Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

"This is a really big deal … if you are a Jesus follower. A God kind of love is #1 in the apostle Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit … for a reason. It all starts here, guys. Jesus identified a God kind of love as priorities # 1 and 2 for a Jesus follower. He says, “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.” (Matthew 22.37-39) And guys, 1 Corinthians 13 is the kind of love Jesus is talking about. He’s not talking about any of our cheap substitutes. The apostle John said, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” (1 John 4.20-21) And I Corinthians is the kind of love he’s talking about, not the counterfeit stuff we settle for."

"So, Jesus’ enemies have finally got him exactly where they want him. They had had him arrested on trumped up charges, they had put him through a farce of a trial, they had beaten him nearly to death with a whip, then stripped him naked and nailed his hands and feet to a cross … and he was hanging there … right on the edge of dying. One of his disciples was dead, 10 were in hiding, and only one dared watch. Their hopes that Jesus might be their messiah, their inklings that he might actually be even more than that … the Son of God, even … all their hopes crushed by this … disillusionment … this emptiness. And Jesus says … “It is finished.” “It is finished” … what in the world does that mean?"

Stephen "Doc" Pattison

"There are moments when Jesus looks very normal – and moments when he looks supernatural. There are moments when he sounds very human – and moments when he sounds like he has a supernatural authority. Which are you more comfortable with? Do you like Jesus as God? Or do you prefer Jesus, the man? And if you see him as God, is he a good God? Is he a failure? If he’s a man, do you see him as a winner? A loser? Pitiful? Fool?

I want us to see Jesus in the moment today. I want us to appreciate what the disciples experienced and even see what Jesus was revealing from moment to moment. And I think you’ll find you are in the story as well. And there is a sequence of stories starting in Mark 8 that, to me, really shows the complexity of what we are talking about. And as hard as it is for us to comprehend it all, we’ll follow Peter and see how he handles all of it in the moment."

Some of the stories in the Bible sound weird. Now, if you’ve grown up in the church as I have, you forget how weird they sound to people who haven’t heard them a few dozen times. And this is one of the weird ones. It’s a wild, weird story … to people who aren’t used to the wild, weird stories of the Bible. And they read it, and they’re like … “Really?! Do you actually think that happened … literally? Do you actually think it happened … that way? I mean, there are so many head-scratchers in it, right?”

It's a story of a skirmish between this “God-man” Jesus … and this supernatural being they called “Satan.” According to the Jesus stories in the New Testament, Jesus is young … about 30, maybe … just kicking off his “ministry” on earth, and he’s kind of tossed into this cage match with the devil, Lucifer, “the prince of darkness,” Beelzebub, Mephistopheles … you know, the guy we picture with red skin, teeth like some vampire, horns, a serpent-like tail, and, holding this pitchfork … for some reason. … Really?

We're going start unpacking some of the most famous verses in the Bible ... deservedly so ... and I think all of us need to lean in. Because they are not only some of the most famous verses in the Bible, but they are also, I think, some of the most misunderstood. And if you actually listen to what Jesus was actually saying this is really, really important stuff. So, if you want to follow along, open your Bible or your Bible app to Matthew chapter 5. The verses will be on screen as well. These are the opening verses to what is called "The Sermon on the Mount." Ever heard of it? The Sermon on the Mount, from the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5-7. Here's how it starts.

"If you have submitted yourself to Jesus, and if you are a part of this family here, you are now an ambassador to God’s brand. What you do and say reflects the perceived values of CapCity. And of God himself.

Again, you don’t have to agree with me. You don’t have to like this news. This isn’t information just for Jesus followers. But it is true. It’s true for all people in all circumstances. What you do and say is constantly telling others something about who you are and who you represent.

And if you are a Jesus follower, this verse should be pretty important to you: 2 Corinthians 5:20 – “And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (God has decided that the way his message will go throughout the world will be through us – and his message is reconciliation). We are, therefore Christ’s ambassadors (we represent his message and his brand – that makes us ambassadors) as though God were making his appeal through us. (I hate that phrase “as though.” It’s not there in the Greek and the idea isn’t present in this passage. It isn’t “as though,” some passive “could be.” It is exactly this way. God is making his appeal through us. It is his plan. It is his strategy. And, again, our message:) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.'"

It's easy to complain. It's easy to diss and mock and attack. What's harder is to show them something better. Which is kind of our job, right? as Jesus-Followers? To show them something better? And we don't think that it is better because we are smarter than they are. We don't think it is better because we think our ideas are superior to their ideas. We think it is better because we are trying to live out God's ideas...we think. And we think God, our Creator God, is way smarter and way better than we are. We think He kind of proved it...in Jesus.

Well, this morning I am going to unpack these ideas in the context of money. Now, if you’ve been around CapCity for a while you know that I’m not much of a preacher, I’m more of a teacher. And this morning I’m going to teach. In fact, it may feel like trying to drink from a firehouse. But in this series we are in … “Skill Set” … the stuff we do as Jesus followers, I’ve got one week to talk about how we view and handle our money … as Jesus followers. So here goes …

Now, I’m actually going to give you one “long” sermon in three parts. Part one today, and part two next week, and part three the week after that. But they are all connected; they all flow out of the same big ideas. Four big ideas. Here they are:

• Big idea #1: God owns it all. It’s all his. Everything we have, everything we can do, how we live, what we live for … it’s all his. We think it’s ours, when, in reality, it’s all his … whether we acknowledge it or not. Because he is God, right?

• Big idea #2: The big G God is lavishly generous, he’s amazingly generous. Whether you are a Jesus follower, or not, God has given you so incredibly much! Do you buy that? It’s all grace, guys!

• Big idea #3: With gifts comes responsibility. How did Spiderman put it? “With great power comes great responsibility.” Well, it’s the right idea: “With great gifts comes great responsibility.”

• And, Big idea #4: If you live these 3 big ideas out, you’ll have a better life, and you’ll be better at life. It’s all his; he’s extravagantly generous; but he expects you to use what he gives you in a God-honoring way. Living that way will be better for you, and for everyone around you. … Because we have a very good, and a very wise God, right?

There is something true and the physical, mental, and emotional state of man in this statement: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” It isn’t good physically, mentally, or emotionally. That is what these studies have shown.

But most importantly, it isn’t good spiritually. In the last couple of weeks, Doc has made this point: Spiritual health is more important than physical health. And, potentially, the greatest area of health that suffers when we are isolated and lonely is our spiritual health.