How Can I Do God's Will?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Background
Background
Jesus ended the last story by saying,
Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
How can I "do God’s Will?”
How can I "do God’s Will?”
Do I have to BE CHOSEN?
Do I have to UNDERSTAND how it works?
Do I have to DO ENOUGH?
READ Mark 4:21-34
READ Mark 4:21-34
Do I have to BE CHOSEN?
Do I have to BE CHOSEN?
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,
“ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Jesus is THE lamp. He came to be a light. Everything that is hidden will be revealed. It makes no sense to send Jesus as a herald if the call isn’t for everyone. If you have heard God’s call, you are chosen. You have seen enough light to respond. After all, that’s the only way that “He who has ears” makes sense.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
YES—and you are CHOSEN because you’ve been CALLED. (Mark 4:21-22, John 8:12, Ephesians 1:13-14)
Do I have to UNDERSTAND how it works?
Do I have to UNDERSTAND how it works?
Do I have to know how to do God’s will? Do I have to know all the steps?
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
This parable is not about the growth of the church. It’s about the growth of a person. And it’s not about harvesting people. It’s about harvesting good works—obedience. The point is, the farmer doesn’t know how the grain works. He only knows that if its planted, and he goes about his business day after day, eventually the crop grows.
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
NO. GOD is the one who makes it WORK. (Mark 4:26-29, 1 Cor. 3:5-6)
Do I have to DO ENOUGH?
Do I have to DO ENOUGH?
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
NO. GOD is the one who makes it GROW.(Mark 4:26-29, 1 Cor. 3:5-6)
What do I have to do?
What do I have to do?
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Approach God how you want to BE TREATED: as AN ADULT or as HIS CHILD. (Mark 4:24-25, 10:14)
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
ADULTS get the wages they DESERVE. CHILDREN get to share the INHERITANCE. (Luke 15:17-24)
