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Week 07

Red Couch Theology Podcast

Sermon Conversations with Alex and Aaron

There’s only so much we can cover in a Sunday morning gathering!
Each week, you’re invited to tune into our podcast at 11 am on Thursdays – recorded (and sometimes prerecorded) for later, online viewing.

What can you expect? Pastors Alex, Aaron and the occasional guest, having a casual conversation diving deeper into ideas related to last Sunday’s teaching.

Ask questions about the sermon series, Sermon on the Mount,
“Can’t Get No, S a t i s f a c t i o n?”
at https://redcouchtheology.com/ or
by texting 720-316-3893 prior to, or during the “LIVE” podcast.

Blog sites:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCWnNSTN-6XA7oYy6TBfS0LAxqxPvxVjH

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guys-drinking-tea/id1616539767

Red Couch Theology Podcast2023-10-22T14:32:55-06:00

Jesus: Lawgiver and Law Fullfiler

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 NIV

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV

“Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen] will pass from the Law until all things [which it foreshadows] are accomplished. Matthew 5:17-18

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:27-30

I can imagine that some of the people listening to Jesus on the mountain wondered how he had the right to expand on the commandments. Already he had added to “You shall not murder” by expanding it to include anger and contempt, via name calling (Matthew 5:22). And then he dares to “meddle” with adultery by adding “lust” to what men had to recognize as adultery in their hearts.

I am grateful that in our day, we have the privilege of moving around in the scriptures, both old and new testaments, to find what we need, as well as using other versions that add understanding to our study.

I am also grateful for the writers who have made an intensive study of the scriptures and that point out what I have not considered before. This book has been most helpful for me in this series: That You May Live: How the 10 Commandments Lead to Human Freedom by Darell Johnson. In it he points out that Jesus is also the Lawgiver who was with God when the commandments were given, so he knows what was intended for them from the beginning — which is how we are to relate first to God and then to each other as valued persons in community.

Jesus as the Lawgiver was restoring the re-humanizing process for people in that time that also continues throughout the whole New Testament.

I was reminded of a children’s carol written by Megan Kincheloe and published by Zondervan, that some of you reading this might remember. Each verse starts with,

“Oh, be careful little

vs. 1. …eyes what you see”;
vs. 2. …ears what you hear”;
vs. 3. …tongue what you say”;
vs. 4. …hands what you do”;
vs. 5. …feet where you go”.

The chorus is:

“For the Father up above, is looking down in love.
Oh, be careful little ______ what you see.”

As you continue with us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, ponder this little song as you pray, “…lead us not into temptation [testing]…”.

Jesus: Lawgiver and Law Fullfiler2023-10-22T14:19:01-06:00

Lust is Lazy & Short-term

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell.” Matthew 5:27-30 NET

The word desire (also translated as lust) that Jesus uses in this passage, is an intense longing, not just a passing glance. If these cravings persist, Jesus warns that this heart attitude has tangible, negative consequences, including the possibility of sliding into sexual relations with a person who is not a marriage partner.

Perhaps you’ve seen a billboard that flaunts a claim similar to the following: “Porn is cheaper than dating”. This sexual pleasure package implies that an instant, temporary, and relatively inexpensive option is able to provide the same emotional satisfaction as a loyal, long-lasting, human relationship which includes Biblical marriage. Lazy people consistently choose inferior but seemingly easy options.

What does scripture say about the lazy person’s destiny? Here’s a sample:

The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. Proverbs 15:19 ESV

Let’s compare that porn billboard offer with a financial investment promising a return of 100% in two weeks without any risk to the investor. It’s not difficult for a discerning person to ascertain that both proposals are too good to be true.

The lure of receiving something incredibly valuable or exhilarating for very little effort is sneaky. Indulging desires for such sudden jackpots is guaranteed to corrupt hearts and minds. The person who gives in to the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:24-26) also jeopardizes future rewards.

Read again what Jesus says about capitulating to lust in Matthew 5:30 (above). Do the consequences of lust really include hell? Jesus’ warning is dire regarding ungodly sexual glances, cravings that corrupt us. If in the short-term we fall into being lazy about sexual matters, we risk losing the good and truly satisfying experiences that God has designed for us.

Have you fallen for “cheap date” style schemes? It’s time to repent; (observe Jesus’ drastic language regarding offending eyes and hands above). Ask God to redirect you as you take the more difficult road of cultivating godly trust and intimacy in the marriage or relationships you already have or hope to have.

If you’re already following Jesus in this critical area of sex and marriage, what a blessing! You are experiencing human flourishing in the midst of a corrupt and perverse generation (Philippians 2:15-17).

Consider the impact of Matthew 5:27-30 on your life as you again make your way through the Lord’s Prayer.

Lust is Lazy & Short-term2023-10-22T13:27:23-06:00

Parenting 101

If you have been a parent, or are a young person not far from your childhood years, I have no doubt that you can well remember those times when your mom told you to clean your room, take out the trash, or a hundred other things to do. The response one almost always replied with was one of the following two:

“Just a sec.”

or

“In a minute.”

Which in neither case actually reflected your intentions.

While our world may have its misogynistic problems , it doesn’t hold a candle to the world that Jesus was born into. Women were property. They may have been held in lesser esteem than the family pet. If you grew tired of your wife, you just set her aside and got a new one. This was a way of thinking that had gone on for thousands of years. The men of the world would never have questioned it. Men’s eyes were always on the lookout for new possibilities. It was the norm. Solomon had 300 wives and 600 concubines.

Back to the home front. You may have routinely ignored your mom when she told you to do something, but when your mom shouted “STOP!!!!!!”, in THAT tone of voice, and with the glare of death you hoped never to hear or see again, you stopped!!!! Shaking in your boots! You knew that if there ever was a time to be obedient, this was it.

Jesus talks about gouging an eye out, or chopping off a hand. Does he really mean that? And of course He does not. The thing is, it wouldn’t fix the problem. Even if I had no eyes, hands, or legs, it wouldn’t prevent me from entertaining impure thoughts. They find their birth in my mind and my heart.

But Jesus’ use of that language was his way of emulating your mom’s STOP command. The men Jesus was addressing in the passage above were used to the same old same old. No one ever questioned it. They just did it. While Revelation’s “New Heaven and a New Earth” was about a future time for all of us believers, that Kingdom was starting here in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was espousing an entirely new way of thinking. If you had been among those gathered on the Mount, you were likely looking around at others with a “What the Heck” look. “Gouging eyes?” I’m sure the same reaction was engendered when Jesus said this:

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6:56-57

Take this message far beyond the topic of adultery. Be introspective. Examine scripture. Examine yourself. Stop and consider.

And then smile when God emphatically tells you to stop.

He loves you!!!

Br Bruce Hanson

Parenting 1012023-10-21T20:06:23-06:00

Lust Dehumanizes

“You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28 NIV

Jesus first states the 7th commandment as something all his hearers know, then He elaborates on the heart issue. Adultery does not occur in a vacuum. It begins with thoughts, it begins with looks, it begins with attitudes – long before any action is taken.

For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. I John 2:16 NIV

You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Numbers 15:39 NIV

These verses tell us where lust begins. Our eyes see something we desire, and we begin to crave that something. Lust usually involves desiring another person for one’s own sexual gratification. Lustful desires are always presented as sinful (Colossians 3:5), of the world (I John 2:16), or even equated with bestial instincts (II Peter 2:12-18).

A person who lusts after another, selfishly desires that person – in order to own or consume him or her, not for giving them love. Lust does not elevate or encourage. Instead it puts down, it dehumanizes, it devalues the other person as simply an object to possess.

Paul lists lust in Colossians 3:5 as a sin to be removed from a Christian’s life. Then Paul goes on to describe how a Christian can rid himself of sins like lust. Paul uses an analogy of taking off old clothes (sins) and putting on new ones (godly virtues and values). Colossians 3:1-4:6 gives many instructions on how to submit to the Holy Spirit and live a God honoring life.

Jesus deplores our sinful actions, likewise is burdened by and even saddened by our sinful thoughts and attitudes which invariably can lead to wrong doing. As you read and pray the Lord’s prayer, examine your thoughts and attitudes. When the Spirit reveals your sinful thoughts and attitudes toward another person, confess it, repent and receive God’s forgiveness.

Lust Dehumanizes2023-10-21T19:36:46-06:00

Podcast Episode

In addition to our daily devotional readings we also produce a weekly podcast in which we discuss the previous Sunday’s sermon topic. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing our podcast episode on Friday’s here in the Daily. We hope it blesses you. You can find the episode either on Youtube OR on your favorite podcast platform

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCWnNSTN-6XA7oYy6TBfS0LAxqxPvxVjH
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guys-drinking-tea/id1616539767

Podcast Episode2022-10-25T20:55:37-06:00

How We Play Our Part

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Take a few minutes and read 1 Corinthians 13.

John 3:16 might be the most famous verse in the Bible, but 1 Corinthians 13 is likely the most famous chapter in the Bible. You might have heard it read at a wedding or a funeral. Jesus emphasized that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord, and the second greatest is to love your neighbor as yourself. This chapter, too, reminds us that love is central to the way of Jesus. Without love, we have nothing.

This week we have learned that “You have a part to play and are gifted with the power to play it.” God has invited his people to participate in his actions in the world. He then supports that commissioning with the power of the Holy Spirit, but this chapter tells us HOW to participate. How do we know if another person or we are playing our part by the power of the Spirit? How do we know if we are on task? The answer is simple; it’s love. There is no law against love. How are you doing?

Even as I write, my shame rises because I know how often I have failed to love. Shame is not the aim of this chapter or this reading. Remember that the only way we can truly show love is by receiving it from God. God loves us first.

Take a moment to reread the chapter, but this time, anticipate the reality that God fulfills this chapter toward you. Let that be your motivation to grow in love for others. That source of hope is the only way to sustain a life of love.

How We Play Our Part2022-10-22T22:17:09-06:00

Are You Using Your Gifts?

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
I Corinthians 12:4-7 NIV

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. I Corinthians 12:27-31

The culture in Corinth was focused on status – who was rich, powerful, influential and in charge. It is not surprising that new Christians also were prone to contend for status within the Corinthian church by categorizing certain Spiritual gifts as more important or more desirable. Paul uses two illustrations to talk about different Spiritual gifts – a building and a physical body. Both help to get his point across.

We could also use any organization – the army for instance – to get the same point across. In the army of course there are leaders and followers. There are fewer leaders at the very top of the organization and more followers closer to the bottom. But each person has an essential role or job to fulfill. It may seem that the company cook and the company clerk are not as important as the general, but everyone must eat good food in order to perform their important jobs, and if there was no one to order jeeps, trucks or other supplies, no one would have the essential items required to do their daily tasks.

Paul lists the various Spiritual gifts in many of his letters to the churches. (I Corinthians 12:8-10, I Corinthians 12:27-30, Ephesians 4:11.) He says that each person is to use their particular Spiritual gift,

to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 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. Ephesians 4:12-16 NIV

Not unlike the different jobs in the army, Christians are to use their Spiritual gifts to build up the church body, benefitting both the individual exercising the gift, and the others who are served by the use of that particular gift. What are your gifts? Are you using them in some way within the church body? Ask God to show you how to use his gifts to you in ways to prepare others for service in God’s kingdom.

Are You Using Your Gifts?2022-10-22T21:56:01-06:00

Your Part

Are you feeling at home in the church you’ve chosen or that it is not quite the right fit? Read this:

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. I Corinthians 12:12-26 NIV

If classical pew-sitting and leaving the instant the Sunday sermon ends (or watching sermons on TV or the internet) has become your habit, the above passage confirms you’re intended to serve our Master as he builds his kingdom in an active, sometimes untidy body of Jesus’ followers, rather than in a pristine cloister.

You must start or start again somewhere.

If you’re unsure of your giftings, grab an opening, even if it seems an insignificant opportunity. Try joining a team with a variety of roles where you can move around as your faith journey comes alive.

Perhaps you’ve served in your community of faith for a while now. Are you in a role you’ve outgrown, and does God seem to be calling you to wrestle with a new challenge? Or maybe you need to take more responsibility in an area where you already enjoy benefiting others.

Some of you might already be established in ministry, exercising your gifts in confidence, the Spirit affirming that you are effective and necessary in your service. Encourage others around you as they develop their ministries.

Some of us don’t have the same energy or capacity we once had to fully operate in the gifts that connect us in the body of Christ. Maybe it’s time to major in mentoring or to ask God to open new ways of building God’s kingdom we’ve never considered before.

Most of all, don’t play dead if it seems the cost of being part of a body of believers is too great. Building God’s kingdom has always had a cost. Remember Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and the sacrifices of many fellow believers who have paved the way for us now and over the centuries.

Your Part2022-10-22T09:16:48-06:00

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit

Now about the spiritual gifts [the special endowments given by the Holy Spirit], brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were led off after speechless idols; however you were led off [whether by impulse or habit]. Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the [power and influence of the] Spirit of God can say, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is [my] Lord,” except by [the power and influence of] the Holy Spirit.

Now there are [distinctive] varieties of spiritual gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], but it is the same Spirit [who grants them and empowers believers]. And there are [distinctive] varieties of ministries and service, but it is the same Lord [who is served]. And there are [distinctive] ways of working [to accomplish things], but it is the same God who produces all things in all believers [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them].

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit [the spiritual illumination and the enabling of the Holy spirit] for the common good. To one is given through the Holy Spirit [the power to speak] the message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] the word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Spirit; to another [wonder working] faith [is given] by the same Holy Spirit, and to another the [extraordinary] gifts of healings by the one Spirit; and to another the working of miracles, and to another prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and to another discernment of spirits [the ability to distinguish sound godly doctrine from the deceptive doctrine of man-made religions and cults], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues and to another the interpretation of tongues.

All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by the same [Holy} Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He choses. 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 The Amplified Bible

It has been said over the years that the Holy Spirit is the forgotten member, the neglected member, the “Cinderella” of the Trinity. At other times, He has been sensationalized, e.g., glorified, in ways that I’ve come to believe grieves Him. I say this because of what Jesus told the disciples what the Holy Spirit would be about. He whom the Father would send in Jesus’ name. (John 14:26, John 15:26, John 16:7-15).

As I read these scriptures along with 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, I see that the Holy Spirit is about enabling us to grow in knowing and loving God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. The manifestations given by the Holy Spirit are how we are strengthened to live in the way of Jesus in the church and out in the world.

A book that I have found helpful in learning to appreciate the Holy Spirit is:
The Holy Spirit-Shy Member of the Trinity by Frederick Dale Bruner and William Holden.

Along with reading the 1 Corinthian scriptures this week, also read those from John as a reminder of what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be and do. I’ll be praying for you this week!

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit2022-10-21T20:08:56-06:00
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