5.1K
Downloads
322
Episodes
First Alliance Church Weekly Sermons
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Christmas in July”
John 10:22-39
You may believe that it was retailers who dreamed up the idea of Christmas in July in order to increase their sales in the doldrums of summer. In fact, it is the Bible that brings up this issue and that is what our text today is all about today.
What does this text have to do with Christmas?
I First, there is the d________________ of our text (10:22-23).
- The Feast of Dedication celebrates the Jew’s victory over the Syrian King Antiochus _______.
- The Messiah had been born and was now in the world teaching and healing, but they were not thinking of him. Instead, they were celebrating, not a religious holiday, but a n____________________ holiday.
- Christmas is just something almost all Americans __________.
II Second, this text and Christmas are about s_________________________ (10:24).
- There are two things about this suspense:
- First, whatever kind of suspense it was, it was i__________________________.
- Second, their suspense is specifically about whether Jesus is the _______________________.
- If Jesus had said, “I am the Messiah,” we know they would have understood it p_______________________________.
III Third, this text and Christmas are both focused on ______________ (10:25-30).
- Christmas is a birthday party for Jesus, and yet everyone gets a gift e______________________________ him.
- The easier and more n________________ way to translate verse 29 is: “The gift my Father has given to me is greater than all.”
- The reason Jesus sees us as the greatest of all gifts is not because we are the greatest to ever be loved, it is because he is the greatest ________________.
IV Fourth, this text and Christmas both demonstrate the insidious nature of i___________________________ (10:31-32).
- Revenge returns evil for evil, but ingratitude returns evil for ____________________.
- When we say, “Is that all there is?” what we are actually saying is, “All I have been given is not __________________ enough.”
- We cannot feel disappointment about the one thing we do not have without setting aside and i____________________ the myriad of things we do have.
V Finally, both this text and Christmas ask one question: “_________ is _____________?” (10:33-39)
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Why does Jesus call himself ‘the Good Shepherd?’” (Part 3)
John 10:11-21
For most of us, the statement that “Jesus is the good shepherd” lies at the bedrock of our Christian faith. Many of the Jewish religious leaders, however, were very upset that Jesus was acting as a shepherd, because for them the attention Jesus was receiving was anything but “good.” In our text today Jesus gives the Pharisees some very plain reasons for why he is the good shepherd.
I First, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is “the Friend of Sinners” (10:11a).
II Second, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for the sheep (10:11b-13).
III Third, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he knows both his sheep and God intimately (10:14-15).
IV Fourth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because his love and care is not limited to the nation of Israel (10:16).
V Fifth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is the __________ of ___________ (10:17).
A. There are three clear indicators in this verse that Jesus is God’s Son:
1. First, and most obvious, Jesus is God’s Son because he c_____________ God his Father.
2. Second, Jesus is God’s Son because he ______________ his life for the sheep.
a. If his willingness to g__________ his Son to die for us reveals that God has the heart of a Father, the fact that Jesus is willing to be g_____________ shows that he has the heart of a Son.
b. Both God the Father and Jesus the Son are working together to save humanity because both share the same h______________ and the same n________________.
3. The third indicator that Jesus is God’s Son is found at the end of this verse: “The reason the Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to t__________ it up a__________.”
B. We can count on our shepherd to be the Good Shepherd because he is like no _______________ shepherd who ever lived.
VI Sixth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he has a_____________________ given him by God (10:18).
A. As Son of God, Jesus was i__________________ to any kind of human attack.
B. Jesus never acts on his own in relation to the Father, but he always acts on his own in relation to p________________.
C. Jesus has the authority to defeat death because he got a command from God the Father to give his life for the sins of the world and he o______________ that command.
D. To make your death count as a substitute for the punishment of billions of people requires a_______________ authority, and to overcome death requires u___________________ authority – and that is the authority of our shepherd.
VII Seventh, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he gives people the opportunity to d________________ whether they want to follow him (10:19-21).
A. The problem is: Jesus is the Good Shepherd o________________ for those who choose to follow him.
B. There are two things about choosing which make it so difficult:
1. In our world there are m__________ decisions which we need to make each day.
2. The second problem is that every decision we make has consequences and some consequences change our life s_____________________.
C. There are so many choices, so many decisions we must make each day, and each of these decisions is making us into a p__________________ kind of person.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Why does Jesus call himself ‘the Good Shepherd?’” (Part 2)
John 10:11-21
For most of us, the statement that “Jesus is the good shepherd” lies at the bedrock of our Christian faith. Many of the Jewish religious leaders, however, were very upset that Jesus was acting as a shepherd, because for them the attention Jesus was receiving was anything but “good.” In our text today Jesus gives the Pharisees some very plain reasons for why he is the good shepherd.
I First, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because sinners are d____________ to him (10:11a).
II Second, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he l__________ d_____________ his life for the sheep (10:11b-13).
III Third, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he knows both his ____________ and ________ intimately (10:14-15).
IV Fourth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because his love and care is not l________________ to his own sheep pen (10:16).
A. Much that Jesus says in John 10 is based on E__________________ 34.
B. We Gentiles interpret Ezekiel 34 as a statement of how God cares for all nations, including, but not limited to, _______________.
-But many Jews in Jesus’ day thought Ezekiel 34 was about how God would r________________ and bring home the Jews who had been driven out of Israel by her enemies.
C. How did Jesus see the Old Testament? He saw the Old Testament as something he would f__________________.
D. By fulfilling the Old Testament, Jesus means that he wants to e______________ it, to amplify it, and to i____________________ it.
E. When Jesus says he came to fulfill the Old Testament, what he means is that he wants to show us how to take off our b_____________________ and see life as it really is.
V The Jewish people had no problem seeing how God loved ______________, but they had blinders on when they looked at other nations.
A. Before Jesus came, the Old Testament had already said that the Messiah is for ____________ the nations.
B. John 10:16 is not the ________________ time this Gospel says that God loves all the nations.
C. In the New Testament, the word we translate as “Gentiles” is the word ethnos, which means n___________________.
D. This means that it is not just __________________ (meaning us) who are included in God’s flock, but all the nations of the earth.
E. According to research done by the Pew Research Center on the issue of immigration:
-Only _________% of regular churchgoers said that their pastor had addressed the issue of immigration with them.
-____________% of the Americans surveyed said that immigrants strengthened American with their hard work and talent; _________% said immigrants are more of a burden to this nation.
-Younger Americans, Hispanic Catholics, and the religiously unaffiliated are more likely than other groups to express a _____________________ view of immigrants.
-White evangelicals are among those expressing the ________________ favorable views of immigrants.
-Surprisingly, only _________% of white evangelicals consider their Christian faith the most important influence on their opinions about immigration policy.
VI In verse 16 Jesus not only says he wants to include other nations in his flock, but that he wants only ___________ flock.
A. No shepherd ever had m_____________________ flocks.
B. There can only be one ______________ because there is only one ________________.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Why does Jesus call himself ‘the Good Shepherd?’”
John 10:11-21
For most of us, the statement that “Jesus is the good shepherd” lies at the bedrock of our Christian faith. Many of the Jewish religious leaders, however, were very upset that Jesus was acting as a shepherd, because for them the attention Jesus was receiving was anything but “good.” In our text today Jesus gives the Pharisees some very plain reasons for why he is the good shepherd.
I Jesus used two parables in John 10:1-10 to show the Pharisees how they were being bad spiritual leaders, but they did not get e__________________ parable.
A. As a result, Jesus leaves the indirect language of parables and begins to speak very d_______________________.
B. Jesus says to the Pharisees, “You are bad shepherds, but I am the good shepherd, the only _______________ for Israel.
II What does it mean to be a good shepherd?
A. In New Testament Greek there are __________ adjectives commonly translated as “good.”
1. First, agathos means to be good in the sense of being m_________________ pure.
2. Second, kalos, the word Jesus uses here, means to be morally pure, but it has an added dimension: it also means to be beautiful, attractive, winsome, and m___________________.
B. It is possible to be morally good and at the same time be very u___________________.
C. The Bible says Jesus was morally perfect, without sin, and yet the Bible calls Jesus “a f_________________ to sinners.”
D. The Pharisees did not see the fact that sinners were running to Jesus as evidence of his goodness, so Jesus gives them ____________ additional reasons for why he is the kind of shepherd who is truly good.
III First, Jesus is the good shepherd because he is willing to ________ to protect his sheep (10:11-13).
A. To “lay down your life” means to be willing to die, but to die for the sheep does not n______________________ make one a good shepherd.
B. In verses 12 to 13 Jesus contrasts the shepherd with the h____________________.
C. Jesus does not condemn the hired hand, because when a hired hand runs away from the wolf, he is fulfilling his call; he is doing what a hired hand is e_____________________ to do.
D. The sheep do not belong to the hired hand, and so he is not i____________________ in their welfare.
E. Jesus makes two points about the hired hand:
1. A hired hand c________________ be a good shepherd.
2. He (Jesus) can be a good shepherd because his _______________ is the one to whom all the sheep of the world belong.
IV But we have a problem: for many in our world it makes no sense that Jesus had to ___________ in order for God to forgive us.
A. Because God is holy and sin is unjust, if God does nothing to punish sin, then there is no j_________________ in the universe.
B. First, Jesus is the perfect shepherd for the sheep because he s_____________________ himself so that we might escape death and have life.
V Second, Jesus is the good shepherd because he knows b______________ his sheep and God intimately (10:14-15).
A. Jesus is making two statements here:
1. I am a good shepherd because I know the ______________ so well.
2. I am a good shepherd because I know ________ the ______________ so well.
B. What Jesus literally says in verse 14 is, “I know m_____________ and m___________ know me.”
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Who’s Who in the Drama of Salvation?”
John 10:3-10
Today we are going to look at the last two characters in the drama of salvation found in John 10:1-10.
I The first character in Jesus’ story of the who’s who of salvation is the thieves and robbers (10:1).
II The second character is the true shepherd (10:2).
III In verse 3 Jesus mentions a third character: the w___________________ who “opens the gate” for the real shepherd. Who is the watchman?
A. Throughout church history there have been ____________ answers given to that question:
1. Some say the watchman was ___________ the ___________________.
2. There have also been many who have identified the watchman as the _________________ ___________________.
B. Which is the correct answer? It is not necessarily a case of e___________-o_________.
C. Today, without the Holy Spirit opening the eyes of people, no one can r___________________ Jesus for the Savior he is.
IV The fourth character in the drama is “the g_______________ for the sheep” (10:7).
-Jesus is claiming that in his work as the shepherd of the sheep he also acts as a gate or ________________ for the sheep. How so?
A. First, he is the gate in the sense that he keeps thieves and robbers a_____________________ from the sheep.
1. Jesus here claims to be a gate or a door that is s______________ enough to keep out any thief or robber.
2. Sheep who follow Jesus will not be deceived by the evil one if we focus our attention on l_______________________ to God’s Word.
3. One of the special ways in which Jesus acts as a door, protecting us from the evil outside, is by taking the Word of God, which we have stored in our minds, and using that word as a l________ d__________________ to reveal how false are the things the evil one whispers to us.
4. Jesus is our gate who wants to protect us by keeping the lies of the enemy f________ f__________ our heart and mind.
B. Second, Jesus is the gate in the sense that he supplies an e___________________ to eternal life.
A. The only gate through which you can enter God’s sheepfold is ________________. But that is not the o____________ way in which Jesus is a door.
B. Jesus is also a door in the sense that he is the only one who can enable us to close off the old s____________-c_________________ life we used to live.
C. Jesus closes off the door to our selfish past and he acts as an opening to a new life, a life in relationship with ____________.
D. What does Jesus mean when he says, “[We] will come in and go out and find pasture?” He is not talking about going in and out of s___________________. He is talking about how we can interact with Jesus _________ with the world.
V The last character is the ____________________.
A. We do not need to say a lot about sheep because we know them very well.
B. We know them because we _________ the sheep.
1. We sheep cannot protect ourselves from the _____________ of the false shepherds.
2. We sheep do not know how to find real _________________________.
3. We sheep certainly cannot protect ourselves from the most vicious of our enemies: the power of ______________________.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Who’s Who in the Drama of Salvation: The True Shepherd”
John 10:1-5
Last Sunday we looked at the false or unworthy shepherds. Today we focus our attention on the one Jesus says is the true shepherd.
I First, the true shepherd enters the sheep pen in the _____________ way (10:1-2).
A. What does it mean that Jesus is the true shepherd who deserves to have access to the sheep? It means he is not a f___________ shepherd or a p_____________ Messiah.
B. Who, then, is the true shepherd Messiah? Jesus says it is the one who enters through the g________________ rather than climb in some other way.
C. The Old Testament prophets have given lots of c________________ about the identity of the Messiah.
D. There were more than _________________ specific prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and Jesus f________________________________ every one of them.
II Second, the true shepherd calls his sheep ____ _______________ (10:3)
A. There are two things about this that are very important:
1. First, Jesus knows our name even when ____ ________ else knows it.
-Jesus is the shepherd who remembers us even when our own l___________ o___________ have forgotten us.
2. The second thing that is important is that Jesus says, “He calls his own sheep by name and _____________ them _________.”
-Jesus says he calls us by name so that we will get up and f_________________ him.
B. How many times have we heard him call o_______ name and how many times have we r____________________ to respond?
III Third, the true shepherd l____________________ his sheep (10:4).
A. Notice the sequence: First he b_____________ o__________ his sheep.
B. Second, he g_________ a____________ of them.
-Since Jesus is going before us that means everything that happens to us he has already e_____________________________.
C. Third, the sheep follow because they know his v____________________.
IV Finally, the true shepherd has sheep who are l____________________ (10:5).
A. Stranger is the Greek word allotrios which means “belonging to a_________________”.
-To follow a shepherd who does not belong to God is to follow someone whose motivations and desires are not g____________, and that is dangerous.
B. Sometimes, however, we are d______________________, but the true shepherd’s sheep are never p_______________________ deceived.
C. The only way to hear the shepherd and to be loyal to him is to c___________________ every voice we hear with the voice of God’s Word.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“Who’s Who in the Drama of Salvation”
John 10:1-10
There are many times in life when we want to know who’s who. We want to know who’s who when we go to a play, or a concert, or a baseball game. When it comes to the drama of salvation, however, we must know who’s who so that we can make sure we are playing the part our Savior wants us to play and not the part the enemy wants us to play. In John 10 Jesus tells a story which makes very clear who is who when it comes to the story of how the human race can be saved.
I In John 10 Jesus mentions __________ major players or characters in the drama of salvation.
A. First mentioned is “the t________________,” who is also called “the robber,” and later “the s________________________ .”
B. Second, there is “the S____________________ of the sheep.”
C. Third, there is “the w_______________________________________.”
D. Fourth, there is “the g________________ for the sheep.”
E. Lastly, there are “the s_________________________.”
II We need to say three things about the story before we proceed:
A. First, this story is t__________________.
B. Second, this story sums up the history of the human d______________________, the history of our s____________________ predicament.
C. Third, this story is about the most important aspect of human life: our r_______________________ with God.
III With all this in mind, let’s look at who’s who in the drama of salvation. First, there is “the t___________________.”
A. Why begin here? Only one reason: this is where _________________ begins.
B. The story Jesus tells has a bad guy, but this bad guy is not just someone who steals f__________________ sheep.
IV The first thing we need to ask about the thieves is, ____________ are _____________?
A. Prior to the sixteenth century, when Bibles were first divided into chapters and verses, n______ o_________ would have wondered who the thieves are in John 10.
-People would know, because in there Bible there would have no chapter b__________________ to separate chapter nine and ten.
B. Who appears in John 9 who is identified by Jesus in John 10 as thieves? Clearly, it is the _________________________.
V The second thing we need to ask: Is it only c___________________ that identifies the Pharisees as the thieves, or is there additional biblical evidence?
A. It turns out that this problem of the spiritual leaders of Israel being bad leaders appears t___________________________ the Bible.
B. What we see in all the biblical examples is that spiritual leaders are often tempted to a___________________________ those they lead.
VI The third thing we need to ask: ___________ did the Pharisees act this way?
A. We sinful human beings have the idea that if anyone does what I do, then he or she is my c________________________________. If anyone else does what I do and he or she is lifted up, that automatically l________________________ me.
B. The Pharisees loved s__________________________________.
C. When we resent another ministry’s success or growth, we become s_______________ b_______________________ in the drama of salvation.
VII In this story the Pharisees are the “thieves and robbers,” but a character in a story like this can represent _______________ than one person outside the story world.
A. The Pharisees were thieves, but the most depraved of all thieves is the one who comes o______________ to steal, kill, and destroy.
B. The presence of evil in our world has become so appallingly vicious that our best i______________________ explanations for it no longer satisfy.
C. The Bible tells us about the devil:
1. The Devil tries to steal our peace by overwhelming us with a______________________.
2. The devil’s mission is to kill, not just the body, but the _________________.
3. The devil seeks to destroy God’s c_____________________________.
D. The Bible says that the enemy, as formidable as he is, himself has an enemy, and his enemy is the S___________________________ who lays down his life for the sheep.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“The Test We All Should Take”
Proverbs 4:20-27
After a six-month sabbatical, we return today to our study of Proverbs and John. When last we looked at Proverbs we had just completed Proverbs 4:18-19, which compares the path of the righteous with the way of the wicked. In the beginning of chapter four Solomon exhorts us to walk the road of wisdom. We may believe that we are doing just that, but is there a way we can know for sure? We can know by taking the test that Solomon gives us. By asking ourselves the five questions which these verses raise, we can see whether we are, in fact, walking the road of wisdom:
I First, what do we allow into our _______________ (4:20-22)?
A. Sometimes our ears are solidly c____________________ to certain people and solidly d__________________________________ from others.
B. The crucial question is not, “What do we hear each day?” The real question is to what do we _________________________.
C. Since our God is a s___________________ God, and Jesus is the _____________ of God, if we do not hear him speak to us, it can only be because we are not listening.
II Second, what do we allow into our ___________________________ (4:23)?
A. There is nothing that needs g_______________ so much as our heart.
B. We know we must guard our physical heart, but we also must guard our emotional, i____________________________, moral, and spiritual heart.
C. Solomon reminds us here that God is not interested in how much we ____________ we love him, but in whether our deepest and most secret thoughts reveal a real love for God.
D. We may have ____________ control over the ungodly thoughts that flitter through our brain, but we ____________ have control over what we choose to do with that thought.
E. Our mind cannot focus on everything at the same time, so if we bring God-honoring thoughts to the _________________ of our mind, then wrong thoughts will die of n________________.
III Third, what is on my ______________________ (4:24)?
A. Spiritual contamination in our heart will often reveal itself in our ________________.
B. The word “_______________” appears more than forty times in Proverbs
C. What we say can never be u __________________. That is why our self-examination must include an analysis of our words.
IV Fourth, what is in front of my _______________________ (4:25)?
A. If we are Christians, we are not only looking f________________________, we are also looking toward ________________________.
B. Seeing Jesus not only enables us to walk s_____________________________, as he did, but it enables us to go forward without q_____________________.
C. We need to ask ourselves, “Am I looking straight down the road at Jesus, or am I looking to either side of the road at what lies in the ______________________.”
V Fifth, where is my path _________________________ (4:26-27)?
A. Some think they have total _________________________ over their future.
B. Still others, including some Christians, reject the idea that they have ____________________ control.
C. Do we have total control over our future? No, we are f___________________ people.
D. Do we have no control at all? No, the Bible sees us as moral d____________________-m____________________.
E. Solomon says that when you decide the direction of your life t_____________, you decide where you want to end up t___________________.
F. We must ask ourselves, whatever our age, do I know where I want to ________ in life, and do I have a ______________________________ to get there.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Graduation Sunday
“The Parable of Potential”
Matthew 25:14-30
The parable we are looking at today is one of the most well-known of all the parables of Jesus. Its message is relevant to people in all walks of life, but perhaps none more so than graduates who are on the verge of proving their potential.
I In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable about potential and we call it the parable of the __________________________.
A. The master implies that his assets are valuable because they can accomplish much, so he asks his servants to make the ____________ of them.
B. The parables of Jesus are meant to s________________ us and anyone listening to this one would be amazed at the amount which this man is willing to trust to his servants.
C. Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6, “I remind you to s____________ u________ the gift of God which is in you” – God has given us gifts, but sometimes we let them go to s__________________________.
D. These servants had years and years, maybe a whole l_______________________, to do something with the talents they were given.
E. As Origen says, the master in this parable is obviously ____________ - through our Kingdom sowing he h_____________________ souls for his kingdom.
II This parable has several points to make:
A. First, don’t waste your potential doing only what you feel c________________________ doing – Instead set your sights on what you see as your best possible life, a life where you accomplish a________ God created you to do.
1. The one-talent servant did not take any c_________________, he did not even _____________, because he was afraid he would fail and look bad.
2. Giving into fear does not bring p____________________; it often exposes us to more and greater h_____________.
3. In the end, it will not be your talents and abilities that decide if you succeed or fail. That will be determined by whether you allow fear to e_______ u________ your dreams.
B. Second, this parable teaches us that we cannot afford to waste our potential on nothing but the o__________________________________.
1. It doesn’t take any t____________ or e_____________________ to let a jar of money sit in the ground.
2. Our big life goals often get crowded out by day after day of t_______________ inconsequential living.
3. It is easy to fill up our life with the ordinary, while we tell ourselves that we will work on our big plans t____________________.
C. Finally, this parable reminds us that as we use our potential, we have an obligation to r____________________ the one who gave it to us.
1. The point Jesus wants to drive home is that it is __________ who has given us all our potential.
2. Planning for how we will __________ life’s adventure is the biggest and most important rock in the jar of our life.
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
“A Mother’s Day Parable”
Matthew 13:51-52
The parable of the householder speaks not only to mothers, but to all disciples of Jesus. It asks whether we see in our lives the attributes or virtues that identify one as a good learner, teacher, and director of a household.
I The first virtue required of mothers, disciples, and householders is modeled by Jesus and it is the virtue of i________________________ (15:31a).
A. Mothers understand that to be a good parent you must master the virtue of a________________ the right q__________________.
B. When was the last time we asked our children or grandchildren: “Do you understand what it means to f__________________ Jesus?”
C. But these hard questions are not just for us to ask our children or grandchildren – it might be good for us to ask e__________ o_____________.
II The second virtue required of mothers, disciples, and householders is non-judgmental a__________________________ (15:31b).
A. Are we willing to accept people where they are in their spiritual development, or do we feel compelled to be always pointing out the things that are ________________?
B. Our response to disobedience should be: “Your behavior is not acceptable to me, but you, you are acceptable to me because you are my _____________________.”
III The third virtue required of mothers, disciples, and householders is balance -- specifically, providing a balanced diet of _______ and _________ (15:32).
A. For a householder the storehouse is the p_________________, and the treasure is the p_____________________________ for the household.
B. Our newest generation in the U.S. is generation ______________.
C. Parents, we need to stop fearing all that is ____________; life is about c_____________.
IV But when Jesus talks about the new and the old he also has something very s_______________ in mind.
A. In this parable Jesus says that we mothers, fathers, and disciples are like householders who bring out of our s______________________ treasures new and old.
-but while the earthly householder brings out food, we bring out the treasures of God’s ______________.
B. The heart of the Gospel, the heart of the New Covenant, is ______________________.
V But we have a problem: grace is much easier to define than to d________________________.
A. The issue is that we Christian parents want our children to make us look successful as parents, but making us look good is not a ____________________ for our children.
B. We know how to define grace, but would our children say that our parenting d___________________ God’s grace?
C. The New Covenant treasure of God’s grace cannot replace the Old Covenant treasure of God’s ____________________________.