Pre-message
-Jacob wrestled with the angel
-its the struggle that often embitters us and causes us to make it even harder for ourselves to believe and others
-Jacob is going to usher in the multiplication of belief
-but when you believe, you can work and when you work you can get paid
-we put in half a day of work and start asking, when am I going to get paid, because we are astonished with the effort the work is getting out of us... and our own effort is a bigger god in our minds than believing in God.
John 4:7-10,25-27,31-36,46-48,51-54
Matthew 20:1-7
John 6:27-29
Psalms 112
Lead up
-Jesus in this chapter is trying to draw us out of conventions to change how we view him
-He often will contrast against things he is not
-He needs us to come out for the work he has for us to do and the reward he has for us to get
Main Point
-We labor and eat, but is it to increase our confidence in God?
-When he says the battle is not yours, that's because your battle is to believe
-the struggle produces multiplication
-How an these things be seeing I know not a man
-when you believe, somebody else is going to believe
-When you want to believe God he will meet you like the nobleman and Jacob at night
Altar Call
-this is for those who have been struggling, but struggling for the wrong thing, and you've come up empty
-repentance from dead works
Book idea:
We all struggle with, labor with, push, and press at some some sort of goal in life. The majority of what it takes to accomplish a thing is in believing that it is possible and worth it. When it comes to believing God it is no different, and this is the only goal that will produce eternal satisfaction and proliferation.
Probably the most readily understood example of struggling that pays off in the Bible is Jacob wrestling with God. This scene and character of Jacob should be revisited throughout the book as an example of how believing God is often a mental grappling with him as to what God is calling us to and what God has brought us from. Many of us will not progress in belief in these moments because it is a challenge and a test, and the ideology of many is to get to a place in life where we are no longer challenged or tested.
The book would basically outline several modern day easily grasped examples of how we struggle to believe God and how we fall short of full belief in God which results large-scale failure. The book would interlace scriptural references that would highlight the issues and the resolution.
1. Marriage and child rearing in modern times
2. Recovering from tragedies and trauma
3. School and education
Also a section on anger and rage and bitterness should be added to the book (maybe in the beginning). In this section we would cover how struggling often hints at frustration and irritation which often spins us off into perpetual anger (or being malcontent). In modern popular culture violent action movies are the most successful. An appetite for this material is emerging globally. If this were a way of venting and releasing this anger, it would be ok. But instead it re-enforces our fantasies of violent engagement with society. But this is borne of a frustration that either to get where we need to go we need to be violent, or since we can't get where we want to go we resort to violence as self-expression.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Cruelty and Disharmony. The Price of Unity.
Genesis 49:8-11
2 Samuel 7:8-11
John 10:7-19
Terms:
Cruel - Willfully causing suffering without affection or sympathy
Relevance:
-Sin has a scattering effect
-We are taught to be cruel early on. kids bully.
-Cruelty comes from anger and fear, and has been associated with Jealousy and covetousness.
-This causes scattering in our homes and efforts. we are overwhelmed with sub-plots
-we look for things to unify ourselves.
-We have to come to church
Context:
-Judah is prophesied to be the unifying force of Israel. whereas Levi and Simeon brought on Cruelty.
-Jesus is ultimate Sheppard, who gathers his sheep
Talking points:
-Unity has a price... you must give up your opinion for the crowds
-The punishment for cruelty is scattering
-We can be scattered in our thinking, or movements, or speaking
-The only way for people to truly come together is in Jesus
-It makes sense that God chose the poor because then everybody can get in
-Rome was scattered, so then started Catholicism
-Servitude brings unity, David was a servant
-Fear scatters
-Babel had to be scattered
-We can join ourselves with cruel people
-Because you're the servant, people have to come through you.
Your servitude isn't going to ruin you. this requires faith.
-John the baptist told the soldiers to not do violence
2 Samuel 7
God here is telling David to keep serving, its not time for the temple to be built. and in serving David is bringing on unity.
2 Samuel 7:8-11
John 10:7-19
Terms:
Cruel - Willfully causing suffering without affection or sympathy
Relevance:
-Sin has a scattering effect
-We are taught to be cruel early on. kids bully.
-Cruelty comes from anger and fear, and has been associated with Jealousy and covetousness.
-This causes scattering in our homes and efforts. we are overwhelmed with sub-plots
-we look for things to unify ourselves.
-We have to come to church
Context:
-Judah is prophesied to be the unifying force of Israel. whereas Levi and Simeon brought on Cruelty.
-Jesus is ultimate Sheppard, who gathers his sheep
Talking points:
-Unity has a price... you must give up your opinion for the crowds
-The punishment for cruelty is scattering
-We can be scattered in our thinking, or movements, or speaking
-The only way for people to truly come together is in Jesus
-It makes sense that God chose the poor because then everybody can get in
-Rome was scattered, so then started Catholicism
-Servitude brings unity, David was a servant
-Fear scatters
-Babel had to be scattered
-We can join ourselves with cruel people
-Because you're the servant, people have to come through you.
Your servitude isn't going to ruin you. this requires faith.
-John the baptist told the soldiers to not do violence
2 Samuel 7
God here is telling David to keep serving, its not time for the temple to be built. and in serving David is bringing on unity.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Mark 16:9-20 - Momentum of Rejection/The Course of Belief
Summary:
Our life of belief follows a course that can be charted and follows a pattern similar to ancient believers. However, unbelief can follow a similar pattern as well and in this sermon we focus on how initial rejection of the Gospel (or a number of things in life) can result in further rejection later on. We compare the reaction in the text in Mark to the pattern we see of Abraham.
Scriptures:
Mark 16:9-20
Genesis 15:1-6
Context:
The apostles are leaving Jerusalem and going back to Galilee (their old way of doing things) for about 40 days while Jesus convinces them he's alive. They then go back down into Jerusalem for Pentecost.
Talking Points:
Mark 16:9 It's easier to believe God when you know the trajectory of your life before him and can appreciate what he's done in contrast to who you are. Yet he sends her on a task that will not persuade the apostles.
Mark 16:10 The momentum of the apostles was already in grief and unbelief.
Mark 16:11 Here's the initial reaction even though they hear the news.
Mark 16:12 Upon our rejection God can send more witnesses in greater force. They are moving towards Galilee.
Mark 16:13 Sometimes there's just a residue of voices in you that will eligible to believe.
Mark 16:14 God is pleased with belief, But unbelief grieves him. Then he has to back us up and we begin to recover at a deficit.
Mark 16:15-16 Here Jesus explains why belief is so important. and also why he's so disturbed by their unbelief.
Mark 16:17 These are both positive and nice situations.
Mark 16:18 Here are two situations that suggest a believer would face such circumstances. Then it ends on a good note again.
Mark 16:19-20 In Acts we get a greater account. But Jesus goes on to a higher level of operation and the apostles go on to a higher level of operation.
Genesis 15:1-2 Of all that Abram had accomplished and was doing, his sense of success was bound up in procreation.
Genesis 15:4-6 Here's what makes Abraham great and this is sort of an initial reaction that sets him on course to operate at higher levels
Exhortation:
-What can cause initial rejection is our sense of wealth or confidence to the contrary.
-What is our course of belief? What is our initial reaction to God?
-Who was the messenger that shared the Gospel with you? How did you treat them?
-We endanger our future with initial doubts when we should be honest with God.
-Our promotion of faith could be knocking on our door, but we will continue to let opportunities slip if we are caught in a momentum of rejection.
-Do you want to operate on a level where the previous environmental constraints don't hinder you? money, health, spirits, children, arguments, litigation, travel...
Altar Call:
-Have you rejected Jesus? Now is the time to turn around and repent as the prodigal son.
-Be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, don't reject it any more.
Our life of belief follows a course that can be charted and follows a pattern similar to ancient believers. However, unbelief can follow a similar pattern as well and in this sermon we focus on how initial rejection of the Gospel (or a number of things in life) can result in further rejection later on. We compare the reaction in the text in Mark to the pattern we see of Abraham.
Scriptures:
Mark 16:9-20
Genesis 15:1-6
Context:
The apostles are leaving Jerusalem and going back to Galilee (their old way of doing things) for about 40 days while Jesus convinces them he's alive. They then go back down into Jerusalem for Pentecost.
Talking Points:
Mark 16:9 It's easier to believe God when you know the trajectory of your life before him and can appreciate what he's done in contrast to who you are. Yet he sends her on a task that will not persuade the apostles.
Mark 16:10 The momentum of the apostles was already in grief and unbelief.
Mark 16:11 Here's the initial reaction even though they hear the news.
Mark 16:12 Upon our rejection God can send more witnesses in greater force. They are moving towards Galilee.
Mark 16:13 Sometimes there's just a residue of voices in you that will eligible to believe.
Mark 16:14 God is pleased with belief, But unbelief grieves him. Then he has to back us up and we begin to recover at a deficit.
Mark 16:15-16 Here Jesus explains why belief is so important. and also why he's so disturbed by their unbelief.
Mark 16:17 These are both positive and nice situations.
Mark 16:18 Here are two situations that suggest a believer would face such circumstances. Then it ends on a good note again.
Mark 16:19-20 In Acts we get a greater account. But Jesus goes on to a higher level of operation and the apostles go on to a higher level of operation.
Genesis 15:1-2 Of all that Abram had accomplished and was doing, his sense of success was bound up in procreation.
Genesis 15:4-6 Here's what makes Abraham great and this is sort of an initial reaction that sets him on course to operate at higher levels
Exhortation:
-What can cause initial rejection is our sense of wealth or confidence to the contrary.
-What is our course of belief? What is our initial reaction to God?
-Who was the messenger that shared the Gospel with you? How did you treat them?
-We endanger our future with initial doubts when we should be honest with God.
-Our promotion of faith could be knocking on our door, but we will continue to let opportunities slip if we are caught in a momentum of rejection.
-Do you want to operate on a level where the previous environmental constraints don't hinder you? money, health, spirits, children, arguments, litigation, travel...
Altar Call:
-Have you rejected Jesus? Now is the time to turn around and repent as the prodigal son.
-Be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, don't reject it any more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)