Jesus Offers Abundant Life John10:7-10 09-14-08
7Then said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All that ever come before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10The thief cometh not, but for the steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they have it more abundantly. NIV "have it to the full."
Series from gospel of John....Who is Jesus?
Jesus related to normal people
Jesus is the person who shows us how to live and offers us that abundant life
Stuck with the king James
Life to the fullest
Abundant like...pie in the....religious sounding thing
Abundant life is not what comes naturally to us humans
Abundant life is something more than that
Romans 14:17
17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteous, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
1. what it isn't = meat nor drink
context----meat offered to idols
Not meat of drink
Don't intentionally cause someone to be upset
Care enough about them to eat fish, some other time
Stumbling block.....
2. what is it=righteous, not pretentiousness, but congruent living
Righteousness
Feeds right into our expectation.....Must be good, must behave
Righteous is not an outward thing, it is an inward thing
Equity of character, self evident
Congruent life
Not a list of rules
I am ok, because God tells me that I am ok
It all begins with, I am forgiven, I am free, I am ok
Jesus kept telling people they were okay, Pharisees kept telling people they were bad
Things you are suppose to think or things you are supposed to do, but rather something that we were created to be
Things that you put on, or things that you put in
People wake up, they are 40 years old, don't understand life......
Throw their lives away and start over
So much dysfunction - it comes naturally to us
Jesus is interested in salvation, not dysfunction......
Matthew6:25 therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
right, congruent, healthy life vs unright life
An unright life I do not measure by bad behavior, bad behavior is the result of, symptom of an unright life
122 things going right, 1 thing wrong
Reacting instead of acting
No pat answers about Jesus help in these times
Need to focus on the concept of love
God is love
Love void of self interest.....
Great commandment...love the lord with all you heart, love neighbor as yourself
fruit of the spirit
1corinthinas13
3What is peace - not world peace
peace in the midst of a storm
it is will with my soul......
Fredrick Buechner's grandmother, who he called "Naya," lived will into her 90's. She wa a very special person to him. "what makes her so rare in my experience," he says, is that, "no matter what happened to her, she seemed always to remain remarkably herself." Even at times when her life was shattered by the deaths of people she loved, even at times when her life seemed to fall apart, Fred says, "She seemed to remain so serene and intact that it was as if she lived out of some deep center within herself that was beyond the reach of circumstances." Near the end of her remarkable like, she was moved into a nursing home. Fred along with his wife and 2-year-old daughter, went to see his Naya. They spent a wonderful day together.
A few days later, they received a letter from his grandmother thinging them for taking the time to visit with her. She wrote, "Dear children, it was a noble deed to make the long journey down here, and the joy of seeing you and your bewitching little fairy daughter more than cimpensated me for the struggle of substituting an old crone in a dark little room for the Naya of legend." This would be the last letter he would receive from this grandmother. She died a few weeks later.
"She could see clearly and without either bitterness or complaint," Fred says of his grandmother. "It is a glimpse of at least, some important aspect of wholeness, he admits, "that I carry with me to this day, a bit of bannister to hold on to as I, myself, prepare to climb the dark stair.
4 What it is = Joy
Joy is the natural by product of a like well lived....
You can't pretend joy
We can focus on the bad or we can see the good...we choose
Turning point in my life when I realize that I was not going to blame my parents any longer.....
Favorite Quote - this is the true joy in life,
the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one;
the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap...
and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod
of ailments and grievance, complaining that the world will not devote itself to
making you happy....George Bernard Shaw
13th-century poet Fra Angelico - Yet within our reach is joy. this is radiance and glory in the darkness could we but see. and to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look. Life is so generous a giver: Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty the angel's hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence.--13th century poet Fra Angelico
Who is Jesus? this is what he did....
He removed people from under the law and taught them to live in grace
He freed them from pain and worry and he freed them to live
He taught them how humans can live a love centered life!
And that my friends is an abundant life, a life lived to the fullest.
Love, Joy, Peace.....let us pray
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment