Give Them Jesus: Getting Equipped to Care for Others
Class #3: The Heart is the Target
Review of last week: Bad shepherds (Ezekiel 34) vs. The Good Shepherd (John 10)
What stood out about the bad shepherds as far as what to avoid when seeking to care for people?
What stood out about The Good shepherd as far as what to do when seeking to care for people?
Opening Q: What drives people? What motivates people?
Intro:
We want you to apply this stuff as we go through the class, and we hope that you apply it across the board. However, in order to help you think this through and apply it generally, we think it would be best to think about one person and think about how to apply this as you grow, learn and go through this class.
Exercise: Think of someone to apply this to, a relationship, someone who you want to care for well. Does not mean they have to be going through a hard time right now, but someone you want to care for.
Pray
If we want to see change we have to understand that the heart is the target
Luke 6:43-45
“Forno good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,44foreach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.45The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure producesevil,for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Eph 3:14-20
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,15from whomevery familyin heaven and on earth is named,16that according tothe riches of his gloryhe may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spiritin your inner being,17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, beingrooted andgrounded in love,18may have strength tocomprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length andheight and depth,19and to know the love of Christthat surpasses knowledge, thatyou may be filled with allthe fullness of God.
Q: What do we learn about the heart and change in these passages?
Undeniable connection between heart and behavior.
Don’t judge me-you don’t know me…Calls our world has easily come accustomed to.
The idea of, if you did understand me you would agree…Shifting morality.
Q: What are other ways the world deals with change? Problems? Pain?
External change is not enough
Matthew 23:25-28
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Foryou clean the outside ofthe cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside ofthe cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are likewhitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones andall uncleanness.28So you alsooutwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full ofhypocrisy and lawlessness.
Q: The Pharisees were experts at behavior modification. Why did this bother Jesus so much?
ILL: Stapling fruit to a tree.
Q: Why is behavior modification not enough?
All hearts are idol factories
Ezekiel 14:1-5
Then certain of theelders of Israel came to meand sat before me.2And the word of theLordcame to me:3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and setthe stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces.Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?4Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the LordGod: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet,I theLordwill answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols,5that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel,who are all estranged from me through their idols.
Romans 1:21-25
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but theybecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22Claiming to be wise, they became fools,23andexchanged the glory ofthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (continued on next page)
24ThereforeGod gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, tothe dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25because they exchanged the truth about God fora lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever! Amen.
Calvin: All hearts are idol factories…Very important for us to understand if ant to care for others: Competing affections.
Q: Why is it important to look for specific idols when seeking to care for others?
Q: Why should we be aware of our hearts idols? How do our idols impact how we care for others?
Q: How does whether someone is in Christ or is not in Christ dictate how you care for them?
-Bad behavior is a heart problem, a worship problem.
Idols: anything that rules me other than God.
The book: The principle of inescapable influence: Whatever rules the heart will exercise inescapable influence over a persons life and behavior.
Understanding the heart
Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, wheremoth and rustdestroy and where thievesbreak in and steal,20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,23but ifyour eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God andmoney.
James 4:1-3
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passionsareat war within you?2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.3You ask and do not receive, because you askwrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Q: How does what someone treasures give a glimpse into their heart?
Blaise Pascal- “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
Q: How can you determine what someone treasures?
Q: How does what bothers someone give a glimpse into their heart?
Case Study Q: If a friend from work stops by and says I am miserable, where do you start to help them? What if they are having a great day?
Our Hope: True change is possible.
Gal 6:1-3
Brothers,if anyone is caught in any transgression,you who are spiritual should restore him ina spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.2Bear one another's burdens, andso fulfillthe law of Christ.3Forif anyone thinks he is something,when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
1 Cor 6:9-11
Or do you not know that the unrighteouswill not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.11Andsuch were some of you. Butyou were washed,you were sanctified,you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Q: Why is it so important to check our hearts and remember that we are sinful while we seek to care for others?
-Protect ourselves/not get sucked in, not get arrogant, not talk down to them, not make them into projects…
Q: Why is it so essential to have hope when we seek to care for others?
The Paradigm:
Love
Know
Speak
Do