Life Center

Jesus is coming back; no one knows when; we need to be ready.

Transcript

July 27-28, 2019

Pastor Joe Wittwer

Summer Bible Series

Be Ready!

Opening:

Welcome to Life Center. Today we’re reading a warning from Jesus—He tells us that He is going to return and we need to be ready.

ILL: Barry McGuire was walking down Sunset Strip in LA one day when someone stopped him and asked him if he was ready to meet Jesus. “I’m not even ready to meet you!” he said, and walked on. But he couldn’t shake the question, and it started him on a journey that led him to Jesus and transformed his life.

I’m asking you the same question: Are you ready? Are you ready to meet God? That’s what we’re talking about today. It’s going to be good!

Introduction and offering

ILL: Back in the mid-90’s, I coached my son, Jeff’s 9-10 year old baseball team. During one game, a boy named Drew came to the plate with the bases loaded. He hit a soft fly ball to the second baseman, who dropped it. Drew was lumbering down the line toward first base so the second baseman picked it up and tried to throw him out, but threw it over the first baseman’s head. He retrieved it and threw back to second, who missed it, chased it down and threw to third who missed it, retrieved it and threw wide of home. As Drew crossed the plate, our team erupted in cheers and screams. A grand slam home run! Really it was an infield fly with 4 errors!

The next time Drew came up the bases were loaded again, and one of the boys hollered “Do it again, Drew!” Drew looked back and said, “Oh no! That was a once in a lifetime thing!” It was!

I had boys who had played several years, and some who didn’t have a clue. So I started, like all good coaches, with the basics: how to throw, catch, run, and hit, and the rules. One of the basics is what we call “ready position”. When you are in the field, this is ready position. When you are at bat, this is ready position. Baseball can be a slow game, especially for kids this age, when their pitcher walks 5 batters in a row, and the kids in the field get bored. Pretty soon you see them standing out there with their legs crossed, staring into the sky, back to the batter, even sitting or laying down out in the outfield! I’d have to yell, “Ready position! C’mon guys, let’s be ready.”

Today, we’re going to read a passage in Luke in which Jesus coached His disciples to be in ready position: ready for the Lord’s return, ready to do God’s will. So here’s the question: Are you ready to meet God? If you were to die tonight, or if the Lord were to return, are you ready? Let’s get ready!

Offering here.

Luke 12:35–48 (p. 895)

35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to

There are lots of things that we worry about in life. Jesus has great news for why you don’t have to worry anymore!

A guy once came to Jesus asking for help to get rich, but instead of telling him how to get rich, Jesus told him the surprising secret of how to BE rich!

Fear God, but fear not

The call to follow Jesus is the call to be all of one kind of person, and therefore to live all of one kind of life; and God will graciously provide his Spirit to aid those who desire to follow him.

We are going to look at some confrontations Jesus initiated. What is it that would make Jesus confrontational?

If you are with Jesus, you are on the winning team! But how do you live as an active participant on Jesus winning team against the devil?

When we work we work, when we pray God works!

What about repeat offenders, who just keep doing the same thing over and over? What about boundaries? What about abusive or toxic relationships? What about injustice? What about consequences?

Transcript

June 8-9, 2019

Pastor Joe Wittwer

Let it Go!

#6—What about…?

Introduction and offering

ILL: On Christmas day, the whole family was at our house to celebrate. Just before dinner, my son Andy mentioned that I had gotten an email from someone who was upset about my message at our Christmas Eve services. I was still recovering from doing 6 services, and should have just let it go. But I was curious what he had objected to and asked Andy. When Andy told me, it just ticked me off—especially when Andy read the part that said, “Don’t you dare” talk about this particular subject. I got all huffy. “Don’t you dare? Really! Well, don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t speak on.” I’ll show you! I’ll give you a piece of my mind that I can’t afford to lose! I was angry—and anger never makes you smarter. Happily, Andy said, “Maybe it’s best not to talk about this today—let’s just let it go, Dad.” And happily, I did. I let it go, and enjoyed Christmas Day with my family. But how sad would it have been if I’d hung on to that and let it ruin Christmas? Yet people do it all the time.

Staying angry is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Don’t ruin your life!

You can’t help getting angry sometimes—it’s a pretty quick emotional response—but you can choose what you do with it. You can hang on to it, nurse it, act on it—not good. Or you can let it go. And that’s what the Bible tells us to do.

In this final message in our Let it Go! series, I want to remind us that God calls us to get rid of all anger and bitterness, to forgive anyone anything, and to become unoffendable. That’s point one. Then in point two, I want to answer the questions I’ve been getting. “What about…repeat offenders, people who keep doing the same thing over and over? What about boundaries? What about injustice? What about consequences?” We’re going to cover a lot of ground, so let’s dive in.

Offering here

 

Get rid of all anger.

In the first message, we read some Scripture that told us to get rid of all anger.

Ephesians 4:31-32 (p. 1008) Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Paul piles up the synonyms—bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice—and says “get rid of all of it.” How much? All. Even your so-called righteous anger—get rid of it. And forgive each other just God forgave you. How has God forgiven you? Fully and freely—He forgives you everything. Forgive others the same way.

James 1:19-20 (p. 1043) My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Be slow to become angry. Why? Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. My anger—even the anger that I think is righteous and justified—does not produce what God wants. Let it go. As we’ll see, there’s a better way.

In January, I read this passage in our Bible Reading Plan.

Luke 9:51–56 (p. 891)

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.

Jesus and His disciples were traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem. The most direct route was through Samaria, but most Jews avoided that dangerous route and went the long way

Forgiveness makes space for grace.

People are carrying a heavy load of anger, bitterness, and resentment. It’s a lot to carry, and it makes life a pretty miserable slog. Forgive for your sake. Forgive so you can be forgiven.

Transcript

–May 25-26, 2019

Pastor Joe Wittwer

Let it Go!

#4—Forgive everyone always…again

Introduction and offering:

ILL: Laina and I recently listened to Michelle Obama’s best-selling memoir, Becoming. It was a fascinating look at her life: born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, educated at Princeton and Harvard, a lawyer, and of course our First Lady. It’s a great story.

She talked about Donald Trump in 2011 propagating the “birther conspiracy”—the falsehood that Barak was not born in the US and was therefore not a US citizen. She said, “I can never forgive him for this.”

I winced when she said it. I understood the feeling. Some things can be very hurtful, and very hard to forgive. Have you ever felt this way? “I can never forgive that.” Most of us have. So what should we do when we feel like we can’t forgive? We’re talking about that this weekend and next.

Let’s start here:

How many of you have ever asked God for forgiveness? Me too. Every day. Self-reflection, self-examination and confession are a regular part of my time with God. I reflect on my day and confess my failures and short-comings to God and ask for His forgiveness. And I receive it.

I want to emphasize that I not only ask for forgiveness; I receive it! Jesus died to pay for all my sins. They are paid in full. I am fully forgiven because of Jesus. When I confess, I know I’m forgiven. I never wonder—I know. (Read this aloud together.)

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

When you confess your sin, what happens? God will forgive and purify you. Why? Because He is faithful and just. I never wonder—I know I’m forgiven.

As we’ll see in a moment, Jesus actually taught us to pray this way—to ask for forgiveness. One of the petitions in the Lord’s prayer is, “Forgive us our debts/sins.” Forgive me, Lord.

We’re going to read two familiar passages from the gospels where Jesus teaches about prayer and forgiveness. What He says is so radical, so scandalous that many Christians simply choose to ignore it. We live and act like Jesus didn’t say it, or at least like He really didn’t mean it. But He did say it, and He does mean it—and it can radically change your life! Here’s the first passage:

Mark 11:24–26 (p. 870). (Keep your tab finder here.)

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

A little context. Jesus has just cursed a fig tree and it withered—a symbolic and prophetic act of judgment on fruitless Israel. But it was also an opportunity for Jesus to teach on faith and prayer and forgiveness. Verse 24 says we are to pray with faith, to believe that God hears and answers our prayers. And then Jesus adds one more Big Idea to our understanding of prayer. Look again at verse 25. When you pray, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father may forgive your sins. When you pray, forgive. We’re going to unpack that verse in just a moment.

Look back at your Bible. You see verse 26 is numbered, but not there. This is because it is not in the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts, so most scholars believe it was not in Mark’s original text, but was added later by a copyist. Here is what it says.

Mark 11:26 But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.

Why would a copyist feel free to add this to verse 25? Because it sounds like what Jesus said in another very famous passage.

Matthew 6:6–15 (p. 831)

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in sec