Weekend Sermon -- Characteristics of Love -- Part 2

      Thank you for reading the message this week. This has been a very hot and stormy week where I live here in the middle of the US. I hope that you are all having a good week. I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to post these messages. 

     Last week, we began a new series of messages looking into what the Bible has to say about the importance of love and being a loving person. We are looking at what characteristics will be part of the life of a person living a life of love according to the Scriptures. 

     In the message last week, we saw that Jesus gave all of us who are His followers a new commandment. He told us to love one another. Love is what the Christian faith is all about because we follow the one who loved us so much that He came from Heaven to redeem us from our sins. 

     Today, I want us to focus on what I am calling the priorities of love according to Jesus. In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us that what the two greatest commandments are. He tells us that the greatest commandment is to the love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second commandment is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

     Let's start with the greatest commandment. Jesus tells us that in order to be the people of love that He has called us to be, we need to love God with all that we have within us. That means that all of our life is to be devoted to and direct toward knowing God and doing what He has called us to do in this world. We are to give all we have within us to serve God and to draw closer to Him each and every day. Part of this manifests itself in being obedient to the commandments given to us by the Lord Jesus. 

     When we love God, we will also love our neighbor. Jesus illustrated this type of love by giving us the parable of the Good Samaritan. We are to love everyone in this world. Everyone is our neighbor. 

     Loving our neighbor as ourselves means following the Golden Rule given to us by the Lord. Jesus told us to do unto others as we would have done to us. We should treat other people the same way that we would like to be treated. We should help others and seek the best for others as we are enabled and strengthened by the Lord Jesus. 

     Being a person who loves others the way that Jesus intended means loving our enemies and even doing good to those who aren't always very nice to us. I know that this is a very difficult thing to do. However, I believe that if we make the attempt to be a person of love in the world, the Lord Jesus will give us the help that we need to do it. Even if we are rejected, the Lord Jesus knows that we tried to reach out in love to a hurting world. 

     The greatest way that we can demonstrate love for our neighbors is to share with them the good news of Jesus' love. When we tell others about Jesus, we are telling them how they can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the presence of the Lord Jesus forever. That is the greatest gift that one person can ever give to another person. Amen. 

     Prayer Requests

     Please keeping praying that I will feel better. I am trying to do the best I can. I need the Lord's help every day. 

     Pray for an end to the mpox outbreak. 

    Let us keep praying for peace. Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Sudan all need our prayers. I heard on the news this week that there is a lot of conflict in Colombia right now. Let us pray for peace in that country. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of India and Vietnam. 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

 Luke 9:23 -- "Then He said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.'"

Luke 14:33 -- "So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.""

Weekend Sermon -- Characteristics of Love -- Part 1

      Thank you for once again taking the time to read the sermon for this week. I hope you are all well. I have been feeling better. 

      Last week, we finished our study of the book of II Thessalonians. That means that it is time for us to start on something new for the sermons. For the next several weeks, we will be focusing on what the Bible has to say about the characteristics of love. The Bible is quite explicit in telling us that God is love and that those who live in love live in God. God in His love for us sent His Son to die on the cross to redeem us from our sins. 

     Over the course of this series of messages, I want us to look at what are some of the behaviors that are associated with being a truly loving person. I want us to look at what love is really all about as far as the Scriptures are concerned. 

     In today's message, I want us to start off by looking into the words that Jesus told us about love. Jesus gave those of us who are His followers a new commandment. We find this recorded in John 13:34-35 and in John 15:12-13 that states, "My commandment is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."

     We are told that in order to be true followers of Jesus, we have to love one another. In essence, love is what the Christian religion is all about. That is due to the fact that Jesus was the man of love. Everything that He did was motivated by the great love that He had for us. He loved us so much that He was willing to lay down His life for us. He was willing to come and humble Himself and suffer the humiliation of the cross in order that those whom He loved might have a place with Him forever in Heaven. 

     In the book of I John chapter 4, we are told that we abide in God when we abide in love. We cannot say that we are a true follower of God if we do not have love within our hearts. 

     Anytime that we as followers of Jesus do not act in a loving manner, we are not following the commandment that Jesus gave to us. By acting in an unloving manner, we can do great harm to the cause of Christ. Right now, in my country, I believe that one of the reasons that so many people are leaving the church and don't want to have anything to do with the Christian faith is due to the fact that many have seen professing Christians acting in a hateful and spiteful manner towards others instead of loving and reaching out in love to others as Jesus has told us to do. A lot of this has to do with politics.

      It is clear that Jesus was all about love and loving others. What I want to do in the weeks to come is to look at places in the Bible that tell us what true love looks like. What is involved in being a truly loving person? If we are truly a person of love how does that manifest itself in our lives? We will find the answers to these questions by looking at the actions and words of Jesus and by examining the Bible's great chapter on love found in I Corinthians 13.

     All of us need to start by recognizing that in order to truly follow Jesus, we have to be willing to follow the commandment that He has given us to love others. That means loving everyone. When we realize that we must love others we will be on the road to becoming more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I have been feeling some better, and I thank the Lord for this. Please keep praying for me that I will keep doing well. Thank you. 

     Please pray for an end to the mpox outbreak. Also, there is a summer covid surge taking place in parts of my country. Pray that this will come to an end as well. 

     Keep praying for peace. Pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Pray for the release of the hostages and for peace in Israel and Gaza. Pray that a wider war will not take place in the Middle East. 

     Let us keep praying that those affected by the hurricanes will receive the help and the aid that they need to recover. 

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

     Next week, we will go deeper into our series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

      I am sorry that the verses are delayed.

John 13:34 -- "A new command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

Galatians 6:2 -- "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Weekend Sermon -- II Thessalonians -- Conclusion

      Thank you for once again taking the time to read the sermon for the week. I pray that everyone has had a good week so far. 

     Over the past couple of months, we've studied the book of II Thessalonians. In our message for today, we will be concluding that study. It is my hope and prayer that you have learned something from this study, and that you have grown closer to the Lord during the study of this epistle. We will be starting a new study next week. 

     For today, I want us to focus on one last verse from chapter 3. Chapter 3 verse 16 states, "Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you."

     First of all, Paul calls the Lord Jesus the Lord of peace. He is peace in and of itself. In the person of Jesus Christ all is peace in every way. Because He is the very personification of peace, He is able to provide us with peace in a multitude of different ways. 

     The first way that Jesus gives us His peace that comes to my mind is that Jesus has provided peace between us and the Father in Heaven. Because of our sins, the Bible says that we were at enmity with God. We were fighting against God and alienated from God because we wanted to go our own way, and we did not want to follow the path of righteousness ordained by God. Because of our sin, we were under judgment. However, Jesus came in order to reconcile God with humans. He accomplished this by sacrificing Himself on the cross. He took our sins upon Himself, and He took for us that punishment that we deserved for our sins. 

     Since Jesus has provided atonement for sins, those who are in Him have been reconciled to God. We are not in rebellion against God any longer. We have ended our rebellion against God by accepting Jesus as the Lord of our lives. 

     Jesus also gives us His peace as we make our way through this life. He does this I believe in two ways. First of all, He provides peace because He has given us a promise. Jesus has told us that if we believe in Him and trust in Him, we will go to be with Him forever in the place that He has prepared for those who love Him. We don't have to worry about what this life brings nor do we have to worry about what happens at the end of life. We will be with Jesus.

     Jesus gives us peace during the struggles of our lives because He is always with us. He never leaves us and He never forsakes us. When facing hardship, we can meditate on His unfailing love that resides in the very center of our being. His peaceful presence will help us through the various storms that this life can bring to us. 

     Finally, Jesus gives us peace through His teachings. This world is filled with war, strife, and turmoil. However, it doesn't have to be this way. If people would follow the teachings of Jesus, peace would come. Jesus taught us to do unto others as we would have done to us. He told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He told us to turn the other check, love our enemies and go the extra mile. Following Jesus would make the world so much more peaceful and good. 

     This we know. Perfect peace will come throughout the entire universe when Jesus returns. Nation will no longer rise against nation. Swords will be beaten into ploughshares. Everything will return to the Edenic state. 

     II Thessalonians has taught us among other things that Jesus is coming. You can be ready to meet the Lord by turning your life over to Him. Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. Make Him the Lord of your life, and follow Him wherever He leads. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Please pray for me in regard to a financial matter. A company that I am dealing with is trying to get money from me that I do not owe. Please pray that this will be resolved. Also, I believe that the Lord is calling me to do something new in ministry. Please pray for me as I try to discern His will in this matter. Thank you.

     Keep praying for those affected by the natural disasters around the world. Pray that people will get the aid that they need. 

     Pray for an end to the mpox outbreak in Africa. 

     Let us all keep praying for peace. Pray for peace in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Sudan and wherever war is at hand. Pray that humanitarian relief will reach Sudan. 

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

     Next week I will start a new series of messages. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 Proverbs 22:9 -- "The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor."

John 15:12 -- "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Weekend Sermon -- II Thessalonians 3:10

      I am sorry that the sermon is delayed this week. I hope that all of you are doing well. I've been having a very busy week. 

     We have this week and next in our sermon series on II Thessalonians. Today, I want to go back and cover one verse in particular that was part of our passage last week. The reason for this is that this verse is often misapplied and used by some ministers and politicians to say something that Paul is not trying to say at all in this specific verse. 

     In II Thessalonians 3:10 Paul writes, "For even when we were with you we gave the rule, the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." This verse was written to a specific set of believers, and Paul was trying to correct a specific problem dealing with a misinterpretation about the return of Jesus. 

     If you recall, I went through a series of messages a couple of years ago about verses in the Bible that are misinterpreted. This is one of the verses I dealt with in that series. I have heard many preachers over the years use this verse in a way that it was never intended. 

     When I was much younger that I am now, my folks and I attended a fundamentalist church. At that time, I started trying to help improve the homelessness situation in my area. There was a great organization in the area that I was working with. I wanted the church to become involved in helping with that ministry. However, the pastor of the church brought up this verse. If those homeless people weren't working, they shouldn't be given anything to eat. 

     Over the years, I've heard ministers and right-wing politicians use this verse to justify cutting social welfare programs and cease the giving of assistance to those in poverty or facing difficult circumstances. It seems to be a go to verse when someone doesn't want to help a poor person.

     Let me say this. Paul was speaking in this verse about those who had stopped working because they thought Jesus was coming right away. Paul wanted the people to get back to doing what they needed to do in their everyday lives because Paul knew, and Jesus said it as well, no one knows the day nor the hour when Jesus will return. Paul also gave this admonition to those who were ministering with him. He wanted those in ministry with him to work in order to support themselves and not take money from the people. 

     I believe that the Bible is clear. A person should try to support themselves to the extent that they possible can. However, there are a lot of people that can't work and even if they are working, they can't always get enough to cover their basic needs. Of course, there are many children who can't get enough to eat and that's why I thank God that here where I live more schools are providing free breakfast and lunch for the kids. 

    This verse does not have anything to do with programs to aid the poor or help people who are in need. There are a lot of reasons that a person might need help. Jesus told us that our job as believers was to help the least among us. We are to help the poor as we are enabled by the Lord. 

     Jesus didn't ask who was working when He fed the five thousand. Jesus, John and James all tell us in the New Testament to be of aid and service to others. 

     There are some people who will take advantage of people's goodwill. That is not an excuse not to help people who are doing the best that they can to make it in this world. Always try to remember when you see someone who is going to the food pantry or who is using food aid, there but for the grace of God go I. You never know when you might need help, and at that time, you will be grateful that programs exist to help. I know this firsthand. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     I have been doing better with my health. I thank the Lord for this. 

     Please pray for those affected by the storms here in the US. Continue to pray for those recovering from the Beryl.

     The wildfires in Canada and California are very bad. Pray that they might be extinguished. 

     Keep praying for peace. Pray for peace in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Sudan this week. 

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

     Next week, we will conclude our study of II Thessalonians. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

  II Timothy 1:9 -- "He saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything that we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time."

John 1:16 -- "Out of His fulness we have all received grace in place of grace already given."

Weekend Sermon -- II Thessalonians 3:6-14

      Thanks for taking the time to read the message. I hope that everyone is doing well. I am thankful that the bad storms in the Midwest didn't come where I live, but those who were affected need our prayers. 

     We are coming close to the end of our study of II Thessalonians. After today's message, I will have two more messages on this epistle before we finish up. In our passage today, I want to focus on the two themes that Paul is addressing. Next week, I want to come back and focus on one verse in particular from this passage that is very much misinterpreted and misapplied. 

     As we have seen through our study thus far, Paul has been addressing the theme of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He is attempting to answer the questions and the misunderstandings that the believers at Thessalonica had surrounding this topic. 

     In our passage for today, Paul is addressing the apparent problem of people waiting for Jesus to come and being idle and not working. They were just waiting for Jesus to come at any minute, so they stopped engaging in the other parts of life. 

     Paul tells the people to stop being idle. No one knows exactly when Jesus is going to return. As we eagerly await the return of the Lord, we need to live our lives for the glory of the Lord in all aspects. That means that we need to work and earn a living. It means that we need to be out engaged with the world showing forth in everything that we do that Jesus is the Lord of our lives. 

     While Paul is mainly addressing idleness by not working and earning a living, I also want to focus on the fact that while we wait for the Lord Jesus to return, we don't want to be spiritually idle. As Jesus told us, we don't want to be like the servant who wasn't doing his master's business when the master returned from a long journey. We don't want to be ashamed at the coming of the Lord Jesus. 

     There are at least two ways that we can do this. First of all, we need to focus on finding ways to tell others about Jesus. We need to find some way that we can be about fulfilling the Great Commission. Make it your goal to find some way to tell others that Jesus loves them and wants them to come to Him to find life. Also, we need to honor the Lord Jesus in the way that we live our lives. We need to put Him first in all that we do. Everything we do needs to be done for the honor and glory of the Lord as we wait for Him to come again and restore all things. 

    Now, Paul also speaks about something in this passage that I would like to address. He made it clear that he and his associates did not take anything while they were ministering among the people. They even paid for their own food. Paul did not want it to look as if he was in it for the money so to speak. Now, Paul made it clear that it was alright for a minister to be paid. But, it's not about the money. 

     We have so many ministers and churches that have turned people away from Jesus because of money and things and riches. So many are turned off when ministers live extravagant lifestyles and ask for more and more money. It is not right. Those in the ministry should live modest lives for the honor and glory of the Lord. They must be examples of laying up treasure in Heaven and not laying up treasure on earth. 

     Let each of us live lives that honor the Lord while we wait for His return. Let us all find ways to serve Him and do good. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I have been having a spell of poor health again. I am supposed to go to the doctor next week. Please keep praying for me. Thank you. 

     Pray that all will be safe at the Olympics.

     Pray for the safety of the candidates as they campaign here in the US.

     Please remember to pray for those affected by the bad storms. The states of Kansas and Nebraska were hit hard by storms this last week. There are also many still recovering from Beryl.

     Let us keep praying for peace. We need to pray for peace in the Middle East. The situation there is precarious right now. Also remember to pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Afghanistan and Mali. 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. May God bless you all.