The Moody Church Sunday Morning Podcast

The Ends

God’s Justice Will Cover the Earth:Christ's reign extends justice across the earth.

Brings fairness and righteousness to all creation.God’s People Will Be Liberated:Christ liberates God's people from spiritual blindness and bondage.God’s Glory Will Be Celebrated:Christ's reign leads to the celebration of God's glory.

The renewed creation worships and honors God.The Means

Behold THE Servant:Jesus Christ is the true servant in Isaiah 42.

Recognize and behold Him as sent by God.The Bruised Reed He Will Not Break:Christ is gentle and compassionate.

He cares for the weak and vulnerable.The Smoking Wick He Will Not Quench:Christ is patient and restorative.

Christ is patient and restorative.Why It MattersThese truths assure believers of God's ultimate purposes.

Christ's reign calls for alignment with God's will.

Trust in Christ's work to bring about a renewed creation.

Now, in life, hard things will happen. We live in a fallen world marked by sin and selfishness. When you are on the ropes, God is faithful and His heart cares for people dealing with the consequences of their own sin and rebellion. When things go from bad to worse, how should we respond? Will You Double Down?When we devote ourselves to idols—something less than God—we become less human. We shrivel up and turn inwards on ourselves as we become sad self-centered shells of wasted human potential. But if we worship the triune God of the Bible—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we will become more like Him, overflowing in peace, love, and joy, and will become more truly human than we ever thought possible. When trouble comes, will we pursue something other than God in the hopes that it will save us? Will We Believe the Promises of God?The Promise of Deliverance: If God loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you when you were his enemy, will he forget about that later and not keep you when you have been adopted into his family as his true child?

The Promise to Overcome any Obstacles: In God’s hands, even bruised and broken people can have victory over the scariest of circumstances. The mountains themselves would be like grain if they stood in his way. This is a promise to overcome any obstacle, especially your own doubts.

The Promis to Supply all your Needs: If God supplies all your needs, you need never fear poverty, not because you won’t be poor, but because your poverty has no impact on God’s ability to feed you. Will We Put Our Fears and Doubts to the Test?God is simultaneously inviting the reader to question themselves and question God. He isn’t speaking words of condemnation to the nations but graciously, patiently inviting them to look at the data! Who is most trustworthy? Have you been hit enough times to consider that God might be better qualified to be in charge of your life than you are? Is there anyone or anything else out there that has a stronger claim on your allegiance than He does? Is there someone else you would rather follow? If you have doubts about the Bible, about Jesus, about the church, God can stand up to the test!

The SymptomsA world under wrath (Romans 1:18)

A people in chaos and pain (1:24, 1:26, 1:28-31)

A world condemned to die (1:32)The Illness and Its ProgressionRejection of the Truth and the darkens of hearts (Romans 1:21-23)

Embracing of the Lie and the worship creation (Romans 1:25)The CureA timely provision (Romans 5:6)

An act of love (Romans 5:8)

An effective rescue from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9)Takeaways:God cares first about the heart. He will change the rest.

Our call is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Tell them the truth.

Believe God and worship Him.

One of the greatest privileges we have as a child of God Is the fact that we can come to God in prayer anytime, anywhere, with anything. In Christ and by the Spirit we have total, unrestricted access to the Father. But, so many of us don’t know where to start. Fortunately, we’re not the first humans to be unsure when it comes to prayer. In this passage, Jesus’ disciples come to Him with a simple and yet bold request: “Lord, teach us to pray.” 

What We Pray

In prayer, we acknowledge our deep dependency on God. Jesus is teaching us to offer prayers that reflect our utter helplessness and total reliance upon God. We Pray as a child looking to his Father, Longing for His glory to heal the world And for His rule to set all to rights. We pray Looking to Him as our Portion and Provider, The Forgiver of our sin-riddled souls and Our Protector and Keeper in the face of whatever trials might come our way. 

How We Pray

In prayer, we acknowledge our daring desperation. You only call a friend at 2am when you’re desperate And you’ll only pray when you realize your life desperately depends on God. Jesus is teaching us to pray With Daring Desperation, Knowing that without Him, we utterly fall apart. 

Why We Pray

In prayer, we acknowledge our Father’s devoted delight. The Father loves to give the Holy Spirit those who ask him! He’s not stingy, He’s lavish. He’s not reluctant, He’s eager. He’s not bothered, He’s delighted. He’s not disengaged, He’s devoted. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” The Father loves to give the Holy Spirit those who ask him! 

Takeaway: Ask, seek, and knock.

To pray is the great privilege of those who are children of God by grace through faith in Christ. We have an audience with the Father! We enjoy communion with the Son! We experience fellowship with the Spirit! And so, in deep dependency upon our God, with daring desperation because our life depends on it, and in light of our Father’s devoted delight “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) Our Father in heaven,Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.Your will be done on earth,as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom,and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

]One of the hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry is His use of parables, short and powerful stories jam-packed with spiritual insights and timeless lessons. 2,000 years later, we’re still unpacking these brilliant tales. Today we get the privilege of diving into one of the most famous of all Jesus’ parables: The Good Samaritan. Like many of Jesus’ stories... this Parable of the Good Samaritan is given in a very specific setting. Jesus isn’t telling a random story; it’s a story with intent. Jesus is speaking into real life with these parables. In the case of The Good Samaritan, this story is purposefully sandwiched between two events: A Lawyer’s Question and Two Sisters at Odds. The Good Samaritan is the link that connects everything. The LawyerAn expert in the Old Testament Law has come to test Jesus. He asks Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer is to love God and love your neighbor.Keep Love Before YouGod desires, deserves, and demands our loving allegiance—heart, soul, body, and mind.

Our love for our neighbor should be radical, boundless, holistic and demanding. The NeighborIn response to the lawyer’s question, Jesus tells a story to illustrate exactly who a neighbor is. What kind of love does God require? To do what that Good Samaritan did. When he found a person in need, a person who could have been anyone, of any nationality, any race, any socio-economic background, any political class, any moral condition, he poured himself out in self-sacrificing compassion, care, and self-giving love. Be a loving neighbor of all. Don’t do what the Priest and Levite did. They divorced their Love of God from their Love of Neighbor. They made it their careers to be all about the Love of God, but when they met a man in desperate need, they failed to love their neighbor as themselves. And in doing so, they failed to Love God as well, for it is He who made that man in His own image. Jesus is teaching us to:Keep Love TogetherWe cannot separate these commandments:To Love our God

Love our NeighborWe cannot delude ourselves into thinking we love our God while we neglect the love of our neighbor.Here’s the real litmus test of my love for God: How am being a loving neighbor to those around me? Not just the people in my tribe, my group, my family, or my allies. But how am I loving those people? The Love of God and the Love of Neighbor always go together. They are inseparable because they are one: the Vertical and the Horizonal, it is a cross-shaped love. For upon the cross we behold the Love of God and the Love of Neighbor united in perfect fullness and harmony, and that is our pattern. The SistersThe scene shifts to the house of Mary and Martha, where Martha is hustling and bustling about, taking care of everyone, pulling together a huge meal, and making sure everyone’s glasses are filled. Meanwhile, her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet, drinking in His every word. Martha gets annoyed at Mary who is doing nothing when Martha’s so obviously frazzled. Do you see why this story comes on the heels of the previous accounts? Remember, all of this began with a question about what God requires of us in the Law of Love? He requires us to Love our God and Love our Neighbor. If the Priest and the Levite show us what it looks like when we try to Love God while failing to Love our Neighbor, Martha shows us what it looks like when we try to Love our Neighbor and end up failing to Love our God. Martha was so distracted with serving others, even doing things on behalf of Jesus, that she forgot to cultivate Love for Jesus. On the other hand, Mary chose the good portion. Mary chose Jesus. Mary put the Love of God first. Keep Love in Order: We will never love our neighbor sufficiently, unless we love our God supremely.We love, because He first loved us.

His love is bestowed upon us freely by grace.

His love then summons our love in response.

His love then compels our love for others.

His love supplies and sustains our love for others Takeaway: “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 your neighbor as yourself.”

God is a missional God. The Father sends the Son to redeem the world. And Jesus sends us, His disciples, to the ends of the earth with the message of salvation by grace through faith in Him. We are commissioned by Jesus to show and share the love of God wherever we go. All of us are sent out on mission by Jesus, and there are valuable lessons we need in this passage... 1. The PlanJesus appoints 72 disciples, puts them into 36 pairs, and sends them out on mission into the towns and villages ahead of Him.This mission requires dependency.

Go as Ambassadors of Kingdom Peace.2. The StakesAs the 72 disciples go as ambassadors of kingdom peace, what’s on the line?With great light comes great responsibility.

Go with a Message of Eternal Consequence.3. The JoyFrom the weight of woes, now we turn to see the joys of blessing.Your name is written in heaven as a free gift of grace from your Father though the Son by the Spirit.

Go in the Beloved Security of Divine Intimacy.Takeaway: Go and Join Jesus on a Mission in Your World.

Have you ever come down from grand moment in life? You’re on this high and then you come down. Back to reality and it’s business as usual. It can be quite disorienting! That’s similar to what’s happening with Jesus in Luke 9. He goes from glory on the mountaintop and then back down to this broken world. As this chapter closes, Luke narrates a raft of discipleship failures in rapid succession. You see, Jesus will soon depart. And the disciples are going to be the ones who will carry on this Gospel movement to the ends of the earth. But they’ve got a whole lot to learn from Jesus. And they say the best way to learn is to learn from other peoples’ mistakes. So as the disciples get mired inthese pitfalls along the path, let’s lean in and learn from their mistakes. Because we need to learn the same lessons that Jesus is teaching them. So let’s join up with the twelve on the road with Jesus. There are 6 Pitfalls on the path that can mire us as we seek to follow Jesus… Pitfall #1 – Self-Reliance (Luke 9:37-42)Stay Prayerful Pitfall #2 – Popular Approval (9:43-45)Stay Faithful Pitfall #3 – Prideful Ambition (9:46-48)Stay Humble Pitfall #4 – Jealous Comparison (9:49-50)Stay Focused Pitfall #5 – Abusive Power (9:51-56)Stay Gracious Pitfall #6 – Rival Allegiance (9:57-62)Stay Committed Takeaway: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23Stay prayerful, faithful, humble, focused, gracious, committed.

“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail th’ incarnate Deity!

Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel.”

- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Charles Wesley In the incarnation, Jesus is God incognito. He is undercover, veiled, and among us in secret. Until Luke 9:28-36, when the veil is lifted and His glory is revealed. 1) The GloryJesus is Gloriously TransfiguredMoses and Elijah appear on the mountain and see Jesus for who he really is. 2) The TentsThe Kingdom is Gloriously TangiblePeter asks to put up tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

But he had forgotten that Jesus’ path to the crown must first pass through the cross. 3) The CloudThe Father Gloriously Testifies“This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Peter followed Jesus through the cross to the crown! Takeaway: Jesus is our Transfiguring GloryYou will be glorious in Christ!

C.S. Lewis once preached a sermon called “The Weight of Glory”:“...There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Chapter 9 of the Gospel of Luke forms a hinge in the narrative. Up to this point, the key question has been, “Who is this Jesus?” And in Luke 9, that question begins to be answered and we see His glorious identity be revealed. From this point on, Jesus is moving inexorably toward Jerusalem and to the crucifixion that awaits him there. So here we are, On the Road with Jesus. Up to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to glory. And He says to each one of us, “Come, follow me.”A Glorious Confession

A Sobering Clarification

A Dangerous Calling A Glorious ConfessionJesus is the long-awaited Davidic King A Sobering ClarificationJesus’ path to the crown runs through the crossThe Royal Road passes through suffering on the way to glory.

Jesus is the One who shall wear the crown because He is the One who bore the cross. A Dangerous CallingJesus bids us follow Him through suffering into gloryYou must learn to die to yourself, in order to truly live.

There’s no glory without suffering. Takeaway: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” I have decided to follow Jesus.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

Though none go with me, still I will follow.

The world behind me, the cross before me.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

No turning back, no turning back.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:19-21). 1. Fear is the Opposite of Faith (John 20:19a).“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews”2. Peace is the Christian Response (John 20:19b).Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).3. The Cross Is Our Hope and Motivation (John 20:20).“When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”

“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's” (Romans 14:8).4. We Go Because Jesus Came to Us (John 20:21).Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:19-21).

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).