Thursday, September 27, 2012
Update
There will be no weekend sermon posted this week. I am very sick. I feel like I'm completely worn out.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Thanksgiving
I want to thank the Lord for allowing me to get a religious article accepted for publication. I am grateful for the opportunity to write and bring glory to God.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Weekend Sermon- I John 4: 13-21
I hope that everyone had a good week. I'm always happy when it's time to do the sermon for the week. I thank all of those who have been praying on my behalf. I don't have any really good news to report, so I definitely still need prayer. People many say that the economy is improving, but I haven't seen it yet. I'm thinking about selling my house, paying off what I owe, and then starting over in some other part of the country. Most days, I'm not quite sure what to do.
No matter what may be happening in my life now, I know that God has blessed me greatly. This week marked three years since my Mom passed away. I was truly blessed by God to have such a wonderful Mom. I miss her everyday as I do my Dad.
I watched a moved called "Red Dog" this week. The dog in that movie reminded me a lot of Toby. I look forward to the day when I can be reunited with my family. Thank you Jesus that they were a part of my life, and are now with you forever.
In last weeks message, we examined the great love of God. This has been, and will be a continuing theme in I John. God gave His ultimate expression of love by sending His Son the Lord Jesus to be the Savior of the world. Even though we were the enemies of God. God provided a way back to Him. He provided a way that our sins might be forgiven.
There's something I wanted to add on this point. We often don't extend the effects of the sacrifice of Jesus far enough. Much of the time, ministers(myself included) focus on the effect of Jesus' death for the human race. However, Jesus' death had cosmological significance.
God created a perfect universe with no sin. Everything operated in peace and harmony throughout the entire cosmos. When sin entered the picture, the perfection of the cosmos was stained. Things were thrown out of order, and disorder came that was never intended by God.
Jesus came into this world to restore the original order of the universe. People are part of that order, but we are not the entirety.
Because Jesus has conquered sin, death, hell and the grave, the second portion of the overall redemption is coming. When Jesus returns, all things will be restored to the original state of perfection. Everything will be made right again. I can hardly wait for that day.
In our passage today, John is again stating the importance of love in the life of the believer. John also reiterates the fact that one must accept Jesus Christ as Savior of the world to be in a right relationship with God.
In verse 17, John picks up a slightly different emphasis on what love is all about. The verse states, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world."
When Jesus comes again, part of the coming entails the idea of judgment. The Bible is clear that there will be two judgments.
The first judgment well determine those who are the true followers of Jesus. The second judgment is only for believers. We are not judged for sins, but it is a judgment of our works done for the sake of Jesus.
What John is saying in our passage is that those who have experienced the love of Jesus don't have to fear these judgments. As John says in verse 18, "perfect love casts out fear." Those who are in Christ have passed from death to life. We are under no condemnation. Jesus has paid it all.
I think that there is another application in these verses as well. A few weeks ago, I posted a message about how Jesus was portrayed in the church of my youth. Jesus was presented as being against you. He was looking to find you in an error and bring some type of punishment on you. You were always afraid.
That wasn't the Jesus I came to know. The Jesus I discovered was a loving friend. He was a God who cared. The true follower of Jesus understands who Jesus is. Jesus is love personified.
The bad and horrendous things in our lives don't come from Jesus. Jesus brings what is good and wonderful in life.
I'm going through a bad time right now, but I don't believe for one second that Jesus is causing it. Jesus is helping me in the hard times. Jesus is assuring me that everything will be right ultimately. One day, no matter what the world tries to throw at me, I will be with Jesus. When I am with Him, everything will be good.
John finishes chapter 4 by once again encouraging us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus love us, so we should love one another and this world for whom Christ died.
Jesus loves you. That is the greatest thing I can tell you. Accept His love in your life.
Next week, we will begin the final chapter of I John. It is a chapter with some controversial passages. May God bless you this week. Amen.
No matter what may be happening in my life now, I know that God has blessed me greatly. This week marked three years since my Mom passed away. I was truly blessed by God to have such a wonderful Mom. I miss her everyday as I do my Dad.
I watched a moved called "Red Dog" this week. The dog in that movie reminded me a lot of Toby. I look forward to the day when I can be reunited with my family. Thank you Jesus that they were a part of my life, and are now with you forever.
In last weeks message, we examined the great love of God. This has been, and will be a continuing theme in I John. God gave His ultimate expression of love by sending His Son the Lord Jesus to be the Savior of the world. Even though we were the enemies of God. God provided a way back to Him. He provided a way that our sins might be forgiven.
There's something I wanted to add on this point. We often don't extend the effects of the sacrifice of Jesus far enough. Much of the time, ministers(myself included) focus on the effect of Jesus' death for the human race. However, Jesus' death had cosmological significance.
God created a perfect universe with no sin. Everything operated in peace and harmony throughout the entire cosmos. When sin entered the picture, the perfection of the cosmos was stained. Things were thrown out of order, and disorder came that was never intended by God.
Jesus came into this world to restore the original order of the universe. People are part of that order, but we are not the entirety.
Because Jesus has conquered sin, death, hell and the grave, the second portion of the overall redemption is coming. When Jesus returns, all things will be restored to the original state of perfection. Everything will be made right again. I can hardly wait for that day.
In our passage today, John is again stating the importance of love in the life of the believer. John also reiterates the fact that one must accept Jesus Christ as Savior of the world to be in a right relationship with God.
In verse 17, John picks up a slightly different emphasis on what love is all about. The verse states, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world."
When Jesus comes again, part of the coming entails the idea of judgment. The Bible is clear that there will be two judgments.
The first judgment well determine those who are the true followers of Jesus. The second judgment is only for believers. We are not judged for sins, but it is a judgment of our works done for the sake of Jesus.
What John is saying in our passage is that those who have experienced the love of Jesus don't have to fear these judgments. As John says in verse 18, "perfect love casts out fear." Those who are in Christ have passed from death to life. We are under no condemnation. Jesus has paid it all.
I think that there is another application in these verses as well. A few weeks ago, I posted a message about how Jesus was portrayed in the church of my youth. Jesus was presented as being against you. He was looking to find you in an error and bring some type of punishment on you. You were always afraid.
That wasn't the Jesus I came to know. The Jesus I discovered was a loving friend. He was a God who cared. The true follower of Jesus understands who Jesus is. Jesus is love personified.
The bad and horrendous things in our lives don't come from Jesus. Jesus brings what is good and wonderful in life.
I'm going through a bad time right now, but I don't believe for one second that Jesus is causing it. Jesus is helping me in the hard times. Jesus is assuring me that everything will be right ultimately. One day, no matter what the world tries to throw at me, I will be with Jesus. When I am with Him, everything will be good.
John finishes chapter 4 by once again encouraging us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus love us, so we should love one another and this world for whom Christ died.
Jesus loves you. That is the greatest thing I can tell you. Accept His love in your life.
Next week, we will begin the final chapter of I John. It is a chapter with some controversial passages. May God bless you this week. Amen.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Weekend Sermon--I John 4:9-12
I thank the Lord this week for the awareness of His presence through what has been a very difficult week. Lately, just when I think that things are getting better, the hammer falls, so to speak. I had a plan to get out of my financial mess, and my entire plan crumbled this week. Please pray that I can get back on track in this area of my life. I need a decent job that I can do. With my bad leg, its hard to find jobs. I need more writing jobs or an office job. Once again please pray. I am beginning to get worried that I'm going to lose my house.
I would also like everyone who reads this blog to pray about the situation occurring in the Middle East. Let us pray for peace, and pray for the families of those who lost their lives in the Libyan embassy attack.
In last week's message, I focused on the fact that the Lord who dwells within us is greater than the power of the evil one or the power of this world's system. We who believe in Jesus have His power to overcome those things that life tries to throw at us in order to get us off track in our walk with the Lord.
We also focused briefly on the importance of love in the Christian faith. As I stated last week, love is what the Christian religion is all about. God has demonstrated His love for us. As those transformed by the love of God, we are to show love for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for those who need to experience the love of Jesus in their lives.
This brings us to verses 9 and 10 of chapter 4 which state, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
In these verses, which are two of the clearest and wonderful verses in the Bible, John states the way God showed love to the human race.
God loved us in spite of the fact that we didn't love Him. All we like sheep had gone astray. We wanted to do our own thing in our own way. This began with Adam and Eve and continues right down to today.
The Bible says that there is no one who does what is good. There is no one who seeks after God. Furthermore, the Bible says that man in his unregenerate state is actually God's enemy. We are at war with the law of God.
In most instances, someone won't go out of their way to do something for just a neutral stranger. We definitely don't sacrifice or go out of our way for an enemy.
But, God loved us even though we were His enemies, and we didn't show anything but hostility and disobedience to Him.
Because He love us, God sent His Son, Jesus into the world to be the propitiation for our sins. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross. The wrath of God against sin was poured out on Jesus who took upon Himself the punishment we deserved as sinners.
God didn't have to do this. There was nothing that mandated that He provide a way of atonement for those who didn't love Him. God sent His Son, and Jesus came into this world because God loved us so much that He was willing to make such a magnificent sacrifice.
Now that we know the love of Jesus, we must choose to accept what Jesus Christ has done and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, or we can reject Jesus Christ. However, God is seeking all, and whosoever will may come.
Those of us who have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord realize the great love of God for us. Now we are to respond to the love of God by loving others. Someone who has truly been transformed by Jesus will truly be a person of love.
We love the world in two ways. First of all, we show true love for this world when we tell others the good news of what Jesus has done for us. In other words, we are obedient to the Great Commission. Second, we show love by helping to meet the needs of the hurting inside and outside of the church family. We feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and afflicted and stand up for justice.
As John says in verse 12, people in this world see the love of the Lord when they see that His followers are people of love.
I don't know who may be reading this right now, but if you want to know what real love is, then turn to Jesus. Jesus loves you, and He want to have a relationship with you. Turn to Him in repentance and faith.
To those who have already given their lives to Christ, be people so filled with the love of God that it flows out to others. Share the love of Jesus with those you know by sharing the Gospel with them. Do good and try to help as many people in need as you possibly can. May you all know the love of Christ this day. Amen.
I would also like everyone who reads this blog to pray about the situation occurring in the Middle East. Let us pray for peace, and pray for the families of those who lost their lives in the Libyan embassy attack.
In last week's message, I focused on the fact that the Lord who dwells within us is greater than the power of the evil one or the power of this world's system. We who believe in Jesus have His power to overcome those things that life tries to throw at us in order to get us off track in our walk with the Lord.
We also focused briefly on the importance of love in the Christian faith. As I stated last week, love is what the Christian religion is all about. God has demonstrated His love for us. As those transformed by the love of God, we are to show love for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for those who need to experience the love of Jesus in their lives.
This brings us to verses 9 and 10 of chapter 4 which state, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
In these verses, which are two of the clearest and wonderful verses in the Bible, John states the way God showed love to the human race.
God loved us in spite of the fact that we didn't love Him. All we like sheep had gone astray. We wanted to do our own thing in our own way. This began with Adam and Eve and continues right down to today.
The Bible says that there is no one who does what is good. There is no one who seeks after God. Furthermore, the Bible says that man in his unregenerate state is actually God's enemy. We are at war with the law of God.
In most instances, someone won't go out of their way to do something for just a neutral stranger. We definitely don't sacrifice or go out of our way for an enemy.
But, God loved us even though we were His enemies, and we didn't show anything but hostility and disobedience to Him.
Because He love us, God sent His Son, Jesus into the world to be the propitiation for our sins. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross. The wrath of God against sin was poured out on Jesus who took upon Himself the punishment we deserved as sinners.
God didn't have to do this. There was nothing that mandated that He provide a way of atonement for those who didn't love Him. God sent His Son, and Jesus came into this world because God loved us so much that He was willing to make such a magnificent sacrifice.
Now that we know the love of Jesus, we must choose to accept what Jesus Christ has done and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, or we can reject Jesus Christ. However, God is seeking all, and whosoever will may come.
Those of us who have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord realize the great love of God for us. Now we are to respond to the love of God by loving others. Someone who has truly been transformed by Jesus will truly be a person of love.
We love the world in two ways. First of all, we show true love for this world when we tell others the good news of what Jesus has done for us. In other words, we are obedient to the Great Commission. Second, we show love by helping to meet the needs of the hurting inside and outside of the church family. We feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and afflicted and stand up for justice.
As John says in verse 12, people in this world see the love of the Lord when they see that His followers are people of love.
I don't know who may be reading this right now, but if you want to know what real love is, then turn to Jesus. Jesus loves you, and He want to have a relationship with you. Turn to Him in repentance and faith.
To those who have already given their lives to Christ, be people so filled with the love of God that it flows out to others. Share the love of Jesus with those you know by sharing the Gospel with them. Do good and try to help as many people in need as you possibly can. May you all know the love of Christ this day. Amen.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Weekend Sermon--I John 4: 4 and 7-8
I hope that everyone had a nice Labor Day holiday weekend. I know that my weekend was good. I thank the Lord for an unexpected financial blessing. Please pray that I will find more work. It's still a struggle.
Last week, I wrote about Isaiah chapter 55 and some of the wonderful words contained in that passage of Scripture. While we were in our study of I John last time, we looked at the warning John gave to test the spirits to see if they were from God.
We looked at those points that characterize false teachers. False teachers usually try to add additional revelation to the Bible, and they in some way try to diminish the person and/or the work of Jesus.
Our rule of faith and practice is the Bible. The Bible is God's word. We need to be students of the word so immersed in the word that we know the truth so well that we can easily spot those teachings contrary to the revelation from the Lord contained in the Bible.
As we continue in I John, I'd like to focus on verse four. This verse has a great deal of meaning to me. John says, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."
If we have given our lives to Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit in our heart. We have a relationship with the Lord, and we have His abiding presence with us always.
The world, and this world system, are under the control of the evil one. I think that as we look at the problems and tragedies in this world it is easy to see that there is much injustice and evil in the world.
The forces of evil are arrayed against those who are the children of God. The evil one wants nothing more than to see a Christian fall into sin and become unfruitful in the work of the Lord. As the Bible says, the devil is like a roaring lion going about and seeking whom he may devour.
I know that in my life there are many times when it seems like all of the bad things in this world are pressing in against me and trying to drag me down. These last years since my parents died have been so hard I can't even describe it adequately. A lot of sadness coupled with health problems makes me feel like I want to quit. Death, sadness and pain, which are the works of the evil one, sometimes seem to get me all the way down.
Thanks be to God that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. The God whose Spirit dwells within me is greater than what this evil world tries to throw at me to get me down
I really don't know how those without Jesus in their lives get through the times when evil besets them. I know that I've only made it these many years in this fallen world because I have a relationship with Jesus who lives in me and cares about me and gives me the strength when my strength is on the verge of failing.
I don't have the power in myself to overcome temptation and the evil the world brings against me. The power to overcome is from Jesus. He has the power. Through His death and resurrection, He has defeated the power of evil. Through Jesus, we are more than conquerors.
If you are going through a hard time in your life, and you don't know how your going to make it through, call out to the Lord Jesus to be your strength. Ask Him to fight the battle. The one who loves us and gave Himself for us will strengthen us, enable us and fight for us so that we can have a victorious and abundant life.
In verses 7 and 8 of chapter 4, John instructs his readers to be people of love. John says that God is love.
Love is what the Christian religion is all about. God loved us and made a way of redemption. Because God loved us, we should love the world that God loves. The Bible says that the world will know that we are Christians by our love for one another.
Probably the greatest chapter on love in the Bible is I Corinthians 13. In this chapter, Paul details what love is all about. I urge you to read this passage and found out about true love.
Of course, our great example of what true love is is found in Jesus. Jesus' entire life and ministry was about His great love. People were attracted to Jesus because they realized that He truly loved them. Jesus loved the world and loved us so much that He gave His life as a ransom for the sins of the world.
As believers in Jesus, let us follow His example of love. Amen.
Last week, I wrote about Isaiah chapter 55 and some of the wonderful words contained in that passage of Scripture. While we were in our study of I John last time, we looked at the warning John gave to test the spirits to see if they were from God.
We looked at those points that characterize false teachers. False teachers usually try to add additional revelation to the Bible, and they in some way try to diminish the person and/or the work of Jesus.
Our rule of faith and practice is the Bible. The Bible is God's word. We need to be students of the word so immersed in the word that we know the truth so well that we can easily spot those teachings contrary to the revelation from the Lord contained in the Bible.
As we continue in I John, I'd like to focus on verse four. This verse has a great deal of meaning to me. John says, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."
If we have given our lives to Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit in our heart. We have a relationship with the Lord, and we have His abiding presence with us always.
The world, and this world system, are under the control of the evil one. I think that as we look at the problems and tragedies in this world it is easy to see that there is much injustice and evil in the world.
The forces of evil are arrayed against those who are the children of God. The evil one wants nothing more than to see a Christian fall into sin and become unfruitful in the work of the Lord. As the Bible says, the devil is like a roaring lion going about and seeking whom he may devour.
I know that in my life there are many times when it seems like all of the bad things in this world are pressing in against me and trying to drag me down. These last years since my parents died have been so hard I can't even describe it adequately. A lot of sadness coupled with health problems makes me feel like I want to quit. Death, sadness and pain, which are the works of the evil one, sometimes seem to get me all the way down.
Thanks be to God that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. The God whose Spirit dwells within me is greater than what this evil world tries to throw at me to get me down
I really don't know how those without Jesus in their lives get through the times when evil besets them. I know that I've only made it these many years in this fallen world because I have a relationship with Jesus who lives in me and cares about me and gives me the strength when my strength is on the verge of failing.
I don't have the power in myself to overcome temptation and the evil the world brings against me. The power to overcome is from Jesus. He has the power. Through His death and resurrection, He has defeated the power of evil. Through Jesus, we are more than conquerors.
If you are going through a hard time in your life, and you don't know how your going to make it through, call out to the Lord Jesus to be your strength. Ask Him to fight the battle. The one who loves us and gave Himself for us will strengthen us, enable us and fight for us so that we can have a victorious and abundant life.
In verses 7 and 8 of chapter 4, John instructs his readers to be people of love. John says that God is love.
Love is what the Christian religion is all about. God loved us and made a way of redemption. Because God loved us, we should love the world that God loves. The Bible says that the world will know that we are Christians by our love for one another.
Probably the greatest chapter on love in the Bible is I Corinthians 13. In this chapter, Paul details what love is all about. I urge you to read this passage and found out about true love.
Of course, our great example of what true love is is found in Jesus. Jesus' entire life and ministry was about His great love. People were attracted to Jesus because they realized that He truly loved them. Jesus loved the world and loved us so much that He gave His life as a ransom for the sins of the world.
As believers in Jesus, let us follow His example of love. Amen.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Thanks and Praise
I wanted to thank everyone for praying about my financial problems. The Lord has provided, and I give Him the praise. I also wanted to thank the Lord for something that happened this morning. I was getting ready to mow the lawn, and the mower wouldn't start. Thankfully, my neighbor fixed my mower for free. Praise the Lord.
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