What If Jesus Was Serious?

which leaves us with the reality we’ve just witnessed it’s not timestamped it’s for people in their 90s and for children it’s for people that are starting out we’re finishing and I pray that everything we’ve witnessed today will be way more than Charming it will change us because you can do the same in me in Jesus name I pray amen amen would you go ahead and have a seat as you children we love you and we want you to experience more of Jesus where your head right

now and and I think it’ll be real exciting for you as well I am very touched always when I think of baptism and and of course it’s it’s kind of a privilege to be able to be the one baptizing them but some of the most touching baptisms for me have been to watch as a mom or a dad baptizes their son or daughter even a best friend a campus leader a doesn’t matter there’s nothing in the Bible that says you got to have a you know

an MD or you know PhD you know you got to be ordained or something to do that it’s just introducing people to Jesus and and watching as this is so cool man this is so so cool welcome back man I watching as God works and he wants to work in me and you and all of us so what a great way to start the new year right wow New Year 2024 it’s wow what’s new what’s what’s new what’s new I’ll tell you a couple things that

aren’t there are War that continue and there are worries hey not to be left out Hayden you the man buddy it’s really true there’s I got to thinking okay so what what can be new what can be talked about what’s something that should be highlighted and of course today we begin a new series and I want to introduce that to you but I want to introduce it with a kind of a surprised Discovery I made actually in my research we we do have wars we do

have worries some of them just don’t respect the calendar and go away with January 1 right we know that’s true but there there is one fairly new thing that I thought man I just can’t ignore it and I don’t dare try to hide it so let’s just let’s talk talk about something that’s in the news and it’s depends on where you are with technology some of you are real excited and will be excited when I mention what I’m talking about others of you will be you

know shaking your head going you know he’s coming soon he’s coming soon you know and I’m talking about artificial intelligence it’s called AI for you that are a little more informed so there’s a speaking of AI there’s a new application and this is this is true that you have to wonder about and you’ll have to wonder it for probably forever especially when you’re in church because you’re going to wonder is that message that that Pastor just presented a result of time he spent with Jesus and

and he was moved inspired sort of anointed if you will by the Holy Spirit to say the things he’s going to say or did say or you’re going to have to wonder did he subscribe to one of the AI sermon Creator platforms there’s a very nervous chuckle going on in this room right now and you want my answer right now don’t you for real they are out there and they claim on top of what I just said they you’ll never know the difference you’ll never know

you’re shaking your head like I did when I read this here’s an actual and it’s an it’s an ad that’s likely to tempt I’ll just say it more than a few Pastors in the future it has this header you know what a header is you’re going through you’re surfing the net and you’re looking for information some of you are doing it right now and missing a great sermon then again you’re not sure it’s mine right so I get that I get that so this one’s the

header I wrote it down because you had to hear it as as it is try it free today was the thing that grabbed your attention and I’m thinking well that can be a lot of things so what’s this the caption underneath unlock fresh listen to every word copyright free sermon Resources with our free AI sermon generator there’s more use tweak and share No citations no credits then this final statement they’re really proud of this statement preaching freedom in its purest form end quote what could possibly

be bad about that no Holy Spirit that’s a good start really nothing except those pesky kind of dated words like honesty Integrity here’s one for you it’s little bigger word plagiarism okay and oh yeah that that little limiter Thou shalt not lie right anyone think of the possibilities in your future plans you could become a preacher just go to our website today and don’t tell any body you did so there’s something that’s crazy about that but it got your attention and there’s something that’s not new

that has had my attention for a long time in fact I’ll go back decades to the first memory I have of encountering what I’m going to tell you now so it’s not new this isn’t out of my research this week but these are words of warning that the Apostle Paul wrote to his call him an understudy that would be fair that would be accurate his name’s Timothy and I want to read them to you you can turn there I’ll be in two passages this morning this

one’s in second Timothy happens to be his last letter before he was face to face with Jesus he went home and 2 Timothy chapter 3 are the words I want to read They’re five verses at the beginning of that chapter so find your way to 2 Timothy chapter 3 and at the outset of this new sermon series I think it makes a lot of sense that I read these words mark this my Bible reads some translations say realize this others say take note of this we

could say today don’t miss this okay you with me so mark this Paul says there will be terrible times in the last days people will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boastful proud abusive disobedient to their parents I slow down with each statement so you get a visual ungrateful Unholy without love and what comes with that is unforgiveness vers three slanderous without self-control brutal not lovers of good things treacherous rash conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and then they’re going to verse

five clothe it in spiritual ease they will have a form of godliness but they will deny its power and who is its power Jesus Christ and the spirit of the Living God they will deny its power and his final conclusion so have nothing to do with such people this five verses these five verses actually inspired me many years ago 10 years ago now to write a book and I wrote the book and just haven’t published it because I went really deep with this and I and

I couldn’t escape the words that we just read bothered me for two reasons and I and I reflected on that and I I think I have to say they still bother me for the same two reasons the first is this those things I’ll just say it seem to be the world I live in today now me remember I’m part of that world so don’t hear that as a guy going like this but but it there’s a lot of that around these things we just read so

because of what he said at the beginning terrible times in the last days does that mean that these are the last days and and that that very well may be the case I’m certainly not going to give you a suggestion that they aren’t but it gets way more per personal from there to the question that really hits hard or I think it should and that is this question are these things true of my life today we might all be quick to say well yeah that’s the

world I live in too Pastor that’s that’s the deal but maybe less quick to say that’s also to some extent me not all of it but some of it as I ask that question you you really should take it personal that was my intent can I say something about the whole Bible everything you read in here is intended for you and for me it’s not meant ever you hear me say that all the time time this is not a you know a museum to look at

those poor souls ever read not in my intended notes read 1 Corinthians chapter 10 veres 1-13 and everything you’re reading there are things that happened long before Paul wrote that letter way back in the Old Testament and he says everything was written for our instruction those things happened as examples for I just always personalize the Bible for Steve McCracken and that’s a good way to look at it read First Corinthians some of you are taking notes I’m glad you do I take time to write those

questions out I hope you’ll read them and visit with them in conversation at lunch or wherever you happen to be life group so I’ve been reading a book that that has me asking similar hard questions that I just presented to you it was written by a Jesus Lover and a pastor named Sky jethani you get extra credit and first dibs at Donuts afterwards if you can spell that name without help it’s not Sky you’re already off if you have that but Sky jethani okay he’s a

Jesus Lover and a true pastor and a and a man that walks with Jesus in short chapter you’ll see what I mean if you get the book we may even get a stack of them because they’re a little guy in short chapter after short chapter he examines words of Jesus carefully and he’s the guy you’ve read a book like this who often does so to a point lead leaving the reader in this case me feeling uncomfortable you know that you’re going I can’t read anymore right

now it’s too much or maybe I don’t go that far but I feel it you’ve read that kind of book right you even say to yourself man move on bro this is this is getting a little edgy a little uncomfortable I know I know I some sermons are like that maybe this one already I don’t know it’s not my purpose so Sky examines what many wise Christian writers and thinkers have been pondering okay in Western culture where we live today there is a steep spiritual decline

how many find if you find that shocking raise your hand I mean there’s you know I could say it another way if you believe in that not raise your hand everybody yeah of course you do so there’s a steep spiritual decline you say well what’s behind that what do you mean by those words it’s very simple for the last 25 years 25 years that’s the mid 90s late 90s to the present day 40 million people have left the the community we call the church 40 million

these are these are adults and they’re alive today but one thing that’s not a part of their routine is church and what it represents that’s a that’s a inescapable reality so and an inescapable question after hearing that is why what explains that the leadership of Grace point is reading a book called The de churching of America and it is so rooted in research you can’t scoff at it and burn it like you know you don’t want to hear it it’s a reality so what I just

said is true but today a second reality hostilities are on the Rise Against All Things Christian okay there are some people that know that and are quick to say well something later in 2 Timothy 3 just go down to verse 12 and you’ll see indeed all who desire to live Godly verse 12 says all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus that’s me I want to will be persecuted not might if you’re unfortunate or unlucky it will happen so some people say well that’s it

it’s just you know that’s or is it can we really say our troubles are just from a force outside of ourselves you know where I’m going or is the problem at least in part within if you’re new with us you need to know something I don’t take shots at anybody I don’t do that and never have and I won’t this that what I just said is not an A Veiled expression of that it’s talking about the church that loves stories like we just heard because they’re

true and lives are being changed and we need to deal with why not more okay so maybe our problem isn’t just outside but it might have something to do within here’s jathan’s probing assessment I’m quoting what if the underlying malady afflicting Christians today isn’t that we take Jesus too seriously and somehow the world just gets like you guys are gross you’re too clean but that we have failed to take him seriously enough what if much of the culture’s Judgment of Christians isn’t the result of obeying

Jesus but rather the result of Christians actually ignoring Jesus see why these chapters are short consider this Jesus most famous message how many would say what that is Sermon on the Mount you know it well and then and the best read of it if you’re new to the Bible grab a Bible and in the first of four gospels Matthew 56 and 7 go there and you will read the most extensive single account there’s others in both Mark and in Luke the two of the other gospels

but Matthew 56 and 7 make up The Sermon on the Mount and it’s the basis of many people’s opinions of Jesus to some it’s simply too radical others have concluded that it’s really hyperbole it’s loaded with hyperbole Jesus was saying if your eye causes you to stumble do what gouge it out oh that’s gross did you know that’s in the Bible yes it is well I don’t think Jesus was saying that let’s get a bunch of blind people walking around who praise my name I Think

Jesus was saying something serious so that may be what we could correctly call hyperbole but is the whole five six and seven hyperbole I think not sometimes people do say it’s it’s really meant to describe an ideal something that would be great to Aspire because we know what Vision does for people but reality it’s really it it can’t be viewed as a sermon that’s terribly practical even so if you were to read just the last two verses of the sermon you need to know these are

not Jesus words that end verse 7 I’m in Matthew 7 now I told you two passages Matthew 7 where The Sermon on the Mount is all recorded and it ends in verse 28 of chapter 7 when Jesus had finished saying these things this is a reporter’s assessment it’s like a guy listening to this sermon right now or a gal and you leave here and you go out and you report I don’t know a a news camera is filming what was it like hearing him today and

you report this in this case it was Jesus Jesus had finished saying these things and the crowds were amazed I’m reading from verse 28 at his teachings because he taught as one who had Authority and not as their teachers of the law any way you slice that if you forget everything about that remember this people heard five six and seven the sermon on the mountain they went that’s amazed that’s the look and sound of a amazed they didn’t have to say a word they just went

so I’ve told you about a movie I don’t know if it’s called a movie it’s probably a a series now I guess I’d Call It The Chosen how many watch The Chosen okay so you know that in the chosen they’ve spent two episodes talking about this message Sermon on the Mount and they focus on IND indviduals for good reason they’re they’re taking a closeup look and they they’re they’re seeing the impact of the words as Jesus preached them capturing images of people that are like I’ve

got something I need to do I’ve got to change up something I’ve got to go say I’m sorry I’ve got to clean up my personal life somehow and on and on it goes and I think that was very true on the mountain side the day Jesus preached this okay so let’s just say that but I think it’s also true of more than a few today unfortunately who have the same access to these words and yet they they kind of put them in a category that says

that’s great teaching comma but not to be practiced at home we call that a disconnect okay jethani was fascinated with this in this book and so he taught it room full of students taking notes and as a good teacher and if we had time to do it in a context that it would work here we would ask similar questions but he asked his class tell me what you think about these words we’ve heard the word radical we’ve heard wow what’s it what’s this about and I

thought it would be fascinating maybe because I’m going to tell you some of their responses very quickly because they might be one of your responses at least to some degree or maybe somebody you know okay so here’s one it’s impossible to obey somebody said with their hand in the air about this sermon no one can live like that they finished an next person said well that was just a picture showing how we all need God’s grace he was illustrating this person went on to say Jesus

was illustrating what a perfect life looks like and how none of us can attain it are you hearing excuses there’s more said another it’s not prac practical this is the most bold thing he heard if we took Jesus seriously in these words or words that he spoke elsewhere in the New Testament in Matthew Mark Luke and John if we took him seriously people would walk all over us someone slaps you on the right cheek you go to an attorney if you don’t kill him on the

spot today but what did Jesus say turn to him the other also One Pastor said yeah but you’re out of cheeks by then right this person says people would walk all over us love your enemies turning the other cheek and giving to anyone who asks is foolish it’s no way to get ahead let alone survive in a dangerous World which is a person’s way of saying I ain’t going there clearly many have embraced similar excuses I’m saying this on the front end because I I don’t

think it’s a reach to say maybe even some of us we he hear something that’s hard from the Bible don’t hear it from a preacher in fact if you ever hear something from me and you can’t find it in the Bible call me we need to adjust what I said we need to scratch that from the record researchers certainly have underscored this reality Gallup and Bara hand Us survey after survey I’m quoting not from jethani another source demonstrating that Evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace

Lifestyles please understand this has research behind it this is not madeup stuff Evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace Lifestyles every bit as hedonistic that means an obsession with pleasure it must bring me pleasure materialistic they’re self-centered and sexually immoral as the World in general divorce is more common among Born Again Christians than in the general American population that’s a pro that’s a terrible thing and those those numbers might EB and flow that’s a problem only 6% of evangelicals tithe you you don’t have permission Jesus

for what’s in my wallet or my purse is the message Josh mcdell who works extensively with youth and has his whole career has pointed out that the sexual promiscuity of Evangelical youth is only a little less outrageous than those of their non-evangelical peers end quote this is tough all this confirms why culture generally views Christians as Hypocrites statistically speaking says jethani we are I want to stop for a second because I feel like we need a big hug because I don’t believe that about so many

that I know here at Grace Point we like to tell people and you you need to hear it if you’re new or or not th this is the safest place I know to be full of problems and holdups and messes it is you come here broken the same way you go to the hospital when you go to an ER and you need help and you need it now you don’t need somebody at the door going well whoa what are you here for it’s a nasty cough

that could get some of us sick you know what I mean by the way that’s not my illustration I Jesus came up with that one he’s the one that said I didn’t come for well people I came for people that need Kleenex that are sick and this is the nudge today is meant to just be a devotional nudge for this new series series called what if Jesus was serious so in the coming few months starting today we’re going to examine sayings of Jesus in the gospels

okay in my preparation just so you know a little quick backstory and we’re going to have communion in my preparation I actually did a focus group I called a group of people together and gave them a the book what if Jesus was serious it’s where I got the title for this me this series and I said would you pick your top 13 statements Jesus made that you think need to be part of this series and it was fascinating and I I called all that information that’ll

be part of this I asked them to identify teaching points of Jesus they found just simply compelling might have might have been ah but they went back to it and went he’s right I gotta I gotta do something here I can’t do it without his help okay and based on their feedback this series aims at this single conviction if we want our world to take Jesus more seriously maybe we should try it first after all Jesus finished his Unforgettable message with that equally Unforgettable story where

he told about two people and their very different responses to what he just said one he labeled wise the other not so much he was a fool and he said it with these words that I finish with therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is that you is that your bias when you read the Bible everyone that does that and puts them into practice is like a wise person who builds their house on a rock we know rain don’t we

next statement he says the rains came down and the street dreams Rose and the winds blew and beat against the house yet it did not fall because it had been founded on that rock the second one hearing the same things from Jesus here’s the words that he spoke but didn’t put him into practice is thought of as a foolish man who built his house on sand s and the same stuff came into this person’s life the rains came down the streams Rose the winds blew beat

against the house but the house fell I I want my I don’t like storms any more than you do but I want my life to remain standing I’d like you to bow with me if you would and we’re gonna we’re going to celebrate Jesus who’s the source not only of these words but of truth that’s meant to mess with us and the biggest truth of all is that Jesus Christ the purpose of his life was not to be served he’s the king but imagine that he

didn’t come to be served he came to serve and to to give his life a ransom for many so I want to ask you we heard it in Noah we heard it in Hayden today is it true for you that he lives in your life we all have a throne someone sits on it is it him or is it you there’s a door to your heart just like the door to my heart and if we’ll live listen there’s a knock on that door the Bible Jesus

words says if you’ll hear my knock and open the door of your life I will make a move in you in fact I won’t just wave a wand or something like that I will come into you and take up residence on the throne of you if you’ve never done that what how do I do that God have mercy on me a sinner it’s the best start I know now Jesus hey come be the co-pilot nonsense give him the wheel I don’t know what I mean by

that Jesus it’s a perfect start he loves you and it’ll be a drive that you’ll never forget and you’ll wonder why I didn’t do it sooner so we get gather now around the table Lord you you just gave us a picture and you you wanted people to ponder this picture again and again and we’re going to do it now of what you did to win our hearts to take up residence through your holy spirit inside of us so this morning we’re going to bring you bread

and cup servers are joining me now we’re going to we’re going to bring it to you and while that’s being passed out there’s going to be a song sung to just let you spend time with Jesus and I hope you’ll do that when everybody’s been served I’ll I’ll lead us in taking the bread which represents Jesus and the blood is represented by the cup juice that will remind us that it cost him his very life but he did so he went to a cross Mighty and

Powerful wondrous is that cross let’s ponder that now what can take a Dy man raise him up to life life again what can heal a wounded Soul what can make us white as snow what can fill the emptiness what can M our Brokenness a Brokenness Migh

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 4,638 words.