Beyond the Weekend

June 21 | Rethinking Retaliation

June 21, 2021

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. Matthew 5:38-39a

Read: Matthew 5:38-42
Listen: 
Matthew 5

TODAY’S MESSAGE

Jesus challenges what it means to be good. He’s contrasting the old way against the new way. He does this six times during the Sermon on the Mount. The old way consisted of rules misinterpreted to focus on just the outside. The new way focuses on what’s going on in our hearts. Jesus tells us the good person doesn’t just not do bad actions but has a heart so overwhelmed by God’s grace that even their thinking is radically changed.

Jesus’s new way is possible because of his death on the cross. Jesus’s death changes everything. He endures beatings, mocking, his friends deserting him and execution on a Roman cross to rescue us from our sin. His life and death are radical acts of love. It’s a turning point in our lives if we’ve accepted the free gift of life he offers. When we admit we can’t save ourselves from the mistakes we’ve made, our perspective on the mistakes of others needs to shift as well. It’s grace in, grace out. It’s finding our identity more in the scars of Christ for us than in our own scars.This week we’ll look at four examples Jesus gives of what the new way looks like.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Ask yourself if you’ve ever received Jesus’s gift of life. If you haven’t, we’d love to have a conversation with you. Email us at btw@adabible.org. If you’ve accepted Jesus’s gift of life, ask yourself if your perspective on the mistakes of others has shifted. This shift requires a relentless reminder that it’s grace in, grace out. It’s a daily focus on the audacious love of God for us that we stay consumed and shocked by the grace given to us.


NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN

Join us this year as we read through the New Testament.

Today’s reading is Romans 4.


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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