Reading
Scripture Matthew 10:24-39
Reader 1:
Ha! The preacher thinks we should go and serve Jesus. Does the preacher have any idea what that means, you know, leaving the comforts of home. People won’t understand what we are doing. They will think we are nuts! Even our own families won’t get it! Go and serve Jesus? Not me.
Reader 2:
Well, now, the preacher has got it right. If we sit here, or stand here, and proclaim our faith, and sing the great songs, but do nothing we are just spitting in the wind. We really need to do something. People don’t have to understand. God understands. That’s what’s really important. You’re not doing this for the approval of people; you are doing this for God.
Reader 1:
Yeah, right! Listen, God has lots of do-gooders to get things done. What makes you think you can do something special? Are you better than everyone else?
Reader 2:
No, I’m not better than anyone else. I just want to serve God. I want to act on what I say. I know it won’t be easy. That doesn’t matter. I just want to serve. You are welcome to serve also.
Reader 1:
Not me. I can’t serve. I won’t serve. My service is coming to church once a week. That’s all I have to give.
Reader 2:
Perhaps that’s enough for now. Just wait and see. Don’t close the doors to service.
from Cokebury's Worship Connection for Year A, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost June 22, 2008
Showing posts with label focus on Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label focus on Christ. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
“Let’s Get to Work”: Sermon Outline by Keith Badowski
“Let’s Get to Work”: Sermon Outline by Keith Badowski
Matthew 21:28-32 (NIV)
Matthew 5:41-42 (NIV)
1. So, does my title suggest I’m talking about “works theology”? Doing hard labor on earth to earn our way into heaven?
Once there was a company that put out an instant cake mix. You only had to add water. It didn’t sell. Market research showed that people thought it sounded TOO EASY; it couldn’t be any good. They reformulated the mix so the instructions were to add water and one egg. It sold fine after that.
Some people are tempted to believe that God’s plan of salvation is to easy too.
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 “By grace you have been saved through faith . . ., it is the gift of God, not of works.”
God’s formula is not about to be changed.
Works do not earn salvation. Works show gratitude, devotion, willingness to yield yourself to God who blesses you whether you work or not. (Of course, chances are if the message of Jesus’ free gift has penetrated your heart and you are grateful for his forgiveness of your sins, you’re going to WANT to work—to express your return of the love God first extended to you.)
3. Did it ever occur to you that if you trust Jesus for your salvation/ forgiveness of your sins/ eternal life . . . you ought to maybe trust him to direct the way you live now?
Isn’t it possible that what he asks (not demands) has your own best interests at heart?
4. Serving others, as many can attest, feels good! Nothing gives the same satisfaction.
Albert Schweitzer was quoted as saying, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
5. Jesus wants WILLING workers who chose Him FREELY, VOLUNTARILY do His work in the world. He doesn’t resort to guilt trips or any kind of manipulation to get us up and out of our seats.
Well, sometimes He can light a fire under us to get us moving. . .
6. Once there was a member of a motorcycle gang who a couple days earlier became a believer in Jesus. The only thing he knew to do was to go to church. As he made his way to sit in the 2nd row, the people of the congregation stared at him as he passed. They whispered to each other about his burliness, his leather chaps, his nose ring. As he sat down, the pastor announced, “We need a helper in to work in the nursery this morning. Can I get a volunteer please?” No one came forward, so the pastor asked again, “We really need a helper in the nursery this morning. Please step forward if you can help out.” Meanwhile the biker was praying, “Lord, I don’t know if you want me to help out, but I will take it as a sign from you that I should if he asks a third time.” The pastor made the third request when no one responded to the first two, so the biker raised his hand, stood up and started walking to the front . . . followed by 50 mothers who suddenly rose to their feet.
7. God shouldn’t have to send a burly biker to get us involved and on our feet.
Why not a motive of gratitude? A desire to show the world in action who Jesus is—the one who acts to help others, who sets himself aside for our well-being.
8. Jesus calls us to enact his grace and love by how we respond to the needs of others.
He wants us to pay no mind to whether the recipient DESERVES love and grace. That’s hard to do at 1st.
Jesus always asks his disciples to do tasks that 1st seem hard, unpleasant.
9. Sacrifice time. As if it’s “OUR time.”
Hard effort, physical strain at times.
Outside our comfort zone.
If we see such difficulties ahead we might delay our choice to serve.
“If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice” –Rush
10.
"Did I ever tell you about the young Zoad,
who came to a sign at the fork of the road.
He looked one way and the other way too
The Zoad had to make up his mind what to do.
Well, the Zoad scratched his head,
and his chin, and his pants—
and he said to himself “I’ll be taking a chance.”
If I go to place One, that place may be hot,
so how will I know if I like it or not.
On the other hand, though, I’ll feel such a fool
If I go to Place Two and find it’s too cool,
in that case I may catch a chill and turn blue.
So Place One may be best and not Place Two.
“Play safe!” cried the Zoad.
“I’ll play safe, I’m no dunce.
I’ll simply start off to both places at once.”
And that’s how the Zoad who would not take a chance
went no place at all with a split in his pants."
--Dr. Seuss
11. Option: remain indecisive when Jesus calls us to serve.
Like the Second son, say “Yes” but do “No”.
Sit quietly and hope he’ll forgot the whole conversation.
Opportunity: be like the First son. He may have said “No” fearing it was too hard or just not for him. But 5 minutes or 2 years later, we can CHANGE OUR MIND.
12. . . . get to work, give the mission to serve our best try.
Realize that God supplies wisdom, power, resources, guidance—to accomplish what it is He asks. God acts through us—He must because what He asks is too HARD to do without Him.
13. Hard Requests:
Someone strikes you, insults, snubs, or criticizes you, FORGIVE THEM. Be vulnerable, risk another stab in the back, love your enemies.
Be GENEROUS, even when the world is take, take, take.
Someone pressures you to work for them, look for EXTRA things you can do for them, go beyond their demands, showing God’s generosity and grace by working HARDER and doing MORE.
14. Be open handed with your resources, not just your leftover pocket change, but your checkbook, your car, your skills, and know-how, your tools, any of your possessions. YOURS? They don’t actually belong to you. They’re on loan from the Creator. Use what you “have” to improve the situation of another person.
15. I know of 3 Christian men who have loaned or given vehicles to needy individuals who are unlikely to ever pay them back. I know 3. I wonder how many Jesus knows. I wonder how many Jesus wants?
16. Jesus has given us a free gift of salvation. Jesus demands no works, no payment. He sets us free because he loves us. He hopes we will seek his directions, his instructions to devote ourselves to working on his behalf.
Matthew 21:28-32 (NIV)
Matthew 5:41-42 (NIV)
1. So, does my title suggest I’m talking about “works theology”? Doing hard labor on earth to earn our way into heaven?
Once there was a company that put out an instant cake mix. You only had to add water. It didn’t sell. Market research showed that people thought it sounded TOO EASY; it couldn’t be any good. They reformulated the mix so the instructions were to add water and one egg. It sold fine after that.
Some people are tempted to believe that God’s plan of salvation is to easy too.
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 “By grace you have been saved through faith . . ., it is the gift of God, not of works.”
God’s formula is not about to be changed.
Works do not earn salvation. Works show gratitude, devotion, willingness to yield yourself to God who blesses you whether you work or not. (Of course, chances are if the message of Jesus’ free gift has penetrated your heart and you are grateful for his forgiveness of your sins, you’re going to WANT to work—to express your return of the love God first extended to you.)
3. Did it ever occur to you that if you trust Jesus for your salvation/ forgiveness of your sins/ eternal life . . . you ought to maybe trust him to direct the way you live now?
Isn’t it possible that what he asks (not demands) has your own best interests at heart?
4. Serving others, as many can attest, feels good! Nothing gives the same satisfaction.
Albert Schweitzer was quoted as saying, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
5. Jesus wants WILLING workers who chose Him FREELY, VOLUNTARILY do His work in the world. He doesn’t resort to guilt trips or any kind of manipulation to get us up and out of our seats.
Well, sometimes He can light a fire under us to get us moving. . .
6. Once there was a member of a motorcycle gang who a couple days earlier became a believer in Jesus. The only thing he knew to do was to go to church. As he made his way to sit in the 2nd row, the people of the congregation stared at him as he passed. They whispered to each other about his burliness, his leather chaps, his nose ring. As he sat down, the pastor announced, “We need a helper in to work in the nursery this morning. Can I get a volunteer please?” No one came forward, so the pastor asked again, “We really need a helper in the nursery this morning. Please step forward if you can help out.” Meanwhile the biker was praying, “Lord, I don’t know if you want me to help out, but I will take it as a sign from you that I should if he asks a third time.” The pastor made the third request when no one responded to the first two, so the biker raised his hand, stood up and started walking to the front . . . followed by 50 mothers who suddenly rose to their feet.
7. God shouldn’t have to send a burly biker to get us involved and on our feet.
Why not a motive of gratitude? A desire to show the world in action who Jesus is—the one who acts to help others, who sets himself aside for our well-being.
8. Jesus calls us to enact his grace and love by how we respond to the needs of others.
He wants us to pay no mind to whether the recipient DESERVES love and grace. That’s hard to do at 1st.
Jesus always asks his disciples to do tasks that 1st seem hard, unpleasant.
9. Sacrifice time. As if it’s “OUR time.”
Hard effort, physical strain at times.
Outside our comfort zone.
If we see such difficulties ahead we might delay our choice to serve.
“If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice” –Rush
10.
"Did I ever tell you about the young Zoad,
who came to a sign at the fork of the road.
He looked one way and the other way too
The Zoad had to make up his mind what to do.
Well, the Zoad scratched his head,
and his chin, and his pants—
and he said to himself “I’ll be taking a chance.”
If I go to place One, that place may be hot,
so how will I know if I like it or not.
On the other hand, though, I’ll feel such a fool
If I go to Place Two and find it’s too cool,
in that case I may catch a chill and turn blue.
So Place One may be best and not Place Two.
“Play safe!” cried the Zoad.
“I’ll play safe, I’m no dunce.
I’ll simply start off to both places at once.”
And that’s how the Zoad who would not take a chance
went no place at all with a split in his pants."
--Dr. Seuss
11. Option: remain indecisive when Jesus calls us to serve.
Like the Second son, say “Yes” but do “No”.
Sit quietly and hope he’ll forgot the whole conversation.
Opportunity: be like the First son. He may have said “No” fearing it was too hard or just not for him. But 5 minutes or 2 years later, we can CHANGE OUR MIND.
12. . . . get to work, give the mission to serve our best try.
Realize that God supplies wisdom, power, resources, guidance—to accomplish what it is He asks. God acts through us—He must because what He asks is too HARD to do without Him.
13. Hard Requests:
Someone strikes you, insults, snubs, or criticizes you, FORGIVE THEM. Be vulnerable, risk another stab in the back, love your enemies.
Be GENEROUS, even when the world is take, take, take.
Someone pressures you to work for them, look for EXTRA things you can do for them, go beyond their demands, showing God’s generosity and grace by working HARDER and doing MORE.
14. Be open handed with your resources, not just your leftover pocket change, but your checkbook, your car, your skills, and know-how, your tools, any of your possessions. YOURS? They don’t actually belong to you. They’re on loan from the Creator. Use what you “have” to improve the situation of another person.
15. I know of 3 Christian men who have loaned or given vehicles to needy individuals who are unlikely to ever pay them back. I know 3. I wonder how many Jesus knows. I wonder how many Jesus wants?
16. Jesus has given us a free gift of salvation. Jesus demands no works, no payment. He sets us free because he loves us. He hopes we will seek his directions, his instructions to devote ourselves to working on his behalf.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
When the Church is a Good Example: A sermon outline by Keith Badowski
When the Church is a Good Example
Sermon outline by Keith Badowski
I. The church is an encouragement and a good example when . . .
A. WE maintain the faith despite trials and attacks.
B. WE share the gospel near and far.
C. WE believe in Christ as the Center: results in Faith, Love, Hope. Faith in Christ leads to Good Works, Spread the Gospel, Expectation of Christ’s return.
II. Persecution
A. THEN: angry mobs. NOW: individual attacks & cultural attacks.
B. Cynicism, criticism—examples
C. Entertainment & Fantasy of pleasure in a godless world.
1 Thessalonians 1:6
Acts 17:5
persecution and affliction
angry mobs—not the type of persecution we face today.
Today’s attacks are individuals:
“Christianity is a crutch.”
“I’m too smart for that.”
“Christianity is bigotry in disguise.”
“Why should those religious people force their ideas on me or my children?”
Culture of TV and movies—sexuality and violence
Constructs in the mind a fantasy world where a godless world seems pleasurable and mostly harmless. The media assists in tempting us to turn away from God.
Barbara Mandrell sang to her son Nathan: Jesus Loves Me, This is the Day the Lord had Made, Jesus Loves the Little Children. Yet the first song he sang was All My Exes Live in Texas.
In response to this attack, should WE become activists? Should we picket and boycott the studios, the networks?
No. See 1 Thessalonians 4:11
WE are instructed to live a quite life. Simply turn off the TV when lies and temptations are being broadcast, avoid godless movies (which might mean avoiding quite a few movies these days).
Don’t get steeped in politics and protests. That often turns into a quest for human-centric power. And it’s totally unnecessary.
More importantly WE ought not to get distracted from our God-given main focus of winning others to Christ.
“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.” –Will Rodgers
III. Characteristics of a Good Example (Paul & Thessalonians)
A. Be an open book, sharing your life with others openly so they can see you God sees you—Accountability.
B. Focused on Christ & Holy Spirit
C. Allowing faith to translate into action.
D. Abandoning idols, i.e. Materialism
E. Demonstrating confidence & patience in the hope of Christ’s return.
IV. A Good Example Sets Aside Phony Evangelism
A. Overly simplified statements of belief
B. Hypocritical
C. People pleasing, ignoring the dangers of sin, candy-coating, could be false. (No talk of sin, judgment, repentance)
D. Value on charm and charisma (in the worldly sense)
E. Pressure of positions and authority
V. Good Examples Practice True Evangelism
A. Only the truth of God spoken, keeping to the central Gospel of Jesus Christ.
B. God pleasing, God tests our hearts and witnesses all we say and do—broadcast on the “Big Transmitter”
C. Out of centeredness in Christ, spread the Gospel beyond immediate surroundings.
VI. Your Are Prepared to Evangelize Epworth!
A. The Thessalonians had many fewer resources than we do today:
1. Jewish scriptures not published, had to be taught and memorized, shared by voice alone. WE have multiple translations widely in print, easily accessed and accessible.
2. The Apostle Paul only stayed a short time, 3 Sabbath’s of preaching. WE have heard numerous sermons in our lifetimes, Sunday school, and many testimonials.
3. The Thessalonians had the Holy Spirit. Ditto US: Holy Spirit
4. The Thessalonians had no written Gospel or letters in print, no New Testament at all. Paul’s letter was their first such material resource. WE have an extensive church history, a vast wealth of Christian literature, and a thriving Christian publishing industry.
VII. Response to Persecution
A. Then: the Thessalonians persisted in faith and spread the Gospel, did not focus on eliminating opposition. Now: WE should do the same.
B. Attacking the opposition via politics and protest distracts from focus on Christ.
C. Be teachers and examples, not of the world, but set apart.
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