Sermon Audio file – July 18th

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Thanks for listening and God Bless!

Robert

Sermon July 18th – Sermon Notes – Praise God

Message title:  Give Praise – Actions 16:16-30

 The Big Idea for message:  Giving our Lord praise, is something that we should be doing regularly. As seen by Paul and Silas we should give praise even when things are looking really bad.  

 Intro:  Most of the time I am walking through the factory at work by myself, you will find me whistling. There are a couple different worship songs that I regularly whistle as I walk. That is when everything is going good.

 After all the second half of James 5:13 tells us ‘Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.’

  When stress roles in whether it is work related or life is throwing me for a loop, I stop whistling. Sadly when life gets me down, my initial reaction is to stop praising the Lord.

 Tie In:  Does anyone else do this? Are you happy praising the Lord when things are good?  It is easy to praise God when we are feeling good, when we are happy.

 What about when things are not going as planned?

How about when you are in a bad mood?

When you are feeling depressed?

When you are doubting what you are supposed to be doing?

When you doubt your abilities?

When you feel your heart is hardened towards something?

Worst of all when you feel lost?

 What do you do then? Does the song you were singing soften, does it go away, it is something that gets forgotten. Are you like me, full  of praise when everything is good but lose it as soon as things get rocky?

 Scripture: 

The question before us today is what does God’s Word tell us about offering praise? Is it something we only do with we are happy or everything is going our way? Or is it something that we need to do no matter what our circumstances are?

 We can find many verses in the Bible talking about praise.

 Hebrews 13:15

‘¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.’

 Continually offer Praise, does not matter how things are going. We are to praise God during the good and the bad. Praising God here is not only the singing of songs, but also declaring God’s name and His character. In other words sharing what God has done for us, with each other and those who do not know Him.

 We are to praise God all the time during the good and the bad by singing songs and declaring His goodness.

 In the book of Acts we get a great example of a couple of men who have had a rough day, yet they choose to praise God.

 Acts 16:16-26

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

 19When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

 22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.

Verse 16

Think about it, Paul and Silas were on their way to a place of prayer. They were going to church. Sounds like a nice day to me.

 Verse 18

They are then harassed by a slave girl who has an evil spirit in her and Paul casts it out. Sounds like a real good thing if you ask me. So after they do this good deed, their day of worship and prayer is interrupted.

 Verse 22-23

Talk about things turning bad.

 Anyone see the movie Passion? Well Paul and Silas just received a beating similar to what Jesus endured and then they were thrown into jail.

 Verse 24

If things weren’t bad to begin with they just got worse.

 Inner Prison – they did not have a window to look out, in reality they probably had no light what so ever. Room with no light and no real air flow, except through the door when it was open. This is the place reserved for the worst criminals.

 Stocks – wooden beam designed to stretch their legs. This was not needed, there was no escape from the inner prison. Putting their feet into stocks was really a form a torture.

 So far we find Paul and Silas beaten severely, placed into the darkest, dingiest, cell in the prison, and now they were being tortured with their feet in stocks.

 What started out as a nice day, with them going to church, has turned down right horrible.

 If we were in this situation we might:

            Question God?

            Given up?

            Be full of self doubt?

            Be depressed?

            Felt lost?

            Definitely be in a bad mood!

 While we might have felt this way Paul and Silas did not!

 Verse 25

Here they are imprisoned and being tortured and they are praying and singing hymns!

 It almost seems like they were thinking, hey we were on our way to pray and praise God when all this happened, let’s do it! Can hear them saying something like ‘Whatever comes Lord, we surrender it to you.’

 Verse 26

They worshipped God above all things, and God answered them. God moved in a miraculous way. Not that they were necessarily praying for release, otherwise they probably would have run at the first chance.

 They were praying and praising God regardless of what was going to happen.

 Lets read what happens next.

 Verses 27-34

²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

 29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

 31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

 Paul and Silas had plans on praising God when things were good and praised Him when things went bad. This is a great example for us. We need to always praise God! He knows what is around the corner and we praise Him for what is coming.

 We should – Carry a Song in Our Heart, God WILL Set Us Free!

 Application: 

 I mentioned things that might stop us from praising God, but if we choose to praise Him during those rough times He will use it to change us.

 When things are not going as planned? God will show us His plan.

When we are in a bad mood? Singing praises changes our mood.

When you are feeling depressed? God will remind us of something to be thankful for.

When you are doubting what you are supposed to be doing? God will show you what you were made to do.

When you doubt your abilities? God will show you the truth.

When you feel your heart is hardened towards something? Praise softens your heart.

Worst of all when you feel lost? God will show you the way.

 Going Forward:  So what do we need to do?    

 We need to remember to, Carry a Song in Our Heart, God WILL Set Us Free!

 As we read earlier:

Hebrews 13:15

‘¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.’

 I would be willing to bet that each of us has a song or two that speak to us. You may know the whole song by heart, or only bits and pieces of it. When we are feeling beat up, we need sing or whistle that song. We need to listen to the words and Praise the Lord.

 If we, Carry a Song in Our Heart, God WILL Set Us Free!

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Pastor Robert

Sermon Audio File – July 11, 2010

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Download the file from the link above.

Blessings!

Sermon July 11th – Colossians 1 When Trouble Hits?

Please note that below is not a complete word for word message write up, they are my notes instead.

Message title:  Colossians 1 – When Trouble Hits?

The Big Idea for message:  Life is going to throw us some curve balls, but Jesus is bigger than anything we encounter.

Sticky Statement: When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!

Intro:  As most of you know my life has been a little hectic recently. Finding out in Feb that I had a brain tumor, in Mar I finished my Masters Degree, followed by all the testing at UofM and then surgery at the end of May. Then everything that did not go as planned.

Tie In:  All of us go through things that make life seem like it is out of control. We have medical issues, back problems, knee surgery, worry about unemployment running out, finding a job, housing issues, and much more. Life never seems to go as we want it to, or would like it to.

Scripture:  We have all heard preachers tell us to ‘lay it at the cross’, ‘ give it to Jesus’, ‘pray about it’, ‘Jesus will provide’ and more. Those are all true statements. Today I want to look at a piece of scripture today and talk about why they are true. See Jesus was not just some ordinary man, who was blessed or empowered by God. He was much, much, more. So the question this morning is “Who is Jesus that He can take on all of our struggles, concerns, and worries?”

 ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 ²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

²⁴Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— ²⁶the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Please turn to Colossians 1 starting at verse 15.

1:15 Jesus was the image of God the Father. He was not a cheap photo copy that is not as good as the original, he was an exact image. He was a masterfully made complete likeness of the Father.

            First Born – Nothing came before Jesus. He was prior to and is over all of creation.

If Jesus is over all creation and is an exact duplicate of the Father, do you think He can handle all of our concerns?

1:16 Since Jesus existed prior to creation, and all things were created through Him. In John 1:3 we are told “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”

Our Lord Jesus created everything, even the things that cause our struggles. Everything is subject to Him, even all spiritual authorities.

1:17 Jesus sustains all things. Everything that has been created, He holds it together. Even to the point of giving us breath.

If Jesus is involved in our every breath, don’t you think He is capable of taking care of our needs?

1:18 Jesus is the head of the Church. He is completely in charge of everything, he can resolve conflicts and is the ultimate reconciler.

Our problems fall completely within His realm of control.

1:19 Reaffirms what we are told in verse 15. It was part of their plan for Jesus to be exactly like the Father, to have all of His power and authority.

1:20 Jesus has the power to allow us human sinners to be in a relationship with the Father. All who believe are restored. If Jesus can restore our relationship with the Father, He is more than capable of restoring any earthly troubles we may have. He can restore all things, all issues, all troubles, and all sin.

1:21 Simply tells us that as sinners we are separate from God.

1:22 If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are completely restored. We are ‘free from accusation’. We have been made spotless.

1:23 We are told plainly here that we need to remain pure to the gospel, we need to maintain our HOPE in Jesus. Essentially we need to believe in Jesus and follow His teachings. We need to remain faithful.

1:24 This verse shows us that Jesus suffered and tells us that life will not be easy.

Acts 14:22 tells us “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,”

We are going to face our own afflictions; we are going to have to carry our own crosses.

Thankfully that is not where it ends.

Romans 8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory”

If we believe, if we have faith, and stay true to Jesus, life will not be easy, but it will mean we get to go to heaven. We get to share in His glory!

1:25-27 Jesus is all these things, an exact image of the Father, The Creator, The Sustainer, The Reconciler, He Restores Us, and He Makes us Spotless.

Verse 27 tells us that If Christ is in us, If we have accepted Him as our Savior, we have Life, we have Glory, we have Hope.

Jesus is bigger than our troubles!

Application:  When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!

Now let’s take a look at what this means when we look at our troubles.

If we are having medical issues, Jesus is in control. He created your body, He sustains your breath, He can take care of any medical issue that comes your way. He saw me through my brain surgery, and He will help with your knee, back, or anything else that comes your way.

Are you worried about finding a job or with the loss of unemployment benefits? Do you believe that Jesus is in control? He is! If he can restore our relationship with the Father, He can restore your finances! Put your faith in Him!

We are told in these verses that we will struggle, life will not be easy. The good news is that if we have a relationship with our Lord, we have Hope and will someday share in Christ’s glory.

Going Forward:  So what do we need to do?    

We need to remember, when life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!

As we go through life together and face all of our struggles, I would like each of us to remember who Jesus is. As we do that compare Him to our medical, financial, and any other issues we are facing. As we do this we will see He is so much bigger and greater than anything we will encounter. If we depend on Him, we will get through it.

Just remember: When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!

Thanks for reading and God Bless! I will try to post the link to the audio file later.

Blessings,

Robert

Sermon May 23rd – Faith in Prayer

This morning I would like to talk about prayer. My prayer life has been changing over the last several weeks and months.  Now I wish I could say I spend more time praying than I used to, but that is not the case. What has changed has been the way I pray and what it means to me.

 To start we I think we all can say that Prayer is something that we should do.

James 4:2

“²You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

 What James is telling us in this verse is that we need to approach God with our prayers. We need to present our requests, our needs, and even our desires to God. If we do not ask, we can never receive. So the first step in prayer is to SAY IT!

 1 Thessalonians 5:17

“Pray without ceasing” NKJV

 What we find with this verse is that we need to continually, regularly, and in all circumstances pray. When we are happy, we need to pray. When we are sad, we need to pray. We life is good and everything is great, we need to pray. When we are facing struggles, we need to pray. Prayer is something we need to always do.

Matthew 7:7

“⁷Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” NIV

 Here Jesus himself is telling us that we need to be persistent in prayer. We need to Ask for what we need, seek what we are missing, and knock so that we may draw closer to God. Prayer is something we need to do, and it is something we need to do every day. Each day we need to continually Ask, Seek, and Knock as we talk to God. Not because God needs to hear us say it over and over again, but because He wants us to come to Him with all of our needs.

 If we continue reading in Matthew 7:

 “⁷Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” NIV

 Jesus is telling us that if we ask for what we need, seek for what is missing, and knock to draw closer to God we will get what we are after. God wants to answer our prayers.

 Matthew 7:9-11

 ⁹“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” NIV

God wants to answer our prayers, and He will answer our prayers. The trick is that our prayers may not be answered the way we want them. God knows what is best for us, and He will give us the best thing for us. Now this does not mean He is going to make our lives simple, safe, and free of troubles. If you really think about it, what good does us living sheltered, protected lives do us? It doesn’t! Without obstacles and struggles, we would never learn to depend on God. If we don’t learn to depend on God what good will our testimonies be? Some of the most inspiring and moving testimonies are from people who have been on the brink of damnation. There are lost souls out there that can only be reached by someone who has walked in their shoes before. God knows what is best for us and gives it to us, even if it does not make sense to us at the time.

 Another thing we need to be careful about when praying and asking for things is to make sure that we are not asking for something that will only bless ourselves.

 James 4:3

“³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” NIV

 Basically we need to be asking for things that will bring God honor and glory. See it is not enough to just ask for good things, but we need to ask with the right intentions. This verse is something I think those that practice what we will call the ‘Prosperity Gospel’ are missing. God is not telling us to ask for anything we want. God is not telling us to ask for material things. He is simply telling us to pray for things that will glorify Him. If I am driving a new Mercedes, it will not glorify Jesus. But if we pray for New Life Chapel to have an impact on the community, or for His healing touch on someone. Our motives will be right and God will be glorified. While we need to Say It, we need to Say it with His will in mind.

 If we flip back to Matthew 7:7-8 for a moment I want to point something out.

 “ ⁷Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” NIV

 This is God saying that prayers will be answered. If we Ask, Seek, and Knock we will Receive, Find, and the Door will be opened. God wants to answer our prayers, and He promises to do so. The trick is we need to believe it.

 Turn to Mark chapter 9, starting at verse 14.

“¹⁴When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.  ¹⁶“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

 ¹⁷A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”  ¹⁹“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”  ²⁰So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.  ²¹Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

   “From childhood,” he answered. ²²“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  ²³” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”  ²⁶The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.  ²⁸After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”  ²⁹He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” NIV

 Now I really want us to focus on verse 22 through 24.

 ²²“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  ²³” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” NIV

 We find the father doubting whether anything can be done. I think that is a common mistake we make when it comes to prayer. It is easy for us to say a prayer, but it is harder for us to have the faith to really believe what we are asking for can happen. I have been guilty of this over the years. There have been many times I have prayed for healing over someone and wonder if God is really going to do anything. I might have thought, does God really want to answer this prayer. The truth is God does want to answer our prayers, but we need to believe it. Jesus tells the father ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.” So while we are Saying It, we need to Believe it! We need to truly, 100% believe that God wants to answer our prayers. We need to have Faith. Once the father in these verses proclaims his belief, his child is healed. Prayer with belief is answered.

 Romans 1:17

¹⁷For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

 The righteous live by faith, which also means we should be praying by Faith. If we are praying in Faith, we need to Believe it. We need to believe that God will answer our prayers. We need to have Faith in the unseen.

 We are told in 1 John 5:14-15 that:

 ^“14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” NIV

 We need to have confidence, have faith, we need to believe that if we ask God for things according to His will – He Will Answer our Prayers!

 So far when it comes to prayer we need to Say it, then we need to Believe It. The next step is we need to Live It.

 2 Corinthians 5:7

“We live by Faith, not by sight.”

 Galatians 2:20

“²⁰I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

 To Live it we need to have faith, that God will answer our prayers. We need to have Faith that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, will follow through with what He told us.

 So how do we live it?

We need to proclaim that God is in control!

We need to have confidence that He is going to take care of everything!

We need to realize that the answer may not be what we expect!

We need to continue to pray without ceasing!

In the end we need to continue to praise Him, no matter what!

 Remember Prayer is a powerful thing, if you Say It, Believe It, and Live It. God Does Answer Prayer.

Sermon – Loving God with all of your Strength – Audio File

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Blessings,

Robert

Sermon – Love God with all of your Strength – May 16th

Week 5 – Love God with all of your Strength

Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity – Based on book by Mark Batterson

This morning we are continuing and finishing our series based on the ideas in Mark Batterson’s book Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. We have been working through the Great Commandment as stated in Mark 12:29-30.

 “²⁹The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” NIV

So far we have looked at the first three aspects of Loving God. We started with what it meant to Love God with all of our Heart. Loving God with all of our hearts means that our heart will break for the things that break God’s heart. This will lead us to be passionate about something and to show compassion to others. Having that passion towards something that breaks God’s heart will show us what we were created to do.

Then we looked at what was behind loving God with all of our Souls. We looked at how after God created all that there was, and he wondered at it. God was impressed by the work He did. We to need to be impressed by God’s creation, after all it is the simplest form or worship. Loving God with all of our Souls, means having a soul filled with wonder, a soul filled with awe over God. It means letting God’s words and creation speak to us and move us.

We then moved on to Loving God with all of our Mind. Basically Loving God with all of our mind means making the most of our minds by learning as much as we can about as much as we can. We can spend time studying our Bibles and anything else that God created that interests us. As God’s children we need to worship God based on knowledge and in wonder. Truly Loving and Worshiping God means being amazed by Him and learning all about Him. Each one is critical part of loving and worshipping God. The more we know about him the more we can worship.

As we enter the next section of this series we are going to be looking at the fourth and final aspect of loving God, which is loving God with all of our Strength.

Matthew 25:21 tells us:

²¹“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ NIV

This is a statement I want to hear from Jesus when I get to heaven. I want him to tell me ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’ This is something that each of us should strive towards. We should want to hear Jesus telling us that we have done a good job, that He is proud of us, and that He trusts us. The trick here is that Jesus will tell us ‘Well DONE’ which implies that we have acted as He has wanted us to. He will not be saying well learned! Coming to church on Sunday, attending Sunday school, and going to Bible studies are good things. But that is not what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to be Active Christians.

Matthew 28:19

“¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Our Lord wants us to Go! He wants us to find what we are passionate about and to just do it! It does not mean we will be perfect at it, we might be afraid, we might not feel qualified, but Jesus wants us to do it. He wants us to share His Love and spread His Word. He will give us the strength to be successful. In this verse, the Great Commission, we are told to not drag our feet, to not wait until we feel ready, we are told to just Go!

Now there are two types of sin. The first is the sin of commission, which is something we are very familiar with. A sin of commission is doing something we know we should not be doing. An example that is regrettably prevalent in our world today is something like adultery. We know this is something that we should not do, they know it is wrong, yet people still do it.

The other type or kind of sin is the sin of omission. It’s all the things we would have, could have, and should have done for Jesus, but for some reason did not.

Matthew 25:26-30 tells us:

 ²⁶“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

 ²⁸” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

There have been times when I have read these verses and think to myself that Jesus is being a little harsh. This servant did not lose anything, he protected it, he kept it safe, and he returned what did not belong to him. Does he really deserve to be thrown out ‘into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’?

While I may struggle with this at times, it tends to be a reminder that I am not seeing things the way God sees them. Looking at these verses the way God sees them we would see that it is wrong to sit on our gifts and to not use them to grow the kingdom, it is the sin of omission. God has given us many different passions and gifts. He has gifted each one of us to do exactly what He wants us to do. Not using those gifts, not putting them into action is a sin. This is a sin that is easily correctable; all we have to do is follow what He has called us to do. All we have to do is Go!

I have to wonder how many of us have a passion for something but do not know where to start or are afraid of failing, so we do not even try? We think to ourselves how can this happen, I cannot do this, I do not have the resources, and it is not reasonable. The challenge I give each of us this morning is to not worry about all of that, don’t worry about the skills, resources, or even how outlandish it may sound. If God is calling you to do some, go do it.

Remember what it says in Philippians 1:6

“⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

The God who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion! In other words, we do not need all the resources, have all the knowledge, or all of the strength. God will CARRY it through to completion. He will give us exactly what we need when we need it. He will take care of everything, and it turn out exactly as He wants it to turn out. God will take our faithful actions, our steps of faith, and complete them! He will make us successful.

Ephesians 1:18-21

“¹⁸I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” NIV

If we break this down we will find that God’s power is incomparably great! We cannot really imagine what God is capable of. So if we turn over our passions to God and do them in His Strength, we cannot truly imagine what God is capable of doing through us. If we give God control and allow Him to work through us, Incomparably Great things will be accomplished. Things beyond our imagination!

Acts 1:8

“⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” NIV

We are being told that we will receive what we need to carry out our God Given passions. If we continue to allow Him to work through us in ‘reaching the lost through service to others’ Great things will happen, He will be successful using us as His tools. We just need to let him. If we are looking to Love God with all of our Strength we need to Live in His Strength. We need to Live with God being in complete control, we need to act and let Him fill the holes of our knowledge, resources, and strength.

Loving God with all of our Strength is loving God with all of His strength. It is not about what we can do for God. It is all about what God can do IN us and THROUGH us. God can change our hearts and use us to fulfill His will.

As parents we are proud of our children when they accomplish something they thought they could not do. When they get an A on a test they were struggling with or hit a home run. Our Father is the same way, He is proud of us and gets excited when we accomplish something that we perceive as impossible or beyond our abilities. God loves to see us depend on His power to accomplish something that brings Him glory. Loving God with all of our strength is living our lives going things that require us to depend on His power.

Romans 12:1

“ ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” NIV

The simplest or most primal form of love is not doing things for God. It is receiving with gratitude what He has already done for us. Knowing that He has sacrificed for us, knowing that He has made us complete, knowing that He has empowered us, and then living our lives reflecting all that He has already done.  

We need to be great at the Great Commandment! Jesus told us it was the most important one and we need to make sure we do it. We need to love God with All of our Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength.

Love God with all of your Heart – Be open to the thing that God wants you to be passionate about.

Love God with all of your Soul – Continue to be amazed by God and all that He create and all that He is.

Love God with all of your Mind – Never stop learning about God and His creation.

Love God with all of your Strength – Live your life dependent on His strength to accomplish the impossible.

Thank You for reading! Please join us for our Sunday AM Worship Service!

God Bless,

Pastor Robert

Mother’s Day 2010 – Audio File

Click on the link below and download the file to listen to our Mother’s Day Message.

http://www.wikiupload.com/TJ9i4Vn9

Thanks and God Bless,

Pastor Robert

Mother’s Day 2010 Sermon

Today being a special day, we will be taking a break from the Primal series we have been working through. Today we will be focusing on mothers, and taking some time to honor them. We should take time to honor our mothers every day of the year, but today is a special day just for our moms. Honoring mothers is something we should take seriously. After all it is part of the 10 commandments, as seen in Exodus 20:12

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” NIV

So with that we will take some time to honor mothers found throughout the Bible.

You know, mothers do a lot for us.
When we were kids our mothers prepared food for us to eat, they turned a house into a home, they mended our wounds, they consoled us when we faced disappointments, they cheered us on when we did something well, and perhaps the greatest contribution of all is that they instructed us about life.

Proverbs 6:20

“My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” NIV

Before we really get started I want to share something I came across that fits for Mother’s Day.
Here are a few things mama taught us: (Source Unknown.)
Mothers teach us about foresight: “Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident.”
Mothers teach us about logic: “If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, don’t come crying to me.”
Mothers teach us about maturity: “Eat your vegetables or you’ll never grow up.”
Mothers teach us about religion: “You better pray that comes out of the carpet.”
Mothers teach us about time travel: “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
Mothers teach us about contradictions: “Shut your mouth and eat your dinner!”
Mothers teach us about contortionism: “Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck?”
Mothers teach us about perseverance: “You are going to sit here until you eat every last piece of that broccoli.”
Mothers teach us about genetics: “You’re just like your father.”
Mothers teach us about the weather: “It looks like a tornado swept through your room.”
Mothers teach us about the circle of life: “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.”

The first Mother in the Bible I want to talk about can be found in Exodus.

Exodus 2:1-3

”¹ Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.” NIV

When reading these verses what can we say about Moses’ mother, Jochebed?

First off, she was a woman who had faith in God. She believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would bless her efforts to protect her son. Jochebed believed that God would take her faithfulness and use Moses in some way. God rewarded that faithfulness.

Exodus 2:4-10

⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.  ⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.  ⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”  ⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” NIV

God blessed Jochebed’s faithfulness. God arranged for Moses to live and then allowed her to raise Moses for the first 5-10 years of his life. Jochebed was able to use this time to teach Moses about God and live out her faith before him. I believe this had a huge impact on Moses and is part of the reason why he made the choices he did later and life, and why he was used by God to free the Hebrew people.

The second thing we see about Jochebed in these verses is that she was willing to sacrifice for her child. Basically she risked everything to protect her child. Pharaoh had issued an edict saying that all male Hebrew children were to be killed. She was defying Pharaoh. If she had been caught hiding Moses, there is a good chance she would have been thrown into prison or even killed on the spot. She believed that protecting her child was the right thing to do.

Due to her faith in God and her efforts to protect her child, Jochebed deserves to be honored.

Any mother who makes decisions about their children based on faith, instead of the world deserves to be honored. Any mother who protects their child deserves to be honored.

In 1^st Samuel we find another great example of mother worth honoring today. Hannah was a woman who was without child and her husband’s other wife had many children. Hannah really struggled with this, and her heart’s desire was to have a son. What did Hannah do? She prayed, she laid it all out before the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:10

“¹⁰ In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.” NIV

In verse 15 it says “I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.” NIV

In verse 16 we read “I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” NIV

Hannah knew what it meant to pray. From her perspective she thought all was lost, she was wondering if she would every have a child. She did not become bitter and give up, she prayed. She understood the power of prayer. God heard her prayers and granted her a son, Samuel. Now scripture does not tell us if she continued praying for Samuel for the rest of her life, but I would be willing to bet she did. Hannah knew that prayer worked, she understood the value of it. She probably prayed for her son Samuel everyday for the rest of her life. Hannah deserves to be honored for being a mother who prayed for her children. Any mother who spends time praying for her children, whether it is for protection, provision, or for them to come back to the Lord, deserves to be honored.

Today being Mother’s day we need to remember and honor our mothers. Our mothers do many, many things for us. Some things seem simple like making our lunches, doing our laundry, and other mundane tasks. Others things are more profound and we can see how our mothers sacrificed for us, provided for our needs, and prayed for us.

My mother is back in California this morning, but I can tell you that she protected me from things I am still just learning about. She sacrificed for me, even to the point of going hungry herself at times. And I know for a fact that she prayed for me on many occasions, hoping I would turn my life around. My mother deserves to be honored everyday of her life for what she has done for me, but I especially want to honor her today.  

George Washington said, “I am what I am because of my mother!”

I agree with George Washington completely. I am who I am because of my mother. She taught me right from wrong, she encouraged me to be successful, and she supported me in my Christian walk. Besides telling my mother how much I appreciate her, one of the best ways I can honor her is by being the best son that I can be. By being a good man and a loving husband and father, I honor my mother.

I encourage each of you to honor your mothers today and every day. Whether our mothers are still with us on earth or have moved on. Whether we remember more of the good or the bad, we should still honor them. The best way can honor them is to live our lives as best as we can. Remember that we are who we are thanks to them.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Thanks for reading and look for the audio file to be posted soon.

God Bless,

Pastor Robert

Sermon Audio File – May 2nd – Loving God with all of your Mind!

http://www.wikiupload.com/tnfn31va

Click on the link and download the file to hear this weeks message.

Blessings,

Robert