Sermon Notes from Sunday 10.17.10

Here are the sermon notes from this past Sunday, 10.17.  In this passage, Jesus picks up the seriousness of sin.  I tried helping us all see how serious we must be about it too.  May God grace us with the courage to deal with it as radically as Jesus describes.  As usual, you can find the audio and PDF of these notes at sermons.heritagepark.org.  We should have it up on iTunes too.

Seriously?

Mark 9.38-50

Overall Theme:  Jesus is serious about sin.

Judgment

• At its root, judgment is ego-driven.
• Judgment demeans and excludes. 

3 Reasons not to Judge (v.39-41)

1. If God is at work through them, He’s probably at work in them.
2. Direction is often a better spiritual gauge than boundary.
3. God’s provision comes from all types of places.

Sin is serious to Jesus (v.42).

• Causing another to stumble is sin because it is unloving to your neighbor.
• Tests of family:  what you’re willing to do for one another and what you’re not willing to do to one another.
• This is a powerful reminder that sin never happens in isolation.

Because we follow Jesus, sin is serious to us (v.43-49).

• The use of hyperbole is designed to get our attention.
• The enticement to life is designed to prompt our affection.
• The reminder of hell is designed to keep us serious about sin.

Seriousness about sin is distinctive (v.50)

• Salt mixed with gypsum can lose its distinctive properties.
• If your love for God and hatred for sin are not growing, it is perfectly legitimate to ask if you’re following Christ.
• The distinction of following always plays out in relationships.