Kids: Rrr; How do cars wk/snd [Prop]? How get here? In ^u’stand? ~θ

[play, sounds] How do cars work? What do you see your parents do when they drive? Can you name all the parts that are in the engine? What do cars sound like? How did you get here, today? You mean, you got here today in a car, but you don’t know completely how cars work? That’s amazing! You’re not sure how cars work, and yet you trust them enough to get you here to church today. You know, God is like that. We don’t know how God does all the things that he does. And yet we can trust him completely. We don’t know how he made the universe and how we all got here, but we know that we’re here. We don’t know how he can hear your prayers and the prayers of kids in China at the same time, we don’t know how Jesus raised from the dead, we don’t know how God does a lot of stuff. And yet, we can still trust him to be perfectly good, to hear all our prayers, to protect us, to give life and food, and to help us to grow up to be strong believers in Jesus. He can do all that stuff, even stuff we don’t understand. We can trust God with absolutely everything.

Jay Johnson

Intro

Bap / DW

(Intro series)

Enjoy FDA, but → Ben/upbeat

I enjoyed our series on Fear, Doubt, & Anger. That may sound strange, but I enjoyed it. I also learned a lot, and I learned some things about myself that I really didn’t want to know, but I’m glad now to have learned it so that I can confess to the Lord what I need to confess and can begin submitting even more parts of my life to him, especially in the areas of what I fear, what I do with doubt, and why I sometimes get angry. But let’s face it, a series on Fear, Doubt, & Anger can also be a little depressing for a congregation. So, I left town and let Ben Byxbe clean up the mess. Actually, I’m very grateful to Ben for stepping in while I had a great time with my family celebrating my dad’s 80^th birthday. And now, after this series on FDA, we’re going to focus on something a little more upbeat – being blessed.

Hist: beat/rev/all; 88/145

At first, I was thinking of doing a series just on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 – blessed are the poor spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek. But then in our small group as we were going through the book of Revelation, we saw several statements of blessings in that book. So, I thought we would include Revelation. Then, I figured we might as well just scour the entire Bible for statements like “blessed is the one who” and see what we come up with. There are at least 88 times where the Bible says “blessed is the one who...” If you count all of the times in the narrative sections when one person calls another person blessed, the number jumps to 145.

Enjoy benies & more: blessed day

What I want to do with this series is just to sit back and enjoy the benefits of being blessed by God. To just revel in the reality of being a blessed people. And perhaps to realize how to live a life of more blessings than I have in the past. You’ve heard the nice lady at the store say, “Have a blessed day?” One of these days, I’m going to make the time to say, “Thank you for those kind words. Now, how exactly do you expect me to go out there and have a blessed day? What should I do?” In our series, I pray that we will have a much better idea of how to truly have a blessed day, and in fact, how to truly have a blessed life.

Logo: yoot? RE? Surprise on last;

The logo we’re using for this series is this semicolon, dash, and right parenthesis. OK, youth, what does this sequence of characters mean? [] If you’re not familiar with something called “emoticons” on the internet, they are series of characters that if you tilt your head just right and squint, they kind of look like various expressions – happy face, sad face, laughing face, clown face, and so on. And why would this be the logo for a series on being blessed? [open] This guy is winking, because he enjoys getting an inside joke. Being blessed is like getting an inside joke with God – a benefit of being in Christ. But also, this logo is going to have a surprise meaning during the last sermon in the series.

Title

Today, we’ll start at the beginning – blessed is the one who believes in him.

Intro word

[open]

What does it mean to be blessed? We like the idea of being blessed, but when the Bible calls someone blessed, what exactly are they saying about that person? I’m not asking how to become blessed; I’m asking what it means to be blessed? How do I know when I am blessed? [open]

Happy, fortunate

There is the element of being “happy” or “fortunate.” Some translations use the word “happy” instead of “blessed,” such as in the Beatitudes … “happy are the poor in spirit.” Or “fortunate” - not in terms of luck and chance, but in terms of having things go to your benefit. However, neither of these two terms are adequate – they are not wrong, but they are not enough.

Priv recip of divine favor; Joy RE partic in k’dom: (AOT false h’ness)

Perhaps the best way to describe being blessed is to say that the one who is blessed is someone who is the privileged recipient of divine favor – someone who has the privilege (that perhaps others don’t) to receive God’s favor, God’s benefit. Some scholars add that being blessed is the joy of participating somehow in the Kingdom of God – either the joy of being involved in God’s business or the joy of just experiencing the benefits of being in God’s Kingdom. Often, the passages that talk about being blessed compare blessedness to forms of false happiness.

Attr v. state: true RE

But it’s important to note that being blessed is more of an attribute than a state of being. The idea in the Bible does not describe some state of existence called “blessedness.” Rather, it’s an attribute that someone has, if even for a limited amount of time – kind of like being tall or being kind. Being blessed is not an emotion – it’s something that can be true about you.

Reader

Pray

I Don’t believe in Cars [prop]

Cars: despite, idol

I don’t believe in cars. Nope. I don’t believe in them one bit. I know lots of people believe in them, but I don’t. I don’t believe they exist. As far as I’m concerned, this is just an idol of something somebody just made up in their head.

Θ: < evid, ^want

That’s how some people feel about God. They don’t believe he exists at all. No matter what anyone else says, they don’t believe it. They don’t think they have enough evidence to suggest that God exists. Some just don’t want him to exist.

Psg Lk 10.21-24

Which brings us to our first passage. Please open your Bibles to Luke 10.

Context: 70 return, saw; Read

During Jesus’ ministry, he sent out 70 of his followers to heal the sick and preach about the Kingdom of God. They did, and they were amazed that God did such amazing things through them, and so they return to Jesus all excited about what they saw happen right before their very eyes, and through their own very hands. Read.

Eyes; ^great; θ chooses who rcvs which rev, pleased (21): (never << RE purps)

We could talk about a whole list of things from this passage, but I just one to focus on one thing here as it relates to being blessed. “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see.” Prophets and kings have wanted to see that they saw, but they never got to see it – evidence that the kingdom of God is at hand. And yet these people, not kings, not prophets, not great men and women by any means, they got to see with their own eyes that the Kingdom of God is beginning to infiltrate the kingdom of man.

God chooses who receives which revelation. God is totally sovereign, and he chooses what he’s going to reveal to whom. He reveals some things to these people, and different things to other people. And although it may not seem fair to us, he reveals more to some than to others. And blessed are those to whom he reveals more. In fact, v. 21 says that God was pleased to reveal this to the uncelebrated people of society. Do not forget, however, that God never reveals too little to anyone. For whatever purposes and expectations God may have on a group of people, he never reveals too little to anyone. He always reveals enough, and some are blessed even more because he reveals more to them – because he has a different purpose for them.

Blessed b/c: rcv AOT others, prophets+kings

And these people were blessed because they received a kind of revelation that others did not. Their friends and neighbors didn’t get to see what they saw. Prophets and kings of old did not get to see what they saw. They were blessed because God had revealed something to them.

Blessed: Blessed is the one who has been told who Christ is; not all, but all

RS. Not everyone in history has been told. Not everyone now on the face of the planet has been told. They have revelation from God on a lot of things, but not everyone has heard, yet. Those who have this kind of revelation from God are blessed. And yet, even those who have not yet been told who Christ is have been blessed by the fact that Christ has been revealed.

Car/Blessings: food, friends, mail, from hosp; chnging world, hist, matter

Think about the guy who doesn’t believe in cars. Even he is still blessed by the existence of cars, even if he doesn’t believe in them. How did the groceries get into his refrigerator? Somehow, some way, those groceries traveled by car or by truck. He can eat because cars exist. He is blessed when he can see his friends because they came over to his house by car. After he was born, how did he get home from the hospital? By car. Even those who don’t believe in cars are blessed by cars. The same is true for those who don’t believe in God – they are still blessed by the revelation of the Christ. The revelation of Jesus as the Christ is changing the world. The course of human history has been changed because he has been revealed, and the life-changing effect is felt by even those who have not yet heard of his name. In the name of Christ, people are trying to reach them with the Gospel, with literacy, with freedom from oppression, with food and clean water. Because Christ has been revealed, they matter.

Revelation → choice: eg. creation, Gospel, obligation

Once God has chosen to reveal himself, those who receive that revelation have a choice to make. If God has revealed himself to people through his creation, they have a choice to make on how to respond to that revelation. If he has revealed the Gospel to another group of people, they have a choice to make on how to respond to that level of revelation. Those who receive God’s revelation have an obligation to share that revelation with others.

I believe in Cars – I just Don’t Trust Them

Cars: exist, attrs, designed, but

OK, so now I believe in cars – I just don’t trust them. I believe they exist. I’ve seen them. I’ve touched them. I see that they get people from one place to another. They exist – they are there. They have certain attributes – shiny, heavy, loud. Clearly, they were designed by some very intelligent people. But I don’t trust them. I don’t trust them enough to get into one.

θ/JC: trust selves>; ^lord/savior

That’s how some people are with God. They believe he exists, but they don’t put their trust in him. They trust in themselves more than they trust in him. Or with Jesus. They believe he walked the earth some 2000 years ago, they liked most of what he had to say, they think he was a really good guy. But they don’t trust him as their lord – the sovereign one over their lives. They don’t trust him as their savior – the one who paid for their sin so that they might receive eternal life as a free gift.

Psg Mt 13.10-17

Turn back with me to Matthew 13.

Context: parable of sower, tween telling & splaining; only some asked; Read

Jesus has just given the parable of the sower – a sower went out to sow seeds, and some of the seed fell upon rocky soil, and so on. The parable describes different kinds of soils and that different soils responded differently to the same seeds that were sown. No one there understood what the parable meant. Later that night, a smaller group of people came up to Jesus and asked him to explain the parable. This passage is what Jesus says between telling the parable and explaining the parable – what he says to those who asked for an explanation. Read.

JC revealed > to askers only: blv + willing to trust

Jesus revealed the parable to everyone, but he revealed the explanation only to those who asked, only to those who came to him, believing in him and willing to trust in him with whatever he would have to say. Again, he chooses who gets what revelation, and in this case, he chooses to give it only to those who are willing to trust what he has to say.

Blessed b/c: rvl, trust enuf to ask more; AOT others, prophets+saints

And Jesus calls them “blessed.” Blessed because they were about to get more revelation. Blessed because they trusted him enough to ask for more. They were about to be blessed more than the other people who were there that day but didn’t bother to ask. They were about to be blessed more than the prophets and saints of old who weren’t there, to whom God did not even reveal the parable.

Blessed: Blessed is the one who believes in who X is; revealer, trust ~X, give treas

RS. They believed that he was the giver of heavenly wisdom, the revealer of the secrets of the Kingdom of God. They were beginning to trust in him as the Christ. Blessed are those who not only believe that Jesus exists, but that he is the Christ, who begin to trust him as the Christ. He will give them the treasures of heaven as a blessing when they trust him as the Christ.

Car/Blessings: ambulance, trust I’m here?; carry, grace, can’t deny chgs

Think of the man who doesn’t trust cars. He believes they exist, but he doesn’t trust them. He’s blessed by their existence, but there’s plenty of blessing that he’s not getting because he doesn’t trust them. But even if he doesn’t trust them, when he’s being taken to the hospital in an ambulance after a car wreck, whether he trusts them or not, he is blessed by them. Do you trust that I am here? If you didn’t trust cars, you still cannot deny the fact that I’m here, and I came here by car. The same is true with Jesus. There are some who believe he existed, but don’t trust him. And yet he is still the one carrying them like an ambulance, giving them enough grace and time to believe in him. They deny Jesus is Lord, and yet they cannot deny that we have been changed from who we were to who we are now, and who we are becoming. They cannot deny that I once lived only for myself, but now I’m growing more and more in the art of living for God and living for others. They can’t deny that God has used his Gospel and the church to change the face of the planet, overwhelmingly for the good.

I Trust in Cars Only as Much as I Understand Them

Cars:

Grasp: blueprints vs. testim, []; only as far as I can grasp / throw them intell’ly

Need more evid: ^trust until can explain

Never going anywhere until / Limited by passenger: if ^u’stand [, stblt]; 200K

OK, so now I believe in cars, and I even trust in cars. But I trust in cars only as much as I understand them. Some people have told me about how reliable cars can be, but give me the blueprints. Show me how the engine works. Show me how the exhaust system works. Show me how fuel injection works. Show me how the brakes work. Because I’m not getting in that death trap until I understand how it works. I don’t care how many miles you’ve driven, I won’t trust this contraption until I can explain it. In other words, I will trust this car only as far as I can grasp how it works. I will trust this car only as far as I can throw it intellectually, so to speak. I need more evidence than that is already available. As a result, I’m never going anywhere in this car until I comprehend it. So … the distance I can travel in this car is limited by the passenger (me), not the car itself. The car may be able to go 200,000 miles, but it’s only really going to go as far as I understand it. And if I don’t understand the brakes and the fuel system and the exhaust system and how to get the stupid seatbelt to unlock when I most need to reach forward, I’m not going anywhere.

JC: RV; miracle/hypostat

And the same is true with some people about Jesus. They believe in him, they even trust him. But they only trust him as far as they can understand him. They need the blueprints to God before they trust him. They trust God only as far as they can throw him intellectually, so to speak. They need more evidence than what’s already been provided. And as a result, they are not going very far with God. They are limited in how far they can travel by the passenger, not the vehicle (God). If I don’t understand miracles or explain how Jesus can be both fully God and fully man, I’m staying put right here. I won’t go anywhere.

Psg Jn 20.24-29

Turn now with me to John 20.

Context: post-res, Thomas ^@1^st; nuh; wanted blueprints; Read

This passage takes place after Jesus has been raised from the dead. He already appeared to the disciples once, but Thomas was not present. Later, Thomas shows up, and the disciples tell him that Jesus was just there, and Thomas says, “Nuh uhhh.” He wasn’t going to believe on their testimony, no matter how reliable. He wanted the blueprints. Read.

Thom ^criticized; invited

Notice that Jesus does not criticize Thomas. In fact, Jesus invites Thomas to get the blueprints, to get the more evidence that he demanded.

Blessed b/c: touch AOT ^see, demandingness (but never blind faith, rev’s enuf)

But Jesus does pronounce a blessing on those who will believe without that kind of demandingness. Thomas was blessed, because he got to see the risen Christ and even touch the wound, but Jesus says there are those who are more blessed than that. “Blessed are those who will believe without demanding me to show myself more than I have.” Jesus never advocates a blind faith – believing for no good reason. But he’s given them enough evidence already, and Thomas demanded more. The revelation he had given was enough. Blessed are those who will believe without the demandingness. Thomas is not faulted, but others will be blessed more than he.

Blessed: Blessed is the one who accepts who Christ is; ^make prove++

RS. Blessed is the one who takes Christ for who he is, who let’s Christ be Christ and not make demands that he prove himself even more before he gets the “privilege” of me believing in him. Blessed is the one who sees that there is already more than enough evidence to believe.

Car/Blssngs: to have, but ^go>>, ^acc as is; salv/r’ship, but ^go into mystery, ^ctrl

The guy who only trusted cars as far as he could understand them is blessed, like Thomas. He has a car. And the more the car is proven to his own personal demandingness, the more benefit he’ll get out of it. But this man will never go in that car beyond his own understanding. He’s not accepting the car for what it is, only for what he understands it to be . There are those who trust Jesus and have salvation and a real relationship with him. They are blessed, like Thomas. But they will not go beyond their own ability to understand him. They do not accept him for who he is, but for who they understand him to be. They will never go into the mystery of the Christian life, because they won’t go where they don’t understand. They want to maintain some level of control over what Jesus does with their lives and where Jesus takes them. They must see the scars before they will take another step. Blessed are those who let Jesus take them beyond where they can understand.

I Trust in Cars to Take Me Places I Can’t Get to by Myself

Cars: ^insist

Now I believe in cars, I trust in cars, and I trust in cars beyond my ability to understand them. RS. I don’t insist on understanding fuel injection before I allow fuel injection to take to places I cannot get to on foot.

JC: into mystery

The same is true with Jesus. We can trust him beyond our ability to understand him. When we know from Scripture how we should respond in a situation, but we don’t understand what God is doing, we can still trust what he said in his Word and let him take us into the mystery. We can trust him to take us to places we cannot get to on our own.

Psg Mt 16.13-20

Turn with me now to Matt 16.

Context: rev of X, tween warned RE Phar’s hardheart & 1^st predict; Read

This is the great passage where Peter finally blurts out who Jesus really is. This is just after Jesus warned his disciples about the hardheartedness of the Pharisees and just before the very first time in Matthew that Jesus predicts that he will be killed and will raise again on the third day. Read.

Beyond his cap, RE messianic ID

What Peter understood was something that was beyond his capacity to come up with on his own. This was not a conclusion that Peter thought real hard about and figured out by himself. It was revealed to him by God, and it was a thought that was far beyond the mental constructs they had going in. And the content of the revelation was not about who was going to win the Chiefs game today, but out the identity of the Messiah

Blessed b/c: rev by G, go beyond (name, fut) (+>> w/>t) AOT stop @rt theo

And Jesus calls Peter “blessed” because Peter got this amazing revelation from God. But Jesus doesn’t stop there, does he? He goes beyond the blessing of having the identity of the Messiah revealed. Based on this belief in who Jesus is, Jesus gives Peter his new name (“Peter” instead of his given name of “Simon” - his new name means “rock”). But more than a new name, he envisions an amazing future for Peter and those like him. Because of his belief in who Jesus is, Peter and his companions are going to become the foundation of a worldwide movement for Christ – a movement that we are caught up in some 2000 years later. Furthermore, as Peter’s faith in who the Christ is grows even deeper, the further Jesus is going to take Peter into that mystery of serving the Gospel in ways far beyond his own capacity. Jesus did not stop with Peter at just getting his theology right. He foresaw that based on Peter’s belief in who Jesus is, that he would take Peter places far beyond his own ability.

Blessed: Blessed is the one who lives trusting that J=X; life <> sense if JC <> X

RS. Not just blessing for believing, but blessing for living it out – living in such a way that banks the fact that Jesus is the Christ. Peter lived a life that made no sense if Jesus was not the Christ. Blessed is the one who lives a life that makes no sense at all if Jesus is not the Christ.

Cars/Blessings: trust beyond → go beyond, ^limited by passenger; ditto

The guy who trusts cars even beyond his ability to understand is the one who will be taken by his car to places he can’t get to on his own. He will go beyond because he trusts beyond. He is blessed because he is not limited by the passenger in the car – he is only limited by the car itself. And the same is true for those who are willing to believe in Christ beyond what they can understand or comprehend. Blessed are those who don’t demand to fully understand before they are willing to trust Christ, the ones who trust beyond their understanding, because Jesus will take them places beyond their ability. They are blessed because they are not limited by the passenger; they are only limited by the vehicle, and in this case, the vehicle has no limits.

The Truth About Cars

Cars exist: no bearing

Cars are trustworthy enough to go for a ride: belief + trust

Cars work whether or not I u’stand how: should learn

The only way I can go places beyond my comp is to trust car to take me there

Who believes in cars more? Only studies blueprints v. on the hiway (^insist)

Let me tell you the truth about cars. Cars exist. No matter if I believe in them or not, they exist. My belief in their existence has no bearing on their actual existence. Secondly, cars are trustworthy enough for me to go for a ride. In other words, not only can I believe they exist, but I can trust them enough to get inside and go somewhere. Cars work whether or not I understand how. I should a lot about how cars work, but their abilities are not limited by my understanding. But the only way that I can go places beyond my comprehension is to trust the car to take me there. Let me ask it this way: Who trust in cars more – the one who only studies the blueprints and manuals or the one who is in the car zooming down the highway – with some knowledge of how cars work, but doesn’t insist on understanding every part before getting in?

RE JC: exist, trustworthy, can work, only way, who blvs >?

The same is true of Christ. Jesus exists, no matter what I believe. My belief in his existence has no bearing on whether or not he exists. Furthermore, he is trustworthy enough to put my life in his hands. In other words, no only can I believe that he exists, but I can trust him with my entire life. Jesus can work in my life whether or not I understand how. I should certainly learn as much as a can about who he is, what he is like, and how he operates – you know how I am about learning and studying – but he can do far greater things in my life than I can understand. And the only way that I can go places beyond my comprehension is to trust Jesus to take me there. The only way I will get into the real mystery of the Christian life – that part of the Christian life that my brain isn’t smart enough to grasp – is to trust Jesus to take me into the mystery. Let me ask it this way: Who trust Jesus more – the one who only studies all the blueprints and manuals or the the one who is trusting in him zooming down the highway?

CR

Blessed!

B/c rev rcv’d: ^all get same, θ’s fiat, obligation

We are blessed! We are blessed because we have received revelation from God about Jesus – we know who he is and what his plan is. Not everyone has as much revelation as we do, and it is by God’s sovereign that we have received this much. And, of course, that gives us an obligation to share that revelation with others.

B/c blving on the rev

We are also blessed because we believe on the revelation, and the more we trust in it, the more blessed we will be.

Egs

R’ship, salvation, G’s plan

Not fighting doubts, modernity, demandingness, hesitations, selves

Settled → move beyond

Fullness of Xn exper

Of course, there’s the blessing of salvation and having a relationship with God through Christ – that’s a tremendous blessing that comes from faith. But also we are blessed by believing because the more we believe, the less we fight our own doubts and that internal struggle. The more we believe, the less we are trapped by the modern mindset that doesn’t accept anything that can’t be explained by natural laws. The more we believe the less we are encumbered by a demandingness that God show us even more revelation because we give him the “privilege” of our faith. The more we believe the less hesitations we will have in the Christian life and in living for him. The more we believe, the less we will be stuck in life trying to serve ourselves and our own pride and our own lusts. We are blessed if we believe because God’s truth becomes more settled in our own minds and we can move beyond trying to convince ourselves over and over again that it’s true. We are blessed if we believe because only in faith can we have the fullness of the Christian experience – to experience all that there is available to us in the Christian life.

RE Doubt

Less doubt → more enjoy blessings

Use doubt ~ invite (~Tom)

A couple of weeks ago we talked about doubt. The less doubt we struggle with, the more we get to enjoy the blessings of faith. All the more reason to use our doubts as an invitation to find out that there are greater reasons to believe than we ever imagined. Just like the Apostle Thomas. He’s not the perfect example, but he did take his doubt as an invitation to find out more, and he was then able to go forward in faith and experience the fullness of the Christian life.

Eg. Bible says

Be honest:trust can take u into mystery, blessed RU

Father hears prayer

Gospel can chg lives:

Hubbys love wives ~

>blessed to give

G hold life in hand

For example, the Bible says to be honest. When lying would seem more expedient and we don’t understand why God allowed us to get into some mess, to trust beyond our understanding and just walk forward in total honesty and let Jesus take us into the mystery. Blessed are you who trust Jesus enough to always tell the truth! The Bible says that the Father hears our prayers, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Trust what Jesus says and pray in faith that he’s listening, and let Jesus take you into the mystery of prayer. Blessed are you! The Bible says that the Gospel can change lives, when we know that we’re not very convincing. Trust God’s Word and share what you know of it, and let Jesus take you into the mystery of the mission of God. Blessed are you! The Bible tells husbands to love their lives as Christ loves the Church – sacrificially. Trust Jesus and let him take you into the mystery of a truly strong marriage. Blessed are you! The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive, when we know that giving means I have less for me. Trust Jesus to the mystery of receiving by giving. Blessed are you! The Bible says that God holds your life in his hand, even though it seems at times like it’s all up to me. Trust Jesus by giving your entire life to him and to his service, and let him take you into the mystery of him living his life through you. Blessed are you!

We cannot go to any of these places unless we trust → blessed 1 who lives...

We cannot go to any of these places unless we trust that Jesus can take us there … into the mystery. Blessed is the one who lives trusting that Jesus is the Christ.

Concl

Insert

EV: 1^st step of faith = put full weight of your eternal destiny into his hands → myst

Col 1.28
We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.

Order

1. Praise and Worship

2. Welcome/Announcements – Tim

3. Song – Open the Eyes of My Heart

4. Song – Blessed be Your Name

5. Children’s Time – Colby

6. Missionary – Jay Johnson

7. Scripture Reading - Mike

8. Sermon -  Colby