Weekend Sermon

      For today's message, I am reposting a message from a couple of years ago. Starting next week, we will begin a new series of messages. At the end of the sermon, you will find prayer requests that are updated for this week. I am thankful for all of your prayers. The storms in my area have not caused damage where I live. Please pray about the situation over the next couple of days that there won't be any trouble with this new batch of storms that are forecasted. 

Sermon:

Today, I want to share with you why Hebrews 13:8 is one of the most meaningful verses in the Bible to me. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." It is a short verse packed with a lot of meaning. 

     The main reason why this verse is so important to me is that it reminds me of the fact that I can always count on Jesus being just as He was in the Bible, and I can always count on Him to keep His promises. He did in the past, and He will keep on doing it. Let's look at this a little deeper.

     In the Gospels, we are presented with a picture of Jesus who always acts with compassion and mercy. On several different occasions, the Bible tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion. He felt compassion on those who were sick and on those who were hungry. He had compassion for those who were being led astray by the religious leaders of His day. Jesus cared about people, and He went about doing good and helping as many people as He could. 

     Since Jesus was that way while He was on this earth, I know according to Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus is that way now and will be in the future. He still is compassionate, caring and merciful. He cares that people are hurting in this world, and He wants those of us who claim to follow Him to do all that we can to help people and to make this world a better place. Jesus wants us to work for peace and for the alleviation of suffering. 

     Jesus also cared about the fact that people needed salvation and forgiveness of sins. And He certainly still does. That is why He gave His followers the Great Commission that tells us to go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Jesus forgave people while He was on earth. He even did it while He was on the cross. Jesus wants us now and in the future to share His message of love and forgiveness so that they can know Him and the peace and love that He will bring to their lives. 

     Hebrews 13:8 speaks to me because it lets me know that I can trust Jesus into the future. Jesus said that He would not cast out anyone who would come to Him. He said that He would give new life and and an abundant life to those who would trust in Him. I have put my faith and trust in Jesus believing that since I have come to Him, He has forgiven me and saved me from my sins. 

     Jesus said that He would not leave us. Hebrews 13:8 helps me to hold on that promise. Jesus was trustworthy in the past, so I can trust Him now to be with me in every circumstance that I face. He will not forsake me. 

     Jesus told us clearly that He has gone to prepare a place for us so that we would be with Him forever. I am counting on this. I believe that my family and friends are with Jesus in Heaven right now. One day, I will be with Him. I can count on Him keeping His word because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

     Jesus also told us that He would come to this earth one day and establish His eternal kingdom. We can have confidence that this will happen just as He said because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Please pray that I will get to feeling better. I am still having health issues. 

     Pray for the people in Papua New Guinea. Pray that they will get the help needed. There was a terrible mudslide in that country. 

     Please pray for those affected by the storms here in the US. Pray that they will get the help that is necessary. 

     Continue to pray for peace in the world. Pray especially for Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Sudan this week. 

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

     Next week, we begin a new sermon series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 I John 2:28-- "And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him and His coming."

I Peter 4:8 -- "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins."

The Weekend Sermon -- God Is Love

      Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon. Thank you for your prayers the last few weeks. The storms that have ravaged my part of the country have not hit exactly where I live. However, there have been many who have had significant damage close by, and there has been lose of life. I would ask that you be in prayer again over the next couple of days. The forecast for my area for tomorrow is for really bad storms. Pray that these are not bad and that there is no damage nor lose of life. Thank you for your prayers. 

     With today's message, we will be bringing to a close our series on some of the names and titles of God. For the most part, we have concentrated our attention on the names and titles for God found in the Old Testament. Today, I want us to focus on the fact that in the New Testament we see that God is love. We know that God loves, but it goes farther than that. God is love. 

     The primary place where we see this language used for God is in the epistle of I John. I John 4:16 says, "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." Early in verses 7-8 we read, "Beloved let us love one another for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

     Love is at the very core of God's nature. But what does it mean that God is love? True love seeks what is best for the other. It is more than just a feeling. Love seeks what is best. And that is what God is all about. He is always seeking what is best for us and for all that He has made because He is love. 

     There are many ways that God has demonstrated His love for us. He has given us all things that pertain unto life and Godliness we read in the Bible. This means the the Lord is providing for us and leading us in the path that He knows will bring us ultimate fulfillment and happiness. 

     When we sinned against God and rebelled against His rule in our lives and in the world, that didn't stop God from loving us, because God is love. He demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son the Lord Jesus into this world to provide the way of redemption. Jesus died in our place bearing our sins in His body on the cross to demonstrate to us how much God loves us and the lengths to which God is willing to go in order to bring about the ultimate good for all that He has made. 

     Jesus is the greatest example to us of the love of God. Jesus shows us the love of the Father. He did this by healing the sick, helping those that were hurting and by redeeming the lost. He showed us how to live in this world in a manner pleasing to God that would bring about the best for all people everywhere throughout all time. 

     Now, since we know and have seen that God is love, what are we to do? We are to love just as God loved. We are to seek the best for the other. To me, that means at least two things. First of all, it is always that best that people come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. So, we need to obey the Great Commission and tell others about the Lord Jesus. Second, we need to be helping people to have a good life hear and now. We need to help others to have the best lives that they can this side of Heaven just like Jesus did when He was here on this earth. 

     Love is what our faith is all about, because we serve a God who is love. Whatever is not done in love is not from God. God is love, so we as His followers must be the people of love. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Once again, please pray that the storms won't be bad. 

     Please pray for those trying to recover from all the storms. Pray for those in Iowa who are trying to get their lives back together. 

     Let us keep praying for peace in the world. Pray for peace in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. Pray that the new peace keeping effort in Haiti will be a success. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Suriname and Mauritius. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, I am going to post an older sermon. Starting the week after that, we will be starting a new series of messages. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 Colossians 3:4 -- "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

II Corinthians 5:17 -- "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come."

Weekend Sermon -- The Lord Our Righteousness

      Thank you for reading the sermon. I have been posting the messages on Saturday's for the last couple of weeks due to having to work on Fridays. I hope to get back to Friday posting next week. Also, I said last week that I was going to have just one more message in the names and titles of God series. However, after thinking things over, I will have a couple of more messages in the series after this week. 

     Today, we are going to focus on a name and title for God that is found first in the Old Testament, but it finds its full and ultimate expression in the person and work of the God-man Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  In Jeremiah 23:6 we read, "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is His name whereby He will be called, The Lord Our Righteousness."

     This verse tells us that the Lord will see to it that His people will be safe from their enemies. It also makes it plain that the Lord is the righteous one, and He is the one who will make His people righteous. This verse in Jeremiah is a prophecy.  It is telling the people to whom it was written what is going to happen at a future date. In reality it is a prophetic word about the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

     The Bible makes it very clear that people are sinners and they cannot do a single thing to save themselves. We are saved by grace through faith and not by works. The sins of humanity have caused the entire created order to fall away from the perfect plan that God had at the beginning of creation. 

     The Bible also makes it clear that God desires all people everywhere to be saved. He desires that all of creation be restored to its original state. God is holy and cannot look upon people's sinfulness, so there had to be an atonement that could satisfy the holiness, justice, love and mercy of God all at the same time. 

     The answer was in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who came and took upon Himself humanity. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a holy and sinless life allowing Him to be the spotless lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. I Peter 2:24 tells us that Jesus died for us and bore our sins in His body on the cross. He took our sins upon Himself as the once and for all sacrifice for sins. 

     On the cross, Jesus dealt with sin itself. Through His bodily resurrection from the grave, Jesus dealt with the consequences of sin. He defeated death, hell and the grave. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father serving as our Advocate and Great High Priest. 

     So, what does this all mean in regard to the Lord being our righteousness. II Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of  God." Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And we read in I Corinthians 1:30, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

     What this means is this. When we come to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord and confess our sins, a great exchange takes place. Jesus takes our sins from us, and in place of our sins, He imputes to us His righteousness.  We are justified, declared righteous, based on the righteousness of Christ. God does not see us as sinful, He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His dearly beloved Son. The Lord is our righteousness. 

     We are made righteous by the Lord Jesus. We cannot make ourselves righteous and we cannot redeem ourselves. All we have is by His grace. Jesus freely offers His salvation and redemption to all who will turn to Him in repentance and faith. You can be made new by the Lord our righteousness. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Thank you for your prayers over the last few weeks. I am feeling quite a bit better. Also, we haven't had any really bad storms. Keep praying for the Lord to guide me in my life. Thank you. 

     Please pray for all of those who have been harmed by the terrible storms in the US. Pray that they will get the help that they need. 

     Continue to pray for peace. Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Libya, Syria and Yemen are just a few of the places that need our prayers for peace. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week let us pray for those in Syria and Tajikistan. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     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

  I Corinthians 16:14 -- "Let all that you do be done in love."

I John 4:19 -- "We love because He first loved us."

Weekend Sermon -- The God Who Heals

      Thank you for reading the message this week. I want to thank everyone for their prayers. We had bad storms in my area, but we did not have anything really bad. I thank the Lord for this. I hope and pray that you are all doing well. 

     This week, and next week, we will be finishing up our series on the names and titles for God that we see primarily in the Old Testament but also used in the New Testament.  Today, we want to focus on the fact that God is called the God who heals. 

    We first see God revealed as the God who heals in Exodus 15. The people of Israel had just come out of Egypt. They were looking for enough water to drink to sustain them. They did find some water, but the water was so bitter that they were not able to drink it. God performed a miracle and made the water so that the people could drink it and quench their thirst. In verse 26 the Lord says, "I am the Lord who heals you."

     We see the healing power of God throughout the Old Testament. There are two instances of healing that I think of right off. First, we see that Naaman was healed from leprosy when he followed the command to wash in the Jordan river. King Hezekiah was healed and granted several more years on the throne when he asked the Lord for healing. 

     The healing from the Lord is most prominent in the New Testament when we see the healing ministry of the Lord Jesus. He healed many people. He healed the lepers, restored the sight of the blind, made the lame to walk again, and healed many, many more people of all kinds of diseases and ailments. Jesus as God come in the flesh was the embodiment of the God who heals. 

     Just as the Lord healed people while He was here on this earth, I believe that the Lord heals people today. I know that I have experienced the healing power of the Lord in a very specific way. I had a condition called vitiligo. The doctors were able to do nothing for me. I prayed and asked the Lord to heal me, and my vitiligo was completely healed. I give the Lord all the glory and praise for this. 

     I believe that we should always go to the Lord and ask for healing when we are sick or are in pain. I don't believe that this should be done to the exclusion of seeking medical assistance. God uses doctors and healthcare professionals to help us out and make things better for us. 

     I know that the Lord does not always see fit to bring healing for the body. I don't know why this is. There have been times when I prayed for people and they were healed. At other times, people had to wait for their healing when they went to be with the Lord. This I do know, God does have the power to heal.

    The God who heals brings healing in other ways. He is our spiritual healer. Jesus is the Great Physician was heals our sin sick souls by taking away our sins and providing His righteousness to us. He allows us to once again have peace with God. 

     God is also the God who heals when it comes to the healing of the hurts of life. I know that there have been plenty of instances in my life when life has really knocked me down. At these times, I have felt the peaceful presence of the Lord Jesus who provides me with the strength to keep carrying on. 

     We serve a God who heals. One day, He will bring healing and complete restoration to all of the created order. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I have been having some lung troubles lately. Please pray that the God who heals will bring healing to this area of my life. Also, we are supposed to have more storms this week. Please pray that they won't bring a lot of problems. Thank you. 

     Continue to pray for peace in the world. Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and Yemen all need our prayers. 

     Pray for those recovering from all of the tornadic storms. There have been a lot of tornadoes and a lot of damage this year. Pray that people will receive the aid that they need. 

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

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

A Good Day

     Today is my friend Toby's birthday. In Welsh, happy birthday is penblwydd hapus. So penblwydd hapus my friend. I thank the Lord that He gave me my great friend Toby. 

Prayer Request

     Please pray that the bad storms predicted for the Midwest today and tonight don't materialize. Please pray we don't get bad winds and flooding. Thank you. 

Verses For The Week

 II Thessalonians 3:3 -- "But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one."

Psalm 119:114 -- "You are my refuge and shield; I have put my hope in Your word."

Weekend Sermon -- God Is Peace

      Thanks for reading the sermon this week. This week has been terrible in regard to the weather in my area. There have been tornadoes everywhere. One person was killed in a tornado just northwest of where I live. My house was not hit by any terrible storms, but we've had a lot of rain. Some water did get in my garage, but not too bad. There are more storms called for this week. Please keep praying that all of this terrible weather will come to an end soon. 

     We are studying the names and titles for God found in the Bible as I am sure you are aware. With all that is going on in the world, it is comforting to me to know that God is called the God of peace in the Bible. He is called YHWH Shalom in Judges 6:24 by Gideon. Gideon was the man that God chose to help deliver the people when they were being oppressed. 

     While this is the only place in the Bible that God is referred to with this specific language, the idea of God being our peace and God bringing peace are found throughout the Scriptures. One of the verses that tells us about this is found in Psalm 4:8 that reads, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety."  I Thessalonians 5:23 refers to God as the God of peace.

     In the New Testament, Jesus who is God come in the flesh is referred to as the Lord of peace. We see this in II Thessalonians 3:16 that states, "Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always and in every way." 

     As always, we want to examine in what way these names and titles for God apply to us now. How is God a God of peace, and how is the Lord our peace in particular?

     God is a God of peace because He does not want conflict and strife to exist between people and nations. It is not God's desire that there be strife and division in the world. These things are a result of sinfulness and the greed of people seeking to take and to posses what belongs to others. When the Lord comes again to rule and reign in righteousness upon this earth, the Bible tells us that nations will study war no more. The swords will be beaten into ploughshares and the spears will be turned into pruning hooks. Each person will dwell in their own place, and no one will make them afraid. God's will and way outlined in the Bible will bring peace between nations and within our interpersonal relationships. 

     The New Testament is clear that Jesus has allowed us to have peace with God. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." We were the enemies of God before we came to know Jesus. We had rebelled against God and His ways. However, when we come to Jesus and trust in what He has done for us through His death and resurrection, we have been made right with God through Jesus. We are no longer in rebellion to God. We have come home to the Father and we are the sons and daughters of God. 

     When we know Jesus as Savior and Lord, He is our peace. In John 14:27, Jesus leaves His peace with us. Because of this we do not have to be troubled, and we do not have to be afraid. There are a lot of bad things and scary things that happen in this world. Through all of the hard times of life, Jesus is there with us giving us His peace and the assurance of His presence. We know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And we know that He has prepared a place for us in Heaven so that ultimately all will be well. 

    Knowing that we serve the God who is peace, what should we do? Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that the peacemakers are blessed. We as His followers are to be peacemakers in the world. We can accomplish this by telling others about His love so that they can have spiritual peace. We can also work in the world to spread the value system of Jesus so that nations in conflict can know peace through following His teachings. More Christians need to take an active part in working to bring peace in the troubled areas of our world. 

    Jesus is our peace. If you don't know the peace that Jesus brings, I hope that you will let Him into your heart today. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying that the storms around here won't be bad. Pray for those who were harmed by the storms that they will get the help that they need. Pray for others around the world that may be facing harm from natural disasters that all will be well for them. 

     Keep praying for peace. Ukraine, Sudan, Israel, Gaza, Syria, Yemen and the entire Middle East area need our prayers. 

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

    Next week, we will continue with our current series. I have two or three more messages on this series, and then we are moving on to something else. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all.