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[/one_half]Challenge The Hypocrisy March 3rd – 2013
Pastor David Rathel
Nobody likes a hypocrite, right? Especially the Rebel Savior. Check out these verses straight from the mouth of Jesus!
Yes, how terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn him into twice the son of hell as you yourselves are. Matthew 23:15
How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs– beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Matthew 23:27
“Yes,” said Jesus, “how terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you crush people beneath impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger to help ease the burden.” Luke 11:46
What about you… Do you know any hypocrites? Ever been one? This will be a special Sunday to invite all the hypocrites you know. If you don’t know one, then there’s a good chance that someone you know really well does. We’ll be gentle… promise.
As the old saying goes, “If you ever find a perfect church, whatever you do, don’t join it! You’ll mess it up!” I love the idea of a church that is more of a hospital for sinners than a hotel for saints. This Sunday we begin a brand new series called REBEL SAVIOR!
Download Message: Notes, Slides, Blog, WATCH & LISTEN
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[/one_half]Change The Rules – March 10th – 2013
Pastor David Rathel
The reason Jesus looked like a rebel to the people around him is that he had the ability to change the rules. He got back to the heart of the matter and the spirit of the law. The religious leaders of his day were experts on knowing how to look exactly like the godliest people in town, but only on the outside.
Jesus changed their current day rules of Judiasm into a standard of the heart that would live forever. Jesus knew that the heart of the human problem was the problem of the human heart. He changed the rules, then changed their hearts to match. Come and experience the new rules and the new heart of Jesus!
Matthew 5: 22, 28, 39, 44
But I have added to that rule…and tell you that if you are only angry, you are in danger of judgment!
But I tell you: that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
But I tell you: Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
Download Message: Notes, Slides, Blog, WATCH & LISTEN
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[/one_half]Choose The Wrong Crowd – March 17th – 2013
Pastor David Rathel
That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guests, along with his fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. The Pharisees were indignant. “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” they asked his disciples. Matthew 9:10-11
You’ve always been told not to run with the wrong crowd, right? Its good to make sure that you aren’t being led astray by friends, but some people go too far. They equate spiritual maturity with isolation from the people who need God’s love the most! It’s not a sign of success, but failure, to have all the RIGHT friends. Its a sign of strength to be able to walk with the weak and love it! The mark of real spiritual maturity is the ability to love the unlovely! In short – Found people find people!
Download Message: NOTES, SLIDES, BLOG, WATCH & LISTEN
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[/one_half]Meet Rowdy Jesus! – March 24th – 2013
Pastor David Rathel
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. Matthew 21:12-17
I don’t know what your idea of a beautiful Palm Sunday worship service is like, but here’s a twist for you. How would you feel if during all the festivities, Jesus showed up and wrecked the place and then started lashing the leaders with a home made whip. Meet Rowdy Jesus! He takes worship and prayer seriously and has no room for playing games and making deals in His Father’s house! It’s time to get serious…and clean house.
Download Message: NOTES, SLIDES, BLOG, WATCH & LISTEN
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Rebel With A Cross – March 31st – 2013
A Rebel With A Cross – Easter!
Pastor David Rathel
Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. 13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. 16 But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. Luke 21:10-19 also Philippians Chapter 2
Everything Jesus did was to change the system and give us a new way of relating to His Father! It was the apparent defeat of the rebel on the Cross that showed his ultimate victory! Jesus’ rebellion against the religious establishment at Jerusalem created a large following of Christians after his resurrection that threatened Judaism. Christians spread throughout the ancient world, causing trouble wherever they went because of their refusal to worship idols and engage in immorality. This “rebellion” has now infiltrated every country in the world. It has lasted for 2,000 years and shows no signs of letting up now! Jesus was and is… A Rebel with a Cross!
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