Sticks & Stones III

Title: Sticks & Stones III

Description: This is the third and final Sermon in the series titled, "Sticks & Stones", in which we will look at the different sides of conflict. In this message, we will study Deuteronomy 12 and 14 in order to learn about how to respond in situations when people intentionally hurt us.


Audio File

Click Here to Listen to the Audio File (6MB)


Video Download

Click here to download and watch to the small video file(35MB)

Click here to download and watch to the large video file(133MB)


Comments
I wrote out the entire manuscript for this message, but then I changed it and didn't have time to retype a lot of it down, so here's a general outline.


Manuscript

Story—Spider Man II ends with Mary Jane leaving her wedding and fiancé in order to be with Peter Parker (spider man). I love happy endings.


Luke 15:20-24
This is a wonderful story with a happy ending. We love this story because it’s about us. We’ve sinned against God, but he eagerly waits for us and when come to him, he gives us the best that he has.

We love this story because it shows us how the compassion of God leads to mercy.

Psalms 103:8-9
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loveinkindness.


Story Part I—My friend at school, named Vinny, stole the girl I really liked from me. I was deeply crushed and hurt

Moses experienced hurt many times. We’ve been looking at Numbers 14 for the last few weeks and we have seen Israel rebel and grumble against Moses, decided to kick him out of leadership and to stone him. But Moses has been hurt more than once

APPLICATION
We all experience hurt. People have hurt you intentially.

Numbers 12:1-3
Miriam and Aaron are relatives of Moses. People who are close to Him have hurt him badly.

We’re talking about the times when people actually hurt you on purpose. What does this scripture teach us about responding when people intentionally hurt us?

Numbers 12:4-10
Illustration—the reason i love movies about superheros is because i love it when they save the day and rescue the people in need.
That’s what’s happening here. God is coming to the rescue and punishing the bad people for their sin.

Numbers 12:11-12
Story Part II—The next year, after Vinny stole the girl I liked, I found myself in a situation where i could steal his girlfriend. I could get revenge.

Moses is at a place where he can get revenge. Aaron and Miriam are depedent upon Moses for their happiness. How will Moses respond

APPLICATION
We long to be in this type of situation. We long to get revenge. Make them feel the same pain they made us feel.

Revenge comes in many different ways. In close relationships we can remind people about their past mistakes and how they hurt us. We can use sarcasm...etc.

We want to get people back and hurt them.

The best response we can come up with is is to just walking away. We forgive them and decide not to hurt them. But Moses’ response takes everything to a higher level.

Before we look at how he responds here, let’s look at how he responds in Numbers 14 when God decides to kill all of Israel for grumbling and rebelling. Will Moses get his revenge?

Numbers 14:17-19
Moses’ Response
Moses Prays for them and intercedes for them. Moses has this divine compassion for the Israelite people. Even though they hurt him badly, he desires them to be forgiven so that they can prosper.

And Moses calls on God’s compassion in verse 18. “God, listen to your compassion and be moved to mercy.” I think this divine compassion that Moses has is the reason God made him leader over Israel. He really cares for them

Don’t think that Moses went above and beyond the call of deuty

Matthew 5:44-45a
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven

Jesus asks us to pray for those who hurt us because he wants us to realize that he loves the whole world and wants all the people to be saved

APPLICATION
Most of our revenge is verbal. We’ll pray, but in the meantime I’ll get them back.

When we pray for them, God changes our hearts and forms within us His divine compassion. If you don’t have this divine compassion within you than the compassion of God will become your curse

Story—Refer back to Spider Man II. It was a happy ending for Peter and Mary Jane, but it wasn’t a happy ending for the guy who was left at the alter

Luke 15:25-28
If the story of the prodigal son is about you than it’s a great story, but when it’s about somebody else then the story becomes depressing and sad. When the story is about Israel, Aaron, Miriam, or about the person who has hurt you, then we don’t like the story. We become like the brother. We see how God is waiting and expecting for this person (who has hurt you) to come home and when they do God shows compassion and mercy by loving him and giving him the best of what God has. God throws a party for him and we don’t want to go to it. When you don’t have this compassion inside you, then the compassion of God becomes a curse.

What do you think heaven will be like? What are you going to do when you get there and there’s all these people who have hurt you there? Are you going to enter into the party? Do you think that once you die than your anger will be gone when you get to heaven?

If you do not have this divine compassion within you, and you’re not praying for those who hurt you than God’s compassion will be your curse

Matthew 5:44-45a
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven



Sunday's Bulletin--Click to view larger image




Wednesday Night Study
The purpose of our study tonight is to spend some time discussing and reflecting on the message from Sunday on Divine Compassion. This study will not work unless people are willing to discuss their thoughts. If you are leading this study then make sure that everybody has an opportunity to answer the questions if they are willing to (don’t just move on because somebody gave you the “right” answer).


Opening Questions

When was a time when somebody hurt you intentionally?

How did you respond and how did you want to respond?

Read Jonah 1:1-3

Why did Jonah want to run away?

Read Jonah 3:10-4:4

Why did Jonah not want to preach to Nineveh?

Why was Jonah upset and angry?

Read Jonah 4:5-9

What’s the deal with this plant thing that God does? Why do you think God caused the plant to grow and then caused the plant to be eaten?

In both instances, when God had compassion on Nineveh and when the worm ate the leaf, Jonah responds with this plea to God, “Death is better to me than life.” Why?

Do you think Jonah is more upset or angry over one instance than the other (is he angrier about the leaf or the forgiven city of Nineveh? Why?

Read Jonah 4:9-11

What is God saying to Jonah?

You had compassion that was only alive for a day, so why should I not have compassion for all these lost people?

What’s the point of all this? Jonah did what God asked and he proclaimed God’s word to Nineveh, so what more does God want from Jonah?

STATEMENT:It appears that God desires Jonah to have His compassion. The first part of the book of Jonah is about God bringing Jonah’s actions into accordance to His will, but the second half is about God changing Jonah’s heart to match His own. And it worked. Most people believed Jonah wrote this book, and the fact that Jonah could write this book with such a horrible ending and making himself look so bad is reflective of Jonah’s transformation.

Read Matthew 5:44-45a

Why do you think God wants us to pray for those who persecute us?

How do you learn to love your enemies?

STATEMENT:God asks us to pray for those who hurt us for two reasons: First, He wants us to realize that He loves the world (God so loved the world...) and second, that through prayer, our hearts are transformed and God will give us the ability to love our enemies and God will give us compassion for those who desire to hurt you.
ii. The question we have to face is are we going to be like Jonah and run away from what he wants us to do, or will we just give him our actions and not our heart, or will we give God control over what is outward and inward.