Series: Gospel of Luke
Sermon Title: The best worst campaign speech ever
Passage: Luke 6:20-26
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Pastor Dave Pretlove
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Pastor Dave Pretlove

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SERMON NOTES:
Sermon Title: The best worst campaign speech ever
Passage: Luke 6:20-26

Jesus is doing four things in this speech…

1. He is laying the foundation for a radical revolution- a new Kingdom.
   Luke 4:18-21
2. He is flipping our values upside down.
   The “good life” may not be as “good” for us as we think…
   Difficulty can be better for us than we think.
   James 1:2-4The “good life” can numb us to our need for God…
   Difficulty awakens our awareness of our need for God.
   Psalms 57:1-3The “good life” can become what we trust in…
   Difficulty reveals that God alone is worthy of our trust.
   1 Timothy 6:17-18The “good life” can cause us to look down on those with less…
   Difficulty reminds me that we all are desperate for God’s help.The “good life” can make us too comfortable here and live for the now…
   Difficulty causes me to long for when all things will be made new.
   2 Corinthians 4:17-18 
3. He is foreshadowing the cross.
   2 Corinthians 8:9
   
   
4. He is inviting us to get a clear picture of our hearts.
   Matthew 25:40
   The way we treat the poor, vulnerable, and oppressed…
   reveals which kingdom we are living in as much as anything else possibly can.

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. As you grow in your relationship with Jesus, what areas of your life seem to become more counter cultural?
2. How does following Christ lead us from weeping to laughter?
3. Jesus was ushering in a radically different Kingdom than the Israelites had expected. How does Jesus’ upside-down vision of the kingdom challenge you?
4. The word in Greek for poor is someone who had nothing and had to beg for everything they have or will get.  How does this idea of a severe poverty open us to the Kingdom of God?
5. How should our pursuit of Christ look like a person who is ravenously hungry?
6. What do you find significant about the audience of Jesus’ sermon? (Compare Luke 6:17-19 and 20.) What effect do you think Jesus’ words had on the crowd?
   
7. What things outside of God are you tempted to trust in? How does Jesus’ vision of the kingdom challenge those things? 
   
8. John Piper says, “”The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts.”  How do things like riches, food, and entertainment cloud our need for God?

PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Luke 6:24 is directed at persecution. When have you been exiled or excluded relationally for your faith? How do you reconcile those times of rejection with Jesus command to love your enemies?
   
2. The greek word translated blessed here means “happy, or blessed” How do the lists in the first row above compare with what you would normally consider to be “the blessed life”?
   
3. In what way can you nurture the qualities that Jesus described as blessed?
   
4. Compare Luke 6:22-23 with Luke 6:26. These verses talk about acceptance/rejection with men, but what do they imply about acceptance/rejection with God?
5. What do you think Jesus wants his followers to believe based on Luke 6:20-26? How does this encourage or challenge you personally?

SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON:

James 2:5-6; 4:4
1 Peter 2:19-21

RESOURCES:

PODCAST | John Eldridge | Restoring our Hearts
BOOK | Darrell W. Johnson | The Beatitudes: Living in Sync with the Reign of God
BOOK | WILLIAM BARRY | Changed Heart, Changed World: The Transforming Freedom of Friendship with God
VIDEO | THE CHOSEN

Quote – “Souls are noisy filled with much more that contradicts the essential relationship between God and us. – William Barry – Spiritual direction

A Prayer from St. Anslem of Canterbury:

Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me as I seek;
For unless you instruct me I can not seek you,
and unless you reveal yourself, I can not find you.
Let me seek you in desiring you;
Let me desire you in seeking you.
Let me find you in loving you;
Let me love you in finding you.

MONTHLY SPIRITUAL PRACTICE TO TRY : Solitude/ Silence

What is Solitude? Solitude can best be described as a deep longing to connect with God, in ways we never have before. Silence and Solitude are often linked together. They are a tool to withdraw from your daily noise and busyness and listen to your inner life. St. Augustine said there are 3 types of silences that bring us in touch with God: 1) Silence of the Body 2) Silence of the Tongue and 3) Silence of the Soul

The goal of Solitude  is to schedule enough uninterrupted time in a distraction free environment so that you experience peace and alone time with God. This discipline works to free you of the addition to and distraction from noise. This allows you to be completely present. . “Without solitude, it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life… We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to him.” – Henri Nouwen

So this week as we begin with solitude and silence:
Find a time and a place, to take three minutes and be silent with these two questions:

1. How have I been wanting to be with God Today?
2. How has God wanting to be with me?

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

The Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6 is arguably Jesus’ most popular message he ever spoke. It drew thousands together and was the foundation for many miracles that would follow like the feeding of the 5,000, healing a leper, walking on water, and casting out demons. It has perplexed even the most studious of theologians and baby Christians alike. How can all these backwards commands be true? Love your enemies and lend to those asking without expecting anything in return. In this ‘eye for an eye’ society, Jesus once again was bringing a reverse theology that they couldn’t wrap their minds around.

Can you think of a time when you were in a situation that seemed amazing but ended up leading you down a terrible path? Or maybe you went through a breakup, losing a job, financial or health struggles only to realize God was walking you through it all? There is no greater example of Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” than the sermon on the mount. Jesus lays out how He sees things versus how we see things, how He weighs the scales, and just how vastly different the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to our Earthly systems. 

I believe one of the wisest prayers we can pray is “Lord, give me eyes to see as you see”. One of the best ways to view any situation is through the lens of the gospel. How does God view this financial hardship I am going through? You may be tempted to say – clearly misfortune has come upon me through God’s hand. But what if He is using it to form a deeper trust in Him, and it is squeezing you just enough to move you into a different job that He may have for you. Lord – this looks like a really great opportunity. This house/job/move/spouse looks like the perfect situation – but God sees that you will turn to Him less and less as time goes on as you begin to rely on your paycheck, your spouse, or your house for comfort and provision. 

We can be rest assured that God’s ways are higher than ours. He always sees in the stretch of eternity we have a very limited vantage point. Do you trust when God says you will be blessed when you are hated for His namesake? Psalm 7:10-11 says “God is my defender;  He rescues those who have a pure heart. God is a just judge; He passes judgment daily against the person who does evil.” We can follow Christ’s words in Luke 6 and know that He is our defender. When we feel like everything we are doing is opposite to how the world sees things, that is because it is. When we wonder if what we are doing is worth it or right because we seem to be falling behind everyone else, it is worth it. God sees more than we see, and we can know that if He calls something blessed, it is blessed. If he says do this thing and trust me, you can trust Him. – Emma Menesini Women’s Ministry Director

Praying for you this week. That you reach the end of yourself and the beginning of the Lord.

Rob Hans |  Pastor of Adult Discipleship and Connection