Sermon Tone Analysis

This world can be so crazzzy can’t it?

How many of us experienced something wrong this week:maybe you got told something in some way and no one should talk to you that way.

Maybe you were charged too much for something, like you went to the gas station once this week, that’s where I know you got charged to much.

How many of you noticed that something wasn’t right at a business you went to this week, that people forgot to do something or seem preoccupied.

I began the week teaching at school.

This was our first week of school.

On my first day of school, I drove to school and experienced what the new late start for high school’s would mean for me.

It took me about 10 to 15 minutes to go on 8 mile from Lower Sac to West Lane.

That is just one light, and I can usually do it in 2 minutes.

The plan for getting rid of big traffic is to build more homes.

That’s crazy.

By the time I got to school I ran in already seeing the cute families lining up.

When I got it to my classroom I was trying to put things down and quickly I started getting called to the front to pick up students.

After I picked up one I kept getting called back to the front but I had no aides.

I couldn’t leave students.

You see things are crazy and no one hired aides over the summer.

They knew there was a shortage but nothing, no one.

So when one of my aides quit in July and the other one got stuck in traffic I was not able to be a good teacher.

Things started getting crazy and I got to tell you I am frustrated because those who have power in our district didn’t hire anyone.

The response is usually we can’t find enough workers but there are no further steps or actions taken like creative hours, incentives, raising pay, improving the desirability of the job somehow, more advertising.

And did you know that currently most school board seats are running unopposed.

No one to run against.

TImes are crazy.

Maybe it is like that where you work.

It’s just crazzzzy when people aren’t doing what they are supposed to do or people are doing wrong things they are not supposed to do.

Sin and it’s impact are all around us.

Sometimes it is easy to spot who is at fault and then when you talk about gas prices, public education or other things it is very difficult.

But the church, people who follow Jesus, this family is supposed to be different.

Do you ever see things among the people of Jesus that just aren’t right?

Ever seen understaffed or people who just didn’t know what they were doing.

I know you have because these problems exist everywhere.

Perhaps like me, you’ve seen people do the wrong thing in the church, or maybe you knew them from church, as followers of Jesus and then saw or knew they were doing the very, wrong thing!

What do you do?

What do you do?

We can give each other advice about living in our crazy world, but let’s choose to look at the revelation of God for answers to this life situation of dealing with people, fellow followers of Jesus, in this crazzy world, that’s where our answers for all of us are

Explain:

Sometimes reading the Bible is difficult because it seems as though you should know who is being talked about and what is going on but you don’t.

Like it’s an insider story that no one is letting you in on.

Like When friends start discussing their favorite show or your kids their favorite anime.

I get lost in about 15 seconds.

Yet this isn’t entertainment.

The Bible is God’s word to us and we need to understand.

So let me help you.

This is the second chapter of Galatians.

I totally encourage you to read the first chapter.

If you’ve been here the last couple of weeks you know that in this whole first part of the book of the Bible called Galatians aul is trying to explain who He is and how he has a right to speak as someone with the authority to tell them what the truth of following Jesus is.

IN the first chapter, He proved that Jesus revealed himself to Paul and taught him.

That Paul had authority.

This authority was recognized by the other apostles in Jerusalem.

He answered the question, why should you listen to me because Jesus taught me.

Now he showed that he knew everybody, who knew everybody and has authority to speak with even the top leaders.

One of the earliest Christians talked about in the New Testament who wasn’t an apostle was Barnabas.

He was noted early by the Christians as a very generous man, a leader.

He and a man named Titus who the Galatians would have known they taught that Jesus not only came as the Messiah to the Jews but as Savior to the whole world.

All the apostles taught this but Paul along with his friends actually taught the non-Jews called Gentiles, they taught them Jesus loved them and that they didn’t need to become Jewish to follow Jesus, they could stay Gentile and be a Christian.

It’s like I had a pastor friend tell me once in a shocked voice, “He said, I tell everyone that if they don’t volunteer I will be outside digging the ditch to fix the pipe.

I threaten them with that, but you actually do it.

You dig the ditch!” Paul didn’t just talk about Jesus’ love for everyone He actually went to everyone!

He helped them learn what it means to follow Jesus in their culture, they didn’t have to become Jewish.

Most of you just accept that truth, that you didn’t have to change cultures, you could come as you are to Jesus.

God will change you as a person but you don’t have to learn a new language or eat different foods.

You accept it as if it has always been that way but it hasn’t.

People since the beginning of the church have always tried to make following Jesus more about following made up rules of culture or all the good stuff we do than about a relationship with Jesus himself.

Rules like we don’t dance, we must dance, we must get excited, we can’t get excited, we don’t get mad, we get mad at everything, we must wear this clothing and not that clothing, we have to have meet at a certain time in a certain way.

Extra rules not in the Bible.

These extra rules can pile on and make following Jesus more about obedience and hiding than about living in a relationship with God.

Most Jews of the time felt that the best way to keep themselves holy, or right with God, was not to be with anyone who wasn’t a jew.

I don’t mean they would run the other way as soon as a Gentile, the word for a non-jew, they wouldn’t run if a Gentile came into the room but they didn’t make it a habit of being close.

While true followers of Jesus knew Jesus was the messiah, he was God one of us, He had died for their sins and rose again, and they could follow him, some thought that following Him meant being the best jew possible.

That anybody who wasn’t a Jew, who wanted to become a follower of Jesus, should therefore do everything that Jews do.

In other words, they should become Jewish in order to follow Jesus.

Jews are God’s chosen people.

They are a wonderful race and religion close to the heart of God.

Yet, Jesus came for all of us.

Jesus loves you.

One of the most obvious sign of Jewishness, was the sign of purification and separation to God, the sign of circumcision, the actual removal of the fore skin of the penis.

All Jews would have this performed when they were days old.

If a man converts, even still today, he must have his foreskin removed.

Circumcision was the most obvious example of what it means to follow God’s law given to Jews but it also included all of the things they could and could not eat, how they were to maintain there home, and the customs and rules were not just written in the Old Testament but also in the teachings of the Jewish leaders on what the Bible meant and how to live.

Every Jew who ever lived failed to live by all the law of God.

I know this because every person who has ever lived except Jesus has failed to live by the law.

No one is a perfect Jew except Jesus.

Because no one is perfect we can’t be in the presence of a perfect God.

Justice had to occur which is why God himself paid the price for our sins.

It is why Jesus had to die for us.

Why He had to make it right.

Yet some people, without real authority, started going to churches and telling them that believing that Jesus died for their sins, rose again, committing to follow Him, and doing it by baptism wasn’t good enough.

They had to become Jews too.

They had to follow all of the customs of being a Jew.

Not only could they not eat pork for example but they also would have to have the foreskin cut off from their penis, they would have to be circumcised.

While committed men to the Lord give their whole lives to Jesus, including their most intimate parts, Jesus never called us to cut ourselves for Him.

This teaching was without authority.

It was wrong.

It was a lie and it would mean that everyone would not experience the freedom of forgiveness in Christ.

They would be enslaved once again away form God.

Paul’s response is strong.

Really hear it.

What did Paul do?

Explain:

Paul and his friends went to the rest of the Christian leaders in Jerusalem.