In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is giving insight into how His Kingdom is different than what the audience had known and experienced. In Matthew 6:33, He summarizes the action we must take in light of all these Kingdom Insights: We must seek first the Kingdom of God and God Himself and then respond in faith!
"Salvation" Tagged Sermons (Page 2)
How can we begin and cultivate a life with God? Today we begin a series through Paul’s letter to the Galatians because this letter was penned by a man who grappled with this question, sent by a community that wrestled with this question, received by churches that were uncertain how to answer this question and now, it is given to us who must be clear and resolute in answering this ultimate question, “How can we begin and cultivate a life with God?”
The Bible teaches that there are many rewards given to God’s children. Yet, it also teaches that not everyone is a child of God. Are you? Am I? How can we become children of God? If a 10-year old asked you how to become a child of God, what would you say? On this Sunday after Christmas we learn from the Apostle John, who spent three years with the Incarnate Jesus, God’s answer to the question, “How can we become a child of God?”
Today we enter week 4 of 12 in The Abide Project which includes the most vexing part of Jesus’ vineyard teaching. Who and what does Jesus have in mind when he declares in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away”? Is he opposing what many call the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints? Further, what is this verse’s connection, if any, with verse 6 in which he says branches are “thrown away … gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned”?
We know the nativity story. But the iconic scene we imagine is incomplete by itself. It’s a picture framed by the hardship and pain of Mary and Joseph and of the people of Israel for the centuries that came prior. By observing the sorrow, we see the joy all the more clearly. The tyranny of empires and the death of our Savior make His birth, His resurrection and His return all the more powerful.
Though God made us to live abundantly, everyone in every generation wanders from His best. About 700 BC, God’s people drifted far away and even the kings and priests weren’t able to bring them back. Yet, a prophet named Micah announced that from Bethlehem a leader would come who would shepherd God’s people back in the strength and majesty of the Lord. On this 3rd Sunday of Advent we celebrate Jesus’ coming and are invited to return to Him, the Good Shepherd who alone can restore our abundant life! (To view the video included early in this message see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUngLgGRJpo )
In the beginning, God gave us weeks. Then He gave us instructions on how to use them. When Jesus came, he gave us freedom to use weeks at our own discretion. The early church chose to gather on Sundays because Jesus came back to life on the first day of the week. On that day, he shared the good news with his disciples and they acknowledged that it was with great sacrifice that the gap between us and God was bridged. The same thing happened again a week later. Over 100,000 weeks later, the same thing is still happening.
The death of those we love is confusing and severe. Where are they now? What will the future for them and us be like? Will we see them again? Today we learn what happens when a follower of Jesus dies and we discover that though clarity on what lies ahead does not remove the sorrow, it adds to our sorrow, divine hope.
In 1897 Johnson Oatman wrote, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” These opening words in the hymn Count Your Blessings align with God’s heart for us. In today’s message we count some of God’s greatest blessings because living blessed is key to living faithfully with Christ throughout our city and beyond.
After Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to the disciples, but Thomas was absent for this momentous event. He requested to see the physical body of the risen Jesus in order to believe, but his greater question wasn’t about receiving physical proof, it was about whether or not Jesus is God. He asked the same question that we and others have asked of Jesus for the last couple millennia: who are You to me? The answer: He is our Lord and God.