Genorisity: Studies in Luke PART 7
11 November 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 19:1-10
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He as gone to be the guest of a 'sinner'".
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay pack four times the amount."
9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
NECESSITY OF CONVERSION
--v.9 Zacchaeus is being converted by Jesus, not just inspired.
--Coversion is a challenge that goes beyond morality and good behavior.
--Are you saved?
CIRCUMSTANCES OF CONVERSION
--Doesn't have to come from a crisis.
--It can come from intellectual openness and persistence.
--But you do need to be born again.
KEY TO CONVERSION
--Salvation isn't a proecess of good works.
--Are you a Christian? Your answer shouldn't be--"I try, but I'm not good enough"
--v.9 Salvation is coming to his house--not "you will be saved"; Salvation is coming because Jesus is coming to your house--JESUS, alone, is the way to SALVATION.
--You can only be saved by acknowledging what Jesus has done, you can't earn salvation yourself.
--Jesus, and thus, Salvation came to Zacchaeus's house even before he started doing good works.
SIGNS OF CONVERSION
--v.8 Amount and motivation from Zaccaeus is beyond what the law required.
--Give in an amount that affects how we live our lives and the amount of control we have.
--Giving a lot relinquishes our ability to control our circumstances.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Generosity and Wealth (2)
Generosity: Studies in Luke PART 6
4 November 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 16:1-14
1Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg--4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the fist, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6"'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
"'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, wo will give you property of your own?
13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
14The Parisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
STEWARDS OF GOD'S MONEY
--v.8+9 Jesus compares us to the manager; it's all God's money, we're just managing it for him.
--Nothing really belongs to us.
--When we don't give money away, it's not stinginess, it's robbery.
--Malachi 3:8-12
LOOKING FOR A CITY THAT CAN'T BE SHAKEN
--Put your money in things that last.
--v.9 All money will be gone one day
--Psalms 46:1-3 (Surge)
WE NEED A LOVE THAT ISN'T HERE
--Put money in ministry.
--Fellowsip of friends that survives beyond death.
HEAVEN IS A WORLD OF LOVE - Jonathan Edwards
--Five barriers to love
1) We want to be loved for our own sake.
2) Love without impediment, but pride, selfishness, and defensiveness get in the way.
3) Love with mutuality
4) Can't stand to see our love ones unhappy
5) Losing people you love.
4 November 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 16:1-14
1Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg--4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the fist, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6"'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
"'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, wo will give you property of your own?
13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
14The Parisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
STEWARDS OF GOD'S MONEY
--v.8+9 Jesus compares us to the manager; it's all God's money, we're just managing it for him.
--Nothing really belongs to us.
--When we don't give money away, it's not stinginess, it's robbery.
--Malachi 3:8-12
LOOKING FOR A CITY THAT CAN'T BE SHAKEN
--Put your money in things that last.
--v.9 All money will be gone one day
--Psalms 46:1-3 (Surge)
WE NEED A LOVE THAT ISN'T HERE
--Put money in ministry.
--Fellowsip of friends that survives beyond death.
HEAVEN IS A WORLD OF LOVE - Jonathan Edwards
--Five barriers to love
1) We want to be loved for our own sake.
2) Love without impediment, but pride, selfishness, and defensiveness get in the way.
3) Love with mutuality
4) Can't stand to see our love ones unhappy
5) Losing people you love.
Generosity and Wealth (1)
Generosity: Studies in Luke PART 5
28 October 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 18:18-30
18 A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone, 20You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.;"
21"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. Then follow me."
23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
27Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
28Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
29"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home, or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age, in the age to come, eternal life."
DANGER OF MONEY
--v.24 Impossible for rich people (and anyone) with other priorities to enter Kingdom of God.
--v.27 Impossible for everyone, but salvation is possible through God.
--Spiritual problems get accentuated by money
--Money creates a spiritual blindness towards the important things.
--Money makes it hard for you to think that you are wrong about something.
--Being successful at making money makes you arrogant about other things in life.
REASONS FOR DANGER OF MONEY
--Self righteousness or an inferiority complex can come from thinking you can earn your salvation.
--v.21 suggests that you don't need salvation.
--v.22 Everyone has their idols that they put before God.
--These always leave is unfulfilled--we need the living water: John 4:13-14
--v.23 He defined his self-esteem by his wealth.
ESCAPING THE DANGERS OF MONEY
--Assume you are in denial and money is blinding you.
--Come to grips with salvation through grace.
--Jesus was a rich ruler and he gave it all away.
--The happier we are in realizing who Jesus is, the more generous we become.
28 October 2012
Dr. Timothy Keller
Luke 18:18-30
18 A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone, 20You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.;"
21"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. Then follow me."
23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
27Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
28Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
29"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home, or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age, in the age to come, eternal life."
DANGER OF MONEY
--v.24 Impossible for rich people (and anyone) with other priorities to enter Kingdom of God.
--v.27 Impossible for everyone, but salvation is possible through God.
--Spiritual problems get accentuated by money
--Money creates a spiritual blindness towards the important things.
--Money makes it hard for you to think that you are wrong about something.
--Being successful at making money makes you arrogant about other things in life.
REASONS FOR DANGER OF MONEY
--Self righteousness or an inferiority complex can come from thinking you can earn your salvation.
--v.21 suggests that you don't need salvation.
--v.22 Everyone has their idols that they put before God.
--These always leave is unfulfilled--we need the living water: John 4:13-14
--v.23 He defined his self-esteem by his wealth.
ESCAPING THE DANGERS OF MONEY
--Assume you are in denial and money is blinding you.
--Come to grips with salvation through grace.
--Jesus was a rich ruler and he gave it all away.
--The happier we are in realizing who Jesus is, the more generous we become.
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