Sermon Central
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Your Life Matters Series
Contributed by Russ Barksdale on Jul 22, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: Christ came and Easter occurred because our lives matter to Him
“Your Life Matters”
blessed: supremely happy
How can your life matter greatly?
1. When you preserve what is valuable v.13
2. When you reveal was is reliable vv.14-16
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father but through Me.”
3. When you discover what is eternal vv.17-20
Jesus is essentially revealing two truths here:
a. That He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament
b. That righteousness is different than you think. v.20
Righteousness: being made right with God
Pseudo-righteousness: works from the outside in.
Genuine righteousness: works from the inside out.
“Your Life Matters”
One of the posts on our website during the Secrets series (logo) was one that said, “My life doesn’t matter. I am just a waste of human skin.” It’s sad how many people believe that to one degree or another. But nothing could be farther from the truth.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 5:13-20. If you don’t have a Bible, we’ll put the words up on the screen for you. A person who not only owns a Bible, but reads it, studies it, and lives by its principles is a person whose life genuinely matters.
This reminds me of a story I read recently about a lady who had 4 sons. Each left home, went to college and became successful doctors and lawyers. One evening the 4 sons were having dinner together and were discussing what to do for their elderly mother for her 90th birthday. The 1st son said, “I’ll build a big house for her.” The 2nd said, “I’ll pay for a huge media room/theatre in that house. The 3rd said “I’ll get her a new Mercedes SL600. And the 4th said, “I’m way ahead of you boys. I know Momma loved reading her Bible and since she can’t read because she can’t see, I found a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took ten preachers and almost 8 years to teach him, but you name the chapter and verse, and the parrot can recite it word for word. It cost me $50,000 to buy it, but I sent it to her just the other day.
The mother received the gifts and sent each one of them a thank you note. To the 1st she said, “The house you built is huge, but I live in only one room but I have to pay to have the whole house cleaned. Thanks anyway.” To the 2nd she wrote: “Thanks for the Dolby sound and huge screen and the theatre that holds 50 people, but since all my friends are dead, I’ve lost my hearing, and I’m nearly blind, I’ll never use it. Thanks for the gesture.” To the 3rd she said, “Thanks for the Mercedes, but I can’t drive, I stay at home, I have my groceries delivered. But it was a nice thought.” To the 4th she wrote, “Dear Marvin: You were the only son to have the good sense to give some thought to your gift…. The chicken was delicious. Thank you so much." Love, Mama
We begin a new series today, picking up where we left off a month ago, right in the middle of the greatest sermon ever preached: The Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed the secrets to kingdom living, to living the way we were created to live.
He starts out with what are called the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, blessed are the merciful, blessed are peacemakers. That word blessed: supremely happy This happiness he taught about wasn’t the happiness our culture seeks. This happiness is not based on favorable circumstances or positive feelings, it’s based on something deeper than that. It’s a SUPREME happiness that comes by living life they way He taught, the way He lived, and the way we were created to live.
And so Jesus is giving a whole new perspective on life and living. You know, most people live life a certain way thinking it will serve them well, but in the end, it doesn’t. I was visiting with someone this week who had a friend win the lottery a few years ago. What would you do if you won the lottery? Wow! I’d buy this and this and do this and this. Money would be no object and life would be awesome! But having all that money ruined his friend’s life. In fact, it’s fairly common knowledge that those who win the lottery, think it will enhance their lives, but it ends up having ruining their lives. Wrong perspective.
http://www.archimedes-lab.org/monthly_optical_ill_14.html 2 separate slides
This is what Jesus is all about—this is what Easter is all about: a whole new perspective. He points the way on how to live life to the max.
