Sermons

Healthy Christianity in a Starving Culture!

Posted by Alex on
Sermon on February 9 by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

Scripture: Mark 12:35-40

You are what you eat! A lesson to the disciples and crowd about living out love for God in a starving culture.
In a starving culture:

1. GET COMFORTABLE WITH GOD’S WORD! (v33-36)
Psalm 110 is quoted in at least 12 of the New Testament letters as proof of all the Messiah would be and do.

  • Everyone knows – that the coming Messiah would be David’s son
    The scribes could get that, but not a Son who would mix with the people, which King David rarely did. It was from alongside us men and women that David’s Lord saved David and all other sinners.
  • Jesus shows – that you can be confident in all that the Bible says

‘I can’t explain to you how Jesus was both God and man. We don’t know how to explain light, gravity and energy – the simple things in the universe. Of course, I can’t explain it, but I have grounds for believing. The only explanation that makes sense, is that Jesus was simultaneously God and human’.
(Dr. John Lennox, mathematician, philosopher of science and Christian apologist).

2. BE SURPRISED BY GOD’S SON! (v36-37)
The Lord David referred to is not simply His son, but the sovereign King before whom David himself must bow.

  • Jesus – so unshakeable that nothing shakes Him

‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah’ (Acts 2:36)

What if there were some areas over which Jesus was not Lord – global warming, outer space, the coronavirus?
We pray because Jesus is Lord and remains Lord for eternity.

  • Jesus – so powerful that nothing can get in His way
    The Lord is ‘in session’, seated and ruling at the Father’s right hand.
    What if His plan is not to make it easier for the church but easier for the world to believe?
    Trust Jesus to test your faith and grow your loyalty, in a culture blinded by the Prince of this world.

3. DON’T TRIFLE WITH GOD’S WORSHIP! (v38-40)
Jesus links His Lordship with accountability. The more we know, the greater our responsibility.
Unhealthy religion is about me, sometimes money and ultimately idolatry. (1 John 5:21)
If you are a healthy Christian you will be known for living in grace and living out grace.

‘It felt like a big hug from God’.
(Merina: after her husband’s enormous medical costs were paid in full)

Remember!
Unworthy thoughts bring soul sickness and narrow notions narrow our love.
When you think rightly about Jesus, you will think rightly about life, your purpose and other people.

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

  1. Why does it matter that Jesus was human, a descendant of David?
  2. Read Psalm 110. In what way does it refer to the Messiah? Explain the challenge of Psalm 110:1 in your own words. What is the meaning of the first ‘LORD’ in capital letters and the second ‘Lord’?
  3. Why is there such an attack on the inspiration of God’s Word and what does it matter that we have a high view of Scripture?
  4. How would you respond to someone who says ‘I believe Jesus was a great moral teacher, but that’s all’ ?

 

 

Photo credit FreeImages.com/Stacy Brumley