Big Idea: When Jesus saved You he gave gifts, privileges, and responsibilities to You in his Church.
Because Jesus is a good chooser, any and all kinds of people are forgiven and welcomed into new life, even You.
Mercy and life come through death; Jesus takes your life, and gives up his For You.
[21] From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. [22] And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” [23] But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
[24] Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? [27] For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:21–27)
Big Idea: Stay Awake and Watch for the Arrival of your King and Saviour.
Advent is call to open our eyes and to see through the darkness. Because it is in darkness that light is most clearly seen. It is in the messiness and falleness of this world that Advent comes. It is in the dark that Advent happens.
Big Idea: Give yourself to Jesus because he has given himself For You.
And Timothy is free to toil (work without seeing a lot of progress) and strive (keep straining forward while being pushed back) in training of Godliness because his hope is set on not on his success in this single mission but on God who is alive and well and saves.
Big Idea: Jesus builds his Church and gifts her shepherds who will guard and care for her.
[1] The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. [2] Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, [3] not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. [4] He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, [5] for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? [6] He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. [7] Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1–7)
Big Idea: By his Death and Resurrection Jesus is Building his Church. This is How His Church Can Function.
[1] First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [3] This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. [7] For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1 Timothy 2:1–7)
Big Idea: Keep a firm grip on your faith and yourself. Jesus patiently keeps hold of You.
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18–20)
Big Idea: The Law can never make you righteous or save you. Only Jesus can do that.
Last week we started this letter from the Apostle Paul to his young companion Timothy. The purpose of the letter for Timothy is to encourage him and remind him of who he is, what his mission is, and how the completion of the mission will benefit those he is sent to.
For those who Timothy is pastoring there are many goal; Holiness and understanding the work of the Spirit, Mission, Church Conduct, True and False Leaders, and Caring for and Honouring One Another.
We heard last week that one of Timothy’s tasks was to confront and correct false teachers. We have some general ideas about the false ideas being spread but we need to think specifically about what makes a teaching false…and last week we said that anything that comes between you and Jesus’ person and work for You is false.
This week we want to know how the law functions correctly and who it is for. However we also need to see that it is not the law that saves, only Jesus does that.
[15] When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”
[16] So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command: [17] ‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him. [18] His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”
[19] But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? [20] You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. [21] Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
(Genesis 50.15-21)
Big Idea: In a world filled with loneliness, injustice, and frustration Jesus has placed you in a people and given you a purpose.
You may be able to do it alone. But you should not. You will not be able to receive the comfort and care and companionship that God’s people have to offer.
You also will not be able to show the comfort, care, and companionship that God has gifted to you to share with the cord that is Christ’s Church.
Big Idea: The seasons of life will change and shape us but what Jesus has done for you lasts forever.
The preacher wisely taught us that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. And on the Cross Jesus declared that to be the final word when he said, It is Finished. Because of that day we do not have to fear the judgement day when all injustices are made right because all of your sin and junk, Jesus took that upon himself. He became your sin and your death for you.
Here the teacher is telling us that we can strive all we want but unless our striving is done under the direction of God then our striving will leave you feeling as empty as all the verses that came before this. Yet look around for the good things that God has gifted to you and enjoy them. If you cannot or will not see them as gift then they can never be enjoyed the way that God intended them to be. The teacher here even goes so far as to say that the understanding of good things being from God is a gift and those who do not understand have refused to received a gift from God.
With Ecclesiastes we are entering into a different world. A world that existed close to 3000 years ago. Though we read it in English this morning and you are following along in your heart or home language the words we read may not be as clear as we would want them to be. Along with that even though God the Holy Spirit is the true author of our texts this morning we also are dealing with a human author that has a personality, his own set of experiences, his own perspective on the world around him, and his own God given purpose for writing this text.
“When calamity strikes, when trouble hits. When the pandemic comes. When the economy crashes. When your experience of life and the world points to panic and worry and the need to depend on yourself, you can count on God. You can count on God not because you feel close to him, but because he remains close to you, in his word, for Jesus’ sake.“
“When calamity strikes, when trouble hits. When the pandemic comes. When the economy crashes. When your experience of life and the world points to panic and worry and the need to depend on yourself, you can count on God. You can count on God not because you feel close to him, but because he remains close to you, in his word, for Jesus’ sake.“
