Are We Worth It? Series

Are We Worth It!

Jesus, His Encounters (7)

I Am Jesus – Message 35

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And because God raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory, your faith and hope can be placed confidently in God. – 1 Peter 1:18-21

Good morning… I want to start off our time together today with a little pop quiz. When I was in school I just loved pop quizzes, didn’t you? QUESTION - how many here loved and did rather well on pop quizzes? How many hated them? How many freak out & froze up whenever those 2 words were spoken? BUT HEY – don’t worry, I think you’ll do pretty good on this one…

OKAY – on this table I have several items arranged in groups of two… Now the items in each group are kind of the same but at the same time they are different. AND – what I am going to do is to show you each group one at a time and then ask you to write down in your notes the item that is the most valuable, that is worth the most… Does that make sense? AND – if it doesn’t, don’t worry because you will quickly see where I am going once we get started.… NOW – as with all pop quizzes there are 2 rules, # 1 - don’t call out the answer and #2 - don’t look at your neighbors paper…

Item #1 Item #2

One dollar bill One hundred dollar bill

Penny Dime

Plastic ring Diamond ring

Can of Spam T-Bone steak

My car key Ms Laurie’s car key

Mellow Yellow Mountain Dew

Mirror (you) Cross

OKAY – now let’s grade our quizzes… If you said that item #2 was worth the most in each group give yourself a 100… AND – for those who wish to debate the Mellow Yellow – Mountain Dew question… or the Spam – T Bone question. I’ll be glad to talk to you after class…

THIS MORNING – as we continue taking a look at the people that Jesus met we are going to discover a truth that if we get it… WILL – radically and completely change our lives forever. GUYS – I am so not kidding here… [Tim, Laurie…]; IF – you believe… IF – you embrace… IF – you take to heart the truth that this 7th encounter of Jesus will reveal… YOU WILL – experience; more joy, more peace, more contentment, more fulfillment, more confidence and less fear… THEN – you could ever imagine.

TODAY’S – message is called, “Are We Worth It?” QUESTION – have you ever wondered about or doubted your worth?

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don’t you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

- Luke 23:32-43

Prayer…

(From Max Lucado…)

Several years ago a couple of guys broke into a department store in a large city. They successfully entered the store, stayed long enough to do what they came to do, and then escaped unnoticed. NOW - what is unusual about the story is what these guys did. They took nothing. Absolutely nothing. No merchandise was stolen. No items removed. But what they did do was crazy.