NOTES: Fresh off the Vine, Part 6
Sermon: Fresh Off the Vine: A Culture of Goodness
Date: July 14, 2024
Text: Psalm 23:6; Deut. 30:11-20
Let’s Connect:
Goodness of God: making right what is wrong— perfecting what is corrupt and fallen
God is the final standard of good —
Goodness of God follows (runs after) the children of God.
Psalm 23:6 (ESV)
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
A culture of Goodness in 2024? Impossible?
Culture: the way of doing life (related to any person or people)
How do we grow a culture of goodness?
Text Explained:
Deuteronomy 30:11–20 (ESV) 11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.
The ancient world that surrounded Israel:
God chose to set before them the full reality — Awareness awakens response!
Moses call them to situational and historical awareness:
Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV) 16 Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
(Vs. 16-18a) 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish….
The call to ‘choose life’ (acting on their awareness)
(Vs. 19-20) You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
A culture of goodness is a culture of life.
John 11:25 (ESV): 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
Israel was being called to a culture where God is their everything— their very being!
Let’s Relate:
The prominent culture in America is situational ambiguity —
Commonly ‘renaming’ sin in order to make it more acceptable—
“The objects in the mirror are closer than they may seem”
Proverbs 16:25 (ESV)
25 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
The common response of the Church has been retreat or react—
Historically, the Church is most effective when we respond with an unwavering commitment to Truth and BEING the goodness of God.
Our Challenge:
How do we grow a culture of goodness?
Remain situationally and historically aware as together we choose a life of goodness.