Is it the Message, the Messenger, or the Mess in Me? Pt. 1

Researchers writing for the journal Computers in Human Behavior recently published statistics that reveal that for every 20% increase in the share of a state’s population using Facebook, the divorce rate increases 2.18%. On top of that, their research showed that people who spent more time on social media networks tended to be less happy in their marriages.

It is hard to say whether couples experience discord because of Facebook activity or engage in Facebook activity because of discord. But, the connection is undeniable what happens on Facebook does not necessarily stay there. It has the ability to impact our lives, the way we feel about ourselves, and the choices we make. (https://www.wevorce.com/blog/divorce-on-facebook-an-etiquette-guide/)

Passion in Ministry

Ignoring the Promise

Losing sight of who you are

Romans 9:4 UBS4 w/Swanson

οἵτινές εἰσιν Ἰσραηλῖται, ὧν ἡ υἱοθεσία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ αἱ διαθῆκαι καὶ ἡ νομοθεσία καὶ ἡ λατρεία καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι,

God gave everything that pertains to being God’s possession - being holy - to Israel. Receiving of sonship, receiving of God’s will; glory, divine service; covenants, promise. They had it all.

Romans 9:5 ESV

To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

The roots of His promise and the fruit of His promise - they had it all! But they are rejecting it! That is so amazing, so dumbfounding, that Paul wishes that he could lose everything to get their attention -

Romans 9:3 ESV

For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Paul uses a word - ἀνάθεμα - that translates in the LXX for the word, “herem” “accursed; under the ban,” and applies that to himself. “There is no greater love… than a man would lay down his life for a friend.

.///////

A pastor that loves his congregation, a teacher that loves her students - THAT’S the kind of ministry they render! They put it all out there! How can it be that Israel saw all that servant love, and rejected it?!?!

What is the problem? Is it the message? IS it the messenger? Or is it the mess in me?

God gives you the adoption through baptism - you don’t have to do anything! In Luther’s Large Catechism, Pt 4, “Concerning Baptism, Dr. Luther writes,

The Book of Concord Fourth Part: Concerning Baptism

To be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by human beings but by God himself. Although it is performed by human hands, it is nevertheless truly God’s own act. From this fact everyone can easily conclude that it is of much greater value than the work of any human being or saint. For what human work can possibly be greater than God’s work?

The message of the Gospel: God so loved the World that He gave His only-begotten Son.... How do you hear that and turn up your nose?

A.W. Tozer, a renowned Christian and Missionary Alliance preacher - see, even heterodox preachers get it right sometimes - is credited with saying, “The people of God ought to be the happiest people in all the wide world! People should be coming to us constantly and asking the source of our joy and delight” Dr. Luther said, in “The Freedom of the Christian, “

“A Christian is lord of all, completely free of everything.

A Christian is a servant, completely attentive to the needs of all.”

Luther, M. (2012). Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings. (W. R. Russell & T. F. Lull, Eds.) (Third Edition, p. 404). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

What Burns You Up?

The Certainty of God’s Word

Romans 9:6–7 ESV

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

God makes a promise - He is faithful, and will do it!

Matthew 14:15–18 ESV

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.”

The disciples see that there is a problem - the people need to eat and get refreshed.

Matthew 14:15–18 ESV

15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.”

They look for an earthly solution: tell the crowds to go into town and buy some food. Jesus proclaims a promise: They don’t need to go away....

There is almost always an earthly solution to our problems. When Jesus is around, though, why settle for second best?

The disciples tried to second guess Jesus:

The crowds didn’t try to second guess Jesus.

Matthew 14:17 ESV

They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.”

The crowds didn’t try to second guess Jesus.

Matthew 14:19 ESV

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

What’s the problem? Is it the message?

Are you proclaiming the Gospel - not only out of your mouth, but from your hands and feet?

Is it the messenger? Are you keeping others from seeing and hearing Jesus because you keep getting in the way?

Is it the mess in me?

Am I stumbling at the promises of God: Am I to busy seeing the forest for the trees?

AM I so unable to hear God’s promises because I no longer believe them to be true?

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