In this final message of the “Hitting the Books” series, those basic teaching of Jesus — especially those focused on the Kingdom of God, Art Morris continues his study of selected passages of Luke. This time 16:19-31 where he breaks down the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The focus is that the things we do and the way that we live truly can make a difference now and for eternity.
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In Luke 16:1-13 Jesus gives a great sermon to his disciples (and the Pharisees who were hanging around). The challenge is to think about money as a means to an end; to consider that money is a tool that we can use now to make a difference in eternity future. Art Morris helps us unpack this teaching and encourages us to make a commitment to use our money to impact those that God cares about. In the end, Jesus closes with a statement and a challenge “You can’t serve God and money”. As it turns out, spending is serving one master or the other; spending is worship.
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Kingdom living means involving yourself in helping others. And, the best help is not given at arm’s length. Instead it’s shoulder to shoulder, partnering with the person who has a need — in effect, being Jesus to them. In this challenging message Eric Kramer calls us to jump in with gusto. At the end a special guest shares his experience and vision.
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In Luke 18:9-14 we find the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. They each came to the temple, but why? Art Morris explores this deeply personal example of how the kingdom of God is different from the world. Whether we know it or not we all are taking some approach to life. Either we’re on the path of performance — thinking that what we do will either make us satisfied with life or make us closer to God. Or we throw ourselves on God and beg for his mercy. Guess which way works?
Questions:
1. What are a few good things about living life like a Pharisee?
2. What might have made it hard for the tax collector to ask God for mercy?
3. What are you counting on to get you right with God?
4. The next two verses after our focal passage share the story of how Jesus welcomed children to come to him. What does that story have in common with today’s lesson?
Challenge:
We’ve looked at three prayers: two this week and the Disciple’s Prayer (or the Lord’s Prayer) two weeks ago – think about what each prayer says about God and you.
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After watching Jesus, the disciples asked for instruction on how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer or the Disciples’ Prayer was his answer to them. “Kingdom Prayer” involves submitting to God’s agenda rather than your own. In this message, Art Morris takes a fresh look at a familiar passage. Have you really prayed the Lord’s Prayer lately?
Questions:
1. Which of the four lines in Luke’s version of the Disciple’s Prayer does God seem to be emphasizing to you? Why is that?
2. What are the good and bad sides of making prayer a habit?
3. The Disciple’s prayer highlights the work of the three different persons of our one God. What person of God do you think of the most? The least?
4. What would you have to set aside or give a lower priority to in order to truly pray “Your kingdom come.” Do you struggle with the having enough faith to believe that God’s kingdom is better than yours?
Challenge:
This week memorize Luke’s version of the Disciple’s prayer and pray it at least once each day.
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Creating true lasting peace involves embracing the methods of Christ: service, sacrifice and grace. In this message Eric Kramer explores the good and not-so-good efforts of the church in following Christ’s example. Further, he encourages us to question how we might individually apply the “under power” of the kingdom to the process of peacemaking. (Tech Note: the first 5 or 10 minutes are a little “staticy” — we’ll get it right eventually!)
Study Notes
KEY POINTS
1. In the Greek - the word for peace is “eirene” and it means absence of war and conflict. This interpretation is the one we generally identify with.
2. In Hebrew – the word for peace “shalom” means completeness or wholeness and it refers to a person’s health, spiritual state, their prosperity, and it includes every aspect of a person’s life from their well being, their inner strength, to their salvation.
3. To be whole (in a state of shalom) includes accepting or loving oneself, loving others, and being in the right relationship with God.
4. In Hebrew the term “son of” often refers to the disciple of a person. At the cross Jesus was imitating His father, and revealed the priority His father places on peace and harmony with God and other people
5. As disciples of Jesus we must pursue peace and bring healing and wholeness to a world which is in great need of genuine peace.
6. The peace we pursue is much more than abstaining from war, it starts with you being right with God, and continually strengthening that relationship with Him.
7. For Christianity to be a creative force in the culture - our inner life of faith must shape our actions in the world, and every choice and decision we make must fan the flames of egoism and destruction, and build a life giving, peace-loving culture.
8. The Church has stood unshaken for over 2 thousand years. It survived the persecution of the early centuries, the barbarian invasions of the
Middle Ages, and the intellectual assaults of the modern era. God forbid that we, heirs of saints and martyrs, should falter at this pivotal point in history. We must win the lost and then build a culture built on the principles of the kingdom of Heaven, and seize the moment to show the world another way, His way.
Questions:
1. What kind of peacemaker are you? In which ways do you follow the example of your master?
2. How do you feel about the non violent, “power under” methods of the kingdom of God? Are they practical in today’s world?
3. Is it possible that Christianity has such a negative connotation because we have adopted too much of the ways of this world instead of the ways of the kingdom?
4. How can you apply these truths to your everyday life?
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As Jesus traveled around preaching, he often closed with the challenge found in Luke 6:46-49. He simply wasn’t satisfied unless his hearers acted on his message. Failure to practice his teachings is just as foolish (and just as destined to fail) as a house that is built on a poor foundation. Art Morris works through this message and asks those of us who are interested in Jesus’ message to answer three questions: Why are you here? Who do you trust? What are you building your life on? A parallel passage is found in Matthew 7 as the closing of the Sermon on the Mount.
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In this message for September 16, 2007 Eric Kramer explains the “under power” of the Kingdom of God. This power comes from a position of service, of humility, of sacrifice and of grace. This upside down nature of Christianity is hard to understand sometimes but is an essential part of the heart of the Christ-follower. With this type of power God can accomplish things through us that we may never have dreamed of. It truly is the power to change the world. (tech note — the audio is a bit muffled compared to usual)
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Eric Kramer used this clip from the CNN series “God Warriors” to highlight the fact that Christians don’t “walk the talk” like Muslims often do.
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In this second sermon of the Hitting the Books series, Eric Kramer challenges us to do the most difficult thing in the world: imitate Jesus. See also the CNN video clip that Eric refers to midway through the message. Robbie Foreman closes out with a time for reflection
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