Love for our brothers and sisters

 Love for our brothers and sisters

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."John 13:34,35.

Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus? Do you love them by God’s standard. The apostle Paul wrote the definition of Christian love when he wrote,

"Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: 

faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."  

                                                                    1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13,

So do you love in the way God wants you to love?

Please think about it.

What is your sermon saying?

  What is your Sermon saying?

The apostle Paul wrote,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22,23.

If you claim to be a Christian, a true follower of Christ Jesus are the above fruit of the Spirit showing in your life?

When those around you look at your life are they seeing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?

If not they should be, because it is only by showing these qualities that we will attract people to Christ. 

Perhaps one of my favourite quotes from outside the Bible come from Francis of Assisi who said,

"The deeds you do

 may be the only sermon some persons will hear today" 

                                                                                Francis of Assisi

What is your sermon telling others?

Please think about it.

Our Duty to God

 Our duty to God

“Sing to the LORD a new song; 

sing to the LORD, all the earth. 

Sing to the LORD, 

praise his name; 

proclaim his salvation day after day. 

Declare his glory among the nations, 

his marvellous deeds among all peoples.” 

                                                    Psalm 96:1-3

Jesus said,

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20.

Whether you are a follower of Christ Jesus or not. I feel it is important to know that followers of Christ Jesus have a duty before God to tell others about the saving grace that comes through Christ.

Jesus speaking of himself said,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17.

The apostle Paul writes,

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Romans 3:23,24.

This is the message God wants believers in Christ Jesus to hear and believe.

So the question becomes, Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God the Saviour of all who would believe in Him?

Please thin about it. 

His Praise

  His Praise

The Psalmist writes,

"I will extol the LORD at all times; 

his praise will always be on my lips. 

My soul will boast in the LORD; 

let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 

Glorify the LORD with me; 

let us exalt his name together." 

                                        Psalm 34:1-3.

If nothing else the New Testament shows Jesus and his apostles experienced all that it is to be human. They attended weddings. The followed the rules set down in the Torah. They interacted with people of all walks of life.

They were also beaten, thrown in prison all but one dying for their faith. Yet through all of this they praised God. They praised him not only in the good times, but after they’d been beaten and while they were in prison.

They praised God because they knew that even in their darkest hour God was with them. 

How about you; do you praise God in the good times and in the bad?

Please think about it.

Why Faith?

  Why Faith

In the book of Ephesians we read,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9.

So what constitutes faith. Hebrews defines faith this way,

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Hebrews 11:1

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

 Why does God want us to live by faith?

I think it’s because it’s so hard to have faith in anything we cannot see. 

Even though we have the Bible that tells us about God and Jesus. The Bible to many people is simply words written centuries ago.

The apostle Paul writes,

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  Romans 10:9-11.

I also firmly believe that people who have faith in anything will be willing to go to their graves for what they believe. 

The apostles proved this. All but one was martyred for their faith. And around the world today there are multitudes of men and women who are suffering imprisonment, persecution for what they believe.

So the question becomes,

Do you have complete faith in Jesus?

Please think about it. 

Madman or God Incarnate

  Madman or God Incarnate?

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

                                                                                   Genesis 1:1.

The Bible doesn’t debate the existence of God. It was written to believers and believers in God accept the fact that God does exist.

In the New Testament the apostle John tells us,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

In him was life, and that life was the light of men....

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. " John 1:1-4,14.

Here John refers to Jesus as “the word”. 

        He tells us that “...the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

that,...“He was with God in the beginning.” 

That “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

 That, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

And lastly and most importantly, “We (John the other disciples and believers)  have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John truly believed, Jesus is God incarnate.

I like what C. S. Lewis in the book Mere Christianity says about Jesus,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

So who do you think Jesus is?

Please think about it.

So what are you doing

 So what are you doing?

In the book of James we read,

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,  because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” James 2:12,13.

Do you judge people? Do you show mercy towards people especially those you disagree with. Do you judge someone begging for money on the street or those with a different lifestyle, or faith than yours?

You should not be. Jesus made it perfectly clear saying,

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:1,2.

I like what the late American evangelist Billy Graham said,

“It is the Holy Spirits Job to Convict, 

God's job to judge

 and my job to love,” 

                                         Billy Graham.

So what are you doing?

Please think about it.

When God examines you

 When God examines your ways

The writer of Proverbs states,

"For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, 

and he examines all his paths." 

                                                        Proverbs 5:21.

That says it all. God knows about everything we do and why we do it. 

Question:

When God examines your ways, what will He say?

Please think about it.

We have no right

  We have no right

The Psalmist writes,

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16.

God knows us intimately. This quote from psalms in modern terminology is essentially saying God knows the very DNA that makes up of our being. He knows why we are the way we are. This is why God and God alone is the only one who can judge another person.

Jesus made it clear to all who believes,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:1,2.

While we must judge the actions and words of some people in order to be careful as to who we trust at times for our own safety. We have no right to judge where someone will spend eternity. That is Gods job. NOT ours.

Please think about it.

How to be saved

 How to be saved

Jesus speaking about himself said,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17.

The apostle Paul writes,

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.

I've heard it said that the way we get to heaven is if your good deeds out weigh your bad deeds you get into heaven.

Christians do not believe this. We do not believe you can live a life good enough to enter heaven. C. S. Lewis said,

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us."  C.S. Lewis.

The criminal on the cross with Jesus proves your good deeds don’t have to outweigh your bad deeds to get to heaven. You simply have to confess your sins and ask God’s forgiveness. The book of acts records,

“But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?  

We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'" Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:39-43.

This criminal did what the apostle John told us to do.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  1John 1:9.

He did what the apostle Paul told us we must do,

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  Romans 10:9-11

So the question comes down to, Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour of all who believe in Him? 

Please think about it.

Paul's Story

 Paul's Story

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

of whom I am the worst."

                              1 Timothy 1:15

The apostle Paul is an example of how even someone with extremist views can be changed for good.

Paul (Saul) at first chose to attack the church. To put Christians in jail. In the book of Acts we read that Saul was at the stoning of Stephen the first Christian martyr. Acts stating,

“But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison”Acts 8:3.

Paul however had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Standing before Agippa, Paul tells of this encounter,

"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.  

About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.  

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 

"Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?' " ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied.  

‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.  

I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them  

to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' 

"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.  

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” Acts 26:12-20.

The point being if God can change a man like Paul from a zealous persecutor of Christians to a leader in the church. A man who would eventually die for being Christian. God can change your life if you would let Him.

Please think about it.

Are you telling the world

 Are you telling the world

The Psalmist writes,

“Sing to the LORD a new song; 

sing to the LORD, all the earth. 

Sing to the LORD, praise his name; 

proclaim his salvation day after day. 

Declare his glory among the nations, 

his marvellous deeds among all peoples.” 

                                                      Psalm 96:1-3.

I firmly believe that this is what all Christians are called to do. We are as often as we are able to tell others about the Salvation that come from God through Christ Jesus.

Jesus said,

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

If you consider yourself a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus, are you telling the world around you about the Saving Grace that comes from God through Jesus Christ?

Please think about it.