Welcome to the final week of SENT. We wanted to start our Live Teaching at this campus by
encouraging all of you …encouraging you that
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your life has Purpose and Meaning in
the cities in which you live.
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you are not in Bloomington, Clinton,
El Paso, Danvers, or Pontiac by accident…
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the Holy Spirit wants to partner
with you right where you live/work on a daily
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your partnership will bring heaven,
healing and hope to the broken, bound and disillusioned people in our cities
Today, we get to conclude our series not with
another tool to bring Jesus’ Kingdom, but rather with an encouragement to find
Joy as you go.
Matthew 10:7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is
near. 8 Heal the
sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons.
(its own slide please) Give as freely as you have received!
For years, this phrase from Jesus has been used
for many things in churches… but what I think we need to unpack today is the
principle of JOY that is hidden in these 7 little words. Let’s
PRAY
Oprah
Video
(4 minutes)
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Reactions in the crowd… hopelessness
fulfilled
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Happiest person in the room… HER!
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When
you’ve got everything, it is PURE JOY to give it away!
DILEMMA:
Our 2 dilemmas with joy… the first is this:
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We’ve been conditioned by our world
to keep what we’ve got to ourselves
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Money, happiness, good situation/job
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And actually, we stagnate our faith
and don’t keep the joy of our salvation… healing… or deliverance going because
we don’t share it
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It’s actually one of those things we
see as church leaders over and over again… someone has a powerful/emotional
conversion to faith, but it dies 6 months-2 years later because they never gave
it away.
The second dilemma is this…
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Some of us are still realizing what
we have…
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You have heaven inside of you &
it is PURE JOY to give it away.
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The very power of heaven lives in us
who believe… but we’ve based our generosity on our experience and not on the
truth.
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So, we stagnate our faith because
we’ve not felt the truth of heaven lately.
BIBLE
We CANNOT keep this to ourselves!
Once we've received from the Father the power of His Kingdom... the joy set
before us is to GIVE it away!!!
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 other
disciples with the same kinds of instructions that He sent out the 12 with…
when they return, filled with the Joy of Heaven that even the demons left when
they commanded, He reorients them to the truth of their heavenly position
● 10:23-24
“Then turning to the
disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I
tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not
see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
●
We get to experience even more than
the prophets/kings who longed for our day.
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But the experience is heightened
with joy when we don’t keep it to ourselves.
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When
you’ve got everything, it is PURE JOY to give it away!
He uses a very familiar story in the next verses
to make his point…
Luke 10:30-37
Jesus
replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among
robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now
by chance a priest was going down
that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and
saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw
him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took
care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay
you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed
him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The Priest
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Now
by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by
on the other side.
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Who were the priests? Some of us
have thought of them that they were bad guys.
o Devout
followers of God
o Leading
religion and political side of the Jewish culture
o So,
wrapped up in his rules that he missed an opportunity to help!
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He was actually following his
“rules” not to touch an unclean/dead body
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Friends compassion is more important
than our fears.
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We
can’t let Fear get in the way of our JOY!
o We’ve
been encouraging you all to love your cities.
o Fear
of rejection… ridicule…
o Enemy
uses fear to steal our greatest Joys!
The Levite
●
So
likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the
other side.
●
Why does Jesus use this officer of
the temple?
o Assistant
to the priests
o Helper
in all things worship - sacrifices, music, daily ritual/worship service
o They
had things to do 24/7… they were busy people
o He
was so wrapped up in church, that he missed an opp. for compassion
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Friends compassion is more important
than our busy lives.
●
We
can’t let our Schedule get in the way of our JOY!
o We’ve
been encouraging you all to love your cities.
o But
if your life is too busy, you might miss it… home, kids, and even church
o Enemy
uses Busy-ness to steal our greatest Joys!
The Samaritan
But
a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had
compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of
him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper,
saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I
come back.’
●
Why does he use the Samaritan?
o Wants
to drive his point home
o They
couldn’t trace their religious heritage back as far as the “pure Jews” could…
many considered them half-breeds…
o He’s
calling out their racism
o Even
those you really don’t like are smart enough show compassion
●
It wasn’t…
o That
the priest/Levite didn’t have resources to help… well-off probably
o That
they weren’t commanded to “love their neighbor”
o It’s
that they were so focused on life, religion, what they were doing that they
missed an OBVIOUS Opportunity
●
Don’t miss any obvious opportunities
for God to work through you in our cities.
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And then Jesus heaps on the irony by
showing how far the Samaritan was willing to go for the injured man… helps, get
him a room, pays the bill
●
When
you’ve got everything, it is PURE JOY to give it away!
o And
we have everything don’t we
o Heaven,
healing and hope flowing through our veins.
o There
is nothing quite like praying for someone and seeing God come through with his
power for them!
o That’s
one of the reasons we do it at the end of every service
o August
26th training night - learn how to do it in groups & service
o We
will give you opportunity to practice before you live it out.
o SOKM
registration - this is 9 months of learning to live it out ☺
I love how Jesus wraps up this story… he turns
and asks the obvious question…
Which
of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among
the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Or to reflect how we began this
discussion… as SENT ones we are to:
(its own slide please) Give
as freely as you have received!
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5$ illustration?
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We have all been given way more than
$
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We’ve been given salvation…
wholeness through the cross of Jesus
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We’ve been given access to heaven,
healing and hope unimaginable by the broken in our cities.
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So, give it away… look for the
obvious opportunities
o When
a person tells you about their bad day
o When
a person is sick or going to the hospital
o When
someone can’t sleep due to worry or nightmares
o When
someone is crying or has a cast on their arm
o …some
of this is easier than we realize ☺
●
And remember, When you’ve got everything, it is
PURE JOY to give it away!
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