On Sunday, May 27, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 12:33-50. The message was part 5 in the “First Responders” sermon series. Below you will find the sermon audio to share, listen to online or download.
To listen offline, click the link below to download:
To listen online, use the media player below:
On Sunday, May 27, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 12:33-50. This message was part 5 in the “First Responders” series. Below you will find a set of questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion.
Sermon Questions:
To access these questions in pdf format, click here.
I have a good friend who used to live in Norman. In many ways, he looked like “one of us.” His clothes were not odd, his accent not distant, his interests not dissimilar. In fact, he lived in our fair city for a decade, and had a positive and productive influence on many while he was here.
Despite all the ways he “fit in,” there was something about him that was very odd. He was a UT grad. In fact he was a Longhorn FAN . . . an apologist if you will. On Saturdays, when everyone else would wear Crimson, he would wear orange. For some strange reason he insisted on calling the Red Rival Rivalry the “Texas/OU game” not “OU/Texas.” The decal on his car had the ‘Horns right side up, not upside down. In short, he had to learn to live in a land that rejected something he loved.
I was thinking about that (humorous) example today as I thought of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. From the very first days when Jesus came to the earth, people rejected Him. The Scribes and the Pharisees formed a very famous and powerful opposition to Jesus’ earthly ministry. In the millennia since then people from various cultures have unintentionally mimicked the response of the first century religious elites in their rejection of the Son of God.
As Christians, we must learn how to live in a world that rejects the Jesus we love. Jesus was teaching that lesson to the “First Responders” in Matthew 12-13. Over the months of April and May at Wildwood we have been looking at Jesus’ interactions with those who first responded to Him. This Sunday, we will conclude our series by looking at Matthew 12:33-50 together as we learn how to wear His colors in a land that thinks we are quite odd. See you Sunday!
On Sunday, April 22, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church I preached a sermon based on Matthew 11:20-30. This message was part 2 of the “First Responders” series. Below you will find the sermon audio to listen to online or download and share with others.
To listen offline, click the link below to download:
To listen online, use the media player below:
On Sunday, April 22, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 11:20-30. This message was part 2 in the “First Responders” sermon series. Below you will find a set of questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion.
Sermon Questions:
To access these questions in pdf format, click here.
On November 16, 2010, popular television personality Bill Nye “the science guy” was walking onto a stage at USC to give a lecture. En route to the podium, Nye collapsed and was out for at least 10 seconds. While this was certainly a difficult medical situation for Mr. Nye, it was also a fascinating study in sociology in the digital age. What do I mean?
According to Alastair Fairbanks (a USC student in attendance – as reported by the LA Times) what happened next was surprising: “Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed — that just perplexed me beyond reason, Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening.”
Did you catch that? the first response of USC students to a medical emergency was to tweet it to the world, instead of to run to his assistance. What a strange world we are now living in!
Before we are too hard on the students of USC, or write this off as a product of the “millenial” generation, we need to remember that this behavior is not new. As a matter of fact, people have been offering the wrong first response to life or death issues for at least 2,000 years now. Don’t believe me? Look at Matthew 11:20-30.
In these verses we see Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . the Savior of the world, show up on the scene. When He does so, He demonstrates His identity through authoritative teaching and powerful miracles of great compassion. The historical theater in which Jesus performed these miracles was the region of Galilee. Jesus walked onto this stage and offered eternal life, but instead of running to Him and receiving this message, it seems the people of Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida (some of the cities Jesus visited) simply “tweeted out to their friends” that a new “show” was in town. Instead of personally responding, they simply remained indifferent.
Sadly, today billions of people, when presented with the life giving Person of Jesus Christ, still sit idly by and watch, instead of running to Him and receiving Him as Savior and Lord.
This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will be continuing our series on Matthew 11-12 called “First Responders” by looking at the response of the region of Galilee and Jesus offer of rest in Matthew 11:20-30. We will also be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. Hope you can join us at 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00!
On Sunday, April 15, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 11:1-19. This message was part 1 of the “First Responders” sermon series. Below you will find the sermon audio to listen to, download, or share.
To listen offline, click the link below to download:
To listen online, use the media player below:
On Sunday, April 15, 2018 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Matthew 11:1-19. This message was part 1 in the “First Responders” sermon series. Below are a set of questions related to the message for further reflection or group discussion.
Sermon Questions:
To access these questions in pdf format, click here.
April 19, 1995. I don’t think I will ever forget that day. I was getting ready for class at the University of Oklahoma and listening to the radio. The DJ said there has been some kind of an earthquake that had hit downtown Oklahoma City — his studio had been shook. In reality it was not an earthquake, it was a bomb that had been detonated at the Federal Building. Our city had been shaken and stirred to action.
Immediately First Responders arrived at the bombing site. Police and Fire and EMT ran toward the scene. In their response, many of us (me included) found inspiration as I found myself at a local charity that night volunteering to help pack supplies for those in need.
As Oklahomans, we have often looked to the courage and response of the first responders to the scenes of different events: F5 tornados, floods, and wildfires.
I was thinking about this today as I prepare for a new series we are kicking off at Wildwood on Sunday. In the Bible, when Jesus arrived, there were a number of people who ran to the scene. In that first group of responders to Jesus, however, we see something interesting. Instead of being inspired by all their faith, we find that many rejected Jesus instead.
In Matthew 11-12, there are a number of “first responders” to Jesus message who struggled to understand who He was or what He was coming to do. This included such varied groups as John the Baptist and his followers, the Pharisees, and even Jesus’ own earthly family. By looking at the response of these first people, we can see more of how we might respond to Him as well.
Join us this Sunday, April 15 at Wildwood Community Church for our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 worship service as we begin our series: “First Responders” asking the question, “when Jesus calls . . . will we answer?” See you Sunday!
