Continuing our series of “gentleness,” today we get to talk about what good leadership looks like. It seems like good leaders are harder and harder to come by. Nearly everyone has stories of a difficult boss or an always-disappointed coach. Need we go into detail about the lack of enthusiasm in our country right now regarding the leaders of our nation? Peter brings an exhortation to leaders (and we’re all leaders to some extent!) that is counter cultural for his time and perhaps even more so today.
"humility" Tagged Sermons
Have you ever made a plan that went entirely different than you expected? How do we respond when the things we want and expect out of life don’t happen? Or when the Lord calls us to something different than what we planned for ourselves? This second Sunday in Advent, Tara Farrell brings a message on the story of Mary, Mother of Jesus, and how God reached into her life and turned everything upside down. And more importantly, how Mary responded to His plan to redeem Israel and ultimately the entire world.
Most of us struggle with a secret hope to be recognized and the reality that much of what we do goes unnoticed. This tension can frustrate us when others are praised and attempts to point out our own achievements are seen as arrogant. In this message we discover how walking with God in three specific ways caused Moses to be described as the most humble person on earth (Numbers 12:3) and how this type of life with God is the divine resolution to our human struggle.
Wisdom is entirely different from knowledge: it’s the right use of knowledge. It is a skill developed over time, only through a posture of sitting at the feet of God Himself, in all humility and all joy. Developing this skill is even more critical in our information age, where knowledge abounds but wisdom is lacking. Jesus is the true wisdom of God, and He promises to give it to all who ask for it!
Today we begin a new series entitled, Listening to God: The Way of Jesus in a Distracting World. In our noisy world it can be difficult to sustain attentiveness to anyone or anything. Yet, the way of Jesus is the way of listening to God and others. Throughout His life, Jesus remained in tune with the voice of His Father. So, all of us who have signed on to be His apprentices can learn from Him how to hear God’s voice in the midst of a busy and distracting world.
Last week Arik preached, “On Earth as it is in Heaven.” Yet, recent world events may make us feel like Earth is rather more like Hell right now. A series of tragedies between police officers and African Americans has created a climate of judgment, condescension, fear, and apathy. How are we to proceed as followers of Jesus Christ? In Matthew 7, Jesus makes it clear that when we are tempted to judge and lash out, we are to do serious self-reflection. We are to mourn with those who mourn, lament like David in the Psalms, carefully listen to Jesus and others, repent of what gets exposed in us (especially fear!), act in love and out of faith, and develop habits to continue to Heavenize as Jesus’ agents of reconciliation, no matter the environment.
At times we all see ourselves as unimportant, unlovable and too small to matter to anyone of importance. These thoughts typically take us into dark places. Yet, in spite of how we perceive ourselves, we are never insignificant in the eyes of God. Beyond the branches in the air and robes on the path, Palm Sunday announces to Jerusalem and to you “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey.” This is great news – for us and for the world.
Paul continues his 2nd missionary journey, and travels to Athens, the birthplace of modern western thought and democracy. In a proud city of extraordinary architecture, art, and culture – one designed to display its great history, people, and ideas, Paul becomes “greatly distressed” by what he observes – in a way reminiscent of God himself, whenever God-given artistry and ability is not attributed and celebrated as grace and gifts from him alone. Since Paul has been transformed by Jesus himself, he is able to deeply understand Athens, and at the same time love Athens with the love of Jesus himself. In so doing, he gives us a clear example of how to engage in our highly nuanced, pluralist culture… blank Starbucks holiday cups and all.
Acts 4 picks up the story a few hours after the crippled man has been healed… Peter and John are arrested and detained for upsetting the peace with their “uneducated” teaching, and for convincing people to join the “Jesus is Lord” movement. For the first time, the apostles find themselves in the exact same place Jesus was just weeks prior: in front of the ruling religious council of their day, being strongly questioned. Previously, this environment was the catalyst for Peter’s cowardly denials of Jesus as he observed the hostility and authority of the council to put his master to death. However, in this “second chance,” Peter stays on offense, yet respectfully. Through his response to the council’s intimidation, he provides one of the strongest case studies in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform people fully, into who they were created to be, in the image of Jesus himself.
Throughout the Bible Jesus is portrayed as The Good Shepherd. In this well-known Psalm, we see many of the benefits of following Christ including living with Him in Heaven for eternity. To receive the benefits, we must see ourselves in the proper perspective and follow Jesus, The Good Shepherd, wherever He leads us.