Becoming like Christ for the sake of others

Luke 6:12-26

Jeff Tacklind’s message on Luke 6:12-26

Sermon Notes:

THE TWO FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF HUMANITY:
1.What is the good life?
2.Who are the good people?

PROVERBS ON POVERTY

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD,
and he will repay him for his deed. Prov. 19:17

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Prov. 14:31

Whoever gives to the poor will not want,
but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. Prov. 28:27

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor. Prov. 22:9

“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

What is it you’re longing for?  Do you trust that God knows and understands your needs?  What is God shaping in you during this time of waiting, or hunger, or loss?

Where have you grown too satisfied and content?  How have you let temporary satisfaction keep you from striving for God’s eternal kingdom? Where is God asking you to invest?

How do my actions seek the applause and attention of others instead of God?  Where do I need to find a more single minded focus?

What in your life do you refuse to let go of control over?  What areas are off limits to God?  How might you trust God with the desires of your heart?