Sermon Outtake

Believe it or not there was more to the sermon on Sunday. But somehow it just seemed like the time to quit! Here's one thought from the Outtake file...

Over the last couple of weeks CBC has been racing toward the conclusion of a six-month sermon series over the Sermon on the Mount titled, "Red Letter Faith." In the last part of the 7th chapter of Matthew Jesus said some staggering things: "every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit." Then he said, "a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." He summed up the idea with this, "by their fruit you will recognize them." But catch this--this is huge! Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." He continues, "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" Talk about a radical way to conclude a sermon.

Last week Jesus taught us that if we hear or read what the Bible says and don't do it we are like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. Winds blow, rains fall, and floods rise and the house falls with a great crash because it's built on the sand. But then he reminds us that when we hear or read what the Bible says and we do it, we are like a wise man who builds house on the rock. Again, wind, rain, floods, but this time the house stands strong because it is built on the rock. That's what I want my life to be like.

When you put the two stories together it begins to teach us that true faith is built on the right foundation: a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Not going to church, reading the Bible, or giving money. A personal encounter with Jesus Christ. THEN that encounter informs all our thoughts, our feelings, our words, and our actions. James says that it is inconceivable that we could have a genuine encounter with Jesus and not do the things he did--in the manner in which he did them: in grace, in humility, with a view toward the expansion of the kingdom.

Here's the deal. God has given us His word. He is clear how he wants us to live. It's there, and in my Bible it's written in red. The issue is and I going to bring my life into conformity with what the Bible says. I ran across this story the other day:

Thomas Linacre was the King's physician to Henry VII and VIII. He was the founder of the Royal College of Physicians. He was a friend of some great Renaissance thinkers. Late in his life, he took Catholic orders, and he was given, for the first time, a copy of the gospel to read. You see, back in that time, there weren't copies of the Bible floating around--there were very few. So now that he was entering into his ministry orders with the Church he had a copy of the gospels. He read through the gospels. This was during one of the darkest hours of the Church, during the Papacy of Alexander VI- the Pope whose bribery, corruption,incest, and murder plumbed the depths of the annals of Church history and Christian shame.

Linacre read the gospels, and here was his response. "Either these are not the gospels, or WE are not Christians."

Read the Bible. They really are the gospels. That being true - are we really Christian?