Last Pentecost
Ezekiel 34:11-17 (NLT)
"For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find
my sheep. 12I will
be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and
rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on that dark and
cloudy day. 13I will
bring them back home to their own
17"And as for you, my flock, my people, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, separating the sheep from the goats.
Ps. 95
Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)
"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'
37"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' 40And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'
41"Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! 42For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me anything to drink. 43I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me no clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
44"Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?' 45And he will answer, 'I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' 46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
Sermon: Keeping The Main
Thing The Main Thing
In our study of Acts I want to
clarify one thing that came up in chapter 5, the story of Ananias
and Sapphira who fell down dead when they lied about
the sale of some property and the money that was given to the church. Did everyone get the point?
This was not about the money? It was about honesty. The early church was not a commune, or a
cult. No one was required to surrender
their money or their property to the church.
Peter made this very clear when he said to Ananias,
“was the property not yours to do with as you wished?” The early Christians did not sell ALL of
their possessions and move into a commune.
They sold property that they no longer needed and used the money to help
those in need. But they continued to
live in their own homes and work at their businesses.
Question: Can you live an immoral life and still be a
Christian? Let’s think about that.
Can you live in a sexually immoral way and be a Christian?
Can you be a drug addict and be a Christian?
Can you cheat on your taxes, cheat your boss, lie to your
customers and be a Christian? (what about those folks at Enron?)
Can you gossip about your neighbors and be a Christian?
And my favorite, the old Maffia
question: Can you be a hit man and be a Christian? After all, if I go to confession about what I
did last week, and then go out and do it again next week, I’m still a
Christian, right????
Can you live a knowingly immoral life and still be a
Christian?
Apparently the answer is “yes” if by “Christian” you mean a
member of a religious institution in which you have at one time in your life
fulfilled the minimal requirements for “membership.” Sure, you can do all of these blatantly
immoral things and still consider yourself a Christian.
Maybe we’re asking the wrong question. How about
this?
Can you live a knowingly immoral
life and be a follower of Jesus?
You’re going to have a much harder time answering that one.
I mean, can you really look me
straight in the eye and tell me that even while you are indulging in sexual
immorality, you’re following Jesus,
or
that while you’re shooting drugs in your arm, lying to your boss, abusing your
children, gossiping about your neighbors, and flying off in a rage every time
something doesn’t go your way, you still following Jesus? Of
course not!
Do you understand, that is
what we are supposed to be about. Not making “church members” but making disciples,
followers of Jesus. That is why we are studying Acts. THE
MAIN THING IS KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING.
We’re
not just to filling our heads with a lot of interesting religious trivia. We are studying how the Apostles worked out
the life of the church so that it was focused on making followers of
Jesus.
All of us go through
struggles. Sometimes we fall. And when we do we need to get back up and
keep going. Find out what causes us to
be vulnerable in certain areas, get healing where it’s needed. And “keep in step with the Spirit.”
SING: You Raise Me Up- Music insert
“He
who has begun a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Jesus
Christ.”
Parable of the seeds and sower-
Question: Are you still working on the rocks, or have
you decorated them as permanent ornaments?
Are
you still praying about the weeds, looking for the power of God to uproot them,
OR- are you just pruning them occasionally
and pretending that they really aren’t so bad after all?
The popular religious website, beliefnet.com, has a fascinating section among its pages that I find to be extraordinarily revealing of the mindset of our culture, a mindset which has so devastatingly penetrated the Episcopal Church. It’s called “Belief-O-Matic.” It makes this promise:
“Even if you don’t know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic will tell you what religion (if any) you practice …or ought to consider practicing.”
In other words, you say what you already believe and Belief-O-Matic will help you find a religion that conforms to your beliefs. Perhaps only partially tongue in cheek, the website offers this disclaimer:
“Warning: Belief-O-Matic assumes no legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul.”
CHRIST THE KING!!
“If Jesus is not Lord OF all, He is not
Lord AT all.”
And while we’re talking about the Bible study, by the
time you finish this study you will have a very good grasp of what the book of
Acts is about:
·
how the early
church was organized,
·
how it grew,
·
how they honored
the teaching of the apostles,
·
how they depended
on the power of God for everything,
·
how they handled
controversy within the church community,
·
how they handled
persecution from non-believers, and
·
how they received guidance from God.
They
loved the Lord, and that one overriding fact changed everything.
“The main thing is to keep the main
thing the main thing.”
As
our parish mission statement says, loving Jesus, serving Him, and witnessing
His love to the world, that IS the MAIN THING.
SING:
My Jesus I Love Thee
Now
here is something we need to think about.
When we are finished with this study, what are we going
to do with this knowledge? Typically
when we finish a Bible study the group either disbands, or they want to stay
together with the same people and do another study.
What about this?
What if we divided into groups of two or three and started new groups by
inviting friends and neighbors who don’t go to church to join in doing the
study? There are 30 people presently in
the study groups. That means we could
start 8-10 new groups.
Children’s Sermon:
Matthew 25:31-46
Do unto others
“... truly I tell you,
just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,
you did it to me.” (v. 40)
Object: a loaf of bread, a
glass of water, a welcome mat, clothes, medicine, and a Bible
Good morning, boys and girls. Do you know what I like best
about Jesus? (let them answer) The very
best thing I like about Jesus is that he loved everyone. Jesus loves every one
of you. He loves your mom, dad, and even your brothers and sisters. Jesus loves
everyone in church this morning and he loves the people who could not come to
church this morning. He loves people who can run fast or someone that can’t
even walk. Jesus loves the blind and the deaf, the smart and the not-so-smart.
Jesus loves us all.
Did you know that Jesus wants you to be like him? (let them answer) Jesus wants us to love all of
those people that I just mentioned. One day Jesus was telling his disciples how
good he felt because when he was hungry they fed him, and when he was thirsty
they gave him something to drink. When he was at first a stranger to them, they
welcomed him and when he was out of clothes, they clothed him. When he was sick
they gave him good care and all of the medicine he needed. Finally, Jesus told
them how grateful he was for them visiting him when he was locked up in prison.
The disciples did not remember Jesus being locked up in prison
or needing clothes. They did not remember Jesus being sick. He had perfect
health. The only time they remembered Jesus being hungry or thirsty was when he
wanted to be hungry and thirsty. Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights
without food because he wanted only to serve God and not his own body. Most of
them agreed that Jesus never was a stranger to anyone. What was he talking
about?
Jesus said that he thanked them because they were so kind to
all of the helpless in the world. The hungry, thirsty, shy, afraid, sick, and the poor. Jesus was glad that they would go into a
prison and bless the ones who had done wrong. Jesus said that when they did
those things, it was exactly the same as doing it for him.
We have a lot to learn, don’t we? When was the last time you
gave any food to the poor or something to drink to people who were thirsty? Did
you ever see a lonely person pushing a cart up the street because they have no
place to live, or people that stay in a shelter, or maybe sleep in a car or a
big box? Have you talked to someone that was very lonely or very sick? Have you
sent a card to someone who is all alone or lives in a prison? When you do those
things, it will be just like you did it for Jesus. Amen.