Live With Passion

Title: Live Pationately

Text: Matthew 9:36

Date: 6/13/09

Location: Sulphur Spring

Intro. A few weeks ago I challenged you to live the month of June as if it was the last month you had to live on the earth. This morning is June 14th, which means the month is almost half gone. I challenged you to live your life by the same 4 principles that Jesus lived by. Let me remind you of those 4 Principles this morning, (1) Jesus lived passionately, (2) Loved Completely, (3) Learned Humility, (4) Left Boldly.

This morning I want us to take a closer look at this first principle. I want us to discuss how you can live your life with more passion than you ever thought possible.

Passion is one of the most powerful motivating forces known to man. Passion is what separates a good musician or athlete from those that are great.

A group of us went to Bowling Green last Tuesday night to watch a minor league Baseball game. I’ve always enjoyed playing baseball, and in my younger years I was quite passionate about it. I wanted to be the best pitcher that I could possibly be. My dad had never played baseball, so he Boys and girls you have to understand this was 30 years ago and there was no such thing as a Training DVD or VCR tape you could just put in and watch it on TV and we certainly didn’t have a place in town where you could go and get private lessons on pitching.

So I went to the Library and bought a book about pitching. I read it from cover to cover. I was especially interested to learn that most pitchers held the ball differently when they wanted to throw a curve ball than they did when they were throwing a baseball.

I also watched Major League Baseball and listened closely to the commentators when they were talking about the pitcher’s mechanics. I became a student of the game and wanted to learn everything I could about it.

But you know there was only so much I could learn from reading a book or watching television. I also had to get out there on the field and throw a few pitches. I didn’t always throw very hard so I had to learn how to control the ball, and throw strikes, which I did. But every now and then I would throw one up there too good and someone would hit a home run off of me. But even then I learned from that mistake, and did my best not to make the same mistake again.

I guess you could say I was passionate about baseball, although I guess you could also make a pretty good argument that I was obsessed by it. I can remember sitting in the living room at my mom and dad’s house watching television while throwing a ball into my glove. You see I threw a knuckle ball, and in order to throw it well you have to use your finger nails. So I would sit there for hours throwing a ball into my glove.

In my opinion Passion is one of the things that’s missing in our world today. I didn’t see it the other night at the Bowling Green Ball park, I don’t see it in the business world, and I certainly don’t see much of it around the church.

Jesus lived passionately and as His disciples so should we. That’s what I want to spend some time talking about today.

I. Jesus was passionate about people!

Martin Luther King, Jr. was passionate about a the Civil Rights movement. His I have a Dream speech is filled with that passion.

Some people are passionate about a hobby, and spend all of their time, energy and money on it.

Jesus on the other hand was passionate about People.

Matthew 9:36 says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

A. Jesus was passionate about people, all kinds of people. Rich, Poor, Jews and Gentiles, alike, He didn’t play favorites. He loved men and women, boys and girls.

B. The little children: In the gospel of Matthew it tells us about a time a group of Parents brought their children to see Jesus, but the Disciples tried to turn them away and keep them away from Jesus. But Jesus somehow realized what was going on and said, “Let the Little children come to me,” and then He blessed them and reminded His disciples that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are as innocent and pure as children.

II. Secondly, Jesus was passionate about serving people!

In Matthew 20:28 Jesus said, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."