Dennis R. Wiles

FBC Arlington

October 23, 2016

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE

The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

True Love

John 15:1-17

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Blessing Our Neighbors

We have learned to love our neighbors, listen to our neighbors and live among our neighbors. We have learned to bless our neighbors, seek justice on their behalf, witness to them and be good Samaritans.

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

Our external behavior as Christians is rooted in something deeper than behavioral expectations.

Jesus invites us to a personal connection with Him!

His life flows through us as we remain connected to Him.

Apart from Jesus, our lives are fruitless.

Love is the currency of Christianity!

Like a Good Neighbor . . .

Luke 10:25-37

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Blessing Our Neighbors

Luke 10:25-37:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Concern

Compassionate Action

Costly Commitment

Continued Attention

Dennis R. Wiles

FBC Arlington

October 9, 2016

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE

The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Testifying About God

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Blessing Our Neighbors

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

What is the church’s role in the community? What makes its voice unique?

How real is the temptation to only offer helpful advice, provide for physical needs and cater to a “self-help” model of ministry?

N.T. Wright

Something has happened

Something will happen

Everything has changed

What we have to offer to our community is The Gospel!

Jesus Christ has come and fulfilled all the prophecy and expectations associated with the Messiah. He is now the Savior for the entire world. He is going to return to fully establish His Kingdom on earth. His Kingdom has already begun to be a reality and we are now invited to live in this new reality.

What is at stake is eternal!

Blessed People Bless People

Psalm 1

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Blessing Our Neighbors

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

- Distractions

- Digression

- Delight

- Direction

- Distinction

- Destiny

Blessed People Bless People

Glorifying God by Following The Jesus Way

Justice for All 

Micah 6:6-8 

 

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God 

 

 

Blessing Our Neighbors (centered on screens) 

 

Freedom Sunday 

 

International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org) 

  

Micah 6:6-8 

With what shall I come before the Lord 

    and bow down before the exalted God? 

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, 

    with calves a year old? 

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 

    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? 

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, 

    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. 

    And what does the Lord require of you? 

To act justly and to love mercy 

    and to walk humbly with your God. 

 

"The shallowness of our moral comprehension, the incapacity to sense the depth of misery caused by our own failures, is a simple fact of fallen humanity which no explanation can justify or hide." 

-Abraham Heschel 

 

Act justly!  

 

Love mercy! 

 

 

Walk humbly with God!

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE

The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Life in the Neighborhood

1 Peter 2:9-12

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Blessing Our Neighbors

Love, Listen, Live!

Sermon Title Slide

Text: 1 Peter 2:9-12

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

IDENTITY: It is important to know who we are!

It is important to know whose we are!

INTERNAL: We must address the harmful desires within us all.

IMPACT: We have the opportunity and obligation to live as the people of God among our neighbors.

Dennis R. Wiles

FBC Arlington

September 11, 2016

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE

The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Two Ears—One Mouth!

James 1:19

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

www.fbca.org

www.thesacramentaljourney.org

Blessing Our Neighbors

Sermon Title Slide

Text: James 1:19

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,…

How often are we quick to speak and slow to listen?

What difference does it make?

Communication is often viewed as a one-sided reality.

Listening is a skill that needs to be developed, practiced and refined.

Dennis R. Wiles

FBC Arlington

September 4, 2016

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE

The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Love Your Neighbor!

Matthew 22:34-40

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Blessed People Resource for 2016 (Blessing Our Neighbors)

www.fbca.org

www.thesacramentaljourney.org

Blessing Our Neighbors

BLESSING OUR NEIGHBORS

Love Your Neighbor!

Two Ears—One Mouth!

Life in the Neighborhood

Justice for All

Blessed People Bless People

Testifying About God

Like a Good Neighbor . . .

True Love

Blessing the Generations

Sermon Title Slide

Text: Matthew 22:34-40

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “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.”

Our relationship with God is the fundamental reality for all of us.

God’s redemptive work within us offers us the opportunity to live in His will.

God has uniquely designed us to live in the context of human relationships.

Love your neighbor!

Dennis R. Wiles

FBC Arlington

August 28, 2016

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE

The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Busy in Well-Doing

James 2:14-26

BLESSED PEOPLE BLESS PEOPLE: The People of God Engaged in The Work of God

Text: James 2:14-26

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James and Paul do not contradict each other!

At the heart of Christianity is a fundamental faith in Jesus Christ.

Authentic faith results in salvation and initiates a process of transformation.

Authentic faith is expressed in ministry and service to others.