The Fruit of the Resurrection

Come, see Jesus’s tears, his anger and his power over death and believe!

Are you uncertain about the end times? Paul says:
1. You are living in the end times but be comforted, take heart!

2. Why should we be comforted and take heart?
 – Because evil will not have the last say, GOD will. – You have examples of people who God kept safe in these times that you can and should follow! – And you have the WORD of God in writing.

3. Therefore let the Word do what it was meant to do and use in the way 

God intended it to be used.

What a wonderful message: I am who I am because He is who He is! NOTHING can change my status as adopted child of the Living God through the blood of Jesus Christ!

Kruger de Kock focuses on: 1. The extraordinary ordinariness of the Kingdom of God 2. The insignificant significance of the Kingdom of God 3. The seed, the tree and the shade of the Kingdom of God

Paul reminds us… * how not having money / not being rich and wanting it can stand between me and God’s calling to be godly and content (v 9-10) * how being rich can stand between me and God’s calling to be godly and content (v 17) * of the practical things we can do to monitor our hearts (6-10;18-19) * and of the power to keep our hearts focused and motivated to be obedient to Jesus in this matter (18-19)

The command: We must pursue the greatest wealth, the biggest gain of all: Godliness with contentment! (v 3-10, especially v 6) How must we do it? v 11-14 Flee Pursue Fight Take hold The power / motivation to obey (v 15-16)

1. The God of Refuge and Strength 2. The World unstable 3. The city unshakable 4. The King of Peace and Glory

Life is not a pleasure boat ride. It’s a lot more like wrestling match, a battle. Paul says, a couple of things are crucial if we want to remain standing in this battle. 3 very important things: We need to constantly be reminded of who the real battle is against (v 12). It’s vital to know your real enemy! We need to be reminded of the kind of strength we need to fight this battle and remain standing (v10-11).

Many reasons bring us to Jesus, but He always exceeds expectations; when you see Him you will be awestruck! Luke 5:17-26  1. Come to Jesus 2. Meet your Redeemer 3. Glorify God

Our Father’s kingdom plan remains the same no matter the circumstances: Through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus the Holy Spirit creates: Counter Cultural Communities | Who reveals God to this world | And who redefines successful living

Family Connection. Family Privileges. Family Responsibilities.

Theme: God’s great plan for restoring his rhythm: Come to me & Go make disciples God has a unique plan to undo all the destruction that evil and sin has caused in our world! To help restore the most important rhythm of all: Hearing His voice and responding in worship! Let’s think through The big problem God’s plan How to live into God’s plan!

Jesus came into our messed up world full of uncertainty and unrest and he is still making this invite:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
This sermon explores Matthew 11:20-30 by answering these 4 questions:

Who’s doing the invite?  Why is it necessary for Him to invite us to come to Him?
What exactly is he inviting us into?  What does taking up this invite look like?

The Christian faith is personal, but not meant to be private! We are his BODY, his family of servants on mission!

Who does not need encouragement en tough times. Even the Apostle Paul did. In the letters to Timothy he is encouraging this young pastor and his congregation in Ephesus. Through this specific passage, 2 Tim 1:1-17 he’s encouraging us to remain faithful to our main calling as God’s church by remembering * The Gospel and its profound effect on the future of our world(v 1-18) * Our calling and the role God would have us play in the fulfillment of his glorious plan (v 6-9a). * And that we are not alone: We have good examples of faithful believers those who have gone before us and those walking with us and we have the Holy Spirit! (v 5, v 12, v 16-18, v 7)

The image Jesus introduces in verse 1-3: I am the vine, you are the branches 

The core command in verse 4-5:  Abide in Me

The consequences of obedience vs disobedience to this command in verse 6-8:
Cut of and burned or pruned to bear fruit

Obedience in practice in verse 9-17: We abide in Him by together choosing life rhythms allowing us to:
Abide in his love
Let his Word abide in us
Prayerfully sharing all of our life and desires and needs with him
Learn about the joy of obeying his commandments, with LOVE for each other at its core
Live as God’s chosen servant friends

We are Cross Centred Servants on Mission to our Culture as a Church Family.

We saw in the previous 2 sermons that this calling flow form Jesus’s calling!  He was the ultimate Servant on Mission to the WORLD to start a new family!  We are the result of his ministry! 

If you still have any doubts about Jesus’s mission, let’s look at the passage and the meal Jesus are having here in Mark 14 with his disciples which we regularly share with one another!

Let’s look at

The Old Testament roots of this meal in the Passover meal
How Jesus confirms with this meal that he calls believers into a new family.
How this new family is like any other family bound together by blood – HIS BLOOD
How the only proper response is to invest myself into this family.

His family must become our family. His servant heart, our hearts.His mission, our mission!