Welcome to a new edition of the Weekend Sermon. I am always happy when it comes time to post another sermon. I hope that everyone is having a very good week.
As I start this week, I want to ask everyone to be in prayer for those on the east coast of the United States who are in the path of the hurricane. Pray that people will by safe from this storm.
This has bee a very good week in writing, and I am thankful to the Lord for that. I also have something else to thank the Lord for. I received a job offer this week. It is for a full-time and not a part-time job. However, I am still going to keep working on writing. I took the full-time job because it will provide some much needed healthcare benefits.
As far as the blog schedule is concerned, I will have to switch some things around a little, but that won't be for another week. I will go more into that next week as I don't start the new job until the 24th.
In other matters, please pray for those in Hawaii who were in the path of the tropical storm. I heard that there was some flooding on the island of Maui.
Continue to pray for peace in the troubled areas of the this world. Pray for peace in Syria, Libya, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Yemen.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for the nations of Morocco and Qatar. Pray that many in these nations will hear about the love of Jesus.
For the past couple of weeks, we have been in a new series of messages that will focus on the last few chapters in the book of Romans. This week, we will focus on Romans 12:3 which states, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
This is a verse that we could have focused on in our series on misinterpreted verses. What I would like to do in today's message is relate how this verse is often misused, and then I would like to go over the meanings of this verse.
When I was a boy growing up in the fundamentalist churches and attending the fundamentalist schools, this was one verses that was repeatedly used to keep people down. If you accomplished something good in academics, sports, whatever, you were almost immediately quoted this verse about not thinking too highly of oneself. I never felt growing up that I could think that I amounted to anything lest I was sinning in some way. Verses being misused like this led in great part to some of the problems that I developed with depression when I was young.
The Bible certainly talks about the sin of pride. However, this verse is not trying to say in anyway that a person cannot have a sense of self-esteem. Being a Christian doesn't mean that you have to go around all the time thinking that your no good and that you can't be happy when you accomplish something important.
I believe Paul is speaking about two things in particular in this verse. First of all, no one who is thinking in a Biblical manner can take any credit for his or her salvation. We have no part in our salvation. Salvation is from God. It is by His grace alone.
Jesus did for us what we could not do. No person can do a certain number of good deeds and obtain salvation. It is Jesus who accomplished the work of redemption. We are born again by calling upon Him for forgiveness and acknowledging Him as the Lord of our lives.
Paul is also speaking in this verse about the fact that no person should think that they are sufficient in themselves. The Lord has given to each person gifts to use in the church. We are all members of one body. Paul will go on to discuss this more in the following verses, and he also discussed this point in the book of I Corinthians.
Each one of us is necessary for the body of Christ to function properly. No one is more important than another. Each of us is to use the particular gift that the Lord has given to us in order to advance the work of the Lord upon this earth.
The church can only function in the way that it was intended to function when each member is working towards that common goal of sharing the love of Jesus with the world. If we do not work together, if we do not use the gift that has been given to us, the church will be hampered in each mission.
When a person in the church thinks that he or she is indispensable and that no one else in the church is doing what they are, that is what causes problems in a church. We must value each other's contribution to the task of sharing Jesus with the world.
Now, to go back to my first point. I was made to feel like a piece of dirt by the leaders of the churches and schools that I attended as a boy. No one should be made to feel this way. This is not in keeping with who Jesus is.
I was able to come to know who Jesus is and how much He loved me, and I was able to overcome much of what happened to me as a boy. A big part of the reason that I was able to overcome had to do with the fact that I know that the Lord let me find my friend Toby so that I would have a friend that loved me for who I was.
If you have been in a situation in a church where you have been made to feel like you are worthless, please understand that this is not what Jesus thinks about you. Jesus loves you. Please read the Gospels that relate what Jesus actually did and said. Don't just listen to what a minister tells you about Jesus. Found out about the love and compassion of the Lord Jesus for yourself. Don't give up on Jesus just because some of those who claim to be His followers are nasty and have hurt you. I almost did. However, I am grateful to the Lord that I didn't, and I am glad that Jesus is in my life today.
Next week, we will continue with our series in Romans. I have just been covering one verse for the last three weeks, but next week, we will be covering more verses in chapter 12. We will be looking at the spiritual gifts Paul speaks about in this chapter. On Monday, I will post the verses. On Wednesday, I will post the next chapter in the book about my friend Toby. May God bless you all. Amen.
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