How LOW CAN I go?

Well, it seems like our family can go pretty low: please pray for us because almost every member of our family is sick right now. Christine and Samantha have confirmed eye infections (and the accompanying cold-type symptoms that come with it), I have a stomach bug of some sort, and both of the grandparents (who take care of the kids during the day) have come down with bad colds as well! Only little Baby Asher is sickness free! We appreciate your prayers as we rest and rehabilitate!

Here are the notes from this week’s sermon. The sermon itself didn’t get recorded so I’ll have to repost it sometime in the future!

Hope you are having a wonderful week full of God’s presence and blessings!

Byron

March 22nd, 2009
How Low Can You Go?
Great Expectations: Mark 12:38-44
Mark 12:38-44- Jesus’ Condemnation of the Scribes

Part 1: The Warning
Jesus warns His disciples concerning the hypocrisy of the Scribes; the depths of their sin is exhibited in the fact that they  “devour widow’s houses”.
Part 2: Example (the Widow’s Offering)
The widow’s offering is not so much a contrast to the offering of the Scribes as it is an exclamation point on Jesus’ condemnation of the Scribes: the widow was a living example of how the helpless were encouraged to give all that they had to live on to the corrupt temple system.

The place of widows:
Widows and all of the helpless like them have a special place in the heart of God.

3 Principles to Avoid Sinking in Sin

1. Focus on Us: The warning to the disciples to “Beware the Scribes” was not so much to beware the fact that the Scribes would take their fortunes or persecute them. The warning is to not become like the Scribes. So we are to look at our own sin and examine ourselves for hypocrisy.

2. Aviod the Sham.
So much of our spiritual life can be attributed to keeping up appearances for others. Avoiding the sham is making sure there is substance to our walk with God.

3. Return to God’s Heart.
Insure that your spiritual life does not simply consist of an outward shell of obligations and actions: attendance on Sundays and going to Bible study. Examine how you are fulfilling the most important priorities of God: charity toward the hurting, vitality in your relationship with Him, the evangelization of your sphere of influence.

Weekly Application Exercises
1. If you were to draw a Venn diagram where your heart priorities and God’s heart priorities intersect, what would you say are some of God’s priorities which you ignore? What parts of the diagram do not intersect?

2. Our lives are often in maintenance mode where we are simply trying to keep up with the onslaught of activities. How can you reset your priorities to seek first His kingdom and righteousness and seek what is important to Him? How are you keeping up a facade in order to preserve a good public face before others?