Sermon Outline

Mt 5-7, 9, 14; Mk 4-6; Lk 10, 15; Jn 6

1. What do we think of teachers?
2. What kind of Teacher was Jesus?
   1. Depends…
   2. Jesus was able to simplify (Mk 4:24-25)
      1. The complex process of being a disciple and learning all that it takes to be conformed to the image of Christ comes down to this:
      2. if you act on my teaching, I will give you more teaching,
      3. but if you don’t act upon it then the very things you think you understand will be lost.
   3. Jesus also made things complex (Mk 4:1-20, Mt 3:2)
      1. The simple desire of Jesus is that people leave their sins and self-effort and come to God through Him.
      2. But instead of saying that, He goes on to talk about 4 soil types.
         1. This is basically a really complex way of saying that there are lots of things that will keep you from being a productive member of God’s work in the world:
      3. Jesus was all about the Shock Effect
         1. Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32)
         2. Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37)
         3. Eat my flesh! (Jn 6:53-66, Gen 9:4, Lev 17:14)
3. Jesus wasn’t an ordinary man
   1. Jesus loved to tell stories
   2. Jesus loved to challenge everyone to deeper and deeper levels of discipleship
   3. Jesus came with Power
   4. Jesus wasn’t interested in growing big crowds, He wanted to grow the Kingdom of God (Jn 6:68-69)

Devotional material to prepare for this sermon available here.