Paul
Break Every Chain
You'll Come
To The One
Blessed Be Your Name
Beautiful Things
Jon
The Keatings are moving to Chicago so Stephen can go to theological school
Their last week is July 8th
Going to preach tonight on the 23rd Psalm
Gave you the card and I’d like you to pray through it this week
If God says something to you, we’d like you to share it with me
Something hidden in our hearts that is really foundational
We’ve been dealing with issues of the heart
With how God has been making us
Matthew 3
Matthew was Jewish which affects how he delivers his gospel
The stories Matthew tells these stories, think of what he might be referencing
Matthew 3:13-17 ESV
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Genesis
Hovering over chaos
With Jesus we can preach a new creation story
He will speak order into chaos
God is hovering over the waters
Observation: Jesus hasn’t done anything yet
His ministry hasn’t started yet
No recorded headings
The divine blessing is given to Jesus before He accomplishes anything
All of us in this room are chasing after this divine blessing
We want something in life that says “we are okay”
Just recognize me!
Deep inside we don’t believe we are acceptable the way we are right now
So we move through life desperately trying to find our identity
Matthew is saying the divine blessing is already yours
Receive it
God speaks into our life
You are my son/daughter
When you’re screwed up, when your battered and bruised, when you have nothing to give
At this time, Jesus says you are blessed because you are poor in spirit
When we hear these words, something inside of us
Religious impulse
There must be something I can do to make God love me, like me, desire me, go after me
The gospel is this counter-intuitive message that goes against this religious impulse
You cannot make God love you less
For those of you who sinned really good this week
Who really leapt into it and really messed up
I want to say: I’m glad you’re here tonight
Jesus speaks into that and heals us and brings us into something new
When Jesus begins to speak, He says repent
Hebrew word
Teshuva – return
Metanoia – repent
We’re all trying to earn the blessing
To any woman who has struggled with recognition
You are my daughter with who I am well pleased
To any man who never got verbal affirmation, looking for acceptance
You are my son with who I am well pleased
The world doesn’t work like this
We get a little reminder every two weeks: paycheck
What do you have to do earn it? Perform
Can’t go into your boss and say I don’t need your approval, I’ve got the divine blessing
That’s great, get back to work
Demi Moore has apparently gone through a mental breakdown
Ashton left her
This amazing magazine People that interviewed her
Not a breakdown, dehydration and exhaustion
Demi ends up in the hospital
Said some interesting things in people
I struggle because I don’t believe that I’m worthy to be loved
…
Goes deep down inside us
Get caught in this wheel
Chasing after that divine blessing
(I just thought of cartoon with running mice in wheels, you just have to stop and get off the wheel to get the cheese)
Core of Jesus’ message
I want you to be you
Not anybody else, just you
What you aren’t isn’t interesting
What your church isn’t, meh, I’m not interested
What God’s made you to be
*No more apologies for what you’re not*
In John 23
I want to remind you that you are in Me and I am in you
We’re all in God together
Who you are in Christ Jesus? Really interesting
Eschatological realism
Gospel is counter-intuitive message that pulls against the religious impulse
We all have this past behind us
For many of us it’s not pretty
Driven and pushed by past and shame and condemnation and guilt
What the Gospel does is pull you into who you really are
A lot different being pulled by Gospel versus shame pushing us
We’re being pulled by Jesus into who we really are
I’m blown away by this
I keep trying to go back to being pushed and God’s like no
The past is simply a description of what happened to you
You don’t have to let it define you
What happened? It happened
Doesn’t define where I’m going
New Testament writers kept talking where we’re going
Let’s do this, let’s go change the world
Paul never refers to us as sinners
He talks about sin, as a disturbance of shalom
Never defines as sinners, just saints
First three chapters of Ephesians, no curses, just definitive praises
What you aren’t isn’t interesting
(I’m no spring chicken)
The only kind of sin I know about is the kind that’s covered by the blood of Jesus
Because I know this, my posture in life is going to be different
One of your greatest challenges is going to be to trust that this is real
Matt, before you go to New York
Mary, before you go to Uganda
Everyone before we go
You have the divine blessing
Go and kick some butt