Sermons About Cleansing
Can This Church Live?
WAKING THE DEAD "Can This Church Live?" Scripture: Matthew 21: 12-22 In what way was the Temple Church a "den of robbers?" 1. By cheating the poor. 2. By squeezing out the immigrants, women and children. 3. By exploiting people in the name of religion for profit. 4. By having empty forms of religion, but no Jesus. Jesus takes action to revive His Church! 1. He confronted the religious power systems and "unseated them" 2. He turned the tables on injustice. 3. He called for His church to be known as a House of Prayer for "all nations". 4. He created space in His church for safe places of ministry. 5. He protected the priority of spontaneous worship. What upset Jesus about the fig tree? (Verses 18-22) 1. The fig tree like the church was to hold out the promise of "spiritual fruit" to the world but what Jesus saw was a church (like the fig tree) appearing nice on the outside with lots of activity but no 'spiritual vitality'! 2. How does our personal temple need cleansing this morning?
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Cleaning House
Believers need to keep their lives and the church holy to God. There are many lessons to be learned from the story about Jesus cleaning house at the Temple. If we consider that God replaced the Temple with a new one in the New Testament, we get a different perspective on cleaning house today. We learn that Jesus always wants to keep God's Temple clean, even in our times.
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Jesus and the Temple
As Jesus finally makes his way into Jerusalem, he intentionally orchestrates a procession that fulfills the messianic prophecy of Zecheriah 9.9. Jesus wants to be clear about his identity and his mission, and the incident in the Temple serves to illustrate that he has come to be the final sacrifice, the end of the Temple system. The challenge for us 2000 years later is to remain fruitfully connected to Jesus as our Temple, a living faith in God that dynamically impacts our world.
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The Power of Story
Regardless if they are formally “gifted” in evangelism or not, all Christ-followers can be prepared to engage people in spiritual conversations and do what they can to point people toward faith in God. When conversations do take a spiritual turn, it is critical to know how to convey two stories with humility, clarity, and brevity: your own faith story, and God’s Good News story.
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e-Harmony
Redeeming Ruth Part 9 "eHarmony" Ruth 3:3 Harmony with God: 1. Starts with a cleansing that purifies. Spiritual cleansing involves a: 1. * Consciousness of our own depravity * Confession of our disobedience * Change in our direction * Celebration of our deliverance 2. Is sustained through a consecration that is personal. This anointing was used for: * Common purposes * Ceremonial practices 3. Is shown through clothing that is proper. Ruth's wardrobe contained garments for a: * Widow * Worker * Woman Likewise our wardrobe is changed from that of a: * Sinner to a Saint 4. Is set in motion through a certain procedure. This procedure involves: * Drawing near to your master * Doing what your master says
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