2-11-2018 - Facing Rejection
Strenght in Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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· 14 viewsChrist is our strength that allows us to be witnesses, even in rejection
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Thesis: How you respond to rejection may make the difference between a soul lost or won.
Thesis: How you respond to rejection may make the difference between a soul lost or won.
For Kids:
Me
Years when Valentine's Day was a day of rejection
Years when Valentine's Day was a day of rejection
Broken-hearted
Breaking hearts
Love is possible and it is real
And that creates a lot of opportunities for real as well when love is rejected
We
While romance is not the primary kind of love we deal with as church family, we still face rejection of the holy love we seek to share with everyone.
While romance is not the primary kind of love we deal with as church family, we still face rejection of the holy love we seek to share with everyone.
How do we face rejection as disciples of Jesus?
How do we face rejection as disciples of Jesus?
God
Scripture
Jesus predicted we would all face rejection
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
The world hated Jesus first
The world hated Jesus first
The world hated Jesus first
We servants are not greater than our master
They don't know God
Even though many have been blessed by Him
Ultimately they hate without reason
It does not help to try to find a reason
Paul explains that rejection is not the problem
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Imago Dei
Imago Dei
Veiled
Covered up
Blinded
Color blind
They see but don't understand what they are seeing
How do you make someone hungry for something they've never had before?
Not a question of reason, but of desire
Christ
Christ
Lord
We serve Him not use Him
Light
His light shines out of us
Out from behind the veil
Then at last the questions begin
You
How will you face rejection?
Will you allow the light of Christ shine through you in the way you handle rejection?
Will you look toward the long term relationship instead of the short term act of love?
We
There's no trick to love
There's no trick to love
Got gave the ultimate expression of love and people reject him every day.
We have been guilty of rejecting him ourselves.
Sometimes people take a long time before they are ready to receive that love.
However, there are many times as well when the person who sees Christ in us is not the one we are aiming our love at
Your witness of rejection may shine the light of Christ into the life of an outside onlooker, maybe someone you're not even aware.
Those mysterious ways in which God works often come down to the fact that He simply see so much more than us and that we fail to see anything we're not looking at.
Those mysterious ways in which God works often come down to the fact that He simply see so much more than us and that we fail to see anything we're not looking at.
God is good all the time
All the time God is good
And we are called to reflect His image
We were created in his image
And that image is love
Patient, kind, forgiving, persevering, selfless, perfect love