Sermon by Jon Payne on John 13

 

Update on Redemption Hill Church in Round Rock, TX

Nearly 2 year anniversary. People getting affected by the gospel.

 

John 13:1-17

 

Watch

Receive

Reflect

 

Angel to Gideon in Veggie Tales: If you want to hear "well done," you are going to have to DO.

 

1. WATCH Jesus as He serves. Watch until you worship.
• Suffering. Foot washing is symbolic of the cross.
• Love. His love is to the end. There is no break. No "love for me time."
• Betrayal. He serves Judas, and Peter, and all the others who will shortly abandon him.
• Authority. Biblical authority is having all things and still choosing to lay it aside and serve in the lowest position.
• Glory. The God that Isaiah says perfect Angels are ashamed to have Him see their feet is now washing the feet of sinners.
• Dirt. This was the worst of service opportunities. Gross.
• The only thing lower and worse than washing feet was crucifixion.

 

Christians reflect the servant of God who already saved them. Christians do NOT save themselves by reflecting the servant of God.

 

2. RECEIVE service from Jesus.
• Jesus to Peter: You cannot repay me. You just have to receive. Once I have washed you, you are completely clean. Don't forget that you had to receive what only I could give.
• Our mission is never the most important thing about our churches. Jesus' mission is the most important thing.
• Receive the cleansing that only Jesus can give! Receive His forgiveness!
   
3. REFLECT.
• A servant is not greater than his Master.
• If we do not serve to the end of our strength, we are saying that we should not have to do what He did.
• It is not watch, receive, and then don't worry about reflect because it will just happen. This is not the pattern of Scripture. God's expectation is for us to actively reflect.
• Application.
• Is suffering an excuse from serving or an occasion for serving? We say "I'm sick so I can't." Jesus said "I'm going to die, so this is when I'll serve."
• Love. Jesus loves our family and friends to the end. Do we?
• Have you ever had someone betray you? Can you imagine serving them like Jesus served Judas and Peter?
• In your positions of authority, do you serve in the dirtiest jobs in order to love others?
• Do you serve those with embarrassing sins, embarrassing temptations, embarrassing defects, awkward, shameful weaknesses? Or do you distance yourself from those who are dirty?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon by Rich Richardson on Matthew 28:16-20

 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mat 28:16-20

 

1. His authority.
2. Our mission.

 

HIS AUTHORITY

By rising from the dead, Jesus has authority over all of sin and death.

Rather than using His authority to take revenge on His enemies, He commissions His followers to make more disciples.

"Some doubted" - wow! After all they have seen. This is real. We should be patient with anyone who doubts.

 

OUR MISSION

Go --> baptize --> teach. We are saved and good works result, not the other way around.

Followers of Jesus go because Jesus went. He was the first missionary.

Our sharing of the gospel is like someone whistling the theme of a symphony. It is weak and limited, but God can transform it in the mind of the hearer into the full beauty.

 

How do we do this?

• Pray
• Hang out with unbelievers. Do what you love to do, with them.
• Volunteer

Like the pastor says "By the authority vested in me…" in a wedding, we have Jesus' authority vested in us to go and make disciples.

He will be with us. This is a fact.

Sermon by Rich Richardson on Luke 19:28-44

 

Palm Sunday

 

Riding in on a donkey = announcing himself as king

 

1. How people respond to Jesus.
   Jesus is the Great Pilgrim from heaven to Jerusalem.
   Why all the donkey details? It was prophesied that the king would come on a donkey. (Zech. 9:9)
   The people took Psalm 118 and applied it to Him as king.
   How do we respond to Jesus? Do we follow this king?
   The Pharisees wanted Him to rebuke the people. But He would not and claimed authority over the stones.
   Anyone who misses Jesus has a heart of stone.
2. How Jesus responds to people.
   He wept over the city.

 

How should we respond?

• Weep in private for those who do not believe.
• Rejoice in public that Jesus is reigning and saves.

Jesus washes stained sinners not with tears, but with His blood.

Sermon by Rich Richardson on Romans 8:34-39

 

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:34-39

 

Ernest Becker quote: "the rumble of panic beneath everything."

Two kinds of things that cause panic. Things inside us and things outside.

 

God loves you and nothing can change that.

 

1. Your remaining sin does NOT change God's love for you.

Jesus is sitting. No matter what we do. His work is done. There is no more sacrifice needed.

Jesus is praying. For us! That we would be protected and believe the truth, and be encouraged.

2. Your daily troubles do not prove that you can be separated from forever God's love.

He loves us no matter how bad our circumstances seem to be.

Why is it he "loved us" past tense? Because He loved us from eternity past.

 

God withdrew his love from Christ on the cross - he experienced tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword FOR US.

 

Those whom God loves He forever loves.

 

Sermon by Jason Hansen on Romans 6:20-23

1. Who we were.
Seemingly free to do whatever made me happy. But the fruit was shame, guilt and inward slavery. And the end of slavery to sin is death. We earn death for our sin, like earning $$ for a job.

2. Who we are.
Free from sin and slaves of God.
We get eternal life as a gift. No earning; no wages.  Not a gift for a birthday or for Christmas. This is a FREE gift with no expectation, no strings attached.

Why should I live for Jesus?
For the same reason the blind man who Jesus healed should open his eyes and see. Because we have been changed and now we can.

Two mistakes:
- Thinking too little of sin. I don't need Jesus for my little problems.
- Thinking too much of sin. My sin is bigger than Jesus. At some point forgiveness will run out.
Jesus is both a deep sea diver, finding and rescuing us from every sin, and a great mountain climber, conquering the greatest and worst sins in us.

Sermon by Rich Richardson on Romans 5:6-11

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.  - Romans 5:6-11 (ESV)

1. How God showed His love
It is noble to die for someone who loves you back. But God died for us when we did not love Him. We were his sworn enemies.
If you had a sworn enemy, how would you treat them? How did God treat his enemies? He died for us.
It isn't just Christ who loved us, as if the Father is wrathful and the Son is loving. GOD shows his love for us in that...Christ died for us.

2. How God continues to show His love.
We are not drawn to be friends with a judge.  God is not only a judge.
I am reconciled to God. The cross stands as proof that God loves me. There is no longer anything to fear.
Now we can boast (rejoice) in our relationship with Him!
He killed Jesus, not me.

Sermon by Rich Richardson on Romans 5:3-5

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)

Why do we suffer? If we have peace with God, why does life feel like war?

1. How are we to face suffering?
It is a lie that Christians are not supposed to suffer. It is not for lack of faith that you are suffering.
Christians: Suffering is not proof that God is against you. It is proof that God is working in you.
Rejoicing in our suffering seems outrageous.

2. Why are we to boast in suffering?
Suffering is the way God works in our lives. He transforms the weak into the steadfast, through endurance of suffering. Suffering always produces something better in Christians.
Mature Christians have character, strength, and hope.

3. Is that all our suffering does?
No. We know that God loves us because He gives us Himself in the midst of suffering. Not only did Christ die for us, but also the Spirit lives within us. We have right now a never ending forever flowing stream of love from God. He's not just working in us to build something - He loves us.  Suffering is the sign of His work. The Spirit is the sign of His love.