Uprising or Revolution?
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Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Show a clip from the movie Braveheart where William Wallace addresses the army before battle.
For those of you who didn’t recognize that movie, it’s Braveheart. I love that movie.
I particularly love that scene. Before that scene the Scottish were in an uprising. Alter William Wallace delivers that passionate speech, things changed The uprising becomes a revolution. And the Scottish fought with fervor It was a fight to the death.
Today we’re beginning a new series
Today we launch Church Revolution.
This series is going to carry us through the next couple of months.
And I hope that by the end we’re moving from talking about Church Revolution to participating in a Church Revolution.
What do you think about when I mention Church Revolution? Do you think about us running out the front door slaying all the nonbelievers?
Do you think about us marching on Washington and taking back control of the USA?
Do you think about us marching over to First Baptist, throwing them out, and planting a flag?
If that’s your idea of Church Revolution, I hope it’ll change in the next two months.
We’re going to begin our Church Revolution by looking at some Scripture, John 6.
Through these verses we’re going to find out what a Church Revolution demands from you.
And let me start by saying it here: Participating in a Church Revolution will place demands on you.
Are you with us in our Church Revolution?
We’re going to walk through John Chapter 6 to lay the groundwork for the rest of the message.
Read John 6:14–15
Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
People surrounding Jesus said this after they had just witnessed a miracle.
Jesus had been teaching a huge crowd of over 5000 people.
He knew they were hungry. All the apostles could scrounge up were five loaves of bread and two fish. And this was to feed one young boy.
Jesus took that bread and those fish and fed the entire crowd.
And there were 12 baskets—baskets—of food left over when He was done.
When the people saw Him do this they got excited.
They were screaming, “He’s the One!”
“He’s the one, the Prophet, the Messiah, we’ve been looking for.”
Jesus sensed they even wanted to make Him their King. The people were excited with Jesus.
Read John 6:35
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Jesus is on a roll with these people.
They follow Him across the Sea of Galilee where the feeding miracle took place. They people can’t get enough of Him. The uprising looks like a go. Now He starts moving from what they saw Him do to who He really is.
Read John 6:41
The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”
There seems to be a change in the atmosphere.
They didn’t really like what Jesus said here. Some murmuring and disagreement began popping up.
The uprising is starting to grow cold.
5. Read John 6:53 then John 6:60.
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
Things are getting tense now.
Most of the disciples are starting to back down from Jesus.
The uprising fires are almost out.
Read John 6:66
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
That’s it for most of Jesus’ followers. Jesus was asking too much of them. They just walked away from Jesus.
The uprising was over. But...
Read John 6:67–68
Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
There’s a small group of Twelve who are staying with Jesus.
They’ve totally committed to Jesus.
They have nowhere else to go for the Words Jesus has.
They believe He is the One.
They’re in it for the long haul, no matter what happens to them.
The uprising has died but the revolution goes on!
There’s three things I want to share with you from all this.
There are three things I want us to learn about Church Revolution.
But I want to make sure we’re clear on one thing first
What am I talking about when I use the word “church” in Church Revolution?
Let’s be clear. You are the church.
The church is who we are collectively as individuals.
Everyone of us who trust Christ are part of the Church of Jesus Christ.
And collectively we make up the church.
So, for a Church Revolution to occur, all of us collectively must take part.
There is no church revolution if you and I in our individual lives are not collectively participating together as a church.
Now let’s get to the three things to learn about Church Revolution.
We saw the people start an uprising after Jesus miraculously fed 5000 people.
But the uprising quickly fizzled when Jesus placed demands on His followers.
The uprising died as quickly as it began.
But we saw the roots of revolution also.
Twelve concluded there was no where they would rather be than with Jesus.
And that small group led a revolution that still shakes the world today.
So what is the difference between an uprising and a revolution?
An uprising is of the head; a revolution is of the heart.
A church uprising only lasts as long as Jesus satisfies them. (EXplain)
A church uprising thinks it can make a difference by its own strength.
A church uprising looks for a payoff, what’s in it for them, before going further.
A church revolution trusts its Leader with everything within them.
A church revolution knows that it can make a difference only in Jesus’ strength.
A church revolution looks only for Jesus to get the glory.
. An uprising fades into history; a revolution changes history.
A church uprising is just another way of firing up the troops.
A church uprising is an attempt to do things like they’re always done it hoping for different results.
A church uprising is forgotten when the next “great” church program comes along.
A church revolution has troops in the battle, on the front line, and the troops want to be there.
A church revolution tries new things to see Jesus bring the results.
A church revolution is not the next great program but a building movement following Christ.
An uprising costs your time; a revolution costs your life.
A church uprising takes an investment in time, so people gradually drop out.
A church revolution calls for you to give up your life to live a new life in God.
So what say you are you looking forward to a church revolution I know I am let us pray