SERMON NOTES FOR
Who is shaping you....the world or the Word?
Main Text: Luke 16:19-31
Many things shape us...some shape is in healthy good ways, some shape us in negative ways.
What are some of the things and people who have shaped you?
In today's reading the rich man has been shaped in a particular way and he has four main problems:
RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 1:
Fails to listen to God's Word and allow it to influence his life
Luke 19: 31 “Jesus said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Question for you: Are you taking seriously what God's word says? Is it influencing your life, how you relate to others? Are we falling into the same trap as the rich man?
Question for you: Are you taking seriously what God's word says? Is it influencing your life, how you relate to others? Are we falling into the same trap as the rich man?
RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 2:
Fails to care for others with the resources he has
Luke 19: 19-21
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
Thought: At times we hear this story and think that this is only relating to wealthy people. Jesus wasn't having a dig at the rich because they were rich, he was having a go at them because of their attitude to their riches. They saw it as theirs and for them to enjoy. However as Christians Jesus reminds us in other parts of scripture(see Matthew 22:37-39), we are given resources (money, time, knowledge, property and skills) to love God and to love others.
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
Thought: At times we hear this story and think that this is only relating to wealthy people. Jesus wasn't having a dig at the rich because they were rich, he was having a go at them because of their attitude to their riches. They saw it as theirs and for them to enjoy. However as Christians Jesus reminds us in other parts of scripture(see Matthew 22:37-39), we are given resources (money, time, knowledge, property and skills) to love God and to love others.
Question for you to think about: How are you using the resources God gives you? Are there people in your life who need your help?
RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 3:
SHORT SIGHTED LIVING....Living with only today, this earth in view....not focussed on eternal living
Luke 19: 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
Question for you to think about: Are you living with only the present in mind....or are you living with eternity in mind?
RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 4:
He's now dead.....and can't do anything about His Spiritual defecit
Luke 19: 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
Thought: Once someone is dead nothing can be done about their eternal future.
Thought: Once someone is dead nothing can be done about their eternal future.
Question for you to think about: What are you doing now to grow spiritually? Do you know someone who is like the rich man, how might God be using you to help them be in heaven?
HOW DID THE RICH MAN GET INTO THIS SITUATION?
He was shaped by worldly thinking of comfort and luxuries.....what the world saw as important
Luke 19:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.”
Time to think about how you have been shaped by the World in positive ways and negative ways:
Shaped by your family....family relationships, family attitudes, family teachings, family's relationship to God
Shaped by the people you mix .....with at work, school and socially. How does their talk and behaviour affect you? Think about what they see and say is important? What about their attitudes? What do they encourage you to believe is true?
Shaped by experiences.....especially disappointments and 'feel good' times.
Shaped by how others tell you life should be.....people, media, news
Thought: God can use anything in this world to shape us in a positive way. Satan can also use worldly things like family, people we mix with, our experiences and what others say to also shape us in a negative way.
God shapes us through:
Weekly Worship
Regular Bible reading and study
Relationships with other Christians....where we toss around God's word and talk about what it means for our lives.
When God is shaping our lives we will get a heavenly focus that affects how we live today. God shaping us affects our future: Salvation
God shaping us affects how we live now: Sanctification
We see money, resources, time and skills for loving God and loving others
God shaping us affects how we live now: Sanctification
We see money, resources, time and skills for loving God and loving others
MP3: to come
