Let’s Go There
The Swirl
September 15, 2024
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch
Ron Heifetz
Leadership is the art of disappointing people at a rate they can stand.
Matthew 22:15-17 (NIV)
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
Matthew 22:18-22 (NIV)
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
John 19:11a (NIV)
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
Matthew 22:21 (NIV)
“… give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s … .”
Matthew 22:21 (NIV)
“… and to God what is God’s.”
John 19:15 (NIV)
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
When it comes to being swept up in the swirl, let’s monitor …
- Our level of anxiety.
Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
- Our source of identity.
The image of Caesar may have been on a Roman coin, but it is human beings that bear the image of God.
James 3:9-10 (NIV)
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
If our candidate or policy wins in an election, but we haven’t treated people like Jesus, we’ve lost.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.