Jason Helopoulos / Sep 1, 2019 / Matthew 10:16-42
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Sermon Summary / Transcript
In last Sunday’s sermon, Jason taught us from Matthew 10:16-42. This marks a pivotal point in Jesus’ teaching of the disciples. They’ve been called. They’ve walked with Jesus. They’ve heard that the Kingdom is at hand and that the fields are white. But before he sends them out, Jesus gives them one of his hardest teachings: He tells them to expect conflict – even in their own homes.
Jason unpacked this teaching by looking at three truths about our labor and life for Christ…
The world doesn’t like the Jesus of this passage. He is too demanding, fixed, and inflexible. This Jesus makes complete and unqualified demands that must be accepted or rejected. He says that nothing – not even our children! – can rival him. Who says such things? The world hates him for it, and so we should not be surprised when it hates us too.
We need not fear as we labor and live for Christ. This command – Do not fear – is the most common in scripture because the Christian lives in a hostile world. So why should we not fear? Because we will be vindicated. Because the threat is small. Because our Father in Heaven has always taken care of us and always will.
If we take up our cross and follow him, the world will hate us, but Jesus will be with us. Jim Elliot understood well this reality when he said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”