Guest Speaker Shane Willard.
seven: conversation
The Reconciliation Table
Courage Church 12 Year Anniversary Service
title: The Reconciliation Table
date: October 9, 2016
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Psalm 23, Genesis 31, Luke 15:22-24, Luke 14 (The Great Banquet).
#7 Oaths
series: Red Letter City
title: Oaths
date: May 29, 2016
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: Matthew 5:33-37, Numbers 30, Ecclesiastes 5:2, Luke 8:17, Matthew 12:36, Matthew 16:16-19, Matthew 18, James 4:7, Ephesians 6, Ephesians 4:27, 1 Peter 5:8, Luke 13:15
I don’t know Rick Warren.
But I have met him.
somewhere out there, there is a picture of me that I have, of Dawn and I with Rick Warren, but I couldn't find it this week. I only have a picture because when I met him, he said “lets take a picture for facebook!” and so we took one… but I guess I never posted it to facebook. and I now I can’t find it. But it exists somewhere. But I don’t know Rick Warren. I had emailed him a couple of times about our bands music because we wrote one particular song that I thought he would really like, and he was very encouraging and said that he did.
The last time that I put out an album with my band was in 2011, and on release day, because of our previous conversations, Pastor Warren very graciously sent out one tweet on twitter encouraging people to go and check out our record.
One tweet, and suddenly thousands and thousands of people were going and checking out our songs. For a few hours our page had more visits than it had had the whole month. Until he sent out another tweet, and the one about us got lost.
His name brought me a temporary sense of popularity.
Because he said it was good, people wanted to hear for themselves.
and I could scream from the rooftops how great I thought my own music was, but when someone who had already done something significant…
like written the best selling book of all time other than the bible… when he puts his name on it, people listen.
It is very easy to use other people’s names to elevate our purposes.
There are certain name drops that become trump cards in conversations. and in Jesus’ time and in the generations leading up to Jesus it was no different. People made promises all of the time, it was not really a big deal. But if a person were to make a “vow” or an oath, it would almost automatically be believed… and that is what Jesus was addressing here. The concept of oaths. Of promising something with someone else’s name attached to it.
But do you even know the one whose name you have attached to your purposes?
#6 Divorce
series: Red Letter City
title: Divorce
date: May 22, 2016
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Matthew 5:27-32, Matthew 19:1-9, Genesis 2:24, Genesis 2:18, Genesis 1:31, Isaiah 1:8, 1 Corinthians 7, Malachi, Jeremiah 3:8, Hebrew 4:15, Isaiah 61, Leviticus 16
In that day, there were two schools of thought that dominated their culture… Two Rabbi’s who lived just before Jesus’ ministry, and they each had two very different yokes. Two very different interpretations of the scriptures, and a lot of the debates in that day, which Jesus was essentially throwing himself into the middle of, in the sermon on the mount… basically were asking this question…
which yoke is it?
Is it Hillel?
Or is it Shammai?
Hillel was always the more liberal one… the burden was extremely light, his yoke was incredibly easy, and normally erred on the side of peoples welfare. He was immensely popular, and was at one point the president of the Sanhedrin (which was like the Jewish Supreme Court).
The other well known Rabbi was Shammai, who tended to be much more conservative… more strict in his interpretation.
So the people would read this verse in Deuteronomy… and they would consider the Ketubahs that they signed their name on…
And what people wanted to know is: what gets me out? Because only a rabbi had the authority to get you out of your marriage, so the question is, “on what grounds will you give me a certificate of divorce?”
And Hillel’s yoke essentially said: indecency is indecency. If she spoils a dish that she is preparing, you can leave. If she burns your toast, and you want out, I will sign your certificate of divorce. Basically his interpretation says, “if you want out, just get out. I will give you a certificate of divorce.”
it was very lax.
But Shammai held a much more strict interpretation. He said, essentially, “no, we can’t do that to women, you can’t throw them out because of burnt toast or because of a bad day… you can only divorce your wife if there is marital unfaithfulness.”
So the people in that day knew what these two rabbi’s thought, and they wanted to know, what does Jesus say?
An Introduction to Discipleship
Title: An Introduction to Discipleship
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Key Verses: Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 6:40, Luke 9:57-62, Luke 9:23
The last thing that Jesus said to his disciples before his ascension was:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20.
And as overwhelmed as I feel like I would have been, had I been there, and suddenly realized that I was being entrusted with taking the steps to carry on the legacy of Jesus, who had just changed the world… I often overlook the fact that Jesus had spent the last three years teaching his disciples how to do this. Showing them what it tangibly looks like. Training them. He gave them a commission that he fully believed that they were capable of carrying out!
In the first century, students who would want to become the disciple of a Rabbi would have to go through a grueling process. Even after memorizing word for word all of the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament), many would still be sent home to learn the family business after applying to study under a Rabbi, if that Rabbi did not think that they could do what the Rabbi did. The Rabbi’s, they looked for the best of the best, the ones that the Rabbi believed had what to takes to actually be LIKE them… and everyone else would be sent home.
But then comes Jesus, and he starts building his ministry with a bunch of outcast and misfit disciples… 12 guys who didn’t make the cut. 12 guys who had already stepped into the family business and other marketplace jobs because they realized that the reality of actually becoming the disciple of a Rabbi was virtually non-existent…
And so Rabbi Jesus looks at these guys, and he says “Come, Follow Me!” Essentially saying “I believe that you have what it takes to do what I do…” and his band of misfits are the ones who went on to change the world. Who went on to have a greater impact than any other Rabbi’s best disciples…
Because Jesus was never looking for the best.
Jesus was looking for followers who were all in.
