BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER WHY DO PEOPLE REJECT JESUS? People reject Jesus because all people are born with a sin nature and want to please themselves rather than obey God. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He showed that He has power over death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. He gives eternal life to those who trust in Him. Memory Verse: Read the Story:
The account of Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead is a foundational passage in the New Testament. Not only was a dead man brought back to life, this passage in John 11 also contains the shortest verse in the Bible and a glimpse into the humanity of Jesus. John 11:35 says, “Jesus wept.” In this historical account of the death of Jesus’ dear friend, Jesus is questioned three times for not arriving sooner. The primary reason He is questioned can be found in the words of both Mary and Martha: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” (John 11:21,32) Mary, Martha, and others around them had seen and heard of the miraculous things that Jesus was doing. They had only seen Him miraculously prevent death. Their framework for how Jesus worked was limited to their experience with Him. Martha showed a glimmer of hope in John 11:22 when she said, “Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” However, she still seemed to limit what Jesus could do to her previous experience. It can be easy to put God inside of a box, to limit what we believe He can do to what we’ve seen Him do before. Yet Jesus’ delay served a greater purpose: to give Him the opportunity to perform an even greater miracle—and thus display God’s glory. Today, we often struggle to pray with confidence that God could heal physical ailments or save those that seem most unlikely to repent. In our minds, we limit what God can do to what we have seen or can explain. What if we prayed with the confidence that God is a wonder worker, doing more than we could ever ask or imagine? What if we believed that God isn’t bound by our opinions or perspectives? What if we demonstrated our confidence in a God who is beyond our full comprehension, but is always within our reach? Not only would this type of faith change us, but it would also greatly impact those around us. GOSPEL APPLICATION
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BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER WHY DO PEOPLE REJECT JESUS? People reject Jesus because all people are born with a sin nature and want to please themselves rather than obey God. Everyone is invited into the kingdom of God, but not everyone will enter. People are saved only by trusting in Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. Memory Verse: Read the Story:
As the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth was drawing nearer, large crowds of people followed Him from each town and village. So the question someone raised in Luke 13:23 may seem unusual: “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” Jesus had spent time with the crowds. He had fed them, taught them, and healed them; yet He knew that relatively few would follow Him as true disciples. He knew He would ultimately be rejected by the crowds. Jesus said that the gate is narrow, and few will find it. Most people will not taste and see that the Lord is good. The simple answer to this probing question is, “Yes, the number of people who will be saved is significantly less than those who will not.” Many people knew about Jesus. They had shared meals with Him and listened to Him, but they did not know Him personally as Lord and Savior. Jesus was clear that being a Jew by birth or a zealot for the law was not enough to enter God’s kingdom. God’s heart is both for Jews and Gentiles. Jesus’ honest response offers hope to those who will hear. He tells them that no matter the numbers, make every effort to be one who enters that narrow gate. You do not want to be left outside the entrance. We are surrounded by people who wonder about this very same thing. Who will be saved? Though we are not armed with the eternal knowledge of God, we do have pictures like this in Scripture that remind us to point to the hope of Christ in all things. We don’t know the future—and it’s not for us to know—but we do know where hope is found. The subject line of our message should be as hopeful as the gospel that saved us. The invitation to God’s kingdom is for all to place their trust in Christ, the One who was rejected and killed on a cross—so that we may be justified and fully accepted by His sacrifice on our behalf. GOSPEL APPLICATION
BIG PICTURE QUESTION & ANSWER WHAT DID JESUS TEACH WHEN HE WAS ON EARTH ? Jesus taught about God and His kingdom. He taught that all Scripture is about Him. Jesus invites us to join Him in heaven—the great wedding feast. When we receive His invitation, Jesus gets us ready by clothing us in His righteousness. Salvation is a free gift for everyone who trusts in Christ. Memory Verse: Read the Story:
What makes someone worthy? Have you ever wondered that? What makes someone worthy of the situation they find themselves in? What makes someone worthy of high degrees of responsibility or leadership? What makes someone worthy of recognition or acclaim? For someone who has been exposed to the things of God, it’s common to ask, what makes someone worthy of the blessings of God? Jesus told a parable in Matthew 22 that speaks to this question. The answer is that they have responded to the invitation of the King. Metaphorically, this parable teaches that, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” And those that are chosen are worthy. Contrary to what our culture tells us, what makes someone worthy is not their accomplishments, their position, or the acclaim. The ultimate answer to this question is not found in what someone does, but by the grace of the King of the universe. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” The good that we do is an outflow of our worthiness, given to us by the grace of God through faith in Him. It is not the other way around. We do not do good works to earn His grace or to prove our worth. We ought to be careful to understand that worthiness comes out of a gift that has been given by God. And that He is the only King able to assign us worth. He did that when He created all of us. Let us seek to find our worth in nothing less than this. GOSPEL APPLICATION
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December 2023
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