What About My Relationships? Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• You belong to Jesus, WHAT NOW?

• In this new series, we will be examining some of the implications we face in various aspects of our life as a result of our relationship with Jesus.

• For those who have been with Jesus for a long time, this series will serve as a reminder of how a relationship with Jesus should impact our lives.

• For those who have recently or are contemplating a relationship with Jesus, this series will hopefully be a roadmap of sorts to help allow us to be open to the path that a relationship with Jesus will lead you.

• A relationship with Jesus should impact EVERY area and aspect of one’s life as we are allowing ourselves to be transformed into the image of Jesus, more and more each moment.

• I fear that somewhere along the line some of us may have gotten the mistaken impression that Jesus is simply another item to add to our checklist of life.

• With the pace of life and all of the distractions of life these days, it is easy to forget that Jesus is not something we do, but Jesus is who we are.

• We are called to be Christ-like, this requires more than adding Jesus to a checklist.

• Today we are going to examine how Jesus should impact the focus of our relationships. We are going to spend the bulk of message dealing with our relationships with those within the in the church family.

• A relationship is defined as follows- the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

• Today we will spend the bulk of our time in Hebrews 1:24-25, let’s see what God’s Word tells us today.

• SLIDE #2

• Hebrews 10:24–25 (CSB) — 24 And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works,

• 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. Consider one another.

• I love the way the CSB translates verse 24, And let us watch out for one another

• Many translations say it this way, “LET US CONSIDER…”

• Consider is not the main point, the original text has the flavor of CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER!

• We are called to consider one another with the purpose of trying to help provoke one another to love Jesus and to perform good works in our lives.

• This passage is the only place in the book of Hebrews in which the phrase ONE ANOTHER is used.

• So how does this impact our relationships? Understanding what a relationship is gives us a good context from which to start.

• A relationship is defined as follows- the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

• By definition, a relationship demands a connection of some type.

• Therefore, those with whom I am in a relationship means that I have a connection with them.

• Within the church context, our relationship tie is Jesus.

• This why Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 about not being in partnership with non-believers. The tie of Jesus is not there so our worlds will be on totally different trajectories.

• The way Jesus should impact our relationship with one another is the fact that we are called not to be in our own little selfish or closed off world.

• As a follower of Jesus, I can no longer be selfish, caring for only my own interests.

• SLIDE #4

• Philippians 2:3 (CSB) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

• One area of impact concerning my relationships is the fact that my relationships are no longer about me and what I can get out of the deal, my relationships have to be about you!

• In the context of the church, there is mutual activity expected of those who are a part God’s family.

• We MUST consider one another.

• To be able to CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER, it is incumbent upon me to carefully take into account the circumstances and weakness of others so that I can apprehend what type of support you need to be able to be strong in Christ.

• For my relationships with folks outside of Jesus, those relationships are no longer simply about friendship or fun, I have to take the initiative to know them well enough to be able to prayerfully figure out how to bring them to Jesus.

• The days of knocking on someone’s door and leading them to Christ is rare, to help lead someone we have to know them on a personal level to the point we know what makes the tick, we know which doors to try to lead them to Jesus.