EASTER!!! Jesus is alive! Be a Better Ending! (Mark 16.1-8)

Scripture: Mark 16.1-8

Translation: ^16.1And after the Sabbath had passed, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought perfumes, so that going [to the Tomb] they could anoint Him. ²And very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they were going to the tomb as the sun was rising. ³And they were saying to themselves, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” ⁴And looking up, they were seeing/staring that/because the stone really was rolled away, because it was very huge.

⁵And going into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side wearing a white long-flowing-robe. And they were totally freaking out. ⁶And he was saying to them, “Don’t freak out. You’re looking for Jesus the One from Nazareth, the One Who really was crucified. He is risen! He’s not here. Look, the place where they put Him! ⁷Instead, go, tell His followers and Peter that He is going ahead of them to Galilee. There you will see Him, just like He told you.” ⁸And going out, they fled from the tomb, because trembling and shock was seizing them. And they didn’t tell anyone anything, because they were scared.

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Journey to the Open Tomb

b.      Interaction with the Angel at the Empty Tomb

2.      Themes

a.       Surprise/shock

                                                              i.      The set up relates to the theme of failure, because while they should have been anticipating His resurrection as He told them, they were anticipating a cold body in a tomb, with rot and decay setting in. That’s why they brought the perfumes and spices

1.      they expect the tomb to be sealed

2.      but they look up and see that the stone is moved, and their jaws drop

                                                            ii.      the next surprise is that when looking into the tomb they see not the body of Jesus, alive or dead, but the presence of an angel

                                                          iii.      the message of the resurrection is another surprise, as is the reminded that Jesus said He would meet them in Galilee, and that they would be commissioned to tell the rest of the disciples

1.      in fact their shock keeps them from fulfilling their commission to spread the news of the resurrection

                                                          iv.      the last shock is where the story ends, it shocked the church so much that there are 3 different endings added to the story way after the fact by the church

b.      Fear

                                                              i.      Fear begins the story as the women fear that they will not be able to anoint Jesus’ body because of the stone

                                                            ii.      The fear continues when the tomb is open

                                                          iii.      The fear explodes when they see the angel instead of Jesus

                                                          iv.      The fear is also the reason the women flee and stay silent about what they have seen

c.       Resurrection

                                                              i.      The sun rising is of course a literary foreshadowing of what is about to happen to the women, they will see the light, but more importantly of what has happened, Jesus like the sun swallowed up in night for a time, has risen back to prominence and glory

                                                            ii.      The resurrection is never directly narrated by the author, instead the angel delivers the news that Jesus was raised from the dead by God and is keeping His promise to meet them in Galilee

                                                          iii.      However, the crucifixion is presented in the perfect tense-form to mark the intensification of the statement, the pragmatic effect being along the lines of “You’re looking for Jesus who really for sure died by crucifixion” in order to also highlight the truth and the importance of the fact that Jesus in fact rose from the dead

                                                          iv.      While it is clear that God raised Jesus from the dead, at the same time it also clear that Jesus raised Himself from the dead—death couldn’t hold Him, He overpowered death!!!

                                                            v.      The resurrection is so important that an angel is sent to confer the message and make sure that people really believed that the resurrection had happened, and that the women were told to share the news

d.      Commission

                                                              i.      The angel is commissioned to the tomb, implicitly

                                                            ii.      However, the women are explicitly commissioned to

1.      Tell the news of the resurrection of the disciples

2.      Tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee as promised

3.      Tell the disciples that they will see Him

4.      (implicit to the readers) Tell the world that Jesus rose from the dead

e.       Message

                                                              i.      The message is that Jesus rose from the dead and that He really was seen

                                                            ii.      There was all kinds of proof, angelic messengers, eyewitnesses, even women

f.       Failure

                                                              i.      The theme of failure is rife throughout the book, it came to a head with Peter’s denial of Jesus

                                                            ii.      However, now it comes again, because the women fail

1.      To expect the resurrection of Christ in faith

2.      To tell the news of the resurrection/deliver the angelic message to the disciples

g.      Faith

                                                              i.      Faith is a theme that we see more implicitly than explicitly, and more by contrasts than by example

                                                            ii.      The women should have trusted Jesus that He would raise from the dead

                                                          iii.      The women should have trusted the angel’s message

                                                          iv.      Faith just as before is the only way to have a relationship with Christ, and the resurrection only makes this more true

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus rose from the dead!!!

b.      Jesus is God

c.       Angels are Real

d.      Faith is necessary to know and follow Christ

e.       Christians must tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection

Applications

1.      Outline

a.       The Part of the Story We Read: Jesus Rose From the Dead!

                                                              i.      This is the best news ever!

                                                            ii.      It means Jesus was Who He said He was, He was the Son of God

                                                          iii.      It means that we can have eternal life

                                                          iv.      It means that His death really was enough to take the hell we deserve away from us

                                                            v.      It means we have hope for when we face sickness and death and trial and suffering and persecution

                                                          vi.      It means we have a new identity shaped by Jesus, an identity without fear, without hopelessness, and without purposelessness

                                                        vii.      This is what we are supposed to be expecting by now, this was we have been prepped to believe with all the stories and miracles and sufferings of Jesus—they have all been taking us to this point, the point where we see that Jesus really is alive, that He is God in the flesh!

                                                      viii.      It means we can love and know Him like we do a living person, because He is alive!

                                                          ix.      It means that our experiences of His presence and our understandings of His word are not false, pointless, or fading. Instead they are true, real, meaningful, and lasting!

b.      The Part of the Story We Write: We Have to Tell the World Jesus is Risen!

                                                              i.      We are the end of the story, we finish the story, because it is not just their story, it is our story—will we let fear and shock and low status keep us silent, or will we fulfill the commission and tell the world that Jesus lives!

                                                            ii.      It is funny that we as a community called out some sins on Friday and we nailed them to the cross, to put them to death with Jesus. One of the big issues that we discussed was not engaging in worship, whether through singing, sermons, small groups, fellowship—whatever and however we’re failing. The truth is that one of the reasons we act and respond that way is because we forget or don’t always full believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead, that He is a Real Person that we can really interact with, that we really do have eternal life through Him, and that He really is our Lord and Mission-giver

1.      Why don’t we care about songs, well, because we don’t care enough about Jesus, or perhaps more accurately because we forget how truly alive Jesus is! Jesus being alive is not just a random fact that we know, He is a real person we know! And can know more and more, and the truth is that through singing, prayer, sermons, small groups, fellowship, serving, and whatever else God has given us to do and enjoy we can come to know, experience, and interact with the Risen Jesus! You want to know what made the early church so bawlsy? They knew Jesus, they knew He was alive, and they knew that they still had a relationship with Him, that in fact their relationship with Jesus was stronger and better after the resurrection, but it wasn’t perfect, because they were still waiting to be with Him face to face again

2.      We also identified that we are weak and fail as a community in the area of compartmentalization. We divide our lives up into little sections that don’t interact. And while some compartmentalization is going to be a natural outworking of us having different networks of friends, family, school, work, etc., and different roles to play in different settings, I think the problem is that we see that our lives are too compartmentalized. There is not enough overlap, our identities are not expressing themselves fully in all these areas. This ending is here to shatter our artificial walls and dividers and bring our worlds together!

a.       This happens by giving us a core identity of being in Jesus, and empowered and hope-ified by Jesus’ resurrection

b.      It also happens by kicking us out into the world and saying, “hey, it’s on you. go write the end of the book, tell the world that Jesus rose from the dead for real!”

                                                                                                                                      i.      It is hard to have a life full of compartmentalization and secret Christianity, if we are trapped in fear or shame or confusion, so much so that we don’t tell the world that Jesus lives

                                                                                                                                    ii.      You want our youth group to not be so compartmentalized, then we need to find some courage and get bold about spreading the word!

                                                                                                                                  iii.      Some angel is not going to show up to finish the story for you, you and I and we as a community have to tell the world that Jesus lives!

2.      Small Group Questions

a.       How easy is it for you to believe that Jesus really did die on the cross and raise from the dead?

b.      What does it look like for us to finish the Mark story? And how did it make you feel to hear that the ending of the book was never written by Mark? Concerned? confused? fearful? Excited?

c.       How could the resurrection of Jesus shape how you think of yourself, shape your identity?

d.      The resurrection has changed the focus of the church from merely inward to outward. How can we as a community and as individual not only have an inward focus, but a focused outward momentum?

Illustrations/Explanations

1.      Why did we stop reading the story at v.8?

a.       well the short answer is “because the rest of the book is not really part of the Bible”

b.      the long answer is

                                                              i.      because there are actually several different suggested endings found in copies of the Book of mark, which all start after v.8

1.      two  shorter endings

2.      one longer ending

                                                            ii.      Because those suggested endings from different copies of the Bible are not in the earliest and best copies of the book

                                                          iii.      Because the many of the copies that did have that ending have notes in them that say the section is not from Mark

                                                          iv.      Because the words used in the last section don’t seem to be words in Mark’s more common vocabulary

                                                            v.      Because the other suggested endings don’t flow well from the ending clearly written by Mark

                                                          vi.      Because the book’s themes resolve well by leaving the tension open

c.       What does this mean, well, it means that God gave us a shocker of an ending, that this is actually the right ending for the Gospel of Mark, that it is the ending that calls us and shocks us into following Christ

d.      But what it means is that we write the ending of this Gospel with our lives. The question set before by God today is, “Will you let fear keep you from sharing the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection?” and “Will you trust Jesus as the Risen Lord and Savior?” 

GOOD FRIDAY!!! Jesus--Tried, Crucified, and Buired (Mark 15)

Unfortunately, because of the structure of the service, no sermon audio is available for this set of notes, I still hope it helps you though. 

Scripture: Mark 15

Translation: ^15.1And immediately, early in the morning, because the chief priests had made a plan with the elders and the scholars and the whole Sanhedrin, having tied Jesus up, they took [Him] away and handed [Him] over to Pilate. ²And Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus to answer him was saying, “You’re saying [it].” ³And the chief priests were accusing Him of many things. ⁴And Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Aren’t You going to answer anything? Look! They are accusing you of so many things!” ⁵But Jesus no longer answered with anything, with the result that Pilate was shocked.

⁶And according to the feast, He would release to them one prisoner, who they requested. ⁷And the one called Barabbas was chained with the terrorists/rebels, who in a rebellion had committed murder. ⁸And rising up the crowd began to ask just how much he was going to do for them. ⁹And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰(For he knew that because of jealousy the chief priests had handed Him over.) ¹¹And the chief priests stirred up the crowd, that instead he should release Barabbas to them. ¹²And Pilate again to answer was saying to them, “So, what should I do about who you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴And Pilate was saying to them, “Then what bad thing did He do?” And they shouted a lot more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵And Pilate, because he wanted to do enough for the crowd, released to them Barabbas. And he handed over Jesus, after flogging [Him], so that He could be crucified.

¹⁶And the soldiers took Him away inside the courtyard, that is the Praetorium, and they were summoning the whole cohort. ¹⁷And they dressed Him up in purple and weaving a crown made of thorns they put [it] on Him.. ¹⁸And they began to greet Him, “Hello, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹And they hit His head with a reed and spit on Him and putting down their knees, they swore allegiance to Him. ²⁰And when they made fun of Him, they stripped Him of the purple and put His clothes on Him. And they were taking Him out, so that they could crucify Him.

²¹And they forced someone who was passing by, Simon from Cyrene, who was coming from the field, the father of Alexander and Rufus, in order that he could carry His cross. ²²And they brought Him to the place ofGolgatha  (which is translated “The Place of the Skull” ). ²³And they were giving Him drugged wine, Who also would not take [it]. ²⁴And they were crucifying Him and “dividing up His clothes by throwing lots for them, so that someone could take something. ²⁵And it was the third hour and they crucified Him. ²⁶And the written statement of the charge against Him was clearly being written, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷And with Him they were crucifying two muggers, one on the right and one on His left.

²⁹And the people traveling by were slandering Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Hey You, the One Who’s going to destroy the Sanctuary and build it up in three days, ³⁰save Yourself, by coming down from the cross! ³¹Similarly, the chief priests also mocking [Him] before one another with the scholars were saying, “He saved others. He can’t save Himself! ³²The Messiah, the King of Israel had better come down right now from the cross, so that we could see and believe!” And the guys who were actually getting crucified with Him were insulting Him!

³³And when it became the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus yelled with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani!?” (which is translated “My God, My God, for what purpose did You abandon Me!?) ³⁵And some of the people standing there, after hearing, were saying, “Look, He’s shouting for Elijah!” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it around a reed, and gave Him a drink saying, “Leave [Him] alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”

³⁷And Jesus after letting out a great shout breathed out for the last time. ³⁸And the curtain of the Sanctuary tore apart into two pieces from top to bottom. ³⁹And the centurion standing there in front of Him, because he saw that He breathed out for the last time like this, said, “Truly, This Man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰And there were also women watching from a long way away, among whom were also Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Little James and Joses and Salome, ⁴¹who when He was in Galilee were following Him and serving Him, and many other women whom who had come up together with Him into Jerusalem.

⁴²And becoming night already, since it was the preparation, that is the pre-sabbath, ⁴³coming Joseph from Arimathaea a prominent councilor, who also was himself looking forward to the Kingdom of God, daring, he went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴And Pilate was shocked, since He really was already dead. And summoning the centurion, he questioned him if He had died already. ⁴⁵And because he knew from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph as a gift. ⁴⁶And buying linen cloth, taking Him down he wrapped [Him] with the linen cloth and put Him in a tomb, which was carved from the rock. And he rolled a stone in place at the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷And Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses watched where He really was put.

Passage Summary: xxx

The Point I’m Stressing: xxx

Hook:

1.       

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Jesus before Pilate (vv.1-5)

b.      Jesus rejected by Jews (vv.6-15)

c.       Jesus mocked and beaten by Soldiers (vv.16-20)

d.      Jesus crucified (vv.21-28)

e.       Jesus mocked by Jews (vv.29-32)

f.       Jesus abandoned by God (vv.33-36)

g.      Jesus dies (vv.37-39)

h.      Jesus witnessed by women (vv.40-41)

i.        Jesus buried by Joseph of Arimathaea (vv.42-47)

2.      Themes

a.       Rejection

b.      Mocking

c.       Crucifixion

d.      Death

e.       Burial

f.       Mock Trial

g.      Accusations

h.      Suffering

i.        Son of God

j.        King/King of the Jews

k.      Innocent Jesus

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus truly died on the Cross

b.      Jesus was buried

c.       Jesus’ death on the cross took the sins of those who would believe away

d.      Jesus was innocent of all wrongdoing and sin

e.       Jesus suffered for us

f.       Jesus is the Son of God, that is, He is God, Who became man, for the glory of God the Father.

Applications

1.      Outlines

a.       We have all rejected and devalued and disbelieved Jesus—the essence of sin

                                                              i.      There is the same temptation to cave to the pressure of the crowds, instead of loving Jesus

1.      We can cave to the pressure of people who are against Jesus,

                                                            ii.      There is the same temptation to reject and devalue Jesus for other things

1.      Romans

2.      Sex

3.      Money

4.      Power

5.      Grades

6.      Status

7.      Fame

8.      Friends

9.      Family

10.  Games

11.  TV

12.  Sports

                                                          iii.      There is still the temptation to disbelieve Jesus

1.      By not trusting Him to save us

2.      By not trusting Him to lead us

3.      By not trusting Him to teach us

4.      By not trusting Him to be Who He is and said He was

b.      We all deserved to be judged and punished by men—but Jesus was judged and punished for us

c.       We all deserved to be shamed and mocked---but Jesus took it for us

d.      We all deserved to be abandoned and judged by God--but God did it to Jesus instead

e.       We all deserved to die a physical death for our sin—but Jesus died for us

f.       We all deserved to be buried and left to rot—but Jesus was buried for us

2.      What is sin?

a.       Sin is the rejection of Jesus

b.      Sin is the bad things we do

c.       Sin is not believing that Jesus is Who He says He is

3.      What makes sin so bad?

a.       Sin is bad because it devalues God, Who created everything, which means that He gave everything value

b.      Sin is bad because it is actually a form of rejection and hate against God, because God loves us and our sin is a way of saying “I hate you” to God, and a way of saying, “I don’t need you!”

c.       Sin is bad, because at its core it is us trying to be God, which we are obviously not, we are trying to steal God’s worship and glory

d.      Sin is bad, because it loves lies rather than the truth

e.       Sin is bad, because it hurts others

f.       Look, basically sin is bad, because instead of giving God what He deserves, instead of giving Him what we own Him, we steal it and give it to ourselves or something else that we love

g.      God is a Father to us, and sin is bad because it is like rejecting the Father’s love and care for us

4.      Prayer Topics

a.       Let’s pray and thank Jesus for being judged and punished like He was guilty

b.      Let’s pray and give all the shame and embarrassed feelings we have over our failures and sins

c.       Let’s pray and thank Jesus for being abandoned and judged by God for us

d.      Let’s pray and thank Jesus for His death and burial for us

e.       Let’s pray and confess our sins, our rejection and disbelief in Jesus or what Jesus taught 

Jesus' Triumphal Entry, Temple Cleansing, Teaching, and Authority (Mark 11)

Scripture: Mark 11

Translation: ^11.1And when they were getting close to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His followers. ²And He said to them. “Go into the village that’s in front of you, and immediately when you go into, you will find a young donkey, tied up, that no one among men has sat on yet. Untie it and bring [it]. ³And if anyone would say to you, ‘why are you doing this,’ say ‘The Lord needs it.’ And immediately send it here again.” ⁴And they left and found a young donkey tied up near a door outside on the street and they untied it. ⁵And some of the people standing there were saying to them, “What are you doing untying the young donkey?” ⁶And they told them just like Jesus told [them]. And they let them. ⁷And they brought the young donkey to Jesus and they put their coats on it, and He sat on it. ⁸And many people spread their coats on the road with others cutting off leafy branches from the fields. ⁹And the people who went ahead and the people following were shouting, “Hosaana! The One coming in the Name of the Lord is blessed! ¹⁰The coming Kingdom of our father David is blessed! Hosanna in the highest places!” ¹¹And He went into Jerusalem, into the Temple. And looking around at everything, with the time being late, He left for Bethany with the Twelve. ¹²And on the next day when they went out from Bethany, He felt hungry. ¹³And seeing a fig tree from a long way away that had leaves, He went, if then He will find something on it. And coming to it, He found nothing except leaves, because it wasn’t time for figs. ¹⁴And in response He said to it, “May no one ever eat from you any longer!” And His followers were listening. ¹⁵And they were coming into Jerusalem. And when came into the Temple, He began to throw out those selling and those buying in the Temple, and flipped the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of those selling the pigeons. ¹⁶And He didn't let anyone carry a thing through the temple. ¹⁷And He was teaching and saying to them, “Isn’t it written that “My House will be called a house of prayer for all nations”? But you really have made it “a hideout for muggers!” ¹⁸And the chief-priests and scholars heard and they were looking for how they could destroy Him, because they were scared of Him, because the whole crowd was really impressed at His teaching. ¹⁹And when it became evening, they traveled outside of the city. ²⁰And passing by early in the morning they saw the fig tree completely withered from the roots. ²¹And having remembered, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree, which you cursed, really is withered!” ²²And to answer Jesus was saying to them, “Have faith in God. ²³Amen, I’m telling you that whoever would say to this mountain ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea’ and wouldn’t doubt in his heart, but would trust that what he speaks happens, it will happen for him. ²⁴Because of this I’m telling you all things—as many things as you pray and ask for—believe that you will receive, and it will happen for you. ²⁵And whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against someone, so that your Father, The One in the Heavens would forgive you your violations.” ²⁷And they came again into Jerusalem. And when He was walking around the Temple, the chief-priests and scholars and elders came to him. ²⁸And they were saying to Him, “By what kind of authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority, so that you would be doing these things?” ²⁹And Jesus said to them, “I’ll ask you one explanation, and you will answer Me, and I will tell you by what kind of authority I’m doing these things. ³⁰Was the Baptism that John did from Heaven or from humans? Answer me.” ³¹And they were discussing with themselves saying “If we say ‘from Heaven’, He will say ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ³²but could we say ‘from humans?’” They were being afraid of the crowd, because absolutely all the people really held about John that he was a prophet.³³And to answer they were saying to Jesus, “We don’t know. And Jesus was saying to them, “Then I’m not telling you by what authority I’m doing these things.”   

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Triumphal Entry (vv.1-11)

b.      Fig Tree Part 1 (vv.12-14)

c.       Temple Cleansing and Teaching (vv.15-19)

d.      Fig Tree Part 2:Have Faith (vv.20-25)

e.       Temple Confrontation: By What Kind of Authority (vv.26-33)

2.      Themes

a.       Jesus is the Messiah, Kingly and Priestly

b.      Conflict

c.       Faith

d.      Blessing

e.       Young donkey

f.       Lordship of Jesus

g.      Authority

h.      fig tree /withered fig tree

i.        Temple

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus is the Messiah, King and Priest of the Nation

b.      God must be trusted

c.       Jesus is worthy of praise

d.      Jesus is humble

e.       Jesus is Omniscient

Applications

1.      Sermon Outline

a.       We must worship Jesus as our Humble Messiah

                                                              i.      What Jesus shows us by riding on the young donkey that’s never been ridden on is that He is both worthy of honor, but humble in attitude

                                                            ii.      We should worship Him as God because He knows the future—He knows everything

                                                          iii.      He is the Messiah, He is the One we should trust to save us and rule us!

                                                          iv.      We should praise Him, excited to see Him save us and to rule over us! He is worship-worthy because He is God’s Representative, and He is God’s King. He is also worthy of worship because He is One Who makes our worship possible, and Who focuses our worship on the Father

                                                            v.      All of this shows Jesus’ worthiness of worship and His humility

b.      We must make our worship accessible to all and directed towards God

                                                              i.      Cf. illustration #1

                                                            ii.      So it appears that Jesus’ real problem with all this buying and selling is not so much that it is happening in the Temple, although that was part of it, but more about what that buying and selling meant for the people who wanted to come and worship God, and the way that the buying and selling was happening

                                                          iii.      See, by making the non-Jewish area of the Temple into a market it was keeping non-Jewish people from worshiping God. Jesus’ problem was that they were keeping people from be able to come and worship God with God’s people.

1.      So what does this mean for us? What we need to ask ourselves is what are doing on purpose or even by accident that is keeping people from worshiping God, and even more specifically what are we doing that is keeping our group from making our worship services accessible to all kinds of people, people of different ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds?

2.      But it also means we should ask what are we doing to make it open and available for all kinds of people, what are we doing to make our worship services really about worship?

                                                          iv.      The other problem was the way people were buying and selling—they were obsessed with money so much that they were ripping people off so that they could worship God. Thus, the problem was that people were in the Temple worshiping the wrong things: money, convenience,

1.      What are we worshipping? Are we really worshiping God? Or are we worshiping comfort? Entertainment? Money? Music? Phones? Serving? Socializing?

2.      Or are we here to draw close to God? To worship Him, to love Him, to glorify Him, to get to know Him, to live for Him?

                                                            v.      This means that we don’t need to be so worried about whether we sell stuff in the church building or use the church building for non-churchy purposes (and by the way what is Spiritual and secular is often really hard to figure out)

                                                          vi.      We need to worry about whether we are here to worship God and to help and bring others here to worship God.

c.       We must have faith when pray as well as forgive others

                                                              i.      Jesus’ whole story about cursing the fig tree is an illustration of the power of praying with total faith

                                                            ii.      Sometimes we are amazed when God answers someone’s prayers, but we shouldn’t be

                                                          iii.      Instead, we should the ones sharing in their faith that God will answer. Jesus tells us that we just have to actually believe that God will answer our prayers without doubting, no matter how impossible it might seem, and God will answer. God answers prayers when they are fueled by faith, but usually doesn’t if they are fueled with doubt or skepticism

1.      This means that we should pray crazy prayers! Totally trusting that God will answer

2.      One of those prayers should be that God would use us to tell others about Who He is and What He’s done, because let’s face it, it’s pretty hard for us to talk to non-Christians about Jesus and invite them to follow Him too or even just to invite them to church. And it even more impossible for them to actually be interested in Jesus or even be willing to show up in church. But those are prayers that we know we can pray with confidence, because 1) we know God has told us to talk to people; 2) we know God wants to save people

                                                          iv.      However, there is a kind of prayer that you and I can totally believe God can and will answer, but still have God deny answering.

                                                            v.      That prayer is a prayer for forgiveness. And God has put an additional requirement for that kind of prayer: that we would have forgiven others their sins against us

1.      Cf. illustration #2

d.      We must recognize Jesus’ authority is from God as well as expect the same opposition to our work for God in the world that Jesus experienced

                                                              i.      Jesus is brilliant. He’s always got a perfect answer. He is Lord over questions, Lord over His Opposition. He never loses.

                                                            ii.      The whole point of this story is a way to show that Jesus really does have God’s authority, that He really is the Messiah, that He really is worthy of faith and worship.

                                                          iii.      Jesus’ opposition is there to accuse Him of being a liar or evil person, not the Messiah from God. However, Jesus’ message that He is the Messiah is not the first message that these people refused to believe. John the Baptist’s message that Jesus was the Messiah was what they rejected first, that John the Baptist was a prophet at all, they rejected. However, they can’t say that, so they lie and pretend like they don’t have a clear opinion, so Jesus refuses to answer their question. At least directly, however, next week we’ll see Him tell as story that explains His authority’s origin as well as the evil nature of His opposition

                                                          iv.      For today, what we need to recognize is that Jesus really has God’s Authority. Jesus’ acts as God’s Representative. We should worship Jesus for that.

                                                            v.      However, we should also realize that Jesus has made us His representatives in the world. This means that we are sent out to do His Will in the World with His Authority, which is God’s authority. So, we never have to be afraid about whether when we do God’s will in this world if we are allowed. God has allowed us, and He is the one Who really matters

                                                          vi.      But this work for God through Jesus in the world will likely result in the same thing that Jesus experienced: OPPOSITION.

                                                        vii.      So we shouldn’t freak out when talking about Jesus and being a visible Christian gets us in trouble, or when doing what God wants us to do gets us in trouble. We need to expect to experience what Jesus did, because we have been given Jesus’ will to do.

                                                      viii.      And Jesus gives us a good way to respond when someone says “What gives you the right to do/say this?” We can answer their question with a question. Sometimes we can throw their question back at them, sometime we might want to answer a question with a different question. But don’t think that you always have to answer immediately or directly.

2.      Questions

a.       Are we worshiping Jesus passionately here at church? What about in our everyday lives?

b.      What do you think sometimes crowds out our worship at church? At school? At work?

c.       What are some things you trust God to answer when you pray? What are some things you don’t trust Him to answer?

d.      Have you ever faced opposition for being a Christian or for living out your Christian life? When? Where? Why? What did you do?

Illustrations/Explanations

1.      We need to understand the difference between the Temple and a church building if we want to know what Jesus is doing and what we should be doing.

a.       The first difference is that the Temple was a special building where God was present in a special way, and it was the only building like it in the world, but the church building is not where God’s Temple is now, as we already learned when talking about sex, God’s current place where He lives in a special way is in us. Instead the church building is where Christians gather to worship God and carry out His mission. The Temple was like a true worship center, but the church is more like a base of operations

b.      The Temple had certain areas for different groups of people: the Jewish Men’s area, the Jewish women’s area, and the non-Jewish area; but our churches, except for our bathrooms, are really open for all kinds of people and genders. The problem seems to be that the Jews were taking over the non-Jewish area so that they could rip people off and get rich

c.       The Temple had special rules for what kinds of things could even be in it, but church buildings are not defileable.

2.      Imagine a monster with two heads, the one keeps saying “love me!” but the other head keeps saying “I hate everybody” or imagine if you had two mouths and they both could speak at the same time: the one prays “God forgive me” while the other one says “I can never forgive so and so!” That would look ridiculous! But that is exactly what God sees when He looks into our hearts that are asking for forgiveness but at the same time denying to give it to someone else 

Sorry for the Hiatus, but much to come...

So...finals season and other activities including starting a German languae class have held up my posts, but I have about 3 months worth of sermon audios finally uploaded to Archive.org, awaiting my posting the notes here. I also have a couple blog articles in the works, most of which have to do with addressing current cultural issues, such as drinking alcohol (from a missional perspective), artistic, technological, and cultural use and engagement, and perhaps an article on how ironic it is that many of our churches act as though they've castrated. I may even post an article on charismatic gifts. But I would also like some suggestions of topics you would like covered, so please comment. Sorry for the wait...

Grace and Peace and Hope in Christ alone