The Parable of the Fig Tree

Ballard Campus 8-21-11 Pastor Tim Smith
Tags: Grace
Luke 21:29-38
The Parable of the Fig Tree

Portland
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Sermon

This is it, Jesus is only a day or two away from his execution
Jesus' words are increasing in urgency and force - A strong challenge to live in light of these strong realities
+To live in light of the return of the King
+What is at the front of my mind day in and day out, what consumes my attention?
++My desire to control my little part of creation.  This is shown in my PP/OP/CC, my mental and physical protocols, my lists, my plans, my sleeplessness, my nails, my meals, my blogs
Jesus has already said that the kingdom is already here and yet still is to come fully in Jesus' second coming
The Father is so kind that he uses even us to expand his Kingdom in our own little spheres
A Tough Verse
Which generation? All of which things will be completed before a generation passes away?
Can my three pound (really it's only like 2.4 pounds, My Cranium is pretty small) brain really get the heavens into it
Possible interpretations
+There will be a future generation that will experience all of Rev's craziness and it all be accomplished in one generation
+The generation of sin, rebellion, and evil against God will not pass away (no utopia is possible) before Thug Jesus returns and ends it
+
Dissipation means that your might miss the coming because you are hungover
Don't let that day come on you
+It will come like a trap catcihing an animal who will certainly die - very strong image

Do I live a life focused on whatever is right in front of me? Is a potential relationship appearing soo much bigger than God's Kingdom? The project of the house? Are the details of my life dwarfing my Kingdom focus?  God Help me. I can't please you by planning and focusing on perfecting my little universe.  You already love me fully in your Grace. Help me glimpse you Kingdom, be caught in the image of it and live this life until the wheels fall off.
The danger is real, if I live for the pleasures of this life I will miss Jesus, I will not live in Joy, I will drown in the anxiety of this world which is passing away.
Don't get lost in the tyranny of life.
Jesus' Last Days
Jesus is razor focused on his mission
So with only a few days to live he goes out camping on the Mount of Olives to be alone with his Father, he didn't let the cares and details and demands of his life instead he focused on the Father's Kingdom and the Father's Will.
Observations from this text
Jesus' Work is all that is needed to live happily in his kingdom. I can't do anything to earn God's favor I already have it
1 - Pray so that my independence is broken down; with God's violence in my soul breaking down my walls my attempts to build my own kingdom are ruined gloriously
+Prayer is a declaration of war on my independence, a declaration of was on self-importance, a declaration of war on my focus on the details of this world, a declaration of war on my anxiety, a declaration of war on the frantic pace of life (which I love), A declaration of war on works based righteousness, a declaration of war on cynicism and unbelief
2 - Worship the giver rather than his gifts - Romans talk of worshiping the good things that become God-things making them bad things
3 - Steward everthing for the Kingdom - My stuff, talents, and time are all God's possesions, these things are not mine
+My identity is not based on my roles of gifts, I am image-bearing disciple maker who was created to worship God not to obsess over all the detail of life - Everything I have been given is to be used to make disciples and bringing glory to him
4 - Anticipate his return with a sense of urgency
+Do I believe the lies yelled at me by this world (Just wait to tell that guy about Jesus,
.....

Jesus and Taxes

Ballard Campus 7-17-11 Pastor Bill Clem
Tags: Parable, Stewardship
Luke 20:19-26
Jesus and Taxes
We are in the final week of Jesus' life
Recap of Luke
The Trap
They feared the people and sent spies to entrap Jesus
The spies are playing the role of a good person, but it doesn't fit because they are not
Luke has shown that these people have shown great partiality, yet they compliment Jesus for doing just that.
Later the high priest accuses Jesus of opposing paying taxes, even though He says nothing of the sort

Notes end had amazing conversation with two of the hospitality volunteers

Investing for Jesus

Ballard Campus 6-19-11 Pastor Mark Driscoll
Tags: Parable, Stewardship, Money,
Luke 19:11-27
Investing for Jesus
This parable is more of a kingly sermon, this reveals more of the administrative care of Jesus
Jesus is about 7 days from his Crucifixion and 7 weeks from his entering of Heaven as exalted King on the throne
Before he assumes the throne, he needs to go away
But when he returns he will bring his Kingdom and slaughter those who have set themselves against him
Parable
There is a king in waiting who is loved by some but hated by others who travels far away leaving some stewards behind
The stewards are waiting for the King to return but busy taking care of the country until he comes back
We are in the same place in history as these stewards; we are waiting for our King to return and in the mean time we are taking care of his resources.
King Jesus will come back and will review how we have stewarded all of his resources
A trueism from Jesus - we all start humbly with very little but as we prove ourselves faithful with little things we are given more responsibility, this is the same in business, in minstry, and in other areas
The Kingdom Coming
This is a hint of a new World purified and restored to a status as God originally intended.  There are cities, many people, culture, art, singing, joy, all existing as a physical reality.
There will be a similarity in our bodies but they will be made incorruptible
There will be the overwhelming presence Jesus
There will be rulers over the cities in the Kingdom Come
+There wil be culture and singing and joy in a perfected world filled with worshippers of Jesus
+Jesus wants us to aspire to humble leadership with kingdom compassion
Jesus wants us to aspire to greatness but in humility
The Second guy, a Good return on investment
This man recieves a corresponding reward in proportion to the results of his investment
Jesus is talking about a man receiving the appropriate reward for his results in this life
Jesus is showing us a fantastic example of what it looks like to live invested well
In Durbin South African PM met strong aggressive men who "want their life to count for God"
Piper says, "Don't waste your life"
The Third guy, No return on investment
Takes no responsibility, he blames the investor for being to scarry
Calls the King a severe man
Sin can be not doing anything at all - Omission
Jesus rebukes this guy with his own words
Do I have my Christian life wrapped in a handkerchief not earning any investment?
+I think I am wasting my life.  I give my time and money, but I'm not really changing anything and impacting my community for Jesus
The Goal is to be faithful and get started the long you wait to get started the worse it is.
The Bible tells us that we have a killer inheritance from Jesus so we've got to use it.
+We have knowledge, eternal salvation, a big brother who came to die for us, a relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit...
The Reaction
"That's not fair!" the one guy who was a phenomenal steward gets the llittle from the one who did nothing with his mina
Jesus is not a complete socialist who says we should all have the same amount
The more faithful effective stewards should be allocated more resources so that they can get stuff done.
Jesus says the more faithful righteous guys should be intrusted with more resources
What is Jesus Like?
He is like a serious investor, he puts resources into the hands of the folks, ministries, families, and organizations that are good stewards.
If you waste or do nothing
The Truth about Jesus
The citizen are cared for by Jesus in the proportion of how they stewarded his resources
The enemies, Yes Jesus has enemies, are all "slaughtered"
Not everyone will go to heaven
Revelation says there will be blood 4 feet high for 200 miles in all directions from all the dead that Jesus will slay on the day of Armegedon, "as high as a horse's bridle" (Maybe 3-4 feet)
+1.3 gallons of blood for the average adult
+200miles = 5280ft X 200 = 1056000ft => pi X 1056000^2 X 4ft = 14006108160000cuft volume of blood shed
+1 gallons is 0.133680556cuft
+1.3 gallons = 0.1737847228cuft
+So...
+14006108160000cuft / 0.1737847228cuft =
 +Jesus slaughters 805,950,360,557 people? Hmm...Maybe my math is wrong...I did go to public school
Jesus' enemies couldn't be happy in His kingdom so why would they want to spend all eternity with him?
There was a season in the parable where the enemies were invited by the stewards to become friends, this is just like this brief period between the times where we find ourselves
Hell, like heaven, has various degrees of consequence for how God's gift of life was used.
Jesus is not an unjust king but he is an immensely generous king who provides a way to serve
Our life will be judged at the end
Investing for Jesus in Mars Hill Church
In 15 years...
10 up to 10,000 people
2 up to 1246 baptisms
1 up to 10 locations
52 up to 1500 services
$90k up to $15.25Million
0 churches up to 400 planted US churches and 13 nations with more churches
+500 potential new church Planters being assessed
For Easter the Combined easter attendance was 175,000 people @ Easter
from a few hundred downloads up to 7 million sermon downloads
Portland, Rainier, and Orange County are new campuses
Mars Hill want to hear well done good servant when Jesus looks over his ledgers at the end
Investing for Jesus in your life
1 - Which Faithful servants have I benefited from? Bernadyne, Mars Hill RGs, Facility Leaders, etc
2 - Do I understand the judgement of believers vs unbelievers? White Throne Vs. the Cross
3 - If Jesus came right now would he be pleased with my stewardship?
4 - Do I want to hear well done good servant? Do I labor for Jesus' approval and favor?
5 - What changes do I need to make?
Jesus cares about results