Hymns 65, 385, 683, 122, 358, 53
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus said to his disciples: "things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.
If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says 'I repent", forgive him.
The apostles said to the Lord, "increase our faith"!
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; and after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were old to do, should say, "we are unworthy servants; we have only done or duty.'"
Sermon Notes
People often think faith can be measured out.
Temptations are sure to come, there is no end to them.
But for those who would bring temptation....it is better for them to die than to lead a child of Christ to sin.
Mutual accountability is called for here. To repent if you did something wrong, but also to call people to account for their actions. But we are also called to forgive every time they repent.
Look to how often God forgives me. This should be my altitude as well. To forgive this way.
The disciples response to this was to say "increase our faith.". They looked at faith as a quantity. If we have more then we can do this.
Jesus response was..faith that is so very very small is enough. Mustard seed faith is sufficient.
This faith is simply trusting God. Just to trust that God is enough.
If we don't than what we actually is no faith.
Whoa....that's a huge statement. Not trusting God is a show of no faith. Makes logical sense though. I need to ponder on this abit.
The story of the servant seems disconnected. The servants' duty is to serve the master. He is just to do his job. So we are like the servant with God. We are simply to do what we are to do. God doesn't owe us anything extra.
The question put to us is....Do you trust God?
The only alternative is to not trust God.
Expecting that we can have more faith is like a servant asking for more. It is like wanting God to owe us something because we have "more" faith. All we can come do is just have faith. Just to trust. There is no more or less, it just is or isn't what it is or hasn't been.
We are just to do our duty and just trust God. That is our job. To trust God and do what he wants us to.
Do you truly trust him whether you get your own way or not? Are there areas of your life that you are truly not trusting God? Those are areas that we can beseech God to forgive your unbelief.
Help us Lord to truly trust in you.
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus said to his disciples: "things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.
If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says 'I repent", forgive him.
The apostles said to the Lord, "increase our faith"!
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; and after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were old to do, should say, "we are unworthy servants; we have only done or duty.'"
Sermon Notes
People often think faith can be measured out.
Temptations are sure to come, there is no end to them.
But for those who would bring temptation....it is better for them to die than to lead a child of Christ to sin.
Mutual accountability is called for here. To repent if you did something wrong, but also to call people to account for their actions. But we are also called to forgive every time they repent.
Look to how often God forgives me. This should be my altitude as well. To forgive this way.
The disciples response to this was to say "increase our faith.". They looked at faith as a quantity. If we have more then we can do this.
Jesus response was..faith that is so very very small is enough. Mustard seed faith is sufficient.
This faith is simply trusting God. Just to trust that God is enough.
If we don't than what we actually is no faith.
Whoa....that's a huge statement. Not trusting God is a show of no faith. Makes logical sense though. I need to ponder on this abit.
The story of the servant seems disconnected. The servants' duty is to serve the master. He is just to do his job. So we are like the servant with God. We are simply to do what we are to do. God doesn't owe us anything extra.
The question put to us is....Do you trust God?
The only alternative is to not trust God.
Expecting that we can have more faith is like a servant asking for more. It is like wanting God to owe us something because we have "more" faith. All we can come do is just have faith. Just to trust. There is no more or less, it just is or isn't what it is or hasn't been.
We are just to do our duty and just trust God. That is our job. To trust God and do what he wants us to.
Do you truly trust him whether you get your own way or not? Are there areas of your life that you are truly not trusting God? Those are areas that we can beseech God to forgive your unbelief.
Help us Lord to truly trust in you.
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