Preparing Our Hearts for Worship
September 7, 2008
Psalm 34
Obedience is the highest form of worship. However, we will not offer our lives as living sacrifices if we have not first lifted Christ up in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. Worship must be practiced 7 days a week or it won’t be practiced on Sunday. You can not truly worship the Lord without knowing Him. If we love Him we keep His commandments. The fear of the Lord is learned as we faithfully strive to keep His commandments. When we seek to honor Christ He is totally for us. If we do our “own thing” He will be totally against us.
I. Exalting Christ must be in our hearts during the week or it won’t be on Sunday (1-3)
II. There is a difference in a man who knows the Lord and one who talks about Him on Sunday (4-10)
III. The Fear of the Lord is something that we must learn (11-14)
IV. The Lord will either be totally for you or totally against you (15-22)
Depending on God for Our Provision
September 1, 2008
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Today we often do God’s work in the church without really giving any thought to God. We do the same thing in our personal lives. God has plenty of money, meaning He doesn’t need our money, and is more than able to provide ample provision for our needs. Although God does not need our money He demands that we honor Him with it. Giving is our testimony to the world that we believe God is faithful. “God loves a cheerful giver.” The church must return to trusting God for our provision and not our own means. He has, does, and always will provide for those whose heart is loyal to Him. Amen!
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Giving should not be a testimony to what we have but of what we think of Christ (1-5)
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We reap what we sow (6-7)
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Christ multiplies little to provide bountifully when we seek His glory (8-15)
Walking on Water
August 25, 2008
Matthew 14:22-33
We all want God to work through our lives and do mighty things. There are two qualities that a man must have before God will do what we as humans call great things. These two qualities are connected like Siamese twins: one is brokenness; the second is an unwavering belief in God’s faithfulness. Jesus often sends His most devoted disciples into a storm in which they get wet. It is there that we learn about the provision of God. It is there that our faith is stretched and tested. If we fall in the water it is alright. The storm’s purpose is to prove God’s faithfulness, not our own.
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If Christ sends us into a storm it is only because He wants to reveal Himself in it (22-24)
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If it seems God id dead it does not mean that He is (25-27)
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Its better to be a wet water walker than a dry boat talker (28-33)
I Can’t Believe this is Happening
August 17, 2008
Selected Scripture
All of my life pastors have heralded the message of Christ’s return. Like the story of the boy who cried wolf, the message has lost its affect on hearers. Te Bible specifically speaks of certain things that will precede the Lord’s return. I do not know when Christ’s return will be but it seems the events in Russia and Iran are corresponding with Ezekiel 38 and 39. Many Scholars believe Ezekiel’s War will precede the tribulation. I do not personally believe this is that war simply that the foundation is being laid for that war in the coming years. There are many views about the end times. The masses embrace pre-tribulationalism, which I believe is wrong. Many foolishly dismiss anyone who does not embrace this view as an ignorant novice of end times study. Scripture is not definitive enough about the rapture to be dogmatic about any view. If the pre-trib View is right then it is pointless for believers to study eschatology. It makes you wonder why Jesus had so much to say about the end time events. Perhaps the answer is that we are going to go through the first half of the tribulation. It has been said that more people are alive today than in all of the ages past combined. Now it all makes sense. I am not asking you to embrace a mid-trib. View, only to consider it so that if the events begin to unfold this way, you won’t feel abandoned by God. You won’t say, “I can’t believe this is happening.”
1. We have to be blind not to see the approaching return of Christ
2. Russia and Iran will invade Israel prior to the rapture
3. Be prepared for a rapture that takes place in the middle of the tribulation.
The Power to Heal a Broken World
August 9, 2008
All around us we see people that are broken every day. Jesus gave us the command to "Love your neighbor as yourself." Many people have given up hope of ever having a life again. They look to the church today for a mere handout when what they need is a relationship with the Provider. Churches often look at what little they have to offer a broken world and consequently offer nothing. Christians seem amazed when God does something out of the ordinary. The early church had no silver or gold but they were able to say rise up and walk. When we reach to help the broken having faith in God to back us up, He will honor that if our motive is His honor and not our glory.
(Acts 3:1-12)
The Humility that only Christ Defines
August 4, 2008
Many view feetwashing as an archaic ritual espoused by only the most primitive people who call themselves Christians. It is intended to be a humiliating experience. God can not use us until we realize that He is and that within and of ourselves w can do nothing. Feetwashing reminds us of the voluntary submission of Jesus to te will of the Father, that is the incarnation. It reminds us that we have nothing that we did not receive. As believers we must never argue among ourselves as to who is the greatest. That position is reserved for Jesus Christ alone. (John 13:1-17)I. Feetwashing is Jesus way of reminding us that He is God and not just an inspiring leader (1)II. Jesus washed His greatest enemies feet that we may understand the true meaning of Grace (2-5)III. Obedience often precedes understanding when we follow Christ (6-11)IV. To overtly disobey Jesus is to presume to know more than He does (12-17)
The Church that Defines Our Age
July 20, 2008
- Jesus finds our churches nauseating because we glory in everything but Him
- Considering yourself rich on any other basis than Jesus Christ results in spiritual blindness
- Jesus Christ is knocking on our door if we will simply slow down so that we can hear Him
Who Needs Crutches
March 2, 2008
- Everything going wrong may be the result of doing everything right
- Spiritual crutches are nothing less than idols
- The removal of our crutches will be a painful process
- We don’t need crutches where God is going
Facing Our Giants
February 24, 2008
(1 Samuel 17)
- God does not consider outward appearance when choosing His Champions.
- Giants invade every inch of our lives until we are driven from the field of battle
- The anointing of God enables us to see beyond the externals and illuminates defiance of God for what it is
- When Confronting Giants expect Criticism
- The purpose of the battle is that all the world may know that there is a God in _____________
Thirsting After God
February 17, 2008
(Psalm 42)
- Thirst is simply a reminder that something is missing
- Often we must dig deep to get to get to the fountain of life
- There is a reason water is everywhere but there is not a drop to drink