CRUX: Wednesday Message – Inward & Outward Purity
Pastor Jon Lee finishes up our series in 1 Timothy 4:12 by speaking about God’s standards for purity.
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CRUX: Sunday Message – Matthew 17
Adam Eaton teaches about the transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17.
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CRUX: Friday’s Message – Spiritual Blessings
New teacher, Timothy Kroeker, teaches us about the the spiritual blessings we have in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Taught out of Ephesians 1:4-14
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Matthew 26
Peter’s Denial of Jesus
Matthew 26:69-75 “Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” [70] But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” [71] And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” [72] And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” [73] After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” [74] Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. [75] And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”
In April of 1999 2 students entered Columbine high school in Colorado and embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and 1 teacher and injuring 21 other students. During the shooting a young girl was asked by one of the gunman “do you believe in God?” When she answered “yes” the gunman shot and killed her. That is bold faith. Looking down the barrel of a gun and being honest about your faith. Do you have faith like that?
A lot happens in Matthew 26 and I would encourage you to read through it again and take note of everything that happened to Jesus. Here we are going to look at the denial of Peter. Jesus told all the disciples that they would fall away but Peter, in his pride, tries to correct Jesus and tries to tell Jesus He is wrong. Bad move. Jesus then corrects Peter and tells him that his denial would be worse than anyones(Matthew 26:31-35).
At the end of the chapter Peter denies Jesus 3 times like Jesus said Peter would do. Even when Peter was asked by little servant girls, Peter denied knowing Jesus. After the third denial the rooster crowed and Peter remembered what Jesus had said. Luke 22:61 adds that Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Could you imagine what Peter must have felt in that moment? I don’t know exactly what went through Peters mind but we do know that he wept bitterly. Have you ever denied knowing Jesus? I believe that Christians today deny Jesus more often than we think.
There is more than 1 way to deny knowing Jesus to others. Obviously, you can do what Peter did and verbally deny being a Christian and believing in Jesus. What about not sharing your faith? Could that be denying Jesus? Jesus told us to go into all the world and make disciples(Matthew 28:19). This is not an option but a command. How about not living a life that is any different than your unbelieving friends? Romans 12:2 say’s that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This transformation happens from the inside out and it is how we become more like Jesus. Do you reflect Jesus by the way you live?
Most of us will never have to look down the barrel of a gun and answer a simple question about our faith. But everyday we are telling people about our faith by the way we live. What are you telling the people around you?
Matthew 25
Are You Ready?
Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
What if Jesus were to come back today, would you be ready? In this chapter of Matthew Jesus is giving what is called the olivet discourse(Matthew 24-25). In this message that He gave at the Mt. of Olives, Jesus talks about His second coming, the end of this age, and the establishment of His kingdom on Earth. Here Jesus tells a few parables about how important it is that we are ready for when Jesus returns.
Read through the parables again. Which character are you in the parables? Are you the wise maiden/Faithful servant or the foolish maiden/Wicked servant? The wise maidens and the faithful servants were rewarded for the work they had done. They received blessing because they were ready. However, the foolish maiden and the wicked servant were not.
Laziness and fear of failure. These were the 2 factors that caused failure. The foolish maidens were lazy. They knew what they should have done but they did not do it. They were to lazy and foolish to think ahead of what they might need. Maybe that is you. You live for the moment. You like to live in the here and now and you don’t have time to look ahead because you are too busy with right now. As Christians, our lives should be spent now on the future Kingdom of Heaven. We need to prepare ourselves for the coming King. This means looking ahead and making a plan. But what if you fail?
The wicked servants problem was not the lack of a plan but fear of failure. He did not want to lose what was given to him. So he did the only “safe” thing he knew to do. He buried it. Is that you? Are you keeping the gift that has been given to you a secret? Are you afraid of failure? Does you fear keep you from doing anything productive for God? 2 Timothy 1:7 says “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” The fear that you have is not from God.
The whole idea behind these 2 parables(stories with a message) told by Jesus is that we do not know when Christ will come back so we need to live life as though He could return at any moment. In Matthew 25:13(quoted above) Jesus tells us to “watch.” It could also mean stay awake or stay alert. Don’t be lazy. Don’t be fearful. Live your life for Christ because He is coming!
