Sermons on John (Page 2)
We are here today to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Most of us know the details of these events. We know the “what” of this story, but do we know the “why”? As we seek to answer the question “why?” I want to focus more on why it matters to me and you. Is the biblical story of Easter still relevant in the twenty-first century? Do the events that happened so many years ago really have an impact on my life in the here and now?
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36). If Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, then why would we—as citizens of His kingdom—live according to the principles of this world? Should we not live according to His kingdom principles? So as we continue our study in the Gospel of Luke this morning, I want us to pause and notice five principles for life in the kingdom of God.
If you’ve been keeping up with our study in the Gospel of Luke, you know that we have made our way through the nativity narrative and Jesus’ childhood adventures. Last week, John the Baptist declared, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” And so now we are about to encounter Jesus for the first time as an adult—He is being presented to the world out in the middle of nowhere by “Creepy John.” This presentation was spectacular—but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s see what happens in Luke 3:21-22.
One of the things that I hope to go see one day is the world’s most famous geyser, Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. This geyser faithfully erupts about 20 times a day. As we think about the concept of faithfulness, I want us to think about how that no matter what is going on in your life, if we want to truly be faithful to the Lord then we need to be faithful in every situation. In Luke 2:22-40, we will spend some time looking at each of the characters in this story to see how they demonstrated their faithfulness to God.
In our message today, we’re going to be thinking about “Connecting People to God through Worship.” We’re going to look at some of Jesus’ teaching in John 12, and then we’ll consider the implications of this teaching for our church, as well as, our personal lives. We’re going to talk about worship: what it is, why it’s important, and how it impacts others. And so rather than having a time for worship—followed by a message about how we are to worship—I want us to hear from God’s Word about the “how to” and then spend time together as a church family worshiping!
Ministering in the heart of the Philippines since 2015, Fil Kakilala is working hard to disciple new believers, train up new church leaders, and touch people’s lives with the gospel of Christ. The fruit of this ministry is evident, as many people are coming to know Christ and are being baptized!
In Acts 1:8, Jesus’ final message to His followers was: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” There is no uncertainty in His statement–we will be His witnesses–the question is what kind of witnesses will we be?
In the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, the author writes, “When we are preoccupied with our own concerns, much of the world is simply invisible to us. Service is rooted in seeing—in seeing others as God does. God cares about productive and nonproductive people, poor people and rich people, educated and non-educated people. God cares about everybody.” God wants us to see people as He sees them. He wants us to have the same mindset as Christ—in humility He put the needs of others before His own. As Foster explained, “More than any other single way, the grace of humility is worked into our lives through the Discipline of service. Humility, as we all know, is one of those virtues that is never gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it the more distant it becomes. To think we have it is evidence that we don’t… Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of humility… a deep change occurs in our spirits” as a result of true service.
We will be talking about this concept of “abiding” off-and-on throughout this year. This morning, I want us this to consider the implications of Psalm 91 on “abiding” when you look at it through the lens of God’s promises and our steadfast obedience to His Word. Remember what we learned in part one of this short series: God does not promise to keep us from trouble and difficulties in this life—He promises to see us through it! So as we considered His promises to protect us in Psalm 91, do not lose sight of the fact that He is working all things—the good, the bad, and the ugly—together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.