, envy, regret, sorrow, tears, as well as supreme joy. It is the wedding march. Why? Because it is a picture of Christ and us.
It is like when we see stories of a person laying down their life for their friends always touch the heart GOSPEL
-Spiritual needs v23-27 & v38-39 Jesus casts out demons and preached the life giving message.
V23-24 This exorcism set the pattern for the sustained conflict that Jesus had with demons.
We see here that Jesus has the power of Satan and demons and we also see that His message is spiritual life giving.
Billy Graham said “People have to great spiritual needs, one is for forgiveness and the other is for goodness” The Gospel forgives and the gospel makes us righteous
CS Lewis in Mere Christianity
"The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ."
"[The natural life] knows that if the spiritual life gets hold of it, all its self-centredness and self-will are going to be killed and it is ready to fight tooth and nail to avoid that."
Our physical needs war against our spiritual needs but our spiritual needs are the primary needs we have.
Our call is to meets these three needs…
We can meet needs when we…
-Prayer v35
If you truly want to meet the needs of the people around you, we have to follow the example of the Lord Jesus and pray.
Where does the power to meet these needs come from? The Lord
Prayer not only gives us the power to meet the needs it also gives us the direction to figure out what needs to be met.
-are concerned about the fame of Jesus.
v28 fame, because of what Jesus did His fame spread. When you meet needs of others you will be noticed (your fame will spread). The challenge is to make Jesus’ name famous, not take the glory, not take the credit, not get filled with pride or self importance.
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~Nelson Henderson
We don’t meet needs for personal benefit.
Jesus was here meeting needs for the benefit of others and the kingdom, we should focus on meeting the needs of others for the benefit of Jesus & His kingdom.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Snapshots Series: "Supernatural Order"
Questions for Community Groups:
1. Share with your group about when you first trusted in Christ.
2. What area of obedience have you consistently struggled with?
3. Talk about a time of temptation in your life that you passed the test and did not give in.
4. How are you working for the Kingdom of God?
5. Who are some people that you are trying to impact with the Gospel?
Tonight we are going to start a study of the Gospel of Mark as tradition holds this Gospel was written by John Mark between 60-70AD. Mark was in Rome with Peter under the persecution of Nero. As we study together I will give you more background information.
I have entitled the Series “Snapshots” because in this Gospel we see quick pictures of Jesus and the disciples. The difference between a snapshot and a portrait is that a snapshot captures real life a portrait is often staged. The Gospel of Mark captures real life, especially with the disciples because at times we see the worst in them.
Ernest Hemmingway said “Every mans life ends in death, it is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another”
In this Gospel we see Jesus the God-man standing out among the rest.
Snapshot1 Mark 1:1-20 “The Supernatural Order” These snapshots of John the Baptist, Jesus and the first disciples give us insight on what the “Supernatural Order” is.
Believe v1-8 V 1 Gospel = good news
Vrs 2-3 When we look at the issue of faith it is something that begins with trusting in the Lord and His promises.
Augustine said "Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou may believe, but believe that thou may understand."
The people were looking for the Messiah and his forerunner. This also signifies and open heart to have faith. They already believed the Lord would deliver.
In Isaiah 40:3 the messenger announces the second exodus through the wilderness to the final deliverance prepared for God’s people. This also illustrates to us that salvation is a work of the Lord and not that of personal works.
We see an urgency in the message of John because this is ushering in the final plans of the Lord because technically we have been living in the end times since Jesus came.
Repent = change your mind about your sin.
Vrs 5 is a key passage to believing in the Lord Jesus “confessing sins” a person cannot trust in Christ unless they admit their sin. GOSPEL
Being baptized by John marked a turn to God, it was identifying oneself with the people who were preparing themselves with the coming Messiah. A willingness to be baptized was a public admission that we are disobedient and we want to be obedient.
Vrs 8 John administered the outward sign but Jesus would administer the inward sign, with the Holy Spirit. Put it this way anyone can be baptized with water and not be sincere but only the sincere are baptized with the Holy Spirit.
This belief in Jesus should change your life…
CS Lewis said
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?
If this faith in Christ saves our lives shouldn’t it radically affect our lives?
Obedience v9-11 It is an act of obedience to the Lord to get baptized. But then why did Jesus get baptized by John? John Grassmick in the BKC serves us with three possible answers.
–Showed that Jesus was in full agreement with the will of the Father.
–It was an act of identification with the sinful predicament Israel was in.
–It was an act of self dedication.
Vrs 11 “well pleased” Jesus is the servant in which the Father is pleased with… in contrast to Israel the servant who the Lord is not pleased with. (Isa 42:1-9)
We should aspire to be a servant that the Lord is well pleased with, being obedient is the way that is accomplished.
Many of us are not obedient in areas of our lives because we feel that it is difficult.
Think of obedience another way…
As Dr. B.J. Miller once said, "It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it."
Resolve not to sin v12-13 Tempted or trail…put to the test. Jesus withstood that temptation and He proved He could pass the test. As a Christian many times our faith is put to the test anytime by being tempted to sin. Anytime we sin we are choosing something over our relationship with the Lord. Often times great temptation comes after a spiritual high point. So obviously one of those times would be right after salvation, another time would be after times of obedience.
“wild animals” in the OT the “wilderness” was a place of great danger and a curse. Here we see the presence of wild animals is an illustration of the harsh environment that Jesus was in.
At times we feel that way in our Christian life. We find ourselves in harsh Godless environments that test our faith and temp us to do wrong thing. Maybe it is dishonesty at work because your boss is rough, cheating in school because your workload is difficult, lying to your spouse because the truth will cause problems.
John Piper says that sin "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
In contrast “angels ministering” they supplied Jesus with assurance of the Father’s presence. In our lives we have the Holy Spirit but the Lord also gives us other believers to minister to us in times of difficult temptation.
We need to surround ourselves with people that remind us that we are the happiest when we are following the Lord.
Working for the kingdom vrs 14-20 The initial phase of Jesus’ ministry This section actually extends to chapter 3:6 but tonight we will only look at v14-20 If we look back to John we see that the culmination of his life was to point to Jesus. Vrs 15 the work of the Father is to believe and then spread that message.
When Jesus goes to the fishermen it is interesting to note that normally a student would seek out the Rabbi (teacher) but Jesus goes and seeks these men out.
This also helps us to realize that we don’t find God, He finds us. When He calls us… we should respond in…
Belief, obedience, resolve not to sin and ready to work for the kingdom.
1. Share with your group about when you first trusted in Christ.
2. What area of obedience have you consistently struggled with?
3. Talk about a time of temptation in your life that you passed the test and did not give in.
4. How are you working for the Kingdom of God?
5. Who are some people that you are trying to impact with the Gospel?
Tonight we are going to start a study of the Gospel of Mark as tradition holds this Gospel was written by John Mark between 60-70AD. Mark was in Rome with Peter under the persecution of Nero. As we study together I will give you more background information.
I have entitled the Series “Snapshots” because in this Gospel we see quick pictures of Jesus and the disciples. The difference between a snapshot and a portrait is that a snapshot captures real life a portrait is often staged. The Gospel of Mark captures real life, especially with the disciples because at times we see the worst in them.
Ernest Hemmingway said “Every mans life ends in death, it is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another”
In this Gospel we see Jesus the God-man standing out among the rest.
Snapshot1 Mark 1:1-20 “The Supernatural Order” These snapshots of John the Baptist, Jesus and the first disciples give us insight on what the “Supernatural Order” is.
Believe v1-8 V 1 Gospel = good news
Vrs 2-3 When we look at the issue of faith it is something that begins with trusting in the Lord and His promises.
Augustine said "Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou may believe, but believe that thou may understand."
The people were looking for the Messiah and his forerunner. This also signifies and open heart to have faith. They already believed the Lord would deliver.
In Isaiah 40:3 the messenger announces the second exodus through the wilderness to the final deliverance prepared for God’s people. This also illustrates to us that salvation is a work of the Lord and not that of personal works.
We see an urgency in the message of John because this is ushering in the final plans of the Lord because technically we have been living in the end times since Jesus came.
Repent = change your mind about your sin.
Vrs 5 is a key passage to believing in the Lord Jesus “confessing sins” a person cannot trust in Christ unless they admit their sin. GOSPEL
Being baptized by John marked a turn to God, it was identifying oneself with the people who were preparing themselves with the coming Messiah. A willingness to be baptized was a public admission that we are disobedient and we want to be obedient.
Vrs 8 John administered the outward sign but Jesus would administer the inward sign, with the Holy Spirit. Put it this way anyone can be baptized with water and not be sincere but only the sincere are baptized with the Holy Spirit.
This belief in Jesus should change your life…
CS Lewis said
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?
If this faith in Christ saves our lives shouldn’t it radically affect our lives?
Obedience v9-11 It is an act of obedience to the Lord to get baptized. But then why did Jesus get baptized by John? John Grassmick in the BKC serves us with three possible answers.
–Showed that Jesus was in full agreement with the will of the Father.
–It was an act of identification with the sinful predicament Israel was in.
–It was an act of self dedication.
Vrs 11 “well pleased” Jesus is the servant in which the Father is pleased with… in contrast to Israel the servant who the Lord is not pleased with. (Isa 42:1-9)
We should aspire to be a servant that the Lord is well pleased with, being obedient is the way that is accomplished.
Many of us are not obedient in areas of our lives because we feel that it is difficult.
Think of obedience another way…
As Dr. B.J. Miller once said, "It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it."
Resolve not to sin v12-13 Tempted or trail…put to the test. Jesus withstood that temptation and He proved He could pass the test. As a Christian many times our faith is put to the test anytime by being tempted to sin. Anytime we sin we are choosing something over our relationship with the Lord. Often times great temptation comes after a spiritual high point. So obviously one of those times would be right after salvation, another time would be after times of obedience.
“wild animals” in the OT the “wilderness” was a place of great danger and a curse. Here we see the presence of wild animals is an illustration of the harsh environment that Jesus was in.
At times we feel that way in our Christian life. We find ourselves in harsh Godless environments that test our faith and temp us to do wrong thing. Maybe it is dishonesty at work because your boss is rough, cheating in school because your workload is difficult, lying to your spouse because the truth will cause problems.
John Piper says that sin "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
In contrast “angels ministering” they supplied Jesus with assurance of the Father’s presence. In our lives we have the Holy Spirit but the Lord also gives us other believers to minister to us in times of difficult temptation.
We need to surround ourselves with people that remind us that we are the happiest when we are following the Lord.
Working for the kingdom vrs 14-20 The initial phase of Jesus’ ministry This section actually extends to chapter 3:6 but tonight we will only look at v14-20 If we look back to John we see that the culmination of his life was to point to Jesus. Vrs 15 the work of the Father is to believe and then spread that message.
When Jesus goes to the fishermen it is interesting to note that normally a student would seek out the Rabbi (teacher) but Jesus goes and seeks these men out.
This also helps us to realize that we don’t find God, He finds us. When He calls us… we should respond in…
Belief, obedience, resolve not to sin and ready to work for the kingdom.
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "Community"
COMMUNITY: We have been looking at the Spiritual disciplines for the last 5 weeks. This specific discipline of being in community is not necessarily going to church but it is actually taking the next step to get to know people and spend time with people that you meet in church. The springboard passage I have been referring to is Mark 12 about loving the Lord and loving your neighbor. So tonight we are going to look at the Spiritual Discipline of being in community together with other believers.
In order to study this we are going to look at the first church in Acts 2:42-47. I believe this tells us at least 4 things about “how to successfully live in community with other believers”
To successfully live in community we need…
-A redeemed soul: (saved) GOSPEL You cannot live in community with other believers and get the fullness of that community unless you are saved. Only the regenerated souls can really connect with one another. At the end of the day we are not totally going to connect with a person who does not love the Lord. 2 Cor. 6:14 “what fellowship does light have with darkness?”
Ask yourself this question…Are the closest relationships you have with other Christians?
-Willing mind: To learn the “Apostles teaching” which is Scripture. When we are in community with other believers there is always an opportunity to learn from one another. One of the great things that the reformation brought to the church was the understanding that every person has the ability to understand Scriptures, that means when we are in community with others there is always an opportunity to learn. Community Groups are a great place for this to happen, because the concept is that when we come together in community groups we are sharing life and how we have personally applied Scriptures to our lives. How did you deal with that? How did you get through that? What was helpful to you? What would you avoid?
Someone once said “One can acquire everything in solitude except character.”
Ask yourself this question…Who have you learned a great deal from by just spending time with them?
Here is a little pastoral advice for you…go thank them.
-Generous heart: When we love the Lord with all our heart it becomes generous. The example that was set by those early followers of Jesus was marked with generosity. With their belongings and their willingness to open up their homes and use their resources. A generous heart deepens the bond of unity because others display their love for God and others by their willingness to share. We are supposed to be generous Galatians 6:10 tells us to do good “especially to the household of faith”
Ask yourself this question…When was the last time you gave something to help another in your spiritual community?
-Renewed strength: In order to live in close community with other people you will need strength. The closer we get to other people the more problems will occur and you will need the strength of the Lord to work you through it. Many times people want to call it quits, they get sick of problems and issues. They respond in cutting off relationships, many families do this, they have people in the family they don’t talk to.
So what do you do when your community forsakes you?
1. bring it to them.
2. don't hold it against them. forgive
3. don't take revenge (wish ill on them)
4. don't forsake them
5. realize the Lord is with you (that is why He should be first)
Vrs 47 The result of believers living in community with one another are others being “saved”. Some of the best witnessing we can do is rightly relate to one another in community.
In order to study this we are going to look at the first church in Acts 2:42-47. I believe this tells us at least 4 things about “how to successfully live in community with other believers”
To successfully live in community we need…
-A redeemed soul: (saved) GOSPEL You cannot live in community with other believers and get the fullness of that community unless you are saved. Only the regenerated souls can really connect with one another. At the end of the day we are not totally going to connect with a person who does not love the Lord. 2 Cor. 6:14 “what fellowship does light have with darkness?”
Ask yourself this question…Are the closest relationships you have with other Christians?
-Willing mind: To learn the “Apostles teaching” which is Scripture. When we are in community with other believers there is always an opportunity to learn from one another. One of the great things that the reformation brought to the church was the understanding that every person has the ability to understand Scriptures, that means when we are in community with others there is always an opportunity to learn. Community Groups are a great place for this to happen, because the concept is that when we come together in community groups we are sharing life and how we have personally applied Scriptures to our lives. How did you deal with that? How did you get through that? What was helpful to you? What would you avoid?
Someone once said “One can acquire everything in solitude except character.”
Ask yourself this question…Who have you learned a great deal from by just spending time with them?
Here is a little pastoral advice for you…go thank them.
-Generous heart: When we love the Lord with all our heart it becomes generous. The example that was set by those early followers of Jesus was marked with generosity. With their belongings and their willingness to open up their homes and use their resources. A generous heart deepens the bond of unity because others display their love for God and others by their willingness to share. We are supposed to be generous Galatians 6:10 tells us to do good “especially to the household of faith”
Ask yourself this question…When was the last time you gave something to help another in your spiritual community?
-Renewed strength: In order to live in close community with other people you will need strength. The closer we get to other people the more problems will occur and you will need the strength of the Lord to work you through it. Many times people want to call it quits, they get sick of problems and issues. They respond in cutting off relationships, many families do this, they have people in the family they don’t talk to.
So what do you do when your community forsakes you?
1. bring it to them.
2. don't hold it against them. forgive
3. don't take revenge (wish ill on them)
4. don't forsake them
5. realize the Lord is with you (that is why He should be first)
Vrs 47 The result of believers living in community with one another are others being “saved”. Some of the best witnessing we can do is rightly relate to one another in community.
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "Resources"
Spiritual Disciplines week 5 "Resources" Mark 12 Jesus said Love the Lord your God.
Tonight we are talking about the spiritual discipline of using your resources in service of the Lord. Normally in the Christian community we have three categories for the resources we have…we call them the resource of treasure.. which consists of the what we have as far as money and possessions. Time as resource, we have work time, family time friend time, leisure time and so on. And finally our talents this is the resource of skills and abilities God has given us.
What you have been given is not necessarily ours but was given to us to be a good steward of. So that means that there are three things that we need to focus in on.
Our resources should be used to...
-bring glory to God
-to help others.
-for our enjoyment.
How do we do this?
Mark 12 Jesus said Love the Lord your God.
-Letting go of what God has blessed you with demonstrates and attitude of heart praise. Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,and I will glorify your name forever.
-Change your mind. Col 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. "my stuff" is not mine.
-Tap into the strength of the Lord. 1 Peter 4:11 whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
-Ask Jesus to guide your soul as you use what He has given you. Psalm 143:8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Now lets look at the three areas. I am inviting Steve Dorrick up to share a personal testimony on how the Lord laid on His and his wives hearts that they needed to let go of the "treasures" the Lord blessed them with.
The next two areas I will briefly touch on
-Using the talents God has blessed you with. These are the skills and abilities you have and the Bible is clear about where they came from. All of us have things that we are good at and in many cases these are things that we enjoy doing. God has called us to be disciplined in using those things for service to Him.
As Christians many times we either get caught up in using our abilities to bring glory to ourselves or we go to the opposite extreme of thinking our abilities are not good enough and we feel inadequate.
SD Gorden said We have nothing to do with how much ability we've got, or how little, but with what we do with what we have. The man with great talent is apt to be puffed up, and the man with little (talent) to belittle the little. Poor fools! God gives it, much or little. Our part is to be faithful, doing the best with every bit and scrap.
-Giving of your time Psalm 39:5 says "You have made my days"
The interesting thing about the resource of time is that we all have the same amount. The true challenge is how we use that time. Many of us are weighed down by responsibilities, many of us waste time, many of us sleep too much. As a Christian the challenge is to be disciplined enough to be using your time in service of Jesus.
Henry David Therou said "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."
Jesus had an amazing resource and it was the ability to be able to lay down His life for our sins GOSPEL. We are thankful that He did not hold back but used that resource to serve us. Will you use the ones He blessed you with to serve Him?
Tonight we are talking about the spiritual discipline of using your resources in service of the Lord. Normally in the Christian community we have three categories for the resources we have…we call them the resource of treasure.. which consists of the what we have as far as money and possessions. Time as resource, we have work time, family time friend time, leisure time and so on. And finally our talents this is the resource of skills and abilities God has given us.
What you have been given is not necessarily ours but was given to us to be a good steward of. So that means that there are three things that we need to focus in on.
Our resources should be used to...
-bring glory to God
-to help others.
-for our enjoyment.
How do we do this?
Mark 12 Jesus said Love the Lord your God.
-Letting go of what God has blessed you with demonstrates and attitude of heart praise. Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,and I will glorify your name forever.
-Change your mind. Col 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. "my stuff" is not mine.
-Tap into the strength of the Lord. 1 Peter 4:11 whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
-Ask Jesus to guide your soul as you use what He has given you. Psalm 143:8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Now lets look at the three areas. I am inviting Steve Dorrick up to share a personal testimony on how the Lord laid on His and his wives hearts that they needed to let go of the "treasures" the Lord blessed them with.
The next two areas I will briefly touch on
-Using the talents God has blessed you with. These are the skills and abilities you have and the Bible is clear about where they came from. All of us have things that we are good at and in many cases these are things that we enjoy doing. God has called us to be disciplined in using those things for service to Him.
As Christians many times we either get caught up in using our abilities to bring glory to ourselves or we go to the opposite extreme of thinking our abilities are not good enough and we feel inadequate.
SD Gorden said We have nothing to do with how much ability we've got, or how little, but with what we do with what we have. The man with great talent is apt to be puffed up, and the man with little (talent) to belittle the little. Poor fools! God gives it, much or little. Our part is to be faithful, doing the best with every bit and scrap.
-Giving of your time Psalm 39:5 says "You have made my days"
The interesting thing about the resource of time is that we all have the same amount. The true challenge is how we use that time. Many of us are weighed down by responsibilities, many of us waste time, many of us sleep too much. As a Christian the challenge is to be disciplined enough to be using your time in service of Jesus.
Henry David Therou said "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."
Jesus had an amazing resource and it was the ability to be able to lay down His life for our sins GOSPEL. We are thankful that He did not hold back but used that resource to serve us. Will you use the ones He blessed you with to serve Him?
Monday, August 15, 2011
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "The Battle"
The spiritual discipline that I want to look at tonight is “service” as a Christian we should serve the local body of believers…that means we should be volunteering for ministries or a ministry on a consistent basis. We should be serving it is a discipline.
What I want to do tonight is give a staunch reminder of the fact that as we “serve” we are actually enlisted in battle and it is a spiritual battle.
Let me just inform you…the Spiritual discipline of serving the Lord is actually going to battle for Him because there are spiritual forces against you.
I think if we start looking at our service to the Lord in the light of the fact that we are battling the spiritual forces of evil we will start to take it more seriously.
As I have done the past three weeks I want to look at the concept of “Battle” through the eyes of what Jesus says the greatest commandment is. Love the Lord you God…
-Our Heart has to be in the right place to do battle. Acts 5:3 Satan “filled” control or influence his heart and not only did they lie but it damaged his service to the Lord. Their lie was to cover up selfishness…many times we do not serve the Lord because we are selfish.
Sometimes because we are selfish we act like what we are doing is serving the Lord but it really serving our own ego.
This become extremely dangerous for those of you that have been in the faith for a while. Psalm 55:20-22 we learn how to say the and do the right things but our heart is waging war.
How? Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"? Only the Lord can make our hearts pure first of all in Salvation GOSPEL.
As a Christian we need to be reading His Word, spend time in prayer and repenting of and confessing sin.
Now as a Christian who’s heart has been made pure and who is practicing the 3 disciplines we discussed in the last three weeks we are ready for Battle.
-We do battle with our mind- 2 Cor 10:3-5 Notice Paul is saying here that we destroy arguments against God by…using our mind to take “every thought captive” This helps us to understand that when you have a doubt you put it to the test. (I don’t know enough to talk to others)
2 Corinthians 2:10-12 “outwitted” The Puritan Thomas Brookes wrote a book based on verse 11 called “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”
Here is Brookes remedies when “Satan casts in vain thoughts while we are seeking to serve God”
1. The God we serve is great, holy, majestic and glorious.
2. Despite wandering thoughts it is needful to be resolute in service.
3. Vain and useless thoughts that Satan casts in are not sins if they are resisted and disclaimed.
4. Watching against and resisting sinful thoughts are evidences of grace and sincerity of our hearts.
5. We must labor (serve) to be filled with the fullness of God.
6. We must labor (serve) to keep up holy and spiritual affections.
7. We must labor (serve) to avoid worldly cares.
It is about having an understanding what is going on when you serve.
Examples:
-“I am going to feed the homeless”: Realize that the homeless are people that need to hear the good news, they may feel that the Lord has rejected them like society has, they may not realize that there is a spiritual stronghold from Satan and his demons that is keeping them from getting out of their situation.
-“I volunteer for nursery”: Realize that those babies need to be safe and cared for and Satan and his demons want them to be uncomfortable and not want to stay in the nursery, therefore the parents don’t feel comfortable leaving them down there and then they don’t stay for service.
-“I clean the church”: Realize that when you are cleaning you are making the church look good so when new people walk through the doors they don’t feel that they are in a place that no one cares about. Satan and his demons will use that to defame the name of the Lord and His people.
-“I run a Community Group”: Realize how welcoming you are can impact the people that come out. How you keep people on track with what you are doing will assist in a helpful meeting for everyone. Satan and his demons don’t want them coming to your house for spiritual development so he will try to get in the way and cause them to act on their bad attitude or their frustration when the group is not doing just what they think it should.
With our mind we purpose to serve the Lord
-We do battle with our strength Eph 6:10-12 God equips us with the strength
David said in 2 Samuel 22:39-41 that the Lord equipped him with strength for battle.
How? Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
The battle is for souls.
Interestingly enough, as a Christian Satan’s number one battle against us is to lead us into sin. As Brookes tells us he “hides the hook with the bait”
Remedies from Brookes
1. Keep greatest distance from sin and playing with the bait.
2. Understand sin is bitter sweet.
3. Understand sin will usher the greatest and saddest loses.
4. Understand sin is deceitful and bewitching.
5. Understand sin is losing the battle.
1 Peter 5:1-9 sums up our service or battle plan.
Emphasis on verse 8 We battle for the Lord because it is over Souls. The very souls of our friends and family members, the people at work and at school, the person next door, the stranger.
What I want to do tonight is give a staunch reminder of the fact that as we “serve” we are actually enlisted in battle and it is a spiritual battle.
Let me just inform you…the Spiritual discipline of serving the Lord is actually going to battle for Him because there are spiritual forces against you.
I think if we start looking at our service to the Lord in the light of the fact that we are battling the spiritual forces of evil we will start to take it more seriously.
As I have done the past three weeks I want to look at the concept of “Battle” through the eyes of what Jesus says the greatest commandment is. Love the Lord you God…
-Our Heart has to be in the right place to do battle. Acts 5:3 Satan “filled” control or influence his heart and not only did they lie but it damaged his service to the Lord. Their lie was to cover up selfishness…many times we do not serve the Lord because we are selfish.
Sometimes because we are selfish we act like what we are doing is serving the Lord but it really serving our own ego.
This become extremely dangerous for those of you that have been in the faith for a while. Psalm 55:20-22 we learn how to say the and do the right things but our heart is waging war.
How? Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"? Only the Lord can make our hearts pure first of all in Salvation GOSPEL.
As a Christian we need to be reading His Word, spend time in prayer and repenting of and confessing sin.
Now as a Christian who’s heart has been made pure and who is practicing the 3 disciplines we discussed in the last three weeks we are ready for Battle.
-We do battle with our mind- 2 Cor 10:3-5 Notice Paul is saying here that we destroy arguments against God by…using our mind to take “every thought captive” This helps us to understand that when you have a doubt you put it to the test. (I don’t know enough to talk to others)
2 Corinthians 2:10-12 “outwitted” The Puritan Thomas Brookes wrote a book based on verse 11 called “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”
Here is Brookes remedies when “Satan casts in vain thoughts while we are seeking to serve God”
1. The God we serve is great, holy, majestic and glorious.
2. Despite wandering thoughts it is needful to be resolute in service.
3. Vain and useless thoughts that Satan casts in are not sins if they are resisted and disclaimed.
4. Watching against and resisting sinful thoughts are evidences of grace and sincerity of our hearts.
5. We must labor (serve) to be filled with the fullness of God.
6. We must labor (serve) to keep up holy and spiritual affections.
7. We must labor (serve) to avoid worldly cares.
It is about having an understanding what is going on when you serve.
Examples:
-“I am going to feed the homeless”: Realize that the homeless are people that need to hear the good news, they may feel that the Lord has rejected them like society has, they may not realize that there is a spiritual stronghold from Satan and his demons that is keeping them from getting out of their situation.
-“I volunteer for nursery”: Realize that those babies need to be safe and cared for and Satan and his demons want them to be uncomfortable and not want to stay in the nursery, therefore the parents don’t feel comfortable leaving them down there and then they don’t stay for service.
-“I clean the church”: Realize that when you are cleaning you are making the church look good so when new people walk through the doors they don’t feel that they are in a place that no one cares about. Satan and his demons will use that to defame the name of the Lord and His people.
-“I run a Community Group”: Realize how welcoming you are can impact the people that come out. How you keep people on track with what you are doing will assist in a helpful meeting for everyone. Satan and his demons don’t want them coming to your house for spiritual development so he will try to get in the way and cause them to act on their bad attitude or their frustration when the group is not doing just what they think it should.
With our mind we purpose to serve the Lord
-We do battle with our strength Eph 6:10-12 God equips us with the strength
David said in 2 Samuel 22:39-41 that the Lord equipped him with strength for battle.
How? Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
The battle is for souls.
Interestingly enough, as a Christian Satan’s number one battle against us is to lead us into sin. As Brookes tells us he “hides the hook with the bait”
Remedies from Brookes
1. Keep greatest distance from sin and playing with the bait.
2. Understand sin is bitter sweet.
3. Understand sin will usher the greatest and saddest loses.
4. Understand sin is deceitful and bewitching.
5. Understand sin is losing the battle.
1 Peter 5:1-9 sums up our service or battle plan.
Emphasis on verse 8 We battle for the Lord because it is over Souls. The very souls of our friends and family members, the people at work and at school, the person next door, the stranger.
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "The Trash"
Mark 12:28-34 Communication Prayer/meditation
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
As we talked about the last two weeks a Christian should be in the Word daily and praying daily
Today we are going to look at personal sin
For the sake of us realizing the magnitude of sin I am calling it “trash”
The trash gets in the way of us loving the Lord, it breaks fellowship with Him and can also break our relationships with others.
• What causes the trash?
The first step is to admit you have a problem, we have to understand what is going on within us.
We sin because…
-Our heart condition – hard heart
Eph 4:17-20 Paul speaks to the believers and reminds them not to be as they used to be having hard hearts and continue in sinful ways.
Application Heb 4:7 “if you hear His voice do not harden your heart”
-Our mind is warped blinded – Eph 4:17-20 Talks about how our minds used to be darkened and we should not revert to that type of thinking.
Application Rom 12:2 Says that we should renew our mind and not be conformed to the worldly thinking.
-We are drawing on our own strength- Eph 4:21-24
We think we are strong enough or sometimes worse yet we think we are immune to what sin is capable of.
Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, had this to say: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, I felt compelled to mention the change coming to a pet raccoon owned by a young friend of mine, Julie. She listened politely as I explained the coming danger. I'll never forget her answer. "It will be different for me. . ." And she smiled as she added, "Bandit wouldn't hurt me. He just wouldn't." Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild. Sin, too, often comes dressed in an adorable guise, and as we play with it, how easy it is to say, "It will be different for me." The results are predictable.
Application: Rely on the Lord for Him to give you strength. 2 Cor. 1:8-10
-Our soul is troubled. Psalm 6:3 Helps us to realize that at times our soul is troubled. Maybe because something happened to us, or in a relationship or we are just bummed
The temptation is to get involved in sinful behaviors to make ourselves feel better. Like revenge, substance abuse etc.
Application: 1 Peter 2:11 says that these things actually “wage war against our souls”
• How do we take the trash out?
Every sin that we commit is an offense to Jesus…as Christians Jesus does not only call us to love Him but to love others. Some of the sins we commit may have hurt others and we need to go to them...repent and confess to them… James 5:16 says confess your sins to one another. And if someone is confessing to you, you forgive.
1. Repentance = a change of mind which leads to a change of heart.
Rom 2:4 “God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance”
2 Cor 7:10 “Godly sorrow leads to repentance”
2. Confession- To admit… The good news is that we can go right to the Lord Jesus 1 Tim 2:5
Psalm 32:5
Psalm 38:18 “I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin”
• Where does the trash go? Jesus is willing to absorb the trash GOSPEL Rom 10:9 If “you confess and believe”
We have a loving Father who is so willing to forgive us that He would give His Son to prove it. We have a such a loving Savior that He is willing to take our wrath/trash on Himself and forgive us.
Proverbs 28:13 “The one who confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy”
1 John 1:9 the promise “If you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
As Christians we should develop the discipline of Repentance and Confession
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
As we talked about the last two weeks a Christian should be in the Word daily and praying daily
Today we are going to look at personal sin
For the sake of us realizing the magnitude of sin I am calling it “trash”
The trash gets in the way of us loving the Lord, it breaks fellowship with Him and can also break our relationships with others.
• What causes the trash?
The first step is to admit you have a problem, we have to understand what is going on within us.
We sin because…
-Our heart condition – hard heart
Eph 4:17-20 Paul speaks to the believers and reminds them not to be as they used to be having hard hearts and continue in sinful ways.
Application Heb 4:7 “if you hear His voice do not harden your heart”
-Our mind is warped blinded – Eph 4:17-20 Talks about how our minds used to be darkened and we should not revert to that type of thinking.
Application Rom 12:2 Says that we should renew our mind and not be conformed to the worldly thinking.
-We are drawing on our own strength- Eph 4:21-24
We think we are strong enough or sometimes worse yet we think we are immune to what sin is capable of.
Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, had this to say: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, I felt compelled to mention the change coming to a pet raccoon owned by a young friend of mine, Julie. She listened politely as I explained the coming danger. I'll never forget her answer. "It will be different for me. . ." And she smiled as she added, "Bandit wouldn't hurt me. He just wouldn't." Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild. Sin, too, often comes dressed in an adorable guise, and as we play with it, how easy it is to say, "It will be different for me." The results are predictable.
Application: Rely on the Lord for Him to give you strength. 2 Cor. 1:8-10
-Our soul is troubled. Psalm 6:3 Helps us to realize that at times our soul is troubled. Maybe because something happened to us, or in a relationship or we are just bummed
The temptation is to get involved in sinful behaviors to make ourselves feel better. Like revenge, substance abuse etc.
Application: 1 Peter 2:11 says that these things actually “wage war against our souls”
• How do we take the trash out?
Every sin that we commit is an offense to Jesus…as Christians Jesus does not only call us to love Him but to love others. Some of the sins we commit may have hurt others and we need to go to them...repent and confess to them… James 5:16 says confess your sins to one another. And if someone is confessing to you, you forgive.
1. Repentance = a change of mind which leads to a change of heart.
Rom 2:4 “God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance”
2 Cor 7:10 “Godly sorrow leads to repentance”
2. Confession- To admit… The good news is that we can go right to the Lord Jesus 1 Tim 2:5
Psalm 32:5
Psalm 38:18 “I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin”
• Where does the trash go? Jesus is willing to absorb the trash GOSPEL Rom 10:9 If “you confess and believe”
We have a loving Father who is so willing to forgive us that He would give His Son to prove it. We have a such a loving Savior that He is willing to take our wrath/trash on Himself and forgive us.
Proverbs 28:13 “The one who confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy”
1 John 1:9 the promise “If you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
As Christians we should develop the discipline of Repentance and Confession
Monday, August 1, 2011
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "Communication"
Mark 12:28-34 Communication Prayer/meditation
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
Tonight we will look at prayer and how it impacts our heart, mind, strength and soul.
When we look at all the people of great faith in Bible…they prayed…Jesus prayed…He went off often early in the morning and prayed and in the account of Luke 11 when he came back from praying one of the disciples said “teach us to pray”, then Jesus taught what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which is an outline for prayer.
Many times we look at prayer as a thing that is on its own. What I would suggest is that you add prayer to your time of reading the Word. This way it becomes more like a conversation. You then start to develop a time each day of silence and solitude. You talk with Jesus and He talks with you.
So then applying last week we read God’s Word, then meditate on God’s Word then pray God’s Word in request to God that we can apply God’s Word.
If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. Martin Luther
First
• Prayer…calms our heart (Heart love) (control seat)
When our heart is restless and troubled what do we do? Many times we feel good when you are able to get things off your chest, someone to talk to. But it feels much better when you not only are able to talk with someone who will listen, but someone who can actually do something about it.
Philippians 4:4-7 roles to mind
Jesus said “let not your heart be troubled”
• Prayer…is a discipline of the mind (Mind Love)
Be sober minded, for the sake of your prayers 1 Peter 4:7,
Contemplative/meditative 1 Cor 14:14-15
-We use our mind to realize Jesus can use any means He chooses…
crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of Dr. Meyer's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear "what the babbler had to say."
Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. "You seem to be enjoying that orange," he remarked with a smile. "Yes, sir," she replied, "My Father is very good to me." "Your father? Surely your father can't be still alive!" "Praise God," she replied, "He is very much alive." "What do you mean?" pressed the agnostic. She explained, "I'll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!" The agnostic was speechless. Later he was converted to Christ. Yes, praying in God's will brings an answer.
-We use our mind to believe Jesus can… Matt 7:7-11
Alexander the Great –Asked by a general if he would pay for his daughters wedding…I have been a faithful general. Fine ask my treasurer to discuss the cost. The general went to the treasurer and asked for a crazy amount of money. The treasurer went to Alexander and said you are not gonna believe this he wants this much money. Alexander smiled and said give it to him…the treasurer said why? Alexander said don’t you realize that by him asking for this crazy amount of money...he believes I am both rich and generous.
We pray in faith that Jesus can change our relationships, change our finances, change our attitudes etc.
We all have to come to the point that Reinhold Niebuhr when He prayed what most of you know as the “Serenity prayer”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
At some point in life you will have to accept that Jesus can… but He didn’t at this time you need the next point the most.
• Prayer…gives us strength (Strength love) it also takes strength
Luke 21:36 Jesus here is telling us that the most important place to turn when it comes to strength is to be prayed up.
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A person is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
This displays the strength love for God
Another aspect of this strength love in prayer.. is that in order to pray we need to come to the conclusion that we are weak. That is difficult for many of us. Because we want to do everything humanly possible rather then rely on the Lord. Paul said “when I am weak He is strong”
Hudson Taylor said
"The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'"
• Prayer…heals our soul. When our soul is healed we are more inclined to love Him with our soul. Psalm 116:4 “Oh Lord deliver my soul” GOSPEL “everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” Rom 10:13
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
Tonight we will look at prayer and how it impacts our heart, mind, strength and soul.
When we look at all the people of great faith in Bible…they prayed…Jesus prayed…He went off often early in the morning and prayed and in the account of Luke 11 when he came back from praying one of the disciples said “teach us to pray”, then Jesus taught what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which is an outline for prayer.
Many times we look at prayer as a thing that is on its own. What I would suggest is that you add prayer to your time of reading the Word. This way it becomes more like a conversation. You then start to develop a time each day of silence and solitude. You talk with Jesus and He talks with you.
So then applying last week we read God’s Word, then meditate on God’s Word then pray God’s Word in request to God that we can apply God’s Word.
If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. Martin Luther
First
• Prayer…calms our heart (Heart love) (control seat)
When our heart is restless and troubled what do we do? Many times we feel good when you are able to get things off your chest, someone to talk to. But it feels much better when you not only are able to talk with someone who will listen, but someone who can actually do something about it.
Philippians 4:4-7 roles to mind
Jesus said “let not your heart be troubled”
• Prayer…is a discipline of the mind (Mind Love)
Be sober minded, for the sake of your prayers 1 Peter 4:7,
Contemplative/meditative 1 Cor 14:14-15
-We use our mind to realize Jesus can use any means He chooses…
crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of Dr. Meyer's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear "what the babbler had to say."
Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. "You seem to be enjoying that orange," he remarked with a smile. "Yes, sir," she replied, "My Father is very good to me." "Your father? Surely your father can't be still alive!" "Praise God," she replied, "He is very much alive." "What do you mean?" pressed the agnostic. She explained, "I'll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!" The agnostic was speechless. Later he was converted to Christ. Yes, praying in God's will brings an answer.
-We use our mind to believe Jesus can… Matt 7:7-11
Alexander the Great –Asked by a general if he would pay for his daughters wedding…I have been a faithful general. Fine ask my treasurer to discuss the cost. The general went to the treasurer and asked for a crazy amount of money. The treasurer went to Alexander and said you are not gonna believe this he wants this much money. Alexander smiled and said give it to him…the treasurer said why? Alexander said don’t you realize that by him asking for this crazy amount of money...he believes I am both rich and generous.
We pray in faith that Jesus can change our relationships, change our finances, change our attitudes etc.
We all have to come to the point that Reinhold Niebuhr when He prayed what most of you know as the “Serenity prayer”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
At some point in life you will have to accept that Jesus can… but He didn’t at this time you need the next point the most.
• Prayer…gives us strength (Strength love) it also takes strength
Luke 21:36 Jesus here is telling us that the most important place to turn when it comes to strength is to be prayed up.
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A person is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
This displays the strength love for God
Another aspect of this strength love in prayer.. is that in order to pray we need to come to the conclusion that we are weak. That is difficult for many of us. Because we want to do everything humanly possible rather then rely on the Lord. Paul said “when I am weak He is strong”
Hudson Taylor said
"The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'"
• Prayer…heals our soul. When our soul is healed we are more inclined to love Him with our soul. Psalm 116:4 “Oh Lord deliver my soul” GOSPEL “everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” Rom 10:13
Monday, July 25, 2011
Spriltual Disciplines Series "The Word"
Mark 12:28-34
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
7th grade seeing another guy with a “note”
(I will never forget the first note from Amy… I cherished it and the main reason why is because I felt like somebody)
The simple fact that God gave us His Word displays we are important.
But some say…
1. I don’t need God and His Word, I know I am important and I have the answers. (Pride and rejection of the Lord)
2. Or the Christian response sometimes is… “I hear you, I know I am important to God, but I don’t really need to spend time learning more about Him or how I should respond to Him unless something is going wrong”. (Ignorance)
My appeal to you tonight is… I want us all to realize that we have the great privilege of having communication from God to us and that means we need spend time reading, memorizing and studying every aspect of it to develop our love for the Lord Jesus.
The Bible is what we should…
• fill our hearts with. (Heart love) How? Psalm 119:9-16 Meditation and memorization
Many times people are only interested in something when they are dealing with it…but as a student of God’s Word, in order to fill your heart in order to spur your heart on to love the Lord, we should expose ourselves to teaching before you deal with them.
When you hear things you “already know” you will reevaluate your life to make sure you are still practicing them. (Lets look at like this we fill our hearts and minds with information that leads to transformation and we need reminders)
I would go so far as to say if there is a Biblically based teaching and you say you got nothing from it. You have some kind of a problem. –maybe with the person teaching it? –maybe it is convicting you? -maybe you are apathetic? -maybe your heart is hard? –maybe you did not pray before you read or heard the Word?
I was never out of my Bible. John Bunyan
• study and question for ourselves. (Mind Love) (my pastor said so should not be your answer) The Bible is everyone’s book Acts 17:10-12 the Berean’s (George Kuhn)
Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well. Amy Carmichael.
I am a man of one Book. John Wesley.
• pass down to the next generation (Strength love) .Deut 6:7-10 Teach the Scriptures. This is hard physical work.
Much of it is in the delivery (Tom Allen’s illustration about yelling at your kids)
• learn about who to hope in. (Soul love) In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Jesus’ life fulfilled the scriptures to give us salvation GOSPEL
People do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.
Romans 15:4 this is not only true of future hope but it is true of hope in any circumstance we find ourselves in.
Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today--if only we would read and believe. Ronald Reagan
When you start to realize that God’s Word has what you need and offers hope you start to develop a love for it and it becomes something you do not want to live without.
Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. Of a man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Hiss face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times.
Through the Discipline of being in God’s Word we learn to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength.
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
7th grade seeing another guy with a “note”
(I will never forget the first note from Amy… I cherished it and the main reason why is because I felt like somebody)
The simple fact that God gave us His Word displays we are important.
But some say…
1. I don’t need God and His Word, I know I am important and I have the answers. (Pride and rejection of the Lord)
2. Or the Christian response sometimes is… “I hear you, I know I am important to God, but I don’t really need to spend time learning more about Him or how I should respond to Him unless something is going wrong”. (Ignorance)
My appeal to you tonight is… I want us all to realize that we have the great privilege of having communication from God to us and that means we need spend time reading, memorizing and studying every aspect of it to develop our love for the Lord Jesus.
The Bible is what we should…
• fill our hearts with. (Heart love) How? Psalm 119:9-16 Meditation and memorization
Many times people are only interested in something when they are dealing with it…but as a student of God’s Word, in order to fill your heart in order to spur your heart on to love the Lord, we should expose ourselves to teaching before you deal with them.
When you hear things you “already know” you will reevaluate your life to make sure you are still practicing them. (Lets look at like this we fill our hearts and minds with information that leads to transformation and we need reminders)
I would go so far as to say if there is a Biblically based teaching and you say you got nothing from it. You have some kind of a problem. –maybe with the person teaching it? –maybe it is convicting you? -maybe you are apathetic? -maybe your heart is hard? –maybe you did not pray before you read or heard the Word?
I was never out of my Bible. John Bunyan
• study and question for ourselves. (Mind Love) (my pastor said so should not be your answer) The Bible is everyone’s book Acts 17:10-12 the Berean’s (George Kuhn)
Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well. Amy Carmichael.
I am a man of one Book. John Wesley.
• pass down to the next generation (Strength love) .Deut 6:7-10 Teach the Scriptures. This is hard physical work.
Much of it is in the delivery (Tom Allen’s illustration about yelling at your kids)
• learn about who to hope in. (Soul love) In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Jesus’ life fulfilled the scriptures to give us salvation GOSPEL
People do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.
Romans 15:4 this is not only true of future hope but it is true of hope in any circumstance we find ourselves in.
Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today--if only we would read and believe. Ronald Reagan
When you start to realize that God’s Word has what you need and offers hope you start to develop a love for it and it becomes something you do not want to live without.
Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. Of a man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Hiss face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times.
Through the Discipline of being in God’s Word we learn to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Monday, July 11, 2011
"Seeing Jesus in the Psalms": His Name is Jesus
Community Group Questions
1. Share a time in which your love for another person had to endure a hardship.
2. Share a time in your life that you felt God’s power working through a situation.
3. Do you feel you are known by others as a joyful person?
4. In what area of life do you feel the most needed and useful?
5. How has a broken trust from someone you trusted changed the way you look at Jesus?
This psalm is what is known at Hallel Psalm which is a song of praise about the works of the Lord in the lives of His people.
Most likely the last hymn sung by Jesus with His disciples at the last supper.
Through this Psalm of praise we will learn at least three things.
1. The enduring love of the Lord Vrs 1-4
Enduring love- we should be comforted by the fact His love has staying power and endures even though we do not deserve that love, it is like a pursuing love.
Parent endures under the disobedience of a child. (Prodigal Son)
Why because it is steadfast which means it is firm, pointed with purpose and unwavering.
From the Lord we learn that this is the type of love we need to have for those around us.
As Christians we should endure, when people wrong us. We endure when people don’t follow through with their commitments to us. We endure when things don’t change as quick as we think they should.
Bottom line is we need to emulate the love of the Lord.
Next we will see…
2. What the Lord is capable of giving to you and me. Vrs 5-18
-Salvation Vrs 5 Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13-21
-Someone to trust. Vrs 6-9 Is the One we can trust. Trust in the Lord not in man. (You may not be able to trust anyone)
-Power. Vrs 10-13 We get power from the Lord. “I can do all things through Christ”
-Joy. Vrs 14-16 Salvation should result in joy. In this passage we see the psalmist in song.
Because it is valiant (bold, heroic)
-Purpose Vrs 17 The Lord keeps us alive to bring glory to Him while we are here. People want purpose…ask a child what they want to do when they grow up.
When the Lord does something for us it is a great thing to do to make it known.
-Security Vrs 18 The Lord disciplines those He loves (Tim Keller father illustration I really act like a father when I have to discipline)
The final thing we learn is who the Lord is
3. The Lord’s name is Jesus and He is... This is important because this Psalm never says the name of Jesus but these last 11 verses are clearly about Jesus,
-The Gate Vrs 19-21 Jesus is the gate John 10:1
-The Stone Vrs 22-23 The Messianic value Matt 21:42-44
Jesus is the stone
Jewish leaders are the builders of the nation…the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others Matt 21:43
-The Creator Vrs 24 He is creator of the day John 1:9 “World made through Him”
-The Life Giver Vrs 25 He gives success John 10:10
-The One we waited for. Vrs 26 More prophecy John 12:13
-The Light Vrs 27 He is the light of the world John 12:46 and
-The Sacrifice His sacrifice is that light 1 Cor 5:7 “Christ our Passover lamb has become our sacrifice” GOSPEL
In Conclusion Vrs 28-29 we praise Jesus for what He is capable of doing for us and the fact that His love endures.
1. Share a time in which your love for another person had to endure a hardship.
2. Share a time in your life that you felt God’s power working through a situation.
3. Do you feel you are known by others as a joyful person?
4. In what area of life do you feel the most needed and useful?
5. How has a broken trust from someone you trusted changed the way you look at Jesus?
This psalm is what is known at Hallel Psalm which is a song of praise about the works of the Lord in the lives of His people.
Most likely the last hymn sung by Jesus with His disciples at the last supper.
Through this Psalm of praise we will learn at least three things.
1. The enduring love of the Lord Vrs 1-4
Enduring love- we should be comforted by the fact His love has staying power and endures even though we do not deserve that love, it is like a pursuing love.
Parent endures under the disobedience of a child. (Prodigal Son)
Why because it is steadfast which means it is firm, pointed with purpose and unwavering.
From the Lord we learn that this is the type of love we need to have for those around us.
As Christians we should endure, when people wrong us. We endure when people don’t follow through with their commitments to us. We endure when things don’t change as quick as we think they should.
Bottom line is we need to emulate the love of the Lord.
Next we will see…
2. What the Lord is capable of giving to you and me. Vrs 5-18
-Salvation Vrs 5 Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13-21
-Someone to trust. Vrs 6-9 Is the One we can trust. Trust in the Lord not in man. (You may not be able to trust anyone)
-Power. Vrs 10-13 We get power from the Lord. “I can do all things through Christ”
-Joy. Vrs 14-16 Salvation should result in joy. In this passage we see the psalmist in song.
Because it is valiant (bold, heroic)
-Purpose Vrs 17 The Lord keeps us alive to bring glory to Him while we are here. People want purpose…ask a child what they want to do when they grow up.
When the Lord does something for us it is a great thing to do to make it known.
-Security Vrs 18 The Lord disciplines those He loves (Tim Keller father illustration I really act like a father when I have to discipline)
The final thing we learn is who the Lord is
3. The Lord’s name is Jesus and He is... This is important because this Psalm never says the name of Jesus but these last 11 verses are clearly about Jesus,
-The Gate Vrs 19-21 Jesus is the gate John 10:1
-The Stone Vrs 22-23 The Messianic value Matt 21:42-44
Jesus is the stone
Jewish leaders are the builders of the nation…the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others Matt 21:43
-The Creator Vrs 24 He is creator of the day John 1:9 “World made through Him”
-The Life Giver Vrs 25 He gives success John 10:10
-The One we waited for. Vrs 26 More prophecy John 12:13
-The Light Vrs 27 He is the light of the world John 12:46 and
-The Sacrifice His sacrifice is that light 1 Cor 5:7 “Christ our Passover lamb has become our sacrifice” GOSPEL
In Conclusion Vrs 28-29 we praise Jesus for what He is capable of doing for us and the fact that His love endures.
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