LifeBridge Church Podcast

Called To Be Different Notes and Scripture The post Sunday Sermon – 11.1 appeared first on LifeBridge Church.

Sermon on the Mount Yesterday we saw how Jesus calls his followers to reframe how we think about the blessing of God. It isn’t the wealthy, the powerful, the healthy who are blessed of God. Instead it is the meek, the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc. They are the ones who are more open to seeing, experiencing and taking part in God’s kingdom. So we must reframe how we see God’s blessing and what we truly value. Then, in the rest of the sermon Jesus reframes how his followers are supposed to live. This new life that Jesus calls them to is truly returning to the heart of the Law. It’s not about behavior modification alone, it’s deeper than that—it’s heart change that Jesus is after. His follower aren’t suppose to simply avoid murder they are to not even be angry with their brothers and sisters. They aren’t just supposed to avoid adultery, they are to not even lust. They aren’t just to love their neighbors, they are also to love even their enemies. Those who are living this new kind of life Jesus offers are to give, pray and fast in secret so as to avoid the idolatry of religious activity to be seen by others and gain their approval. This ensures their giving, praying and fasting are genuine. To borrow the title of Skye Jethani’s book—what if Jesus was serious about calling his followers to this type of life? ff to 1:58 for additional content Reflection As you listen to the sermon on the mount reflect on your own heart in light of Jesus’ teaching. Additional Content Read the rest of the sermon on the mount for today or have the Bible app read it to you. Matthew 5-7 The post Friday Devotional – 10.30 appeared first on LifeBridge Church.

The Beatitudes We left off yesterday with the recognition that Jesus called his followers to not just bring salt and light to the world but to be salt and light in the world. Jesus mission wasn’t just changing the disciples goals, behavior and vision; he came to fundamentally change his followers themselves. By simply being these new people Jesus is creating, we, as his followers, can be salt and light in the spheres in which we have influence. The question before us then, is, “Who should we be?” What does a changed person look like. The answer Jesus gives just before and after calling his followers to be salt and light. Before telling his followers they are salt and light he goes through what are known as the beatitudes. “Beatitude” is the Latin word for blessed. Jesus here is reframing for his followers who is truly blessed of God. This informs them on the qualities they should see as signs of God’s favor on others and themselves. We, as they did back then, tend to view God’s blessing in the forms of health, wealth, long life, good relationships, power, etc. Much of what of what we tend to think of as signs of blessing from God don’t make Jesus’ list. Matthew 5:3-12 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. A few quick notes on the beatitudes. First, poor in spirit likely refers to those who recognize their spiritual poverty. These folks are often poor physically as well. They have learned to depend fully upon God for their spiritual and physical sustenance and righteousness. Second, mourning here doesn’t solely refer to mourning the death of a loved one. The meaning of this word is more general, “experiencing sadness as the result of some condition or circumstance.” It is likely an individuals sin or the fallen nature of humanity and creation which is in view here. Third, meekness refers to one who is “not overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance.” These are the people who, according to Jesus, are blessed of God. So being the type of person Jesus calls us to means reframing the lens through which we view God’s blessing. It isn’t luxury, wealth, power, health, etc. Instead it is these characteristics and circumstances which leave a person more open to seeing, experiencing and being the prime players in God’s new kingdom. Tomorrow we will look at some of what follows. ff to 4:28 for additional content Additional Content I’ve included more of my conversation with Jim Alexander that we started yesterday. Here we are continuing this conversation on what it looks like for him to live out his faith at work. Reflection Today reflect on your thinking and your heart. Have you been so changed by Jesus that you’re concept of the blessed life is so framed the kingdom of God that you resonate with Jesus’ words? Are the words of your witness supported by your actions, and deeper still, are they supported by your thoughts and motives of your heart. The post Thursday Devotional – 10.29 appeared first on LifeBridge Church.

Salt and Light We’ve been talking about how God calls us to be different and doesn’t just call us to make a difference. We see this in Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Matthew 5:13-16 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. The first thing we should notice is that Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” It’s not his follower’s actions that produce salt and light in the world, it is they themselves. It is the people they have become who are the salt and light of the earth. He does not tell them to be salty or that the things they do will be like salt and light. Being both salt and light is an essential part of the Christian life because as we saw yesterday and Monday God is more concerned with who are in Christ than what you do for Christ. Let’s dive into this text a little further. What do the metaphors of salt and light mean? Salt had a variety of uses in the ancient world: cleaning and purifying, seasoning, preservation, destruction of crop fields, in the Old Testament it could be put on sacrifices to demonstrate the eternality of the covenant. Deciding which use is in view here is quite difficult with little contextual clues. The most likely options are: 1. the general usefulness of salt to the world, 2. preservation, 3. cleaning, purifying. All of these make sense to what Jesus is saying and apply to our series. 1. Christians should be especially fulfilling the creation mandate, building culture and being useful to the world. 2. Followers of Jesus should be preserving the cursed creation from constant decay and deterioration, fighting back evil in communities that hasten destruction of relationships, creation, etc. 3. Followers of Jesus should also be purifying our communities and cultures as we share the good news of Jesus and seek to bring justice to our communities. Because all of these applications work in the context I take this in the general sense that Christians are to be widely useful to the culture by preserving, cleansing, etc. Light typically has a holiness meaning attached to it. Israel’s role in the world was to be a light to Gentiles—a community that represented and reflected God’s holiness. Light always dispels darkness and reveals that which was once in the dark. Biblical authors often use light and darkness in contrast between good and evil. So this is a twofold declaration on the Christian life. Followers of Jesus are to be a useful, productive, positive presence in communities. They are also to dispel darkness, remove evil from wherever they find it, and represent the holiness of God to the culture around them. How do they do this? By being people who demonstrate the characteristics of a life blessed by God and properly understanding who is blessed by God. This is just who they are; they can’t help themselves. It pours out of them as a result of their inner life being made new by Jesus. ff to 4:48 for additional content Additional Content I’ve included a portion of a conversation I had with Jim Alexander. Jim works in sales with a large company and here’s what he had to say about how his faith influences his work. Reflection Are you salt and light in all the various spheres of your life? Are you, just by nature of who you are, revealing the truth of God? Are you someone who has been so transformed by the work of God in your life that it’s not jut your actions that bring salt and light but you yourself bringing salt and light into your every environment? The post Wednesday Devotional – 10.28 appeared first on LifeBridge Church.

Called To Be Different: Part 2 Yesterday we started talking about how we should first consider who God is calling us to be before we consider what God is calling us to do. Today we are going to continue with this topic. This is one of the primary themes in the book of Ephesians. In chapter 4 Paul transitions from his theological basis for the Ephesian believers being called to Jew-Gentile unity in the church to a description of how they should live in light of this theology. Ephesians 4:1 1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called This statement itself implies that their actions (how they live) should be in line with their identity (who they are). In Colossians 3 we see the same thing. In a long list of imperatives Paul tells the believers at Colossae, Colossians 3:9–10 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. The reason they ought not lie to one another is based in their new found identity in Christ. They have “put off the old self…and have put on the new self”. This communicates a vital truth: God doesn’t just want to use you. God first and foremost wants to be with you and fundamentally change you. G.K. Chesterton said, “all evil comes from enjoying what we ought to use and using what we ought to enjoy.” I’ve been wrestling with statement a lot trying to decide if it is true or not. Whether or not all evil can be linked to this I do not know but I think the premise is helpful. If our concept of God is that he only wants to use us instead of enjoy a relationship with us, we will be left with a performance driven concept of attaining God’s approval. In our performance driven culture, this is like an alcoholic living above a bar. What happens is we, then begin to view even work for God (volunteering, giving, attending, church, etc) as efforts to gain his approval. The foundation of our relationship isn’t found in simply who we are as individuals, but it is based in what work God can get out of us. In this false equation we not only view God’s acceptance of us as contingent upon what we do for him but we also view our acceptance of God as contingent upon what he does for us. This becomes a terribly utilitarian relationship with God. God to us becomes someone to use for our own ends and benefits instead of a loving heavenly Father to enjoy and relate to. We love and serve God, not for who is but, but solely for what he does for me. Then the moment God stops giving us what we want and life gets hard we run to something or someone else who can provide what we most desire. Sadly, many of us not only approach our relationship with God this way but also our relationships with one another. This, however, could not be further from the truth. We don’t do good things to earn God’s approval. No! We have been given God’s approval so we do good things. Paramount to God’s call is us being made new, not the work we do for God. Who we become in Christ is more important than what we do for Christ. ff to 4:12 for additional content Additional Content For additional content to day I’ve included a portion of my conversation with Bevin Dawson where he talks about how he views his work as formative for his faith and the faith of others. Reflection Do you view the work that you do for God as achieving his approval or do you view yourself as having God’s approval so you can work for him without fear of rejection. I hope this sets you free from any legalism or performance driven standards of acceptance that you perceive God has for you. On the other side of the equation, are you loving God for who he is or do you only love him because of what he gives you. Also, examine your relationships with others. Is there anyone close to you that you’re relating to out of a purely utilitarian mindset. Repent and strive to cherish them for who they are. The post Tuesday Devotional – 10.27 appeared first on LifeBridge Church.