This is an informal bible talk, an informal discussion of the bible and how it applies to our lives today. What is the purpose of these meetings? Tonights discussion will conclude with some of the answers to this question.
Matt 22:36-40"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."What does it mean to love God with all of our heart?
- "All the law and the prophets" -- the whole bible! summed up in these two commandments. What its all about!
- All of Jesus' teaching is focused on relationships; with God and with other people.
- God wants us to have the best possible relationships; with Him, and with other people.
- Think of some relationships in your life that you would like to see improve, to become closer. God wants this for you too!
"My feelings, which are based on reason, are determined for right."
- Our emotions
- Our intellect
- Our will
- Our conscience
What does it mean to love our neighbor(s) as ourself? It is the opposite of all societies focus on self:
World's View God's View 1. Me 1. God 2. Others 2. Others 3. God 3. MeHow would the world be different if the world adapted this view?Practically, how easy is it for us to live a lifestyle consistent with Jesus' teaching? Not easy at all! Why?
- I've never seen God, the rest of the world is getting theirs.
- Some people are very difficult for me!
Yet these two commands summarize all of God's wishes for our lives. The good news is that it can be done! Jesus promises it can, and God has provided the way!
Matt 7:7-8"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
- Ask. Talk to God. Ask for His guidance.
- Seek. Study! If the whole bible is summed up in two commands, then the rest of it is about the application of the two commands.
- Knock. Persist! Keep asking, seeking, and practicing.
Matt 7:9-12"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."God is eager to give us good gifts! Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10) An abundant, full life! Filled with solid friendships with God and with other people!
Matt 7:13-14"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."Many people will reject Jesus and wander onto the wide road. It is the path of least resistance. But only a few find the narrow road. You find something by seeking for it! (Jer 29:13)
Matt 7:15-20"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."Judge a teaching by its fruit -- its long term effect on relationships with God and others. If the result isn't a deeper love for God and others, then its not from Him. Its Bad fruit!
Matt 7:21-23"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
- Claiming that Jesus is your lord does not make it so.
- Religious activity does not make it so either.
If Jesus never knew them, then they never really knew Him either. They may have known many facts about Him, and they may have done many "good works", but the will of God is all about love! Relationships! Your personal relationship with God, and others.
Ask yourself this question: Do I know Him? Or do I just know a lot of facts about Him? We all know facts about the president, but how many of us know him? Like any other relationship, your relationship with God takes time, and a commitment. It must go beyond practicing "religion".
What things come to mind when you hear the word "religion"?
Jesus is very different from current popular conceptions of Him and of religion.
Matt 23:25-28"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 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 dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."Jesus passionately rebuked people for wearing religious masks, for putting up a front. He was not timid, He was bold! He focused on the heart, not on the external.
John 2:13-16"When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, 'Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!'"Jesus has very strong feelings about the "business of religion". He was no wimp! People hated Him for this! (Mark 11:15-18)
John 5:39,40"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."Knowing facts about Jesus is not the same as knowing Him. He warned these people that they were worshipping their religion, they were worshipping the book about God instead of God!
Luke 18:9-14"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."Jesus taught about people who judge themselves to be better than others, particularly because of their religion. God is like a father. If one of your children took this attitude about one of their siblings, who would you be more likely to have compassion on?
Religious masks, religious "business", legalism, self-righteousness.
The popular concepts about Jesus and "religion" are practically synonymous with these four terms, yet the bible tells us that Jesus would have nothing to do with any of it! Jesus was never about any of these things. On the contrary, He has always been about love and relationships!
Matt 7:24-27"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."What do you think God would want our purpose for these meetings to be?
- Put his teachings into practice -- Love! (Luke 6:46)
- Real Christianity is about love and relationships.
- Its about knowing Jesus "the rock", and practicing his teaching.
- Who is Jesus?
- What are His teachings?
- How do we put them into practice in our daily lives?
Decisions: Are you willing to let go of your preconceived ideas about Jesus and his teachings? Start from scratch! Let the bible teach us.
Are you willing to ask, seek, and knock to put His teachings into practice?
Close with prayer.