Rev. David Holwick ZB The Quest for the Real Jesus, #1
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 7, 2008
Mark 4:35-38
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I. At least it gets people's attention.
Billboard in Tulsa, Oklahoma - Jesus Does Not Care.com.
Comment from 55-year-old female:
I think your billboard is very dangerous for the suffering.
It explains nothing, only gives the message Jesus does not care.
I have a 20-year-old son who passes by it everyday on his way to
work, and he is questioning Jesus/God at the moment.
In the past year he has lost two who were very close to him, his
best friend to suicide, and one month later his oldest brother
to sleep apnea.
Jesus does care about what he is going through.
I ask you to reconsider the billboard.
A. Shocking revelation - the billboard was put up by a church.
1) It has drawn a lot of visitors to their website, which
has a feedback page.
a) Many Christians assumed it was put up by an anti-Jesus
group.
b) Others like the way it grabs at non-believers.
2) The church's position:
"Jesus doesn't care who -- you are, where you've been,
what you've done or how good you are.
He does care about knowing you and having a real
relationship with you."
B. Ledgewood Baptist is not a signboard kind of church.
1) It only gets us in trouble.
I once put "Kill All The Adulterers" on our signboard.
The police dispatcher called to say they thought some
vandals had tinkered with it.
I said, no, that's the title of my sermon this week.
There was stunned silence on the other end.
We have found it is best to leave the marketing angles
to the hipper churches.
2) But we do care about Jesus.
a) I am going to be preaching a series on what Jesus
was about.
b) If we don't get it right about Jesus, we are wasting
our time in this sanctuary.
II. Can Jesus care?
A. The disciples had their own doubts.
1) While crossing the Sea of Galilee in a small boat, a fierce
storm arose.
a) The Sea of Galilee is really more of a big lake.
b) Strong winds can whip up the waves in an instant.
2) What was Jesus' reaction? He snored away.
a) They of course woke him up.
1> By this time they realized that Jesus had
extraordinary powers, even over nature.
2> So why wasn't he using those powers to save their
hides?
b) When they woke him, they asked the classic question:
"Teacher, don't you care?"
B. Some in our society question how he could care.
1) Jesus has been dead 2,000 years.
2) Despite the Bible stories about Easter, millions assume
he stayed dead.
3) One of the fastest growing segments in society - atheists.
a) They have had numerous books on the best seller lists
lately.
b) The new atheists argue not just that God doesn't exist,
but that people who think he does are dangerous.
C. To say that Jesus cares is to assumes he exists in some sense.
Some want to limit this to a metaphorical sense.
A 53-year-old male wrote on the website:
Jesus is dead.
However, those who follow in his spirit ... care that they
teach how to behave and love on this earth, in this life
- instead of pontificating without any evidence about
'[who is in charge] of the afterlife'.
Let's assume he is alive for a moment.
If he is alive then Jesus doesn't care about or for the
religion that was built up by those who came after him
(including [this Tulsa church]).
He does not care about or for the suggestion that he is
God (for which you have no proof/evidence).
He does not care about or for the surreptitious way you
are trying to get people into your church under the
guise of you not caring where they are coming from
and what 'sins' they are committing.
He does not care about or for the idea that the humans in
the world that don't think he is God and saved them
from sin are going to burn in hell.
D. Most Baptists believe Jesus exists even today.
1) We don't have to get hypothetical about it like this guy.
2) What would the real Jesus care, or not care, about?
III. Things Jesus does not care about.
A. Many people have firm ideas about this.
A 24-year-old woman wrote to the website:
Jesus does not care about our age; gender; ethnicity; culture;
sexual orientation; how many degrees one has; how much
one's paycheck is; what kind of car one has; how big
one's house is.
Jesus does not care where you've been; what you've done; who
you've been with....he is always ready for you.
1) I can agree with a lot of what she says (but not all).
2) It is not because it seems right to me, but because it is
the way the Bible portrays him.
B. Jesus did not care about a person's station in life.
1) He dealt with poor people and rich people, the righteous
and sinners, foreigners and locals, the old and young.
a) Any of them could be accepted by God.
b) All of them were represented among his disciples.
2) He did make some interesting observations, though.
a) Rich people have a harder time getting into heaven.
b) Religious people aren't as good as they think and
may actually be pretty bad.
c) Young people - really young - are the best examples of
what a real believer is like.
C. Jesus did not care about a person's past.
1) In many episodes in the gospels, Jesus deals with notorious
sinners.
a) They climb trees to see him better.
b) They weep over his feet.
c) And he freely accepted them.
2) This is not to say that Jesus did not care about how you live.
a) The most famous example of this is the woman caught in
adultery. John 8
b) Jesus does not condemn her with the others, but he does
say to her, "Go and sin no more."
3) How you have lived in the past can be forgiven, but from
this point on you must live for the Lord.
IV. Things Jesus DOES care about.
A. What is happening in your life.
1) Jesus cared about the physical needs of people who didn't
necessarily believe in him.
a) He was concerned for the vast crowd that had followed
him around the Sea of Galilee.
b) He had compassion on them because they were like sheep
without a shepherd.
2) It follows that Jesus is concerned when our friends die,
when we lose our jobs, when our family is coming apart.
B. Your relationship with him.
1) Many people reduce Christianity to morality.
2) Not Jesus. He wanted to know what you thought of him.
a) A "right answer" is not enough.
b) He wanted people to accept him as their Lord and
follow his teaching.
C. Where you will spend eternity.
1) Jesus did not think salvation was automatic like so many
of us do.
2) He taught that most people wouldn't get it, and would end
up lost for eternity.
V. Do YOU care about the things Jesus cares about?
A. A sensitive person should be convicted by the gospels.
1) We like to assume we would have been on Jesus' side back
then.
2) Do we live like we are on his side now?
a) How do we treat the losers and outcasts in life?
b) What really motivates us, God or money?
B. Jesus is a deeply personal topic for many people.
A 52-year-old woman wrote to the website:
He cares that I have the deep personal relationship with him
and him with me.
Jesus doesn't care that I have failed at marriage three times.
That I did drugs when I was young.
That I was sexually active at 17.
That I have failed over and over as a parent.
That my successes are few and my failures many.
After Sunday's service, I finally get it.
My relationship with Him should be as close as how I felt as
a little girl with my Daddy.
I want that and can't wait to get there!
C. Despite her failures, she has the most important thing right.
1) Do you?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
All the quotes is this sermon are reader contributions from the website
http://www.jesusdoesnotcare.com/yourthoughts.html
The website and billboard are sponsored by The Church at BattleCreek,
located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The pastor is Dr. Alex Himaya.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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