Just say No to religion, and Yes to Jesus

4-18-10

Matthew 14:34-15:20

He was out healing

• There were people surrounding Him with real needs, real afflictions, and real pain

• His focus was on meeting those needs• What was his motive – Matthew 9:9-13

That ugly religious spirit

• Why don’t you do it the way we think you should do it?

• We think you should do it this way, we think you should do it that way

• Well the Bible says you shouldn’t put a stumbling block in front of another person, so you should be more like me….

We’ve got it too

• Ever notice how people not like you cause you to feel a little uncomfortable?

• What about when someone acts in a way that you would never dream of acting

• How bout the believer who smokes, drinks, has tattoos, has a little more liberty than you are comfortable with?

So how do you identify it?

• Check your motive• Check your motive again• Check it one last time• Was it out of love for that person, that

situation, that damaging behavior• Was it out of a desire to justify yourself?

Christ’s motive

• The Israelites expected that the Messiah would come, overthrow the government, and establish His thrown over the nations

• The Father had a much different plan – He sent His only Son to love them with every last bit of all that His earthly form would allow

• He had every right to tell people how right He was and how wrong they were. The only ones He pointed that toward were the religious

Jesus cuts loose twice

• There are only two times in scripture where Jesus showed His frustration with the creation

• The misuse of the temple – Matt 21:12-13• Matthew 23• What was His motive?

The antidote to religion

• Don’t forget who you used to be• Matthew 18:23-35

Closing thought

• There are more hurting people in the world now then there were in Jesus time– Over 6.7B people in the world today

• His mission and motive were very clear - He more than tolerated me through my stupidity, He loved me

• I owe it to the world to do the same