Sermon Notes | Sunday, September 10th, 2023

The Fruit of Family | Tension & Victory
Pastor Chris Pletcher

Mark 3:1-6
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

JESUS CAME TO RESTORE THE BROKEN AND WITHERED PARTS OF OUR LIVES.

John 10:7-11
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Do you see the tension? Someone is trying to SAVE you from someone else who is trying to KILL you.

JESUS CAME TO SAVE YOUR LIFE.

1 John 3:4-8
You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Mark 3:6
The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

The collision of two worlds. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and at the same time, the devil was trying to destroy Him.

Ephesians 2:1-3
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

What has to happen for someone to go from "son of disobedience" to "child of God"?

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN // 1 John 3:9-10
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

SALVATION = ADOPTION (brought into God's Family by the Blood of Christ)
ADOPTION = SONSHIP (immediate fellowship the Father, progressive access to His house as you grow up)
SONSHIP = INHERITANCE (you receive all that He worked for and get to learn how to steward what is His)

The devil has lost you. You are a sheep that belongs to the Good Shepherd. But if he can get you to wander back into a pit, he renders you ineffective in the family business.

So what does victorious living actually look like?

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

1 John 4:1-4
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 5:1-4
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

VICTORY IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF TENSION. It is responding to the tension with FAITH.

VICTORIOUS LIVING IS NOT POSSIBLE APART FROM FAITH.

In trial, VICTORY says, "Consider it joy, knowing that the testing of your faith produces ENDURANCE."

In suffering, VICTORY says, "This light and momentary affliction is not worthy to be compared with the GLORY that will be revealed."

In temptation, VICTORY says, "No temptation has overcome you that is not common to man, so look for the way out!"

In busyness, VICTORY makes room for community and says, "Do not forsake your meeting together, but encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'today'...

In sin, VICTORY says, "Confess your sins to one another that you may be healed."

In disappointment, VICTORY says, "God works out all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

In spiritual warfare, VICTORY says, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."

In depression, VICTORY says, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? HOPE IN GOD, for you shall praise Him again."

In heartbreak, VICTORY says, "God is near to the brokenhearted, so bring me your tears."

In discouragement, VICTORY says, "DO NOT LOSE HEART. Get your eyes off what you can see and get them back on JESUS and what is unseen."

We need to stop hoping for it to feel easy all the time.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:11-13
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

IT'S TIME TO EMBRACE THE TENSION. You cannot defeat what you are running from.

Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

“Stretch out your hand.”