Citywide Baptist Church
The real cause of blindness
Jesus confronts the Pharisees and his Disciples
Locations & Times
Citywide Baptist Church (Mornington)
400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington TAS 7018, Australia
Sunday 10:00 AM
Jesus had popped back to a Jewish area, perhaps to get supplies
Blind spots are dangerous.
The word here for testing is the same word used for the way Satan tested Jesus.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were very different but both agreed that Jesus was a threat. They had already made up their mind.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were very different but both agreed that Jesus was a threat. They had already made up their mind.
Jesus was frustrated that the Pharisees and Saducees couldn't see what God was doing in front of their noses. They couldn't read the signs of the times.
In the old Testament we hear about a group of people who did understand the times
In the old Testament we hear about a group of people who did understand the times
Harry Styles believes people being upset is a sign of the times, and also seemingly that we have to keep running away from bullets...
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
Hope you're wearing your best clothes
You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain't really good
If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
Hope you're wearing your best clothes
You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain't really good
If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets
What would you say are the signs of the times? What tells you about what is important in this moment?
https://www.menti.com/altchsfmgkpdJesus is saying three things
- God is at work in the world
- He is the ultimate sign
- He has finished his ministry to the Jewish people and won't be doing any more miracles among them.
- God is at work in the world
- He is the ultimate sign
- He has finished his ministry to the Jewish people and won't be doing any more miracles among them.
The Disciples are consumed by their mistake and their practical needs so they aren't listening to what Jesus is saying.
Last week we looked at a woman who had "great faith" because she saw what was wrong and brought it to Jesus, trusting that he had the answer.
The Disciples saw what was wrong and it stopped them seeing Jesus and what he was trying to tell them.
Literally the worries of this life and their fears about provision were choking their ability to hear Jesus' words.
The Disciples saw what was wrong and it stopped them seeing Jesus and what he was trying to tell them.
Literally the worries of this life and their fears about provision were choking their ability to hear Jesus' words.
Faith is seeing the world from God's perspective and acting on it.
Jesus wants his people to understand the profound danger of allowing people whose priority is not the Kingdom of God to influence you.
This is true of religious teachers who set themselves up as experts. All true teachers you can trust point to Jesus and not to esoteric ideas.
This is true of religious teachers who set themselves up as experts. All true teachers you can trust point to Jesus and not to esoteric ideas.
We have divided in the world into sacred and secular, which was not the case in Jesus' day. Jesus understood that the main question facing his followers would be what they allowed to influence them.
Christian discipleship that is going to be intentional and formative needs to be attentive to all the rival formations we are immersed in. There are two key aspects of this. First, ..., we need to become aware of the whole person. We need to recognize the power and significance of the preintellectual aspects of who we are. We need to become aware of the importance of the adaptive unconscious that governs our action. Second, we will then see cultural practices as liturgies—and hopefully wake up to their (de)formative power. That means looking again at all sorts of supposedly neutral and benign cultural institutions and rituals—things that we do—and seeing their formative, even liturgical power—their capacity to do something to us.
How do we learn to be consumerists? Not because someone comes along and offers an argument for why stuff will make me happy. I don’t think my way into consumerism. Rather, I’m covertly conscripted into a way of life because I have been formed by cultural practices that are nothing less than secular liturgies. My loves have been automated by rituals I didn’t even realize were liturgies. These tangible, visceral, repeated practices carry a story about human flourishing that we learn in unconscious ways. These practices are loaded with their own teleological orientation toward a particular vision of the good life, a rival version of the kingdom, and by our immersion in them we are—albeit unwittingly—being taught what and how to love.
James K. A.. Smith. You Are What You Love
Christian discipleship that is going to be intentional and formative needs to be attentive to all the rival formations we are immersed in. There are two key aspects of this. First, ..., we need to become aware of the whole person. We need to recognize the power and significance of the preintellectual aspects of who we are. We need to become aware of the importance of the adaptive unconscious that governs our action. Second, we will then see cultural practices as liturgies—and hopefully wake up to their (de)formative power. That means looking again at all sorts of supposedly neutral and benign cultural institutions and rituals—things that we do—and seeing their formative, even liturgical power—their capacity to do something to us.
How do we learn to be consumerists? Not because someone comes along and offers an argument for why stuff will make me happy. I don’t think my way into consumerism. Rather, I’m covertly conscripted into a way of life because I have been formed by cultural practices that are nothing less than secular liturgies. My loves have been automated by rituals I didn’t even realize were liturgies. These tangible, visceral, repeated practices carry a story about human flourishing that we learn in unconscious ways. These practices are loaded with their own teleological orientation toward a particular vision of the good life, a rival version of the kingdom, and by our immersion in them we are—albeit unwittingly—being taught what and how to love.
James K. A.. Smith. You Are What You Love
We have been fighting intellectual battles, but the real battle is a battle for our heart, a battle for what we love.
Do we love financial security or Jesus?
Do we love avoidance of conflict or Jesus?
Do we love new clothes or Jesus?
Do we love computer games or Jesus?
Do we love TV or Jesus?
Do we love people's approval or Jesus?
The real issue for the Pharisees was that they loved the wrong things and they taught others to love the wrong things... it wasn't about their ideas.
Do we love financial security or Jesus?
Do we love avoidance of conflict or Jesus?
Do we love new clothes or Jesus?
Do we love computer games or Jesus?
Do we love TV or Jesus?
Do we love people's approval or Jesus?
The real issue for the Pharisees was that they loved the wrong things and they taught others to love the wrong things... it wasn't about their ideas.
What are the false teachers that are wanting to shape the "liturgies" that shape your loves?
The church is mean to be a counter-culture that shapes us as followers of Jesus, and particularly Kingdom Cells, or the kind of fellowship where you actually open up are essential if you want to see the unhealthy "yeast" that is influencing you.
Harry Styles is right:
We don't talk enough
We should open up
Before it's all too much
Will we ever learn?
We've been here before
It's just what we know
Harry Styles is right:
We don't talk enough
We should open up
Before it's all too much
Will we ever learn?
We've been here before
It's just what we know
The big 3 Kingdom Cell questions:
1. Whats been happening this week?
2. How are you going, really?
3. Any success or blockers to letting God take charge?
1. Whats been happening this week?
2. How are you going, really?
3. Any success or blockers to letting God take charge?
Small Group Questions:
1) Have you had an experience of a blind spot which caused problems for you?
2) As a church we looked at what we considered to be the "signs of the times" that told us what God was up to in this moment. What signs of the times are you most concerned about?
3) The disciples were so focussed on forgetting bread that they were unable to understand Jesus' words. What are the kinds of things that take your focus away from Jesus' words?
4) False teachers take our eyes of Jesus and onto other things. As you look back on your life what are some of the false teachers that have sucked you in to focus on the wrong things?
5) Have you experienced the kind of fellowship Matt was talking about? What could you do in order to experience more of it?
1) Have you had an experience of a blind spot which caused problems for you?
2) As a church we looked at what we considered to be the "signs of the times" that told us what God was up to in this moment. What signs of the times are you most concerned about?
3) The disciples were so focussed on forgetting bread that they were unable to understand Jesus' words. What are the kinds of things that take your focus away from Jesus' words?
4) False teachers take our eyes of Jesus and onto other things. As you look back on your life what are some of the false teachers that have sucked you in to focus on the wrong things?
5) Have you experienced the kind of fellowship Matt was talking about? What could you do in order to experience more of it?