Fol\u00adlo\u00adwing Jesus can be a frus\u00adtra\u00adti\u00adon if we try to do it in our own strength. Love for God and our fel\u00adlow human beings comes from a deep under\u00adstan\u00adding of God\u2019s per\u00adso\u00adnal grace. Love flows natu\u00adral\u00adly as we dai\u00adly live out our sal\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon through rep\u00aden\u00adtance and grace. Through this awa\u00adre\u00adness, we beco\u00adme pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus. <\/p>\n
I have a dream \tDo you know the sto\u00adry of the sin\u00adner who washed Jesus\u00bb feet with tears? Why do you think Jesus loved the woman so much? What is meant in Luke 7:41\u201342? Fol\u00adlo\u00adwing Jesus can be frus\u00adt\u00adra\u00adting if we try to do so in our own strength. Love for God and our fel\u00adlow human beings springs from a deep under\u00adstan\u00adding of God\u2019s per\u00adso\u00adnal grace. Love flows natu\u00adral\u00adly when we live out our sal\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon through rep\u00aden\u00adtance and grace on a dai\u00adly basis. Through this awa\u00adre\u00adness, we beco\u00adme pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte fol\u00adlo\u00adwers of Jesus. \u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":8096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[73],"wpfc_sermon_series":[98],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-daniel-bieri","wpfc_sermon_series-folge-du-mir-nach","wpfc-sermon-single","post-8084","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"],"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nFor the past three years, I\u2019ve had a dream that I\u2019d like to ful\u00adfil. This dream ori\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adted from a You\u00adTube video. The docu\u00admen\u00adta\u00adry fea\u00adtured count\u00adless deter\u00admi\u00adned, moti\u00adva\u00adted peo\u00adp\u00adle with hap\u00adpy faces who were ful\u00adfil\u00adling their dreams. The back\u00addrop was spec\u00adta\u00adcu\u00adlar: hot-air bal\u00adloons at the start, a heli\u00adc\u00adop\u00adter, a clo\u00adsed-off rou\u00adte, stun\u00adning land\u00adscapes, moun\u00adta\u00adins, via\u00adducts, tun\u00adnels and bridges, all accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by thou\u00adsands of chee\u00adring fans. I\u2019m tal\u00adking about Europe\u2019s best-known and most sought-after ama\u00adteur cycle mara\u00adthon \u2013 the \u00d6tz\u00adta\u00adler. Over a distance of 227 kilo\u00adme\u00adt\u00adres, riders must con\u00adquer four moun\u00adtain pas\u00adses and 5,500 met\u00adres of ele\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon gain. The high\u00adly cove\u00adted start\u00ading places are allo\u00adca\u00adted by lot\u00adtery each year fol\u00adlo\u00adwing regis\u00adtra\u00adti\u00adon. It can take seve\u00adral years to secu\u00adre a start\u00ading place. At the start of the year, when I first regis\u00adtered, I was lucky enough to be allo\u00adwed to line up at the start on 1 Sep\u00adtem\u00adber.
\nThe dream threa\u00adtens to beco\u00adme a night\u00adma\u00adre
\nThe long rou\u00adte with its many met\u00adres in alti\u00adtu\u00adde is very stre\u00adnuous, and the\u00adre is also time pres\u00adsu\u00adre. The\u00adre are time con\u00adtrols at many points and excee\u00adding a time limit means the end of the tour. I wan\u00adted to prepa\u00adre well for the event so as not to fall vic\u00adtim to the drea\u00added broom wagon. The pre\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon up to the end of May went well, and in the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing months I dou\u00adbled my trai\u00adning time. Despi\u00adte increased trai\u00adning, I was not suc\u00adcessful, first pla\u00adteau\u00ading and then sta\u00adgna\u00adting. The clo\u00adser I got to the start date of the \u00d6tz\u00adta\u00adler, I rea\u00adli\u00adsed that I was not in the top form I had hoped for and was not sure whe\u00adther I would make it in the time given. Hea\u00advy legs, over\u00adtrai\u00adning, phy\u00adsi\u00adcal pro\u00adblems, a ter\u00adri\u00adble long-term wea\u00adther fore\u00adcast and a pro\u00adblem with my bike: my dream was threa\u00adtening to beco\u00adme a night\u00adma\u00adre.
\nA void
\nI had a plan, I\u2019d work\u00aded hard for it, and now it see\u00admed my dream had been shat\u00adte\u00adred. A sen\u00adse of emp\u00adtin\u00adess spread through me, and the words of Psalm 127 came to mind. \u00abUnless the Lord builds the house, the labou\u00adrers\u00bb work is in vain\u2019 (Psalm 127:1 NLB<\/span>). Was it mere\u00adly my plan, my goal and my dream \u2013 and all wit\u00adhout God\u2019s bles\u00adsing? Might God be try\u00ading to give me a sign? Of cour\u00adse, it could also be that I\u2019d been trai\u00adning incor\u00adrect\u00adly and am mys\u00adelf to bla\u00adme for my poor con\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon. Nevert\u00adhel\u00adess, the\u00adse cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances give me pau\u00adse for thought. It is quite clear that wit\u00adhout God, our actions are wort\u00adhl\u00adess. We humans may con\u00adfi\u00addent\u00adly set our\u00adsel\u00adves grand goals, but in the end, God has the final say; as in the para\u00adble of the rich far\u00admer who tore down his barns to build lar\u00adger store\u00adhou\u00adses. He thought he had pro\u00advi\u00added for his who\u00adle life. Yet the rich far\u00admer died that very night (Luke 12:16\u201321). The sto\u00adry is about set\u00adting the right prio\u00adri\u00adties in life. I, too, ask mys\u00adelf whe\u00adther my prio\u00adri\u00adties are in the right place.
\nThe cen\u00adtral ques\u00adti\u00adon of life prio\u00adri\u00adties
\nWe wat\u00adched the \u00abteaser\u00bb befo\u00adre the ser\u00admon again today. If we haven\u2019t missed a sin\u00adgle Sun\u00adday, this was the 37th one. In the \u00abteaser\u00bb, we\u2019re asked every Sun\u00adday what has our atten\u00adti\u00adon. We all fol\u00adlow some\u00adthing: sport, cele\u00adbri\u00adties, our care\u00aders, suc\u00adcess, pos\u00adses\u00adsi\u00adons or fame. What about Jesus \u2013 does he have your atten\u00adti\u00adon? Are you hee\u00adding his call: \u00abFol\u00adlow me\u00bb?
\nWhat does suc\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adon mean?
\nSo what does \u00abFol\u00adlow me\u00bb actual\u00adly mean? Jesus had a clear idea of what it meant to fol\u00adlow him.
\n\u00abHe asked him, \u00bbTea\u00adcher, which is the most important com\u00admandment in the Law?\u201d Jesus repli\u00aded, \u201cYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your devo\u00adti\u00adon and with all your mind! This is the grea\u00adtest and most important com\u00admandment. A second is just as important: Love your neigh\u00adbour as yours\u00adelf! Sure\u00adly nobo\u00addy here has that pro\u00adblem\u2019 (Matthew 22:36\u201339 NG\u00dc<\/span>). Wow, that\u2019s quite a chall\u00adenge. Giving up ever\u00ady\u00adthing to devo\u00adte it to God and our fel\u00adlow human beings. As Chris\u00adti\u00adans today, we might argue that we are not under this law. This is true; we are not under the law, but rather the law should be writ\u00adten on our hearts. Or as Har\u00adry Graf said last Sun\u00adday, that as Chris\u00adti\u00adans it is not our fores\u00adkins but our hearts that are cir\u00adcumcis\u00aded. Our lives should be a fra\u00adgrant offe\u00adring of love, so that the world may reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse God in them.
\nFol\u00adlo\u00adwing in the foot\u00ads\u00adteps of God &<\/span> loving one\u2019s neigh\u00adbour \u2013 joy or frus\u00adtra\u00adti\u00adon?
\nWhen I hear that, it sounds all well and good, but to be honest, some\u00adti\u00admes I don\u2019t feel like it, becau\u00adse it\u2019s ter\u00adri\u00adbly tedious and dif\u00adfi\u00adcult. Jesus knows that we can\u00adnot do it on our own. As fal\u00adlen crea\u00adtures, we want to indul\u00adge our sel\u00adfi\u00adsh\u00adness. That is pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly why Jesus pro\u00admi\u00adsed us a Hel\u00adper, the Holy Spi\u00adrit. \u00abBut belie\u00adve me: it is for your own good that I am going away. For if I do not go away from you, the Hel\u00adper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you\u00bb (John 16:7 NG\u00dc<\/span>). God helps us as we fol\u00adlow him, and he does not want to take away ever\u00ady\u00adthing that gives us plea\u00adsu\u00adre. Yet he wants our prio\u00adri\u00adty to be God and our fel\u00adlow human beings. So what does this mean for me: what opti\u00adons do I have when it comes to set\u00adting prio\u00adri\u00adties?
\nWhat does this look like for me, what opti\u00adons do I have?
\nOpti\u00adon A: No disci\u00adple\u00adship, just sport. I could argue that I\u2019m saved and do wha\u00adte\u00adver takes my fan\u00adcy, and I don\u2019t care about the rest. At the moment, I fan\u00adcy doing sport; disci\u00adple\u00adship is more of a cho\u00adre than a pas\u00adsi\u00adon any\u00adway.
\nOpti\u00adon B: No sport, just disci\u00adple\u00adship. I could choo\u00adse to give up sport so that it does not beco\u00adme my idol.
\nWhich is the bet\u00adter opti\u00adon? A or B? We can now hold a vote on which is the bet\u00adter opti\u00adon, but I won\u2019t do that at the moment. Ins\u00adtead, I would like to sug\u00adgest a third opti\u00adon.
\nOpti\u00adon C: Fos\u00adte\u00adring a pas\u00adsi\u00adon for disci\u00adple\u00adship.
\nA pas\u00adsi\u00adon for sport need not be the pro\u00adblem; the pro\u00adblem is a lack of pas\u00adsi\u00adon for disci\u00adple\u00adship; one\u2019s love for disci\u00adple\u00adship should be grea\u00adter than one\u2019s love for sport. The trick is not to eli\u00admi\u00adna\u00adte other pas\u00adsi\u00adons, but to increase one\u2019s pas\u00adsi\u00adon for disci\u00adple\u00adship.
\nWil\u00adling\u00adness to suf\u00adfer?
\nBut first, what is pas\u00adsi\u00adon? In short: pas\u00adsi\u00adon is the wil\u00adling\u00adness to suf\u00adfer for a goal. In road cycling, it is the wil\u00adling\u00adness to suf\u00adfer in order to achie\u00adve the goal you have set yours\u00adelf. It may be about rea\u00adching the finish line of a rou\u00adte or get\u00adting the\u00adre fas\u00adter than ever\u00adyo\u00adne else. In order to finish the \u00d6tz\u00adta\u00adler on time, I was pre\u00adpared to free\u00adze, ride through cold, wet rain, sweat, endu\u00adre mus\u00adcle cramps and breathing dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adties, risk a fall and spend a day on sports nut\u00adri\u00adti\u00adon. And for such an ordeal, I paid a hand\u00adso\u00adme ent\u00adry fee, boo\u00adked a hotel, tra\u00advel\u00adled to Aus\u00adtria and sacri\u00adfi\u00adced a weekend. My pas\u00adsi\u00adon for road cycling exists, but how can my pas\u00adsi\u00adon for fol\u00adlo\u00adwing Jesus grow?
\nThe source of pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte disci\u00adple\u00adship
\nWhe\u00adre does the pas\u00adsi\u00adon for disci\u00adple\u00adship come from? The\u00adre are seve\u00adral reasons why we are moti\u00adva\u00adted to show love to our neigh\u00adbours. In the sto\u00adry of the sin\u00adful woman, Jesus gives us an insight into how love for God flows natu\u00adral\u00adly. Jesus was invi\u00adted to din\u00adner by a Pha\u00adri\u00adsee. The\u00adre was a woman the\u00adre who, wee\u00adping, washed his feet and dried them with her hair. She also anoin\u00adted his feet with oil. Jesus then explai\u00adned why this woman had shown such abun\u00addant love: \u00abI can tell you whe\u00adre this (love) comes from. Her many sins have been for\u00adgi\u00adven, which is why she has shown me so much love. But whoe\u00adver is for\u00adgi\u00adven litt\u00adle loves litt\u00adle\u00bb (Luke 7:47 NLB<\/span>). This woman rea\u00adli\u00adsed that she was a sin\u00adner and had recei\u00adved grace through Jesus. This rea\u00adli\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon fil\u00adled her with gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde, and from that sprang a natu\u00adral love. When she unders\u00adtood what an immense gift she had recei\u00adved, she could not help but return that love.
\nEver\u00adyo\u00adne who fol\u00adlows Jesus has expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced for\u00adgi\u00adve\u00adness. I came to faith when I rea\u00adli\u00adsed that, wit\u00adhout Jesus, I was lost becau\u00adse of my sins. Until then, I thought that God would accept me becau\u00adse, essen\u00adti\u00adal\u00adly, I am a good per\u00adson. One sin is enough; with just one sin, we are lost. I knew that I had been given a new life, and I sur\u00adren\u00adde\u00adred that to God. Yet deca\u00addes have now pas\u00adsed. The trick is to rea\u00adli\u00adse this won\u00adderful gift anew every day. It is from this gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde that we draw the strength to ser\u00adve. The rep\u00aden\u00adtance we con\u00adscious\u00adly expe\u00adri\u00adence each day, and the for\u00adgi\u00adve\u00adness that results from it, stir up gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde within us. Love springs from this gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde.
\nExpe\u00adri\u00adence for\u00adgi\u00adve\u00adness every day
\nDai\u00adly awa\u00adre\u00adness of our los\u00adt\u00adness and God\u2019s grace gives us the moti\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon to love our neigh\u00adbour; if we keep this in mind, we will be the most gra\u00adteful peo\u00adp\u00adle. Visu\u00adal aids such as memo\u00adri\u00adals are one way to be remin\u00added of this again and again.
\nMonu\u00adments \u2013 Remin\u00adders of God\u2019s grace
\nIn the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment, God ins\u00adtruc\u00adted the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes seve\u00adral times to erect monu\u00adments to his grace so that it would not be for\u00adgot\u00adten. Of the many, I would like to brief\u00adly men\u00adti\u00adon just three.
\nJacob erec\u00adted a stone after recei\u00adving a pro\u00admi\u00adse from God in a dream. He cal\u00adled this place Bethel (House of God) (Gene\u00adsis 28:10\u201322).
\nJoshua erec\u00adted a monu\u00adment at Gil\u00adgal after the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes had car\u00adri\u00aded the Ark of the Coven\u00adant across the River Jor\u00addan with their feet dry (Joshua 4:21\u201322).
\nSamu\u00adel erec\u00adted a monu\u00adment at Ebe\u00adne\u00adzer after the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes had defea\u00adted the Phi\u00adlis\u00adti\u00adnes. He named the place Eben-Ezer (Stone of Help) (1 Samu\u00adel 7:10).
\nRemem\u00adbe\u00adring God\u2019s grace is important and gives us strength. In Switz\u00ader\u00adland, too, we see memo\u00adri\u00adals in some places. In Catho\u00adlic are\u00adas in par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar, we often find cros\u00adses and small cha\u00adpels that remind us of our death and resur\u00adrec\u00adtion with Jesus. In the past, cros\u00adses could be seen in many homes and even in class\u00adrooms. But what reminds you of this won\u00adderful gift every day? Is it a neck\u00adlace with a cross, a ring, a sti\u00adcker on your car, a \u2018W.W.J.D.\u2019 brace\u00adlet from the 90s, or per\u00adhaps even a tat\u00adtoo? I, too, ask mys\u00adelf the ques\u00adti\u00adon: what reminds me every day of God\u2019s grace towards me?
\nTo round off, I sup\u00adpo\u00adse I can reve\u00adal that I set off on 1 Sep\u00adtem\u00adber in per\u00adfect wea\u00adther con\u00addi\u00adti\u00adons. I enjoy\u00aded the sce\u00adn\u00adery, the cordo\u00adned-off rou\u00adte and all the spec\u00adta\u00adtors chee\u00adring and applau\u00adding. At times it was a strugg\u00adle, so I held fast to the Word of God, pray\u00aded and belie\u00adved that, with God\u2019s help, I would make it. Four\u00adteen ener\u00adgy gels, five lit\u00adres of sugar water and two Red Bulls later, I hap\u00adpi\u00adly crossed the finish line after ele\u00adven hours and for\u00adty-six minu\u00adtes. As a memen\u00adto, I was given a finisher\u2019s jer\u00adsey. It\u2019s nice to have one, but com\u00adpared to the Cross, it\u2019s wort\u00adhl\u00adess.
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group
\nRead the Bible text: Luke 7:41\u201347<\/p>\n
\n\tCan only peo\u00adp\u00adle who have sin\u00adned a lot real\u00adly love God?
\n\tCould it be about how well you under\u00adstand the per\u00adso\u00adnal grace of God?
\n\tDo you under\u00adstand and feel God\u2019s grace? Do you remem\u00adber the grace of God every day?
\n\tWhat kind of \u00abmonu\u00adment\u00bb of grace could you erect?
\n\tAre you satis\u00adfied with my love for God and my fel\u00adlow human beings?
\n\tHow could you increase your love and pas\u00adsi\u00adon wit\u00adhout it beco\u00adming a cramp?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"