Illuminate Community Church

4/16/23 - Beware The Wolves - Matthew 7:14-20 - Pastor Jason Fritz

In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus brings the Sermon On The Mount to an end. Previously he has spoken of two gates. One is narrow and the other is wide. The narrow gate is restrictive (only one way and few enter) but it leads to life. You can’t earn your way through and you certainly don’t deserve what’s on the other side, but by God's grace he opens it for you through Jesus. The wide gate is broad and easy to enter, however, it leads to destruction. As we learned two weeks ago, the wide gate represents man’s vain attempt to gain heaven through his own efforts. 

Now there are some who stand at the crossroads of these two gates and want to help you make a decision. They want to direct you toward the wide gate. This is not in your best interest. They stand there like a crosswalk guard holding up a “GO!” sign and escorting you through uninterrupted. Jesus describes them in this way...

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
-Matthew 7:15-20 

This is a stern warning. These people lead others to hell and cause disunity within the church. It’s interesting that the warning is not: “Beware of the cults, the culture, the atheists or the government." Instead, Jesus says we should be looking for people in the church who appear as servants. In reality, they are using us and they know exactly what they are doing. In other words, the greatest threat to the church is not from without but from within. Jesus gives us what we need to identify and respond to the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

4/9/23 - Risen - Pastor Jason Fritz

4/7/23 - Good Friday - Pastor Steve Johnson

4/2/23 - I am The King - Palm Sunday - John 12:12-19; Luke 19:28-35 - Pastor Jason Fritz

For several hundred years the church has spent the Sunday before Easter observing the triumphal entry of Jesus. He arrives in Jerusalem during Passover week on the back of a donkey. This event is commonly referred to as Palm Sunday. Luke chooses not to record the actual waving of palm branches but Matthew does. This is the kind of praise fit for a monarch. When a victorious king rode into town on his warhorse the people used palm branches to signal their loyalty and respect. But when Jesus rides into town he’s making a statement that was lost on many. He’s saying, “I am the true king, and not the kind you expect.” You see, when we examine the details of this event, we find some things that are very unusual. It turns out that Jesus is a king unlike any other.

The religious zealots in the crowd are watching the arrival. They don’t like this donkey ride. Donkeys implied peace so they would much rather see him on a white stallion ready to lead the rebellion against Rome. They didn’t understand Jesus’ purpose. In fact, very few did. If Jesus came riding a white horse, wielding a sword and chopping up Romans - what good is that? Instead, he says, “No I’m not coming in human power, I’m coming in divine humility and my kingdom will have a greater impact than you can imagine. It will not be established by force. I’m a different kind of king. I am a King of love and power.” This was proven a short time earlier when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is not like the kings of this world. He is the humble King who comes to serve and to die for the people.

The history of human kings isn’t a great one. The world has been led astray by those who have said, “Give me the power and I will make decisions for you!” This doesn’t end well. The only king that won’t oppress you is Jesus because he died for you and he will liberate you - from yourself.  How do we know this? Because Jesus comes riding not on a warhorse but a donkey. 

3/26/23 - I am the Way the Truth and the Life - John 14:1-7 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 

This Sunday we’re going to look at what might be the most controversial statement spoken by Jesus. It’s the very thing that had him killed. If you ask people living in the Valley what they think about Jesus, most will tell you they like him. From what they understand, Jesus seemed to be peaceful, loving and kind. This was his message to others so the world could use a little more Jesus - right? The Doobie Brothers speak for many - “Jesus is just alright with me.” (That dated me.)

If this is the case, then why did the people in Jesus’ day crucify him? There have been many famous leaders who preach the message of love and kindness but they didn’t end up nailed to a cross. Why Jesus? I submit to you that if Jesus was walking the earth today as he did 2000 years ago, many people would dismiss him fast. Why? Because of the claims he made about himself. 

Perhaps no statement is more confrontational than what he spoke in John 14:6. I use the word confrontational because that’s exactly what it is. Jesus did not leave any safe middle ground. In other words, his posture was, “You will either have to crown me or you will have to kill me, but you can’t simply say that I’m just a good person. This notion that I’m some kind of safe middle ground is not an option. You either accept me for who I say I am or you’ll have to say that I am the world’s greatest liar or I’m some kind of crazy person.”

Some say Jesus is being too exclusive. Let me give you a different perspective…

Christianity is the most inclusive thing in the world and here’s why…Many believe that only the good find God. As long as your good outweighs your bad, then you’re in the heaven club. This is the basis for all the world’s religions - earn your way to God by doing good things. Do you not see how incredibly exclusive this is? No one is consistently good. If we projected all of your secret and private thoughts on the big screen over the course of just the last 24 hours you would be horrified. You would die inside. Only the good find God; no, that’s way too exclusive for me. I prefer this: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. It’s not just the good people that can have eternal life, it’s “whoever believes.”

When we follow Him in “the way,” we can be assured of following Him all the way to heaven!

3/19/23 - Narrow is Wide and Wide is Narrow - Matthew 7:7-14 - Pastor Jason Fritz

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
-Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus is concluding this amazing sermon on the Galilean hillside. He speaks of two very different gates. What does it mean? Context is important. All throughout this sermon Jesus has been calling out the religious leaders for their hypocrisy.  If you imitate them thinking you will find life, you couldn't’ be more wrong. The religious leaders were actually going through the wide gate which signifies a dependence on ourselves. They attempted to obtain their own self-righteousness and salvation through trying to do things outwardly to impress others rather than total dependence upon God and faith in Jesus.

Many think the narrow gate means that one must follow the laws of God, attend church, tithe and pray. But this is what the religious leaders did and with the wrong motives. Therefore, they were far from God. They gave and prayed in public to be acknowledged by others. Outwardly they did all the right things but in the wrong way. So the narrow gate is not what most think.

Instead, the narrow gate represents the gospel of grace that is found in Jesus. This is far more radical than you know. The narrow gate has a person saying, “I can’t be good enough to get through any gate that leads to God!” Many hope the gate is wide enough for all of their human efforts to gain God’s approval. The truth is, your good efforts don’t even come close so you actually need something narrow. You need only one thing - the grace of Jesus. 

When we enter through his grace we then live in that grace and the world opens up to us. Jesus says, “Enter the gate first, and then you live your life.” You don’t have to try and live a good life and then at the end of the road hope the gate will be open to you. Herein lies the difference between Christianity and all other faiths. Christianity says that Jesus has unlocked the gate for you so come on in. Other faiths tell you that you must earn your own keys. Broad minded people say, “All good people get into heaven!" and what this means is you are saved by what you do. So in reality this is extremely narrow because you would have to be perfect and totally sinless. Narrow minded people say, “I don’t have a chance to get in on my own, only by the grace of God through Jesus do I get in.” Do you see the difference? Narrow is wide and wide is narrow.

For you personally, here’s what it means….It means not wasting any more time and energy trying to appear outwardly in a way to be accepted by the culture, but rather asking the Holy Spirit to live in you, to change your heart, and transform you into the person God made you to be. God sees the inward appearance of the heart.

3/12/23 - Judge Not (In the wrong way) - Matthew 7:1-6 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. -Matthew 7:1-6

One of the primary reasons why people reject Christianity is found in these verses. Gandhi commented, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Sometimes Christians condemn and judge motives and they do so without mercy. There are those who no longer attend church because of this. Their faith has been shipwrecked on the rocks of harsh and condemning attitudes. Perhaps you know of some. Even well meaning followers of Christ don’t always get it right. However, there is an alternative. When loving correction is given, lives are transformed.

So what exactly does Jesus mean, when he says, “Judge not.” The word judge has a rather large bandwidth of meanings. For example a sharpshooter misses his mark and says, "I didn’t judge the wind correctly." What’s he really saying? He made a mistake in is evaluation. The Bible says that God will one day judge the world. This judgment involves God’s wrath and will consume and destroy the planet.

What’s the difference between these two judgements? One judgment is characterized by evaluation; the other judgment is characterized by condemnation. Here’s the point -  Our responsibility is to evaluate, not to condemn. Only God has the ability to judge and condemn. It is our duty to judge and evaluate using discernment. A discerning spirit is constructive. A critical spirit is destructive. 

How do you become good at this? You must first evaluate your own life before you speak into the lives of others. Once again, Jesus is there to help.

3/5/23 - Do Not Be Anxious - Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:6-7 - Pastor Jason Fritz

Not long ago, over a thousand Americans were asked to identify their anxiety triggers and this is the list of common answers…

• family and relationship problems
• work stress or job change
• change in living arrangements 
• major emotional shock following a stressful or traumatic event 
• verbal, sexual, physical or emotional abuse or trauma
• death or loss of a loved one
• pregnancy

Perhaps you can relate to one or more of the above. The Bible tells us not to worry or be anxious. It seems impossible.  Jesus himself experienced a very intense moment in the Garden of Gethsemane when his sweat became like drops of blood. Whether you take that figuratively or literally, either way it was not a pleasant time. 

In the sermon on the mount Jesus gives a message about worry. The context has him talking about the anxiety you might feel over physical objects - what you eat and drink, having clothes. He says, "Seek God’s kingdom first and God will provide what you need.” There’s a difference between needs and wants. You need not be naked and you need to be fed. Seek God first and he will provide these things for you. But what about all the other things that cause anxiety? The apostle Paul offers his Spirit inspired words…

...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Paul doesn’t simply say, “Don’t be anxious about anything.” He tells you how not to be anxious about anything. You see, the key to reducing your anxiety is this:  in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. We are called to pray and make our desires known to God and make all our requests with thanksgiving. What does this mean? It looks like this... You pray and ask God for something to change and at the same time you thank him for whatever response he gives. Whether he brings it into your life or he doesn’t bring it into your life, you thank him in advance because he knows what you don’t. He knows what he’s doing. If it's the wrong thing and you don’t get it, thank him for that. If he gives you the opposite of what you ask, thank him for that. You don’t have to pretend that you're not let down, but you can still be thankful. Listen to the result of thankful prayer…

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

The opposite of anxiety is peace. Peace comes from being confident in God’s sovereign control over everything, including your life. Once you go to God the Father in prayer to ask for his help to handle a serious problem or situation, then his peace will be able to start to flow into you. And once his peace starts to flow into you, then you will feel his peace starting to calm you down – even in the middle of the worst kind of storm cloud you could imagine yourself falling into.

As Max Lucado says, “Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes he doesn’t. But he is always there to calm his children in the midst of the storm.”

2/26/23 - Love Your Enemies - Matthew 5:43-48 - Pastor Jason Fritz

For the last several weeks we’ve been looking at the words of Jesus in the most famous of all sermons - the sermon on the mount. It’s here that we see Jesus set the highest ethic of all time. You won’t find it anywhere else and I’ll prove it to you in one statement. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” No one has lived up to this with any kind of consistency except for Jesus himself. In the world’s major religious systems you will commonly find the charge to love your brothers and sisters and people who share the same faith. You will be told to treat all people with respect and kindness but nowhere will you find so explicitly to love your enemy as told by Jesus. 

If love is the greatest thing, then loving your enemies is the greatest thing love can do.

To be one who lives according to the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of this earth is in a word: supernatural. This is the one act that sums up what it means to be a Christian and sets us apart. In Matthew 5:47 Jesus says this, “What more are you doing than others?” He’s asking, “What makes you different Christian?” Unless you live according to a heavenly kingdom ethic, you will be just like everyone else. You love people who love you, okay, everyone does that because it’s natural. Jesus is calling you to supernaturally love. The highest human ethic falls short of what Jesus is telling us. So don’t take your cues from the people around you. Don’t get trapped and confined by that. There’s something greater and higher for us!

2/19/23 - Humble Giving - Matthew 6:1-4 - Pastor Jason Fritz

For the last several weeks we’ve been reading the words of Jesus as he gives an incredible sermon on the side of a hill north of the Sea of Galilee. He’s been talking about what it means to live a righteous life. The word righteous means to live right. It is to think, act, speak and do as God desires. Jesus’ topics include purity, loving others, reconciliation, and speaking the truth. When a person knows and applies these things there comes a new temptation. Arrogant hearts that say, “Look at all the wonderful things I’m doing. I'm such good person!" Or conversely, “Look at me and all the bad things I don’t do!” Either way, it’s a matter of pride. It's using good deeds to draw attention to yourself. So it makes perfect sense for Jesus to address this new temptation and once again he uses the religious leaders as an example. 

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:1-4

When I was a younger pastor I struggled a lot with this. I cared too much about how people perceived me. Even when I prayed in front of others I would wonder what they were thinking. It’s a smaller issue for me today because I’ve experienced the highs and the lows of living for the approval of others. The approval of man does not last long. The temperature of any crowd can quickly turn against you. At the beginning of the Passion Week the multitudes shouted at Jesus, “Hosanna!” Which means “Save us!” Jesus had something else in mind. He did come to save them but not in the way they expected. They wanted a political and national savior, instead Jesus came to save them from themselves. For this the people turned on him and at the end of the week they shouted, “Crucify him!”

Jesus uses two specific words to describe the person who falls into the trap of human approval... 

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them…Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Matthew 6:1-2

The Greek word for seen is pronounced, "thay-ath-oh-nye" from which we get our english word theater. In verse two he uses the word hypocrites. The Greek pronunciation, "hoo-pah-kri-tayce" which means “one who wears the mask.” In other words, this person’s religion is nothing but an act. It’s a show. They are on the stage wearing a mask projecting someone they are not. Their good deeds are done for the applause of the people who watch. According to Jesus, our lives are to be lived for an audience of one who sees in secret and will reward us.