Saturday Evening

Susan Cruz

That was Then, This is Now • Sermon • Submitted 7 years ago

Matthew 7:17–23

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A Fan or a Follower - Our PRIORITIES

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A Fan or a Follower

Jesus said Come follow me…leave behind your possessions...

Pursue comfort or pursue Jesus, but not both.

The tension between Pharisee and grace...

Fitting In or Standing Firm?

Two people go to church for 30-40 years. One has a relationship that is ever increasing, the other not so much. Why is the church not questioning that?

Maybe because they say they read their bible?

Maybe because they’ve prayed a prayer?

Maybe because they attend small group?

All wish to rejoice with him but few wish to participate in the expectations or may I say, His sufferings...

As a believer we don’t get to behave like the world just so we can fit in. The idea that I can do what ever I wish as long as I invite them to church and profess to read my Bible. The standard is much higher than that because the cost was so much greater..

Have we watered down the truth of God’s word to passify a world that doesn’t want to hear that it’s not ok to say that you believe in Jesus, yet stay the same?

Have we reduced the cross to material possessions? We invite people to follow Jesus cause He will fix all our problems, or make our pain go away...

Or, worse yet we offer a list of dutiful list of obligtory responses. Have we talked so much about eh plans God has for us to include a life of ease, instead of a life of sacrifice and the cost of following Him? Are we afraid to talk about the reality that our lives mut reflect change when we say we are a Christ follower?

Scripture - in the world, but not of the world.“We are settling for woefully less than what Jesus promised us”, said Moore. “I read my NT over and over and I’m not seeing what He promised. I’m unsettled and unsatisfied”. “I want holy fire”

“We’ve lost our tolerance for pain and given ourselves to whining”. Moore declared, “We have settled for the spiked Kool-Aid of cool, cultural Christianity. What will make us relevant is not our cool factor. It’s time for leadership to repent”.

Is it out of selfish ambition? Is it because we think that we can earn some bonus points or brownie points? No

Marital dissatisfaction is nothing new. Two thousand years ago, Jesus met a woman at a well and asked her for a drink. His request led to an open and honest conversation. It turned out that she had been married five times, had given up on marriage, was co-habiting with a man, and still was not satisfied.

The term used in Galatians “slave” ().....elaborate on this… It wasn’t a negative term. And the people of the day understood what it meant,..Christ died for you and I to be FREE. Free from being who the world wants you to be, to be all you were created to be. Free to seek Freedom to be who you were created to be

Maybe???

"Dissatisfaction is nothing new. Two thousand years ago, Jesus met a woman at a well and asked her for a drink. His request led to an open and honest conversation. It turned out that she had been married five times, had given up on marriage, was co-habiting with a man, and still was not satisfied.

Knowing that her marital dissatisfaction was a symptom of her primary problem, Jesus focused on her soul’s discontentment by saying, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

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In this statement, Jesus shared with her why people are dissatisfied, how they can be satisfied, and what happens when they are satisfied. Jesus explains why people are dissatisfied in the first part of His metaphor when He says, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again”.

When we became a believer the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us, therefore A true encounter w/ with the Lord Jesus Christ in and of itself should compel us to change our way of doing life. The Love of God and the overwhelming gratitude we have for Him and what He has done, has the power to guide us to change our:Purpose and Passions - ding to self and living for Him/loving what He love and despising what He “hates”Perspective and Principles - What we stand forPriorities - What’s important Paths, Prayers... Ways Words Wishes Will Work Relationship Role Rules Rewards

“Drinks” refers to man’s ability to choose.

“Water” refers to that which only relieves physical thirst, or the way a thirsty soul tries to satisfy his or her needs apart from God.

“Thirst again” refers to the fact that physical thirst or a soul’s thirst is never completely satisfied apart from God.

Dissatisfaction comes from unmet needs. Needs go unmet because of unbelief. Non-Christians are often dissatisfied because they look to human relationships for unconditional love and acceptance instead of receiving them from God. They achieve and accomplish; yet there is always a sense that they could have done better or should have done more. They accumulate money for security and power, but there is never enough money to make them completely secure or enough power to keep them in control. Some are religious, but their dissatisfaction is seen in their legalistic or permissive lifestyles. Frustrated, they medicate their discontent with religious activities, amusements and/or addictions.