Sermon Tone Analysis

HEART BEHIND THE HABIT

IMAGE//INTRO:

Who loves thanksgiving?

What is your favorite part?

(Take answers)

Thanksgiving is always pretty memorable in my family.

We have a large family, I have 3 older sisters and an older brother and all of us have children.

There are a total of 21 nieces and nephews between the 5 of us.

Now, not everyone can always make it but it’s not uncommon for us to have 30-35 people at our Thanksgiving and that is just my brothers and sisters, no cousins or anything.

Well this past year will always be significant, because its the last time I had a real conversation with my dad.

His diabetes was causing him to have seizures, he couldn’t feel his feet so he kept falling, he hit his head a few times and had bleeding on his brain...just really bad stuff.

And he no longer looked like my dad.

He was old and frail.

He was 69 years old at the time, I’m 34.

I realized that I had as much time as I have already had on earth before I am his age, and if i didn’t change, I was walking the same path that lead him to that debilitated state.

The next morning I woke up and cooked 2.5 pounds of bacon.

I had been researching and thinking about starting an eating plan or diet for about 2 years and that morning I made up my mind to just try it out...you know, see what happens.

And it has worked out well, I’ve lost over 60 pounds in 104 days (yes, I counted) that is less than 4 months.

I feel better than I have in years.

And because it has worked so well for me I have decided to impose my dietary restrictions on each of you.

You see gluttony is a sin, and I want to keep you far far away from sinning.

So please turn your attention to the screen and I will now show you what you are no longer permitted to eat.

[FOOD PICTURES, CALL OUT AS THEY APPEAR]

Rice

Tortillas

Chips

Donuts

Cake

Ice cream

You get the idea...If I catch you or even hear about you eating more than 20 carbs a day or eating anything with complex carbs you will be judged harshly, by me...and oh by the way, I also intermittent fast so you are not allowed to eat between the hours of 7pm - 11am daily.

Sound good?

Now why wouldn’t that work?

Because I don’t have any authority over your diet.

(POSSIBLE ‘FRIENDS’ CLIP HERE?)

It reminds me of a few phrases: you’re not the boss of me…you’re not my real mom…you’re not my real dad…

It reminds me of a few phrases: you’re not the boss of me…you’re not my real mom…you’re not my real dad…

How many of you have thought about saying one of those to someone…how many of you actually said it out loud? How many of you have said that out loud and the object of your frustration actually heard you?

Probably did not go well for you that day.

Why do we do what is right?

Are we submitting to His authority or just trying to keep from making Him mad at us?

Is it because we want to obey and honor God, or is it because we want something from Him in return?

How do we know the difference?

Tonight we are continuing our study of Mark.

Mark starts - “The beginning of the Gospel”

Jesus first words- “The time has come, repent and believe”

Jesus calls - “follow me and become like me, I’ll make you fishers of people in a world of calamity”

Jesus shows - “power demonstrated of the inbreaking kingdom.

Demons, Mothers, and Lepors”

Jesus explains - that our real problem is sin “Man of a mat with a desperate faith.

The most fundamental problem is the one of sin”

Last week we talked about what?

Who remembers?

Jesus is a friend of sinners.

Pastor Drey’s big idea was that there are people in our lives that we don’t like and don’t want to be around but Jesus loves those people and we should too.

We should NOT participate in their destructive and/or dangerous behavior…but we should love them.

Tonight:

We are going to read a passage with three different parts or episodes.

And they all have to do with the issue of Jesus’ authority and His mission.

We are going to see Jesus’ concern for people and His questionable interpretations of the law.

By all accounts it looks as if Jesus has broken the law…and the pharisees don’t like it, we will see them go from being annoyed to full out scheming to murder Jesus…thats right…we are still in and Jesus is already being plotted against…they’re out for blood.

I want to read the passage and then we will dive in.

Fasting:

The first issue is fasting or lack thereof.

John the baptist’s disciples were fasting but Jesus’ disciples were not.

I think the point they are trying to make is that Jesus talks a big game but His disciples don’t even disciple the right way.

The truth is, ritual fasting was not required by the law except for the day of atonement and certain festivals.

Fasting was sometimes seen as a way to seek God’s blessing or a response to great mourning but the way the Pharisees fasted was to flex their religious muscles, they were better than you and they wanted you to know it.

The Pharisees made up a bunch of extra rules to help them keep God’s law…we’ll get back to that but it’s important to note that they are accusing Jesus of violating their traditions at this point.

And Jesus won’t play their game.

There is not a person who has ever lived that knows the law better than Jesus does.

And Jesus is just brilliant in His response.

Weddings were like a week long party in that culture and no one would even think of fasting, you don’t fast at a party!

(Story of Noah riding his bike and me not eating cake - he was sad because I was present but I did not join in the celebration)

Jesus reminds the pharisees that John the baptist is in jail.

He has been taken from his disciples, maybe their fasting was because of mourning or to intercede for John.

Basically Jesus says they (His disciples) aren’t fasting because I am still with them…their time for fasting will come but it is not here yet.

He hints at His future…

Then He gives a few examples.

You don’t mend old cloths with new cloths.

All that accomplishes is making sure that both are ruined.

One is already messed up and you just cut a hole in you new shirt to patch your old one…makes no sense.

In the same way you wouldn’t ferment new wine in an old wine skin.

Both of these examples were obvious to His audience.

His point was that something new has begun and your old way of doing things won’t work.

Sabbath eating:

The next section we see our boys rolling through a field and having a snack on the way.

What’s the problem?

(Briefly explain process of rolling the wheat and chaff falling off) Is that work?

The question that is raised in the text is whether or not it is lawful, doesn’t really matter if it is ‘work’ or not, is it lawful.

What’s the problem?

(Briefly explain process of rolling the wheat and chaff falling off) Is that work?

The truth is, it doesn’t really matter, the Pharisees didn’t really care, they just want to trap Jesus.

What the disciples were doing was eating because they were hungry.

Should this simple act be considered harvesting?

I don’t know.

But what I do know is that God’s whole purpose for the Sabbath was to show the whole world that God’s people didn’t need to work everyday in order to flourish - He would sustain them, He would give them all they needed if they would just stop working one day a week and trust Him!

It also gives them a whole day to reflect on their God and worship Him without worrying about all the day-to-day stresses of life.

The Sabbath is Saturday BTW...but that is a whole other discussion.

Then Jesus brings up Israel’s hero, the great and mighty king David.

David broke God’s law by consuming the bread meant for the priests and oh by the way, the Priest is the one who gave it to him to eat!