Aug29 10 from The Bridge Church on Vimeo.

Aug22 10 from The Bridge Church on Vimeo.

Aug15 10 from The Bridge Church on Vimeo.

Notes

What is my hook?-LADDER-more scared going up or coming down (like a cat in a tree)

Jumping down-5 or 75. Conditioned by experience and society. The older you get the more fearful you are of jumping down.  You don’t want to break something.  You are also more aware of the risks and possibilities of what might break.  If something breaks then you can’t work, if you don’t work you can’t pay your mortgage or feed your family.

SO LET’S ADD IN A MUD PUDDLE TO SOFTEN THE LANDING! But even that presents problems because now we have removed the fear of breaking something and added in getting dirty. COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE

Romans 12:16-Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Don’t be conceited.

What do you think it means to be of the same mind toward one another?  Who are some people that we might have a hard time doing this toward?

• People who are different from us-color, age, shape, athletic ability, education level, political view, how they talk, white collar/blue collar, Xn/JW

Who is Paul talking about when he references people of low position?

• Drug addict, Homeless guy, Single mom, Mechanic as compared to doctor, Young person compared to an old one

It’s not so much about the other person as it is where you place yourself in relation to that person-above or on the same plane (even below).

Why is he telling us to do this?

• 1. We can become proud and think of ourselves as better
  2. We know that people of low position take a lot of time effort and energy

Why is this hard to do?

• Convenience and comfort (fear)
• Paul directly associates it with pride

The Gospel levels the playing field-Col. 3:11; Gal 3:26-29

Though it levels the playing field and says that we are all equal in God’s sight there is a certain people with whom God’s heart is drawn.

• God loves the broken and least of these-

• Isaiah 57:15
  For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
  ·  Ezekiel 21:26
  this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.

Though all men are equal the Gospel (Person and work of Jesus) compels you to place yourself lower than others and become their servant.

• Greatest is servant-Matt 20:20-28

How did Jesus emulate this?

• Phil 2:1-11

What is typically tried in the church today? Dip a toe rather than jump on in. (throwing money at missions)

TO reach down means you are trying to pull someone up to where you are but it also means that you most likely won’t associate with someone where they are currently at.  Jumping down means that we are getting down into their mess where they are.  Associating with them and showing them that there is not an air of superiority and that they don’t have to come up to my level and be where I am at before I will play ball with them.  We want to reach down and pull them up because this is where we are comfortable and it is more convenient.  But is this the example that his been set for us? Who are we to emulate? Jesus.

What did he do?  He jumped down and got right in out mess.  He went from heavenly glory with the Father to the birth canal, being born in a stinky barn, being raised as a child out of wedlock, learning a blue collar job, having calluses on his hands, having to sweat to make a living, became a rabbi, was persecuted by the religious leaders, ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors, had to lay his hands on many with leprosy(get a picture), had to smell stinky ole Lazarus, put up with hard headed disciples, watched all of his friends leave him when things got tough, got beat with a cat of nine tails, nailed to a cross for the sins of the world causing him to be separated from his Father for the first time since eternity.  And we can’t reach out to someone who society considers to be lower than us, or across the aisle to someone of a different age, or to our neighbor who is not very friendly, etc.  Look at the level to which he jumped down and the level that we are being asked to jump down.

How does this inspire people to become more like God and want to know him more?

• Were lives radically changed when Jesus jumped down and got dirty with people? Was your life radically changed when Christ met you in the muck and mire of your life?  So don’t you want to go and splash in some mud puddles and show and share the love of Christ allowing him the opportunity to clean up their lives so that they can spend eternity with him.
• Church as a change agent.

What does this mean to the non-Xn, new Xn, and old Xn?

• When you became a Christian this is what you signed up for.  And if you are thinking about becoming a Christian then this is what you are signing up for. This is part of the conversion process to Christ, community and mission

How can I actually do what you are telling me?

• Look around-Find some resources (Work at Food Bank, Crisis Pregnancy Center, Everett Gospel Mission, Battered Women’s and Children’s Shelter, Boys and Girls Club, Retirement Homes, Public Transit-buy a bus pass)
• Define success-It is not winning souls for Jesus. Being purposeful in building relationships and community.

In what situation will people have been burned where this text can be applied?

• I don’t doubt that if you’ve ever tried this you’ve been burned.  What did you expect?  Getting hurt does not get you out from under the biblical mandate to do so.

How can this text be misapplied?

• I’m a low person so I can’t help anyone.

How can I stir their affections?

• What if Christ never came?  What if God never decided to do anything about our sin?

Bring it full circle.

As we get older, either through societal influence or past experience we become conditioned to do things that are comfortable and convenient. This conditioning effects not only if we will jump down off the stage but also if we are willing to jump down from our place in life to a place that is uncomfortable and inconvenient.

Like being around people who aren’t like us-neighbor, alcoholic, homeless man, single mom in a shelter, someone from a different country.

Present the Gospel