Category Archives: theology
People of Peace | Week One Sermon Notes
WHO ARE PEOPLE OF PEACE?
Very clearly in the Bible, Jesus sends us on a mission: Go make disciples.
This includes 2 parts: Evangelism (new people) and Discipleship (maturing people).
In this series, we are focusing on evangelism portion of the great commission. The next three weeks we are going fully equip you to become effective evangelists. Evangelism sends cold chills down my back. Scary. All my life it has been taught a certain way and that way went totally against my personality.
In this sermon series, we are going to look at Jesus’ model of evangelism.
You love Jesus, but you aren’t nailing it when it comes to reaching people. Speak!
- How often do you consciously think about reaching the lost for Jesus?
- How easy is it for you on a scale from 1 to 10?
- Is there anything intimidating to you about helping someone be saved?
Luke 10:1 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.
Verse 1 tells us that Jesus was strategic. He had a plan. It was not random. It also tells us to do it with others. We are not on our own. This still happens today. “Will, get a group of guys and go play basketball in Buda. See who shows up. Steven, go workout in the gym see who shows up. Joy, go jogging with students around the river.”
On Friday night, I will be gathering with people at Kreuz Market (eating delicious BBQ) but the main message of the night is the strategy of evangelizing and discipling people in Lockhart.
Luke 10:2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.
This passage is so important. It gives us the picture of what is happening with evangelism. It is the same as planting seeds, watering, waiting, harvesting. Evangelism is farming.
There are times that you will converse with people and will simply be planting seeds. You might be doing that with words or you might be doing that with the way you live your life. The way you respond to challenge. The way you respond to gossip. The way you respond to success. People are looking at you and reading you. You are planting seeds when you are living your life.
Francis of Assisi “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
Sometimes our farming is with words. We are there to love people. Listen and then pray, share truth. They are not ready to fully believe Jesus and trust him with their life, but they are receptive to the message you are living and speaking about.
Then, there is harvest time. This is when a person is ready to surrender everything and walk with Jesus. As the first century believers would say, “They are now a part of The Way.”
AND from Jesus’ perspective the challenge is not the sinners. The challenge is getting more farmers.
There will always be a plethora of people outside of God’s plan. There is plenty of soil. You don’t have to pray, “God, please let me be around sinners today.”
What we do need to pray is, “Lord, allow me to participate in growing your kingdom today. Give me the words to say. Let me know when to say nothing at all. Give me courage. Lead me by your Spirit. Anoint me for today’s journey. I want to be a harvester.”
Luke 10:3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.
Ok, reality check. There are going to be some challenges. There are some people out there that appear to be safe, but they are not. At the same time, don’t trust in your ability to take care of yourself!
Theologian Darrell Bock “Mission must be marked with prayer and dependence.”
When the harvest is ready, it is game time! It gets first priority. Cancel other stuff if there is a good thing going in a conversation/relationship.
This is where we need to be careful with how much entertainment we get sucked into. There is nothing wrong with rest, entertainment, and goofing off for an appropriate time, but when you get addicted to apps and shows and a large part of your evening or day is wasted with fluff, then you need to reconsider your priority.
Jesus says the kingdom is priority!
Luke 10:5 “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’
When you first enter a relationship, you bring peace. Not just their physical home, but when you enter their life, you are to be known for your peace.
This is tied intrinsically to the message a couple weeks back on Jan 31. Our baptism identities. When we are baptized into him, we are take on this identifying factors.
BC – Before Christ, you enter conversations or relationships posturing and establishing your persona/identity. Your authority, your clout, your experience, your strength. You are constantly trying to size yourself up with someone else. What are they wearing? Purse? Car?
After Christ, you enter a relationship with one thing: peace. I bring peace.
Luke 10:6 If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.
This is the core of this whole sermon series. Jesus is saying, “Find people of peace.”
A Person of Peace is one who is prepared to hear the message of the Kingdom and the King. They are ready to receive what God will give you to say at that moment.
Over the next two weeks, we will be sharing with you how to specifically identify people of peace in different surroundings and how to appropriately respond.
Luke 9:5 And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”
Luke 10:16 Then he said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me.”
This message is so freeing and at the same time empowering.
Freeing because the power does not come from us. Our charisma is not the answer. Our biblical prowess is not the answer. We bring Jesus. Jesus is the answer.
It is freeing because it says from the beginning that some people will not receive it and that is not your fault. That is between God and them. God can handle it. It is empowering because he has called us. It is empowering because he has equipped us. There is a mission. It does matter. We participate with God in building his kingdom.
As we approach March 27th, Resurrection Sunday (Easter), put these sermons to practice.
- PRAY – Start praying, “Lord, help me today see with your eyes. Let me know when it is time to sow and reap. Lord, give me the courage and power to LIVE a life that preaches the gospel.”
- LIST – write a list of people in your life that seem to be people of peace.
- ACT – Bring PEACE. Make it a priority. Share truth. Invite them to your community gathering. The easiest thing you could do is invite them to Easter Sunday morning.
For the Love of God, I Worship!
Since the beginning of time, people have been gathering to worship God. In the garden of Eden we see Adam and Eve communing with God. All through the Old Testament, we see people gathering in caves, in tents, temples, by rivers, in homes on a weekly or daily basis to commune with God. People would talk amongst themselves and talk to God.
With profound intensity and intimacy interchanging thoughts and feelings. People would talk to God. God would talk to them. God would talk directly, through other people, through the written word, through Psalms, hymns, songs.
People would express themselves through singing, dancing, poetry, art, humor. Communicating to God exactly what he meant to them. They would come with the heaviness of the world on their shoulders and leave the meeting with a lightened load.
In these meetings, while people were expressing themselves to God. Declaring their faith in him, thanking Him for their blessings, asking him for assistance. In return, he would boldly manifest his presence. An ambiguous God would become palpable.
While the intent of the humans was to communicate with God and express themselves to Him, his intentions were the same.
To be made known to his people when they gathered to worship.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
Today, hundreds of millions of people will gather today to worship Jesus Christ. They will bring their thoughts, wins, loses, success, heart ache to the local gathering and offer up their sincere, heartfelt prayers. As they surrender their schedule to God, put off the parties, recreation, laziness, and even family time, they put GOD first.
They are making a statement to God, to themselves, to the devil and anyone else watching their life. Gathering with other believers matters. One thing we need to understand about going to church is that it is not really about if you need it or not.
Going to church on the weekend is all about you as a human being a part of a bigger movement. I am a human. I gather with humans and with one voice we declare to God that we are thankful for his creation. We are thankful for his redemption. We are thankful for his adoption, second chances, and fresh starts. We sing with one voice to Jehovah, Lord of the Earth, Jesus the Messiah we are here, we choose to return love to you. We choose to return our resources, our time, our talent, our money back to you!
It is our honor to consecrate our week. Surrender everything back to you. We recognize your sovereignty, your all encompassing knowledge and ability. We are thankful for your love, mercy, and grace.
You are sitting in one chair with others, in the _______ service, in one building of about 20-30 different buildings here in San Marcos, across the state of Texas, across the United States, across the Western Hemisphere. It is transcontinental. Reaching across Africa, and Asia, and Europe, and Australia. Not only are we joining 7 continents this morning in worshiping our Savior, but we are joining with believers over the time line of existence, kneeling at the throne of Jesus in one voice.
This concept was really set in my heart when I went to Jerusalem and stood outside the eastern wall of the city. I saw a vision of me standing in the midst of the rest world, we were worshipping the one true God on the eternal throne of Mount Zion.
We were living in a glorified body in a glorified world. Heaven and Earth were together, inseparable. When we gather here on Sunday, this is happening. We pray, “God, may the line that separates heaven and earth dissolve as we sing, pray, listen, dance, clap.”
Sunday worship is bigger than you. Sunday Worship transcends the week you had or the week you wanted. This is enormous. This is about a GOD that is eternal, immortal, and omnipresent. He is interested in you. He is capable of healing you and helping you.
This is about a God that loved you so much he would go to he greatest extent possible to bring you back. When you join with others and worship God several incredible things happen to us.
We are Awakened on Sunday!
Often we come into corporate worship feeling a sense of spiritual fog. During the rough and tumble of the week, the hard knocks of real life in the fallen world can disorient us to ultimate reality and what’s truly important. We need to clear our head, recalibrate our spirit, and jumpstart our slow heart.
Martin Luther found corporate worship powerful in awakening his spiritual fire: “at home, in my own house, there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through.”
Psalm 73:2 But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. 3 For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
In a fog! Deceived by what we see.
Psalm 73:17 Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.
He was embattled. The spiritual haze was thick. But the breakthrough came in the context of worship. Which then leads to this climactic expression of praise:
We BREAK THROUGH the fog in corporate worship. “Praying Through”
“Worshipping Through”
ONE THING THAT IS IMPORTANT: if you haven’t gotten this yet. Corporate worship isn’t a show to you to watch. It is a show, but every human is a participant. The only spectator is JESUS CHRIST. Everyone who participates gets in on the action. There happens when we express our emotions thoughts, and concerns to Jesus. When you come into PromiseLand San Marcos, you are going to hear singing, clapping, dancing, shouting, and other sorts of expression. This has been happening for millennia.
Psalm 150:3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! 4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! 5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. 6 Let everything that breathes sing praises to the lord! Praise the lord!
Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing to the lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. 3 For the lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.
Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to the lord, for he has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power!
Psalm 47:1 Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! 2 For the lord Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.
There was a time when King David was worshipping and dancing in such an expressive way that his wife was embarrassed.
2 Samuel 6:21 David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the lord, so I celebrate before the lord. 22 Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!” 23 So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life.
In corporate worship, we experience an accentuated joy of deeper adoration and awe. Our perception of Jesus grows as we magnify him together with others.
Science and Medicine have actually shown fascinating results when studying people who worship regularly together on a weekly basis.
Bjorn Vickhoff, a Researcher of the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden studied the heart rates of choir members as they joined their voices. What really struck him was that it took almost no time at all for the singers’ heart rates to become synchronized. The readout from the pulse monitors starts as a jumble of jagged lines, but quickly becomes a series of uniform peaks. The heart rates fall into a shared rhythm guided by the song’s tempo. He says, “The members of the choir are synchronizing externally with the melody and the rhythm, and now we see it has an internal counterpart.” There is actually a Swedish proverb says, a shared joy is a double joy.
In How God Changes Your Brain, neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg shows that meditation/prayer improves memory and helps improve the aging brain, and can interrupt the devastating effects of depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and a host of stress-related disorders.
In 2002, there was a study published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine were they studied the affects of Religious attendance over a 31 year period. They wanted to the relationship between religious attendance and mortality. They did this by examining 6545 people that went to church over a 31 year period from 1965 to 1996. They found that people that did not attend church weekly had significantly higher rates of death from circulatory problems, cancer, digestive and respiratory issues. Their conclusion: Weekly Religious Involvement is a general protective factor that promotes health through a variety of causal pathways.
We Advance on Sunday!
WE Grow! We Listen! We Learn! We are discipled! We are shaped and molded!
Corporate worship also plays an indispensible part in our sanctification — our progressive growth in being conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
When you hear a sermon, it is like a seed sown into the soil of your heart that bears fruit in season. However, sanctification can happen “on the spot” as we sit under gospel preaching and engage in corporate worship. There are times — may God make them many — when the Holy Spirit takes the Scripture read, the prayer spoken, the chorus sung, or the truth preached and presses it right to the point of our need, and not merely informs our Christian walk, but heals us in that moment.
When we join in corporate worship, God loves not only to change our minds, but irrevocably change our hearts “on the spot.”
1 Corinthians 14:3 But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.
Look at the change that happens to all of us. I love the plurality of this passage:
2 Corinthians 3: 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
Rose Ellis’ sister that said last Sunday, “Your sermon in 2005 changed my life.” She went into detail about the parable I used and I could not remember one facet of the sermon. She went on and on. You never know what one sentence in one sermon will do for your spiritual journey and health.
OK, here is my SPRING CHALLENGE for you. I know that there is something on this list that you can jump into:
- Commit to Public Worship Weekly
- Get out of your Comfort Zone
- Invite Others to Participate with You
Racism and Reconciliation
For the Love of God, I RECONCILE!
Because of the love of God I reconcile. I restore relationships.
I coexist in harmony with others.
This message will be extremely helpful to those of you that are struggling in a personal relationship. Maybe a marriage or business partnership. Some of you might actually have an issue with someone in the church. If you are in a difficult relationship, please hear God’s word today. Let it work its way into your heart.
However, today I am going to take a different application. We are going way back in time and going to talk about a chasm that runs deep and wide. Americans thought that we could solve the racial divide with war. The civil war was fought in order to defeat or defend slavery. Yeah, yeah, yeah it was about state’s rights, but the right that the states were trying to defend was the right to own another person and treat them like dirt. Slavery is wrong. War ended the legality of slavery but it stopped way short of dealing with racial equality. To this day, racism permeates almost every part of our society.
“But, not me, pastor. I’m not racist. In fact, look at what church I go to. I go to a multicultural church. That proves that I’m not a racist. I know and like brown, white, and black people.”
While it is true that our church is culturally diverse in many ways. I do not believe that it has happened in order for us to sit back and look at this trophy of diversity and feel accomplished. While I do feel proud of who we are, I believe that God has strategically placed me and you here for a specific purpose and we are FAR from FINISHED. We are to participate in the reconciliation of every part of this community.
For a second, let’s talk about the future: Heaven will be perfect. Everyone will love everyone. No one will be profiled or shoved into a corner. No one will be elevated above anyone else. We know this will be a reality in Heaven!
Jesus is sending us to the world to show the world what that type of life will be like.
New movie Risen does a good job of illustrating this.
I feel like PromiseLand San Marcos is on the right path. I have a vision of a public forum, events, and relationship with other organizations that will make a difference. However, I believe our biggest impact will be how you and I treat our black co-worker, our Pakistani neighbor, the poor, the uneducated, our Hispanic customers, the powerful, the rich, the middle class.
There is a systematic problem and an individual problem.
We aren’t in Ferguson, New York, Charleston. The majority of us will never go there or be able to do anything in those locations, but WE ARE HERE. What could we do here?
- African American slaves were moved to our area around the 1840s. Many stayed here after the Civil War. Texas, being in the south, saw a lot of horrible things.
- Over 20,000 KKK members marched in San Marcos in 1920
- According to oral history accounts, the local Ku Klux Klan burned the sanctuary on Guadalupe Street in an attempt to capture a black man who was thought to have been hiding in the church.
- 1924 the First Missionary Baptist Church put an ad in the San Marcos Record: “100 voice choir to be heard at the Colored Baptist church”. “Special Seats for White People Reserved”
- Lucious Jackson was born in San Marcos in 1951. He was an incredible basketball player. Played 8 years in the NBA. Was a gold medalist for the US basketball team. Was allowed in school but not to play on the basketball team.
- In 1963, Texas State Desegregated. Dana Jean Smith, who is still a San Marcos resident, walked onto campus.
- There haven’t been incidents in recent years that have made the national news in San Marcos, but to this day, there are reports of minorities facing discrimination.
- Probably one of my proudest moments as a pastor was in 2013, I was first white preacher to speak at Greater Bethel Baptist. 133 years old. Founded by former slaves.
How racist are you? What do you think your racist quotient is?
No one thinks they are racist. No one admits it. As I have been talking this morning, have you been making excuses in your head?
Have you been thinking about how this doesn’t affect you?
There is an incredible article by Dr Robin Diangelo – 11 ways White Americans Avoid Taking Responisbility for Racism
She says, “The two most effective beliefs that prevent us (whites) from seeing racism as a system are: 1. that racists are bad people and 2. that racism is conscious dislike;
We know that racism is bad and we don’t think we are bad people.
We think that racism is only a conscious dislike for others and we don’t consciously dislike someone because of their color.
Desmond Tutu was an instrumental leader in ending the Apartheid in South Africa. He often used the a South African word, Ubuntu (uuboontuu) to describe our unity as humans. Ubuntu is a philosophy that considers the success of the group above that of the individual. “I am what I am because of who we all are”
In his book, No Future Without Forgiveness, he stated, “A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.”
White South Africans would never be truly free until we blacks were free as well. The Defiant Ones, in which Sidney Poitier was one of the stars. Two convicts escape from a chain gang. They are manacled together, the one white, the other black. They fall into a ditch with slippery sides. The one convict claws his way nearly to the top and out of the ditch but cannot make it because he is bound to his mate, who has been left at the bottom in the ditch. The only way they can make it is together as they strive up and up and up together and eventually make their way over the side wall and out.”
We are all in this together and we all need each other whether you are on the front lines or the back row!
First, we understand and rest in the core value that:
Reconciliation IS the Gospel
Galatians 3:14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. (NLT)
Galatians 3:26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. (NLT)
Reconciliation is the Gospel. Jesus went to the cross and grave so that every human being on the face of the earth, past and present could be united together in him. One Family.
To live in a segregated society is anti-christ. To live in a culture that demeans or belittles other humans is anti-christ. It goes against the very nature of the Gospel to in any way position yourself higher or push others lower.
Not only does Jesus do the work to accomplish reconciliation, he teaches and models how to deal with being a victim of discrimination and victimization.
Matthew 5:11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way. (NLT)
Matthew 5: 38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. (NLT)
For the Love of God, I reconcile. For the Love of God, I am reconciled.
Second, we see that:
Reconciliation is Natural, First Response to the Gospel
Matthew 5:23 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. 25 “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny. (NLT)
What about the golden rule? We know what it says, but we often interpret it wrong.
Most of the time we think it means: “don’t do to others as you would not want to be treated.” We think, I’m not doing bad so I must be living by the rule. However, the rule is not about abstaining evil, it is about doing good.
Matthew 5:12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
To examine whether we have actually said or done anything racist or discriminatory or not is really not the examination of the Christian. The Believer is to deeply examine whether they have proactively built walls to those who are on the outside looking in.
Martin Luther King said
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
“Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the ‘fight with fire’ method which you suggest is bitterness and chaos, the aftermath of the love method is reconciliation and creation of the beloved community. Physical force can repress, restrain, coerce, destroy, but it cannot create and organize anything permanent; only love can do that. Yes, love—which means understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill, even for one’s enemies—is the solution to the race problem.”
“I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, love is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. To return hate for hate does nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Someone must have sense enough and religion enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil, and this can only be done through love.”
“True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know. “
Sex, Love, Lust, and Marriage
What does Jesus say about Sex, Love, Lust, and Marriage? Here are the sermon notes for:
“For the Love!” | Week 2
Listen to the podcast of this message here. Watch the video of it here.
For the Love! a typical expression in our society. An explicative of sorts. “FOR THE LOVE! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS PURE AND HOLY. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!”
Last week, Pastor Will brought a great message: For the Love of God! I GIVE financially.
Today, Valentine’s Day, ….pause….(are ya’ll ready for this)….we are going to take this phrase and talk about one of the most practical and applicable topics: For the Love of God!
Matthew 5:27 “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (NLT)
Jesus teaches in ch 5-7 (Sermon on the Mount) how to live everyday life. Sex is a big part of life. In fact, if sex didn’t happen you wouldn’t even be alive. (let’s not think about that. no one wants to think about that.)
Bible is full of positive thoughts on sex. Don’t have time to list them all.
You want a couple of examples???
Genesis 2 – God brings Eve to Adam and Adam bursts into song. He writes the first poem, “At last, this is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone…” Don’t forget, they were naked! The Bible starts with a naked man singing passionate love songs over a naked women in the presence of God. That is just the start!
The book of Proverbs has some love gems too! Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth…Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.
People ask me if I’m fundamental and think the Bible is literal… ‘Well sometimes there is an advantage!”
The first thing that Jesus teaches in our passage is:
THE INTEGRITY OF SEX
In Matthew 5, Jesus accepts this Old Testament law on sex. The law says do not commit adultery: No sex outside of a covenant. Sex only inside a covenant. No sex outside of marriage.
The essence of marriage is a Covenant. There is no other way to describe it. Covenants create relationships. A covenant creates a far more loving and intimate relationship than a ‘legal’ relationship. It is far more binding and enduring than a merely emotional relationship.
Let’s look at two distinctly different types of relationships across San Marcos right now:
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CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP
In a consumer relationship you relate to a vendor. You have a relationship as long as the vendor has a product at a good price. But you are always looking for an upgrade. You say, “We have a relationship, but you have to keep adjusting to me and if you don’t meet my needs, I’m out of here! My needs are more important than the relationship.” “My needs are more important. If I can get my needs met somewhere else cheaper or quicker, then that is more important than our relationship.”
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COVENANT RELATIONSHIP
The complete opposite of a consumer relationship. A Covenant relationship says, “I will adjust to you because I have made a promise.”
“The relationship is more important than my needs. My needs are less important that the sustenance of this relationship.”
If both people are ready to make a covenant (marriage), then three powerful things result:
- You finally have a Zone of Security. A Zone of Safety. A place where you can finally be yourself. In a consumer relationship you are always marketing. You are always selling yourself. You have to perform! In a covenant, you have a zone of safety. You can get rid of the facades and finally let them know about your insecurities. You can stop spinning, marketing, and be yourself.
- Deeper Feelings grow when are committed in spite of your feelings. Example: parents and children is another example of covenant relationship. Parents give and give and give and it takes a long time for kids to give back and it never catches up really. For parents, it is not a consumer relationship at all. You give and give and give. You do it so much and are so much invested that you love them EVEN when they act really really bad. Because you are so invested in them in a covenant relationship, you have a DEEPER love and connection to them. In the same way, if your marriage is a covenant relationship, then you have these same deeper transcending feelings than you have in a consumer relationship.
- There is FREEDOM. Freedom from your emotional bondage. Danish Philosopher Kierkegaard said, “If you are in a relationship where you have to feel it… “if you are not meeting my needs, then I am out of here.” Then, you are a slave to your feelings. You are not free, you are bound to your emotions.” In a covenant marriage, you are not a puppet on a string. Your relationship is more important than my feelings.
What does this all have to do with SEX? EVERYTHING The Bible says that sex is a covenant good, not a consumer good.
Remember, a consumer good is a way you keep someone in a relationship. You have a need.
- Women want a man and use sexuality to get him.
- Men want sex and find a woman to fulfill him.
Sex is a consumer good in our culture.
However, the Bible tells us that it is NOT a consumer good, but a covenant good.
In a covenant, when you have made a promise, sex becomes like a sacrament. We don’t the word “sacrament” a whole lot at PromiseLand, but we definitely have sacraments. A sacrament is an external visible sign of an invisible reality. It is an external symbol of an internal reality. Communion and baptism are examples of sacraments. External sign of something else going on.
When you use sex inside of a covenant, it becomes a vehicle for engaging the whole person in an act of self giving and self commitment. In marriage, when people make themselves physically naked and vulnerable, it is a sign of what I have done with their whole life. By giving up my independence and making this promise of covenant marriage, sex is a sign of what I have done with my whole life. That is the why, according to the Bible, sex outside of marriage lacks integrity. You are asking someone to do with their body what you’re not doing with your life. You are saying let’s be physically vulnerable but not whole-life vulnerable.
CS Lewis “The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside marriage is that those who are trying to indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all other kinds of union which were intended to go along with it and create the whole union.”
To have physical union without whole-life union is a lack of integrity. When sex is inside a covenant, then each act is a renewal ceremony. It becomes a commitment apparatus. You are getting married all over again. You are committing all over again. An incredibly solidifying and nurturing act.
Sex inside of marriage says, “I belong completely and wholly to you and I am acting it out. I am giving you my body as a token of how I am giving you my complete life. I am open to you in every way.” Sex in this context is a very deeping/nurturing thing.
Sex in a consumer relationship says, “I love the feeling that I have with you.” You are taking and not giving. You are receiving. You are holding on to your life. You are not giving. It is a consumer good.
When you use sex like that, you are damaging its ability to be a commitment apparatus in the future.
If you are sexually active before marriage in consumer type relationships, then when you do get married, you carry that same sexual disfunction into a marriage even though you are legally married in the eyes of the government and God. You can still have that same consumer mindset in a marriage, because that is your only context for sex.
There are many articles coming out talking about how cohabitation seems to be counterproductive.
“The Downside of Cohabitation” article in New York Times, April 14, 2012 written by clinical psychologist, Meg Jay points out that there are more and more studies showing that people who live together before marriage are more likely to divorce than people who don’t. This goes totally against the thinking of the average San Martian or Texas State student.
2/3 to 3/4 of all young adults say that if you live together before marriage, you are more likely to make a good decision because you will figure out if you are compatible. In this article, the clinical physiologist says this is impossible. She says in her research, one of the things everyone agrees on is that their standards for a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend is lower than what they have for a spouse. One woman said, “I felt like I was on this ongoing, never ending audition to be his wife.” If you are living together, then you are in a consumer relationship. Why? Because you are thinking…could I do better than this? You are trying to figure out if you are compatible. You are trying to find out if this person is good enough to marry or if you could do better. You are looking out for yourself.
What is sex in a situation like that? MARKETING In this situation, sex is attracting. Sex is enticing. Sex is not trusting. Sex is not resting. It is not giving. So therefore, sex outside of marriage in no way prepares you for sex inside of marriage. In cohabitation, you are learning how to live as consumers. Marriage becomes simply this next phase where you are trapped in the relationship instead of covenant partners.
The Integrity of Sex is that there must be an integrity of body and life. You must not do with your body that which you wouldn’t do with your life.
the next thing Jesus teaches is:
THE CHALLENGE OF LUST
Jesus said, “Ok, you have heard that you must not have sex outside of marriage, but I want to talk to you about your mind and thinking…I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ” The word “lust” that Jesus uses here is not talking about sex. The word is typically translated to mean idolatry covet and greed. Jesus is using a word that is associated with greed.
Just as we talked about last week, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a lot of money. Money is not sin. Today, we are talking about the same thing. Sex in and of itself is not wrong or bad.
Greed is wrong for three reasons: Greed is Selfish. You want it for you. You want to take it from others. Greed is Addicting. We will work hard, break rules, do anything just to get it. Greed is Defining. We want it to affirm us in a way that only God can. That affirmation and false sense of fulfillment defines us.
How could we look sexually in greed or covetousness or idolatry “Lust”?
- Pornography and Self Gratification – Remember, we talked about sex not being a consumer good. Sex in the Bible is for giving and serving. It is not just for our self. However, pornography is completely selfish. It is completely a consumer good. Every second 28,000 Americans are looking at porn on the internet. Every second over $3000 is spent on porn on the internet. You have it when you want it, how you want it, where you want it. No one else is even there. Pornography is the exact opposite of what the Bible says sex should be. It is addicting. It is selfish. It brings about fantasy. In the book – Premarital Sex in America Mark Regnerus addresses the myth that pornography has no bearing on relationships or marriage or sex life. The prevailing Myth says: Porn is private and it doesn’t affect anything.
The truth: pornography affects virtually EVERYONE. Research shows:
- People who use pornography have crushingly unrealistic expectations for their partner. How you should look, act.
- They have a significantly lower tolerance for the difficulties of a real marriage. They are far far less willing to deal with the messiness of a real relationship.
- Women are increasingly are being forced to accommodate their appearance and behavior to the images and styles of pornography. It trickles down to all forms of media. Have you seen the magazines at the check out at the grocery store? Fashion industry, culture, movies, etc are all shaped after sexual consumerism.
Jesus is also addressing:
- Selfish Sex “Premarital Sex in America”- most people when asked why they participate in premarital sex answer, “To keep the relationship going.” Consumer. Adjust to me or I’m out of here.
Here is another issue Jesus is addressing here. A big one.
- Sex Requirement. The belief that you can’t be a whole person or happy person without sex. This is something that is actually being taught and propagated in our society. We are evolved animals that can not control ourselves and so we need to simply accept the fact that sex has to happen. THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL. TRUTH: The only person or thing that you look to as a human to fulfill you or that has control over you is GOD. Nothing else. Anything else that we say we have no control over becomes an idol for us. You can be whole without sex.
Let’s read verses 29-30 again:
So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
He calls for drastic act. Jesus is saying, “Look at how this is damaging!” He is saying be drastic.
Jesus uses an interesting word for hell here. Gehenna. This was actually a literal place in Jerusalem where the trash was burned. In some previous centuries, there was child sacrifice here. Jesus is saying that hell is a place of unquenchable thirst and longing. He was using this literal place as a metaphor. The stench, the depravity, the loneliness, the Finality of Gehenna is where you are headed if you remain outside of God’s plan for sexuality.
If sex outside of marriage points to hell. Then, what does sex inside marriage point to?
What is the:
THE FUTURE OF LOVE
Romans 7 and Ephesians 5: that even the best sexual relationship is just a foretaste of what it will be like when we fall into the arms of God. Our true spouse.
In John 4, Jesus is talking to “the woman at the well”. He says, I have a water that if you drink it, you will never thirst again. All the longings you have inside will be fulfilled. She says, “Give me this water.” Jesus responds, “Bring to me your husband.” She says, “I don’t have one.” He responds, “Right, you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your own.”
Why does he talk about her messed up sex life?
He says, “I can satisfy your longings. You have been looking for it in all the wrong places. You have been looking to men to satisfy you. LUST. You have being trying to find in the arms of men, the deep affirmation that only God can bring. God can bring this closure.” God is spouse 1. Husband or wife is spouse 2.
If Erica does not love Jesus more than she loves me, then she will not be able to love me well. Even inside marriage you can be guilty of marriage idolatry. If her relationship with God is not stronger than the one with me, then she will look to her and I will look to her. I have to do the same thing. We will crush each other with this expectation. We fall into this consumer relationship and it is all about each other changing to fit the other.
You will never be well married unless Christ is your first spouse. Look to his spousal love. Then and only then will you be in the place of a healthy marriage relationship.
RESOLVED | Week Two Sermon Notes
RESOLVED: such a strong word. Resolved means: firm in purpose or intent; determined. to come to a definite decision.
“I am RESOLVED to live in the Light.”
Romans 1:18 …God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
I love the way the Bible says, “Duh…look at the sea and the mountains and the sunset. YES! God exists.”
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
In our day and time, most of us do not make gods of birds, animals, reptiles. Our idols are things like acceptance: people liking us, approval of a co-worker or family member, promotion, money, fame, success: making a name for ourselves, We often think that success means there is no conflict in our life. Therefore we work so hard to eliminate conflict and anything challenging. We work so hard and are so focused on this that in it essence this desire takes the place of Jesus and becomes an idol for us.
We have put all of these things as our priority instead of God.
24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 Americans have traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
FYI: I changed the word ‘they’ to Americans.
26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
This last sentence is not just talking about homosexuality but all unnatural actions that are against God’s plan. We as humans suffer within ourselves the consequences of these actions. There is an earthly consequence that we suffer because of our sin and there is an eternal consequence for our sin. What is even worse is that often there are multiple other victims of our sin that did not directly desire to suffer the consequences.
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
“…And they disobey their parents.” I love how it tags that statement with that final thought. Right there with murder, hate, wickedness…disobeying parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
I love how 1 Peter 2 fits so perfectly with Romans 1…
1 Peter 2:9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter is talking to the church. The saved church who is looking to Jesus for salvation. To be clear, Peter is not talking to a select group of people who have not rebelled or a group of people that have been without sin. Peter is talking to a group of people who have found Jesus in the midst of the trash pit they are living. Amongst the pigsty, the Holy Spirit is moving. God is on the move. Working through the mess of American culture and selfish ambition. Working through the filth of abuse and betrayal and sin-filled living. God is on the move.
You are here today because God is working on and in your heart. Some of you know it and have responded. Others of you here today are new to this idea and have yet to make a move.
The message for you today is that YOU CAN LIVE IN THE LIGHT. You do not have to be bound by the way everyone else lives. You can be free of the bondage of addiction and depression and monotonous chase of happiness and freedom.
Let’s go back to Romans 1 and see what Paul says to all of the folks here today at PromiseLand San Marcos!
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
1 John 1:5-9 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
I am RESOLVED to live my life in Power of the Gospel. I am RESOLVED to live in the Light.
Let’s move into 2016 with a confession of faith. Let’s confess our sins to God. He is faithful and just to forgive us.
In doing so, we reflect the light of JESUS. The light of Jesus is also the grace or power of Jesus. This light, grace, power of Jesus is the determining factor to making a difference in the world.
Almost every service as you leave the building, I pray Matthew 5:14 over you:
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Jesus told his followers to believe in the light while it was with them. Jesus brought a revelation from God, but he was more than a revealer. He was himself that revelation. John the Baptist came to vouch for the light so that it would bring people to believe. Those who received Jesus, who believed in the light, received “the power to become children of God”.
This message of Jesus reaches its highest point He says to his followers: “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14), thus applying to them words which are also applied to himself. We don’t save the world like Jesus’ light saved the world. Our light points to the one who saves. We are to show the quality of life proper to the people of God and in this way act as light to the people of the world. We are to let our light shine before the world in such a way that people will see their good deeds and so come to praise God.
If we ignore the illumination he brings us and live like those in the dark, then indeed we are in deep darkness. We are worse than others because we know what light is and what it can mean to us, and have turned away from it. But we need not do this. We are reminded that Jesus said of John the Baptist that the people were ready to rejoice for a period in his light (Jn 5:35). Their response was brief, and they are blamed for not taking John more seriously. But the point is that John’s light shone clearly. They knew what he stood for. Paul urges the Romans to put on “the armor of light” (Rom 13:12), a metaphor that points us in the same direction.
Robin Steele 