04-28-2019 - DISTRACTIONS
2019 Delivered • Sermon • Submitted
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· 23 viewsJoin Pastor Matt and the Christ-followers at Charity as we return to comtemplate Resurrection Sunday's Key Words...
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During Last Weeks Drama, Our thief mentioned 4 words that we shall consider today: Distractions, Denial, Darkness and Delivered. His message to us was more than mere drama, as all too often Easter/Resurrection Sunday becomes one of simple observance and acceptance of presentation.
Words, Do Matter. Our thief, though mostly dramatized, was attempting to convey something larger than simple performance… He was attempting to convey our need to consider a preponderance of Biblical Truth related to our four words.
First - DISTRACTIONS
First - DISTRACTIONS
I Want you to think of DISTRACTIONS in relationship to YOUR LIFE as a Follower of Jesus... So many of us Have Become Christians with JADD – Jesus Attention Deficit Disorder – We have become like squirrels in the back yard running from nut to nut…
We can BECOME DISTRACTED
We can BECOME DISTRACTED
Paul Spoke to Timothy of a man named Demas in - “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica”
There is MUCH in life to DISTRACT us from What and Whom are important, and the LURE of this world and all it presents are often tantalizing enough to turn our FOCUS away from Jesus Christ
A worse form of this problem is when we get to a place of such self-loathing, or worldly focus that
We NEED TO BE DISTRACTED
We NEED TO BE DISTRACTED
We no longer WANT the things of Christ, God, the Bible and Christian Fellowship. Instead of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life gaining our increasing attention, we ourselves SEEK OUT DISTRACTIONS to turn our thinking and attention away from our sin and His presence...
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
The Hymn writer wrote, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in HIs wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace...”
We ARE DISTRACTIONS
We ARE DISTRACTIONS
It is bad enough when we BECOME DISTRACTED, but too many times Christians ARE DISTRACTIONS - that is WE draw attention to our craft, our denomination, our worship style, our edifices, our lessons… and somewhere in the eclectic mix of local church life, JESUS - Who is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE becomes secondary to the Distraction of us!!!!
If the Hollywood writers and directors refocused and recast the Hit Drama “This is Us” and our church family was the focus, would JESUS be the center of the family drama, or just as in the television show would JACK (or some other person/thing) be the central theme?
When We Love Ourselves - EGO; Love our Rules - LEGALISM; Love our WORDS - (from where do our words flow?); Love our ACTIONS - SUPERIORITY;
1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” 10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” 13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” 15 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.” 16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked.
1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” 10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” 13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” 15 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.” 16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
Challenge: It is time to GET RID OF our CHRISTIAN JADD - REMOVE JUST 3 LETTERS and Leave the ONLY one that Matters – J for JESUS, Yeshua - SAVIOR, LORD and GOD!!!
Because to many of us have moved from BEING DISTRACTED to BECOMING DISTRACTIONS -
We MUST return our FOCUS to the ONE WHO SAVED US and Figure out WHY HE SAVED US and What He WANTS THOSE WHOM HE SAVED TO BE DOING...
We MUST return our FOCUS to the ONE WHO SAVED US and Figure out WHY HE SAVED US and What He WANTS THOSE WHOM HE SAVED TO BE DOING...