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Mark 16:1-8 Many have grown up in the Christian faith, and believe God can, but when it comes to them, personally, they don't believe God will! They believe God might do it for somebody else, but don't believe God will do it for them. Maybe you've even heard about God doing really incredible things, but you just think God's going to do it "way over there;" “He’s never going to do it over here. That’s for others, not for me.” A child has the faith to believe not only my God can but my God will do these things in my life..
God is 100% Loving God is 100% Merciful God is 100% Just Only one place that all three of these characteristics can come together to bring us into a forgiven state with God, and be brought into His Kingdom, and that place is the Cross. That’s why we sing, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
David was very confident, not only about his present circumstances, but also that in the future God would see him all the way home. He believed that valley times were appointed for His good. He learned things about God that could be learned no other way than being in the deep ravines of life. He stayed close, trusted in God's protection and guidance all the way. All because he could say, "The Lord is my shepherd."(Like a Child, God takes care of me.)
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10 Jesus tells us in Mark 10:15, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a:.little child will never enter it. The way that a little child would describe God’s omnipresence would be to personalize it and say, “God is with me.” Scripture makes it clear that God, although greater than we could ever imagine, is big enough to be with each one of us in a very personal way. As we recognize His presence, talk to Him, and listen to Him we find forgiveness, peace, answers to our burning questions, comfort, purpose and hope. Are you enjoying His presence? Did you know that you could?
I have discovered you can never enter the Kingdom of God by questioning God’s motives, existence, etc. Even though I live in the Kingdom, I can never prove it to you. The only way is to approach God like a little child, trusting and believing what He has revealed of Himself in His Word and through His followers down through the ages. As long as we stand back, arms folded, saying, “I want to believe. Prove it to me and I’ll believe it,” as I did for many years, you will never make any headway. However, if you will take the things He has revealed and start applying them as if they are true, He will prove Himself to you. We begin our four-week study of childlike faith by examining the core conviction we must have if we are living out of a childlike faith, and that is that “God is for me.”
Luke 9:23-27 What greater sacrifice could you give this Lent than your self-centeredness? From what I read in the Bible, this is the greatest sacrificial gift you can give to the Lord.
Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Mark Twain said: "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." Both of those days are important to God, too. He needs you to be you right now. The answer to why you were born is something that a lot of people struggle with, and approach in a lot of different ways. If you are one of those who has struggled with this, I hope this message will help you, because one of the things that is answered clearly in the story of Jonah is why you were born.
At this point in history, everything from social media and politics to cultural conflict has brought us to a time when we as Christians need to step back and consider our words, their power, how we have been using them and how we should be using them. Think about it. Everything you have said this week has either been life-giving or death-dealing, and there is nothing in between. The tongue has the power to kill, to destroy, to hurt, to maim and to assassinate, or to heal, help, inspire, encourage, influence, save and bring peace.
When we think of “the wilderness” we think of remote, desolate places filled with loneliness and the unknown. In the Bible we see many go through times in the wilderness. As we look at the Bible accounts of people in the wilderness, we see first of all, that although they thought they were all alone, they were in the very presence of God. Next we see that in the wilderness we can find an intimacy with God we can find nowhere else. Finally, we see that when the people came out of the wilderness they emerged with knowledge and power they could receive in no other way. In our day there are many sorts of wildernesses people find themselves in: They may involve relationships, finances, spiritual dilemmas, health, or any other number of situations where you may think that you are all alone, or that maybe God has just forgotten you. You’re not all alone. God is with you. He hasn’t forgotten you.
Genesis 12:1-4 Just as God called Abraham, God calls you. It’s up to you to leave the things He calls you from and head out to the the places He wants to show you. As you answer His call, the promises of Abraham become yours.
God’s call to Abraham was to leave where he was and go where he would lead him. He had a wonderful plan for Abraham’s life. Wonderful promises were given to Abraham if he would do this.
The Question We Each Need To Ask Ourselves as this New Year Begins: “Am I Living A Life That Pleases God? Am I Living A Live Of Faith?”
Luke 4:16-21 In Luke 4:16-21 Jesus reads from the Book of Isaiah written 700 years before, and declares that this Messianic prophecy is fulfilled in Him. To sum up the mission of His first advent, He has come to free us from our past, help us live in the present and look forward to the future. He came to give us a Fresh Start. What better time than the beginning of the year to make sure that we are embracing what He offers!
Jude 1:17-23 As you face all the things that are going on in the world today, make sure that your number one priority is to “keep yourselves in the love of God.” According to Jude, this is how you keep ourselves in the love of God: 1. building ourselves up in our most holy faith; 2. praying in the Holy Spirit; 3. waiting for Christ’s return.
Jude 1:5-16 Jude says that false teachers are the rebels we read about in Scripture. They’re going to be judged. And they’re dangerous to us. That’s why Jude writes: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)
The founder of Methodism, John Wesley held that The essentials of the faith are changeless. He shared this quote from St. Augustine which sums this all up pretty well: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” Our founder held that there is a core, essentials of the faith that all believers hold in common. These essentials are pretty well outlined in the historic creeds, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Jude was writing to the church to exhort them to stay on track with the essentials and not be led astray by false teachers and teachings within the church.
It’s important that you know the distinction between the words Love, Mercy and Grace, because it you don’t, you can completely miss entering the Kingdom of God, and the eternal life God has in store for you.
Jude uses three words to identify the people he is addressing his letter to: “To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:…” Now these are the marks of a Christian, so this letter is written to you. These three attributes separate us from the world and bind us to God the Father through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Who is Jude? I love his explanation of who he is. He gives us his Personal Identity. He is Jude. He gives us his Spiritual Identity. He is a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. He gives us his Social Identity. He is the brother of James. I think the order he gives tells us a lot about him as well. Personal Identity, comes first, Spiritual Identity comes second, and Social Identity comes third. Although worldly people would have you believe otherwise, our social relationships are not nearly as important as our spiritual relationship. In eternal value, our relationships on earth are not nearly as important as our relationship to Jesus, and our social relationships can never be as wonderful as they could be if our relationship with Jesus is not what it should be. Jude identifies as a bond-servant of Christ. This message is about what that means.
Matthew 15: 1-9 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME." (Matthew 15:7-8) These past few years could be officially labeled the Era of Hypocrisy Revealed. As I have read one news account after another, the words of Numbers 32:33 have come to mind: “You have sinned against the Lord, and be sure that your sin will find you out.” There have been casualties on both ends of the political spectrum from a congressman who ran and voted on a right-to-life ticket encouraging his mistress to get an abortion to a staunch women’s rights supporter being toppled from his place at the top of the entertainment industry because of multiple reports of sexual assault. In between these two extreme cases, myriads of others have had hypocrisy in one form or another revealed. We are going to run across hypocrites, everywhere let’s face it. We’ll find them in our government, in our schools, in our businesses, in our churches and in our families. Also, if we are really honest, we must admit that we ourselves can be hypocrites; so let’s see how we’re supposed to handle hypocrisy in others and in ourselves.
Manipulating and controlling people – They’re all around us – In corporations, in politics, in the entertainment industry, in our schools, in our circles of friends, in our families, in our homes, and everywhere else. People all around us are attempting to control our lives. Some mean well, but still try to pull us from God’s will for our lives. Others are predators who simply want to use us in some way. Whether they mean well or ill, we must deal with them in a liberating scriptural way that keeps us on God’s path for our lives.
We know the Lord wants us to care for those who are in need, but with some people we find we must be careful to help without enabling. Sometimes this means that we must: 1. Give them what they need, instead of what they want. 2. Set healthy boundaries for ourselves and for them. 3. Allow them to face their consequences.
Criticism is something we all face. Some people mean well with their words while others mean to hurt us as much as they can. How we react is determined by how close we are walking with Jesus. Our normal, initial, prideful reactions to criticism usually come right from the flesh, and can cost us relationships, destroy our self-esteem, and give our enemies power over us. As Christians, though, we have another way to respond. Having been broken and humbled before God, our pride should no longer be the thing that determines our reactions to criticism. Instead, the Holy Spirit wants to take the criticism of others and use it to bring growth to our souls and light to others.
Luke 4:16-21 Many see the transformed lives of Christians and assume that these outer trappings are what Christianity is, that Christianity is about being a good, honest, moral person. Sadly, they have missed what caused to change in the Christian, which is personally receiving the forgiveness, cleansing and renewal of life that Jesus gives to those who have received what He paid for on Calvary.
Matthew 20:1-16 Although it’s best to enter the Kingdom of Heaven early in life, it’s better to enter late than not at all.
Matthew 16:13-18, John 14:6 “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” - That revelation from God is what Jesus builds His church on. He isn’t building His church on love. He isn’t building His church on the right kind of worship service, or making a better world, or social activism or political activism, or popular preaching or preachers. When it is revealed to the human heart that Jesus is the One sent by God, the ONLY ONE sent by God, everything else falls into place. Real worship will happen. Right conduct and attitudes will happen, and The Gospel will be shared.
Job 2:11-13 There are 3 vital ministries we can all give to those who are hurting no matter how inadequate we might feel. They are the ministry of Presence, Listening and Help.
Listen and Worship Hebrews 12:25-29 As we wrap up our review of the Essentials of Christian Maturity, we close with the importance of listening to Him and worshiping Him.
Hebrews 12:15-17 Will you live for Jesus so that you can have the blessings and the birthright promised to you? Or will you live for yourself and throw away the blessings and the birthright that you could have enjoyed? How sad it will be when eternity comes and we are told that no one took eternity from us but that we simply threw it away! Do not be like Esau.
Matthew 7:24-27 The Parable of the Two Foundations is actually Jesus’ concluding invitation to The Sermon on the Mount. He tells us that whoever hears His words and acts on them is wise, and whoever does not is foolish. He builds up to this conclusion by making it clear that there are two ways to choose from in life, a narrow one and a wide one. The narrow leads to life, and the wide to destruction. This is not referring solely to salvation, but to all of life. He then lets us know that those who are walking in “The Way” will be known by their fruit. The question facing us all is which foundation are we building on? The good news is that if we have been building on the wrong foundation and the storms of life have caused something like a relationship, marriage, or anything else to fall apart or break down, we have the opportunity to rebuild on the right foundation, and wind up with something much better than we had before.
