Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Throw the flag – it’s most definitely a penalty – at the minimum unsportsmanlike conduct.
The preaching calendar worked out as such that I will be speaking about fasting on the Sunday after thanksgiving.
It could have been worse – it could have been the Sunday before thanksgiving.
Now people can look back in regret instead of looking ahead with guilt (glass is half full!).
Here’s the text:
Matthew 6:16-17 (NCV) “When you give up eating, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They make their faces look sad to show people they are giving up eating. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. So when you give up eating, comb your hair and wash your face. Then people will not know that you are giving up eating, but your Father, whom you cannot see, will see you. Your Father sees what is done in secret, and he will reward you.
What are your thoughts / observations?
Keeping your sermon in mind will be a good excuse to have an extra helping during our Thanksgiving meal (as if I need an excuse).
Seriously, though, what I get from Jesus’ sermon in these passages is our relationship with God with what we do. If our focus is on other things when we pray, fast, or do good works, our efforts are shallow. But if we have God at the center of our deeds, then our relationship with him is deepened and the results are often beyond our comprehension.
I think you should call everyone in the church and tell them you are having a spur of the moment potluck right after church. Then you have a sermon and a living application.
the pharisees make me think of those people who “suffer for the cause”; sometimes known as the “martyr complex”.. audiences are a key part of the performance, people need to know that the pharisee is making sacrifices for God (and in some instances, for their audience themselves).
i guess it is about motivations, because to see others fasting and whatnot can be encouraging (either to copy or see the faith involved) like graphiteman said, relationship.
I think I would change the order of my preaching schedule!!!
I haven’t been much of a faster. Jesus seems to teach that feeding on God is nourishment, that fasting combined with feasting on spiritual manna brings about true “fill-ness. That true food is doing his will. That confidence in body and blood given on the cross is truer food than what passes down the pipe.
Bon appetit…