Weekend Sermon -- Jesus Is The Resurrection And The Life

      It is time again for the sermon. I know that I am posting a day late. Once again, health problems are besetting me. Please keep praying. Thank you.

     In today's message, I want us to focus on what for me is the great title of Jesus given to us in the New Testament. Jesus said of Himself that He is the Resurrection and the Life. 

     While He was here on this earth, Jesus had people that meant a lot to Him. They were His friends in a special way. Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus were good friends of Jesus. One day, word came to Jesus that His friend Lazarus was very sick. He needed Jesus to come and heal him, but Jesus delayed His coming. After a couple of days, word came to Jesus that Lazarus His friend was dead. 

     Jesus went down to Bethany the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He saw the weeping at the tomb. Jesus told them that Lazarus would rise. They told Jesus that they knew Lazarus would rise at the time of the resurrection of the dead, but Jesus told them something else. He told them, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me though He were dead yet shall He live. And however liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."

     Jesus told them to roll away the stone from the grave of Lazarus who had been dead for four days. Jesus told Lazarus to come forth from the grave. Lazarus came out of the grave wrapped in burial cloths. Jesus told them to loose Lazarus and let him go. Lazarus had been raised to new life. 

     Just as He had the power to bring life to those who had died physically while He was here on this earth, Jesus has the power to raise all to new life. Why? Jesus Christ has conquered death, hell and the grave. How did He do this? He did this by dying on the cross and then rising bodily from the grave on the third day just as He said He would. 

     Because Jesus rose from dead, death no longer has any power over those who are in Christ Jesus. Death is the consequence of sin. Those who have their sins forgiven by the Lord Jesus are freed from sin and death. Nothing, not even death, can separate us from Jesus Christ for all eternity. 

     This title of Jesus is really important to me because I have lost so many people during my life. My parents who I was really close with have both passed away. One of my best friends died not very long ago. Most of my aunts and uncles have passed away. My best friend Toby has gone. Losing all of these has been really hard. But as the Bible says, believers do not grieve as those who have no hope. That is because Jesus is the Resurrection and Life. All of my family and friends believed in Jesus. He was their Savior and Lord. Because of what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, they are with Jesus right now in Heaven. 

     One day, when I pass from this world, I will be reunited with my friends and family. That is not because of any good that I have done, that is because of what Jesus has done for me. 

     If you are in Christ, you do not need to fear death. Those who die are immediately in the presence of Jesus. The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 

     At the end of this age, Jesus will come again in power and great glory. The Bible tells us that all who are in Christ will at that time receive a glorified body like Jesus' glorified body. The Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth, and that is where those who are in Christ will dwell with Him for all eternity. 

     You can be freed from the fear of death, and you can have a new life for now and for eternity in Christ. Turn to Jesus in repentance and faith. Accept Him into your life as Savior and Lord. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     I need to ask your prayers for an important decision I have to make this week. I have the opportunity to get a new job. There are advantages and disadvantages about doing this. Pray that I will have wisdom from on high to make the decision that is in keeping with the will of the Lord for my life. 

     Remember to pray for those who still need aid in Morocco and Libya. Also, pray that New York will recover from the bad flooding. 

     Keep praying for peace. Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, and many other places, need our prayers for peace at this time. 

     Pray for an end to the fires in Canada.

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Kazakhstan and Brunei. Pray that many will come to know Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life.

     Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all.  

Verses For The Week

 II Corinthians 4:17-18 -- "For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Romans 8:18 -- "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us."

Weekend Sermon -- Jesus Is The Door of The Sheep

      Welcome to the Weekend Sermon. I am glad that you've taken the time to read the message, and I would like to thank the Lord for the opportunity to post the message today. 

     We are in a series of messages where we are examining the names and titles given to Jesus throughout the Scriptures. We are back in John chapter 10 today looking at the fact that Jesus Himself said, "I am the door of the sheep." This statement was made in the broader context of Jesus referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd. 

     One thing that I would like to point out is that the Gospel of John has as one of its main goals to point out that Jesus is divine. He is God come in the flesh. One of the ways that John demonstrates this is through what are called the "I Am" statements of Jesus given throughout the Gospel. These statements link Jesus with the I Am, God, who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush.

     When Jesus says that He is the door of the sheep, what does He mean? In the time in which Jesus was on this earth, shepherds played a great role in making sure that the sheep were secure from danger. At night, the sheep would be placed in a secure area. This could be made of stone, wood or some other material. Often, these enclosures would have an entrance, but there would not be an actual door or gate. The shepherd would often bring the sheep into the fold, and then he would bed down at night in the gateway and in essence act as the door of the sheepfold. 

     Jesus is the door of the sheepfold in the spiritual sense. First of all, He is the one who allows access into the sheepfold. Only those whom He allows admittance can get in. In the spiritual sense, those who put their faith and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord are allowed to go into the sheepfold of the Lord. 

     Once a person is inside the sheepfold, the Lord as the door protects the sheep inside from any type of danger. The Lord does not allow any spiritual harm to come to His sheep. In order to get to His sheep, they have to come through Him. The forces of evil do not have the power to overcome the divine power of Jesus Christ. Nothing can harm us while we are in the protection of the Lord Jesus. 

     I know that I am secure in Jesus because of statements such as this one. I don't have to worry that my salvation will be lost or that the power of the evil one will snatch me away from the Lord. Jesus won't allow it. He is the one who has the power to keep me safe in Him until the day that I meet Him face to face. When I am with Jesus in Heaven, I will be safe there too. Ultimately, the believer has nothing to fear since Jesus who is all powerful has all in control and we are the sheep in His sheepfold. 

    As the Good Shepherd, He leads us into good pasture. If we follow Him faithfully in this life, He will lead us along the path that we should go. Put your trust in Jesus today. Let Him be your security. Reside in His sheepfold where all is well and all will be well forever. Amen. 

 Prayer Requests

     I went to the doctor this week and didn't get the best report. I am on some new medications, and I am going to have to see a specialist. Please pray that I will improve. Also, we are having a lot of rain where I live, and the forecast is for bad storms tomorrow. Please pray that the rains will not be bad and the storms will not be bad.

     Please pray for those in Morocco and Libya who are recovering from natural disasters. Pray that the people will get the aid that they need.

     Continue to pray for an end to the wildfires in Canada.

     Pray for peace in Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and the other places in the world that are experiencing turmoil.

    For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Nepal and Chad. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, we will continue with our sermon series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 Ephesians 5:20 -- "Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Psalm 107:1 -- "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever."

Weekend Sermon -- Jesus Is The Wonderful Counselor

      It is once again time for the Weekend Sermon, and I thank the Lord for the opportunity to post this message. I hope that you are all doing well and have been having a good week. I have been feeling better. 

     Today, we are continuing in our series of messages on the names and titles of Jesus found in the Bible. For today's message, I want us to focus on a familiar title given to the Messiah, who is Jesus, found in Isaiah 9:6. Among the many titles given, one of them is Wonderful Counselor. Jesus truly is a the Wonderful Counselor. But, what does it mean that Jesus is the Counselor?  I believe that there are at least three ways that we can find meaning in this title. 

     The first way that I believe that we can see Jesus as the Counselor is that He is the one who through His life and ministry shows us and provides us with the way to eternal life. Peter said in John 6 that Jesus was the one who had the words of eternal life. If you want to know how to be forgiven of your sins and be freed from death, hell and the grave, you need to look to Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. Jesus said that whoever would come to Him, He would not cast them out. Jesus invites everyone to know Him and the life that He can give. 

     Now, I believe that there is another way that Jesus is Counselor that applies to believers and non-believers alike. While He was here on this earth, Jesus provided us with many beneficial instructions on how to live properly in this world. If everyone were to follow the counsel of Jesus, the world would be a much better place to live in. For instance, Jesus gave us the Golden Rule telling us in essence to treat others in the way that we would like to be treated. If we would remember to do this in our interactions with others, the world would be nicer. I work in retail right now, and I know that there are many people who treat retail workers like dirt. I'm sure that they would not want to be treated in that manner, so why do they treat others that way?

     We can also learn from the Wonderful Counselor through His teachings on non-violence. Jesus said that an eye for an eye was not the way to go anymore. He told us to love our enemies and to turn the other check. If the world would listen to Jesus' teachings on peace and non-violence, we would have so much less conflict in this world. 

     I will also add the Jesus the Wonderful Counselor gave us instructions on treating the poor and the least among us in the proper manner. If we would all follow His words and His will there would be much less poverty and suffering in this world. 

     Now, one last way that I would like to talk about Jesus being the Wonderful Counselor relates to how we as His followers can go to Him with all of our problems and receive comfort and help in our time of need. The Bible tells us to cast all of our cares on the Lord because He cares for us. He wants us to go to Him when we need help. He is the one that can provide us with the reality of His presence, and the Lord Jesus will give us the answers that we need when facing the challenges of life. I urge you to always go to Jesus with your cares, concerns, joys, sorrows and rejoicings. He also wants to hear from us and help us because He loves us so very much. 

     Jesus is truly a Wonderful Counselor. He has the words of life. His teachings can transform this world if people would listen to Him. He will always help those who seek Him out. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I have been feeling quite a bit better, but I am still having a few issues. I am going to the doctor on Monday, so please pray that all will go well. 

     Please pray for those experiencing tragedy in Libya and Morocco. Pray that these people will get the help that they need. 

     Continue to pray for those recovering from the storms in various parts of the world. 

     Remember to pray that the fires in Canada will be extinguished. 

     Pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan this week. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Qatar and Albania. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, we will continue with our current sermon series. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will have a book review for the first time in a long time this week. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 Psalm 100:2 -- "Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing."

I Peter 4:13 -- "but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation."

Weekend Sermon -- Jesus Is The Bread of Life

      Thank you for reading the sermon today. I am glad that you have taken the time to read the blog, and I hope that you are all having a very good week. 

     For several weeks now, we've been studying the names and titles of Jesus found throughout the Scriptures. In today's study, I want us to focus on a title that Jesus gave to Himself. In John 6:35 Jesus says, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty." 

     First off, let's look at the overall context surrounding this statement. There is one miracle of Jesus found in all four Gospels. That miracle is the feeding of the 5,000. In John 6, Jesus has performed this miracle. The multitude has been feed, and there is more left over for the disciples to gather up. Jesus has decided to go over to the other side of the lake, and the multitudes are following.  They wanted Jesus to declare Himself to be the king and do more great miracles. When Jesus told them what He had to say, it would result in many leaving and not following Him anymore. 

     Jesus said that He was and is the bread of life. He is the bread that has come down from Heaven. Jesus came into this world in order to be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He came to bring light and to bring salvation. He came to bring abundant life now, and eternal life with Him for all who believe. 

     No one can survive physically if they don't eat something. Some people go on hunger strikes or suffer from famines, and they live for awhile without anything or much to eat. However, after a time, if a person or animal doesn't eat they will perish. 

     Spiritually, the same principle applies. Without the life that comes from knowing Jesus residing within our spirit, we are dead in our trespasses and sins as the Bible declares. No one can be spiritually alive apart from a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 

     When a person places their faith and trust in Jesus, that person becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus. All the old has passed away, and everything becomes new. We have passed from death to life. We have moved out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His marvelous light. 

     When we come to Jesus and trust in Him as Savior and Lord an exchange takes place. Jesus removes our sins from us and He then imputes His righteousness to us. The Bible says that He who did not know sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

     In order to be alive spiritually, one must come to trust in the Lord Jesus. After we have placed our faith in Jesus and accepted Him as Lord, we are sustained by the presence of the Lord in our lives. We will be spiritually weak if we do not abide in Jesus and allow Him to provide us with His spiritual sustenance. 

     We allow the Lord Jesus to sustain us by doing His will and following Him. He sustains us by His presence through prayer and meditation. We also receive spiritual sustenance through the sacraments such as Holy Communion. 

     At the time of the Last Supper, Jesus took the bread and said this bread represents my body broken for you. This cup represents My blood shed for you. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are remembering what Jesus did for us when He sacrificed Himself upon the cross of Calvary. 

     Jesus would go on to say in John 6:53, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you." Jesus was saying that believing in Him and accepting Him was the only way of salvation. 

     The people did not like hearing what Jesus had to say. Many people stopped following Jesus. In fact, Jesus asked His inner circle of disciples if they wanted to leave Him too. In verse 68 Peter said, "To whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life." There is no eternal life apart from Jesus who is the Holy One of God.

     If you have not invited Jesus Christ into your life as Savior and Lord, I hope you will turn to the Bread of Life Jesus today. If you are a believer in Him, keep in communion with Him, and let Him sustain you and fill you with His love so that His love might flow through you into the lives of others. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Please continue to pray in regard to my health situation. I am recovering and doing better for which I thank the Lord. 

     Please pray for those in Morocco affected by the earthquake. Many have died and many need aid and help. Pray that the needs in that nation will be met. 

     Let us pray that the fires in Canada might be extinguished.

     Continue to remember to pray for peace. Let us focus our prayers for peace this week on peace in Sudan.

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for those in the nations of Eritrea and Vietnam. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.

     Next week, I will post the verses on Monday. We are done with the first part of the book on the Minor Prophets. I will be posting the second half of the book in a couple of months. We will continue with our current sermon series next week. May God bless you all. 

Exploring The Minor Prophets -- Part 9

 I am posting this final part of Volume 1 of Exploring the Minor Prophets Today. Volume II will appear in a couple of months. I will post the sermon tomorrow.

Micah

Part 2

     Now, there is something else that I want to bring up from the book of Micah. During Micah's time, some of the people were fasting, praying and going through religious rituals. However, their actions betrayed the fact that they did not really worship God with all of their hearts.

     In Micah 6, God through Micah told the people that all of their religious rituals were nothing if they were practicing injustice to the poor, the oppressed, the immigrant and the underprivileged. If their religion wasn't changing the way that they acted out in the world, then their religion was in vain. 

     In Micah 6:6, God told the people what He expected of them. He told them to, "do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God." Just as then, God expects us who would follow Jesus to do the same things.

     What does it mean to do justice? In the context of Micah, it means making sure that the less fortunate in society are not oppressed and taken advantage of by the privileged and the powerful. The Lord Jesus put it another way in Matthew 25. He told us to look after the least of those among us. Jesus said that if we have done it unto the least of these, we have done it unto Him. 

     As a follower of Jesus, we are obligated to speak up and work to end injustice. We are to speak out against unjust economic systems that oppress workers in their wages. We can read about this in James 5. We are to speak up and stand against racism and sexism. We are to work to end every form of economic injustice.

     I also believe that as followers of Jesus we need to stand for environmental justice. We must stand against the degradation of the planet that is occurring for greed and profit. 

     Micah also tells us that we need to love kindness. Paul in Ephesians says, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."

     The world would benefit greatly from people just being kind and nice to one another. Jesus told us to do unto others as we would have done to us. Kindness and goodness from Christians to one another and to the world at large would go a long way to making this world a better place. 

     We are also told to walk humbly with our God. This is the direct opposite of a prideful and self-seeking life. 

     If you want to know how to live a humble life that is pleasing to God, look to the example of the Lord Jesus. Jesus told us that He did not come to be served but to serve. One way that Jesus demonstrated His humility is by washing His disciples feet in the Upper Room. 

     Jesus demonstrated His humility when He gave up the glories of Heaven to come to this earth taking upon Himself the form of a servant. He humbled Himself and bore our sins in His body on the cross so that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

     As humble followers of the Lord, let us demonstrate our humility by putting Jesus first in our lives. Let us think about the needs of others before our own needs. Let us not think too highly of ourselves, but let us realize that all that we are or have is by the grace of God. 

Labor Day Memories With My Friend Toby

      Today is Labor Day here in the United States. I just wanted to share with you a few of the memories I had of this day when my friend Toby lived with me. 

     Everybody had the day off on Labor Day. Sometimes, we would go to the lake on Labor Day and go fishing. We did that less and less as the years went by. Mostly on Labor Day, we had a cook out in the backyard. It was always up to me and Toby to do the cooking. We usually grilled out steaks either T-bones or KC strips. We had a lot of fun, and Toby always got a some steak just like everybody else. 

     Usually around Labor Day, the weather starts to cool down a little, so it was time for the me and Toby to go out and play in the yard. We always liked hide and seek. When Toby was younger, we liked to have races that he always one in spite of his short legs. 

     Labor Day always marked the close of when me and Toby got to do whatever we wanted to do with out days. The day after Labor Day was the start of school or college classes where I lived. For the last three years of high school, I went to school at home due to some health problems. It was nice because we could be together. Even when I went to Bible college and college to get my history degree, I usually was back home in the afternoon. I always made sure that the two of us went outside and had some fun together. When I was working full-time as a writer, we were together. Toby never left my office while I was working on creative writing or writing for businesses. He didn't like for anyone to come into the room when I was working. 

      I miss Toby, my Mom, and my Dad. We all had a lot of fun together. Holidays aren't the same now that they are gone. I have to work today, and it's just as well. Labor Day is just another day now. One day we will all be together again. I hope that you all cherish the time you have with those you care about. 

Verses For The Week

 Matthew 7:18 -- "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit."

I Corinthians 10:31 -- "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Weekend Sermon -- Jesus Is The True Vine

      Thanks for taking the time to read the sermon this week. I am making a pretty good recovery so far from being ill, but I still need your prayers. I've been making it to work, but it has been hard. I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to post the message this week. 

     Over the course of the last several weeks, we've been looking at the various names and titles given to Jesus in the Old and New Testaments.  Today, we will be looking at the fact that Jesus is the true vine. We find this reference in John 15:1 that states, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." Verse 5 goes on to say, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing."

     John 15 is one of the great chapters of the Bible. It is part of a long discourse Jesus made called the Upper Room Discourse. This teaching was given after Jesus ate the Last Supper with His disciples. 

    The Gospel of John was written with the express purpose of showing the reader that Jesus was God come in the flesh. In order to demonstrate this, John does two things. First of all, he provides us with signs or miracles that demonstrate who Jesus is. John also gives us a series of "I am" statements that Jesus made equating Jesus with the "I Am" of the Old Testament. We see for instance that in John Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd," " I am the door," "I am the way, the truth and the life." etc. The statement that we are looking at today is one of these "I Am" statements. 

     Jesus says that He is the true vine. To me, this means a couple of different things. First of all, Jesus says He is the true vine. I believe that this is statement that Jesus is making to show that He is the only way for a person to have eternal life and an abundant life here on this earth. There is no other way to find life except through Him. We draw life through Him, or we do not have the life that is from above. 

     Jesus is the vine also means that for those who are in Christ, He is the source of strength. His life and strength flow through us in order that we might produce good fruit. We will not be productive in the Christian life unless we abide in the vine. We have to abide in Christ in order to fulfill the teachings and commandments of the Lord and to make a difference for time and eternity. 

     What does it mean to abide in the vine? I believe that it means that we spend time with Jesus. We need to read and study what He said and what He did. We need to keep our eyes and attention fixed on Jesus. We need to spend time with Jesus each day in prayer and meditation so that we will grow closer to Him and learn to be more like Him in all that we do. 

     When we are abiding in the vine, we are able to let the love of Jesus flow from us to others. In this way, we are able to tell others about the love and forgiveness offered to this world through the Lord Jesus. By letting Jesus' life flow through us, we are able to help the people of this world. We are able to do unto the least of those among us as if we are ministering to Jesus Himself. We can do nothing apart from Jesus. We have to abide in Him and let His life flow through us in order to make a difference in this world and to live a life of holiness that is pleasing to the Lord. 

     Jesus as the vine also has another meaning for me. It means that my life is in Christ. No matter what I might face in this world, I am His and He is mine. I am in Him. Jesus will always be with me and hold me secure by His love and by His power. I have nothing to fear as long as I abide in the vine and let Jesus' love flow into me. His life is my strength. 

     If you are a follower of Jesus, let His life and power flow through you in order to help others. If you do not know Jesus, turn to Him and receive His life and light today. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying that my health will improve. Thank you.

     Pray for those recovering from the fires in Maui.

     Let us pray that those recovering from storms and natural disasters around the world will get the aid that they need. 

     Let us pray that the many wildfires around the world might be extinguished. 

     Continue to pray for peace. Let us focus our prayers this week for peace in Ukraine. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Sierra Leone and Libya. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, I will have the verses posted on Monday. I will post the next part of the book midweek, and I will post the sermon on Saturday. May God bless you all.