CRCF\u201d\u201d5\/2\/10
\nVIDEO Clip:<\/p>\n
Revolution (The Beatles)<\/p>\n
You say you want a revolution
\nWell, you know
\nWe all want to change the world<\/p>\n
Some of you know the debate that there\u201d\u2122s been about what John Lennon meant by the lyrics to that song\u201d\u201da song written while the Beatles were in India at a transcendental meditation retreat. It at least meant that, yes, he wanted the world of the Vietnam War to be different, but that he himself was confused about the best way to change the world.<\/p>\n
Do you want to change your world?<\/p>\n
I think Lennon was right\u201d\u201d\u201cwe all want to change the world\u201d!<\/p>\n
The question is HOW? And there are all sorts of \u201crevolutions\u201d out there that we could sign up for\u201d\u201da multitude of approaches to righting all the wrongs in our world.<\/p>\n
But there\u201d\u2122s only one revolution that will actually transform people from the inside out. And it\u201d\u2122s not the usual type of revolution. It\u201d\u2122s . . .<\/p>\n
The Revolution of Grace
\nLuke 24:44-49; Matthew 28:18-20<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus.<\/p>\n
Let\u201d\u2122s check out what was foremost on Jesus\u201d\u2122 mind after He had convinced the disciples He was truly resurrected and alive, and just before He lifted off for Heaven!<\/p>\n
A quick aside\u201d\u201dwhat we\u201d\u2122re going to see this morning is the point of the whole Bible. If you could reduce all of Scripture down to one truth, this is it:<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus.<\/p>\n
Luke 24:44-49 (MSG)<\/p>\n
44Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”
\n45-49He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations\u201d\u201dstarting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus.
\nIt\u201d\u2122s a revolution . . .
\n1.\tThat has ALWAYS been God\u201d\u2122s goal in the world.
\nGenesis 12:1-3 (The Message)<\/p>\n
1 GOD told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.<\/p>\n
2-3 I’ll make you a great nation
\nand bless you.
\nI’ll make you famous;
\nyou’ll be a blessing.
\nI’ll bless those who bless you;
\nthose who curse you I’ll curse.
\nAll the families of the Earth
\nwill be blessed through you.”
\nIsaiah 53:10-12 (New Living Translation)
\n10 But it was the LORD\u201d\u2122s good plan to crush him
\nand cause him grief.
\nYet when his life is made an offering for sin,
\nhe will have many descendants.
\nHe will enjoy a long life,
\nand the LORD\u201d\u2122s good plan will prosper in his hands.
\n11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
\nhe will be satisfied.
\nAnd because of his experience,
\nmy righteous servant will make it possible
\nfor many to be counted righteous,
\nfor he will bear all their sins.
\n12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
\nbecause he exposed himself to death.
\nHe was counted among the rebels.
\nHe bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
\nJoel 2:28-32 (NLT)
\n28 \u201cThen, after doing all those things,
\nI will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
\nYour sons and daughters will prophesy.
\nYour old men will dream dreams,
\nand your young men will see visions.
\n29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
\neven on servants\u201d\u201dmen and women alike.
\n30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth\u201d\u201d
\nblood and fire and columns of smoke.
\n31 The sun will become dark,
\nand the moon will turn blood red
\nbefore that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives.
\n32 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD
\nwill be saved,
\nfor some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,
\njust as the LORD has said.
\nThese will be among the survivors
\nwhom the LORD has called.
\nGod giving us grace in Jesus wasn\u201d\u2122t an afterthought or a change in plan!
\nThis revolution has always been God\u201d\u2122s goal in the world!
\n–Also, Psalm 22, Psalm 110, plus many more OT passages.
\nAnd in Ephesians 1, Paul tells us that grace in Jesus was God\u201d\u2122s goal before time began, before the world was ever made!
\nYou can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus that has always been God\u201d\u2122s goal in the world.
\nHere\u201d\u2122s the next part . . .
\nIt\u201d\u2122s a revolution . . .
\n2. That is \u201ca total life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d\u201d\u201dNOT a religion.
\nJohn 8:4-11 (The Message)
\n3-6The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
\n6-8Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
\n9-10Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
\n11″No one, Master.”
\n“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
\nTHAT\u201d\u2122s a revolution\u201d\u201d\u201ca total life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d\u201d\u201dNOT a religion!
\nOnce the Devil was walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. “What did he find?” asked the cohort. “A piece of the truth,” the Devil replied. “Doesn’t it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?” asked the cohort. “No,” said the Devil, “I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it.” Klyne Snodgrass, Between Two Truths – Living with Biblical Tensions, 1990, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 35.
\nThe Devil loves religion and religious folks!
\nRonnie McBrayer
\nReligion tricks us into putting confidence in ourselves and not God\u201d\u2122s grace. (Leaving Religion, 198)
\nGod hates religion!
\nKarl Barth
\nReligion is an abyss; it is terror. Death is the meaning of religion.<\/p>\n
Here\u201d\u2122s another example of the revolution of grace\u201d\u201dof the \u201ctotal life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d!
\nLuke 7:36-50 (The Message)<\/p>\n
36-39One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”
\n40Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
\n“Oh? Tell me.”
\n41-42″Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”
\n43-47Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”
\n“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
\n48Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”
\n49That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”
\n50He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
\nYou can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus, that is \u201ca total life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d\u201d\u201dNOT a religion.
\n1 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)<\/p>\n
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance\u201d\u201dan inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus, that is \u201ca total life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d\u201d\u201dNOT a religion.<\/p>\n
Ronnie McBrayer<\/p>\n
If we embrace Jesus as less than the insurrectionist he was, then we are sliding down the slope into the religious graveyard. Jesus did not come to start a religion. He came to blow religion off the map . . . He came to show us who God really is. (Leaving Religion, 36)<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus, that is \u201ca total life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d\u201d\u201dNOT a religion.<\/p>\n
Have YOU experienced this revolution? Have YOU personally experienced this \u201ctotal life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d?<\/p>\n
[Gospel in Brief\u201d\u201dRomans]<\/p>\n
Ronnie McBrayer
\n\u201cLuke lures us into tagging behind a Jesus who is the champion of sinners, outcasts, and the ethically questionable. Jesus brings to the table and restores to the family those excluded from the kingdom of God. However, the religious establishment greets Jesus\u201d\u2122 mercy toward outsiders as blasphemy. It causes the good church folk to squirm in their seats . . . This gypsy named Jesus is a rebel, a \u201d\u02dcfriend of sinners\u201d\u2122, and an irreligious radical . . . Jesus and institutional religion are on a collision course, and those who go with Jesus will find more adventure, freedom, and religion-bursting grace than they can stand, all the things that make traveling worth the effort . . . If we choose to follow this path, then all our previous understandings of God and religion, faith and spirituality, creed and Christ, might get torn down. Once these are ripped away, something better, larger, more gracious, and much more revolutionary than we ever imagined may replace them. Ultimately, this is what this Great Journey of Jesus is all about. It is a revolution. Jesus is changing the state of affairs in the world and in our hearts. As he moves toward Jerusalem, the ground beneath our feet begins to shiver and shake, and we are invited to join the world-shattering revolution of following him.\u201d (Leaving Religion, 10-11)
\nYou can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus, that is \u201ca total life-change through the forgiveness of sins\u201d\u201d\u201dNOT a religion.<\/p>\n
Here\u201d\u2122s the last thing for the day . . .<\/p>\n
This revolution . . .<\/p>\n
3.\tIs to be OUR mission\/goal in life!<\/p>\n
It just stands to reason that if this revolution has always been God\u201d\u2122s goal in the world that it ought to be ours as well, right?<\/p>\n
Luke 24:46-49 (MSG)<\/p>\n
He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations\u201d\u201dstarting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus by making this revolution YOUR mission\/goal in life!<\/p>\n
In fact, if you\u201d\u2122re going to follow Jesus, it\u201d\u2122s not an option!
\nMatthew 28:18-20 (MSG)
\n18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
\nIt\u201d\u2122s about teaching others to follow Jesus\u201d\u201dteaching them all the stuff He taught us! Now, that\u201d\u2122s a lot of stuff. But you know what? We can boil it down\u201d\u201dactually JESUS boiled it down!
\nMatthew 22:34-40 (NLT)
\n34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 \u201cTeacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?\u201d
\n37 Jesus replied, \u201c\u201d\u02dcYou must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.\u201d\u2122 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: \u201d\u02dcLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d\u2122 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.\u201d
\nIf we each get a hold of God\u201d\u2122s love personally and then share that love by serving others the way Jesus served us, then we\u201d\u2122ll become part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace.<\/p>\n
We\u201d\u2122ll see lives totally changed through the forgiveness of sins in Jesus!<\/p>\n
Shane Claiborne
\n(Message given at Biola University, \u201cAnother Way of Doing Life\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gospel spreads best, not by force, but by fascination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are people around us fascinated by our love for God and for others?<\/p>\n
It\u201d\u2122s an amazing thing to get to be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace! But remember, it\u201d\u2122s only by His grace that we can live the revolution!<\/p>\n
Shane Claiborne
\nThinking about the donkey\u201d\u2122s colt that Jesus rode into Jerusalem: \u201cWe\u201d\u2122re just the jackasses that get to bring Jesus into our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus by making this revolution YOUR mission\/goal in life!<\/p>\n
Conclusion\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
You can be part of the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus.<\/p>\n
ARE you?
\nJohn Bryson: If Jesus answered all your prayers from the last 30 days, would anything change in THE World or just YOUR world?<\/p>\n
Celebration of the Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper
\nWhen we partake of this table, we\u201d\u2122re renewing our commitment to the revolution of God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRCF\u201d\u201d5\/2\/10 VIDEO Clip: Revolution (The Beatles) You say you want a revolution Well, you know We all want to change the world Some of you know the debate that there\u201d\u2122s been about what John Lennon meant by the lyrics to … Continue reading