Monday, January 11, 2010

Lessons For The Religious

Click here to download the sermon file.

Recap of 1/3/10:
1. In Luke 14:1-24 Jesus confronts the wrong thinking of the religious crowd of His day. He condemns their hypocrisy and empty ritual/habit/religious observance; instead He urges them to live mercifully, graciously, and freely. He condemns their pride/self-seeking attitude and urges them toward humility. He condemns their exploitation of others, their respect of persons and instead urges them toward generosity of nature and service, serving those who cannot pay them back. He condemns their excuses that keep them from salvation; they should respond to the message.
2. Jesus condemns their legalism. Legalism is an attempt to approach life’s issues without thinking and without love. There are seven dangers of a legalistic approach to life:
-the legalist treats people as objects
-replaces love with manmade rules
-majors on minors
-legalism has no power to deal with spiritual need (neither salvation or sanctification)
-cannot produce growth, instead it interferes with growth
-produces a false humility
-infects others with a false spirituality