How are we to respond to the bad guys? To people who harm us? Are we to take it and allow them to hurt us? Is that what Jesus meant when he taught us to turn the other cheek? Or are we to advocate for ourselves because you won’t let someone hurt you? A plastic Jesus would allow you to fight back... or to be fearful and passive. The real Jesus allows neither response. When we suffer at the hands of others, he taught us to do something far more challenging. He taught us to love and do good.

Most people want a Jesus who serves us. He forgives some sins, he gives blessings. He pats us on the head and sends us back out when we’re feeling down. But real Jesus doesn’t work that way. Real Jesus isn’t here to serve you. Instead, he was clear in his teachings that if we are going to have anything to do with him, it comes on the terms of full surrender and following him, even though it costs us everything.

When you think of your financial situation, is it accompanied by feelings of peace and gratitude, or by feelings of worry and stress? If it’s the latter, then you have money problems. We assume that money problems are caused by scarcity. That’s not always true. The fact is that our biggest money problems are caused by mastery. Instead of following Jesus and mastering our money, we allow money to become our master. And money is a cruel master.  In this message we’ll learn how to turn the tables on your finances so that Jesus can be your master, and money can become your servant.

How are we to respond to the bad guys? To people who harm us? Are we to take it and allow them to hurt us? Is that what Jesus meant when he taught us to turn the other cheek? Or are we to advocate for ourselves because us won’t let someone hurt us? A plastic Jesus would allow you to fight back. But in this episode, we are going to learn what the real Jesus tells us to respond.

Before he died, Jesus gave his followers a simple job description. Their job is to do what he did. And what Jesus did was take the lowest position of service in order to serve them. That’s the degree to which we are to love one another. Pastors have a job description as well. It’s to prepare God’s people to serve. In this episode, we will learn that a Plastic Jesus might let you have a consumer “me first” version of Christianity. But you’ll never have the real Jesus without serving others, just like he served us.