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July - December 2000 Sermons
A New Beginning
001231 How often should we make a new beginning in our lives? There is no easy answer to that question. Some people are so unsettled they never actually got on with the last several beginnings and are still trying a 'new' beginning. Some people are so afraid of the future they cannot consider a new beginning. As we think of the new year and the new century we need to seriously consider beginning anew in many areas of our life. This is a very good time to consider who we are and where we are at in our development. The we can make commitments to a new beginning. I. Adam and Eve had the best possible relationship with God. II. When tempted to bypass God's plan they jumped. III. They began again with consequences. We need to remember that God is always ready to give a renewed relationship to any who asks. He is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance. Let's repent of all the small and large things in our lives and restore our relationship with God and with each other for the new year. The Gift That Keeps on Giving God Sent His Son to Save us From our Sins Matthew 1:18-25 As we exchange gifts and share in the many feelings of this special time of year we need to settle in our minds that Jesus came to save us from our sins. That was first affirmed to Joseph in the troubled time after he knew that Mary was already carrying a child that was not his! This was affirmed by no less than an archangel of God. This was announced to strengthen us to allow God to reach down to us in salvation. Now how will we respond? I. He was to be called "Jesus" because of His task. II. What must we do to respond? III. How will we respond? Yes, Christmas is a time of giving and receiving. It is also a time of sadness and concern for many people. Mostly it is a time when the whole world considers the fact that the Son of God has come into the world to give life to all who will believe on Him. We need to share with those around us what we have experienced and let them know that He is their savior too. They need to accept the greatest gift of all-Jesus Himself. God Sent His Son to Give Us Life John 1:1-18 I don't know about you but this Christmas season seems to be rushing past. Next Sunday our music program will present the Christmas performance. The next Sunday will be Christmas Eve. We have only begun to look at why Jesus came into the world. In fact this theme is so large I suppose there will never be enough Sundays in a year to tell all about our Lord and why He came into the world. Today we are looking at part of the Life He came to give, Life that is indeed the Light of men. I. Life that is eternal. John 3:14-16 II. Life that is abundant. John 10:8-10 III. Life that is reproduced. John 15:5-8 Jesus came into this world to bring God's life to God's people. This is not just as a gift to take to heaven when we die. We are intended to receive it and then share it. There is no better time of year than Christmas and Easter to share Jesus with our friends and family. Right now the world is thinking about Jesus and His coming into the world. We need to give them the greatest gift of all - an opportunity to share in that life! Galatians 3:27-4:7 Commercial interests across our nation have long since begun to proclaim the I. In the fullness of time. II. God Sent His Son. (not a committee) III. That we Might Receive the Full Rights of Sons. Christmas should always remind us of God's purpose in sending His Son. When we think about His purpose for us we should then be able to rejoice in that purpose. Christmas should, first and last, be a time of joy-filled celebration of our relationship to Jesus. Too bad we let it get twisted into a spending spree which we pay too much for and so dishonor God. Let's determine that this Christmas we will focus on the really reason for celebration and let the world around us know that there is a Living God and Jesus is Lord of our lives Thanksgiving as a Christian Tradition Psalm 107 We come to this holiday, as a community and as a nation, with very little Christian conviction. For too many people Thanksgiving has become "Turkey Day". Well, for Americans there is a strong tradition of proclaiming a day of Thanksgiving. Beginning with the Pilgrim colonists who survived the winter of 1620 and continuing through George Washington who proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God in 1789 there has always been a tradition of expression of thanks to God by our nation. A lady named Sarah Josepha Hale spent 40 years writing editorials and championing the concept of a fixed day of Thanksgiving which was honored by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 fixing the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Every president since have continued the tradition which we now observe. How should Christians respond to this day of Thanksgiving? I. In Psalm 107 We see a Basis of Thanksgiving. II. The Bible Gives Many Examples of Personal Thanksgiving. III. Christians Have Many Reasons for Thanksgiving. We need to make Thanksgiving our daily discipline. We need to thank God in all things and for all things. We need to be a people who are known for our thankful hearts. We have so much and we have been blessed so much Thanksgiving should be our everyday lifestyle. So much of scripture asserts we are to act "with thanksgiving". Our very lives should be an assertion of thanks to God. Approaching God in Prayer 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Too often, if we pray - and when we pray, we pray a generic sort of prayer which sort of covers everything and nothing at the same time. For many of us prayer is something only done in public and when called upon. Paul saw a need to encourage Timothy in the matter of prayer. In the same way the only thing the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them was to pray. There is a power in prayer that will defeat the enemy and change our lives in a manner we really desire. We need to learn to pray in specifics rather than generalities - to pray retail rather than wholesale. I. To Pray for Everyone. II. That They Might Come to the Knowledge of the Truth. III. That God Will set Them Free. We are surrounded with a large number of people who have never heard and understood. They need us to really enter into prayer that they may be saved. We need to pray that our lives will be salt and light to them. We need to pray that Holy Spirit will move on their behalf to help them see and to call them to Himself. We need to pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send out workers to bring them in and then be willing to be those workers. What are we in God's Eyes? Matthew 5:13 Last Sunday we looked at Jesus' clear statement that we are the salt of the earth. There are a number of other things Jesus said we are during His ministry. He said these things to His disciples yet all these are passed on to us through them. A few of these statements are conditional. In other words we are only those things if we meet the conditions. However many of them are things clearly showing we are seen in God's eyes as special people unconditionally. Let's look at the conditionals first then the unconditionals. Last, what does this mean in our lives. I. What are the conditions for us to meet? II. What is promised unconditionally? III. How are we then to live? We have a wonderful opportunity to have the Spirit of God flow through us in powerful ministry. We miss this because we do not see ourselves the way God does. He has called us into a ministry of power and has promised to be with us in every way. We will never be left as orphans. We are always on His mind and in His heart and hands. Let us live like it. Who is the light of the World? Matthew 5: 1-16 Jesus came to the Sermon on the Mount fairly early in His ministry. In some ways it is a statement of His call to His people and a summary of the primary teaching of the kingdom. The Beatitudes, or blessings, in the first 12 verses have often been used as a basis of teaching. I feel led strongly to the opening statement following these blessings. You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world. These words, spoken to His disciples, ring down to us today. A promise and a responsibility lie in them for all who call on the name of Jesus. I. The Prophets had spoken of God/Jesus as LIGHT! Isa. 9:1-2 II. The gospels show us His Light. III. Yet He says WE are the light of the world! You may be the only light that some people will ever be able to see. There are others around them who walk in the light but they can't see it because they do not know them well. You they know and we must follow Jesus command to be light in the darkness of our world. We are light and we were not intended to be hidden under a basket. We are intended to be set on a high place in our world and shine as light to all the world. We are to literally become lighthouses in our world to guide those lost in the storms of life into safe harbor in Jesus. Always Ready to Give an Account The majority of Christians never consciously confront someone with the gospel and then hear that person pray to receive Christ as Lord. At the same time the majority of Christians, perhaps secretly, desire to see that happen. Perhaps one of the problems is we never intentionally prepare for such a witness nor arrange matters so that we have opportunity. We rely on the Holy Spirit to bring someone around and that seldom happens. What can we do to better give a defense of the gospel? I. Sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. II. The Bible gives us examples of natural witness. III. How can we have this same witness? It is possible, and even perhaps desirable, that we study techniques of witness. It may be good to learn "plans of Salvation" and series of scripture so we may be better prepared to bear witness. However none of that will make us an effective witness without a close, abiding relationship to the living God. As we walk with Him He will draw us together with others who need to know Him. These may be surprising and even unexpected but they will be responsive because He will bear His fruit through us. Praise His Holy Name. 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 Promises are a difficult thing for us to deal with. Those who are parents know how painful it is to a child when he, or she, believes a promise has been broken. Yet often it is simply a matter of the conditions of the promise which has changed. "If I get the bonus..." means the promise depends on that extra money coming in. "If I can get off that week..." . On and on conditions affect promises. Humanly we are not in control of many of the promises we make. In marriage too many, today, promise "as long as we both shall love" and feelings affect the keeping of the promise. Well, gratefully, God is not like that and never will be. I. God's Promises Rest on His completed act. Romans 15:8 II. There is One Condition to Receiving the Promises. Gal. 3:29 III. The Promises Rest on His Completed Action. 2 Peter 1:3, 4 None of this is to say we have no responsibility to God and our fellow man. Of course we do! All people recognize this common obligation to a 'good' life. We must remember that the 'good life' is not enough. One must place their faith if the living Lord, Jesus Christ. No amount of goodness will give us a better standing with God. However, once we have that standing it is virtually impossible to break our relationship to God. Just as a child does not change family ties by rebellion because it is by birth so a child of God does not lose relationship by sin -- just fellowship. God is faithful. He will do the work to assure our life in Him. We ought to live as those who are His by faith. Colossians 3:12-17 The Apostle Paul in writing to his beloved Colossian church gave them assurances of their relationship to Christ. He told them of what Christ had done for them. He reminded them of how they had reacted to Christ's love and he now counsels them with regard to their ongoing response to God's grace. We need to stop and review these matters for ourselves or we will be overwhelmed by the cares of this life and the assaults or our enemy. I. What Christ Has Done For Us. II. How We Have Responded to His Love. III. What We Must Do To Enjoy These Things. Our response to God is extremely important. Not that we would offend God or that we would hurt His feelings (in a human sense) but that we need to know for ourselves that we are responding correctly. God is the source of our life. He is the source of our salvation. We have become His people by faith in Him and He wishes us to be at rest in our relation to Him and to others. Hebrews 11:1-6 John said upon believing that Jesus is the Christ we are able to know that we have eternal life. Yet, there is something more basic than that which is the need to know God is. C. S. Lewis who had been raised without God and taught to be a skeptic said he had to come to believe in God and only then could he be 'converted' to Christ. This is precisely what the writer of Hebrews assures us. I. Faith is the Evidence. II. We must Believe God is. III. We must believe He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. We place our faith in many things we cannot prove in a concrete manner. Look at our money system and our system of government. Faith based on experience and on testimony of others. Not at all unlike the faith we have in God. As we apply the faith God has given us, He meets us at the point of our needs and He delivers us. Praise to His name. 1 John 5:1-13 John writes as an elderly pastor who is deeply concerned about the condition of the faith of his people. He is especially concerned that they not be doubtful as to their condition in the presence of God. We certainly are not to be confidant because we have joined the church or because we have, at some time in the past, prayed a prayer asking for salvation. We must know because of the testimony in our heart. I. This is God's Testimony, not man's. II. God Has Given Us Eternal Life. III. We May Know That We Have That Eternal Life. Our confidence does not rest on a feeling. It must first rest on the living and powerful written word of the Living God. Then and only then can it rest on our awareness of the Holy Spirit within us. It is never a matter of our conscience. Our confidence and peace in relation to our salvation must come from God. God is true and all men (and demonic forces) are not to be trusted in matters of faith. Our faith is in God - not in a church, not in a human leader, not in our family connections - in God alone. Keeping that central to our thinking allows us to rest in matters of faith. Romans 12:9-21 As Paul the Apostle comes to the end of his description of the "different gifts, according to the grace given us" he turns to "the greatest of these" - Love! To be able to love is the greatest gift of God. Our ability to love grows out of God's love for us. It is implanted in all people but only fully released when we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His Spirit in ours enables us to release fully His kind of love. I. Christ's Love Must be the Driving Force of our Lives. 2 Cor. 5:14
II. Christ's Love Enables us. 2 Timothy 1:7 III. Our Love, as a Reflection of His, Must be Like His. 2 Cor. 13:11-14 Galatians 5:6 states, "The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love." NIV. According to Jesus, the only evidence that we are His disciples is that we love one another. Many times we fail in love because we are so zealous for a particular cause we forget that it only counts if we express it in love. We need the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus. We must never rejoice in the failures of others or keep a record of their wrongs. We must cover with a cloak of silence the sins of others, once they have been covered with the blood of Jesus. May God so strengthen us to such love. Spiritual Blessings for God's People Hebrews 11: 30-40 When we do think of God blessing us we think in terms of 'warm fuzzy' things. Good times, good feelings, plans which work. Love, Joy, Peace ... and on and on. We think of the kind of things represented in most of Hebrews chapter eleven. Most people skip lightly over the last few verses and quickly latch onto, "God had planned something better for us....." . Then we thank God we live under Grace and no longer have to go through the tough times. Which leaves us confused because they keep coming back. Hmmm... I. Many Have Been Remarkably Blessed. "By Faith" II. Some Fall Into the "Others" Category. Still "By Faith" III. God Has a Plan For Dealing With Either. Heb. 12 If we resist the discipline of the Lord and fail to grow in the bad times as well as the good times we will allow all kinds of difficulty to rise in our lives. God disciplines us for our good. If we do not stop and consider we will miss God's grace in the midst of our difficulties. We will let a root of bitterness rise in us and many (ourselves included) will be defiled and even destroyed. No matter the circumstance "we have come to Mount Zion, to the Heavenly Jerusalem, the City of the Living God." ... "Let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Hallelujah. Every Spiritual Blessing Ephesians 1:1-14 To think that God blesses us with every spiritual blessing is much more than most Christians will accept. Since the scripture qualifies the promise with "in the heavenly realms" many assume that those blessings await us in heaven. Well, lets see what the text will tell us. I. He Chose US III. He Redeemed US You see, though we will be blessed in heaven, our blessings in heaven are ours now. The greatest being our inheritance in Christ Jesus. We are blessed with being God's children. We are blessed with the life of God living in us. We are blessed with the knowledge of His will. WE ARE BLESSED. And this blessing is for here and now and is more than we ever will imagine. Receive that blessing and live in it. Galatians 5:22-26 This passage reminds us of truths we must come back to again and again in order to maintain a stable and spiritually profitable lifestyle. God has enabled us -- we must use our ability. This is the path of life in Christ. I. We have crucified the flesh. (Not: 'we should') II. The Spirit fruit is present in our lives. III. Living by the Spirit calls for our keeping 'in step'. Our old habits, or nature, cry out to us to fall back into past patterns of thought or behavior. The Spirit of God within us calls out to allow His fruit to become ripe and be free to show itself through us. We are in the position of choice every day. How will we live? We are able to either live in victory or in defeat. We must choose victory for our own good and that of our family, friends and community. See also…
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