Through the Narrow Door 04.06.22

Announcements:

No Youth Group next week on April 13th for Spring Break.

Youth Camp sign ups have started to make sure to go to the website to fill out the participation form if you would like to go. If you do not have a flyer to take home for your parents with the pricing, dates and info come get one after the message.

Bible Text:

Luke 13:22–30 NIV

Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Introduction

Is there an illustration/image that can be used to help people understand?

1 – Explain the Biblical Principle:

What does the bible teach us in this passage?

- What is the central idea of this text in relation to the original audience?

- How can I express the central idea practically and memorably?

How can I express the central idea of the sermon so that people remember it, and so that it applies to people today? How can I structure the sermon so that it has one main point, with (when necessary) supporting points, rather than many different points?

- How does this apply to us in our lives?

(Dig into what the bible teaches regarding this topic)

2 – Consider objections:

What objections will my hearers raise? How can I express these objections well, and answer them?

- Is this a sensitive topic to your audience?

- How can you reveal God’s love through these objections?

- How can you share the gospel truth even if they do not agree?

- How can I answer objections before they are thought of? (i.e As Christians, we trust that God makes clear the true essentials of our faith, a principle called the perspicuity of Scripture. We also humbly admit that sometimes the Bible feels challenging because we don’t like what it says. Our problem often is less that we don’t understand what it says and more that we don’t agree or don’t want to obey.)

- How will this speak to young people specifically?

- What does this mean for them right now?

3 – Offer a defense to those objections:

What does the passage reveal about God?

- How can I articulate what the passage is saying about God?

- How can I share the good news through this passage?

- Are there any outside sources/commentaries that can help bring this passage to light?

4 - Why we can’t do it alone:

- This moral imperative always presents a crisis, for when properly understood, the practical and moral obligations of the Scripture is impossible for human beings to meet.

- Reminded of our sinful nature and who we are through the world without Jesus Christ in our lives.

5 – How Jesus changed this for us:

How does this passage reveal Jesus Christ in our lives?

- What does the passage reveal about humanity?

- How does this passage change the way we should live?

- How through faith in Jesus you should live now?

In every text of the Scripture there are imperatives, moral norms for how we should live. That norm may be seen in what we learn about the character of God or Christ, or in the good or bad example of characters in the text, or in explicit commands, warnings, and summonses.

- What does this passage look like in our world today?

- What are the implications for how we love (desires), think (mind), and live (actions) through a life with Jesus Christ through this passage?

Important: don’t overemphasize actions at the expense of desires and thoughts.

6 - Provide Practical Application:

What does all of this mean for my audience?

- How does the central idea, as well as what’s revealed about God and about us, intersect with our condition today?

- How can I raise the need?

The sermon will address a need. If the listener is already aware of that need, how can I hook them? If they aren’t aware of the need, how can I make them aware? It’s good to show sympathy in how we raise the need. It’s not their need; it’s our need.

- How does the gospel answer this need?

- What is there in Jesus that answers this need?

- How does he become more beautiful and desirable in this passage?

7 – Closing:

Tie it all together:

- How can you sum this up for a way for the audience to leave with a “if you don’t hear anything else, hear this” type of statement?

- Is there an opportunity for repentance and acceptance in this passage?

Let’s Pray