One If By Land Series

ONE IF BY LAND

JESUS SERIES V: WATCH OUT

OPEN: During the Revolutionary War, our young almost-nation put up an intricate series’ of defense mechanisms to save peoples lives. The plan was simple, if the British were coming, they were to hang a lantern in the Boston’s Old North Church Tower. The famous Longfellow poem about Paul Revere records it this way:

He said to his friend, “If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the NorthChurch tower as a signal light,--

One, if by land, and two, if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

TRANSITION: The minutemen were on watch, Jesus asks us to be on watch, and gives us a whole lotta commands in order to help us, in order to make us more Christ-like. Today we are going to look at some of these, starting with the first one in Mark 8:14-21. Called “Watch Out.”

1. WATCH OUT

BIBLE VERSE: Mark 8:14-21

14The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."

16They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."

17Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"

"Twelve," they replied.

20"And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"

They answered, "Seven."

21He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

A. EXPLANATION: Jesus just got done feeding 5000 people with some bread and some fish. The Jesus looks at them at tells them to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod. And they think Jesus is worried about eating. What? What the heck? Did they not get anything?

B. DARWIN AWARDS: Do you know what the Darwin Awards are? They are a bunch of awards given to people for doing some really dumb things. Like the guy who was trying to get rid of a next of bees from his yard, trying not to get stung, he covered his face in a garbage bag only to be found suffocated to death. In context, I would like to make up my own Darwin Awards, only I will call them Dumbwin Awards in order not to give any glory to a pretty meaningless website.

C. DUMBWIN AWARDS:

1) A DUMBWIN AWARD GOES TO THE PERSON WHO THINKS THEY ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO GET INTO HEAVEN ON THEIR OWN.

Last week, we discussed everything with everyone about the Pharisees, and all those Pharisee rules. Jesus was serious about not listening to them, when the Lord saws Watch Out, he means it. We must be careful about listening to people who are “too good” to need a savior.

IS THIS PERSON GOOD ENOUGH FOR HEAVEN?

This will be given independently to each teacher. Just make a list of some great people who have impacted your life, OR, impacted history. Tell what they did that made them great in your opinion. Then, mention one sin they made. Then ask, do they qualify?

David Example: Is there anyone more faithful in the Bible then David? Maybe. He beat Goliath, established the nation of Israel, was an honored king, fought wars, served the Lord. But, he also committed adultery and murder. Does he qualify?

BIBLE: Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.

2) DUMBWIN AWARD #2 GOES TO THE PERSON WHO PHILOSOPHICALLY TRIES TO FIND THEIR OWN WAY TO GOD.

In year 30, there were some groups who felt that Jesus was NOT the way. Two of them were called Sadducees and Pharisees. Today is 2009, and there are millions of people or groups saying the same thing. Here are some:

WHAT SOME GROUPS ARE SAYING (VERY, VERY GENERAL):

Muslim: Get to heaven by following the 5 pillars of faith, or die in a holy war.

Mormon: Pray to the correct Jesus, get baptized for dead people, and become God of your own universe.

Buddhist: Attempt to be self-actualized through peace, and when you are there, go to Nirvana, otherwise, come back as a different animal through reincarnation.

Hindu: Worship up to 270 Million different gods, while attempting to achieve karma, or something.

NOW PAPEZ, YOU’RE BEING TOO PICKY, LOTS OF PEOPLE BELIEVE THESE THINGS? Okay, so I am, does having a lot of people believe it make it real? There have been some historically famous religions that have had a lot of believers, does it make it so?