(Obviously, this is a sermon that I preached before we took the Lord's Supper. It is a skimpy outline, but I'm, sure that you can fill in the blanks.)
"This do in remembrance of me..." That is what we are doing as Christians have done for two-thousand years. I. Remember His birth A. A virgin birth B. A simple birth ("manger") C. A celebrated birth (shepherds, angels, etc. II. Remember His life A. A pure life - perfect: "tempted in all points as we are yet without sin...." B. A life of service - (Tell about washing disciple's feet in John 13.) C. A life of sacrifice... III. Remember His death A. He died because of the will of the Father (Gethsemane) B. He died because His love for us. (John 3:16) C. He died to give us eternal and abundant life. IV. Remember His resurrection A. He defeated death and still ives... (Hymn: "He Lives") B. He defeated death for us... (John 11:25-26) C. He rose to come again We are here to celebrate Jesus and all that He means......
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People have heard a lot of sermons on the Lord's Model Prayer, but it needs preaching occastionally to remember that Jesus is teaching us how to pray and not just to "repeat." Let's take another look at this important prayer.
I. Verse 9 - Recognition of who and what God is A. "Our Father" Progenitor from eternity B. "Which art in heaven..." He is transcendant, above us. C. "Hallowed be thy name." "Hallowed" means that His name is holy because He is holy. Perfectly holy II. Verse 10 - Recognition of our responsibility to Him A. "Thy kingdom come...." He is above us in heaven, but consdescends to us. His kingcom came in Jesus, and we are in that kingdom because we are in Jesus. His kingdom is within us now. One day there will be the final kingdom. B. "Thy will be done..." In His kingdom, we are to live in His will...Do what He tells us to do. III. Verse 11 - Recognition of our dependence on Him. A. "Give" - God has it all to give and we are to recognize His ownership. Notice the "gimme" comes after praise of God. B. "Our daily bread" We always need to recognize that everything comes from Him. IV. Verse 12 - Recogntion of our need for forgiveness and our need to forgive. A. "Forgive us our debts, trespasses, sins...." Only He can forgive. B. "As we forgive our debtors...." This is not less important than being forgiven. We need to forgive as we need to be forgiven. V. Verse 13a - Recognition of our need for deliverance "Lead us not into temptation" "Deliver us from evil." VI. Verse 13b - Recognition of God's sovereignty and ownership 'For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever...." Notice the Jesus ended the prayer where He started it - with God!!!! This is really a daring prayer and is how we need to pray every day. Jesus did not give it to us to repeat, but as the content of all of our prayers Our text contains the fruit that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives when we are saved. Notice that "fruit" is singular. I liken it to an organge, which is one fruit but has several slices. Here is what we have because we have the Holy Spirit.
I. A positive witness A. Love B. Joy C. Peace II. A submitted life A. Longsuffering B. Kindness C. Goodness III. An obedient heart A. Faithfulness B. Gentleness C. Self Control Each of these "slices" of the fruit of the Spirit are yours. Claim it. (This was my p.m. sermon on June 22, 2014.) Names mean something. In the Bible names really mean something. Moses wanted not just to know God's name but what it means as well. The Lord gave him two answers: "I Am" and "Lord God" or Yahweh. What do these names mean and what do they mean to us?
I. "I Am" means that He is the Living God. A. Do you remember the "God is dead movement" in the sixties? A professor announced that God had died - really. Billy Graham said that he knew he wasn't because he had just talked to HIM that morning. B. The point is that God is always "I Am" meaning that He is always living. "I Am" literally means that there was never a time when God did not exist, and never a time when he will cease to exist. He lives! Period!! 1. He lives beyond us. Isaiah 55:9 explains this. 2.He lives for us. Jeremiah 29:11 explains this. The living God is on your side and wants the best for you. 3. He lives in us. "You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. C. God is definitely not dead. II. Yahweh, Jehovah or Lord God, means that God is preeminent - above all others and all else. (Isaiah 43:11) Alpha and Omega A. He is preeminent because He is unchanging. Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 B. He is preeminent because He is ever loving. 1. God is not always pleased with us, but He always loves us. 2. He loves us enough to discipline us. 3. He loves us in spite of ourselves. C. He is preeminent because He is all-sufficient. 1. He has promised to meet our needs. 2. He will meet our needs. The God of today is still the same God in the Bible. He is alive, always has been and always will be- the great I Am. He is the Lord God, Yahweh, Jehovah, the preeminent God. (This is the outline of my sermon for Father's Day. Maybe it can give you an idea for your sermon on this special day. I hope it makes sense to you, since I preach off of a rough outline.)
Luke 15 is all about grace. We read about the sheep that was found, the coin that was found and the errant son who came back. The parable about the return of the prodigal son is almost uncomfortable grace. To be honest, we might be inclined to side with the elder son. I. Verses 17-19 - The Condition of Saving Grace A. Vs. 17 - Realization B. Vs. 18 - Came to the conclusion of where his real security was. C. Vss. 19 and 21 - Confession of unworthiness. II. Verse 20 - The Waiting Father A. "Yet a great way off....." I picture the father gazing at the horizon each day for a view of his son. This gives us a picture of God's longing for us to return. B. Compassion (Could have been "I'll knock his block off.") This is how God looks at us - at you. C. Greeted with a hug and kiss.... great symbols of real love.... III.The forgiving Father "I forgive you" is not said by the father but is certainly impllied. He had already forgiven the son. In the case of our Heavenly Father, He knows what is in our hearts before we return.. IV. Vss. 22-23 - The giving Father A. "But" - meaning it was already done... B. He gave his errant son the best 1. The best robe which was saved for the most important guests. 2. The ring, which signified that he was still an heir. 3. The shoes, meaning he was not a slave but a son. (Slaves were usually barefooted.) 4. The fatted calf, culled, fed and fattened for very special guests. C. "Eat and be merry" God gave him a party....... Please understand that our holy God does not smile at sin, but when we repent, He invites us to a party, not a dull and drab life. (This is the third and final sermon on Jesus' prayer in John 17.)
The first sermon was on His prayer for Himself. The second was on His prayer for His disciples. The final one is His prayer for future believers. I. Verse 20a - Jesus' optimistic prayer A. Jesus knew there would be a future for believers even before His resurrection. B. We would believe because of "their word." This is the New Testament, because the disciples were eyewitnesses and either wrote it or told it to others. (Mark and Peter come to mind.) C. We have eyewitness reports. II. Verses 20b-23 - Jesus' prayer for unity: "That they all may be one..." A. Unified in Jesus. He is our reality and our unity. B. We can disagree about a lot of things, but we can't disagree about Jesus. C. Notice the purpose of the unity: "That the world my know." Our unity as Christians is a witness to the world. III. Verses 24-26 - To be with Jesus. A. Jesus is with us here and now.... B, We will be with Him after death in heaven. C. It is not something to keep to ourselves. Remember: We are the people that Jesus was talking about here. He knew we would be here. (This is the second sermon on the prayer of Jesus in John 17. The first sermon was based on Jesus' prayer for Himself. This sermon is based on Jesus' prayer for His disciples - but it certainly includes us as well.)
In verses 6-12 Jesus shows His claim on His disciples, and us as well. In verse 13, Jesus begins to pray about what He wants for His disciples - and for us. I. Verse 13 - That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. A. Jesus wants His disciples to be joyful people. B. In John 15:11 Jesus shared that He would give His people His joy. So we have His joy all of the time. Our joy is not circumstantial like happiness. C. It is real joy, not momentary but eternal. II. Verse 14a - Jesus gave them His word. A. Verse 8 shares the same promise. B. The "word" was probably Old Testament prophecies as well as other promises. C. We have His word. We call it the Bible! III. Verse 15a - Jesus wants His disciples in the world. A. The world needs His disciples, which includes us. B. He wants us in the world to serve His purposes - to do His will. C. He keeps us from evil, or the evil one. Satan is our worst enemy. IV. Verses 16-17 - In the world but not of it. A. Look at 14b. The world system is under Satan's control. They will not love us - ever. The world will be either indifferent or dismissive, and filled with hatred. B. Paul gave a warning in Ephesians 6:10-13. C. This is why we need to be sanctified - separated. V. Verse 18 - Jesus sends His diciples into the world. A. He saved us to send us.... B. This has always been God's will for His people - His church. C. You need to see yourself as "sent disciple." We are the disciples of Jesus and all of this applies to us as well. |
All of these materials are free of charge. There is no copyright on them and you are free to use them as you see fit. I am happy to be of assitance to you in your preaching/teaching minstry.
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