#397 The Jesus Trip, Breaking The Cycle of Brokenness

#397 The Jesus Trip, Breaking The Cycle of Brokenness
By: D. Karl Thomas

(See download links at the bottom of the page for the Sermon Notes & PowerPoint Slides)

Deuteronomy 8:18-19“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day …

… Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”
And they lived happily ever after!

+++++++++++++++ Three Pictures Of Judges ++++++++++++++++++

Judges:—(shafat) to execute judgement, govern, vindicate
The Lord provided these warrior-saviours who fought for an undeserving people who could not save themselves.
Rather than being titled the book of Judges it could be titled the book of Saviors.

Judges 2:8-19 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. 9 They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah [a] in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
Israel Disobeys the Lord 10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. 11 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. 13 They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. 14 This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. 15 Every time Israel went out to battle, the Lord fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress. The Lord Rescues His People16 Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers. 17 Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands.18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Judges 3:1-2“These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle.”

Outline Of Judges:
1. The Roots Of Unfaithfulness (1:1–3:6) Did not drive out enemy
2. The Results Of Unfaithfulness (3:7–16:31) Subject to enemy
3. The Range Of Unfaithfulness (17:1–21:25) Completely deprave

Causes – Cycles – Consequences

Hebrews 11:32-34“Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, … who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, …out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

Summary Of The Book Judges 21:25 (last verse)“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” God was their King. They just did not remember who He was.
Judges makes us cry out for Righteous King!!!

Roman 7:23-25“…bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus came as our Warrior King! Mark 1:14-15“Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Hebrews 2:14 “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,…”

Mark 4:17“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
The reign and rule of the King is present, tangible and within your reach! REPENT!!!

Repent:— to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. (dictionary.com)

A. T. Robertson (Word Pictures In The New Testament) — Regarding the translation of metanoia as repentance, “a linguistic and theological tragedy.”
Misplaced by latin church fathers.The latin Vulgate: poenitentiam agite “do penance” be sorry again and again.

REPENT:– Compound Word Re :– Return to; get back Pent :– The top as in penthouse
Metanoeo (met-an-o-eh’-o) :– compound of after and thought; to think differently afterwards, that is, reconsider
Changed mind in light of new evidence.

Three Stages Of Repentance:
1. Revelation— New information
2. Realignment— Agreeing with the new information
3. Reassignment — Experiencing the promise

Acts 2:37-39“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

Romans 4:4-8 (NLT)“When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: …
… ‘Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.’”

John 15:1-6“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit … Abide in Me, and I in you …If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out …”

“takes away” (Airo) :— to raise up, elevate, lift up, to raise from the ground, take up, to raise upwards, elevate, to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised up…
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He lifts from dirt …” Elevates, turns your face to Him.

Mark 2:11“I say to you, arise, take up (Airo)your bed, and go to your house.”aa
When you have made decision to accept Him you abide in Him.
If you are fruitful He will make you more fruitful.
If you are fruitless He will LIFT YOU UP … make you fruitful.

“How deep in the carpet do you have to stick your nose to get God to forgive you?” Clark Whitten

I would not trust the best fifteen minutes of my life to qualify me for the grace of God.
“Dressed in His righteousness alone faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand.” HYMN

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

The Jesus Trip, Breaking The Cycle Of Brokenness, Sermon notes to print, PDF

The Jesus Trip, Breaking The Cycle Of Brokenness, PowerPoint Slides, PDF