Upload
others
View
1
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Living Like Jesusin a Broken World
What it Looks Like to Be the Church
You Can’t Take it With You: A Life of Generosity
• Focused on the Apostles Teaching
• Experienced supernatural power
• Lived in a state of awe & wonder
• Shared their possessions freely
• Spent time collectively in the temple
• Ate together in homes regularly• Prayed and praised together
Acts 2:42-47
• Shared their possessions freely
When we fail to revere God the we should, it has a direct effect on the way
we accumulate possessions for ourselves, the way we ignore the needy,
the way we trivialize fellowship, and the way we play more than we pray.
God LOVES you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
1.
You are sinful and SEPARATED from God. Therefore you cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.
2.
Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY provision for our sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.
3.
Sinful Man Holy GodGood Works
Religion
Morality
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Sinful Man Holy God
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
You must individually RECEIEVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.
4.
SThe Self-Directed Life
SELF is on the throne
Interests are directed by self, resulting in discord, frustration
Christ is outside the life
S
The Christ-Directed Life
CHRIST is on the throne
Self is yielding to Christ
Interests are directed by Christ, resulting in harmony w/God’s plan
When God is on the throne of our hearts, it completely
changes the way we handle our money & possessions—
and how we respond to those in need.
Isaiah 58
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.”
v.3
SThe Self-Directed Life
SELF is on the throne
Interests are directed by self, resulting in discord, frustration
Christ is outside the lifeIsaiah 58 v.4 “Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.”
The Self-Directed LifeInterests are directed by self, resulting in discord, frustration
v.4 “Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.”
Self-Zone
The Self-Zone
• Quarreling
• Strife• Anger
• Discontentment• Greed• Emptiness
Seeing Things Clearly
The Self-Zone
• Quarreling
• Strife• Anger
• Discontentment• Greed• Emptiness
“You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
v. 4 (live)
v. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
There has to be a change of heart
Isaiah 58:6-12
Generosity flows from a transformed heart.
We give because God gives.
Key words in the Bible:
“Believe”
“Pray”
“Love”
“Give”
272x
371x
714x
2,152x
• What about tithing?• Is tithing commanded for New Testament believers?
How does Isaiah 58 answer this question?
• What about tithing?• Is tithing commanded for New Testament believers?
How does Isaiah 58 answer this question?“You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
(tithe)v. 4
• What about tithing?• Is tithing commanded for New Testament believers?
How does Isaiah 58 answer this question?It all comes down
to your heart
S S
The Self-Directed Life
The Christ-Directed Life
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the
hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy
your needs in a sun-scorched land.”
Isaiah 58:9-11