Mt. Olive Church of Christ

This page was last updated: February 20, 2012

February 12, 2011

February 19, 2012

                            THE KINGDOM OF GOD

                                 Mark 4:13-20

Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the Word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the Word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the Word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the Word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the Word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

INTRODUCTION:

A. I was reading this week…..

· Look at Ephesians 5:22-27.

B. Jesus went from town to town and out in the country because…..

C. Jesus loves the Church. It is His Body!

· The Parable of the Sower

  1. Some seed fell on hard ground.

  2. Some seed fell on shallow ground.

  a. Updating our membership list

  b. The feeding of the 5,000

  c. In the history of the Church many have left.

  3. Some fell among the thorns.

  4. Some fell on good ground.

I THE PARABLE OF THE GROWING SEED – Mark 4:26-29

A. A person scatters seed on the ground.

B. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows.

C. He does not know!

D. All by itself the soil produces grain.

E. First the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

F. Then the harvest comes!

G. We influence people in many ways.

II THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS – Matthew 21:28-32

A. The first son – “I will not!”

B. The second son – “I will!”

C. The chief priests and elders in Jesus’ day had not use for…..

III WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD – Matthew 20:1-16

A. The promise to the young person

B. No one has a right to complain.

C. We can come to Christ at any time, but…..

CONCLUSION: THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET – Matthew 22:1-14

A. God chose 2,000 years before the birth of Christ…..

B. When the Jews rejected their Messiah…..

C. Even though we are invited and want to go, we all need to…..

D. The man without a wedding garment was speechless.

E. Accepting Jesus is like putting on…..

                  REFORMATION VS. RESTORATION

                              Matthew 16:13-19

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” He asked, “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

INTRODUCTION:

A. A minister friend asked me this week, “What is the difference between…..?”

B. When I looked at our Scripture text, one line jumped out at me: “…..the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

C. In the New Testament – one church

· One Head – one body

· Christians make up that one body.

D. As time passed, the Church changed.

· Larger churches took authority over smaller ones.

· The government of the Church followed the example of the Roman government.

· There was always the remnant.

· The Dark Ages

I THE PRINTING PRESS BROUGHT ABOUT CHANGE.

II AS PEOPLE READ THE SCRIPTURES, THEY DISAGREED WITH THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH.

III THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

IV THE PROBLEM WITH REFORMATION

V THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT

CONCLUSION:

A. There is something in a name.

B. The New Testament describes the government of the Church.

C. The New Testament makes clear the message of salvation.