Mission Minded: Know Your Opposition: He attacks the Good News!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 31, 2021
THIS WEEK: A Mission-Minded Person Knows their Opposition!
Traitors and treason are a BIG deal. When the enemy moves from “out there” to “in here” it disrupts the whole mission. It’s hard to fight outwardly when you have an enemy within. It’s perhaps why the opposition spends time on covert and spy missions to infiltrate the ranks and disrupt the battle from within.
Satan loves to use these tactics.
It’s easy to get comfortable and call out evil “out there.” It’s much more challenging to recognize it when it comes from a place we trust.
Jesus confront the opposition in church…in the synagogue at Capernaum. Where is the enemy?
Mark 1:21 They (Jesus and those he called to follow) went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
It’s easy to initially focus on the authority of Jesus’ teaching and the amazed reaction of the people. These focal points raise the question, “What do you mean there was opposition?” It’s there, it just was overpowered by the authority and truth of Jesus’ teaching.
The opposition to the good news Jesus taught? The teachers of the law.
You mean the opposition Satan was using was IN the church BY those who were teaching the Word?
Yes. Satan loves to attack the heart of our mission: the Good News. No better place to do that than to distort the teachings of the Bible with man-focused, man-made ideas.
Here’s three things the teachers of the law did which stood (and still stand) opposed to the Good News. Jesus calls them out later in his ministry. But you begin to see why Jesus’ teaching was so different than the teachers of the law!
- They led the people to focus the people on their good works rather than on the good news. Jesus certainly desires our lives to honor him, but first he wants our hearts to believe in him. Our good deeds are not the entry key to heaven. Our faith is. This is why Jesus condemned the teachers of the law:
Luke 11:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
- They led people to focus on themselves rather than on Christ. Why is this a big deal? Satan loves when we make life about me, myself and I. Jesus wants us to see life about trusting in him, loving God and loving our neighbor. It’s why Jesus warned the people:
Luke 20:46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.
- They led people to focus on outward actions versus their inner condition. Jesus is always interested in our heart first. We can fake outward actions. We can’t fake an unbelieving heart. Jesus calls it out:
Luke 11:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Satan loves to attack the good news that our sins are fully forgiven by the perfect life, innocent death and glorious resurrection of Jesus. Don’t let any teacher lead you away from Christ to yourself!
Apply: How does Satan get me to shift my focus off the good news of Jesus and onto my good deeds as the priority for life and salvation?
PRAYER: Lord, we know Satan prowls around and loves to distort your word of truth. Ground us in your words so that nothing will shift our faith from your Son Jesus to ourselves. AMEN.
Passage & Prayer for the ministry of Cross & Crown:
Tuesday – February 2 – Psalm 118:24-25
“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success.”
PRAYER: We give You thanks and rejoice that we can be a part of Your plan. We ask for Your anointing and grace to do what You have called us to do.
Mission Minded: Know Your Objective…Know Your Opposition!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 31, 2021
THIS WEEK: A Mission-Minded Person Knows their Opposition!
Nearly 10 years after the attack on the twin towers in New York City, the mastermind behind the attack was dead.
May 4, 2011, Robert O’Neill and Navy Team Six descended in secret on the compound of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. As the operation unfolded, O’Neill ended up being the front person who entered the third-floor room where bin Laden was and fired the fatal three shots.
A made-for-movie operation like this is not one that happens accidentally. Years of training for each of the Navy Seals along with years of intelligence gathering led to the end of one of America’s greatest enemies.
For a mission like this to be successful, each member of the team has to know the OBJECTIVE. What is the reason for the mission? In this case it was the demise of bin Laden and the confiscation of electronic data and information for intelligence purpose.
But knowing the OBJECTIVE wasn’t enough. They also had to know the OPPOSITION.
O’Neill recounts that they all were preparing for this mission as if it were their last. They knew the compound would be fortified not only with personnel, but with traps and suicide bombers, including bin Laden. They had to be prepared for every possible OPPOSITION.
The result? Victory.
To be on mission for the Lord Jesus we must be clear on the same. What is our objective?
Jesus put the mission this way to his disciples…to us:
- Mark 16:15 Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
- Matthew 28:19 “Go and make disciples of all nations…
Jesus wants the good news to get to people. He wants the good news to develop people into disciples.
That’s our mission. But it does not happen without opposition. What is our opposition?
The Apostle Peter describes him this way:
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,…
The Apostle Paul describes him this way:
- Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The arch enemy of the Christian is Satan. The battle is real. But spoiler alert…“thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 15:58)
Jesus will give us the victory…but he wants us to know how the OPPOSITION works. The devotions this week I pray will help us better know our Opposition, so with the Lord’s help, we can win the battles and achieve the mission for which he has sent us!
Apply: How have you seen Satan work in the world…in your life to discourage or curtail the mission of Jesus to bring the good news to hearts of people?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for the victory you have won over sin, death and the devil. Give us insight and alertness to know how the devil, our opposition works. Then use that awareness and understanding to help us win as you did, and complete the mission for which you sent us! AMEN.
PASSAGE AND PRAYER for the ministry of Cross & Crown:
Monday – February 1 – 1 Peter 5:2-3
“Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.”
PRAYER: Lord, thank You for the people you have entrusted to our leadership. We don’t take lightly the calling you’ve given us to watch over them. Give us wisdom as we seek to lead them towards Your vision. May we be motivated by love in all we do.
Mission Minded: Good News Excited to Share It!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 24, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: A Mission-Minded Person Is Excited about Their Message!
Good news is always exciting to share! Or is it?
A new job…a new baby…college acceptance…a marriage…a good doctor’s report…and the list goes on. These events are always exciting to share.
So does sharing Jesus make this list? Not always, right?
The best news in the world is that our sins are forgiven, we are right with God and headed to heaven. So what makes it hard to share such good news?
Our culture has done well to communicate that the claims of Christianity are not scientific, not open-minded, and only one way of believing among many. So the uniqueness and goodness of Jesus is lost in the narrative of our culture.
Perhaps we feel like we’re imposing on someone’s beliefs or somehow will communicate inadvertently a superiority of belief to others. The positive impact of Christianity lost in the fear of personal perception.
Or perhaps I feel I will be challenged, shunned, or put out because of my beliefs and sharing them. The message of the Gospel gets relegated to a personal conviction.
Remember? The news is good!
Consider…if the message is counter culture…which it is…maybe we have to ask if the culture is thriving with their message and without Jesus?
Consider, if I feel people will react negatively to some challenging teachings…they may, but remember good news changes behavior…so share the good news before trying to change behavior – God’s Spirit will do that!
Consider…if I feel I will lose something (reputation, job, finances, etc.) remember the good news is better than anything I may lose.
Why would I potentially risk reputation, financial, even freedom? Because I believe the potential and goodness of the message and its impact on the hearts and lives of people.
I’m reminding myself of this because I too have kept this good news to myself and remained silent. I know I have feared negative reaction. But Jesus is here to tell us this morning, get excited and don’t lose that excitement. The news I have given you to share IS good…ALWAYS!
Perhaps we simply have to think like the angels did over the fields of Bethlehem. They didn’t worry about the shepherd’s reaction…they just had to tell someone! “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10)
Don’t worry about the reaction…remember the news you are sharing is GOOD…in fact it’s GREAT news!
Apply: Consider the fears and hesitations you have when you consider talking about Jesus. Consider not the potential negative reaction, but rather the possibility of what could happen if God’s Spirit takes hold of the heart to whom you are speaking!
PRAYER: Lord, give me the attitude of the angels. Let me without hesitation let people know that you have “good news of great joy” for them! AMEN.
Passage and Prayer for the Ministry of Cross & Crown
Friday – January 29 – Galatians 2:20 “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
PRAYER: God, teach us what these words mean, that by the power of your Holy Spirit we have a new life, lived by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. May our words, actions, thoughts and experiences be immersed in this truth that the world would see You in us.
Saturday – January 30 – 1 John 4:7-8 “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
PRAYER: May we first know the power of Your love for us, Lord, and in turn love others as You have loved us. Focus our hearts outward, to show your love to the people around us who have never experienced it.
Mission Minded: Good News…Everyone Needs It!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 24, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: A Mission-Minded Person Is Excited about Their Message!
I have to be honest.
I never thought Bernie Sanders would bring a smile to the faces of millions of Americans. No political point to be made, just don’t see him as the “going to make you smile and laugh” person.
But he did…or at least his picture of him sitting all alone in his coat and mittens at the inauguration. Well, it wasn’t the picture at the inauguration, it is the 1000s of memes people have created putting him anywhere. All of a sudden “Where’s Waldo” has turned into “Where’s Bernie!”
My point? Every one needs good news…a reason to smile…a reason to laugh.
Perhaps the simplicity and silliness of the “Bernie memes” seems rather childish and superficial, but the reason they work, in my opinion, is people are starved for something good.
Everyone wants good news. Everyone needs good news.
That’s why everyone needs Jesus.
Not because he’s a silly picture Photoshopped into every scene imaginable, but because every person needs a solution to fear, death, and their relationship with God.
Jesus told Simon and Andrew, James and John that they were now going to be fishers of men.
Mark 1:16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
These four followed Jesus for over three years and when Jesus’ work was done he told them: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
Everyone needs Jesus.
What might this look like to people with whom you interact today? Let me give you one example.
Perhaps you know someone or will meet someone that is afraid of CoVid and its impact on their life or of someone they love. Do they need good news? Yes, like Mary and Martha did when their brother Lazarus was sick. Jesus said…“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (John 11:4) But then Lazarus died! The good news? Jesus has power over death. For Lazarus, Jesus raised him back to life. For us when we fear death, he gives a promise to all of us, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
So what could you say to a person afraid of CoVid? “I know it’s scary, right? I am praying this illness will go away. But you know what gives me good news amidst the CoVid bad news? I have a friend who is more powerful than any illness and stronger than death itself. Can I tell you about him?”
Then tell them about Jesus and the good news he brings.
Apply: Jesus brings good news to many situations. What is a situation someone you know is facing? What promise or truth of Jesus could bring them a smile to an otherwise challenging situation?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being who you are and doing what you did. All of it is good news for me and the world. Use me today to bring a little bit of your good news to someone who is struggling, hurting, worried, or afraid. AMEN.
Passage and Prayer for the Ministry of Cross & Crown
Thursday – January 28 – 1 John 3:16 “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
PRAYER: Thank you for giving us the definition of love—to serve and even lay down one’s life for another. Teach us to serve with passion and power, in unity and grace. Reveal the ways you have called us to love our brothers and sisters.
Mission Minded: Good News Turns Us from Bad Behavior!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 24, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: A Mission-Minded Person Is Excited about Their Message!
There are two ways to stop bad behavior.
First with negative consequences.
A two-year-old who is having a tantrum in the grocery store, might (not always) stop if you say, “If you don’t stop crying, you’ll miss out on the ice cream cone I promised you when we are done.”
Much motivation to do what is right is motivated by the threat of negative consequence. You break the speed limit, you get a ticket. You cheat on a test, you fail the course. You rob a bank, you go to jail.
Bad behavior reaps bad rewards. A pattern of crime ends in prison time. A pattern of selfishness leads to broken relationships. A pattern of deception leads to a loss of employment.
The threat of these consequences can change behavior. Ultimately, the threat of God’s law can be a motivator as well. A sinful nature left unchecked eventually leads to an eternity apart from God in hell.
Jesus would rather motivate a change in our life and lifestyle by good news and the blessings that come from a life living with the Lord Jesus.
It was the heart of Jesus’ message: “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
Jesus could have come with the message, “Repent or go to hell!” But rather the message of good news, the Gospel, is what he calls us to believe. The good news to believe our sins are forgiven and sin is not a life worth living.
Jesus changes our hearts with the power of his Spirit and the compelling content of the good news he promised, proclaimed and procured.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1)
Perhaps these verses from Galatians 5:19-25 put forward what Jesus is calling us from and what the good news compels us to enjoy:
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Jesus wants us to enjoy the blessings of life with him. He gives his love, joy, peace, forgiveness and eternal life. He connects blessings to following his will as we live in the world. No wonder he calls us to repent (turn from sin) and to believe the good news (turn to Jesus).
The good news is so good it turns us from bad behavior.
Apply: Consider areas of life that are “bad behavior.” How is it working for you? Repent and believe the good news. Find joy in turning from sin to the blessings and forgiveness Jesus gives to you!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for doing all for my forgiveness. Give me your Spirit to compel me to turn from sin to trust in you and live for you each and every day!
Passage and Prayer for the Ministry of Cross & Crown
Wednesday – January 27 – Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.”
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we do not seek to build anything apart from You. We seek your protection and your guidance. We do not want any glory for ourselves, or any success of man’s invention. Let us not waste our effort! Align our work to your design.