II Corinthians 5:21 -- "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
I Peter 2:24 -- "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having been dead to sin, we might live to righteousness. . ."
Matthew 20:28 -- "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many."
Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon this week. I want to thank the Lord for providing me with the opportunity to post this message. I hope that everyone is in good health.
For the past several weeks, we have been in a study of the book of James. Today, we are taking a break from that series so that we can speak about the events of Palm Sunday. We will have posts for the Holy Week season, and there will be an Easter message next week. After that, we will resume our study in James.
Luke 19:28-40 is just one of the places where the Gospels record the events of Palm Sunday. Let me say that Palm Sunday has always been one of my favorite days in the Christian calendar. I think that is due in part to the fun that we used to have in church on that day. We would wave the Palm branches and have a time of praise to the Lord. One church that I went to on Palm Sunday had a reenactment of the Palm Sunday events with a live donkey.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem for the final week before He went to the cross. Just as prophesied, Jesus the Messiah rode into the city on a donkey. As He came into the city, people spread their garments in front of His path. They also took the palm leaves and laid them in His path shouting, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." It was a time of praise directed towards Jesus. In only a few short days, the cries would be "Crucify him. We will not have this man to rule over us."
To me, Palm Sunday is about praise to Jesus for who He is and for what He has done. As Jesus was receiving the praise of the people on Palm Sunday, the Pharisees called on Jesus to tell the people to stop. Jesus told them that if the people stopped, the rocks would cry in praise of Him.
Palm Sunday reminds me that Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain. He is worthy of all praise and adoration both now and evermore. Jesus Christ is King, As Philippians tells us, one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
One of the great chapters in all of the Bible is Revelation 5 that details that the Lamb who was slain is worthy of all praise and adoration. The Lamb who was slain is Jesus Christ who bore our sins in His body on the cross.
Revelation 5:11-14 tells us that right now, Jesus is in Heaven receiving the praise of the angels, heavenly creatures, the elders and those who are currently in Heaven. One day, every citizen of Heaven and all creatures on earth and in the sea will call out there praise to the one who is worthy of praise the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't wait to be part of that day when all of creation throughout the universe praises King Jesus.
One thing that I hope that all of us will do each day is spend time praising Jesus for who He is and for what He has done. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the Son of God and God the Son. He has lived a holy and sinless life as our perfect example. He bore on sins on the cross that we might be redeemed. He rose bodily from the grave conquering death and hell. He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He makes intercession for those who are His own. He will remain in Heaven until the time comes to restore all things.
At that time, Jesus will return to this earth in power and great glory. He will establish His kingdom on this earth, and He shall reign forever and forever. I am eagerly anticipating that glorious day.
I hope that you can praise Jesus because He is your Savior and Lord. I urge you to place your faith and trust in the Risen Lord today if you have not done so. Ask Him to forgive you of your sin. Believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. Ask Jesus to rule and reign in your heart. The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for those harmed and grieving as a result of what happened in Boulder and Atlanta.
Please pray for those who were harmed by the bad storms in the United States. Pray that they will receive the aid that they need.
Continue to pray for peace. I heard that the most devastating conflict that is occurring in the world right now is in Yemen. Please pray that that country will find peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for those who live in Kyrgyzstan and Guinea-Bissau. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will have a different blog posting schedule. On Monday, I will post the verses. On Thursday, there will be a Maundy Thursday post. On Friday, there will be a good Friday post. The Sermon will be posted on Saturday. May God bless you all.
This was a sad and frightening week for me. As most of you probably know, there was a mass shooting incident in Boulder, Colorado this week. Previously, there was a mass shooting incident in Atlanta.
The terrible crime in Boulder was especially frightening for me because I know someone who works as an officer in the Boulder Police Department. When I heard that an officer was killed, I was very worried that it was the person I know. It was not.
These horrible crimes are all too familiar occurrences here in the United States. It is time for something to be done to try to stop these crimes. We need to adopt effective gun control measures in the United States. It is time for an assault weapons ban. High capacity magazines need to be banned. We need to implement background checks for all gun purchases with a waiting period before any gun is picked up. I also believe that those who own a gun should have a license, and they should have to carry liability insurance.
This isn't going to solve all of the gun violence problems here in the United States. We need to have better access to mental health care for our citizens as well. We must also stop the glorification of violence in entertainment and in games.
The church needs to step up and speak up against violence. We must preach the love and peace of our Lord and Savior.
Proverbs 27:9 -- "Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice."
Proverbs 17:17 -- "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity."
I Thessalonians 5:11 -- "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."
Proverbs 18:24 -- "There are "friends" who destroys each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother."
John 15:13 -- "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
Thank God for the opportunity to post another sermon this week. I hope everyone is happy and doing well.
Today, we continue in James chapter 2. Last week, we learned that treating people differently based on race, socio-economic condition or ethnic group is a violation of the law of God. As followers of Jesus, we are called upon to do unto others as we would have done to us. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In today's passage, we see that James takes the idea of breaking the law of God to a whole other level. He tells us that if a person breaks one law, that person is guilty of breaking every law. What is James attempting to teach us?
James is telling us what the Bible clearly tells us in many places. Everyone who has ever lived except for Jesus has sinned and violated the holy laws of God. We are told in Romans 3:23 that, " all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." John tells us in his first epistle that if we claim to be without sin, the truth is not within us.
Because we have all sinned, we deserve to receive the punishment for sin, and that is death and eternal serparation from God. However, God is merciful and He loves us. Jesus came and lived a sinless life. He bore our sins in His body on the cross. He then rose bodily from the grave conquering death and hell. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord will receive eternal life and forgiveness of sins.
Now, since God has been merciful to us, we are to be merciful to others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us not to judge lest we be judged. Jesus also told us that if we are not willing to forgive, our sins will not be forgiven.
Christians are getting the reputation of being too judgmental and not acting like Jesus. We all need to remember that without the grace of God, we would be in a mess. No one is perfect. We can't see what is in someone's heart. Jesus can. That is why He is the ultimate judge. I think that the best thing that we can do is to spread the love of Jesus as much as we can, and we can leave the judgment to the Lord. Amen
Prayer Requests
I asked you to pray about the flooding in my area. Everything was Ok. Thank you for your prayers.
Please remember to pray for those hurt by the storms in the southern part of the United States.
Continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us concentrate on praying for Yemen this week.
For our prayer focus countries, let us pray for those in Kosovo and Egypt.
Next week, we will have a sermon for Palm Sunday. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will try to post something midweek. May God bless you all.
Today I would like to first of all thank the Lord that my town did not get hit by the tornado that was close by. Unfortunately, a subdivision about 2 miles northeast of where I live did have tornado damage. Please pray that these folks will be able to recover quickly.
My area is supposed to have heavy rain and flooding over the next 36 hours. Please pray that the rain will not be as bad as expected. Pray that my roof will hold up. Thank you for your prayers.
I do have an additional prayer request. I am having great difficulty at my part-time job. Please pray that the Lord will lead me in what I should do about this situation. Thank you again.
Matthew 16:25 -- "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Hebrews 10:23 -- "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
Thanks for taking the time to read the sermon. I hope that you are all having a very good week. Thanks be to God for the opportunity to post this message.
Last week, we finished chapter one in our study of the book of James. As we move into chapter 2 beginning this week, we will begin to explore some of the more controversial aspects of the book of James. As I've said before, James just tells it like it is. He doesn't pull any punches when it comes to presenting his important message.
Chapter 2 begins with the words, "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with partiality." The first thing that I want to mention in this verse is the way that James speaks about Jesus. He refers to Jesus as Lord and the Lord of glory. By proclaiming Jesus as Lord, James is saying that all of his allegiance belongs to Jesus. During James' day, many said the Caesar was Lord. James is declaring that Jesus is the Lord of all. No ruler or country should hold our primary allegiance. Also, James says that Jesus is the Lord of glory. This is a reference to the deity of Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all creation. He is God and man.
James then moves on to speak about the sin of showing partiality or favoritism. James says that everyone should be treated the same way. He tells us clearly that it is wrong to favor a rich and powerful person over a poor person. James says that if we give a favorable seat to a rich man and then tell the poor man to sit on the floor or in a bad seat, we are showing favoritism to the rich and powerful over the poor, and God considers that to be a sin..
If you don't think that things like this happen in the church today, I can give you plenty of examples. In the church where my parents attended just before they passed away, there was a section in the front of the church reserved for those who gave a certain amount of money to the church. If a celebrity or important figure came to the church, that person was always seated in the front row. Also, the senior pastor never met with the common people in the church. His time was reserved for those who were the major donors. This is just wrong on so many levels. It is the perfect example of what James is writing about in this passage.
James is saying that the Lord Jesus loves the rich and the poor. Jesus is no respecter of persons. He doesn't care what kind of work a person does or how much money a person has. Jesus wasn't impressed by those things while He was on earth, and He is not impressed with them now. Jesus cares about whether or not someone believes in Him and loves Him. He is concerned about whether or not a person will do His will in this world.
Churches and Christians shouldn't look down on people that don't have much money. It's not right. One way that this is done is the way that many Christians speak about the homeless. I've heard many ministers say that the homeless need to accept Christ as Savior so that they can get out of homelessness. There may be many homeless people who need the Lord, but everyone who is homeless is not an unbeliever. There are many who through no fault of there own experienced some really bad times and are living in their car or in shelter or on the streets. Thinking that someone is lost just because they are really poor is committing the same type of sin that James is writing about.
James, I believe, would have the same thing to say about discrimination of all types within the church. There is no place for racism, sexism or ethnicism within the church of Jesus Christ. All are one in Him. Any church that treats one race or sex or ethnic group in a superior way to some other race, sex or ethnic group is not following the way of Jesus.
Now, James will go on to present something that some may find to be shocking. He says in verse five that, "God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him. James will go on to describe rich people as oppressors.
I believe that what James is saying is that it is often those who don't have as much of this world's things who are the one's who are the most committed to the Lord Jesus. They are not counting on the things of this world, their hope is in God alone. Jesus identified with the poor and the oppressed while He was on this earth. Throughout the Bible, God is quite clear that He expects leaders to protect and to help the poor.
Rich and powerful people and corporations often exploit the poor in this world in order to increase their own gain. This is done when rich people and corporations pay ridiculously low wages and have their workers working in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. The rich of this world will answer to Jesus at the last judgment for the way that they treated the least among them.
James finishes up this section by reiterating the words of Jesus that one should love neighbor as self. James says that this is a royal law of Scripture. I've said many times that if we would follow the words of Jesus in the Golden Rule and the Two Great Commandments, the world would be a lot better off. The Golden Rule is do unto others as you would have done to you. The Great Commandment is love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Another good word to adhere to is Paul's words that tell us to, be kind to one another. Treat everyone well. Love God and love those in this world. Amen.
Prayer Requests.
Please continue to pray that there will not be any flooding in my area. Thank you.
Let us all pray that the coronavirus pandemic will end soon. Pray that the vaccines will get out to those who need them, and pray that the sick will recover.
Continue to pray for peace on earth. Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Libya really need our prayers.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Qatar and Brunei. Pray that many will come to understand the love of Jesus.
Next week, we will continue in James 2, Lord willing. I will post the verses on Monday. I hope to have a review on Wednesday if I can get some reading done. May God bless you all.
I have three prayer requests.
My area is expecting heavy rain for the next three days that is supposed to cause flooding. Please pray that it rains less than expected and there is no flooding.
I am having terrible troubles at my part-time job. I would like to go back to working on writing and ministry work full-time. Please pray that the Lord will work this out.
My car is not working well. Please pray that the Lord will provide the money to get it fixed.
Thank you for your prayers. I would like to thank the Lord for the fact that the storm last night did not cause any damage. I am also thankful for the fact that I am doing OK after having the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine.
Here are two short poems I wrote.
Flowering Spring trees
through morning's lifting fog
wax before the wane.
Winds rolling the sea. . .
orcas breaking in the waves
under golden rays.
Isaiah 41:10 -- "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
I Peter 2:24 -- "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."
Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon this week. I hope that you are all safe and well. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to post this message this week. I am posting a day early because I don't know if I will feel well to post tomorrow. I am going in for my coronavirus vaccine this afternoon, and I don't know for sure what will happen.
This week, we are finishing up our study in James 1. We have a long way to go yet in the book of James, and I know that we will learn a lot more about what the Lord would have us to do. We will take a short break from James during the Holy Week and Easter season for messages on those topics.
There are a lot of people in this world who practice a variety of religious beliefs. According to whose figures you read, about one-third of the people in this world claim to be Christians of one type or the other. Islam is the second largest religion followed by Hinduism.
When it comes to the Christian religion, there are many different types of Christians. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants are the largest contingents. But there are other types of Christian groups. Within Protestantism, there are many denominations including Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals and Lutherans just to name a few. Within the Christian religion as a whole, there are those who make it a habit of actively practicing their faith while others are what some call Christians in name only.
James has something to tell us about practicing true religion. He says that, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person's religion is worthless."
This statement by James is part of one of the over-arching messages of the book. Faith without works is deed. We saw it last week. A person can be a hearer and not a doer of the Word. If that is the case, that person is just deceiving himself.
What James is telling us is that true faith results in actions that are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. In this case, a person who has truly had his or her heart transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ will have a different way of speaking. A person who is following Jesus will not have a tongue that is out of control. This means that a person who is living in the light of Jesus' love will be speaking words of love, hope and encouragement and not words that are filled with anger, hate and lies.
One thing that has often troubled me is that some of the people who say the meanest things are often those who say that they believe in Jesus. When we say that we believe in Jesus and that He is our Lord, we need to follow what He did and what He taught. Jesus calls us through His words and through the example of His actions to speak to others in such a way that they feel loved, honored and respected.
The words that we speak can do either great good or great harm to someone else. I've found in my life that if a person says something negative to us, we remember that for a long time. On the other hand, it takes many words of praise before that sticks in our minds. When we say something hurtful to someone, that can damage a person in the psyche and in their spirit for a long time to come.
James moves on to tell us of what true religion consists. He says first of all that someone practicing true religion will visit the widows and the orphans in their distress. What does this mean? In James' and Jesus' day, widows and orphans were considered the most vulnerable members of society. Without a husband, a widow often had no means to support herself, and she would often be exploited. An orphan had no parents to come to his or her defense against the meanness and evil that is prevalent in the world.
James is telling us that we need to stand up for those who are hurting and for those who are oppressed. In our day, that can mean helping the homeless to have a better situation in this world. It means helping to alleviate poverty. It means visiting and helping the sick. In general, a Christian that is practicing true religion is a person who is doing what he or she is able to do to help others and to make this world a better place. As believers, we absolutely have the duty to spread the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We also have the duty to do good to the least of those among as Jesus told us to do.
There is one other aspect of true religion that James tells us about. We are to keep ourselves unstained by the world. This means that we are to live lives of holiness. We are to keep ourselves from sin. This world wants to drag us down to its level so that we practice its value system. Instead, we must follow Jesus as Lord and follow all that He has told us to do. Amen.
Prayer Request
Please continue to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. After I finish this message, I am going for my coronavirus vaccine. Please pray that all will go well. I am kind of nervous about the whole thing.
Continue to pray for peace in the troubled areas of this world. Syria is in need of prayer. Continue to pray for Yemen, Afghanistan and Libya.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Ivory Coast and Kuwait. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, Lord willing, we will start chapter 2 of James. I will post the verses on Monday. I will try to post something mid-week. May God bless you all.
Before I post the verses for the week, I want to let everyone know that today is the 10th anniversary of the blog. I am thankful to the Lord for allowing me to post the sermons each week, and I want to thank all of you who read the blog for reading what I have to post each week.
II Timothy 4:5 -- "As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
Philippians 4:13 -- "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
