The Unfinished Work
Affinity Wars
Jon Fredricks
Today’s Scripture: Luke 9:49-56
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Philippians 3:13 NIV
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
Luke 9:49-56 NIV Samaritan Opposition
“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village.
Matthew 16:18-19 NIV
… I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Revelations 5:9-10 NIV
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
John 17:20-21 NIV
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,that all of them may be one…
1) JESUS IS THE CENTER
Ephesians 2:19-21 NIV
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
2) GOD'S WORD WINS
Luke 9:50 NIV
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
John 6:68 NIV
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
3) THE MISSION IS LIVED
Luke 9:56 NIV
Then he and his disciples went to another village.
4) LOVE IS PRACTICED
John 15:13 NIV
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Romans 12:4-6 NIV
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Ephesians 4:16 NIV
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
