This made me think of Bonhoeffer’s quote below (Hat Tip to Zach Nielsen):
‘Nothing can be more cruel than that leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than that severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.’ (105)
Here’s a short illustration from my latest sermon on showing the difference between trying to do life on your own versus life together in community. The visual of “the juggler” and “the wheel” was taken from the book, Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. Thanks to Eric Ball for putting this video together!
I’ve always applied Romans 12:1-2 to individual Christians. But look at it.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers (plural), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (plural) as a living sacrifice (singular), holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind …”
Paul envisioned all the individuals in the church community offering up their bodies corporately to God as one living sacrifice. It’s no coincidence that he continues on in the following verses (3-13) to show us what it looks like to be a body that humbly serves one another in love. From this text and others we see that gospel transformation is something God wants for us to experience together. We change together as we remember God’s mercy, live humbly and are committed to community. On Sunday I preached from Romans 12:1-13 on this topic. I pray it encourages you.
This Sunday I’m blessed to be a part of Stephen Cavness’ Spring Renewal Services at his church in Cave City, Kentucky. Here’s the list of speakers and their topics. I’m looking forward to preaching from Romans 12:1-2 on, “The Gospel for Day 2 and Beyond.” My buddy, Lisle Drury, will preach on Sat. from Luke 18:9-14 on “Genuine Repentance: for Salvation and Everyday.” Please pray for us.
thursday, may 20th 6:30 PM – randy shaw – “the holiness & majesty of god”
friday, may 21st – 6:30 PM – brandon porter – “man’s relationship to god: in need of redemption”
saturday, may 22nd – 6:00 PM – lisle drury – “genuine repentance: for salvation & and every day”
sunday, may 23rd – 11:00 AM – doug wolter – “the gospel for day 2 and beyond”
sunday, may 23rd – 6:00 PM – john nelson – “more than religious: loving christ ”
From the very beginning, man has tried to cover his own sin and it hasn’t worked. Like a little kid standing in the middle of the room covering his eyes, we think no one will see us. But we’re fooling ourselves. We can’t cover our sin. Only God can cover our sin and make us secure in Christ. And because he loves us, he comes after us in our rebellion and confronts us with our sin so we would confess it and continue no longer in it. His goal is that you would be broken before him and out of this heart that’s been humbled, tell of his mercy and grace.
This was the story of David. And it’s our story too if we choose to respond the way David did when God came running after him. This past Sunday I preached from 2 Samuel 12:1-15 to remind us that we cannot cover up our sin – only God can cover it with His grace.
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My message came on the heels of my good friend Lisle‘s message on 2 Samuel 11 where he reminded us of the reality of David’s sin and that if it can happen to David, it can happen to any of us. I encourage you to listen to his message as well.
This past Sunday I invited my church to take a journey with me into the heart of God for broken people like you and me. I preached from the story of David and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:1-13), one of the most beautiful expressions of God’s love in the Old Testament. I hope it encourages you.
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When you lose sight of God, it changes everything – just as it did for Saul in 1 Sam. 18:6-29. While David’s eyes were on God and his kingdom, Saul’s eyes were on himself and his kingdom leaving him angry (1 Sam. 18:8) and afraid (18:12).
I encourage you to listen to Tony Rose’s sermon on what happens in our lives when we lose sight of God. Listen | Watch | Download | Subscribe
These were his helpful application questions:
Your perspective on other people
Do you expect praise for yourself?
Do you envy the praise others receive?
Do the successes of others make you angry, jealous, or glad?
Purpose in your actions
Our reocurring thoughts determine how we act.
Do you think most about what God wants or what you want?
What brings pleasure to your heart
David was pleased anytime God’s kingdom grew.
Saul was please anytime his kingdom grew.
Is your soul’s happiness being enlarged by thinking of God’s kingdom or shrunk by thinking of yours?
Here’s a little sermon illustration for children (and adults):
There are some things you never forget. I’ll never forget the time when my brother and I held the Winter Olympics in our basement. We were 6 years old and we had been watching the Winter Olympics on TV. We got so excited as we looked at the people going on the bobsled rides zooming down really fast. And we loved watching those guys go off the huge ski jump. So we decided that we were going to hold the Winter Olympics right there in our basement. Now we had some steps going down to our basement. So what we did for the ski jump was to simply take a running start off the top of the stairs and see how long we could jump down below. It was kinda dangerous but thankfully we didn’t get hurt. For the bobsled, we had the idea of taking my mom’s laundry basket and both of us sitting in it and sliding down the stairs as fast as we could. I must admit, we wiped out a few times!
Now, were we really in the Olympics? Were we really Olympic athletes? No, we were pretending to be something that we were not. Do you know that many people in this world and many people who go to church are pretending to be Christians but they are really not. They say all the right things, but their lives are no different than those who are not Christians. Their words don’t match their actions.
Jesus told us that this is really serious. In the Bible, he spoke to his disciples one day and told them three pictures of what it means to be a true Christian. Mt. 7:13-14 (Two Ways), Mt. 7:15-20 (Two Trees), Mt. 7:24-27 (Two Houses).
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. That’s the name of our upcoming series on the Life of David beginning this Sunday at LBC. Here’s what my senior pastor Tony Rose says about this series:
Beginning February 7 we will begin a study of the Life of David, the Old Testament king of Israel. We will follow his story as it is recorded in the books of I and II Samuel. David’s story is truly one of the good, the bad and the ugly. If we take this story at its true value it will have a considerable shocking effect on us. When God told David’s story he did not sanitize it, God told it as it was. Most of us tend to sanitize the stories of our own lives, for ourselves and for others, but God does not. Following David will help us to truly know God in our real life situations and with our real life selves.
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