Weekend Sermon -- Christian Characteristics -- Part 2

 Thank God, it is time for another posting of the Weekend Sermon. I hope that everyone is having a very good week.

There are two places in the New Testament where you can find a list of of the characteristics that are supposed to be in evidence in the life of a believer in Jesus.

One place you will find this list is in Galatians 5 where Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. The other list of Christian Characteristics can be is found in II Peter chapter 1. Both of these lists tell us that kindness is a characteristic of a fruitful Christian life.

One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 4:32 that tells us to be kind to one another. I have said before that if people would follow this teaching, along with Jesus' words to do unto others as we would have done to us, the world would be a much better place to live in.

Kindness involves treating others with dignity and with respect. Being kind means speaking words that heal and not words that hurt. Showing kindness means helping others with their problems so that they can have a better life. We show kindness when we do good for the least of those among us. When we act like Jesus in this hurting world, we are acting in a kind manner.

I am sad to say that many Christians are not acting in a kind way to those with whom they disagree. So many Christians speak hatefully and act so mean that it is no surprise to me that many don't want to have anything to do with the church and Christianity.

Why is kindness so important to the Lord? Because the Lord is kind and has shown kindness to us. The kindness of God is most clearly evident in the incarnation of Jesus. Jesus came into this world so that we might have forgiveness of sins and a relationship with the Father in Heaven. 

This week, try your best to act in a kind manner toward your family, friends and associates. Do and say those things that will make them happy. Speak encouraging words. Let people feel that they are loved by your kind actions. Amen.

Prayer Requests And Other Matters

I want to thank the Lord for helping me at work this week and for allowing me to get the pay I had coming.

Please pray for those affected by the storms in the US South. Louisiana has gone through three hurricanes this year! Pray that the people will get the help that they need to recover.

Pray for peace on Earth. Pray for peace in Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Yemen.

For our prayer focus countries, pray for Ghana and Qatar.

For blog readers in the US. Pray that God will guide your decision while voting on Tuesday. When voting, think about which candidate will be mostly likely to help the least of those among us.

Next week, I will post the sermon on Friday and the verses on Monday. I may post something on Wednesday. May God bless you all.

Update

 I have not been feeling well, and I was not able to post yesterday. However, I do still hope to post the sermon on Friday.

Verses For The Week

 John 1:1 -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 3:16 -- "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but shall have everlasting life."

Weekend Sermon -- Christian Characteristics -- Joy

 I thank God for the privilege of posting the sermon today. Thank you for taking the time to read it. 

Starting today, I will be delivering a series of messages on what I am calling Christian characteristics. These are qualities that are to be part of a believer's life as he or she grows in a relationship with Jesus. Today, we will start out by focusing on the characteristic of joy.

Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that we find listed in Galatians chapter 5. It is produced in our lives when we are growing in the Lord.

One thing that I need to emphasize right away is that joy and happiness are not the same thing. Happiness is based upon our circumstances. Often we are happy when we feel good and have what we want in life. We are sad when we have poor health or when something bad happens to us or to those we care about.

On the other hand, joy is given to the Christian by the Lord Jesus. Jesus tells us in John 16:22 that we have joy within us that this world cannot take away.

What is this joy? According to I Peter, we have joy that is unspeakable because we have been forgiven of our sins and redeemed by the sacrifical death of Jesus on the cross. We have joy because we have a relationship with God the Father through His Son the Lord Jesus. Because we are in Christ, we will dwell in His presence for all eternity.

I John puts it another way. We have joy because now we walk in the light of life. Jesus has taken us from the realm of darkness and made us citizens of the kingdom of heaven. 

Now the question arises, how do we maintain our joy in the Lord even during difficult times? John 15 tells us the answer. We abide in the vine who is Christ. When we abide in Christ, His life flows in and through us filling us with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We abide in Christ by communicating with Him in prayer and meditation. We abide in Him by learning more about Him. We abide in Christ by imitating Jesus, and by doing what He would have us to do in this world.

One other way that we can maintain our joy in the Lord is by telling others about Him. When the disciples that Jesus sent out to minister returned to Him, Luke 10 tells us that they were filled with joy because they performed the Lord's work in this world.

May the joy of the Lord fill our hearts this day. Amen.

Prayer Requests And Other Matters

I would ask that you pray that the money from my job will come in this week. Please pray that we will not have a bad ice storm next week.

Continue to pray that the fires in the Western US will be extinguished. Some of the fires are under control, so we thank the Lord for this.

Continue to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that the sick will recover.

Pray for peace in Syria and Yemen.

For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for Chad and Taiwan.

Next week we will continue with our sermon series, and I will post the message on Friday. I will post the verses on Monday. I will try to post something on Wednesday. May God bless you all.

Book Review

 A few months ago, I reviewed a book entitled "The Rise Of Wolf 8". It was one of the best animal books that I have ever read. At that time, I told you that the author planned to release additional books dealing with the wolves he studied in Yellowstone National Park. Rick McIntyre's second book in the series has now been released. It is called "The Reign Of Wolf 21."

As in the previous work, the author does an excellent job of detailing wolf behavior. He brings Wolf 21 alive in such a way that you the reader feel as if you are with the author observing first-hand.

What I enjoy most about this author's books is that he treats the wolves as individuals with their own unique characteristics. We get a glimpse of their feelings and emotions.

In the this book, you will read the story of a remarkable wolf. I highly recommend this book. Thank you Rick McIntyre for letting us know about Wolf 21.

Verses For The Week

 John 3:19-21 -- "And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed, but he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

Weekend Sermon -- We Are One In Him

 I thank God for another opportunity to post the sermon. I am glad you've taken the time to read it.

Today, the sermon won't be very long. I believe that the Lord Jesus has placed something in my heart that I am supposed to share. 

There is a lot of discussion over the issue of racism in my country. I want to state unequivocally that there is no place for racism among those who claim to follow Jesus as Lord. Racism is a sin.

The Bible makes it very clear that all people who come to faith in Jesus are a part of the family of God. In Galatians 3:28 we read, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

We are one in Jesus no matter our race, sex, ethnicity or socio-economic class. There is no distinction in Jesus, and we must not discriminate between the members of God's family. 

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Revelation 7:9-17. It is a picture of people worshipping around the throne room in heaven. In the great multitude of people are those from every race and people group from around the world. They are all united in praise of the Lamb upon His throne.

As Christians, our identity is in Christ. He is Lord. We are to follow Him. We are not to divide ourselves along any racial lines. We are to be one and unified in Jesus. 

That is what I have to say, and I hope that those who call themselves Christians will take these words seriously. Amen.

Prayer Requests

Please pray that the strong winds predicted for my area tomorrow will not cause any damage.

Continue to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that the sick will recover, and pray that a vaccine will be available soon.

Pray that the fires in the US West will be brought under control. 

For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for Suriname and Saudi Arabia.

Continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us concentrate our prayers on Yemen this week.

Next week, we will begin a new series on Christian characteristics. I will post the message on Friday with the verses being posted on Monday and a review on Wednesday. May God bless you all.

Poem

 Today I am posting a poem instead of a review. This is a poem I wrote that was published in the Spring 2000 edition of Writer's Exchange.

Shifting sands of time

move us closer to our end -

the sea ebbs and flows.

Verses For The Week

 Matthew 13:15 -- "Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

Matthew 13:33-34 -- "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses and which will not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, and no more destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Weekend Sermon -- Light In Darkness

Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon. I would also like to thank the Lord for the opportunity to post this message.

I know that we have studied a lot in the Psalms this year, but a verse in Psalm 112 has started me thinking about some things in my life history. Psalm 112:4 states, "Light arises in the darkness for the upright." Let's examine this for a few minutes today. 

How does the Lord cause light to arise in darkness. First of all, I think of the fact that Jesus is the light of the world whose light drives out the darkness of sin from the lives of those who accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. Those who trust in Jesus no longer walk in darkness; we now walk in His glorious light.

I also believe that the Lord brings light to us when we are facing dark times and times of depression in our lives. These gifts of light from the Lord help us to make it through as we try to follow and serve Him in this world. 

I have faced some times of darkness and depression in my life. In these times, the Lord has provided the light I needed to keep going.

When I was younger, my family attended a very fundamentalist church. I also went to the school operated by this church. There were many negative and hateful things that happened to me at this church and school. At one point, I thought about not being a Christian anymore. At this point of darkness, the Lord brought some light into my life. I started watching a minister named Lloyd Ogilvie on his program from his Presbyterian Church in California. He would go on to become the chaplain of the US Senate.  He was a whole different type of preacher than I had heard in fundamentalist circles. He always preached about how much God loves us. Listening to his messages helped me to keep going in the Christian faith.

The Lord has brought the light of music into my life. One day, I turned on the public radio station in my area. I heard a jazz program, and it changed my life. I listen to jazz everyday, and it helps me get through the darkest days. I don't know what I would do without jazz in my life.

When I was at one of the darkest times of my life, the Lord brought me the light of a great friend. I was so depressed at one point in my life that I didn't want to go on anymore. That is when the Lord brought my friend Toby into my life. It was only by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we found each other. Toby helped me to know what it means to be loved unconditionally. Because the Lord brought Toby my way, I am still here today.

I don't know what hard time you are going through today. I do know that the Lord offers the light of His love to assist us. I believe that He will send light into your darkness in a number of different ways. Hang on and trust in God. Look for light in the darkness, and be a point of light for others. Amen

Prayer Requests And Other Matters

Please pray for those in Louisiana who are in the path of the hurricane. Pray for safety and the help people need.

Please continue to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that those who are sick will recover. 

I would ask that you pray that the money from my job will come in this week.

Continue to pray for peace in the troubled areas if the world. Pray for Syria, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan. Pray for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for Japan and Nepal.

Next week, I will post the sermon on Friday and the verses on Monday. I will post a review or poem on Wednesday. May God bless you all.

Movie Reviews

 Today, I would like to tell you about a few of the films I've watched lately. We will start with "The Art of Racing in the Rain". I really wanted to like this movie because I enjoyed the book. I feel that the movie is not much like the book in the story, and the entire feel of the film is much different than the book. I think Kevin Costner is a good actor, but I didn't like him as the voice of Enzo.

I watched a film called "First Man" a couple of nights ago. It is the story of how Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon. This movie I found to be extremely boring. There was no suspense whatsoever. I know we already know what happened, but a director has the ability to draw you into a story and make a well-known event exciting.

The makers of "7 Days in Entebbe" succeeded where "First Man" does not. This film brings the story to life. Even though I knew the historical outcome, I was on the edge of my seat to see how the hostages were freed.

I hope you see some good filns on TV or DVD this week.

Verses For The Week

 Luke 19:10 -- "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Hebrews 13:1 -- "Let love of the brethren continue."

Weekend Sermon -- Zephaniah Part 2

 It is once again time for the sermon. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider it.

Last week, we began a short study on the Old Testament book of Zephaniah. We learned that Zephaniah ministered during the latter part of the history of the Kingdom of Judah.  He told the people to turn away from idols and back to God, or God would send judgment. During the reign of Josiah, there was an attempt under this good king's leadership to bring about revival. It did not really take hold in the people's hearts. As soon as Josiah died, the people went right back to worshipping idols.

Shortly after the death of Josiah, God had had enough of the sinfulness of those in the land. The Babylonians invaded, destroyed the Temple and took people captive. This isn't the end of the story, and it isn't the end of Zephaniah's message.

In the final section of the book, Zephaniah gave a prophecy with a double fulfillment.

After a time, the Lord would bring a faithful remnant of His people back into the Land of Promise. Under the leadership of Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. The prophet Haggai, encouraged the people to rebuild the Temple.

However, Zephaniah had a deeper message. He said that a day would come when the Lord would reign over His people from within their midst. This was a prophesy concerning the reign of the Messiah upon the earth.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe that He is the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled multiple Old Testament prophecies during His earthly life and ministry. Because these prophecies were fulfilled, we can have completed confidence in the fact that Jesus will come again just as He said fulfilling the rest of what the Scriptures say about Him.

When Jesus returns in His glorious second coming, He will reign over the world from the New Jerusalem. His reign will have no end, and sin will be no more. There will be perfect peace and harmony, and He will wipe away every tear from every eye.

Whenever you begin to feel discouraged,

 take heart that Jesus is the soon coming King. All will be well very soon. Praise be to God.

Prayer Requests and Other Matters

I have been having a lot of trouble with arthritis. Please pray that this will feel better soon.

Please pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that those who are sick will make a speedy recovery.

Pray that the fires in the Western US will be contained and brought under  control.

Pray for peace in the situations between Greece and Turkey and Azerbaijan and Armenia. Syria and Yemen continue to need our prayers.

For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for Turkmenistan and Tunisia. Pray that many will hear about the love of Jesus.

Next week, I will once again post the sermon on Friday. The verses will be posted on Monday. I will try to post something on Wednesday. May God bless you all.