We begin with one of Jesus’ most well known disciples and friends – Matthew reading from Matthew 21.1-11. “If you could tell this church one thing about the Jesus you knew, what would you want us to know?” And the way we get to that big idea is by asking each of Jesus’ friends the following question. And so each of these messages will not be exhaustive or final but will present one big idea of who each of the gospel writers understood Jesus to be. After all, each one wrote a book on this topic. I have to tell you right at the kick off that it’s difficult to share what each gospel writer thought of Jesus in just one sermon. We’re going to consult with one of them each week during this series to learn what they can teach us about the Jesus they knew. And to help us do this I’ve secured the help of four of Jesus’ most trusted friends, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I fear that the Jesus so many people have become comfortable with or adopted is not the real Jesus of the bible? And so for the next four weeks we’re going to meet the real Jesus. There's Starbucks Jesus-who drinks fair trade coffee, loves spiritual conversations, drives a hybrid, and goes to film festivals…There's Touchdown Jesus-who helps athletes run faster and jump higher than non-Christians and determines the outcomes of Super Bowls…There's Hippie Jesus-who teaches everyone to give peace a chance, imagines a world without religion, and helps us remember that "all you need is love…" There's Yuppie Jesus-who encourages us to reach our full potential, reach for the stars, and buy a boat…There's Boyfriend Jesus-who wraps his arms around us as we sing about his intoxicating love…” There's the Therapist Jesus-who helps us cope with life's problems, heals our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be so hard on ourselves. There's the Democrat Jesus-who is against Wall Street and Wal-Mart who is for reducing our carbon footprint and printing money. Observing this very thing Kevin DeYoung blogged, “There's the Republican Jesus-who is against tax increases and activist judges, for family values and owning firearms. It was then, that he learned that the Jesus he had grown up with was superficial, incomplete, stunted, undeveloped, underdeveloped, and much too small, too sterile and too one dimensional. And then as an adult he took it upon himself to learn all he could about Jesus. He grew up learning about how lovely and friendly Jesus was. His Jesus was blonde haired and blue eyed and moved about on a flannel board. Philip Yancey wrote a book titled “The Jesus I Never Knew.” In it he confesses that he didn’t know the real Jesus.
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