RADICAL
Taking back your faith from the American Dream.
Review: Radical Abandonment to Radical Jesus / Radical Word
PRAY!
· RADICAL:
o of, relating to, or proceeding from a root;
o of or relating to the origin:fundamental
o very different from the usual or traditional:extreme
RADICAL POWER
The Christian life is not a life able to be lived in one’s own strength. The person and the people of Christ are called to do much more than they can ever achieve on their own.
(It is easy to “play Christian” just like it is easy to “play church.” Neither is supposed to be a production or a show of ourselves but the Power of God.)
· Person
o 1 John 2:6 – Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
· Mission
o Matthew 28:19-20 –19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20and teachingthem to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youalways, to the very end of the age.”
These are not things that we can do on our own. The conviction, passion, ability and power all come from God in the Holy Spirit.
· To Completion
o Philippians 1:4-6 – 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always praywith joy 5because of your partnershipin the gospel from the first dayuntil now,6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completionuntil the day of Christ Jesus.
· Pioneer & Perfecter
o Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us runwith perseverancethe race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus,the pioneerand perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Relying on His Radical Power
Transforming Power
2 Corinthians 3:18-4:9 – 17Now the Lord is the Spirit,and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.18And we all, who with unveiled faces reflectthe Lord’s glory,are being transformed into his imagewith ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
41Therefore, since through God’s mercywe have this ministry, we do not lose heart.2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways;we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s consciencein the sight of God.3And even if our gospelis veiled,it is veiled to those who are perishing.4The godof this agehas blindedthe minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ,who is the image of God.5For what we preach is not ourselves,but Jesus Christ as Lord,and ourselves as your servantsfor Jesus’ sake.6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our heartsto give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7But we have this treasure in jars of clayto show that this all-surpassing power is from Godand not from us.8We are hard pressed on every side,but not crushed; perplexed,but not in despair;9persecuted,but not abandoned;struck down, but not destroyed.
Producing Power
Matthew 3:8 – Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
John 15:1-8 – “I amthe true vine,and my Father is the gardener.2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruithe prunesso that it will be even more fruitful.3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.4Remain in me, as I also remain in you.No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;apart from me you can do nothing.6If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7If you remain in meand my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.8This is to my Father’s glory,that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
· Fruit
o Personal
§ Galatians 5:22-25 – 22But the fruitof the Spirit is love,joy, peace,forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23gentleness and self-control.Against such things there is no law.24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the fleshwith its passions and desires.25Since we live by the Spirit,let us keep in step with the Spirit.
o Kingdom
§ Matthew 9:35-38 - 35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.37Then he said to his disciples,“The harvestis plentiful but the workers are few.38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Cling & Pray
Luke 8:4-15 – 4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:5“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.6Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out,“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
9His disciples asked him what this parable meant.10He said,“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you,but to others I speak in parables, so that,
“‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’
11“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.13Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, richesand pleasures, and they do not mature.15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Luke 8:15 (ESV) - As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, andbear fruitwith patience.
Luke 8:15 (NLT) - And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.