Transformed by Crazy Love: Introduction
A Perverted View of the Kingdom
Text: Crazy Love by Francis Chan
Meditation Scripture: Psalm 19:14 “ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.”
Prayer: Oh most gracious God, please teach my mind to be still and know that you are ever present. Help me to realize that you are worth unplugging and being silent for your wisdom in a noisy world. Teach me to listen and to meditate. I am no less needy than Christ who sought prayer time in the wilderness. Give me the strength to lay my burdens at your feet and to refuse to pick them up again because I trust in only You.
Grant me recognition of your Presence, the joyous life I have in You, and a vision of the victory to come! Help my lips to be used solely for your praise and as salt to a decaying world. Raise my awareness to the Heavenly realm and take my eyes off of the mundane, insignificant tasks that I often put in the place of the main thing - serving you. Help me to be absorbed in your mission and crazy love towards all of mankind!
The Big Idea: Recognizing the Awesome Love of God will Transform the way we Prioritize our Lives.
Twitter Notables:
(1) Learning to see the Presence of God moment by moment changes the way we walk moment by moment
(2) Acknowledging the true nature of the King and the Kingdom is paramount to transcending discipleship (John 6:66)
(3) The real challenge for followers of Christ is not learning a new concept or verse. It is how to meaningfully apply what we already know!
Characteristics of God: List as many characteristics of God as you can in small groups. Take about 5 minutes and then share your answers.
Study Buddy Assignments: (Cards – Handouts) Two Copies
Introduction
Our God is an awesome God! This word “awesome” should be reserved for our God and Him only because He is much more that we can even fathom. We often suffer from spiritual “amnesia” as we go about our mundane tasks each day. We forget to be moved by His Presence or even remember that He has come down to us to make His home inside of us.
We forget to be the “temple” of the living God and to serve the purpose of the temple, to praise Him with our hearts, minds, soul, and strength. So many other interests consume us and take over our schedules. To combat this lack of “God awareness” on our part, we need to dedicate time in meditation and prayer, study and application, and praise and creative proclamation of His glory each day. Begin by making a special time for “renewing” your mind and then pray for God to train our hearts to be in tune with Him moment by moment, step by step. .
“God is bigger than we think!” Yes, it is true that we cannot fathom all that God is, but the Bible promises that we can grow in our knowledge and understanding of God.
1 Corinthians 2:10 9 but just as it is written,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”
Eph 3:18-19: that you…”18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know (ginosko- Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse) the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (gnosis-deeper, advanced wisdom), that you may be filled (cram a hollow) up to all the fullness of God.”
Notice that to be filled with the fullness of God we must be hollowed out, emptied, humbled, selfless and submissive.
THINK: Do we have this type of knowledge and understanding of God? The word “knowledge” here in Eph 3:18-19 represents the kind of “knowing” that Adam and Eve had in the garden…intimate love. When we consider that the Supreme God of the Universe has made Himself available to us for that type of “knowing”, we must be in awe of this loving God.
“We all know something‘s wrong” and should be praying diligently for revival for all those who claim to wear the name of Christ. Soooo much of our collective salt has lost not only its ability to serve its purpose, but even the desire to serve its purpose. Why do you think that is?
Perverted Views of the Kingdom
Ok, we are going to get down and dirty here….not to make anyone feel guilty but, as Jeremiah the weeping prophet would have done, to wake up a sleeping, lukewarm, entertainment-seeking Kingdom. Somehow we translated our mission as Christians into a check list of Do’s and Don’ts. If we went to church each week, partook of the Lord’s Supper, avoided drinking, drugs, sex, and swearing, we were pleasing to God. As Chan points out, if we failed at any of these we felt guilty and distant from God. (p 19 eBook version)
(1) Matthew 13:24
--The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
--There will be tares among the wheat
A perverted view of the Kingdom has too often resulted in many of our young adults leaving the church because they were looking for a reality, a relationship, a purpose, a mission, a crusade to dedicated their lives to, not a check list. Our perverted view of the Kingdom has often resulted in stunted personal growth and a diminishing of outreach, evangelism, and mission-minded disciples. We have often loved the status quo and tradition more than we have love the mission of God.
WOE to those who become stumbling blocks to others in the Kingdom.
(2) Matthew 13:31
--"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;
--From a small seed grows a great Kingdom through POWER of God -- not by our power!
A perverted view of the Kingdom holds that “we do our best and God will do the rest” when in truth we can do NOTHING outside the power of the living God. This perverted view praises self and others for accomplishments for honor which should only be given to God. It is through Him that we move, and breath, and have our very being.
It is this view that seeks the talents of men to uphold congregation numbers instead of seeking the blessing of God through His Holy Spirit to empower all His saints. It is this perverted view that we forget to pray first and seek His Will before we plan and implement missions in His Name. It is this perverted view that takes us down the path of destruction: “For there is a way that seems right unto a man, but the way there of is death.”
(3) Matthew 13:33:
--"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in the three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."
--God will increase His Kingdom even while we are unaware of it....but He wants us to be His missionaries!
A perverted view of the Kingdom is that we are an audience with paid staff to do the work of evangelism and missions. As Chan so eloquently puts it, “Disciples disciple.” No one can take the place of each and every disciple affecting the daily contacts God has placed in their path. Although we model the Christian life, souls are brought to the Lord through the testimony of our lips. Faith comes by hearing, NOT by seeing.
We have ALL been commissioned to be missionaries (Matthew 28:18-20). Without a mission, we cannot call Him,” Lord.” (Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) This perverted view believes (not through words, but through actions) that we were saved to sit on a pew. AND we need to make sure that do not just serve those who sit in the pews. Yes, we need to be careful that the “church” does not merely look inward. We need to see ourselves as missionaries to those outside of Christ.
(4) Matthew 13:44:
--"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field."
--Those who truly find the Kingdom will make it their supreme priority in life.
A perverted view of the Kingdom includes the idea that we need to keep studying before we reach out to the lost. From Acts 2 onward we see that those who took the Gospel into the known world actually knew very little, they did however intimately “know” Christ as Lord. “Christ is Lord” was their testimony and that was enough.
The perverted view of the Kingdom maintains that winning souls for Christ depends upon our knowledge and understanding of Scripture. When in truth, God’s Spirit is actively opening hearts to the Gospel before we even recognize it (Act 16:14) AND our commission is to plant the seed in community with those who will water (network fishing) It is God who gives the increase.
When one comes to Christ this is a victory celebrated by the Angels in Heaven because God’s Word does not return to Him void. This victory should be our most significant celebration! To make light of this event, to gloss over this event, to minimize the impact of this event is serving Satan and not Heaven.
Matthew 13:45:
--"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls..."
--The kingdom of heaven is priceless to those who are Kingdom people, not traded for riches, fame, idolatry, possessions, entertainment, status, or other pursuits which they believe will make them happy.
We need to stop singing, “Send the Light” and start motivating each other to “Take the Light”. God calls those who are busy to leave their “nets”--their business, in order to do His Will.
(5) Matthew 13:47:
--"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind..."
--The kingdom of heaven will be shared with those who look and act like us and with those who DO NOT!
A perverted view of the Kingdom is that we are to be the judges of the world. Often we think we are to “defend” ourselves from those who are sinful and evil. This is the Pharisaical view of the “church”. As the term “church” is not in the transcripts of Scripture until after Constantine, we need to refrain (if possible) from using this term.
We, the called out of the Kingdom, have but one attribute and that is to LOVE one another and the lost. We were called out to be CONFORMED into the image of His Son. We, the called out, are SENT OUT into the world to share the grace, mercy, and love of Christ just as He did. We, the called out, are servants of Christ, the hands of Christ, to be compassionate and caring for those who are in need, especially those who do not LOOK like, ACT like or SMELL like us. We, the called out, are commissioned to GO instead of requiring others to COME.
Matthew 18:23:
--" For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves..."
--Slaves in the Kingdom are forgiving as they have been forgiven
We are commissioned to GO where the sinful and the lost ARE, which will often become uncomfortable for many of us. But we were never called INTO comfort, safety, or convenience. We cannot serve those we condemn. We cannot save those we gossip about or defame. We all fall short of the Glory of God. And the world will KNOW us by our LOVE. Get OFF the throne of judgment and put yourself on the cross of service to a dying world. We are ALL on MISSION!
(6) Matthew 18:1:
--"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is the greates in The kingdom of heaven?"
--The kingdom of heaven is for the humble slaves of the Great "I AM"
A perverted view of Kingdom is that God wants His saints to practice a false reverence (false piety) that serves only Satan. False reverence can be seen in Matthew 6, and is actually the one thing that upset Christ the most…outward appearances that were void of inward spirituality (full of dead man’s bones). Please allow me to share a take-away from Beth Moore. One of Satan’s tasks is to transform us into either being useless for the cause of Christ or into a co-worker with Satan. One of Satan’s missions is to “mute” the lips of the believer.
Matthew 23:13 WOE TO YOU!:
--Woe to you! Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the Kingdom of Heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."
--"Legalism and false piety will take you straight to Hell.
When reverence is interpreted as complete silence or short answer, who is please? Christ proclaimed, “even the rocks will cry out!” Witnessing among the brethren as well as among the nations is paramount for building faith and pleasing God.
We see in the first chapter of Romans that Paul desired to meet with (among) the Saints in Rome in order to be strengthened and encouraged by “the other’s faith.” This isn’t done in a vacuum. This is done when we meet together and when we practice the “one another” Scriptures including witnessing to one another.
Romans 1:12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
How do I know that your faith will strengthen me unless you witness to me about what God is doing in your life? We miss great opportunities to be touched by what the power of God is doing in our community of faith because we cling to a “false” sense of reverence. We have taken the verse “in decency and in order” completely out of its original context – that of having multiple speakers, multiple witnessing, multiple prophets, multiple tongues.
We have deleted multiples of these activities from our services and we rarely have any interactivity. This does not represent the scenes we see portrayed in the first century. No one in our services would dare to cry out, “Men and brethren what shall we do?!?” What a pity!!
Further: If we do not allow brethren to witness in the presence of true believers, how well do you think they will witness in the world among scoffers? We must EQUIP the saints to verbalize their testimonies one to another so that they become ready to testify in the world (3 John 1:3-4)
NOTE: Five-finger sermons were very popular back in the day when traveling preachers came through once a month and they wanted you to remember their last sermon. It was also a time when not very many people could read or had a copy of the Scriptures.
As a community of faith that has every Biblical aid and every answer at our finger tips, it should be an opportunity to mature in our understanding of God’s will and to seize the truths beyond the five-finger approach to faith, conversion, worship, etc.
There are MORE than 5 steps to salvation: One which should have been included all along is 1 Peter 3:15, “Sanctify Christ as Lord of your heart”. Until we have placed Him on the throne of our heart, we are still walking in darkness. Confessing Christ is appropriate, but even demons believed & confessed Him. Being baptized is appropriate, but even Simon the Sorcerer was baptized, yet in danger of Hell. Therefore, being transformed is essential. Do you see my point?
Are there MORE than 5 acts which should be performed as worship? Well, of course there are! These include motivating one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:25), serving those in need (Romans 12:1-2) confessing our sins one to another, praising God through our testimonies one to another, and so many more. Learning what is expected of us during the assembly should be a personal study for each member of the Lord’s body. The worship assembly, as others have said before me, “should be where Saints get their marching orders.”.
(7) Matthew 9:36: Lord of the Harvest
--"Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. The He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
A perverted view of the Kingdom is that the King does not care if we only surrender just an hour a week to His service. It is popular, not in word but in deed, to sprinkle a little Jesus on our lives and then go about doing as just as we please, thinking as we please, confronting the world as we please. Unless we become slaves of the King, we needn’t bother with any semblance of serving Him.
Unless He directs each and every step, we are foolish in our understanding of His desire for our lives. Unless we take up our cross daily, we cannot be His disciple. Unless we lose our lives, we cannot be His disciple. Christ calls for all or none. Romans 12:1-2 lets us know that this Kingdom requires a transformation, a daily renewing of our minds, a selfless serving submission because God has given us His indwelling Spirit to guide us.
There are those who believe that have “enough God.” What more could they possibly do for God? Perhaps they have filled their time with all kinds of ministries, none of which include their “first love”, Christ’s commission, God’s reason for bringing them into the Kingdom (Matthew 7:21-13). Busy work does not gain favor with God.
(8) A perverted view of the Kingdom is that we are at the mercy of earthly circumstances, political figures, armies, enemies, or foes of the church. Brethren, we walk in the Kingdom of God. We have been translated to the Heavenly realm. We have the protection of our Supreme God and Father. Our Savior has a plan for our lives.
Kingdom people trust God in ALL things, rejoice in all things. We don’t vocalize our fears or anxieties to a darkened world as this defeats our testimonies. We pray in agreement over life’s situations and then trust God to bring about His desired Will. If we can’t trust, then please don’t sing, “It is well with my soul!”
(9) Matthew 18:3-4:
--"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
--The kingdom of heaven is for those who are truly "converted", "transformed", "changed" into the image of our Lord.
A perverted view of the Kingdom is that we can bring up children in the world and they will “inherit” the Kingdom by osmosis. When we pursue a consumeristic life-style with all other worldly interests, entertainment, and relaxations and spend all our time and energy teaching our children how to be successful and popular in the world, we should not expect that one day they will wake up to be committed servants of Christ.
No one wakes up one day and becomes a concert pianist. It takes years of teaching, mentoring, practicing, and pursuing a goal to become a concert pianist. Our children more than likely will not wake up one day and decide they want to become a true disciple who disciples others, if they were not taught to prioritize their time in the service of Christ.
Matthew 19:23:
--"Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
--Americans are going to have to take extra precautions to assure that they are Kingdom people. We are richer than 97% of the world's populations.
Soooo many parents regret the short time they have with their children and realize tooooo late that they focused on every kind of activity except those activities which spiritually developed their children. You don’t become a concert pianist by practicing 1 hour a week. You don’t become grounded in real trust and love of God by being exposed one hour a week to Biblical teaching. Church statistics (and Scripture) tell us that young adults will fall away because of spiritual anemia if they were only fed on Sundays and Wednesday nights.
Matthew 22:2:
We often brag about all the activities our children are involved. We recognize their success in school, sports, extracurricular activities without any reference to the miles stone they may be making spiritually. A maxim we use in education is “what is rewarded is repeated”. Acknowledging spiritual goals and objectives we have set for ourselves and our children can become ways of helping the value their spiritual growth.
Matthew 25:1:
--Parable of the 10 virgins, 5 who....
(1) Lost their first love - energy to shine their lights to the world. Lost their love of the Bridegroom and lost their testimony.
(2) Became tired and lazy about renewing their lamps (daily renewing of their minds by the Holy Spirit)
(3) Became "pew sitters" content to "sit and wait" instead of GOING!
Being toooooo busy is a figment of our imagination! What we find as a necessity may not make a hill of beans difference in eternity. In fact, if this business takes my family’s attention off their service to Christ, it more than likely will make a world of difference in eternity!
Although my understanding of Scripture (http://joyofbiblelearning.blogspot.com/2013/06/lesson-10-chapter-7-take-away-part-3.html )would keep me from recommending that you use the phrase, “I so proud of you”, referring to a child’s accomplishments…I do think we can express our joy in what the Lord’s Spirit is producing in their lives.
Children need to find their identity in Christ before they identify themselves as a cheerleader, band member, football player, pianist, etc. Family and peers should recognize them as Christian first and all other characteristics as minor. Building a child’s self esteem is not as important as building a servant of the Most High God. Developing a child’s abilities, talents, and specialties should never take the place of developing a child’s love for the King and Kingdom work.
Revelation 11:15:
--"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever."
--Nobody goes to Heaven who doesn't want to! If we are not Kingdom People first on earth, we will not be Kingdom people in Heaven.
Paul was a tentmaker, but you never heard him identify himself as such. He was, “Paul, a servant of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Kingdom people share that recognizable characteristic with Paul. We cannot call Christ, “Lord” (Master) without identifying ourselves as His slaves. Help your children to build their identity through their relationship to Christ.
CRAZY LOVE:
--Our love for Christ and His Kingdom and God and His Plan might seem crazy to those who are in darkness.
--We are called to be radical, holy, set-apart, slaves of God who reaches down from the Holy of Holies to grant us a position in the Heavenly Realm.
--Kingdom people are unique. They do not look like, talk like, or act like the world. They are salt and light to those who are decaying and in darkness.
We will continue to uncover perverted views of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom as we work through this study.
Closing:
Our life experiences are not as important as our God experiences. External circumstances and past situations ( being abused as a child, betrayed by a loved one, victories, defeats, gains or losses) should not determine who we are as much as how God is molding us in our inner-man through the power of His Spirit because we have dedicated quality time in pursuing Him.
If our outward circumstances have determined more of how we respond in this world, then we have not spent enough quality time dedicated to communing with God. Some of us are like a cheap dates, intimate for only short periods of time, when God desires to have a deep, extensive, and fulfilling relationship with each one of us.
Dedicate Quality time in pursuing God, for God is NEAR! Learn what this crazy love is all about.
HOMEWORK:
(1) Listen to : 1 for 1 CD First Lesson
(2) Read Transcend: Chapter 1
(3) Read Crazy Love: Intro & Chapter 1
APPLICATION:
(1)Write down 5 people you want to see become Kingdom people. Begin praying for them every day.
(2) Write down a way for you to share the Gospel story in 5 minutes (the steps to Peace with God). How would you explain it? DON’T MISS this assignment! Bring it to class.
· Telling your own conversion story
· You can use analogies of, “the bridge” between man and God
· 7 Colors (Green for Garden of Eden, Black for Turning back on God, Yellow for Christ the Light of the World, Red for His blood on the Cross, Blue for our baptism into His cleansing blood, White for our sins washed away, Gold for walking in the Light until we are taken into Heaven)
· Circle Scriptures (start anywhere, end anywhere):
o 1 Thess 1:7-9 – we must KNOW God (intimately) and obey the Gospel
o 1 Corinthians 15:1-3 – What is the Gospel? Death, burial, and resurrection of Christ
o Romans 6:3-11 – How can we obey the Death, burial, and resurrection of Christ?
o Gal 3:26-27 – Being clothed in Christ keeps us from the wrath to come and affords us all the Spiritual Blessings in Christ
o Eph 1:3-end of chapter – What are the spiritual blessings in Christ? Can we have any of these outside of Christ?
o Acts 22:16 – Why do I need to call on God when I am baptized?
o Col 2:12 If I must be in Christ to receive all spiritual blessings, how to I get into Christ? Why do I need faith in the working of God in my baptism? What work does God do in baptism?
o Luke 3:21-22 – What 5 things happened in Christ’s Baptism that will also happen in ours (He is our example)
o 1 Peter 3:15 – What response must I have to the sacrifice of Christ?
o 1 Peter 3:21 – If I place Christ on the throne of my heart, confess Him with my mouth, and obey His death, burial and resurrection, I am saved.
o Romans 12:1-2 – My life in Christ will be a life of submission, transformation, and service.
o Titus 3:5-7 The Holy Spirit through the Word will transform me by the renewing of my mind. I will be a new creature in God’s Kingdom
· Egg Cartoon: Broken Egg, Descending Egg, Sacrificed Egg, New Egg, Redeemed Egg
· Others:
Suggested Reading:
(1) Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray (you can download this for free or ask me for a copy)
(2) The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer (you can download this for free or ask me for a copy)
(3) Transcend: Beyond the Limits of Discipleship by Matt Smay (I will give you each a copy)
(4) The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis (you can download this for free or ask me for a copy)
(5) Forgotten God by Francis Chan
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