Author: jgreene

Last night, Wed. July 23rd, I taught the youth on the sweet parable of the lost sheep.  It was good to see this well known text new and afresh.  Its been 2 weeks since the last Bible study blog, we had VBS last week and therefore no youth service.

This passage is in Luke 15:1-7.  We discussed how intruiging Jesus was when He was here on earth.  He was one of those people that everyone wanted to be around.  He made things better.  But He did it differently.  Today the cool people are the ones who attract others.  In schools, the best looking & best dressed tend to have the most people around them.  Jesus wasn’t like that.  Jesus had people around Him because He was so kind, so honest, so genuine, so holy, so gracious, and so fascinating.  We see this in the many places in Scripture where it says people were coming near to Him.  Like here in Luke 15 it says they were all drawing near to Him.

Well, as sinners were drawing near to Him, (notice that Jesus doesn’t have a problem with hanging out with sinners. I told the youth it shouldn’t matter who you hang out with because you should be influencing them. However, if they influence you more than you influence them, then it may be a bad thing. And while Jesus doesn’t mind sinners coming to Him, He also doesn’t mind telling anyone that they cannot be His disciple. see Luke 14:25-33.) So while sinners were drawing near to Him, the religious folks began to grumble.  Upon hearing their grumblings, Jesus tells this great parable of the lost sheep.

You may already know the story.  Jesus asks the rhetorical question, what Shepherd who has 100 sheep, if he loses one, doesn’t leave the flock to go get the one?  And upon finding the one lost sheep, the shepherd places it on his shoulders and rejoices while returning it to the flock.

Then Jesus adds “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Lk. 15:7)

Heaven rejoices!  Heaven rejoices when 15 year olds turn from their sins!  Heaven rejoices when 13 year olds commit all of themselves to Christ.  Heaven rejoices when youth and all people repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus!

Have you done that?  Have you ever repented?  Has there been rejoicing in heaven over you?

Last night, Wednesday, July 9th the YouthRoom was very intense again for the 2nd week in a row.  It seems to me that God is really working in the hearts of several students.  I pray so.

I taught again from Luke.  This time it was Luke 12:35-53.

This is such a rich passage loaded with good stuff.  As I was preaching, it dawned on me that this could easily be broken up into several good sermons.

Verses 35 through 40 are a wake up call…literally!  Jesus is saying to us that he is coming back soon and we do not know when that will be so we best be ready.  He says, stay awake waiting for Him.  Verse 37 states it so well “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.”  I love the word servants, and I love the fact that the redeemed are servants of our Master Jesus.  I asked the youth, when Christ returns, will He find your ready, waiting?  Will you be wide awake?

Verses 41 through 53 are so radical.  They are the Jesus that many people who do not read the Bible are not aware of.  In these verses, Jesus through a parable speaks of the Master (who refers to Him) coming home to find the servants not ready, so he cuts them to pieces and beats them.  Then later on Jesus asks the question “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?”  Then He answers it by saying “No, but rather division.”  These statements are radical.  Jesus Christ is radical. There is no one like Him. And He can save you.

Right in the middle of these radical statements Jesus speaks “to whom much is given, much is required.”  We spent some time seeking to understand this statement.  We discussed how we have been given much, and so are we doing what is required?  Are we taking what we know & have (the good news of Jesus. His salvation.) and taking it to others?  This is required of us.

Finally, these three things (Ready, Radical, Responsible) are the reality.  That is the truth. Jesus is real and what He says here in Luke 12 is the reality.  We cannot continue to think that He is the god who is not serious about disobedience and punishing sin and hating sin. We must know what he love and hates so that we will grow to love and hate the same things. 

I hope and pray that the youth are grasping the reality of God’s Word and God’s Son.

Last night (Wed., July 2nd), the YouthRoom got pretty intense.  I preached on the Parable of the Sower from matthew 13.

The Bible often is so clear and precise and easy to understand.  The 4 types of ground, and especially the explanation of the parable in Mt. 13:18-23, is a great example.

With the summer in many ways being ‘the wasteland for teenagers’ that I often describe it as, and us just having returned from camp 2 weeks ago, I felt the need to be quite serious in Youth.

I was. And I think God was working.

Every single time the Truth is preached one of four different things can happen in the hearers.  There are four different ways for them to respond. 

Let us not forget Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

1. One response to the preached Word is none at all.  The hearer is hardly phased at all to the things of God.  They don’t understand it.  Satan snatches it away from their heart. This is not a good response.

2. A 2nd response to the preached Word is short lived. The hearer at first appears to be joyfully accepting the Truth of God but soon will fade.  There is no root to their faith. It is not genuine.  It is like a weed growing in an asphalt parking lot crack. It cannot grow too much and soon dies.  This is not a good response.

3. A 3rd response to the preached Word is unfortunate. The hearer seems to sincerely want the things of God, but following Jesus becomes too hard.  The cost of discipleship becomes too expensive.  The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke their faith out, and they become unfruitful.  This is not a good response either.

4. A 4th response to the preached Word is Awesome.  The hearer hears the truth, is convicted of sin, embraces the Gospel of Jesus, and responds in obedience. In other words, the Word has changed their life.  Now they better understand the Truth and are motivated to go and live like it.  In this case, their faith and response proves to be very fruitful.  God is glorified when this repsonse is present. This is a great response.

And so, upon preaching through all of that and the youth listening so intently, I ask… which ground are you?  which response do you have to the preached Word?

As Jesus said “He who has ears, let Him hear.”