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Sunday 31 January 2016

'JESUS CAME FOR SINNERS'

Rev. Brent Russett
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/   

_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, January 31st, 2016:
____________________________________________

 
'Jesus came for sinners'

           Good morning. And welcome to good news in the morning.  My name is Brent Russett. I am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church here in Ottawa. It is my pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.

            I am glad that you tuned your dial to CFRA. I want you to know that you can also find Good News in the morning on the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca . There you can keep up to date with what is happening around Good News Christian Ministries.

            This morning’s program has been sponsored by Ed and Gail Moorhead. I want to thank you for your generosity. You have given a gift to all who have tuned in. Thank you.

            I want to say a special welcome to our international listeners, who listen via the internet. We are glad that you have found us, and that you are finding this ministry an encouragement.

            Last week we looked at one of the Jesus’ reason for coming into the world. He said, “I came that you might have life, and have it to the full.”  The good news of Jesus is about life: real life, full life, abundant life. Jesus want’s to give life.

            Living out the gospel is about living in harmony with God and living in harmony with who you were created to be. It is when you are living there that you will experience real true abundant life.

            I know that sin is not a popular topic any more, but sin is sin, because it is not harmonious with God and the way you were created to live.  The reason why God hates sin so much is that sin brings death, and death is our enemy and God’s. Sin makes us less than we are made to be.

            When we don’t live in harmony with God and the way we were created to be, it kills our souls, and deadens our hearts, and hurts our bodies, and damages our relationship with God – it kills us. It is anti-life. It is anti-gospel.

The negative commandments – the “thou shall not” commandments are there to point towards what those things are killing us. They let us know what the poison is.  But the commands don’t bring life, any more than not eating poison brings life. Jesus brings life. Jesus is about life.

            Walking in relationship with Jesus brings life. Being connected to Jesus brings life. Living like Jesus brings life. If you want to be fully alive, don’t ingest poison and connect to Jesus so you can be fully alive.  
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            The reality, however, is that many of us don’t live there. Even those of us who have received Jesus into our lives, don’t live there. We ingest little bits of poison and it partially kills us. We are only partially alive. We survive, but we don’t really live.

            What is worse is that we accommodate to feeling only partially alive, and that becomes our new normal. We see the poison we are drinking, and yet like a drug hit, we know it is harmful, but for a moment life feels good.

           Then we feel shame and regret. And in our shame and regret we come to Jesus and quickly confess our sins. But we fail to drink deeply of the living water that could give us life. So we continue to walk around feeling half dead.

            If you get what I am saying, then you are going to love this mornings Jesus story.

Mark 2:13–17 (NLT)
13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees* saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?*”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

            Did you hear Jesus’ Mission statement.  “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

            The NRSV puts it this way.  I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.    

            Jesus came for those who are sick. He came for those who are partially alive.

Music – Revival in Belfast – Robin Mark – With all faith Believe. 3:42 Track 5

            I grew up in a Christian home. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was very young, and over the years I gave my life to Jesus. Unlike many people I did not have a rebellious phase.

            But I grew up being exposed to amazing testimonies of God’s grace. I heard people tell their own stories of brokenness. People who lost everything through drugs, but found Jesus and he restored them. People who had all the success in the world, but life revolved around themselves, until they found Jesus. I heard people tell their stories of all kinds of sin, and how they found forgiveness in Jesus.

            I heard their stories and I read this story, and I thought, this story is like the stories I heard growing up. It is the story of disreputable sinners coming to know Jesus.

            It is a great story. My problem was, I didn’t see myself in the story. I didn’t see myself in the Pharisees, because I love to hear stories of how Jesus heals the broken. I didn’t see myself in the tax collectors and disreputable sinners, because my life didn’t take that path. So this was a nice story for someone else, but not for me.

            But I know my life. I have lived too much of it being unhealthy. I have not been fully alive. And then I read the story in the NLT and I heard Jesus say. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” and I knew this story was for me.

            I believe this story is for many today. Some of you have lived lives of rebellion against God, and you ran from God. This story is for you. Some of you have lived mostly Christian lives, but you  know that you are not fully alive. This story is for you. Some of you know that you are far away from God right now – this story is for you.

            As we looked at last week, if you know someone’s mission statement, you can tell a lot about that person. When you see the mission statement of Jesus it tells us a lot about Jesus. It tells us who Jesus wants to be for us. It also tells us who Jesus wants us to be for this world. – So let’s go to the story.

Mark 2:13–14 (NLT)
13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.

            What you need to know is that tax collectors in Jesus day were hated a lot more than tax collectors in our day. You may not like paying taxes and resent the people who collect it – (my apologies to those of you who work for the Canada Revenue agency) but the tax collectors of Jesus day were viewed as traitors. They were worked for the Roman government, who were the oppressors. They oppressed with their rulers. They oppressed with their soldiers. They oppressed with their taxes. People who collected taxes were complicit with the oppressors. Tax collectors were seen as traitors to their country and their religion and to God.

            The closest parallel I can think of in terms of a modern day tax collector is an ISIS sympathiser. ….There was not a whole lot of love for tax collectors among the population of Israel.

            But Jesus sees Levi, also know as Matthew sitting at his tax collecting booth. Levi was eventually going to write the first book of the New Testament. But nobody but Jesus knew that. Everyone saw him as this horrible person, this traitor.

            Jesus walks up to him and says –follow me.  What does that say about Jesus? Jesus is willing to take a risk on people. Jesus didn’t say, when you stop being a tax collector, you can follow me. When you reform your image and become more likable you can follow me. Jesus takes Matthew right where he is and say follow me and by implication he is saying me lead.

            You may feel really far away from God. You may feel that you have to somehow clean up your act before you can come to God. That is just not true. Jesus comes to you, right where you are at – then he says follow me – let me lead.

            Levi/Matthew responded to the call. He got up and he followed Jesus.

Mark 2:15 (NLT)
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)

            The one thing about tax collectors is that they had money. Levi invited Jesus and the disciples home. So there are 13 of them. In addition to that there were many other tax collectors and sinners. It was a big party.

            Jesus has dinner with all these people. Now you need to understand that in Jesus culture, to accept one’s hospitality to eat with someone, spoke of a level of trust, of acceptance.

            Yet we see Jesus eating with tax collectors and disreputable sinners. I love Mark’s throw away comment. “(There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)

            This was not your church crowd. But these were the kind of people Jesus hung out with.

            The religious people weren’t impressed
Mark 2:16 (NLT)
16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees* saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?*”

            Religious people who have missed God’s heart always have trouble with the people Jesus likes to hang around.

            But from this question we hear Jesus mission statement.
Mark 2:17 (NLT)
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

            Jesus is the doctor of the soul. He is the doctor of the spirit. He came for people who have been poisoned by sin. He came for people who dead and who are not fully alive. Jesus, you see, is in the business of resurrection, and the business of healing. That is who Jesus is.

            So who does Jesus want to be for you. If you are humble enough to acknowledge that you are not perfect, nor are you fully alive, nor are you fully righteous, then Jesus came for you. If you know your heart, if you can see your sin, then Jesus came for you.

            How does he bring healing to us? How does he bring life to us? He walks right in the middle of our lives and says follow me. I’ll lead, you follow. I am the one who can lead you in paths of righteousness for his name sake. I am the one who can lead you to the living water that will quench your thirst. I am the one who can lead you into health. He walks into your life and says, “follow me.”

            There are some of you  who made the choice to follow Jesus a long time ago. I made a choice to follow him 49 years ago. We all have to make that initial choice to follow him. But I have noticed that most of the Christian walk is not about the big choices to follow – although we sometimes come to a fork in the road and need to decide – but most of the Christian walk is about making the little choices to follow – or about the little choices to drink some poison.

            Who does Jesus want to be for you. He wants to be your leader. He wants to be your doctor. He wants to be your healer. He wants to be restore you to full life. He wants to lead you away from the poison to fountains of living water.
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            But here is what you need to understand and I believe that the majority of Christians in North America fail to understand this.. Following Jesus is not like following principles, or following a philosophy. Following Jesus is following a person. You invite him into every part of your life. Knowing God’s word, and following its principles are important and can save you a lot of grief. Knowing God’s word and understanding how God wants you to live is really important and can help guide you in life. But there is no substitute to being open to Jesus leading you by his Spirit day by day.

            When Jesus says follow me, it is more than following his philosophy – it is following his person.
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            Here is what I like about Levi. He is who he is in front of Jesus.. Levi could have invited Jesus and the disciples one night  and had his friends come over another night. He didn’t.  He let Jesus into his whole life.

            And you know in a group like this, there is always going to be one person, who is  the life of the party, but has a way of saying things that make you laugh and cringe at the same time.

            As a pastor I get into some kind of funny situations. For those who know me, you know that while I have been a Christian all my life, that I have not lead a sheltered life. I, at one point in my life, was a juvenile delinquent counselor. I have worked with the victim advocate service of a police department. But more than that, people forget that I not only get to see people at their best, like on their wedding day, - I get to see people at their worst – in the middle of major crisis – and in the middle of major sin.  If you know me, you know I am not easily shocked

            If you don’t know me, and you happen to have a vision of a pastor being unapproachably holy, and somewhat distant from this world, then that can lead to some pretty funny – at least for me- not for them – situations. Sometimes I will meet people’s friends or family and they are fun people, but they have a mouth like a trucker, or worse. The friends or family members will come up to me and apologize for the other person’s behaviour. The crazy thing is – these are the kind of people Jesus hung around. These are the kind of people Jesus ate with. Accepted. These are the kind of people that Jesus came for.

            Some people try to hide parts of their lives from me. – which is fine I suppose. But if you try to hid parts of your life from Jesus, this get weird fast. Jesus came for people like your friend that makes you laugh and cringe.

            , “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

            When you follow Jesus, he will go with you into all areas of your life, including those areas that have a cringe factor to them.

            What does this mission statement say about Jesus. It says that he is a friend to  soul sick, unhealthy people. He loves people. What does this mission statement say about who Jesus wants to be for us.. He wants to be the restorer of our soul. He wants to be our healer. He wants us to come to him with our soul sickness. But the only ways that happens is if you say, Jesus you are my leader, I am your follower. I will follow you into the path of life.
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            The next question is who does he want us to be for the world? For those of us who follow Jesus,  Jesus mission becomes our mission,  we are to bring healing to those who are sick in heart and soul. We are to bring light to those who are walking in darkness. We are to be amongst the disreputable sinners for Jesus sake. Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

            I love the comment, from Mark that there were a lot of those kind of people amongst Jesus’ followers. They seemed to be ok being around Jesus. Jesus was the holiest man who ever lived, but his holiness did not seem to be a barrier to people. Holiness usually isn’t when it is accompanied by genuine joy and genuine love.

            What we say about the church I pastor is, come as you are no perfect people allowed.
           
 Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

            If you are listening today and you feel far from God. I want you to know that Jesus came for you. Simply talk to him and prayer. Say Jesus, you said I could come to you just as I am. I do that. I give my life to you. I know that you accept me and that you love me, and with your help I am going to follow you.

Let’s pray together:

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for who you are. Thank you that you are the light-bringer. Thank you that you come to those who are not perfect. Lord, thank you that you come to those who are sinners.
Lord, we see in your word that the people that you hung around with were people who were just ordinary everyday people. You called them to be their best selves, because of what you could do for them, because you would lead them to God.
Lord, I’m asking that many people today would give their lives to you, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

“ If Good News in the Morning has been a factor in your journey of faith, we would love to hear your story. Nothing could encourage us more in this work.  Contact us by e-mail or Twitter via the web site –goodnewsinthemorning.ca

            And Thank you for listening this morning.

            This program is on the air by the grace of God and donations of many faithful people. I especially want to thank Gail and Ed Moorhead for sponsoring this particular program. Blessings to you.
  If you can help financially we would really appreciate it. You can make a cheque payable to Good News Christian Ministries,  and send it to Box 184 , Rideau Ferry , On. K0G  1W0.

            You can also give by going to our website. Good News in the morning.ca

May you know   Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.  May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart .  And may the heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying love

MUSIC – Brian Doerkesen Holy God – Track 10 Change me on the inside 4:27

By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to the CFRA broadcast:

Sunday 24 January 2016

'JESUS MISSION STATEMENT - I CAME TO BRING LIFE'

Rev. Brent Russett
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/   

_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, January 24th, 2016:
____________________________________________

 
'Jesus Mission Statement - I came to bring life'

Good morning. And welcome to good news in the morning.  My name is Brent Russett. I am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church here in Ottawa. It is my pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.

            I am glad that you tuned your dial to CFRA. I want you to know that you can also find Good News in the morning on the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca . There you can keep up to date with what is happening around Good News Christian Ministries.

            This morning’s program has been sponsored by someone who wants to remain anonymous. But I want to thankyou for you generosity. You have given a gift to all who have tuned in.

            I want to say a special welcome to our international listeners, who listen via the internet. We are glad that you have found us, and that you are finding this ministry an encouragement.
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            This morning I want to talk about one of the personal mission statement. I tend to read widely. Personal mission statements are big in the area of success literature right now. I have read so many articles that say that you need to know what you are about and focus on that area.

            A number of top CEOs have mission statements
"To serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a significant difference."

Says , “I define personal success as being consistent to my own personal mission statement: To love God and love others.

            Some of you have engaged in creating a mission statement for a business, or an organization. You know that it takes thought, but if used properly, it helps us the business or organization keep focused on what they are all about.

            Many churches have mission statements. But the mission statement I want to talk about this morning is Jesus’

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             Jesus actually made 3 mission statements. They start with the same phrase, “I have come to” This morning I want to look at just  one of the three. It is found in John 10:10
  

            The New Testament was written in Greek. Let me give you three different translations of John             10:10

Jesus said,
John 10:10 (NIV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10 (NRSV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

            The mission statement or purpose statement that we are going to look at today is that Jesus came to give life, full life, a rich and satisfying life, abundant life.
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            There are a number of reasons why I want to take a look at Jesus’ mission statement. When you know someone’s mission statement, it tells you a lot about who they are.

Oprah Winfrey’ mission statement
"To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be."

"To have fun in [my] journey through life and learn from [my] mistakes."

            You can tell a lot about who these people are just by listening to their mission statement. Oprah is about inspiring others. Richard Branson, is more about himself.

            You can tell a lot about Jesus by looking at his mission statements. He came to give life. 

            By looking at Jesus mission statements I want you to see who Jesus is, who Jesus wants to be for you, and who you are called to be for Jesus in this world. 

MUSIC Sandi Patty  Morning like this– Shepherd of my Heart 4:05 Track 4

            We are looking at Jesus Mission statement,- found in John 10:10 Jesus came to give life, full life, a rich and satisfying life, abundant life.

            Come with me to John 5. And let’s look at who Jesus is. I have got to say that this passage is most easily understood in the NLT

John 5:21–26 (NLT)
21 For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. 22 In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, 23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.
24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.

            The first question we want to answer is who is Jesus. The Gospel of John that we are looking at has been trying to answer that question from its opening words. It starts our calling Jesus the Word

John 1:1–5 (NLT)
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,*
and his life brought light to everyone.

            Jesus gave life to everything that was created – and his life brought light to everyone. That light is the light of truth – not just scientific truth, although it encompasses that, - not just philosophical truth, although it encompasses that, but the truth of authenticity, a way of being in this world, that allows us to live in harmony with our creator and in harmony with the way we were created.

            The Bible goes on to say.


The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.*

God sent a man, John the Baptist,* to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

            To as many as believed or accepted him They are reborn – they are given new life.

So the Word became human* and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.*

            Who is Jesus. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Jesus is God – God the Son. He gave life to all that is and he brought the light of truth, so all who believed in him, to all who receive him –they are reborn – they are given new life.

            Now let’s go back and look at John 5. We will work our way up from the bottom of the passage we looked at.

John 5:26 (NLT)
26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.

            Jesus, God’s son has the power to give life. He is life.

John 5:24 (NLT)
24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

            Jesus gives life to those who believe in his message. Eternal life. But that life starts now, because they have already passed from death to life.

            Here is what the Bible says about Jesus. Jesus is one who created life. And even in this dark world he brings the light of life. A life that walks in harmony with God and in harmony with the way we were created to be. The way we get this life is we believe in him, we receive him. He is the one who has the power to breathe life into us.

            So when we hear that his mission statement

John 10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10 (NRSV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

            We know a little about who he is. He is the life bringer.

            It also tells us a little of what he wants to do for you. He wants to bring you life. Eternal life. Life that starts now and goes on into eternity. He wants you to be reborn, and to grow up in this life. He is about life.

            Right now I am feeling a little impoverished in words. For I am hunting for a way to describe what Jesus wants to do in a way that does it justice – and I don’t think I can – but let me try.

            The gospel that I grew up with was a pale reflection of the good news of Jesus. The gospel I grew up with is that you became a Christian by praying the sinners pray, and then Jesus came into your life. And you lived the Christian life by keeping the commands of God, by following the rules.

            But the good news, the gospel is yes we need to receive Jesus into our lives. We need to trust and believe in him and his work on the cross and his resurrection. Sometimes the best expression of that is the sinners prayers,

            Lord Jesus, come into my life, forgive me of my sin, I give my life to you, I’m going to follow you.

            But the prayer itself is not magical. What is supernatural is the ability of Jesus to put his life in you. And you access the supernatural by believing in him and in his message. It is Christ in you that is the hope of glory

            Your are not a Christian a Christ follower because you prayed a prayer. You become a Christian a Christ follower, a child of God, because of what Jesus does in you. Jesus is the life giver. He gives life to those who believe in him.

            It is not about what you do, it is about what he does. The sinners prayer does not save you. You are saved by the grace of Jesus through faith in what he has done.

            When you get that the gospel is about Jesus life in you, when you get that it is about Jesus putting life in you, about being reborn, then living out the gospel becomes far less about the rules and about the commands.

            Living out the gospel is about living in harmony with God and about living out the life he has created you to live.

            Sin is sin, because it is not harmonious with God and the way you were created to live. The gospel is about living, really living.  The reason why God hates sin so much is that sin brings death, and death is our enemy and God’s.

            The good news is not about the rules. It is about life. Real live. Full life. Abundant life.

            When we live in a way that kills our souls, and deadens our hearts, and hurts our bodies, and damages our relationship with God – it kills us. It is anti-life. The negative commandments – the “thou shall not” commandments are there to point towards what those things are killing us. They let us know what the poison is. But the commands don’t bring life, any more than not eating poison brings life.

            The good news is that walking in relationship with Jesus brings life. Being connected to Jesus brings life. Living like Jesus brings life. Jesus is the life bringer. If you want to be fully alive, don’t ingest poison and be fully connected to Jesus.

            Jesus came that you might have life and have it to the full

            There are some of you here today, who are thinking Pastor, I have believe in Jesus and I have given my life to Jesus, but I have swallowed a lot of poison. My soul is really sick. What do I do?.....

            Come back next week----. We are going to look at another part of Jesus mission statement. He said, I cam not for the healthy but the sick. He want to help you to become fully alive.

            What I want you to know today is that what Jesus wants for you, is to make you fully alive. His mission statement tells us who he is. It tells us who he wants to be for us. It also tells us who he wants us to be for this world.

            Jesus mission statement also tells us who are his followers, who we are to be in this world. We have the same mission as Jesus. We are to be life bringers. We are to be poison stoppers?

            How did Jesus do that? Well he went about teaching what the kingdom of God was like. If we want to bring life to our world, we cannot do it apart from the message of who God is.

            But if you look at the life of Jesus, he did much more than just talk. He went about doing good. He healed the sick. Now I recognize that we are not Jesus, and that most of us don’t have the gift of healing like he had. But some of you have the gift of comforting the sick, of helping the hurting, of caring for the dying. Whenever you do that you are being Jesus in the neighbourhood.

            When you look at the life of Jesus he made his way to a number of funerals. Sometimes he raised the dead. But what you always see is him entering into the places of grief to be with the people. When you comfort those who are mourning, you are on mission with Jesus. When you enter into the grief of people, you are being Jesus in the neighbourhood.

            When you look at the life of Jesus, he also went to a number of parties. Remember the wedding at Cana. The wedding is in full swing, but they ran out of wine. Jesus turned the water into wine. People get caught up in the miracle, but you have to ask why. Jesus facilitated the celebration of a good part of life. You are like Jesus when you come along side of people and help them celebrate the goodness around them. Part of being Jesus in the neighbourhood, is facilitating celebrations of goodness.

            When you look at the life of Jesus, there were a number of times when he fed the hungry. We are like Jesus when we feed the hungry. When we feed the hungry we are being Jesus in the neighbourhood.

            When you look at the life of Jesus, he often took on the power that be, and called them to something better. In his day the Pharisees and Sadducees had laid heavy weights on people. They took the law of God and made it burdensome. Instead of bringing life, it brought death. 

            When we engage is social action as Christians, we have had a tendency to do it poorly. Whether the issue is abortion, or oppression of the poor, or whatever – we have tended to approach it like were right and your wrong. But if you know what the gospel is about, we say,  “listen we believe if we go in this direction it will hurt you and it will hurt society – and we really don’t want to see more death more in our world – because God loves this world.” There is a big difference between that, and we’re right and your wrong. Whenever we protest in arrogance or hate we bring more death into the world – Love brings life to the world. But there is a time to speak truth to power. When we do that we are being Jesus in the neighbourhood.

John 10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10 (NRSV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

            Part of Jesus’ mission statement is to bring life. This tells us a little about who he is. He is the one who is the source of life, and he has the power to bring life. This tells us a little of what he wants to do for us. The gospel the good news is about life. Jesus wants to bring life to you. He wants to come into you, and bring life to you. He wants to help you stop poisoning yourself. He is our healer. The gospel is about life.

            Jesus mission statement also tells us about our mission to this world. We are called to speak and act in ways that bring life to this world.

LET’S PRAY
Lord Jesus, Thank you for showing us who you are. Thank you, Lord, for the fact that you do bring life. I pray, Lord, that you would just bless the people who are listening today. Lord, for those who haven’t received you. I would ask that, even now, that they would invite you into their life and that they would follow you so that you could bring life to them.
Lord, I also ask that you would bless them. And, Lord, I pray that you would help us to be ambassadors of life, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

Pray for those to receive Jesus
Pray for those to follow Jesus
Pray for us to be Jesus in our neighbourhood.

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            And Thank you for listening this morning.

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May you know   Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.  May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart .  And may the heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying love

MUSIC Revival in Belfast – Robin Mark – There is no other name. 4:03 (Track 7)


By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
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PODCAST LINK to the CFRA broadcast:
 
 
Good morning