Your Story

Germiko Hill

Back to the Basics - 101 • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

1 Peter 3:15

Matthew 19:22–30

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Introduction

Propaganda I Am Second Video

We are back again for another night in our Back to Basics series.

And tonight we’re going to be talking about your story. Before we jump into this I want to ask you, what is your favourite story of all time? Like whats the book or movie that you can watch over and over again because it’s such a good story?

Well for me it’s a movie series called Band of Brothers. It is an incredible story set in World War 1 about this platoon of soldiers who really come together as brothers as they fight against evil forces during that time. And to be honest I think the part of this story that I love the most is learning about who the characters are. You see these were real men who believed in what they were doing and did their absolute best to protect each other and to fight for what they believed was right. They came together as brothers. Even if it would take them half way around the world away from their family and friends. Into places that were hostile and unfamiliar to them. All to do what they believed was right. And at the end of the movie we get to meet the actual men whose life was portrayed in this show.

And after watching something like that it gets you thinking. How do these men feel about their story. And something like this gets me thinking about my story. Like when I get old, well older, and look back on my life will I be proud of what I’ve done. Will I be pleased with how I spent my time and what I did with my talents and resources. And as a believer in Jesus I’m compelled to look at my life through the lens of Jesus and to determine if I’ve done what measures up to what I know about how the Bible tells me to live.

And so we’re going to spend a few minutes looking at a parable from Jesus about a guy and his story. We’re going to look at Matthew 19:16-26. It says, “16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” the man asked.

And Jesus replied: “ ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’*”

20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”

21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

25 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.””

I really like this story between the Rich Young Ruler and Jesus. We get a story about this guy who has everything, in terms of material possessions and for all intents and purposes is living a good life, and he is really asking Jesus how can he be certain that he will be able to get to heaven? It’s a common question that I think almost everyone asks themselves at some point. And Jesus gives him some pretty amazing answers for him to consider in how he crafts his story, his life. He tells him firstly that he’ll need to follow the rules put in place in the bible; don’t murder anyone, don’t lie, don’t steal, etc. And the guy is like, yup I got that down, I’m good. And so he asks Jesus another question. He must’ve known that Jesus wasn’t done yet for some reason. And Jesus next response rattles this guy. He tells him that he has to sell everything and give it away to the poor. You see what is really happening is that Jesus told him that he will need to let go of everything that he holds in high regard and to follow him. This guy was really having his money, his possessions as the Lord of his life. Those were the things that were most important to him. And Jesus told him that if he was serious he’d need to give it up.

So I think there are a few things from this story that would be helpful for each of us as we consider our story and what we would want it to look like.

1. Accept Jesus and follow God’s word.

The first thing that I notice in this passage is that there is an immediate understanding that following God is the key to a life worth living. Like he doesn’t start by asking now who or what should I follow. He knows that following God is the way and what he is looking for is some specific advice or rather he’s looking for Jesus to tell him what he wants to hear.

But he knows that it is through God that he’ll be able to get what he’s looking for.

You see we are told many times in the bible that Jesus is the only way to God. Salvation is through Jesus.

Matthew 16:24-26 says, “24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?* Is anything worth more than your soul?”

Jesus has give his disciples and us this specific recipe that we need to follow in order to be saved, to be his follower. He says that we need to choose him first. To give up those things that we hold as most important. Which could be anything; sports, pride, a person, and the list goes on. He says you need to be willing to give those up to follow Him.

2. We need to figure out what we might be holding onto.

And in order to do that we have to figure out what we are holding onto right? Like its not always super obvious even to us. I don’t know about you but as I read this story about the Rich Young ruler I don’t get a sense that he knew right away that his possessions were the most important thing in his life. It wasn’t until Jesus told him that he needed to give them up that he realized that this was his reality.

Matthew 6:33 tells us, “33 Seek the Kingdom of God* above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

Now this verse is coming right after a Jesus telling them that they don’t need to worry about some of these basic things that we worry about. But instead seek God first before everything else and he will give you what you need. And I think this principle hold true in this situation we are talking about. If we want to follow Jesus, and we know this is what we need for our life, then we need to seek him first. We need to make that a priority in our lives.

And so I think for each of us we need to take some time to figure out what we might be putting in front of Jesus. What we are making more important. Is there something that you seek first in your life instead of seeking Jesus first. That’s a question that each of us needs to ask.

Then we need to think about what are maybe some things that we need to do in order to make Jesus first. I think things like spending time in God’s word, in your quiet times. Praying, being at a place like Youth Group and coming to church are all good ways to help you to make Jesus first. To direct your life toward knowing more about God and letting him guide your life.

3. We determine our story by our choices.

And as we continue in our story we see how the Rich Young ruler responds to how Jesus’ answers his question. Jesus says that in order to have eternal life you must sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Jesus knows the condition of this mans heart and is asking him to make a choice. If he wants to be a follow of Jesus he needs to be willing to do this drastic thing in his life to follow him.

You see his story is determined by the choices that he’s made. This story would be different if he said you know what Jesus I’ll sell it all because I know that a life with you is better than having all this stuff. But instead he chose the stuff over following Jesus.

Again, we are in that same boat. We need to figure out what we are holding tightly onto, that is most important to us, and we need to be willing to give that up if Jesus asks us to. We need to be able to say yes God I’ll do whatever it takes to follow you because I know that you are the best thing for my life.

And even as I say that I know it’s not an easy thing, right. It’s not easy giving something up that we might like or might hold as super important. In our story the disciples understood that this was a hard thing to do. So they ask Jesus so who then can be saved. And I think God knows that these decisions that we face are difficult and so he give us help. Jesus says that these things are impossible for humans but not impossible for God. What he’s saying is that we need to rely on God. We need to ask God for this help. To ask him for guidance. To ask him to help root out of us anything that take our focus off of him.

4. Be willing to share our stories.

And as we do that I think there is one more thing thats important for us to consider. We need to be willing to share with others what God’s done in our lives. What he’s brought us through. What he’s saved us from.

1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

This is really your testimony. Your own personal talk about how Jesus has changed your life. How he’s stepped into your story and saved you.

You know there might be people around who are searching and looking for a saviour and might just need to hear how God has changed your life. This could help them to understand that Jesus is real. That he loves them, that he wants them to say yes to him.

Have you considered your testimony? What should be in it? If your here and you’ve not followed Jesus yet? What is stopping you? What is holding you back from starting your testimony of how Jesus has changed your life?