Sunday Sermon Review - January 20, 2013
( from my home church I attend regularly )
Topic "Rocking the Boat" - Matthew Series
Text - Matthew 21: 12 - 17
Thought for the week - "Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
The service started with singing several songs including "Where He Leads Me I Will Follow" and "It Is Well With My Soul".
Matthew 21:12-17
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,
16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Pastor Ben was the preacher today and here is some of what he said:
In last Sunday's sermon we saw how Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the Great King with the people praising Him shouting Hosanna! The book of Matthew is a book about the Kingship of Jesus.
Having been proclaimed King, now Jesus begins to act like a King and He begins to take care of business. He cleanses the temple.
At Passover time, thousands of Jews came to the city of Jerusalem. They needed animals for their sacrifices. It was essential. That is why the moneychangers were there as well as those who sold the doves.
Where is this selling going on? - in the temple court which was designated for the Gentiles to come and worship God. The market had been set up in the Court of the Gentiles.
The inmost part of the temple was the Holy of Holies in which only the High priest was allowed to enter once a year. He would wear bells and a rope tied around his body in case he died for some reason while in the Holy of Holies. This way it would be possible to get the high priest out in the unfortunate event that he would die in the Holy of Holies. The next part was reserved for the priests and religious leaders to worship , then the Jewish men, then was the area where the women and children could worship and finally the outer court was designated for the Gentiles to come to worship God.
The blind and the lame had not been allowed by King David to enter Jerusalem but Jesus allows the blind and the lame to come to Him and He heals them. ( verse 14 )
The children are still praising Jesus saying " Hosanna to the son of David". The chief priests are upset but Jesus defends the children.
The Cleansing of the Temple was a deliberate act by Jesus
Jesus is intentional and deliberate here as He cleanses the temple - he is not impulsive or flying off the rocker in anger. Jesus would have seen these moneychangers here many times before and most likely things were back up and running again there in a short time after.
Jesus shows Himself to be the Messiah
He is provoking the people to make a decision - the religous leaders also must decide
Are you in or out?
Jesus rocks the boat - shakes things up
He is the King and things must change!
It is the Same Today
If we come to Jesus, things must change
God will rock our boat
He begins with us personally
The people were waiting for the Messiah to drive out teh Romans but Jesus starts in the temple.
First - Judgement begins with the house of God -
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
It begins with us!
What needs to change in my life?
We need to hate and despise the sin our own life
God will expose the sin we hide - our hypocrisy will be exposed. A good example is Lance Armstrong.
We have to deal with the sin inour lives.
It is an act of grace when God exposes our sin and we must deal with it!
It starts with us.
Secondly - Rock the Boat in the Church
God expects us to grow - to be better, grow closer to Him
What things need to be stirred up?
How can God's people be better?
Do we exclude people on the fringes? We need to include them.
Annual meeting is coming up.
The budget is a reflection of our priorities as a church
Thirdly - Our Comuunity
Stir things up in our community
Bring change to the world
God places things on our hearts for a reason
Example 1) - Idle No More Protests - Does the church have a voice in this? What does God say? We are God's ambassadors.
Example 2) Slave Trade in our world
Example 3) Abortion
Example 4) The Way Christians do Missions
Stir things up to bring the voice of God to these situations!!
We need to stop playing it safe in our lives!
Be willing to stir things up!
We are called to extend God's Kingdom!
Note - next Sunday we will have a guest speaker
( from my home church I attend regularly )
Topic "Rocking the Boat" - Matthew Series
Text - Matthew 21: 12 - 17
Thought for the week - "Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
The service started with singing several songs including "Where He Leads Me I Will Follow" and "It Is Well With My Soul".
Matthew 21:12-17
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,
16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Pastor Ben was the preacher today and here is some of what he said:
In last Sunday's sermon we saw how Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the Great King with the people praising Him shouting Hosanna! The book of Matthew is a book about the Kingship of Jesus.
Having been proclaimed King, now Jesus begins to act like a King and He begins to take care of business. He cleanses the temple.
At Passover time, thousands of Jews came to the city of Jerusalem. They needed animals for their sacrifices. It was essential. That is why the moneychangers were there as well as those who sold the doves.
Where is this selling going on? - in the temple court which was designated for the Gentiles to come and worship God. The market had been set up in the Court of the Gentiles.
The inmost part of the temple was the Holy of Holies in which only the High priest was allowed to enter once a year. He would wear bells and a rope tied around his body in case he died for some reason while in the Holy of Holies. This way it would be possible to get the high priest out in the unfortunate event that he would die in the Holy of Holies. The next part was reserved for the priests and religious leaders to worship , then the Jewish men, then was the area where the women and children could worship and finally the outer court was designated for the Gentiles to come to worship God.
The blind and the lame had not been allowed by King David to enter Jerusalem but Jesus allows the blind and the lame to come to Him and He heals them. ( verse 14 )
The children are still praising Jesus saying " Hosanna to the son of David". The chief priests are upset but Jesus defends the children.
The Cleansing of the Temple was a deliberate act by Jesus
Jesus is intentional and deliberate here as He cleanses the temple - he is not impulsive or flying off the rocker in anger. Jesus would have seen these moneychangers here many times before and most likely things were back up and running again there in a short time after.
Jesus shows Himself to be the Messiah
He is provoking the people to make a decision - the religous leaders also must decide
Are you in or out?
Jesus rocks the boat - shakes things up
He is the King and things must change!
It is the Same Today
If we come to Jesus, things must change
God will rock our boat
He begins with us personally
The people were waiting for the Messiah to drive out teh Romans but Jesus starts in the temple.
First - Judgement begins with the house of God -
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
It begins with us!
What needs to change in my life?
We need to hate and despise the sin our own life
God will expose the sin we hide - our hypocrisy will be exposed. A good example is Lance Armstrong.
We have to deal with the sin inour lives.
It is an act of grace when God exposes our sin and we must deal with it!
It starts with us.
Secondly - Rock the Boat in the Church
God expects us to grow - to be better, grow closer to Him
What things need to be stirred up?
How can God's people be better?
Do we exclude people on the fringes? We need to include them.
Annual meeting is coming up.
The budget is a reflection of our priorities as a church
Thirdly - Our Comuunity
Stir things up in our community
Bring change to the world
God places things on our hearts for a reason
Example 1) - Idle No More Protests - Does the church have a voice in this? What does God say? We are God's ambassadors.
Example 2) Slave Trade in our world
Example 3) Abortion
Example 4) The Way Christians do Missions
Stir things up to bring the voice of God to these situations!!
We need to stop playing it safe in our lives!
Be willing to stir things up!
We are called to extend God's Kingdom!
Note - next Sunday we will have a guest speaker
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