Sermon Notes 10-30-2022

Matthew 114

(Chapter 25)

The groom is late 

Are you prepared 

 

 

Good morning church!!

Matthew 25:1–13 (NIV)

¹“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 

²Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 

3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 

4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 

5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 

8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹“ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹²“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

So, let’s talk about the imagery of this parable 

·       this is a pretty typical 1st-century wedding 

·        after the wedding (at the bride’s home) there would be a procession 

·       The procession of the wedding party and friends was from the bride’s house to the groom’s house 

·       And it was lit by friends with torches because remember, there are no streetlamps, and this was a festive occasion! 

·       And when they arrived at the groom’s there would be a big feast!

 

Understanding the context helps you see why Jesus uses the situations that He does, to get His point across 

·      Jesus is relatable 

·      Jesus is relevant 

·      Jesus speaks to His audience, not over them

 

I know what you’re thinking; what does this have to do with me??

·      Jesus isn’t quoting scripture

·      He is not blowing them away with a bunch of systematic theology 

·      He is using life experiences to teach people 

·      You are the walking gospel, don’t be afraid to preach Jesus with your story!

 

I got three takeaways from this parable

 

1. The work of following Jesus is a marathon, not a sprint 

5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Follow me on this:

·      If Jesus is the groom

·      And we, believers in Jesus, are the virgins 

·      And the lamps, those represent the light that dwells in us

That means if we aren’t careful, we are going to run out of spiritual fuel! 

·      We won’t finish the race

·      We won’t make it down the narrow path

·      If we prepare for a sprint instead of a marathon

 

 

Remember

· God’s patience has to be shown

·      Our patience has to be tested

·      And the harvest has to be ready

·      Before Jesus returns

·      He will not be late. He will appear at the perfect hour

 

So, get your expectations right

·      Bad expectations cause us to:

·      Lose sight of the goal

·      Give up on the fight

·      Not because it’s too hard, but because we go in with the wrong expectations

2. You can be wise, or you can be foolish

King Solomon said:

Ecclesiastes 2:13 (NIV)

¹³I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. 

We have ten virgins 

·      Five are foolish, and five are wise. 

·      The foolish took lamps but did not take any oil with them. 

·      The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 

 

 

So, if Jesus is the groom

·      And the light is to honor Him

·      Then that means the light would be the gospel

 

Then the Foolish believers:

·      Light would flame out

·      Would be dim

·      They have no roots 

·      They have no stamina

·      They use the gospel to their advantage 

·      They lord over people and judge people 

·      They start strong but finish last

·      They love themselves and use their neighbors 

 

 

 

But the wise believers would:

·      Use the gospel to learn from and to change. 

·      To be enlightened by it, enriched by it 

·      To learn grace from it, humility, compassion

·      To see the lost, and hurt for them

·      They get their fuel for the living well. 

·      And then, they shine the gospel to the world through their actions

Philippians 2:15–16 (ESV)

¹⁵that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 

¹⁶holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 

Someday is not a day of the week!

Luke 21:36 (ESV)

³⁶But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

·      Procrastination will get you nowhere 

·      We must always be prepared 

·      Not just in case Jesus comes back

·      But because we don’t know when He will call us home

·      We will never be perfect, but we must always be working on it 

 

That’s why we need to spend more time looking in the mirror and less time looking out the window

 

 

The road we are on is a single file 

8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹“ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

·      No one can prepare you but you

·      No one can answer for you but you

·      You either make it through the gate or you don’t

·      We can walk together. We can learn and grow together 

·      but the journey and the decisions are our own

Don’t get left behind

¹⁰“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹²“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

·      Don’t be late to the party

·      Don't miss the bus

·      Keep working on you

·      Keep pressing forward 

·      Remember this is a marathon 

·      That there are going to be a lot of hard days, bad days

·      That Jesus is not for the faint of heart

·      Set your expectations right

 

And remember what Paul said:

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 

 

Sermon Notes 10-9-2022

If Jesus was your pastor, would He be enough?

the Challenges of Church 

 

 

 Remember I said:

It is all our Jobs

Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

¹³For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 

 

·      It’s not the Pastor's Job

·      It’s all our Jobs

·      It’s time for believers in America to stop viewing the church in an unbiblical way

·      It’s time for believers to take an active role in kingdom work

·      It’s time for Believers to support and be mindful of the burden, baggage, and stress that a pastor carries 

·      And it is also everyone’s Job to understand the challenges the church faces today!

 

Problems facing the Church today

·      Pastors say:

·      Watered down Gospel preaching (people want more) (72%)

·      Poor discipleship models (63%)

·      Diminished influence of churches in the community (40%)

·      Church leader burnout or exhaustion (40%)

·      Culture’s shift to a secular age (66%)

·      Not able to reach a younger audience (56%)

·      Lack of a clear outreach focus (40%)

·      Failure to authentically disciple people (60%)

·      Uncertainty around digital ministry, including our internal and external communications (7%)

   

As we continue to look into what challenges the church has today, I want you to hold on to this:

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (NIV)

¹⁹Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 

²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 

²¹To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 

²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 

²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 

 

Here is what the latest research says are the top five things that are challenging the church and hindering the spreading of the Gospel: 

 

1) Digital Ministry Strategy

Churches are trying to figure out how to establish a digital ministry strategy that connects with people outside the church and outside the faith. At the same time, they also want to provide online experiences for people who are already connected to the church.

The biggest challenge? Churches are beginning to realize they need a new team to create content and experiences targeted specifically to an online audience. It’s one more example of how a change in strategy requires churches to also consider a change in structure.

·      In layman’s terms, we need people that understand social media

·      We need people to create content 

·      We need to constantly be looking at how we reach the lost and our own people

·      And it means you need to embrace change!

·      That’s right, it is going to take the church to not resist change

·      The number one church killer during Covid was the churches that were unwilling or unable to change! 

 

2) Family Ministry

Because churches are starting to recognize that reaching young adults is critical to the future of their ministries, more and more churches are beginning to prioritize ministry to these young families. They recognize that environments and experiences for kids (think newborn through elementary school) have to be phenomenal. More importantly, churches are trying to equip and partner with parents—both those parents who are single and those who are married. 

By the way, kids don’t drive themselves to church. So churches who want to reach kids for Jesus are prioritizing creating in-person and online experiences that their parents want to engage with. This is probably the number one priority of an effective ministry to kids.

·      Kids are our future; our youth are our future

·      We need families 

·      We need to think outside the box 

·      And it needs to be a priority

·      And the sad part is, we struggle to get folks to help on Sunday mornings

·      Again, as we grow, the folks that help and engage on Sunday morning also need to grow!

3) Discipleship Pathway

Churches are having difficulty creating a solid and simple discipleship path to help regular attendees and newcomers take the next steps in their walk with Christ.

Many churches have an overwhelming number of programs available, but no cohesive path that helps people learn which steps to take and when. Those churches that do have a clear track for spiritual formation, often don’t include a specific step to encourage relational evangelism. And that may be why the next “core issue” is trending.

Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

·      Pretty basic stuff, but many churches (including this church) have no real clear path

·      People want more, and they need more, but again look to your left and your right; it takes you to get involved 

·      It can’t be the 8 or 10 that are already stretched to the max

·      We can develop a plan and a pathway, but you have to be a part of a small group, host one, lead one, start one, do something

·      We are going to start a program called Saddle Up, to get people started down the right path, but it will take all of us to help grow disciples.  

4) Outreach Strategy

For many churches, their outreach strategy either involved serving in the community with the hope that the people who were being served would take the next step toward Jesus. Or, they hoped people would invite their friends to attend a worship service. We should serve people and continue to invite people to church, but churches are recognizing outreach needs to look different going forward. Today’s outreach is a three-prong approach.

·      First, you must recognize we all have a ministry, that God puts people in our path and that we are to be evangelizing (it’s not just the pastor’s job), reaching our circle of influence.

·      Next, we must be in the community! The mission field is not around the world; it is in our backyard! Haysville, Wichita, and the surrounding area have plenty of opportunities to make an impact in reaching people for Jesus.  

 

5) Communications

Churches often identify two challenges related to communications. First, they don’t have an intentional communications strategy to connect with the people they are trying to reach with digital communication. Secondly, they indicated there’s a communication gap internally with the people who are already a part of the church. 

·      The first goes back to issue one; there must be a team developed to create a strategy to not only get the content out but how to communicate with the people we reach. How do we follow up and help them find that discipleship path?

·      The second is creating a way for the church to communicate with each other, small groups, teams, and volunteers, events, etc. 

o   We also need a way for us as a church to communicate the needs of the church to the body.