Element Christian Church

At the heart of heresies is often our desire to remain in control, the belief that we are good enough without God. Just like the Ebionites, we are tempted to view Jesus as a great teacher, but not our God, and not our redeemer. We have two choices, just like the broad and narrow road we looked at last week. Either we have to abandon our self-will or abandon our hope. The two seem mutually exclusive; when we trust ourselves we lose all hope.

“The gospel on the outside looks incredibly small and cramped, when you get inside, it’s unbelievably spacious. The alternatives to the gospel look incredibly broad, spacious, free and tolerant, but on the inside, they’re cramped and narrow.” Most people don’t like to have the reality of the broad and narrow roads pointed out, we are more than content to live in our own delusions of tolerance, even when tolerance leads away from true life.

While Jesus commands us to treat others with the same love and respect we desire, we can easily get caught up in our own behavior.As shared in the sermon, an emphasis on our own works is often the largest threat to our spiritual growth and understanding of grace.

Jesus invites us to change not only how we interact with others, but how we interact with Him. Understanding grace, truth, a good father, and grace centered community.

Judging is about trying to have control, freedom is about entrusting ourselves to Jesus.

The problem with “stuff” is that it not only takes up space in our homes, but also takes up space in our souls. In the book The Power of Habit, it talks about a “Keystone Habit.” A keystone habit is one that, if either implemented or changed, sets off a chain reaction to other habits. It will catalyze new patterns of thinking, desiring and behaving. It’s not an isolated habit. It is connected. The early church was characterized by generosity, setting in motion the habit of giving which has lasted two millennia.

There are approximately 30 parables in the Scriptures, 19 of which either speak directly of money or are told in an economic context. Jesus spoke more about money and generosity than any other subject besides the Kingdom of God. S.E. Lea and P. Webley, in their research study The Biological Psychology of a Strong Incentive, state that “money is a tool, but money is also a drug.” Money lets us pay the bills, keep the lights on, stay fed, and get work done because money is a tool. But money also acts like a drug. Money makes us feel things we would not otherwise feel. It gives us a temporary escape from pain, and it can also give us a momentary illusion of wellbeing.

Ever since the fall, everything is messed up, including our thinking about money and work. In Greek thought, Plato put forth the idea (now widely believed even in Christian circles) that there are two dimensions of reality: the spiritual and the physical.

Have you ever asked the question: Who are the rich? Who does a message about generosity and treasure apply to? In our modern American day, who really needs to pay attention to verses like this? If we think through it logically, we should really ask the question, “How do you decide whether or not you are rich?”

In everything, Jesus should be lifted up first; prayer is the developing of the relationship we have with Jesus so it takes root in our heart and soul.

In everything, Jesus should be lifted up first; prayer is the developing of the relationship we have with Jesus so it takes root in our heart and soul.

Our God is not shaped by us, we are shaped by Him and His goodness. Our prayers must reflect all of who God has revealed Himself to be within the Sermon on the Mount.

How do we actually do life with Jesus? The Scriptures teach that this one of God’s great desires, and because it is one of His great desires He communicates how to do it.

Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount with the fact that we have been blessed. When we get to Chapter 6 of the book of Matthew He then explains how these very same blessings can become a distraction from our true mission when they become our focus. As people, we have mastered taking good things from God and perverting them, so much so that we have taken a blessing like food, and worshiped it. Through fasting we retreat for a period of time from some of these good gifts and seek Christ. Fasting is meant to refocus our affections and help us realize our reward is Christ, not in luxuries He brings us. Jesus gives very practical steps in how to use fasting to draw near to God and not further away from Him. He explains that fasting should be done in a way that doesn’t lift ourselves. Fasting “in secret,” and practicing this spiritual discipline the way God intended, helps us to understand more of our reward in being called to a life with and for Christ.

Whenever we are obsessed with the future and refuse to live where God has put us today, it inhibits us from living our present moments to the glory of God.

Most issues of faith and doubt come down to our feelings about things, our anxiety. When we truly trust Him our anxiety, begin to diminish.

Information has led to transformation. Jesus is teaching people how to move from New to Normal to Second Nature.

In the Old Testament God steps in and gives His people a command that is supposed to put check into how far they are allowed to go in retribution. He tells them An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, meaning the punishment should not exceed the offense...but as always, Jesus takes it deeper, beyond the law.

The Bible grounds all love in God’s covenant love for His people as it’s foundation. In contrast with our consumer culture, the Bible teaches that the essence of marriage is a sacrificial commitment to the good of the other. Watch Eric & Terri's story at: https://vimeo.com/99337996

Let your language be an authentic representation of who you are in Christ. The point of language is to communicate honesty…Because our God has communicated clearly in the person of Jesus.