Who’s Lord of Your Sabbath?

Sermon Outline for Providence Baptist Church; February 3, 2019

Who’s Lord of Your Sabbath?

Luke 6:1-11 (Feb. 3, 2019)

The presence of the Pharisees did not necessarily indicate they saw Jesus and the disciples directly, but it did show how closely Jesus was being watched by the Pharisees and other religious leaders.

What do you think the Pharisees thought when Jesus said, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”?

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Withered = paralyzed, atrophied or shriveled

How legalistic would you consider yourself to be?

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Is Jesus the Lord of your Sabbath? __________

Is Jesus the Lord of your anything? __________

What would you say, without any doubt, you have completely surrendered to Christ?

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What evidence in your life would indicate that you have completely surrendered this (these) to Christ?

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Sermon Outline 1/27/2019 for Providence Baptist Church

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Luke 5:1-11 (Jan. 27, 2019)

Many resources will parallel this account with Mt. 4.18-22 which doesn’t really make sense. How many times have you ever called someone Lord (Master, Epistata) the first time you met them?

Peter had obviously met Jesus before. In this account, Jesus was calling him and others into permanent discipleship.

It was a well-known fact that fishermen caught fish in shallow water at night on the Sea of Galilee, not in the daytime in deep water.

So they pulled their boats upon the shore, LEFT EVERYTHING, and followed Him. What are you willing to leave to follow Jesus permanently?

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Are you planning to call/make a disciple for Jesus this year? What do you plan to do about calling him or her?

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Because John the Baptist and Jesus Used Interactive Methods of Preaching

As a researcher conducting a study, one of the necessary tasks to complete is justifying the reason for doing the research in the first place. For my seminary research project, I chose to do a study on the effectiveness of interactive preaching. But why preach using an interactive model in the first place? I believe I am justified in saying that John the Baptist and Jesus used interactive models of preaching.

After John the Baptist’s sermon in Luke 3:1-9, the Scripture notes in verse 10, “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, ‘then what shall we do?'” (NASB: 1995 Update) Two specific groups were subsequently listed: tax collectors and soldiers. The people wanted to know how they could apply John’s teaching to their lives.

Likewise, as Jesus was teaching once, “…a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'” (Lk 10. 25). After Jesus responded, the lawyer asked another question, “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). What follows in Scripture is the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus used an interactive opportunity to answer someone’s questions, even though the lawyer may have had ulterior motives for asking them. It is likely that the lawyer learned from his questioning whether or not he applied the answers to his life.

I contend that interactive preaching has a place among an effective preacher’s sermons if the minister takes care to set up rules governing the questions that may be asked during a sermon. My rules were simply: 1) questions had to relate to the understanding of the Scripture being considered in the sermon and 2) questions could be asked to clarify how teachings from the Scripture being used in the sermon could be applied to one’s life.

I have found myself wanting to ask questions during sermons, not to disrupt or to put the minister on the spot, but to ask questions within the framework of the rules I use for my own interactive sermons. What do you think about the idea of interactive sermons? Would you like to participate in one sometime? Let me know your thoughts! Thank you for reading and blessings to all for a good rest of the week.

Interactive Preaching

In 2016, I graduated from Luther Rice College and Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry degree. My research project was titled A Study of the Impact of an Interactive Preaching Model on a Small
Congregation in Kentucky. My research was based on the hypothesis that people would find sermons more useful if they were given an opportunity to ask questions during the sermons.

There were two ground rules for asking interactive questions: 1) The questions had to relate to a person’s understanding of the Scripture upon which the sermon was based, or 2) the questions had to relate to how a person could better understand how to apply the Scripture to their lives. The purpose for the interaction was NOT to facilitate Sunday-School class type discussions or to argue different viewpoints of Scripture.

It is my belief that most followers of Christ want to become more like Him. They either don’t understand how well equipped they are or they don’t understand how to access the resources that God supplied us with when we were saved in order that we may reflect Christ’s image in our own lives.

Over the next couple of months, I am going to be finishing a book which describes the purpose of and how to better access the Fruit of the Spirit that exists in every believer of Jesus. I hope you will keep an eye out for questions and discussions that I post on this site so that you may help me understand others’ perceptions and feelings regarding both interactive preaching and the Fruit of the Spirit. Everyone have a blessed weekend and happy Lord’s Day!

When Love Is Not Love

Galatians 5:22 points us to the fact that agape love is a component of the Fruit of the Spirt. If one wishes to understand how agape love is manifest, 1 Cor 13 is an excellent reference:

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NIV)

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I cited the NIV for this reference because of the poignant use of the word “always” lacking in other translations. The word “bears” used in the NASB, KJV and ESV might be translated as “covers”, the meaning of which is more evident to most readers in the NIV’s usage of “protects.”

Love always protects. True love never has “self” as the focus, but always others. There may be those for whom you would die without reservation trying to protect. I have those precious few in my life as well. The love that projects from the Fruit of the Spirit always desires to protect. If not, then it isn’t godly love.

Love always trusts. Loving others requires commitment, sacrifice and the willingness to lay aside suspicions and doubt. These verses are not only speaking of intimate love between couples, but of followers’ love for other believers. Think of how much more trust must be involved between those who are married if trust is always required to show agape love. Does this mean that God trusts us? That’s the only logical conclusion.

Love always hopes. True love always looks toward the positive growth that will occur in a loving, godly environment. Some are dreading the negative to the point that depression and hopelessness have filled every moment of their lives. Life without love is hopeless. Hopelessness does not foster love. Love must involve two people and the Spirit of God. Love cannot exist between two people as disjoint from God.

Love always perseveres. This passage is proof that one cannot “fall out of love.” Real love always lasts. Real love is as determined as life itself. If you’ve ever witnessed the struggle of something trying to cling to life, you know of what I write. The termination of physical life requires something catastrophic on the scale of the victim. Forces which are sufficient to kill insects are usually not adequate to kill a person. It takes a lot of force to instantly kill a living being. Or, it takes a sustained force over a period of time. Love is greater than life itself. It will persevere from our physical realm into our eternity.

Whatever emotions terminate in this world that we mistake for love are usually self-serving, jealous or envious. If the emotion ends, it wasn’t love to begin with. One of a couple may say, “We just grew apart.” No. They didn’t grow apart. They were never growing together to begin with. Whatever existed between the couple that bonded them together was a toxic emotion waiting to engulf their hearts and souls, a product of the devil himself.

1 Corinthians 13 is a powerful chapter with regard to the characteristics and requirements of love. I challenge you to read it several times and attempt to fully digest the meaning of this word that we sometimes use too casually.

My Goodness!

Sometimes isn’t very good…I have bad thoughts about the person who was rude to me, wish evil at times (at least for a few minutes) for someone who has treated me unfairly and occasionally I use bad language, almost always in a funny context. I know, I’m a minister and I’m not supposed to do that! I know that! I really do know that…At least I don’t get mad to the point of cursing. I even play (most) of my golf without it!

Ok, so before I condemn myself into being a terrible person, which probably didn’t take my own testimony anyway, let me say a few things about the goodness component about the Fruit of the Spirit.

Goodness, or righteousness, is not a trait that humans are capable of producing on their own to any appreciable levels. There are some people who are not followers of Christ who are good people. In fact, I’ve met a few folks who didn’t believe in God who were nicer overall to me than some of my fellow followers! This should not be! But people who don’t believe in God almost always have a point at which their secular humanistic tendencies will outshine their attempts at personal goodness and an ugly side will emerge, betraying their faith that humans are capable of creating their own best selves devoid of any supernatural influence.

The simple fact of the matter is that the only way we can demonstrate righteousness is to be submitted to the Holy Spirit who lives within us upon our being saved. Try to be good all you want! It will never be good enough to meet God’s standard of goodness. And almost good enough is just as bad as terrible in the context of our eternity. Pastor Adrian Rogers used to say, “I wouldn’t trust the best five minutes of my life to get me into Heaven.” If he wouldn’t have, I’m certainly not going to trust my best millisecond!

No, the only way we can attain a righteous status before God is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, believing that He is the Son of God, that He died to pay the atonement for our sins and that He arose on the third day in His glorious Resurrection. We live our best lives when we are submitted to the Spirit. And we get the Spirit by being saved.

Everyone have a blessed day!

Try a Little Kindness

Glen Campbell released a song in 1970 with the title above. Some of the lyrics are as follows:

…And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets…

There are people who are certainly unkind due to narrow-mindedness: racists, misogynists, and xenophobes to name a few. People with prejudices, or irrational fears are often unkind to people to the point of treating them as less than humans. If you are mature follower of Christ, it is my prayer that you do not fall under this category of narrow-mindedness. Hatred of others because of their differences to us is a grievous sin, one that would cause someone to have to perform some serious soul-searching to establish his or her relationship with God.

In contemporary society, there is an unwarranted type of unkindness shown to narrow-minded people, namely to those who follow the teachings of Jesus. As written by John:

John 14:6–7 (NIV)

⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Some have equated the singularity of Jesus’ position as the sole way to Heaven as “narrow-minded thinking.” Such a proposition is tantamount to asking followers of Christ to expand their thinking about the number of letters in the word “Christmas”. To a follower of Christ, the belief that Jesus is the only way to Heaven is as sure as there are nine letters. There is no reason for unkindness to anyone who believes that Jesus is the only way.

Followers of Christ, then should reflect the image and kindness of Christ when they interact with those who do not believe in the exclusivity statement. We have every reason to disagree with those who believe in another way to Heaven, but never have a right to be unkind, no matter how we are treated.

Kindness

Driving around lately, I’ve noticed signs in people’s yards that read “Be Kind.” That sounds like a nice enough thing to suggest. After all, when we were children, most of us were taught to be kind by our parents and by our teachers at school.

Nowadays, though, it seems the goal of teaching kindness is to instill an attitude of “Expect Kindness” into young people rather than “Share Kindness.” Some are taught to react with violence when someone else disagrees with them or is unkind. The answer to the question, “Can we all just get along?” is an emphatic, “NO!”.

Biblical kindness does not require that other people treat us well. We cannot control the actions of others. We can only control our own actions and we are commanded by Scripture to love our enemies and to do good to those who wish us harm. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? Do you think Jesus thought it was fair that He had to die on the cross? Do you think it was fair that Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for your sins?

Jesus did not let the actions of others determine how He would treat people, even when they despised Him, spit on Him, cursed at Him, beat Him and eventually nailed Him to the cross. Rather, Jesus asked the Father to forgive the ones who crucified Him because they didn’t know what they were doing. That’s seriously biblical kindness. That’s the type of kindness you can only get from allowing the Holy Spirit to permeate your life and control the reins to your tongue. The type of kindness found as part of the Fruit of the Spirit is not the kindness we show others on our own. Rather, it is the kindness Jesus commanded when He said, “Love your enemies.”

Putting up a sing to encourage others to “Be Kind” without expecting to show kindness under all circumstances is tantamount to posting the Ten Commandments in your yard and only expecting to keep a couple of them yourself.

Patience III

Made you wait an extra day there, didn’t I? How’s the patience working out this week? Had enough turkey, leftovers or Uncle Harry? Did the football game not go your way?

Patience is one component of the Fruit of the Spirit that is likely more challenging to most people than some of the others. We are used to 24-hour news coverage, free two-day shipping and drive-thru everything. Our lifestyles largely do not foster patience, nor do they even encourage it. Speed and quantity are often valued over quality. People also tend to drive farther to work and activities than they once did, necessitating more miles to be traveled.

In my opinion, one of the greatest lessons of patience taught in Scripture involved Christ’s interaction with the death of Lazarus:

John 11:20–21 (NASB95)

20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.

21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

John 11:32 (NASB95)

32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Both Martha and Mary were unhappy because Jesus had not come whenever they first called Him. As a result, by the time Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had died and had already been buried for four days.

Jesus taught them an important lesson that day. There is nothing impossible with God. We can always trust God’s directions and His timing. Even when we are sure that time has escaped up and all is hopeless, Jesus can resurrect our lives and set us up anew.

Patience II

There isn’t much to brag about in my golf game. But one advantage of not being a long driver of the ball is the tendency to hit more fairways. There are some who would argue that today’s game is more of a bomb-and-gouge pursuit where the players hit their drives as far as they can, no matter where they end up, and then do whatever it takes to extract their ball from the rough to get it onto the green. Hank Haney is a famous proponent of the importance of distance. To his credit, most of the highest paid professional golfers tend to hit the ball very far.

But for the average golfer, like me, hitting 300-yard drives isn’t in the realm of possibility. And most golf courses I could afford to play do not have the uniform rough and off-fairways lies the pros enjoy. Hence, the importance of the fairway.

The picture above shows my ball of the sixth tee of my local golf course. I hit that drive today, into the wind, about 225 yards. That’s not very far by today’s standards. The post in front of the ball is the 250-yard marker into the green. No chance that I’m going to be making it to the green in two shots. But, since I have a good lie in the middle of the fairway, there is an excellent chance that my second and third shots will result in my making par or better on the hole. And that’s the goal in my golf world.

You see, I could lose patience with my golf game and try to hit the ball much farther. The results would likely be that I would enjoy fewer shots from the fairway and more from undesirable places. That’s what happens when we deviate from God’s plans for our lives. We end up off the path he has groomed for us and into undesirable places. From those, we end up really making a mess of things.

In the game of golf, it’s easy for one bad shot to result in at least two more strokes on a hole. The same way in life, we have one bad day away from God’s plan and it can take two or more days for us to get back on the program. Even though we might not get all the attention for hitting the ball the farthest, we enjoy a lot more success when we are patient and value staying in God’s will for our lives.

If you don’t play golf or aren’t familiar with the game, you may not understood all I have written today. Be patient for one more day and I’ll post a different example tomorrow which may be more familiar to the majority of people. If you do play golf, adopt the 80% rule and keep your swing under control. You’ll enjoy hitting more fairways and playing from better lies. Stay in God’s will for your life and you will always be working from a preferred lie. Blessing to everyone for a wonderful weekend!