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JESUS FOR MESSIAH | Week 3 | Sermon · Rewind

Rock Point Church

49 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Oct 21, 2024 · 4 min read · 49 min listen

The big idea

Does your citizenship on earth reflect your citizenship in heaven?

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 5Jesus refuses to be trapped by a fear-driven, us-versus-them political trick.
Point 2 of 5Be wise and don't compromise — don't let worldly wisdom, not God's word, drive how you act as a citizen.

Point 3 of 5Participate in your earthly citizenship, but don't prioritize it.
Point 4 of 5Give to God what is God's — prioritize your citizenship in heaven, which means giving Him all of yourself.
Point 5 of 5The Titanic's lifeboats, not the ship's speed or luxury, are the real mission.
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Hebrews 11
Matthew 22
Matthew 22:17
Matthew 10
Hebrews 11:13
Philippians 3:20

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · Oct 21, 2024 · 49 min watch · 2 min read

JESUS FOR MESSIAH | Week 3 | Sermon

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Hebrews 11
Matthew 22
Matthew 22:17
Matthew 10
Hebrews 11:13
Philippians 3:20

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Does your citizenship on earth reflect your citizenship in heaven?

As Christians we hold a dual citizenship, and Jesus shows us how to hold it well: participate fully in our earthly society but never let it become our priority. When we give God what belongs to Him — all of ourselves — we can be good citizens here without being ruled by fear, anger, and division.

Key points

1
1Jesus refuses to be trapped by a fear-driven, us-versus-them political trick.
The Pharisees and Herodians, bitter rivals on Rome and taxes, unite in their hatred of Jesus and try to force Him into an either/or answer that will get Him killed by Rome or discredited before the crowd. Pastor Bill points out this is exactly how modern political debates work — not seeking truth, just baiting the other side into looking foolish. Jesus exposes their hypocrisy by asking for the very coin with Caesar's graven image that they claim to reject but happen to be carrying in the temple.
2
2Be wise and don't compromise — don't let worldly wisdom, not God's word, drive how you act as a citizen.
Pastor Bill cites A. W. Tozer's line that compromise is the devil's word, explaining Jesus refuses the either/or trap because the answer is both/and, guided by scripture rather than by whatever gets a desired result. He warns against being Machiavellian, letting the ends justify the means, in politics or in being a neighbor.
3
3Participate in your earthly citizenship, but don't prioritize it.
Pastor Bill says Christians should vote, engage, debate, and try to win people over — that's being a good citizen — but warns that fear-based political engagement reveals a wrong priority. He walks through how fear leads to anger, anger to hate, and hate to suffering, crediting the insight to the book of James (and jokingly to Yoda), and uses his own road-rage story and an HOA weeds story as examples of misplaced priority.
James 1 (fear, anger, hate progression)· related
4
4Give to God what is God's — prioritize your citizenship in heaven, which means giving Him all of yourself.
Drawing on Hebrews 11's description of people who lived by faith without seeing the promise fulfilled, and Philippians 3:20, Pastor Bill explains that being made in God's image means we belong fully to Him and to the body of Christ. He says Christians are sent into the world on mission, not to withdraw from it, and that prioritizing heaven's citizenship means growing in faith, community, and living intentionally to point people to Jesus.
5
5The Titanic's lifeboats, not the ship's speed or luxury, are the real mission.
Pastor Bill retells the Titanic disaster as a picture of prioritizing comfort and appearance over saving lives — not enough lifeboats, boats launched half-full, crews afraid to go back for people in the water. He applies this to the church being afraid to get 'too crowded' or to let the chaos of the world pull it down, when the real call is to reach out and pull people into the boat.

A story from life

The preacher recounts a frustrating morning involving a wrong doctor's appointment time, a broken AC, a risky tire, and a tense encounter with an elderly driver on Power Road

Application

Pastor Bill frames the charge as give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's — participate in your earthly citizenship without letting it become your priority.

Vote and engage, but with biblical wisdom
Pastor Bill says Christians should vote, discuss issues, and try to win others over, but let biblical theology drive political methodology rather than forcing scripture into a cultural mold you already feel strongly about.
Check where fear and anger are driving you
If you find yourself furious about politics, a neighbor, or an HOA dispute, treat that anger as a signal that you've made something other than God the priority, and examine why.
Stop making people the enemy
Rather than stereotyping people who disagree with you as liberals, conservatives, or 'that person,' remember they are not the enemy, and respond with the love of Christ instead of rhetoric or punishment.
Prioritize your citizenship in heaven
Give God all of yourself this week — grow in knowing Him, get into real community rather than just attending, and live intentionally with your time, talent, treasure, and testimony to point people to Jesus.
Help build the lifeboats
Serve, give, and make room for the people coming to Christ, including sacrificially tithing and volunteering in ministries like Children's Ministry, so the church can reach and hold more people rather than staying comfortably half-full.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“we're also citizens of a better country as Hebrews 11 says. And how does that work? Because I think some people forget we're citizens of heaven”
From the transcript
“And Jesus brings wisdom to that in chapter 22 of Matthew when he's back in the temple area. This is a time what he says last week, he knows he's heading to the cross”
From the transcript
“He goes, now tell us what you think, verse 17. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not”
From the transcript
“We need to be as wise as serpents, but as innocent as doves, it says in Matthew 10. Meaning, yes, make it a participate, but don't make it a priority”
From the transcript
“In Hebrews chapter 11, it says this great faith hall of fame passage where they says by faith by faith by faith”
From the transcript
“Look what it says here. Starting in verse 13. All these people died still believing that God had what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it from a distance and welcomed it”
From the transcript
“If you look at Philippians three twenty, I think that'll go up on the screen. But we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives and we are eagerly waiting for him to return as savior”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

The Pharisees came to Jesus with a trap dressed up as a question. Pay taxes to Caesar, and you look like a collaborator. Refuse, and you look like a rebel. Either way, they win. But Jesus didn't take the bait. He asked for a coin, turned the question back around, and walked out of the trap entirely. 'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.' The crowd was amazed — not because Jesus was clever, but because His answer came from a completely different place than they expected. He wasn't playing their game. Pastor Bill pointed out that Jesus modeled something we desperately need right now: wisdom that doesn't get cornered by false choices. The political and cultural pressure around us constantly pushes us toward either/or decisions — you're with us or against us, you care or you don't, you're a good person or a bad one. Jesus refused that framing. He held two true things at once, without anxiety and without compromise. That kind of wisdom isn't instinctive. It has to be cultivated. It starts with recognizing when fear — or the desire to belong to one side — is doing the thinking for you rather than the Spirit.

For reflection

Where in your civic or political life do you feel most pressured to take a side in a way that doesn't feel fully honest? What would it look like to hold that tension with wisdom instead of anxiety?

Pray

Pray for the kind of wisdom Jesus modeled — the ability to see clearly without being driven by pressure or fear.

Day 2

Jesus didn't sugarcoat what He was sending His disciples into. 'I am sending you out as sheep among wolves,' He said. 'So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.' That's not a contradiction — it's a partnership. Shrewdness without gentleness becomes manipulation. Gentleness without shrewdness becomes naivety. Together, they describe someone who pays attention to what is really happening, refuses to be used, and yet never becomes a weapon. Pastor Bill drew on this verse to make a simple but important point: Christians are meant to participate in civic life — including voting, staying informed, and engaging culture — but they are called to do it with eyes open and hearts rooted. The world's political system will always try to recruit your emotions, your outrage, and your loyalty. That's not cynicism; that's just how the game is played. Jesus knew it, and He prepared His followers for it. The question isn't whether to engage. It's whether you're engaging as a sheep who knows the Shepherd or as a sheep who has wandered into the wolves' way of thinking. Engagement shaped by your heavenly citizenship looks and sounds different from engagement shaped by fear — and people around you will notice.

For reflection

In your recent civic engagement — conversations, posts, votes, reactions — which has been more present: shrewdness, gentleness, or a mix of both? What might need to shift?

Pray

Pray for the balance of clear-eyed wisdom and genuine gentleness as you navigate this season's noise.

Day 3

When Jesus said 'give to God what belongs to God,' He wasn't just talking about a percentage of income or a slot on the Sunday calendar. He was talking about you. Pastor Bill made this the heart of the sermon: human beings are made in God's image, stamped with His likeness the way Caesar's face was stamped on that coin. So when Jesus said render to God what is God's, He meant give yourself — your whole self — back to the One whose image you bear. That's the most personal application of Matthew 22 there is. It's easy to hear a sermon about politics and walk away thinking about other people's fear, other people's idols, other people's anger. But the invitation here is inward first. What part of you — your time, your worry, your anger, your hope — has been quietly handed over to something other than God? It doesn't have to be dramatic. Sometimes it's just the slow drift of checking the news before you talk to Jesus in the morning, or letting an election's outcome carry more of your peace than the resurrection does. The coin belongs to Caesar because it has his image. You belong to God because you have His.

For reflection

If you honestly looked at how you spend your time, emotional energy, and mental attention right now, what do those things reveal about what holds the most weight in your life?

Pray

Pray for the courage to honestly inventory what you've been rendering to God versus what has quietly been handed to fear, politics, or control.

Day 4

The heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 are a remarkable list — people who trusted God across impossible circumstances. But what stops many readers in their tracks is this: most of them never saw the promise fulfilled in their lifetime. Verse 13 says they 'died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.' They knew they were passing through. That's not detachment or withdrawal — these were people who built families, led nations, and shaped history. But they held it all loosely because they were oriented toward a better country, 'a heavenly homeland.' Pastor Bill used this passage to push back against the idea that Christians who prioritize their heavenly citizenship are somehow checked out. The opposite is true. People who know they're on a mission travel differently than people who think this is the final destination. They make wiser decisions, carry less anxiety, and are far more useful to the people around them. When you know where you're going, you're not as easily panicked by the road conditions.

For reflection

What would it look like in your day-to-day life to hold the things of this world with the 'open hand' of someone who knows they're passing through?

Pray

Pray for a renewed sense of your identity as someone on mission — present in the world but oriented toward what is eternal.

Day 5

Paul writes to the church at Philippi — a city whose residents prided themselves on Roman citizenship — and reminds them that 'we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.' That wasn't an abstract spiritual idea to that audience. Citizenship meant identity, loyalty, protection, and belonging. Paul was saying: your deepest membership, your truest identity, is not the one Rome gave you. It's the one Jesus bought. Pastor Bill pointed to this verse as the foundation of everything else in the sermon. When heavenly citizenship is your priority, it changes what you're afraid of, what you're fighting for, and how you treat the people who disagree with you. It also changes what you see when you look at a broken or chaotic world. Instead of seeing a threat, you start seeing people who are hurting, confused, and looking for something solid to hold onto. That's the lifeboat image Pastor Bill used — not someone throwing out opinions or scoring points, but someone extending a hand to people who are finally ready to reach for one. You can only be that person if you're not busy drowning yourself.

For reflection

How does remembering that your citizenship is in heaven change the way you see the people around you — especially those who see the world very differently?

Pray

Pray that your identity as a citizen of heaven would feel more real and more anchoring than any earthly identity competing for your loyalty right now.

Day 6

Before the 'hall of faith' lists its heroes, it defines what faith actually is: 'the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it is the assurance about things we cannot see.' That definition matters deeply in a moment when so much of our public life is driven by fear of what we can see — what might happen, what could go wrong, who might win or lose. Fear is rational when the horizon is all you have. Faith is what happens when you know there is something beyond the horizon. Pastor Bill was direct: the world's politics run on fear because fear is effective. Fear produces urgency, loyalty, and action. But it also produces anger, broken relationships, and a witness that looks indistinguishable from the world around it. The antidote isn't to stop caring or to disengage. It's faith — the kind of trust in God's character and God's future that lets you stay calm in the noise, stay kind to people you disagree with, and stay useful in a moment of real need. Fear asks 'what will happen to me?' Faith asks 'what is God doing, and how can I be part of it?'

For reflection

When you feel the most fear or anxiety about what is happening in the world right now, what specific truth about God do you find hardest to hold onto? What would it look like to lean into that truth today?

Pray

Pray for the kind of faith that steadies you not by removing uncertainty, but by anchoring you to what is true about God regardless of outcomes.

Day 7

Coming back to where the week began — that courtyard in Jerusalem, a trap, a coin, and an answer that amazed everyone — it's worth sitting with the full picture. Jesus was days away from the cross. The political pressure around Him was at its most intense. And yet He was not afraid. He was not defensive. He was not recruiting people to a side. He was pointing people toward what is real and what lasts: the image of God in every human being, the Kingdom that no Caesar can reach, and the invitation to give your whole self back to the One who made you. That's the week in summary. You are a citizen of two places, and Jesus doesn't ask you to abandon one for the other. He asks you to keep them in the right order. Participate. Vote. Stay informed. Engage your neighbors and your community with everything you have. But do it as someone whose deepest identity, deepest hope, and deepest loyalty belongs to a Kingdom that is not on any ballot. The chaos of this moment is real. But so is the opportunity. Lifeboats don't argue with drowning people about who caused the storm. They just reach out a hand.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, what is one specific, concrete way you want to live differently — in your relationships, your habits, or your engagement with the world — because of what Pastor Bill preached?

Pray

Pray for the grace to carry this week's conviction into real life — not as a resolution, but as a daily dependence on the One whose image you bear.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

In Matthew 22, Jesus is handed what looks like an impossible either/or question — and He refuses to take the bait. This message invites us to think about what that kind of wisdom looks like for us as citizens of two kingdoms.

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 22:15-22, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a question designed to force Him into one of two bad options. What do you notice about the way Jesus responds — and what does it suggest about how He viewed the either/or framing they were offering?
2
Jesus says, 'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God' (Matthew 22:21). Pastor Bill connected 'what belongs to God' to the image of God stamped on every person. What does it mean, practically, to give God your whole self rather than just a portion of your life?
3
Pastor Bill described the world's political environment as running on fear, which then produces anger, broken relationships, and suffering. Where do you see that cycle playing out, and what makes it so easy to get pulled into it?
4
The believers described in Hebrews 11:13-16 are called 'strangers and foreigners on the earth' who were looking for a better, heavenly homeland. How does that identity — passing through rather than settling in — change the way a person might engage with civic life without withdrawing from it?
5
Pastor Bill used the image of a lifeboat: Christians pointing people to Jesus rather than pointing their opinions at people. In Philippians 3:20, Paul grounds that posture in the fact that 'we are citizens of heaven.' How might a community of people who genuinely hold that conviction look different from the surrounding culture during a politically charged season?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us to ask honestly why we get so worked up about earthly political outcomes, and suggested that intense fear can be a signal about what actually sits at the center of our priorities. How might a community help one another notice that drift — and reorient — without it becoming shame-based?

Pray together

Wisdom and courage to hold our heavenly citizenship first — engaging the world with love rather than fear, and becoming a lifeboat for people around us

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Go deeper

Continue the series

Jesus For Messiah

Week 3 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

Hebrews 11 Matthew 22 Matthew 10 Philippians 3

Explore related topics

Being a Lifeboat Civic Engagement Dual Citizenship Fear-Driven Politics Heavenly vs. Earthly Priorities

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