Same Problems. Same Faith.
A Kingdom For All • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsJesus is rest for all. Jesus does not demand conformity like the Pharisees. All people, having the same problem of sin, are reconciled to Jesus by the same faith.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Glad to be in covenant with God.
Promises of God in Christ
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
I COULD be outside of it all. On my own...
I COULD be without hope and purpose.
I COULD be in despair by the observing the brokenness of the world.
If I didn’t have Jesus I would either lead a super hedonistic life to the point where even general society would want me locked up, or I would want to take my own life.
I’m glad that when I dedicated my life to Christ in baptism, I was welcomed into a loving, supportive church family.
I was relatively easy to welcome into the family. I at least appeared to be an upright person and I had grown up in my local church and raised by a Christian family. I was brought up in the very culture that accepted me.
Not everyone has that privilege. Many times, when people are learning about being a follower of Jesus, or even when they are dedicating their lives to Jesus, they feel “othered” by believers because they don’t fit a certain social mold. This neither represents the kingdom of God nor advances the kingdom of God.
Let me list some types of people who could potentially feel othered within our context:
Neck and face tatoo.
Severely disfigured (burn victim, amputee).
Severely disabled (blind, deaf).
Someone of a different race and culture.
A single mom that has a trans son.
An addict.
A felon.
Someone who always smells disgusting.
A college student that has two dads.
Someone who votes for the “wrong” political party.
Sometimes we experience a sense of internal social conformity within our church family and come to expect it. But we shouldn’t expect it. A kingdom of all nations - the church - is a kingdom of all cultures. Whether we expect it or not, we should not bind our expectations on others when God has not bound them. At the end of the day we are the same - sinners that need the love and grace of Jesus. I need Jesus now just as much as the unrepentant felon in jail needs him.
This is basically what we are going to talk about this morning. Lets start in Matthew 11.
Come to Me All Who Are Weary
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus is not a self-righteous leader trying to make the religious experience hard by imposing legalistic minutiae. Coming and learning from Jesus is restful - he is the one who has done all the heavy lifting!
Contrast this with the Pharisees, Mt 12:1-8 “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.””
Reconciliation By a Common Faith
Romans summary
Gentile vs Jew in no small way
Jews think they’re better (lineage, knowledge, lawkeeping), Gentiles maybe think they’re more free, perhaps practicing what is very offensive to Jews.
Both think they are right at some level.
Paul is deconstructing all that. In Romans 5 we will see him put them on the same level.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Did Christ die for you? You were ungodly. You would still be ungodly if you didn’t have Christ.
We were all ungodly. I don’t care if you grew up in a church or a whorehouse, I don’t care if you were saved yesterday or 40 years ago or if you have yet to dedicate your life - we all need Jesus right now. We all came from the same place of sin. We all have the same problem in our flesh - it manifests in various ways but we have the same spiritual need.
That need is met through the same faith in the same person. Listen to this: Rom 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Same Faith
What is faith?
It is more than belief, it is living as if the thing you say you believe is true?
What is it that we are supposed to believe as true and live as if it is true? The Jews and Gentiles obviously have their differences. What is this shared faith in, exactly?
That Jesus is who he said he is.
God in the flesh.
That Jesus did what he said he was going to do.
Be raised from the dead.
That Jesus’ blood does what he says it does.
Forgives sins. All of them.
No matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, everyone was ungodly, and it is by the same faith in Jesus Christ that all are reconciled to the same God, without distinction. There is no “us and them.” There are no “good christians” and “better Christians.” There are no “others.”
This same faith makes this whole enterprise of God a WE enterprise. Rom 5:1-11
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
We are reconciled to God. Reconciliation is making peace. We all, who were once enemies, now have peace with God. Together, we have peace with God. All believers sharing reconciliation with God is a reconciliation between ourselves. We have peace with each other in Jesus Christ. Additionally, we want others who do not yet know Christ to come to know Christ. No one is too broken, too inappropriate, or too far gone for Jesus. All can be brought into right relationship with him and with his church if they will act in faith.
Communion
Prepare to take communion.
A together activity by believers proclaiming their unified faith in Jesus and his saving work.
Invitation
If you are a baptized believer: Be at peace with your brother. Be at peace with your neighbor. Be at peace with God. He has taken care of our sin problem and he can take care of others, too.
If you are not a baptized believer and you would like to dedicate your life to following Jesus and be reconciled to God through faith by the forgiveness of your sins, we can either do that right now or we can visit about it. You can come while we sing this next song. This song will also serve to center us in the unity we have in Jesus Christ as we prepare to take communion together.
Invitation Song - A Common Love
Communion - Prayer