Bless, Rejoice, Weep, Live (JICC)
Sermon Notes
Key Passage: Romans 12:14-16
Job 2:12-13
Proverbs 26:12
Proverbs 18:2
1. BLESS — our words (v. 14)
Anthony Thompson, husband of Myra Thompson —
"I forgive you and my family forgives you, but we would like you to take this opportunity to repent. Repent, confess, give your life to the one who matters the most, Christ, so he can change it, and change your ways no matter what happened to you, and you'll be okay through that. And better off than how you are right now."
Bethane Middleton-Brown, sister of Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor —
"For me, I'm a work in progress, and I acknowledge that I am very angry. But one thing DePayne taught me [is that] we are the family that love built. We have no room for hate, so we have to forgive. … May God bless you."’
2. REJOICE + WEEP— our presence (v. 15)
Douglas J. Moo —
"Love that is genuine will not respond to a fellow believer's joy with bitterness, but will enter wholeheartedly into the same joy."
3. LIVE — our posture (v. 16)
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, ch. 8, "The Great Sin."
"As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you."
—
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly
"The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. ... “Glntle and lowly.” This, according to his own testimony, is Christ's very heart. This is who he is. Tender. Open. Welcome. Accommodating. Understanding. Willing. If we are asked to say only one thing about who Jesus is, we would be honoring Jesus’s own teaching if our answer is, gentle and lowly."
Job 2:12-13
Proverbs 26:12
Proverbs 18:2
1. BLESS — our words (v. 14)
Anthony Thompson, husband of Myra Thompson —
"I forgive you and my family forgives you, but we would like you to take this opportunity to repent. Repent, confess, give your life to the one who matters the most, Christ, so he can change it, and change your ways no matter what happened to you, and you'll be okay through that. And better off than how you are right now."
Bethane Middleton-Brown, sister of Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor —
"For me, I'm a work in progress, and I acknowledge that I am very angry. But one thing DePayne taught me [is that] we are the family that love built. We have no room for hate, so we have to forgive. … May God bless you."’
2. REJOICE + WEEP— our presence (v. 15)
Douglas J. Moo —
"Love that is genuine will not respond to a fellow believer's joy with bitterness, but will enter wholeheartedly into the same joy."
3. LIVE — our posture (v. 16)
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, ch. 8, "The Great Sin."
"As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you."
—
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly
"The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. ... “Glntle and lowly.” This, according to his own testimony, is Christ's very heart. This is who he is. Tender. Open. Welcome. Accommodating. Understanding. Willing. If we are asked to say only one thing about who Jesus is, we would be honoring Jesus’s own teaching if our answer is, gentle and lowly."
Resources
Weekly Reading
Monday: Genesis 12, 1 Timothy 2-3
Tuesday: Genesis 13, 1 Timothy 4-5
Wednesday: Genesis 14, 1 Timothy 6, 2 Timothy 1
Thursday: Genesis 15-16, 2 Timothy 2
Friday: Genesis 17, 2 Timothy 3-4
Saturday: Psalm 119:1-88
Sunday: Ezekiel 20-27
Tuesday: Genesis 13, 1 Timothy 4-5
Wednesday: Genesis 14, 1 Timothy 6, 2 Timothy 1
Thursday: Genesis 15-16, 2 Timothy 2
Friday: Genesis 17, 2 Timothy 3-4
Saturday: Psalm 119:1-88
Sunday: Ezekiel 20-27
Discussion Questions
3DQ - 3 discipleship questions to ask each other: What is God saying to you? What are you going to do about it? How can I help?
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