Discrimination
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· 6 viewsRemoving the hidden things that make us look at others differently. Walking through how we can live in a way that we see each person the way God sees them.
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Can You See Where You Are Going?
Can You See Where You Are Going?
When you are going somewhere one of the greatest senses you will need is your sight. It is hard to go somewhere if you can not see where you are going.
When you are going somewhere one of the greatest senses you will need is your sight. It is hard to go somewhere if you can not see where you are going.
When I was a teenager I had a small problem with sleep walking. I often remember waking up in different rooms than I went to sleep in. This one time I was trying to find something to eat. My parents woke up to this and they asked me what I was doing and I told them trying to get something to eat out of the refrigerator. The only problem was my sight while sleepwalking had not lead me to the fridge but to their closet.
When I was a teenager I had a small problem with sleep walking. I often remember waking up in different rooms than I went to sleep in. This one time I was trying to find something to eat. My parents woke up to this and they asked me what I was doing and I told them trying to get something to eat out of the refrigerator. The only problem was my sight while sleepwalking had not lead me to the fridge but to their closet.
Today, could it be that our sight is limited and leading us into the wrong places when it comes to how we see others? Could it be we have visual issues in seeing people as God created them because our sight has been impaired?
Today, could it be that our sight is limited and leading us into the wrong places when it comes to how we see others? Could it be we have visual issues in seeing people as God created them because our sight has been impaired?
This morning turn in your bible with me to and we are going to walk through how when we look at someone who God created in the wrong way, we are taking our sight away from our self in where we are going.
This morning turn in your bible with me to and we are going to walk through how when we look at someone who God created in the wrong way, we are taking our sight away from our self in where we are going.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
9 Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark.
10 It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others.
11 But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.
V9 - This claim picks up the theme of light that John uses in the previous verses to describe the inauguration and consummation of the Kingdom of God. It also draws from the terminology of chap. 1, where God is described as light (1:5) and the believers are encouraged to walk in the light as God is in the light (1:7). This claim is something of a climax in that John has moved from knowing God to abiding in him and now to living in the light. The believer who walks in the light shares a special intimacy with God through the work of Jesus Christ. As previously seen, he shares the very life (eternal) of God. To walk in the light is to live out the life of God. He will give evidence of his abiding union in the light as he meets the challenge and opportunity to develop Christian character and conduct that is in step with confession and the command of love.
V9 - This claim picks up the theme of light that John uses in the previous verses to describe the inauguration and consummation of the Kingdom of God. It also draws from the terminology of chap. 1, where God is described as light (1:5) and the believers are encouraged to walk in the light as God is in the light (1:7). This claim is something of a climax in that John has moved from knowing God to abiding in him and now to living in the light. The believer who walks in the light shares a special intimacy with God through the work of Jesus Christ. As previously seen, he shares the very life (eternal) of God. To walk in the light is to live out the life of God. He will give evidence of his abiding union in the light as he meets the challenge and opportunity to develop Christian character and conduct that is in step with confession and the command of love.
This final claim picks up the theme of light that John uses in the previous verses to describe the inauguration and consummation of the Kingdom of God. It also draws from the terminology of chap. 1, where God is described as light (1:5) and the believers are encouraged to walk in the light as God is in the light (1:7). This claim is something of a climax in that John has moved from knowing God to abiding in him and now to living in the light. The believer who walks in the light shares a special intimacy with God through the work of Jesus Christ. As previously seen, he shares the very life (eternal) of God. To walk in the light is to live out the life of God. He will give evidence of his abiding union in the light as he meets the challenge and opportunity to develop Christian character and conduct that is in step with confession and the command of love.
Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 97). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 97). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
V10 - Is John Saying that the believer or non believer has something to cause them to stumble? John’s choice of words leads to the idea that the light keeps the believer from stumbling.
V10 - Is John Saying that the believer or non believer has something to cause them to stumble? John’s choice of words leads to the idea that the light keeps the believer from stumbling.
With Light the believer can see. Without light or with less and less light the believers sight gets weaker and Causes them to stumble. Without light the believer stumbles and in turn the non believer stumbles. But what are they stumbling on? Do they stumble on the object (immigration, racism, discrimination, how to treat LGBTQ community) or do they stumble over the Christian? Could it be that socitiy has not stumbled over the issues but they stumbled over us because we failed to live with the light to show the WAY? Could it be that why IRAN has the fastest growing church in the world is not because they don’t have difficulty but because they have a LIGHT they are shinning for their brother, sister, and neighbor?
With Light the believer can see. Without light or with less and less light the believers sight gets weaker and Causes them to stumble. Without light the believer stumbles and in turn the non believer stumbles. But what are they stumbling on? Do they stumble on the object (immigration, racism, discrimination, how to treat LGBTQ community) or do they stumble over the Christian? Could it be that socitiy has not stumbled over the issues but they stumbled over us because we failed to live with the light to show the WAY? Could it be that why IRAN has the fastest growing church in the world is not because they don’t have difficulty but because they have a LIGHT they are shinning for their brother, sister, and neighbor?
The Light in us is what takes away the stumbling blocks in us.
The Light in us is what takes away the stumbling blocks in us.
V11 - Those in the darkness are Far from knowing God, those who hate their brothers walk around confused and lost, not knowing where they are going. “In other words, unethical behavior not only contradicts the claim to be a Christian; it actually contributes to a spiritual downfall.”
V11 - Those in the darkness are Far from knowing God, those who hate their brothers walk around confused and lost, not knowing where they are going. “In other words, unethical behavior not only contradicts the claim to be a Christian; it actually contributes to a spiritual downfall.”
Far from knowing God, those who hate their brothers walk around confused and lost, not knowing where they are going. “In other words, unethical behavior not only contradicts the claim to be a Christian; it actually contributes to a spiritual downfall.”218
Spiritual darkness is not a passive reality. It goes on the offensive. Darkness attacks those living in it so that they become increasingly trapped in this realm of confusion and blindness.
Spiritual darkness is not a passive reality. It goes on the offensive. Darkness attacks those living in it so that they become increasingly trapped in this realm of confusion and blindness.
The longer one remains in this realm of darkness, the more difficult it becomes to see the sin that is in one’s life, and the less likely one is to see his need to confess his sins so that fellowship with God can be restored. Habitual hatred leads to more hatred, and the possibility of loving becomes less and less likely.
The longer one remains in this realm of darkness, the more difficult it becomes to see the sin that is in one’s life, and the less likely one is to see his need to confess his sins so that fellowship with God can be restored. Habitual hatred leads to more hatred, and the possibility of loving becomes less and less likely.
Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 100). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 100). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
How Do You See People How God Sees Them?
How Do You See People How God Sees Them?
1. Corrective Measures
1. Corrective Measures
Corrective measures when you are blind.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Is it possible that we are living in an age of the Pharisees once again in the church. Is it possible that we have so cleaned the outside of lives to look like we do not have an issue but nothing but death lys with in us? We are pretty to see but have no life.
Is it possible that we are living in an age of the Pharisees once again in the church. Is it possible that we have so cleaned the outside of lives to look like we do not have an issue but nothing but death lys with in us? We are pretty to see but have no life.
We need to change. The world doesn’t need more grave yards. The world doesn’t need more appearances of beauty and correction but no real substance in us.
We need to change. The world doesn’t need more grave yards. The world doesn’t need more appearances of beauty and correction but no real substance in us.
We need a change. We need to take corrective measures to help us see again. We must do the same thing we said last Sunday, God look inside of me and see if anything offends you.
We need a change. We need to take corrective measures to help us see again. We must do the same thing we said last Sunday, God look inside of me and see if anything offends you.
What could be in the inside that shouldn’t be? A. Judgements about someone who is different than you - but you don’t understand they hurt me. Go back and listen to last weeks message. Don’t make judgements about a race, religion, region, or group of people because of how one or a few acted or treated you. You can’t say that all car sales man are bad just because you got took by one. It’s not in the heart of all but in the character of a few.
What could be in the inside that shouldn’t be? A. Judgements about someone who is different than you - but you don’t understand they hurt me. Go back and listen to last weeks message. Don’t make judgements about a race, religion, region, or group of people because of how one or a few acted or treated you. You can’t say that all car sales man are bad just because you got took by one. It’s not in the heart of all but in the character of a few.
So what do we do? We allow the Holy Spirit to work inside of us. We open our lives to be challenged and changed. Nothing being off limits.
So what do we do? We allow the Holy Spirit to work inside of us. We open our lives to be challenged and changed. Nothing being off limits.
2. Remove Blinders
2. Remove Blinders
Generational hatred. It was learned and not realized.
You don’t even know why you feel this way, you just do because its what you are supossed to do.
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
It is time we take off the blinders of generation and old life and put on the eyes of Jesus.
Your old life judges people, your new life recognizes the divine dignity of each person.
3. Allow The Light In
3. Allow The Light In
12 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.”
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Truth must flow in your life. That is what truly lights the way for you.
CLOSE
CLOSE
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
Revelation
Can you get to heaven and worship with someone who doesn’t look like you?
9 Then I looked. And there was a great multitude which no one could count, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Can I challenge your thinking this morning, if you are unable to worship with them on earth, I do not see you worshiping