First Alliance Church ATL

04-12-20 Kevin Goins - Defeating the Status Quo, Conclusion

“Defeating the Status Quo” (Conclusion)

In the first century “life as usual” for the people of Israel included poverty, illiteracy, hunger, sickness, and being under the thumb of the Roman empire. “Life as usual” is what we mean by the status quo, and for Israel the status quo was depressing, to say the least. But then Jesus came, and through his teaching and healing and feeding the hungry, he overcame many of the most negative elements of the status quo. Then he was put to death on the cross, but what followed his violent and humiliating death brought about the greatest reversal of the status quo the world has ever seen. In what ways did the resurrection of Jesus defeat the status quo?

I When we look at the Passion Story, we see, first, that Jesus said No to the status quo of lying to protect oneself.
II When we look at the Passion Story, we see, second, that Jesus said No to the status quo of hating those who hate us.
III When we look at the Passion Story, we see, third, that Jesus said No to the status quo of separation.
IV Finally, when we look at the Passion Story, we see, finally, that Jesus said No to the status quo of ______________.
A. There is no better illustration of what status quo means than the human m_________________ rate. The Latin term status quo literally means “the state i_____ w______________.”
1. We are all on a journey toward ____________.
2. Sartre said that there is no ____________ from this life with its inevitable death sentence. He called us “beings t___________ death.”
3. The more we try to hold on to each day, the ______________ each day seems to slip away.
B. There is only one foundation that can enable us to die in __________________, and that foundation is the resurrection of Jesus.
1. Oftentimes, at Easter, we talk about all the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, but the most obvious evidence is staring us in the face: that evidence is ___________.
2. There was no Christian ______________ and there was no Christian ________________ before the resurrection of Jesus.
3. Christianity was only a tiny movement when Jesus died, and when he died his followers looked for ________ to __________ into to escape the same fate Jesus had experienced, and that fate was being _________ to a cross.
4. If Jesus had not walked out of the tomb, there would have been nothing powerful enough to t_________________ the fear of a tiny ragtag band of followers into the w_________________ force that Christianity is today.
V When the status quo is changed, it does not take long until the ________ change becomes the _________ status quo. But here is what is so amazing about Jesus: the changes he brought about are still just as profoundly r____________ today as they were two-thousand years ago.

04-11-20 Kevin Goins - Defeating the Status Quo, Part 3

“Defeating the Status Quo” (Part 3)

In the first century “life as usual” for the people of Israel included poverty, illiteracy, hunger, sickness, and being under the thumb of the Roman empire. “Life as usual” is what we mean by the status quo, and for Israel the status quo was depressing, to say the least. But then Jesus came, and through his teaching and healing and feeding the hungry he overcame many of the most negative elements of the status quo. Then he was put to death on the cross, but what followed his violent and humiliating death brought about the greatest reversal of the status quo the world has ever seen. In what ways did the resurrection of Jesus defeat the status quo?

I When we look at the Passion Story, we see, first, that Jesus said No to the status quo of lying to protect oneself.
II When we look at the Passion Story, we see, second, that Jesus said No to the status quo of hating those who hate us.
III When we look at the Passion Story, we see, third, that Jesus said No to the status quo of s___________________.
A. The separation that troubles the human race today began with r______________ against God and the decision to d______________ his Word.
1. As a result of their disobedience, Adam and Eve were separated from e_________ o___________.
2. But what caused their separation from each other was the fact that they had first separated themselves from __________.
3. God is holy and will not t____________ the sin of rebellion.
B. Since it was the sin of disobedience which caused our separation from God and from each other, Jesus had to find a way to r____________ our sin.
1. Matthew and Mark tell us that when Jesus breathed his last, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from ________ to ___________.”
2. This curtain hung in the temple for one reason: to separate sinful human beings from the p____________ of God.
3. When Jesus died, he offered to God a p___________ sacrifice, the sacrifice of his perfect and s_______________ life.
4. The curtain was v______________ ripped in two – it was s____________ to show that nothing can now close off our a___________ to God.
C. That is why we can now overcome the separation that exists between us and the ___________ around us, because Jesus ended the separation between us and ____________.

04-10-20 Kevin Goins - Defeating the Status Quo, Part 2

“Defeating the Status Quo” (Part 2)

In the first century “life as usual” for the people of Israel included poverty, illiteracy, hunger, sickness, and being under the thumb of the Roman empire. “Life as usual” is what we mean by the status quo, and for Israel the status quo was depressing, to say the least. But then Jesus came, and through his teaching and healing and feeding the hungry he overcame many of the most negative elements of the status quo. Then he was put to death on the cross, but what followed his violent and humiliating death brought about the greatest reversal of the status quo the world has ever seen. In what ways did the resurrection of Jesus defeat the status quo?

I When we look at the Passion Story, we see, first, that Jesus said No to the status quo of lying to protect oneself.
II When we look at the Passion Story, we see, second, that Jesus said No to the status quo of h___________ those who h_________ us.
A. Good Friday is the time when we recall the s_____________ of Jesus. The Gospels tell us that there were m___________ aspects to that suffering:
1. We tend to emphasize the p_______________.
2. If we know our New Testament theology, we also recognize the s_______________ aspect of his suffering.
3. But we often forget the r__________________ aspect of his suffering.
a. Jesus didn’t suffer in p_____________.
b. The crowds around the cross did not praise Jesus for who he w_______, they cursed him for what they b__________ him to be in that moment. They saw him as:
1. a would-be p______________ leader
2. a m___________ unstable person
3. a f______________.
c. The crowd could not accept the necessity of the c_____________.

B. But Luke says that from the cross Jesus looked out at these h_______-filled people and said, “Father, f___________ them for they do not k__________ what they are doing.”
1. But that was not only the attitude of Jesus as he hung on the cross, refusing to hate the haters was his p______________ way of dealing with life.
2. And what is even more shocking is that he expects _______ to do the same.

04-09-20 Kevin Goins - Defeating the Status Quo Part 1

“Defeating the Status Quo”

In the first century “life as usual” for the people of Israel included poverty, illiteracy, hunger, sickness, and being under the thumb of the Roman empire. “Life as usual” is what we mean by the status quo, and for Israel the status quo was depressing, to say the least. But then Jesus came, and through his teaching and healing and feeding the hungry he overcame many of the most negative elements of the status quo. Then he was put to death on the cross, but what followed his violent and humiliating death brought about the greatest reversal of the status quo the world has ever seen. In what ways did the resurrection of Jesus defeat the status quo?

I When we look at the Passion Story we see first that Jesus said No to the status quo of lying to protect oneself.
A. The religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus because he claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah, but they knew the Romans would not allow them to execute Jesus for r________________ reasons.
1. So, they accused Jesus of p______________ wrongdoing by saying that he claimed to be the King of the Jews.
2. The Romans punished rebellion, or treason, as a c______________ crime. In other words, they e______________ anyone who claimed to be any kind of King.
3. That is why Pilate asked Jesus the question, “Are you a King?” That is the only thing that m______________ as far as Pilate was concerned.
B. In John 18:37 Jesus says to Pilate, “You are right in saying I am a King.” There are two things here that are very much u___________________:
1. First, Jesus got himself into a f___________ predicament by saying that he was indeed a king.
2. The second thing that is unexpected is that there seems to be a non sequitur here. A non sequitur is when a statement does not f__________ logically from a previous statement.
3. Jesus admits to being a king and then, in the middle of the sentence, he suddenly changes the subject to t___________.
4. I believe that what Jesus is doing here is to shine some light into the darkness of P_____________ life and career.
5. Jesus speaks as if being born a King and telling the truth are o_______ and the s_________ thing.
6. Jesus was not only speaking to Pilate, second, he was speaking to all the people who would read the G______________. He was letting us know that we can t___________ him.
7. Jesus understood that if anyone claiming to be the Savior sent by God ever spoke a lie, then we could never be c___________ of our salvation.
8. What Does all this mean to us? It means that lying to protect ourselves is a part of the status quo that we must learn to f________________.

 

04-14-19 Kevin Goins - The Power of Holy Week

“The Power of Holy Week”

Jesus showed his awesome power throughout his ministry, but nowhere more clearly than the week leading to his resurrection. Since we celebrate Jesus’ power over death next Sunday, it would be good for us to recall the pivotal and powerful days leading up to that climactic event.

I The first day of Holy Week was Sunday, and on that Sunday Jesus rode in a _____________.
Triumphal entries are all about celebrating ____________.
B. Jesus a______ o______ who he was by riding into the city on a
donkey, and riding on a donkey told the crowd two things:
1. He told them he was _________.
2. He told them he was a ___________ king.

II On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week Jesus said and did things which most people would have been far too _________ to do or say.

III Thursday Jesus ate the ___________ meal with his disciples.
-On the Thursday of Holy Week Jesus claimed to have awesome power – the power to t_______ a_______ all our sin.

IV Now we come to Friday, to what the Gospels tell us took place from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, or from _______ to ______ pm.
A. Crucifixion is the worst form of capitol punishment ever devised because it took _______ to bring about death.
B. Matthew shows us the power in the death of Jesus by telling us four things that the death of Jesus did:
First, it r_______ the temple curtain in ____ (Matthew 27:51a).
2. Second, it m__________ the hardened hearts of a world
consumed with s____________ (27:51b).
3. Third, it destroyed the power of ___________ (27:52-53).
4. Fourth, it turned _____________ into ___________ (27:54).