TITLE: Preparing our hearts for the lockdown

TEXT: Proverbs 18:1

Preparing our hearts for the lockdown…

1 – BEING ISOLATED IS DANGEROUS – PROVERBS 18:1

Isolation is dangerous for at least 2 reasons:

1A. It ultimately flows from selfishness – Proverbs 18:1a

1B. It inevitably fuels bad choices – Proverbs 18:1b

Proverbs 15:22 – “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”

2 – BEING TOGETHER IS ESSENTIAL – SELECTED VERSES

Being together is essential because it’s…

2A. Commanded – Hebrews 10:25

Hebrews 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

John Piper – “God’s commandments are for our good. Everything he tells us to do is good for us. God does not need our service to improve his attitude or his ability. So he doesn’t tell us to do things because he has needs, but because we have needs.”

2B. Normal – 1 Corinthians 12:14-15

1 Corinthians 12:14-15 - “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body.”

2C. Modeled – Acts 2:42,46

Acts 2:42, 46 – “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers….And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts…”

2D. Wise - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

TITLE: Making Money Count

TEXT: Luke 16: 1-13

We love & trust the bible…

We believe in the SUFFICIENCY of Scriptures – Psalm 19:7-9

We believe in the AUTHORITY of Scriptures – 2 Timothy 3:16

We believe in the NECESSITY of Scriptures – John 17:17

We believe in the CLARITY of Scriptures – 2 Peter 3:16

When it comes to money, we must:

1 – THINK DEEPLY – V.1-8a

2 – INVEST ETERNALLY – V.9-13

How followers of Christ use money:

2A. Faithfully: In big or small – V.10-12

Faithfulness with money is a matter of the heart:

- Faithful with the little = Trusted with more

- Faithful with the temporal = Trusted with the eternal

- Faithful with someone else’s things = Trusted with your own

2B. Properly: Never an idol – V.13

TITLE: The Compassionate Father & His Two Lost Sons

TEXT: Luke 15:11-32

Two ways to be lost...

1 – REBELLIOUS & LOST – V.11-24

Luke 15:1-2 – “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

The rebelliously lost have 2 choices:

1A. Believe the lies of sin - V.13-16

1B. Repent & turn away from sin - V.17-24

What does God the Father think of our repentance? Genuine repentance is met with:

Compassion - V.20

Forgiveness - V.21

Rejoicing - V.22-24

2 – RELIGIOUS & LOST – V.25-32

How can I know if I’m religious but still lost?

2A. I’m get angry at the thought of sinners receiving forgiveness - V.25-28

2B. I believe that my good works make me more acceptable than others - V.29-32

The religiously lost have the same 2 choices as the rebelliously lost:

Believe the lies of sin

Repent & turn away from sin

TITLE: LET LOVE BE GENUINE

TEXT: ROMANS 12:9-16

MAIN IDEA: God wants us to LOVE each other GENUINELY because we’re FAMILY

THE PERSON WHO PRACTICES GENUINE LOVE…

LIVES A LIFE OF AFFECTION, RESPECT, & SERVICE

“The temptation to “lose steam” in our lifelong responsibility to reverence God in every aspect of our lives,

to become lazy and complacent in our pursuit of what is “good, well and pleasing o God, and perfect,” is a

natural one— but it must be strenuously resisted.” Douglas J. Moo

LIVES A LIFE OF HOPE, PATIENCE, & PRAYER

His promise to:

1. Finish his work in us

2. Make all things new

3. Bring us into full fellowship

i. With Him

ii. With the Saints

LIVES A LIFE OF BLESSING, EMPATHY, & HUMILITY

Acts 2:44-45 all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their

possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

1 John 3:17-18 if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against

him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in

truth.

Rich Pérez, Mi Casa Uptown: Learning To Love Again “We should show hospitality to one another, as

sisters and brothers in the faith community. God calls us to share with one another generously and

welcome other people into our lives. Hospitality deepens christian community… When God is thinking of

hospitality, the first person he has in mind is not our friend or people with who we are familiar. He’s think

of the stranger, the person with whom we are not familiar. …it’s about loving strangers… in the same way

we love siblings”

[Luke 6 & Matthew 5 can be on one slide]

Luke 6:27-28 Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,

pray for those who mistreat you.

Matthew 5:44 love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

Anthony J. Carter, Black & Reformed: Seeing God’s Sovereignty in the African American Christian

Experience “…on the day of Pentecost [Acts 2], we are given a glimpse of the diversity that the Spirit of

God came to unite. Those gathered at pentecost were from a cross section of peoples, each having a

unique language and cultural identity. …this text reveals an undeniable diversity and intention of God to

build a church of various cultural and racial backgrounds”

Romans 5:6-8   For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will

scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—   but

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

TITLE: The Joy of Heaven… & Ours

TEXT: Luke 15: 1-10

A window into the heart of God:

1 – JESUS CHRIST LOVES & WELCOMES SINNERS – V.1-4, 8

Luke 14:35 – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

2 – JESUS CHRIST LONGS TO SHARE HIS JOY – V.5-10

Two prayers for our church from the parable of the lost sheep & the lost coin:

Let’s pray that...

- Gospel humility will generate a culture that welcomes the lost

- A culture that welcomes the lost would generate great joy as people are found by Jesus

TITLE: It will cost you everything

TEXT: Luke 14: 25-33

I cannot follow Jesus unless I…

1 – TREASURE CHRIST WITH UNDIVIDED LOYALTY – V.25-26

William Barclay – “No one could ever say that he had been induced to follow Jesus under false pretences. Jesus makes statement after statement which seems calculated to discourage rather than encourage men to follow him.”

2 – DENY MYSELF EVERY SINGLE DAY – V.27

3 – COUNT THE COST & GIVE UP EVERYTHING – V.28-33

Norvall Geldenhuys – “It does not mean that a man must sell all his possessions or give all his money away or desert his dear ones and become a hermit or wanderer or a beggar. But it does mean that he must give Christ total control over his whole life with everything that he is and all that he possesses. He places all at Christ’s disposal that he might be infinitely free from worldly-mindedness, covetousness and selfishness.

Norvall Geldenhuys – “Not to be a disciple of Jesus means to be a disciple of the powers of darkness and to be a servant of the world. And to be a servant of the world and of sin costs incalculably more than to be a disciple of Jesus.”

TITLE: Real Talk For the Familiar & Far Off

TEXT: Luke 14:12-24

Real talk from the teachings of Jesus…

1 – A WARNING TO THE FAMILIAR – V.12-20

2 – AN INVITATION TO THE FAR OFF – V.21-24

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” - John 1:9-12

TITLE: Hypocrisy or Humility: You Choose

TEXT: Luke 14:1-11

Today we must choose to:

1 – SEE & ABANDON ALL HYPOCRISY – V.1-6

Luke 13:10-17 – Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

Three signs that I may be struggling with self-righteous hypocrisy:

I impose my personal preferences on other people

I look down on others when they don’t live up to my personal preferences

I feel either justified or condemned based on my own personal preferences

2 – SEEK & PURSUE TRUE HUMILITY – V.7-11

TITLE: Urgent Warnings From A Rich Fool

TEXT: Luke 12:13-21

Urgent warnings from a rich fool: A warning against…

1 – LIVING FOR STUFF – V.13-15

Covetousness Defined:

“Covetousness is desiring something so much that we lose our contentment in God. Or, it is losing our contentment in God so that we start to replace God with something else.” - John Piper

2 – LIVING FOR NOW – V.16-20

TITLE: A Story of Salvation

TEXT: Luke 10:25-37

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a story of…

1 – GRACE & SALVATION – V.25-28

Matthew 22:36-40 – Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Eternal life…

1A. Can never be earned by human effort – V.26-28

Romans 3:20 – “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

1B. Can only be received by grace through faith - Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

2 – LOVE & COMPASSION – V.29-37