Grace Church: Recent Episodes
Terry Simpson
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He Was There All Along: Nine Ways God Is Involved in Our Lives
1. He Plans — Isaiah 45:2–3 (NLT)
God doesn't guess about our future the way parents do — He plans it, and His plans always come to pass. He named Cyrus, king of Persia, 150 years before Cyrus was even born.
2. He Leads — Proverbs 16:9
Just as parents guide who their children spend time with and where they go, God quietly leads and shapes the road ahead of us — often in ways we only recognize looking back.
3. He Provides — 1 Kings 17:9, 16
God commanded a widow to provide for Elijah before Elijah ever arrived — and provided for her in the same moment. He is the source behind every need, on every side.
4. He Grants Requests — 1 Kings 3:5, 13
Beyond meeting our needs, God delights in granting specific requests. Solomon asked for wisdom and received far more than he asked for.
5. He Directs — Psalm 32:8
God directs us in more than one way — sometimes a clear, direct word, and sometimes a string of confirmations that quietly say, 'keep going.'
6. He Protects — Acts 12:6–11
Peter didn't plan his own rescue from prison — he was asleep when the angel came. Sometimes God's protection asks nothing of us but to receive it.
7. He Disciplines — Hebrews 12:6
“For whom the LORD loves He chastens.” God's discipline is proof of relationship, not the absence of it — correction given in love, meant to teach.
8. He Steps Back — Jeremiah 32:9–15
God had Jeremiah buy a field that looked certain to be worthless — a seemingly pointless decision preserved as a sign of future hope for generations to come.
9. He Saves — Isaiah 45:22
God arranges even the smallest details — the right place, the right moment, the right word — to bring a person to salvation, often long before they know they need it.
Reflection Questions
1. Which of these nine postures do you most recognize God taking in your own life right now — planning, leading, providing, granting, directing, protecting, disciplining, stepping back, or saving?
2. Is there a season of your life you can only make sense of by looking back? What did you see then that you couldn't see at the time?
3. Discipline can be hard to recognize as love in the moment. Has God ever corrected you in a way you only understood later?
4. Sometimes God steps back and lets us learn through our own choices. Is there a mistake in your past that became a lesson you now carry — or one you'd want to pass on to someone else?
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Confidence is another word for faith. If you have faith, then you are confident. (1Jn.5:14-15) If you are not confident that you are truly saved, it’s because you don’t have faith that you are saved. Therefore, you need to seriously deal with that because nothing is more important than being saved and we can only be saved by faith.
I. Confidence in Ourselves.
Confidence can be misplaced; it can be in the wrong thing or person. We are not to have “self-confidence.” That is confidence in yourself. I know that runs against the grain of everything you hear in the world, especially in the sports world. We are not to have confidence in others, in our faith, in our own ability or in anything you can see or hear.
Peter had confidence in himself. “I will never deny You. Not me! Everyone else may, but not me. Not ever!” That is self-confidence in the raw. But Peter ended up doing just as Jesus predicted, he denied Jesus three times before the sun came up. He didn’t believe he would do that, but he did. He didn’t believe he would do that because he had confidence (faith) in himself.
We cannot ever have confidence in anyone else! “The arm of flesh will fail you.” You might say, “How can we ever have a relationship with anyone we can’t trust?” Relationships are built on trust, true; but it doesn’t have to be trust in the other person. Our confidence must be in the Lord. Trust is crucial to any relationship, especially between parents and spouses.
When my oldest daughter reached her teens, she figured out that I didn’t trust her when it came to boys or curfews. I made a big deal of that. I gathered the other three daughters and sat all four on the couch and told them April said I didn’t trust her. “I want to make it very clear. I don’t trust any of you. Why? Because I have been your age and I know what kids do. I love you but I don’t trust you. I will check up on you whomever you are with and wherever you go. Know that.”
II. Confidence in the Lord.
I have counseled many married couples when one of them had broken the trust of the other. He or she thinks it is all over. But it’s not. I share with them this verse that has changed many marriages and relationships. Paul wrote concerning the church, “I have confidence in the Lord concerning you.” (2Thes.3:4) Can you have confidence in the Lord concerning that other person? You’re not trusting him, you’re trusting the Lord for him. This gives the relationship hope and allows it to continue and you to sleep at night.
John 13:38 is followed by Jn.14:1-6. John had no chapter break here. In John 14:1-3 Jesus tells us who to put your confidence in. Remember, confidence is synonymous with faith and believing. “Do not let your heart be troubled.” Even though you can have no confidence in yourselves, there is someone you can have complete confidence in. The Lord. Imagine their troubled hearts when Jesus began to tell them He was leaving them and where He was going they could not come. He had been their constant companion for over three years. He had healed their sicknesses, provided everything they needed, and stilled their storms. And now He was leaving? This must have been like a punch in their gut. Their hearts must have been very troubled. Jesus was about to give them some good news – He could be trusted. He urged them to put their confidence in Him.
“I will no longer be where you are, but you will come to where I am.” At the time they didn’t know where He was going or the way to get there, but He would shortly tell them. They would have to trust Him, and they had seen that He was someone they could trust. They could have confidence in Him even when He was no longer with them but in heaven.
“You believe in God.” Belief in God can be had by “natural revelation.” Noone needs special revelation by the Holy Spirit to believe in God. It’s obvious and manifest. The heavens declare the glory of God. That’s what Romans chapter one teaches us. People have no excuse for their unbelief in a God who can be seen in the natural creation. Everything in nature shots, “There is a Creator. There is a Designer!”
But natural revelation is not enough to know who this Creator really is. That takes a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. “Believe also in Me.” We can’t know who God is with just that natural revelation we get through our physical senses. Agnostics and Deists have always had a problem with special revelation, Benjamin Franklin being a prime example. Special revelation says this Creator has made Himself known by His Spirit in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is that special revelation, telling us exactly who God is, even giving us His name. In His person, His word, and works He has revealed Himself.
“My Father’s house” can mean either or both of two things. Some interpret it to mean just the place we call heaven, usually whatever they imagine heaven to be. It’s up there somewhere, where God lives. But technically the Father’s House is the church of Christ. First Timothy 3:15 states exactly that. If you examine further in the book of Revelation you will discover it’s the New Jerusalem, which is called the “bride of Christ,” which in Paul’s inspired epistles he identifies as the church (2Cor.11:2; Eph.5:25-27, 31-32, and in Revelation 21:2-3 and 9-10).
Add to that the fact that Jesus does not say here in this passage that He is coming back to earth like is described in Revelation. He says, “I will come again to receive you unto Myself, that where I am there (in heaven) you will be also.” This is why the Rapture of the church has always been a part of the teaching of the Second Coming of Christ. Part one is He comes in the air and the church is “caught up in the air to be with the Lord.” (1Thes.4:17) Then in Revelation 19:11 – 20:1-6 we have the literal coming back to earth with the armies of heaven, which includes us, to set up His millennial kingdom on the earth.
Jesus tells the disciples, the foundation of the church (Christ being the Chief Cornerstone), that He is not coming back to earth to set up His kingdom, but He is coming back to take them to where He is in heaven, to His Father’s house. The “many rooms” are our place in the Body and Bride of Christ, and as living stones in His Building. Famed musician, Keith Green, once said, “If it only took the Lord six days to build the entire universe and He’s been working on the New Jerusalem for 2,000 years; man this place down here is a garbage dump compared to what’s going on up there!”
So, where is your confidence? Put your confidence for this life and eternal life in the Lord. He will be with you until He takes you to be with Him.
If your heart is troubled, put your faith and confidence in the Comforter, the Lord Jesus Christ. If your heart is broken, He can mend it. He can be your peace in the midst of your storm, your healer, the joy of your heart that passes all understanding, the provider you need to supply all you need. Do not underestimate His power and willingness to mend your troubled or broken heart. He loves you so much. How do I know? Because He died for your sins and rose to give you victory over any trouble you might find yourself in or that might be in you. So place your confidence in Christ. The sooner the better.
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“Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)
Culture is a way of thinking and behaving according to certain values that become rooted in a specific society. Culture by its very name indicates the necessity of cultivation. Each of these Christian cultural qualities has been put into the heart of every Christian by virtue of the fact that Christ is in our hearts and He is the very personification of each of them. He is Joy. He has a deep respect for the house of God. He is the Head of the house of God.
The seed of the word of peace has been planted in the soil of our hearts; it is up to us to cultivate our hearts by breaking up the hard fallow ground of our heart, fight the devil until that is done, and clear out the weeds and rocks (Mt.13). If you think you’re going to capture a culture of peace for your heart and home by simply reading this page and going about your merry way, you couldn’t be more wrong. That’s never going to happen. Cultivating requires plowing, much work. Cultivating is meditating, and speaking the word that has come to us until our hearts are full of faith to live out that spiritual quality.
Joshua 1:8 gives us the key to cultivating, “This book of the Lord shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Who doesn’t want good success? This is the way to cultivate peace in your heart, mind, home, and church. The peace of God in our spirit must become rooted in our soul, and then in our bodies. That takes cultivation.
The Psalmist tells us to seek peace and pursue it. Sounds redundant but it is not. Seek and pursue are two different words. It’s like this. When I was a youth my dad and three uncles were avid coon hunters with dogs. The dogs had two kinds of barks when you let then out into the woods to hunt raccoons. They would immediately start hunting or seeking coons, giving off a certain bark. During that bark we would wonder toward their barks. The dogs would scan the woods seeking a coon. They were looking for any sign of one. Then when they picked up a scent their bark would change. They went into the pursuit mode. They were running after that coon with all they had. That’s when the men would pick up the pace. Ps.34:14 uses these two images: seek and pursue peace. Peace is elusive because we live in a world that has a history of conflict. Therefore we must seek and pursue peace.
· Jesus is our Peace. He’s the Prince of Peace.
· Peace with God is achieved by faith in Jesus our Savior (Rm.5:1) and our unconditional surrender to Him as Lord.
· The Peace of God is God’s utter sense of well-being in us through rejecting worry and fear, praying with thanksgiving, and thinking (meditating on) good positive holy thoughts (Philippians 4:6-9).
· God is the God of Peace. It’s in His name (Jehovah-Shalom) because it’s in His nature.
· Peace is part of His kingdom. (Rm.14:7)
· Peace is the fruit of His Spirit in our lives. (Gal.5:22)
· We are to pursue Peace with all men. (Heb.12:14; Rm.14:19)
· Peacemakers are called by Jesus “children of God.” (Mt.5:9)
· We are to speak peace over ourselves, our people, and our circumstances. Jesus spoke, “Peace be still.”
· God is a Man of War against those who will not be peaceful on His terms. (Ex.15:3)
· Solomon’s name means Peace.
Study Solomon’s story in First Kings, chapters 1-10 and Second Chronicles, chapters 1-9.
“During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety.” (1Ki.4:25)
The peaceful reign of Solomon teaches us several things:
1. Peace comes through strength. Solomon had a mighty army. It takes a fight to win and keep the peace. But our battle is not with people. We have the armor of God that we need to put on daily to win the peace over Satan and his demons (Eph.6:10-18). It takes strong warriors who fight to have peace.
2. Peace enables us to build. Solomon built his house and the house of God (Temple). The first thing Solomon built was the house of God (Temple). It took a labor force of 183,600 working seven years to build it. That’s not counting the wall around Jerusalem, all the palaces (Solomon’s took 13 years to build), cities and ships. Plus all the furniture for all those structures. When he had furnished and finished the Temple, “a thick dark cloud filled the Temple,” which was the glory of God.” (1Ki.8:10-11) Three times each year Solomon offered a massive number of “peace offerings” at that Temple. Christians are called to build. We are God’s fellow-workers in the building of His Church, the house of God (1Cor.3:9-16). It takes a lot of spiritual strength and determination to build the house of God. What are you building? Character in your children? The church of the Lord Jesus Christ? What? We are builders and building takes a lot of strength.
3. Peace brings unity and growth. First thing Solomon had to do when He became king was get rid of all those who wanted to divide the kingdom. Unity is only possible where there is peace, and peace only thrives in unity.
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(It glorifies God to glorify man.)
Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” (Jn.13:31)
What Jesus said here refers directly to Himself. He is the Son of Man He is talking about here. He often called Himself by that title. Ironically, He was not the son of a man, because He was born of a virgin! He was human, but He got His humanity from Mary, His mother. She is not the mother of God, as Catholics like to call her. Jesus had no human father, so He was not the Son of Man in that sense. Then why does He call Himself the Son of Man? He uses this as a title the prophet Daniel gave Him to identify the Messiah as being human. This is hugely significant. Christ had to become human to be our Kinsman-Redeemer. Son of Man means He is one of us! He is human. When Jesus was glorified, so was God. This didn’t just happen after his ascension, after He went back to heaven. In John 1:14 the apostle wrote, “The Word was made flesh (at His birth) and we beheld His glory.” Jesus always glorified God, especially in the gospel: His death, burial, and resurrection, which was about to happen “immediately.”
The point is – Jesus is one of us. He is human. He was and is fully man. Someone has put it this way: “The Son of God became the Son of Man that the sons of men might become sons of God.” So, we will also look at this verse as referring to the redeemed sons of man. The purpose of God in our creation and salvation is to make us like Jesus, the Son of Man (Gen.1:26-27; Rm.8:29; 2Cor.3:8; 1Jn.3:2).
When man is glorified by God, God is glorified. It’s not when man glorifies himself, God is glorified; it’s when God glorifies man, God is glorified. First, when Jesus (His human name) is glorified, God is glorified. Then when redeemed man is glorified, God is glorified.
To see the scope of salvation we must not look at fallen man first. That would be like beginning to watch a movie in the middle of it. We begin with the original creation of man. God glorified man in Eden by making Him in His likeness. He was the Governor of the Garden, the Lord of the Land, the Emperor of Eden. Being in the likeness of God, a son of God, He could have fellowship with Him. When man sinned that image and likeness to God was marred and man’s glory was gone. His name became Ichabod. His spirit, soul, and body died to God and began to decay. The image and dominion God gave him was not what it once was and he became what has been called “glorious ruins.” We became “by nature children of wrath.” (Eph.2:3) Man no longer glorified God but became sinful. Satan became “the ruler of this world.” (Jn.16:11)
Christ came to restore God’s image and dominion to fallen man. Jesus was and is the perfect man, the second man, the exact image of God: He was good and shining like God.
But it wasn’t enough that He be that by birth and a sinless life as a man. He was on a mission to restore the rest of mankind. For that it would take His seed being planted in the earth through His death and burial; and then reproduced by His resurrection and all His elect with Him.
Jesus was glorified ultimately in His death and resurrection as the Head of a new race of people. The glory that man lost in the Garden was restored by Jesus through His gospel. First Jesus, the Head of this new race, as the Son of Man glorified God and was glorified by God (Phil.2:5-11). Then by His death and resurrection and ascension, the body of Christ, the sons of man and of God, were glorified by God and glorified God. That is what Jesus is talking about in Jn.13:31. Not only was Jesus glorified by His death, resurrection, and ascension, but the Father was as well. Consider the last phrase in Philippians 2:5-11. When Jesus glorified the Father, the Father glorified Him, and all those who are in Him. It glorified God to glorify Christ and it glorifies God to glorify Christians.
The glorification of man is done by God, not by us. It glorifies God to glorify man. That might sound like heresy until you closely examine what is being said. It sounds like heresy if we are talking about glorifying ourselves. But it’s not if we are talking about God glorifying us. God “highly exalted Jesus” and He glorifies all who are in Him.
At this point I want us to look at the whole spectrum of salvation.
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In the Old Testament God did things for man. When man called on His name He answered them and showed them great and mighty things (Jere.33:3). When man repented, God healed their land (2Chron.7:14).
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In the gospels God did things with man. Emmanuel means “God with us” and He being with us in the flesh met all the needs of man by teaching and performing miracles. “Until now you have asked the Father nothing…” (Jn.16:24) Jesus showed us what it was like when God was with us.
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After Pentecost we see what God did through man because He was in man. God does everything by the power that is in us. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Check out Romans 8:30 where it talks about God already having glorified all those whom He has called and justified. There is no future tense here. It’s all past tense. It’s not that God is speaking about the future as though it was in His mind as already been accomplished, like in the glorification of our bodies at His coming. The whole context of this passage is about what God is doing (Rm.8:28) and what He has already done (v.29-30). He has already glorified us! All because we are “In Christ.”
Then in John 17:22 Jesus said, “And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me…” None of this is future tense. “The glory which You gave Me, I have given them.” This is the glorification of man by God.
What would happen if we fully realized this truth? If we truly believed? We would be like Jesus. And if we were like Jesus, we would be doing the works of Jesus (Jn.14:12). We are not Jesus, but like Jesus. Was Jesus ever sick? No! Was He ever demon-oppressed and needed to be delivered? No. Was he ever depressed? No. Did He ever break even the least of God’s commandments? No. Did He ever sin? No! Was He always doing good to others? Yes!
More than that, He went about healing the sick. He went about casting out demons and performing miracles. He was full of wisdom and “We have the mind of Christ,” Paul wrote (1Cor.2:16).
We become more and more like Jesus by God making us more like Jessus, by God transforming us into His likeness and glory. 2Cor.3:18 states, “We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” This is a process: “from glory to glory.” It happens the way 2Cor.4:16-18 says it happens. “Our light affliction is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.”
This is the New Covenant, where God is making us like Jesus, the Son of Man. This takes the sacrifice of holy blood, supplied by only our Lord Jesus Christ, and our faith in Him. And it takes the resurrection of a new creation. The New Covenant was sealed by the blood of Jesus, secured by His glorious resurrection, and supplied to us by His Holy Spirit through the new birth and fullness of the Spirit.
None of this glory mentioned here is future tense! It has already been accomplished by the gospel of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and consequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The hope of our calling is based on what He has already done in us. Paul prayed that God would “give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you might know what is the hope of His calling, what is the riches of His inheritance in the saints.” (Eph.1:17-18) I say again, the hope of our calling is based on what He has already done in us. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col.1:27)
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June 28, 2026 Rick Griffith
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Sunday Morning 6/21/2026 "Cultivating a Culture of Respect for the House of God" Gen. 28:10-22
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"Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." — James 4:17
OMISSION
Sins of commission — doing what we shouldn't; Sins of omission — not doing what we should
OBSTACLES — Two Reasons We Don't Do Good
"Oh no!" — Fear - The priest and the Levite — Good Samaritan (Luke 10)
"Oh man..." — Discouragement - The buried talent — Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25)
OFFERINGS — Three Kinds of Good Works
Ordinary — Costing Little - Rebekah's cup of water | The bike
Overwhelming — Costing Much - Rebekah watering ten camels | Writing my books
Outweighed — Receiving More Than It Cost
Rebekah receives Isaac, riches, a place in the lineage of Christ
Amber and Timber — relationship, joy, the Word
ORDAINED — We Were Made for This
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." — Ephesians 2:10
"In all things show yourself to be a pattern of good works." — Titus 2:7
"...zealous for good works." — Titus 2:14
"...ready for every good work." — Titus 3:1
"...that they may not be unfruitful." — Titus 3:14
OBEDIENCE — Own It
1. What good work are you avoiding?
2. Are you ready?
3. What excuse are you making?
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." — Ephesians 2:10
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Sunday, June 14th
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June 7, 2026. A message from our Pastors Wife, Holli Simpson, on a special day to celebrate her retirement! Enjoy this life-giving message.
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May 31, 2026 Sunday Morning.
This is not Elijah, but this prophet performed more miracles than Elijah or any other in the Old Testament, with the possible exception of Moses.
Read the Story
The big takeaway from this is YOU CAN DO WHAT ELISHA DID! Miracles! The Bible is a book of miracles, because it is the book about God, and the God of the Bible is the Good of miracles. Elisha did 21 miracles: he raised the dead: (2 Kings 4:35), multiplied food (4:43), and healed a leper (5:15). Besides that, he did one after he had died (2Kings 13:21). Jesus the Son of Man did many more miracles. The Book of Acts is full of miracles and so is church history until this very day. We have the weapon of prayer because Elijah did many miracles and all in answer to prayer (Jas.5:17-18)
How so? What has his story got to do with Christians living in the 21st Century? Well, we live under the New and better Covenant. We need to know this as we make our way through the Old Testament. (Testament is a testimony to the covenant.) These stories are full of miracles, all produced by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the name of Jehovah, the covenant name of God which comes to us by the name of Jesus, which means Jehovah Saves. David killed Goliath and won all his many victories after he was anointed by the Holy Spirit. Elisha did all his miracles after he received a double portion of the Spirit that was upon Elijah (2Ki.2:15). What do these stories have to do with we who live in New Testament times?
These O.T. miracles are mostly isolated events performed by carefully selected prophets, kings, and priests. You have a Moses turning water into blood and an Elisha blinding and capturing an entire enemy army. But in the N.C. the Spirit doesn’t just come upon isolated individuals every few hundred years; He comes upon “all flesh.” (Acts 2:17) What was reserved for special leaders under the O.C. is now given to every believer under the N.C.
Think of Jesus’ teaching in John about the Seed being planted and dying, which speaks of Him dying and being planted in the earth and rising, and along with Him a multitude with the same life and power He had, to do the same things He did. He said so (Jn.14:12). Plant a grain of corn and you reap many grains of corn – identical to the one that was planted. In salvation, you are the harvest of that one holy Seed (Jesus) with the identical qualities of that original Seed. You can do what He did. He said so (Mk.16:17-18). If you die to yourself you can produce the same results as that Seed; if you, like that Seed, are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit that came upon Elisha in the O.T. is the same Spirit who came upon believers in the N.T. Therefore we are equipped to do the same things Elisha did, and more! The Spirit that came at Pentecost changed everything with the words “all flesh.” We are being transformed into the same image as Elisha. No! We are being transformed into the image of Jesus, not Elisha!!! Christ died as the Seed and rose again, and poured out His Spirit to produce a redeemed seed (people) who are like Him (Gen.1:26-27; Rm.8:29).
When we read or teach these O.T. stories to the kids and others, don’t just leave them with wonderful stories of days gone by, with some moral values and lessons thrown in. David helped his dad on the farm and God saw his faithfulness and promoted him to help God; David used what he had (a sling); David laid his life on the line for something greater than himself, and so forth. We are living in N.T. times, under the New Covenant of grace! The same Spirit who came upon David to bring giants down, comes upon us to defeat our enemies and the enemies of our land, spiritual enemies who are destroying people’s lives and homes. Students and teachers are you getting this? You are called to share the gospel, the full gospel with everyone.
God is raising up believers in this generation who are getting a hold of this and we will fill our county, state, and nation with the salvation of God, the fullness of the Spirit, and miracles such as salvation and healings and deliverances. I believe that. Do you believe that? Then let us rise up, receive the baptism with the Spirit and begin to preach the gospel with the demonstration of the Spirit and power to God, to turn the world upside down like they did in the Book of Acts.
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May 27, 2026, Wednesday Night Pastor Terry Preaches a passage on John and the perplexities of what Jesus said.
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King David had promised Bathsheba that her son Solomon would be the next king. But while David was on his deathbed, Adonijah, another son of David, proclaimed himself king instead. So David got out of bed and crowned Solomon the next king. After David died Solomon prayed and asked God for a wise heart to govern Israel. God heard him and gave him gravy on his biscuit; He told him He was going to add wealth to that wisdom. Solomon became the wisest and wealthiest man in the world. He wrote 1005 songs and 3,000 proverbs, one song made it into the Bible, along with a book of Proverbs. People came from everywhere to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart. The most notable one was the Queen of Sheba. She questioned him about everything and saw all his wealth and her breath was taken away. She was overwhelmed. She gave him 15,280 pounds of gold and much more. You can count on it; she left with more than she came with.
He was the wealthiest man on earth. He had an annual income of 86,000 tons of gold. By today’s standard of $4500 an ounce, you figure out how much gold this man had. The value of gold never changes. The value of the dollar changes constantly; ever heard of inflation? Gold has the same value today as it did in Solomon’s day. That amount of gold in our day would be worth - $12,564,000,000,000. Elon Musk couldn’t carry this man’s baggage. He was the wisest man in the world and the wealthiest man in the world.
What does a person with so much wisdom and wealth do? Build the house of God. He used 5,000 tons of gold, plus silver and jewels to build that house of God. He poured his wisdom and wealth into the house of God. Wise man. It took 153,000 seven years, working six days a week to build that temple.
We know from the New Testament that the house of God in our day is the church (1Tim.1:15).
But Solomon went from being the wisest man in the world to the stupidest man in the world. Check it out. His heart turned from God and he began to love foreign women who worshiped idols. He became an idolator. He built temples to these abominable gods in Jerusalem, right alongside God’s temple that he had built. He offered sacrifices to these pagan gods. “His heart was not loyal to the Lord.” (11:4).
Sin has consequences. “So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord who had appeared to him twice.” Now the Lord raised up adversaries who attacked and rebelled against him and caused great damage to his kingdom.
Let’s make this relevant to N.T. Christians, to us. What would you do if you found yourself rich like Solomon and you had his wisdom? You would do like Solomon. You’d devote yourself to building the house of God. Let’s talk about the church. There’s a lot of ignorance concerning the house of God today.
1. For some, the word church is like a curse word, something they would not be a part of. They call themselves Christians but they never go to church and think the church is the scourge of the earth. I’ve met many like this. Meanwhile the Bible uses the word church continually, and refers to the house of God, the church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ many times. Jesus said, “I will build My church.” Keep in mind, when the Bible uses the word church, it is referring to a local church. There are seven of them listed in Rev.2-3 alone. The church is located in a place where Christians meet to carry on the worship and work of God on the earth.
Why do these people feel this way about Christ’s church? One word – hurt. They have been hurt by someone in a church. Instead of forgiving them as Christ had forgiven them, they choose not to forgive. Instead of being reconciled to those who have sinned against them, like Christ reconciled Himself to us through the blood of His cross, they refuse to be reconciled. They stay away. They have been wounded and blame the hospital for wounding them. Here’s a word that might help – forgive, as you say Christ has forgiven you. The worst church in the Bible, the one that made Jesus sick, He wasn’t kicking the door down to get out, He was knocking on that door to get in (Rev.3:14-20). “But there’s so many things wrong with the church.” Oh, like you’re so perfect? Identify what you think is wrong and get in there and try to help them get it right. That’s what Christ would do. What Would Jesus Do. They judge all churches by the one they were hurt in. Actually by that one person who hurt them. You tell them you found a good one where the word of God is preached and people love one another, and they think you are crazy. They have concluded that no such church exists.
2. There are others who don’t despise the word church; they just have a different definition of what the word church means. It’s not the church as it is described in the Bible. It’s their own little group of friends who meet in their homes. That’s so easy to do. You don’t have to mess with others who might disagree with you about something. Throw a little Bible reading in there and presto, you have a church! No you don’t. I’ve dealt with these people all my life. There’s much more to church than that. There’s missions. There’s tithing. There’s pastors and deacons. There’s accountability. There’s discipleship. There’s baptisms and communion. There’s preaching and teaching. And gifts of the Spirit. There’s church government.
Their problem? They can’t work well with or get along with others who are different from them. It’s like a group of fingers, people who are alike, but can’t work with a hand, or a wrist, or an arm, or a shoulder in the body of Christ. You get the picture. These fingers will accomplish nothing. They think they can be attached directly to the head, but no body in the world is like that. Christ’s body sure isn’t. Imagine fingers attached to the head.
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This whole scene speaks of servanthood, of serving others, of Christ serving others, and we being told to follow Christ’s example in serving others. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (v.14-15) Christ came to this earth to serve others. We know He came to Save others by being a sacrifice for our sins, but He also came to Serve us by washing our feet. He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be serve, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mk.10:45) Many won’t even go out of their way to greet others, much less wash their feet.
We can’t ever do the sacrifice that Christ did. He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. That is His glory and no one can take that away from Him. “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals, for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev.5:9-10). What kind of God humbles Himself to become human with a flesh and bones body, take a lifetime of abuse from people who didn’t understand Him or believe in Him, walk the dusty roads of a little conquered province; did nothing but speak the truth and help others who were in need, and then kneel down to wash people’s feet like a lowly slave? Then humble Himself to be stripped naked, beaten and hung on a cross as a punishment for other people’s sins? His name is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who loved His people so much through all that so they could be saved and be transformed into His likeness and reign with Him forever?
Here Christ expressly commands us to serve others. “You ought also to wash one anothers” feet.” This was not the kind of servant who stood at the lord’s table wearing the clean white glistening uniform who served others their wine at the dinners. This was the lowest servant in the house who had the job of washing the dirty feet of others when they came into the house. If you took a bath in those days, like BATHsheba, then put on sandals, it only took a few steps out of your house to have dusty feet. You needed your feet washed whenever you went into someone else’s house. The responsibility for doing that fell to the lowest servant.
That is what Jesus did on that fateful night. Remember, He knew He was only hours away from being arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and suffering the worst humiliation a human could ever suffer. And He knew it! Surely He had this on His mind, for He increasingly had mentioned it before He had come to this memorial night. And He knew something else. He knew who He was. The people might be confused about who He was, but He was not. “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.” (v.13)
What humility! First the serving, then the suffering and the sacrifice – all for others! He had spent His entire life serving others (Acts 10:38). Everything He did was for others. He came into this world for others. “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, others.” He lived for others, then He died for others. Even now He ever lives to intercede before His Father’s throne for others. All He ever thought about was others.
What about you? You claim to be a follower of Jesus. Do you spend your days and nights thinking of others and serving them? What you might do for them? Our profession of faith is hypocrisy if we do not.
Let’s enter into that Upper Room that night and watch what happens.
READ THE STORY
1. Do you have a servant’s heart and hands?
2. Whose feet can you wash tonight and tomorrow? In your home, in this church, in your community?
3. In serving others you are serving Christ. What we do for others we do for Christ. That’s what He said. You take care of others and He will take care of you. If God would transport you to any place in Christ’s ministry, where would you choose to be? Would you like to have been there when He fed the multitudes? What an amazing time! They wanted to take Him and make Him king. Perhaps when He raised Lazarus from the dead? The whole of Israel came to see Lazarus after he was raised. Years ago I said to myself, “I think I would like to have been with Him in Gethsemane because there I could have served Him. The one time He needed someone to serve Him and nobody did. They were either asleep or betraying Him. I wish I could have been there then. It says angels came to serve Him.” But then I thought, I don’t have to go back to that Garden to serve Him, I have His body with me now. I have the Body of Christ here right now.” But serving them I am serving Him.
4. Christ is not calling us to die for others, He is calling us to live for others, and to serve them.
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Today your breakthrough comes! Today God begins to intervene in your circumstances. If God ever intervenes in your life, it will be a day that is called TODAY. You’ve been pushing and today you break through the enemy forces. You’ve got to believe that. If it ever happens, why not today? Why not while you’re reading this? You will walk out of the room you’re in saying, “I have got it!” You will break through because today God will begin to intervene. Today your Goliath comes down. Today you will hear His voice, walk out, and collect the spoils of God’s intervention. If not for you, then for someone you love whom you’ve been praying for. They need a breakthrough in their finances, health, relationship, or deliverance from substance abuse. Today is their day.
It’s happened before in the Bible. That’s why we know it can happen in our lives. That’s why we have a Bible – to tell us what God can do and what He has done for others, and will do for us. God’s intervention is the breakthrough you need as you hear and read this story. As you hear the word of God, faith will rise up in you and you will say, “I’ve got my breakthrough! God has intervened! I believe it!” We don’t wait till we see it to believe it; we believe and then see it. First comes the word, then comes faith, then comes the experience, the victory of God’s intervention.
Do you need God to intervene in your life right now? The answer is yes you do. If not for you then for someone you know. Maybe for a health issue, or for financial help or a relationship problem, or a new or better job, for some addiction you’d like to be free from. God is known to intervene in people’s lives for all those things and more. He is a deliverer, healer, and Savior.
This is one of the many stories in the Bible where people got desperate for a God-intervention, and God did intervene. But He didn’t and doesn’t do so automatically. For a divine intervention it requires action on our part. The Bible is very clear on this. The Bible is full of examples of how people got God to intervene, and full of His promises to intervene in our lives.
READ THE STORY
God intervenes when we pray. But sometimes we pray and He does not. Sometimes we don’t get our prayers answered. There is a reason for that and it’s never God’s fault. If we pray His will we find in the Scriptures, in faith, He always intervenes (Jer.33:3). He will step in and save the day. He delights to do this. He delights to intervene. This is the story of the entire Bible.
Take care of the following things and God will intervene. Sometimes God doesn’t intervene because we are too careless or too shallow with our prayers. There’s no passion in our prayers (v.3-4). We don’t pray like blind Bartimaeus prayed, or like Jehoshaphat prayed.
Sometimes people don’t know enough of the word of God to appeal to Him on the basis of His word. When you pray you need to go to Him with a promise He has given. Prayer must be according to the will of God found in His word (1Jn.5:14-15). Look at 2Chron.20:6-9,11,18-19 and you will see that Jehoshaphat knew the word of God and he prayed accordingly. Get a promise from God and pray that promise. He will only intervene according to His will. If you pray the will of God, He will intervene. God intervenes when we pray and begin to praise Him. “When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Amnon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.” (v.22)
Sometimes God doesn’t intervene in people’s lives because their lives are not aligned with the purposes of God. This is different from the previous paragraph. You can quote the Bible back to God all day long, but if you ask and do not receive it is because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your own pleasures (Jas.4:4). Look at 2Chron.20:11,15-16. Your prayers are to “consume it on your own lust,” then go on your merry way, why should God intervene? Why should He answer your prayers?
Sometimes we just don’t believe. Jesus said, “Believe that you receive and you shall have whatever you ask.” (Mk.11:24) The prophet said, “Believe and you will prosper.” God will intervene.
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John 12:36-50
No doubt about it, God does harden some people’s hearts against Him so they can’t believe in Him: so they can’t hear and see what He says and shows people. It is stated several times in the Bible (Rm.9:18-25; Is.6:8-13; Ex.4:21; Mt.12:31-32 & 13:10-16). There is this thing of “Shaking the dust off of your feet” and not “Casting your pearls before swine.” Genesis 6:3 shows that from the Fall to the Flood man was not under the Old Covenant but was under the law of sowing and reaping (Gal.6:7-8 – man has always lived under this law). Man continually sowed to the flesh until there was no remedy so God sent a flood to destroy them. He finally gave up on them, except for Noah and his family who “found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
John 12:36 shows how this hardening begins: “These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. If left to ourselves, our hearts become dead, cold, and hardened. “Verse 37 explains why it happens: “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.” All mysteries are hidden from those who refuse to simply believe.
You don’t want this to ever happen to you or your loved ones (Prov.19:1). This would be the death of all hope in the Lord, when He finally says, “Enough! I’m through with you.” He did this with Esau (Heb.12:15-17) These rejecting and hardening Scriptures are very difficult but they must be dealt with because they are in the Bible. We must not ignore them simply because we do not like what they say. If you fear you have committed this “unpardonable sin” (1Jn.5:16) then you probably have not.
First, all God-given prophecies must be fulfilled. Every one of them. “That the saying of the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.” Prophecy is God foretelling what He is going to do. In this passage what had He said He was going to do? Hide the truth from those who would not receive the light He brought to them. Therefore, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes…” This is not God preordaining some to destruction willy nilly. It is God doing what He said He would do with those who refuse to hear what He said, or read what is written of Him in the Scriptures. Controversy and confusion comes to those who refuse to believe the revelation and follow the Light they have been given.
Secondly, great emphasis is given in the Bible to those who, by the grace of God, choose to believe in the light God gives them: “among the chief rulers also many believed on Him.” These guys may have been too chicken to confess it before the Pharisees, but they did believe. Their time would come, when push came to shove, as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus proved, they would step forward and throw in their lot with those who believed in Jesus.
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Sunday Evening with Dewey Williams
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Daniel’s Decision
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s food and drink.” (Daniel 1:8)
Behold the power of a decision, if God and your heart are in it, to set the course of your future. We sing, “I have decided to follow Jesus… no turning back.” How do you know God was not in your decision? You turned back. If God is in the decision and your heart is in it, you won’t turn back. I have settings on my clothes washer (Full, Medium, Delicate) that determine how that thing will run. I make it, punch it, and the cycle is set and running. When you decide to follow Jesus, set the cycle of your life on Full, not medium or delicate. For me it was full speed ahead. Full commitment meant full surrender. I never again had to decide whether I was going to church or not, read my Bible, pray, or whatever the Lord wanted me to do.
Life is made up of decisions. The biggest, most important one you will ever make is to once and for all make up your mind to follow Jesus and by so doing ‘set the cycle’ of your obedience. That means you make Him Lord and Savior. That decision will determine everything else for your future and eternity.
Jesus set the cycle in Gethsemane when He prayed, “Not My will but Yours be done.” The cycle was set and that decision to suffer determined the possibility of the salvation of the world.
After that there are other decisions: who you will marry and your career. What will you spend the rest of your life doing? Discover your passion, get good at it, find someone who will pay you to do it, and you’ll never have to work another day in your life. These are important decisions you will make. Don’t mess them up.
In every decision you make to do the will of God you will find that there are enemies who will try to throw you off course. Sometimes these enemies are friends and family! Your number one enemy will be Peer Pressure. David faced it when he decided to fight Goliath; Joseph faced it with his brothers; you will too.
Daniel faced it. He was hauled off to a distant pagan Babylon where his name was changed, along with his food and his clothes. He was ordered to eat things God had commanded the Jews not to eat. A contemporary named Ezekiel ended up in a refugee camp, but Daniel was put in the king’s palace to be trained to serve the king. We pick up the story here. Please read Daniel chapter one.
Lessons Learned:
1. You can’t make a difference if you are not different. You can’t make a difference in your family, school, church, community, and world if you don’t decide from your heart to be different and do different. In order to be extraordinary, you must put an extra into your ordinary. Personally I don’t want to be one of the herd; I want to be the “bell cow.” Don’t shoot for an average grade; shoot for an A.
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The world has its champions; God has His. God has called each of His children to be a champion in His holy cause in the earth. When you look in the mirror, do you see a champion for God? You should.
Read this powerful exciting familiar story as if it were the first time.
I. Are there any more evil enemy giants in the land? YES!
There are more than you might think; Goliath had four brothers. Their tribe has not died out. The enemies of good and freedom are plenty: abortion, sins of sex (adultery, fornication, pornography, child abuse and trafficking), drugs like alcohol that are addictive, harmful and deadly, Islam (whole cities in the U.S. are controlled by Muslims (New Palestine) who hate America, dead religion and churches, unbelief on college campuses, socialism (two major cities have socialist mayors, one is a Muslim socialist). You’d be surprised how much Muslims and Nazis have in common – Hitler is one of their heroes. You could probably name more Goliaths, evil and mighty champions who threaten to enslave people. They’re still bellowing their threats to freedom loving people.
II. Are there any Davids around?
I believe the answer is YES! Some of them may be reading this right now. They may still be living at home doing their chores (tending the sheep), but they are around. I’ve been praying for God to raise Davids in every congregation. Leaders who will show others the victory that can come in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Could be anybody, even the least among us; like David, the one we most least expect.
But we need to realize this whole warfare against Goliaths is now spiritual.
1. You must be submitted to God (and those He has put you under in authority, like your parents, teachers, or boss) before you can resist the devil and make him flee from you (Jas.4:7).
2. You must have the anointing of the powerful Spirit of God. David killed Goliath AFTER the Spirit came upon him. He became Israel’s champion after… He became king after… He became Israel’s greatest king after…
3. You must know that there is a cause greater than yourself. You don’t win the battles for yourself. You do it for the glory of God’s name and the good of his people. You must get over yourself. It’s like joining an Olympic team and realizing you are training and winning those Gold Medals for your team and for America. You represent a whole nation. Davids must know “there is a cause” and it is the people of God who are defeated right now in so many ways and in bondage to wrong things.
4. You must have confidence in the name of Jesus to defeat these giants and leave with their heads in your hands. Champions must realize that “Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world.”
5. You must know how to use your weapons. David knew how to use that slingshot. Your weapons in this spiritual warfare are prayer and the word of God.
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THE RESURRECTED LIFE
Victory Over the Flesh: Our Sin Nature
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal body
through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Easter means Jesus is risen from the dead! But what does that mean to 21st Century Christians? What does that mean for us NOW? I mean, aside from the hope we have for our future resurrection and eternal life? NOW is important. It’s where we live. What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean for us today? It means this – His resurrected life has invaded our bodies!
Resurrection life is what Christ offers to those who want it. It is His life, because “as He is, so are we in this world.” (1Jn.4:17) How is He? He is risen from the dead with power and victory over all His enemies. “So are we in this world.”
There’s a dilemma here: many Christians do not live the resurrected life. The passions of the flesh still hold an undue influence over them. They live defeated lives. They worry, which is a sin. They are in bondage to sexual sins. They are depressed. They are sick. They live in chronic pain. Without hope. Their relationships are fractured to the point that they are ready to throw in the towel. They are lonely. They have little joy, no peace, and no sense of purpose in life. All of this is not “as He is so are we in this world.”
But there is good news! Christ has accomplished for us and offers to us a life of victory over all our enemies, over all the things I just mentioned, and more. He has already won the victory over our sinful nature, that nature in us because we are in our natural body which is connected with this natural fallen world because of sin. One part of the flesh is our propensity to sin, that constant pull against God’s holy will.
How do we make this resurrection life a reality? You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. You’d like to live without worry, fear, a string of broken relationships, and all the works of the flesh: “adultery, fornication, sexual immorality (which includes pornography), addiction to drugs, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I told you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal.5:19-21) You’ve tried to get victory over these things, but nothing has worked. You’re still not the kind of person you want to be.
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The King is Coming
“Behold, your King is coming! (John 12:12-19)
There are more than one comings of the Lord. He came to Eden to fellowship with the first couple on earth (Gen.2); He came to Abraham to eat with him and discuss the destruction of Sodom (Gen.18:1-8); He came to Moses to call him to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex.1-3); He came at various times and places to people in the Old Testament.
I. The King Coming in the Flesh.
A. Something changes when we come to the New Testament. He came in the flesh (Jn.1:14). Christmas changed everything. God became a baby, grew into a man. Why would He do that? To fulfill the purpose of man stated by God at creation. Adam failed, but Jesus did not. He showed us perfectly what God is like (Jn.14:9). He was the express image of the invisible God (Col.1:15). He demonstrated the love of God for sinners by dying on a cross to take the punishment for our wrongs. He then rose from the dead with an immortal human body. He did these things for the rest of mankind to deliver us from our sins, sicknesses, death, and ultimately the grave. He ascended to heaven and poured out the Holy Spirit.
B. One day we will have another one of God’s advents (theological word for coming). Revelation 19:11-16 graphically describes this final coming. It will be awesome and terrifying for those who have not surrendered to His Lordship; but it is wonderful and glorious for those who have, for they will come with Him in their glorified bodies to rule the earth, as finally “the will of God will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.”
C. Between the two advents, the first and final comings of the Lord, is another coming; found in our text, introduced with these words, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Put yourself in this place, this city, Jerusalem, your nation’s capital, the city of the great King. You’re in town to worship and celebrate the annual Passover with perhaps a million other visitors that day. You are unaware that the real Passover Lamb is about to arrive and you are going to see Him. You are about to do what John the Baptist told us to do: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.”
You’re walking around doing a little shopping and people begin to stir and move toward the road leading into the city, toward the gate. You ask, “What’s going on?” Someone tells you, “Jesus the prophet is coming, the One we think might be our true King and Messiah.” You join the crowded throng, as they move, shoulder to shoulder, toward the entrance to the city. You hear voices lifted up: “The King is Coming! The King is Coming!” You watch as He comes into view, riding like the prophet predicted, on a donkey. People are cutting off palm branches; others are taking their coats off to lay in His path. It’s an ancient “Ticker Tape Parade.” There is celebration, fullness of joy, and shouting. Even His enemies, the Pharisees, are saying, “Look! The world has gone after Him!” What a day! A day you will never forget.
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Sunday evening, March 22, 2026
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Wednesday, March 11th Continued series in John 11
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Four Types of Vessels God Uses for His Glory
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."
— Colossians 3:23
God is not looking for impressive. He is looking for available.
1. CHOSEN VESSELS — Set Apart for a Specific Purpose
"This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel." — Acts 9:15
• God's call doesn't always arrive dramatically.
• Sometimes it's a persistent burden you simply cannot shake.
• Opposition you face may be evidence your calling is real.
2. COMMON VESSELS — Faithful in the Everyday
"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."
— 2 Timothy 2:20-21
• Age doesn't matter. Status doesn't matter.
• Expect nothing in return. Just do what you can, where you are.
• In God's economy, there are no small acts of obedience — only faithful ones.
3. BROKEN VESSELS — Beautiful in Their Weakness
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
— 2 Corinthians 12:9
• Brokenness comes from more than one direction — from our choices, from others, from both.
• Kintsugi: broken pottery repaired with gold — more beautiful because of what it survived.
• People don't need our polish — they need our testimony.
4. EMPTY VESSELS — Ready to Be Filled
"It is enough, Lord. Take my life."
— 1 Kings 19:4 (Elijah)
• A vessel already full has no room for a miracle.
• Empty ≠ idle. Rest, rebuild, and listen — but don't drift.
• God never fills a vessel just to keep it on the shelf.
• The filling is always preparation for the pouring out.
Jesus Was All Four — On Purpose
Chosen (Isaiah 42:1) Common (Luke 2:51-52) Broken (1 Cor. 11:24) Empty (Philippians 2:7)
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." — Ephesians 2:10
Whatever vessel you are in this season — the good works are already waiting.
The vessel just has to be willing.
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1. What this was not. It was not part of what Paul called “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1Cor.15:20) In the first place it happened before Christ was resurrected and with Him brought others from the dead at that time (Mt.27:51-53). The raising of Lazarus happened at least a week before Jesus had even died.
2. Lazarus did not rise in the same sense Jesus did with a glorified body. After Jesus raised him from the dead he was no different than he was before he died, except he wasn’t sick (Jn.12:2). We are left to believe that he eventually died like everyone else who dies and has not been resurrected yet.
3. We have here a warning for all those who are tempted to believe all the testimonies of those today who claim to have died, gone to heaven, and came back to tell us what all they saw and heard. In contrast to all that we have the Bible. Lazarus came back and as far as we know said nothing about where he was or what he saw and heard. This would have been a good opportunity for that, wouldn’t you think? To pull back the veil and open heaven up to us. But we have nothing in the inspired Scriptures from anyone who came back from the dead giving us such information. Paul said that he went to the third heaven and later said nothing about where he was or what he saw and heard. This would have been another good opportunity to reveal to us what happens when we die. Quite the contrary, he wrote that he heard “inexpressible words, which are not lawful for a man to utter.” (2Cor.12:14) Beware of those who say they died, saw Jesus, and then came back to write books about it. We don’t need these things to tell us there is life after death. The Bible makes that very clear. It fully and adequately informs us that there is.
Coming out of church one Sunday morning a lady handed me a book she asked me to read that had blessed her life so much. I took it and later that week read about 10 pages, closed it and put it aside. Next week I handed the book back to her and she asked me if I had read it and what I thought. I said I hadn’t and told her why. It was a book about somebody’s “out of body experience.” I told her I would not have believed a word of it and I didn’t read such nonsense. She was aghast! And told me she had become convinced, after reading that book, that there was life after death. I took her Bible out of her arms, showed it to her and said, “I became convinced of life after death by reading This Book, the Bible!
4. His resurrection was a display of the glory of God (Jn.11:40). What a display it was! A man who had been dead for four days without being embalmed, actually raised from the dead by the mere words of Jesus (v.43-44). Jesus shouted, “Lazarus! Come out!” A wise man once said, “Good thing He called his name or everybody in the graves would have come out! Lazarus came out hoping because he was wrapped up like a mummy. When they unwrapped him he was just like he was before he died; except, like I said, he wasn’t sick.
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THREE PRACTICES FOR EVERY NEW NORMAL - Kim Trujillo
1. NAME THE SEASON - What season am I in?
- Ruth (Ruth 1:16): Named it "planting season"
- Planted herself in foreign land through faithful work
- Galatians 6:9 - "At the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"
- Empty Nest: Named it "releasing season"
- Time to refrain from embracing (Ecclesiastes 3:5)
- Proverbs 22:6 - Train them, then trust God with them
Your Turn: Look at Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 and actually name your season.
2. DO WHAT THE SEASON REQUIRES - What does THIS season need that the last one didn't?
- Sarah (Genesis 21:6): Waiting season required trust, not control
- Isaiah 55:8-9 - God's ways are higher than ours
- Psalm 30:5 - "Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning"
- Retirement: Togetherness season requires sacrifice, not selfishness
- Philippians 2:3-4 - "Value others above yourselves"
Your Turn: Stop using last season's strategies.
- What worked before might not work now
- Ask God what THIS season needs
- Do it even when it's hard
3. TRUST THE HIDDEN PURPOSES - What is God growing in me through this?
- Corrie ten Boom: Fleas seemed like more suffering
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "Give thanks in all circumstances"
- God's hidden purpose: Fleas kept guards away → freedom for ministry
- Romans 8:28 - "In ALL things God works for the good of those who love him"
The Growth Promise: Philippians 1:6 - "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion"
THE ULTIMATE NEW NORMAL:
Ecclesiastes 3:2 - "A time to be born, and a time to die"
For believers:
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 - "An eternal house in heaven"
- Philippians 1:21 - "To live is Christ and to die is gain"
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March 1, 2026 Sunday Morning
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What is God Doing in the World Today?
Whatever God is doing, we are fellow workers with Him.
He is Rebuilding the Tabernacle of David
“I will return and rebuild the Tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up.” (Acts 15:16)
In our next chapter I will bring out the immediate context of this phrase “The Tabernacle of David” and what that means. But for now…
The church must be UNIFIED on what church is supposed to be like. If you and some friends landed on a deserted island and someone had a Bible, and you all began to read it and became Christians, what would you think church was supposed to be like? We are presently at a serious disadvantage when it comes to this. Most people think church should be like what they were brought up in and are used to. We must not do that. We must go by the Bible. Why? Because it is God’s word that alone tells us what God wants His own church to be like and how it’s supposed to function. If all you had was a Bible, what would your church look like? What would it be doing? The devil would like nothing better than for us or any church to not go by the Bible. A church needs to agree that what God says in the Bible is what God wants for His church.
What is the Tabernacle of David mentioned in the text? When David became king of Israel, the first thing he did was move the Ark of the Covenant, which was in the Tabernacle of Moses, from Shiloh to Jerusalem. At Gibeon there was no music. Just sacrifices. But when King David moved it to Jerusalem, he did so with much music. Much music! “Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments… Then David danced before the Lord with all his might.” (2Sam.6:5,14) So, part of the rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David was this singing with musical instruments, of which there were no such things at the Tabernacle of Moses. Solomon moved the Ark into the Temple and set up the worship with the music of David. There were hundreds “singing with cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, with 120 trumpets. When they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” (2Chron.5:11-14) Then we have Psalm 150.
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Wednesday Night 2/18/2026 "The Cause and Cure of Unbelief"
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February 15, 2026 "Do your Job"
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“The disciples asked, ‘Why could we not cast the demon out?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief.” (Matthew 17:14-21-21)
“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:21-29)
“Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.” (11:22-23)
We don’t think or talk about unbelief much. In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing a sermon on unbelief. I don’t think I’ve ever preached a sermon on this vitally important subject. We’re going to read about it now and learn about this dangerous poison that keeps our faith from working and our prayers from being answered.
We are still looking at God’s answering our prayers from the springboard of John chapter eleven. I have previously shown how the Bible emphatically teaches that God always answers our prayers with a resounding, although sometimes delayed, Yes! We must not take away from Jesus’ teachings on this subject, which we see in this passage of Jn.11 and the rest of the gospels. James writes, “The prayer of faith will save the sick.” God answers Yes to every prayer prayed according to the will of God with faith. The integrity of God Himself and His word are at stake here, and the promises of God, which are always Yes and Amen.
Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you.” (Mt.7:11) Not, “Ask and it might be given to you.” We can never deny that the teachings of Jesus will not allow anything other than “It will be given to you.” You’ll never find Jesus saying, “You pray in faith and the Father will sometimes say Yes and sometimes No. Jesus never said, “You pray and the Father will sometimes give you what you ask for and sometimes He won’t. The answer is up to Him.” The Bible never teaches that. Not once.
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Non-Essentials are things some Christians believe but others may not. It’s not that some non-essentials are not important. They’re just not important to some Christians. In the church we have liberty to differ over anything considered non-essential. Many non-essentials boil down to personal preferences, like the types of worship music. Then it could include things like different views of the Millenium.
I share these essentials because all local church members should be united in these matters. If another member agrees with the Essentials he has liberty to differ in other matters. Only those who agree with the Essentials should be given places of teaching and leadership in the church.
I. The Bible. “We believe the Holy Bible to be the inspired and only infallible record of the revelation of God in human history. It is the final authority in matters of faith and practice. It is the Word of God.” (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
There are 66 books in the Bible: Old and New Testament (Covenant). God used many writers, at different times, using different languages, to say exactly what He wanted said. Every part of all the Bible is the Word of God. It contains truth without any mixture of error in whatever subject it addresses: history, science, and spiritual matters. It uses figurative language: prose, poetry, metaphors, similes, parables, antinomies, hyperbole, etc. to communicate perfectly what God wanted to say.
II. The Trinity. “We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Lk.3:22) This is a mystery – something we would not know unless God revealed it to us. Our beliefs are based on Revelation, not human Reason.
When Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, he lied to God (Acts 5:3-4). In the Bible, only God is to be worshiped. There are two thrones before whom all creation worships (Revelation 5). All three are to be worshiped because all three are God in one Being.
III. Jesus Christ. “We believe in the deity and humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ: His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the Father in heaven, and in His personal return in power and glory.” (John 1:1-3,14; 1 Timothy 3:16) This is another mystery we accept by faith, how that God and man can be united in one Person. Within the person of Christ are two natures: divine and human. The Son of God became the Son of Man without ceasing to be either at any time.
Jesus did all His miracles as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). He is the only Savior of mankind (1Jn.4:14; Acts 4:12), our Example of what a human should be like (1Pet.2:21). In salvation God is making us to be like Jesus (Rm.8:29).
Salvation from sin and all its consequences is only through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31; Jn.3:16). John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away sin and the One who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit (Jn.1:29-33). Everyone should ask himself, “Has Christ taken away my sins and has He baptized me with the Holy Spirit? (Acts 1:4-5,8)
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The Way of Faith
“Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? ” (John 11:40
Someone says, “Pastor, why can’t you just preach some nice Bible stories and give some good moral lessons from them? All this teaching on faith is kinda boring to me and I can’t really get into it.”
Well, the Bible is not a book of morals, neither is it just stories of people from Biblical history, like David and Goliath. The Bible teaches morals, of course (10 Commandments), but that is not its purpose. You can learn every heart-warming and exciting story in the Bible and still die and go to hell. Neither pastors nor Sunday School teachers are here just to teach the stories and give some interesting points from them. Our job is to get people to believe in Christ and be saved, and learn how to walk by faith and get their prayers answered, and live a holy life by faith in the gospel.
The Bible is a book about salvation. Period. And that comes by faith. Tell me, what can be more important than getting your prayers answered, assuming you are asking the will of God and not something against His will, like “Lord, kill my neighbor because I don’t like him.”
First we need to see the importance of faith as taught to us in the Bible. “So…. You’re one of those faith preachers.” Guilty as charged. When you see the importance of faith in the Bible you’ll be glad to hear a faith preacher. We cannot be saved without faith; we cannot please God without faith; the just live by faith. On and on I could go. The Bible is full of faith. It is a faith book. Faith is what connects us to God. It’s the hand that receives from God all His promises.
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Sunday, February 1, 2026
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February 1, 2026 Sunday evening service by Elder Dewey Williams
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The Reason for the Delays
Unless He has something greater in mind!!! Which He certainly did for Lazarus. There is such a thing as dying in faith. Heb.11:13 says, speaking of the heroes of faith, “These all died in faith.” And we also have “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Ps.115:16) But what about the unnecessary pain and suffering that people experience that is not unto death or until death comes? You think God wants that? If you do, you might need to rethink your idea of what is good and what the goodness of God is.
God delays answering our prayers because He has something greater in mind. That something greater that He delayed His answer to prayer for with Lazarus, and it could be for us, was the resurrection. As great as “I Am Healer” is, “I Am the Resurrection and Life” is greater. Read Jn.11:25-26. Wow!
All healed people are eventually going to die. All healthy people as well. It’s appointed for all men to die (Heb.9:27). We need to know this when someone we love dies. Everybody dies! We can’t get past the shock of their death if we don’t realize that’s just the way it is. We need to realize He is the Resurrection even more than we realize His healership, if that’s a word.
God delays His answers to our prayers because He has something better for you or your loved one and that is a greater revelation of Himself and what He’s going to do for you: He is the Resurrection and Life and “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” The first part of what Jesus said has to do with our bodies and the second part has to do with our spirits. If we believe in Him our bodies may indeed die, but they shall live again. And if we believe in Him, our spirits will never die, because we have eternal life.
The bottom line is, God answers our prayers according to our faith, not according to anything else. Jesus told the disciples, “I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.” (v.15) Then when He finally got there He told Mary and the rest who were listening, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (v.40) Then we have Heb.11:6 where the inspired writer is explaining faith, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The question is, are you diligently seeking Him? Are you searching the Scriptures to see if these things are so? Are you meditating on His word? Are you confident that what you have asked of Him you will receive? Because God always answers Yes … to those who pray His will (found in the Bible) with faith.
Notice the present tense used in Jesus’ name. He said, “I AM.” He is not I Was or I Will Be. He’s I Am. What He always has been and always will be (Heb.18:8). Faith believes that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Jesus is always present tense.
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Sunday, January 18th John Brown brings the message.
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The Priority of Unity Seen in the Prayer of Jesus
The PATTERN
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23)
Patterns are important if you hope to have the real thing come to reality. It is “a model proposed for imitation.” (Webster) My mother used to make clothes and she always bought a paper pattern and she would cut the cloth according to the pattern she had bought. Jesus gave us the model of unity in this prayer. We are to model our lives according to this divine pattern. No deviations are allowed, or the reality won’t fit the pattern, which is a divine pattern.
We were created and saved to bear the image of God, to be like Him. He has given us the pattern of unity that we should follow – His own nature that we see in the Trinity. “As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they may also be one in Us, that they may be one just as We are one.” Wow!
How can we possibly follow this perfect pattern and live in unity? First John 5:7 says, “Three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; these three are one.” Notice, it does not use the word “Jesus.” Well, the Word is Jesus (Jn.1:1-3,14), but the inspired writer uses the word Word. The other two are with and agree with the Word. What else do we call the Word? The Holy Bible, which is the Word in print. They all agree with the word in print.
Now look at 1 Corinthians 1:10, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Paul pleads with us to be unified in what we say and the way we think. That’s amazing. How can we do that? God fully expects us to do this. How? When we have so many churches saying different things and so many Christians in each church thinking differently, how is it possible for us to have this kind of unity? The word of God. The Bible. This is the one thing we must agree on and if we do we can have unity. We all believe the same Bible. But it’s such a big Bible and some see one thing and others see another thing in the same Bible. Well, this does take some hammering out. I’ll show you how it’s done.
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January 14, 2026 Wednesday Night sermon series
“Lord, he whom You love is sick.”
So, when Jesus heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
(John 11:1-16)
God never says No to our prayers! We’ve always heard that He doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want Him to, but that He answers one of three ways: 1. Yes, 2. No, or 3. Wait. That teaching is found nowhere in the Bible. Read through the teachings of Jesus in particular and the New Testament in general and you will see. What we perceive as God’s No simply means we did not pray right, according to what the New Testament teaches on prayer. When we pray the way we are taught in the Bible the answer to our prayers is always Yes. When we pray the will of God in faith, God will answer that prayer with a resounding Yes! Read 1Jn.5:14-15, Mk.11:22-24, Jn.15:7, and any other place and you will see that is true.
1Jn.5:4-5 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Mk.11: 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Jn.5:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[a] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Most people don’t know how to pray and their lack of answers is interpreted as a No from God. But God never tells us He might say No to our prayers. We need to learn how to pray. This is the point of James 1:6-7 and Jas.4:3.
Jas.1: 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.
Jas.4: 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
But there is sometimes a mysterious delay, what is called Wait. Why is that? We’ve all experienced these unexplained delays and would like to know, “Why is God delaying in answering my prayer?” That is exactly what happened in this story of Jesus and Lazarus. The sisters sent word to Jesus that their brother was sick, implying that they wanted Him to come and heal him. That’s what the wording of v.3 “sent to” and v.6-7 mean: “When He heard, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.” Then in v.21 & 32 both sisters said, “Lord, if you had been here (if You had come when we called You) my brother would not have died.” Jesus obviously delayed His coming. Why? Why the delay? (What should we do during this delay I will address later.)
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Wednesday Evening Service in John 11
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Disunity between man and God, and man and man, goes all the way back to the beginning. There was no disunity in the paradise God created for man and woman to live in until sin entered the human race. Sin is the cause of all disunity anywhere and everywhere. Somebody does something that’s not supposed to be done or doesn’t do something that’s supposed to be done. God authors unity because He loves it; Satan authors and loves disunity. God loves peacemakers.
The firstborn human killed his brother right off the bat (Gen.4). Before long we have this statement, “The earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence,” provoking God to destroy the earth with a flood (Gen.6-7). God created nations for a good reason (Acts 17:26-27). They had become unified against God so He gave them different languages to scatter them “that they should seek the Lord.”
There was disunity between the Father of Faith and his nephew Lot causing them to separate. Abraham went to war against the Canaanites who invaded his land and kidnapped Lot (Gen.14). There was conflict between Abe’s two sons, creating a home divided (Gen.21:8-21). There was disunity in Isaac’s family between his two sons, Jacob and Esau (Gen.27:41). Joseph’s brothers hated him and sold him into slavery (Gen.37:1-28). Israel was in constant conflict with its Canaanite neighbors (Joshua, Judges, Samuel). After King Solomon died Israel was divided into two nations and they were in constant disunity. Israel and Judah were in constant conflict against the nations around them. Assyria conquered Israel and then Babylon conquered Judah. After the remnant returned to Jerusalem there was disunity between them and the surrounding nations (Ezra & Nehemiah).
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PLEASE NOTE: Due to technical issues the opening statements did not get recorded. 12/21/25 Message: Good Tidings of Great Joy
Good Tidings of Great Joy (Luke 2:1-20)
Tidings means news. Jesus didn’t bring good news of great joy, He IS the good news, the best news the human ear has ever heard. When the shepherds saw the star announcing His birth, “They rejoiced with exceeding great joy!” (Mt.2:10) Let us do the same.
The church has many times mixed the good news with bad news, and certainly there is some bad news for those who refuse to repent of their sins and receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. He was bad news for Herod. He will either be your Savior or Judge, but the choice is yours. Jesus is good news for everyone, because He offers Himself to the whole world: “to all people” the Bible says. Remember John 3:16. And, “to as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to be called children of God.” (Jn.1:12-13) The church has good news of great joy to all people! That’s our message. When you come to church you should expect to hear good news. Jesus said, “I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.” (Jn.3:17) The world was already condemned because of sin; He came to save us from our sins: the penalty, power, and presence of our sins.
The prophet said His name is to be called Emmanuel, which means God with us (Mt.1:23). Before Christ came God was above us. He was the God of heaven, creating and ruling by His providence. But when Christ came He was God with us. He came and walked with us. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, taught us the word of God, forgave sinners, and many other good things. He was with us in every sense of the word; He died with us, among two thieves. And after He rose from the dead and went back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. So God became God in us! He has not only come near to us; He comes into every Christian. He is our constant guide, comfort, and wisdom. He is God in us! We have this treasure in earthen vessels, the Bible says. Let us take advantage of this unspeakable treasure in us. From inside of us, He couldn’t be closer.
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I am beginning the most important series of sermons from the Bible in my 56 years of preaching. You are going to love this. I believe that and let me tell you why. It is the most important truth the church could hear. So much hangs on our learning and living this out. It is mainly designed for Christians but it will be a huge blessing for anyone who needs it, and that means pretty much everyone in this fractured world. It’s called UNITY. It means oneness, a condition of harmony and accord, parts that constitute a whole, a complex wholeness. “E Pluribus Unum” is the way our Founding Fathers said it, the coming together of the 13 colonies to form the United States of America. Out of many – one. When the many become one, without losing the uniqueness of each of the many. Harmony – a pleasing arrangement of parts, to come into voluntary agreement. “One accord” is the way the Bible puts it. It’s how the church started out, but it was quickly lost. Our aim is to regain it and live it in this modern world of division: nations in conflict, homes torn apart, and church splits.
Unity has to do with people; unity among people is what creates community. It’s not just people living near each other; community is people being unified in love and purpose, living and working together. When Crocodile Dundee first stepped onto the streets of NYC he said, “Cool…! All these people living together because they love each other!” Peace can mean just the absence of conflict. Pieces of a puzzle laid separately on a table can be at peace just lying there; until they’re put together there is no unity.
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December 10th, 2025 Wednesday Night Service
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12/14/2025 Sunday Morning Service
WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT
It’s not about all the things people associate with this holiday. There is perhaps nothing wrong with much of that, but Christmas is not really a holiday, it’s a HOLY DAY. Holy means sacred and that has to do with God. Christmas is all about the birth of Christ. This is what makes Christmas so significant that people will shut down factories, government, businesses, close schools, make people travel long distances to spend that day with their families, give gifts they can’t afford, and celebrate with festivities, lights, specially decorated trees in elaborately decorated houses, and food. We must know who this Jesus Christ is to know what Christmas all is about.
Who is this Jesus Christ, whose birthday has changed time itself and the course of history? What is it about Him that causes billions to worship Him, study and obey His every word? Why do we celebrate His birth every year? To answer these questions, we need to understand something called the Trinity, which means within the essence and being of the one true God there are three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are one and yet they are distinct. This one God in three Persons created the universe and all humans. He fashioned a perfect paradise for them to live, a place called Eden. A mystery in the Bible is something we would not know if God didn’t tell us about it. Here’s how it describes the coming of the Son of God into the world: “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” (1Tim.3:16)
Why would the Son of God who lived in paradise in heaven come to this old dirty earth? Well, God had warned Adam and Eve not to disobey Him or they would die. They did disobey Him and their spirits did die, though their body continued to live for years. Their spirit died to God. Consequently they began to live in sin and brought death and disaster on all humans on the earth. “All have sinned,” the Bible says (Rm.3:23), and “The wages of sin is death.” (Rm.6:23) We could not save ourselves from sin and death so God decided to save us by sending one of the Persons of God into the world to become a human (one of us) so He could take the punishment for mankind’s sin. (See John 1:1-3,14; and 1 Tim. 1:15; and Rm.5:8)
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“Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, You are gods’”? (John 10:31-39)
I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d bet you’ve never heard a sermon on this text. I know I never have and I’ve never preached one. And yet Jesus used this very text from Psalm 82 as a proof text for His astounding declaration that He is the Son of God. He uses it to justify His claim that He is in fact the Son of God. That in itself makes this text important, maybe one of the most important things He ever said.
What would you think if I said you are gods? What would you think if GOD said you are gods? He does! We need to say about ourselves what God says about us, because what God says about us is true of us. Say out loud, “I am a god.” I’m not saying that; God is saying that. I’m just telling you what God says… about you! You are gods. God says I am a god. Say, “I am a god!” You need to hear yourself say, “I am a son of God.” 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God.” You are not THE God, maker of heaven and earth, but you were made in the likeness of the God who did, and when He made you He gave you dominion over the earth. Strangely enough, Psalm 82 uses the Hebrew word Elohim (another name for God, Gen.1:1) and translates it gods. Then in John 10 the Greek New Testament uses the word Theos for God and for gods! These don’t mean we are The God, but it comes pretty close, giving us the same name and title that the Bible uses for The God. We were made in the likeness of God; that’s why the Bible calls us gods. We are His children.
When you’re sitting in church you’re sitting in the company of gods. Superhuman beings, right? Actually, no. To say superhuman is redundant; it’s like saying tooth dentist. Humans are super because they were created as gods. Humans are supernatural beings, created to be “like God.” Humans are the only creatures God made to be like Him. Not animals, not angels, not outer space aliens, as far as we know… When it says Jesus was made a little lower than the angels it simply means He became flesh, human flesh. Angels don’t have bodies made of dirt. It doesn’t mean man is lower than the angels in purpose and power. Man was given power and authority over all the earth, both in the natural and spiritual realm.
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November 30, 2025 Sunday Morning.
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(John 10:22-30)
The sheep are people. It’s one thing to think about the Good Shepherd and to read Psalm 23 where it tells us what He is to His sheep and what He does for these people who are so special to Him. How wonderful He is! We know who this Good Shepherd is. Jesus plainly declares in John 10 that He is that Good Shepherd. But the question remains – who are the sheep? Am I one of His sheep? And how may I know and be assured that I’m one of the sheep that He’s the Good Shepherd of? Do I really belong to Him and how can I know that I do?
Jesus proceeds to tell us; He tests our metal, as it were. Am I a nugget of fool’s gold? Am I a tare among the wheat? Am I a goat among the sheep? Jesus doesn’t separate the wheat from the tares and the sheep from the goats until the final judgment. I want to know before them if I am one of His sheep. There are many at that judgment who will be shocked when they hear Christ say, “Depart from Me; I never knew you.” And they will be cast into everlasting torment. I want to make my calling and election sure. He says to some of these people in this very passage, “You are not of My sheep.”
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11.16.25 Sunday PM - Dewey Williams: Laziness
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Sunday Evening 11/9/2025 with Holli Simpson
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Sunday morning 11/9/2025 “The Search for Significance” Communion with Victor Barnes
Any pastor worth his while loves the people in his church. Consequently he wants them to live forever and the good things they do to have eternal consequences. This is the will of God and a good pastor has the heart of God for his people. That is the significance every Christian should be looking for. I could have entitled this chapter “The Search for Eternal Significance” because in the long run that’s all that matters – eternal significance. If it’s not eternal then you are only building sandcastles on the beach. Some of them can be very large and impressive sculptures, but in the end they will be washed away by the tides of time and vanish forever in the ocean of nothingness. You really want to build your life on the Rock and the things He has taught us. Eternal significance is what you’re searching for.
To have eternal significance you must give your life and labors to something eternal. The only thing eternal besides God Himself is what He is building, and that is the church. Jesus stated it very clearly. He said, “I will build My church and it will never die.” (Mt.16:18) To have eternal significance you must give your life and labors to something eternal. Jesus did that. What could be greater than sitting on the throne in heaven? Sitting on the throne in heaven with multitudes of redeemed people there with you. He gave Himself to die for them, something bigger than Himself. Please Read Phil.2:4-11.
There is a great need in every human heart for a sense of significance. To have that we must give ourselves to something bigger than ourselves. David did that when he faced Goliath. He left the mundane, the transitory concerns of day-to-day life in keeping his father’s sheep to join the battle against Israel’s enemies. Little did he know he would be launched into something much bigger than Goliath, himself and his family.
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Wednesday, Nov 5th The Good Shepherd
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-
STRUGGLE - The Midnight Wrestling Match
Wrestling with God isn't a sign of weak faith—it's a sign of authentic faith. When life doesn't make sense, when
prayers seem unanswered, when circumstances overwhelm us, we find ourselves in an honest struggle with
God. He doesn't condemn us for wrestling; He engages with us.
What am I currently wrestling with God about? Am I fighting against God or wrestling with Him? -
SEARCH - What Wrestling Reveals
As we wrestle, God peels back the layers to reveal what we're really clinging to. Our struggle exposes the
deeper issues: our need for control, our fears, our attempts to be our own god. This sacred search shows us
what we're desperately holding onto—and what we need to release.
What is wrestling with God revealing about me? What am I really holding onto that I need to surrender? -
SURRENDER - The Beautiful Exchange
Surrender isn't giving up—it's giving over. It's the moment we stop trying to control outcomes and release our
grip on our own plans. We admit our desperate need and reach for God's grace. Surrender doesn't eliminate
the difficulty, but it transforms our relationship to it.
What do I need to surrender to God today? How would my life change if I truly said, "Your will, not mine"? -
SCAR - The Sacred Mark
No one walks away from wrestling with God unchanged. The scars we carry aren't punishments—they're
testimonies. They're proof we've encountered the living God and been transformed. Our weakness becomes
our witness, our wounds become our story, reminding us daily of God's grace and our dependence on Him.
What scars do I carry? How can my scars become a testimony to encourage others?
This Week's Challenge
Find a quiet moment and tell God the truth. the real, raw truth about what you're wrestling with. Then ask Him:
"What am I really holding onto? What do I need to surrender?" Release your grip, enough to say, "Your
will, not mine." That's when the transformation begins. That's when wrestling becomes worship.
The Stories
1. Wrestling by the River - Genesis 32:24-32
2. Jesus' Story - Agony in the Garden - Luke 22:39-44, Mark 14:33-36
3. All Alone in a Strange Land
4. Wrestling in the Rose Garden
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The AWE of God
A deep sense of holy awe swept over everyone, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. (Acts 2:43, TPT)
Acts chapter two is the God-given model of all churches since then. It is the church as it should be. The closer we get to this, the more we will be like God wants us to be. We have covered many things; this is the 20th lesson in this glorious chapter. We come now to something I fear many modern churches and Christians have lost or never known anything about – a sense of astounding awe when it comes to God. In this model church they had this, and so should we. Their experience should be our experience. This awe has four elements.
I. The Awe of His PASSION, Acts 2:23-24, 36
The word passion has long been associated with the sufferings and death of Jesus. Peter and the apostles on this historic, precedent-setting Day of Pentecost, preached “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” The fact that the Son of God came from heaven and suffered on our behalf should put us into a deep sense of holy awe. Every preacher should be preaching the cross and that Good News should put our souls in absolute awe. It should affect our emotions and make us enter His gates with wonder and amazement. Behold the Lamb! All of heaven worships as they behold the Lamb of God who has taken away our sins. When the gospel is being preached we should be in awe of what we are listening to.
II. The Awe of His PRESENCE, Acts 2:1-4
The Holy Spirit’s presence in a church should strike awe in our hearts every time we meet together. Don’t enter the church like a dog entering a library, unaware of what is there and what is going on there. Remember what Jesus said, “When two or more are gathered in My name I am there in your midst.” (Mt.18:20)
To help with this read Hebrews 12:18-24 and see that when we come to church we are coming into such a place with such a people. We have entered the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable host of angels, to the assembly and church of the first born who are registered in heaven, where God the judge of all is, to the spirits of just men made perfect (this is present tense). We have entered into the very presence of Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the sprinkling of His blood.
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Sunday, October 26, 2025. Message from John Brown
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10/22/25 - Robert Williams: The Armor of God (Ephesians 6)
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October 26, 2025 Sunday Morning with Rick Griffith.
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Sunday, October 19th Evening service with Russell Bailey
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“Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
(2Timothy 3:13)
1. Realize how prevalent, prolific and powerful deception is. It is powerful because it is sneaky. Those who are deceived don’t know they are deceived. If they knew, they would no longer be deceived. Beginning with Eve, many are the children of Eve. Warnings about deception abound in the Bible. “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2Tim.3:13) These warnings are especially relevant in these Last Days of perilous times. Realize the power of deception is incredible.
2. Stay true to the gospel of Jesus Christ. “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Ga.1:6-8) There are many nonessentials in the Bible and these things we can have some liberty, but there is no warrant to having a different gospel. Make sure you know this. What is the gospel? It is made crystal clear to us in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. Read it. Memorize it. It is this gospel by which sinners are saved.
3. Stay with the simplicity of Christ. “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2Cor.11:3) This is broader than the gospel. The gospel is the heart and the rest of the word is the rest of the body of revealed truth. Never forget, it’s all about Jesus. The Bible is all about Jesus. Salvation, including justification, sanctification and glorification is all about Jesus. He’s the author and finisher of our faith. In Him lives all the fulness of the Godhead and we are complete in Him. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
4. Learn and teach doctrine. Get beyond mere stories and instructions in the Bible. Though true, these are mere illustrations of Bible teachings and all instructions come out of doctrine. First doctrine, then duty. Deceivers are unbalanced; they neglect whole balanced teachings of the Bible. Doctrine is all the Bible teaches about any subject: God, Christ, salvation, prayer, the law, everything in the Bible. If you don’t know doctrine, you make yourself very susceptible to deception. If you’re interested in saving yourself and your church, 1Tim.4:16 deserves a serious look.
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What kind of church are you looking to be a part of? This is important, for your relationship with God, for your family, and perhaps even for the whole world. Usually just like the one you came from. That’s natural because it’s what you’re used to and what you’re used to is comfortable for you. But comfort should not be the criteria that determines the church you need to be in. I want to suggest another criteria – the church in Acts chapter two, the one God gave us to be the model of what a church should be.
You’re probably not going to find a perfect church, one that fully measures up to the church. in Acts 2. But the closer the better. And it has nothing to do with the kind of building the church meets in, or the style of music, or ethnic group. (It should be a church where all ethnic people are welcomed and loved.) It’s really what goes on there and what kind of spiritual people are there.
In Acts 2 we have The Model Church, after which all churches should be modeled. Note three things:
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The Promised Sign of Pentecost (Fulness of the Spirit, which speaks of spiritual gifts), v.1-13
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The Powerful Sermon of Peter (Preached the Bible and the Gospel) v.14-40
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The Phenomenal Salvation of People, v.41-47
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Sunday Evening Testimony
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(Acts 2:38)
Repentance happens when we are “cut to the heart” over our sin against Christ. The old-timers called it as “conviction of sin.” It makes no difference how many times you hear the gospel; what matters is that it cuts your heart so that out of that wound comes a complete change of mind and behavior.
Notice the order. We get nothing by the grace of God before we repent. The order is “Repent and believe the gospel.” (Mk.1:15) After repenting we can receive the gifts of God because repentance changes everything in our relationship with God; it makes us His children. All the gifts of God are good because they are gifts of grace (Jas.1:17). Repentance is the biggest no-brainer in the universe. Every gift of grace comes after we repent. Refuse to repent and receive judgment from God. You don’t want anything to do with His judgment.
Peter mentions just two gifts the repentant person receives: Forgiveness and the Holy Spirit. Repent and receive forgiveness of all your sins. Don’t repent and you will stand guilty before a holy and just God, and end up in hell forever. Repent and you get God Himself in your life in a very powerful and gracious way.
After we repent, then we are to receive two baptisms: one in water and one with the Spirit. According to Jesus in Luke 24:47 and Peter in Acts 3:19 we receive the forgiveness of our sins “in view of” our repentance, not our water baptism. The antecedent for remission in Acts 2:38 is repentance, not baptism. You need to know that your sins are forgiven. I mean really know it. The Prodigal Son left the hog pen of his sin and went home. As his father was giving him gifts of the ring, the suit, the shoes, and kissing him all over his face, that son knew his sins against heaven and his father had been forgiven. Now they could throw a party and celebrate.
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The Context: To understand a passage it always helps to know the context of that passage. In John 9 Jesus is embroiled in a controversy with the religious leaders of His day. He healed a man born blind and the Pharisees threw a fit because Jesus broke one of their rules; He did it on the Sabbath (9:14). They ended up throwing the formerly blind man out of the temple. “Jesus heard they had cast him out; and when Jesus found him…” (9:35) It is against the backdrop of dealing with these false shepherds who were in fact thieves and robbers that Jesus took the time to teach on the fact that there are false shepherds and there are true shepherds; Himself being The Good Shepherd. These thieves and robbers I am calling stealers because that’s what they do. They steal the sheep from the Good Shepherd. Israel was the sheep God had delivered from Egyptian bondage and had kept them for hundreds of years. All because they were His sheep. He loved these sheep.
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Sunday Evening message from Elder, Dewey Williams. October 5, 2025
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Sunday morning, October 5, 2025.
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Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025. I have had formal education to learn several languages: English, French, Spanish, Nepalese, Greek, and Hebrew. I can’t speak any of them very well. My most fluent language is tongues and that’s because I didn’t have to learn tongues; they just flow out by the Spirit. But with all other languages we must learn how to speak them. Each of them takes a long time and is very difficult. This is true also of speaking the Language of the New Covenant, the language of grace and truth.
What we say is important, and if we speak God’s words what we say is also very powerful. All God’s works are voice-activated and He uses our words to activate them. With the Bible we learn to think God’s thoughts and speak God’s words. When we do, things begin to change.
This language comes in three categories of Biblical speech. It begins with “This is the word of God: I am what it says I am, I have what it says I have, and I can do what it says I can do.” This all comes from being “in Christ,” a phrase the Bible uses many times to tell us what we are, what we have, and what we can do.
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Sunday evening 9/28/2025
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Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38)
To model the Model Church we find in Acts 2 we must be committed to Jesus’ Great Commission to be His witness to everyone, be filled with the Holy Spirit, believe in the Latter Day outpouring of the Spirit with signs following, and preach Jesus Christ and the gospel of His death, burial, resurrection, exaltation and consequent baptism with the Spirit. And the fact that the gospel demands a public response. Any church that is a Bible church must call for a response to the word preached. What is the proper God-ordained public response to the gospel? This is crucial. To be saved we must respond to the gospel in the way God says to respond.
The first response to the gospel is the cutting of the heart. When you really hear the gospel it will produce what the old-timers used to call conviction of sin. That’s exactly what is going on in this passage. They heard Peter preach the gospel and “they were cut to the heart” and wanted to know what they should do. Has the gospel ever cut you to the heart? Salvation is a matter of the heart. The gospel must penetrate your heart in order to provoke a response of unconditional surrender, such as is voiced in this question, “What shall we do?” You tell me and whatever it is, I will do it. That’s unconditional surrender to do whatever the preacher of the gospel calls for.
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This is the third message on the importance and power of our spoken words.
I want to begin this particular chapter reminding us of the purpose of human beings. Man was created and saved to be like God, to be the visible representative of God on the earth and to have dominion over this world (Gen.1:26-27; Rm.8:28-29). God showed us from the beginning that He gets things done (creation and salvation) by the spoken word. He spoke and things happened. Being in the image of God, we get our cue to how our dominion is exercised. It is by the spoken word. God did it and He created us to do it. Every healing Jesus did was by the spoken word (Mt.8:2-3, 5-10, 16-17). He spoke to demons and they left people’s bodies. He spoke to winds and waves, and they obeyed Him. He is not only our Savior; He is the model man into whose image God is making us. That’s why we are called Christians.
I closed the last chapter by looking at the fact that the devil listens to the words we speak. In Mt.17:14-20 we have the story of Jesus healing a sick demonized boy by speaking to the demon. When the disciples asked Jesus why they had not been able to do that, His answer surprises people. He said something totally unexpected. Most people think He should have said, “Because I am God and you are not.” He did not say that. Nobody likes what He did say. And I do mean nobody. “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief.” Nobody would dare to say that to someone today, but Jesus did! But He didn’t say it to the sick boy or his father. Never say such a thing to sick people. Jesus spoke this word of unbelief to His disciples. It’s why they couldn’t cure the boy. Workers need to get rid of all unbelief. Even Jesus didn’t do many miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief.
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9/21/2025 Sunday evening
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“God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
The church modeled after Acts 2 must have the exaltation of Jesus as its main message and mission.
Some prophecies given by God through His prophets are universal, applying to every nation. “In the Last Days I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh” is one of those. But some prophecies are specific to Israel, though they have worldwide implications. God gave prophecies (we call them promises) to Abraham and David. To Abraham He said he would have a people and a place for those people. Those people are called the nation of Israel and that place is also called Israel. Those are God’s ancient promises, prophecies, and place.
After preaching about the universal promise of the outpouring of the Spirit in the Last Days, Peter zeroes in on the prophecy given by King David. God made a promise to David that one of his descendants would rule over the house of Israel and of his kingdom there would be no end, either chronologically and geographically.
In the context of Acts 2, Jesus had been raised from the dead, so Peter quotes the prophecy given to David (Acts 2:25-28), then proceeds to explain that this prophecy was not really about David but about his son and eternal heir to his throne. Here’s where we enter our text of Acts 2:29-37. David’s tomb was a tourist attraction when Peter was preaching. His bones were still in his grave. But what David was really prophesying about was the resurrection of Christ, the son of David. Jesus answers that prophecy of Psalm 16 in Acts 2:27,31.
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September 17th at 6:30pm
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Sunday Evening 9/14/2025
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This godly man’s death on September 10, 2025, was a political assassination for sure. He was deeply involved in politics. The last thing he did before he was killed was to throw MAGA hats to the 3,000 students who had gathered for his Turning Point USA rally at a Utah university. He was known by world political leaders. Charlie was a patriot. But the war he fought for the soul of America is not a political war; it’s a spiritual war. And our weapons are not bullets and bombs; they are words, words of truth and words of God, which Charlie was brilliant in using. But his death was more than a political assassination. He was martyred for his faith.
Above all the political savvy of this man, to the core of his being Charlie was a Christian, an evangelist for the Christian faith. For over a decade he preached Jesus Christ and he did it in the most hostile environments in America, at our state universities. He knew they were being inundated with WOKE and anti-American ideologies that would eventually destroy the U.S. and multitudes of souls. He was a modern day Stephen right out of Acts 7:54 - 8:4. The impact of his martyrdom is probably unequaled in American history. The assassinations of JFK and MLK, as horrible and important as they were, did not match the effect of Charlie’s death.
At the time of his death there were about 2,000 chapters of TPUSA in the country. Within days there were more than 36,000 requests from high schools and college campuses to begin chapters. In London, England, “upwards to a million people” took to the streets, carrying enormous pictures of Charlie, marching in solidarity with him and his message of free speech. In Seoul, Korea, hundreds of thousands marched in the streets singing, “We are Charlie Kirk” and carrying huge pictures of him over their heads. Through social media many world leaders expressed their sorrow for his passing. College and NFL football games showed pictures of him on their screens, asking for a moment of silence in honor of his passing. Same with MLB.
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“If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.” Therefore, your sin remains.”
According to Jesus, the sins of these people in John 9 remained unforgiven and alienated from God, because they said the wrong thing! They said they saw, but they didn’t. Their words condemned them.
I am basically a verse-by-verse teacher of the Bible. I’ve preached virtually through every book of the Bible like that. But I love to do doctrinal studies as I am going. That’s where I dive deep into one verse or topic in the book I’m teaching through and speak on a topic in a passage. It takes four or five skips through the water for the rock to finally sink into the pond. Doctrinal teaching is sinking down deep into the waters of Scripture. I once watched a hawk dive down into a lake trying to catch a fish. It took him seven tries before he came up with lunch. We are going to be like the hawk in our study of the power of the spoken word, our spoken words. We are going to dive and dive until we get something we can really chew on, some meat for the mature.
It took Donald Grey Barnhouse eleven years to preach through the book of Romans on the radio. Eleven years! He would take a verse and like putting the pyramid of the rest of Scripture on top of it, he would pour the rest of the Bible into that verse. I don’t think I’m going to take 11 years to teach through the book of John, but I’m well on my way to taking a very long time. This is my 45th chapter in it.
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Sunday Evening Speaker: Kim Trujillo "Stay in Your Lane"
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Sunday Sermon 9/7/2025 The Gospel According to Peter - Acts Chapter 2
Peter didn’t write one of the four gospels in our Bible, but did write two epistles and he did speak the gospel in that precedent setting Acts Chapter Two. If today’s church is to model itself according to the Bible it must always include the gospel of Christ that Peter preached here in its simplest form ever. Only the gospel of Christ produces salvation for it is “the power of God unto salvation.” (Rm.1:16) This is the Good News in its purest form.
In Acts 2:17-21 Peter gives us an exposition of the Last Days. In the last chapter I gave an overview of the Last Days, which includes the Life of Jesus on the earth, the outpouring of the Spirit which produced the Church Age in which we are still living (v.17-18). It also includes the Great Tribulation (v.19-20) before the Second Coming of Jesus and His Millenium Kingdom on the earth. He finishes his quote from the Prophet Joel with the good news that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (v.21)
The gospel always assumes that everyone is lost to God and needs to be rescued. Why is that? Because “All have sinned and the wages of sin is being dead to God.” If you realize you are “without Christ, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph.2:12) you know you need to be saved from your sins. The good news is “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Who is the Lord he is talking about and what is His name? Peter tells us. This is the gospel by which we are saved. There is no other gospel of forgiveness by God with the power to forever change your life and eternal destiny. There is “no other name given to me by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
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We need to know that GOD HATES HUMAN SUFFERING. He hates your suffering as much as you do. Always has – always will. He didn’t make humans to suffer. He made them to live in paradise forever. He didn’t make anything to suffer, not even Lucifer. He did, however, make them with the freedom to choose against His will and that is what has brought all this suffering. There was no suffering in Eden before sin came and there will be no suffering in the New Jerusalem – forever! God hates it and will not allow it in His presence. “In Your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.” (Ps.16:11)
When Jesus came He spent almost all of His ministry alleviating human suffering. He made the blind to see and the deaf to hear. He healed the lepers and cast out demons. He destroyed the works of the devil (1Jn.3:8). Just like Jesus, when the Spirit came upon the church they went about healing everyone. There was no suffering from poverty or sickness in the Jerusalem Church (Acts 4:343-35; 5:14-16). Jesus had commissioned them to heal the sick and cast out demons, and they did. Suffering comes from sin and Satan.
Who loves to see humans suffer? The devil and his hosts of demons do. They steal, kill and destroy; Jesus came to give life (Jn.10:10) and to destroy the works of the devil. “God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38) Satan delights to see humans suffer, but God hates suffering as much as you do.
God hates human suffering so much that in the gospel He took all our sufferings and pain, and placed them on Jesus so we wouldn’t have to suffer. Mt.8:16-17 says so. In bearing our sins, He also bore the consequences of our sins, all the pain and sorrow that comes with sicknesses, diseases, and natural disasters.
If God hates human suffering so much, why does He allow it? The answer to that comes in what theologians call “Original Sin.” God gave man dominion over everything on earth, natural and spiritual. That means he ruled over the devil, the original “creeping thing.” God told man there was one thing he must never do and if he did, he would die (and bring death on the earth). God did not stop Adam from disobeying Him, because He had given man the responsibility to rule over Satan the snake. Suffering came from the sin of man.
Here’s the way the Bible puts it: “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rm.5:12) Human suffering does not necessarily come by any particular sin of any sufferer. By Adam’s sin his descendants are born sinners. The consequences of man’s choice in the beginning brought all this suffering. That does not mean our individual sins don’t have any consequences of suffering. I have buried too many smokers who died from cancer. Drunk drivers kill multitudes on our highways every year. Drugs kill even more. But mainly suffering does not come through particular sins.
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8/31/2025 Sunday Morning Sermon
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Working our way through John chapter nine, this blind man was healed by Jesus. He was questioned repeatedly about how he was healed and who had healed him. He knew virtually nothing about the miracle of how he was healed or who had healed him. He couldn’t tell them because he didn’t know. That’s why they kept asking him. He didn’t know who or where Jesus was. He admitted he didn’t know everything.
It is a great advantage to confess what little you do know, but you should know some things and you should know and confess that you know them. If you can’t say it, you don’t know it. “One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” (Jn.9:25) He told them a man called Jesus anointed him with mud made from His spit and told him to go wash it off, and then he was able to see for the first time in your life.
We all need this foundation, the bottom line, the starting block from which all other knowledge of the Lord comes. “I am not the same since Jesus told me to repent and believe in Him. I did and I am not the same.” Besides that, in the beginning we don’t know much. But God can work with that. Later Jesus found the man and told him who He was and then he began to worship Him and no doubt began to follow Him (Jn.9:35-38).
It’s very simple to come to Jesus. “I am a sinner and He is the Savior. I trust Him to save me.” But we fail to realize that this is just the beginning of the Christian life. Jesus said, “Come to Me, and take My yoke on you and learn from Me.” (Mt.11:28-30) We need to admit we don’t know everything there is to know about being a Christian and living the Christian life. Everything hinges on this admission that you don’t know everything. You can’t begin to rehabilitate till you admit you need rehabilitation. You can’t begin to be Christlike until you admit you need to be more like Jesus. Like Paul, you too have not arrived. Never stop learning, because you never learn it all.
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8/24/2025 Sunday Evening Speaker: Leslie Bailey "The Riches of His Glorious Inheritance"
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Sunday, August 24, 2025. Summary of Acts Chapter Two
I. The Force, 1:8 This is for others. It’s rivers of living waters. What happened in Acts 2 was the fulfillment of the words spoken by Jesus just 40 days before in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be My witnesses…” The point of this force is effectiveness. Jesus did not begin His powerful ministry of word, and works to back up His words, until after He was endued with power by the Holy Spirit. That’s huge! He did all His teaching and miracles after He was baptized with the Spirit. Likewise, just before He went to heaven He told His disciples not to begin their witness until after they were filled with the force of the Holy Spirit. Before Paul ever did or said anything, he was filled with the Spirit (Acts 9:17). This is no small thing. We accomplish little without this experience in our own lives. Are you filled with the force? Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” Well, you can do a lot, but it will not amount to much, without what Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The church needs this force backing our words. YOU need this force. Jesus did, the disciples did, and so do we. Make sure you have this experience.
II. The Fullness, v.4 This is for you. Paul called it being “filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph.3:19) Jesus was filled with the Spirit and so were the disciples; God commands us to be filled in Eph.5:18. This is necessary for our bearing the fruit of the Spirit; it is His fruit that will fill our hearts and lives. Are you filled with the Spirit? You must answer yes or you can’t be all that God wants you to be and the world needs you to be.
III. The Phenomena, 2:5-13; 1:8; 2:43; Jn.12:14 This was speaking in tongues. It was a strange thing for the people in Jerusalem that day, and also to the disciples who were doing it, because they had not learned these languages! A phenomenon is a significant event, an exceptional and unusual occurrence, something not normal or natural. It attracts people and makes them ask, “What is this?” Then we get to explain to them what God has done and is doing. This will seem like foolishness to many. They were accused of being drunk. But this was not the effect of being filled with wine, it was the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph.5:18).
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Joy is a precious commodity. It is the strength of the Christian. “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” And “The fruit of the Spirit is joy.” Then we have the famous verse that says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy and at Your right hand are pleasures forever more.” (Ps.16:11) If you are living in the presence of God you will have joy, no matter what. Joy is the nectar that supplies the honey in our lives. Its sweetness attracts.
But we need to know there are enemies of our joy that are on the loose! Satan wants to kill your joy! This hater of men can’t stand people having joy, or enjoying righteous things. He is the father of all the other killjoys that can invade your life. And they come uninvited; they are intruders disguised as guests. They look like they’re shopping in your store, but they are shoplifters; they have come to steal your joy (Jn.10:10a).
A man arrived home from the grocery store with his 8 year old son and discovered he had a candy bar that he hadn’t paid for. The dad was upset and immediately told him to get back into the car and then drove him to the … jewelry store. Joy is located in the jewelry store of your life. To have this taken is no candy bar theft; Satan is taking this jewel of your life. Joy is what makes life enJOYable. See Acts 13:52.
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“Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.” (1Corinthians 14:3)
I want our church to be the church as it is in the Bible. Do you want that? You should, because it’s what God wants. We know that because the Bible is the Holy Word of God where He tells us what He likes and the way He wants things done in His house. My dad was the boss in his own house. Even after I grew up and moved out of his house, when I went to his house I knew what he liked and disliked. For example, I would never dishonor him by changing the tv station to something I wanted to see. I can hear him now, “Now son, I was watching that. I own this house and that tv, so don’t be changing the station away from something I’m watching. God wants done in His house what He wants done and He tells it to us in the Bible. We should want that too. You don’t go to someone’s house and tell the owner what you want to do and not do. Especially God’s.
It doesn’t really matter what we want or like, does it? The aim of our lives is to please Him in everything and that certainly includes what we do in church. We have an audience of one and our sole goal is to please Him. That’s what we see in Acts 2 when Jesus instituted the church. What He did then and the way it was then is to continue until He returns. That is The Model Church we are to model our church after.
One of the greatest and most life-changing truths I have ever received into my heart is this, that God invites me to join Him in the work of building His eternal family who will live with Him forever. Little ole me! And He will use me to speak His word and in so doing save the lost, heal the sick, and bless others immeasurably in a hundred different ways. And I get eternal rewards for working with Him in this.
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“He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and anointed the eyes of the man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool.’ So he went and washed, and came back seeing.” (John 9:7)
Families have their own ways of doing things. They are called family traditions. God has ways of doing things, but they do not usually become traditions because He is always changing the way He does things.
I. Unusual Methods.
God has always used unusual methods of doing things. He does not think they way we do or do things the way we would do them. We see this clearly in the healing of this man born blind. A few years after Pentecost at a church convention two men began to discuss how Jesus healed their blindness. One said, “Isn’t it wonderful how Jesus makes mud out of His spit and dirt, anoints us with the mud, they go and wash, and they are healed.” The other man replied, “Well, He does not heal blind people that way at all. He simply spoke and I was healed.” The discussion was so heated they made two denominations: the Mudites and the Anti-Mudites. You never know how God may heal or deliver you. He is God and He chooses the methods He uses to do it.
We see this all the way through the O.T. The most glaring example of this is Naaman. He had the fatal disease of leprosy and the prophet told him to go dip seven times in the dirty Jordan River. He reasoned and refused to do what the Lord had said. But His servants said to him, “`If he had told you to do something great, would you not have done it?” So he went and dipped seven times in the Jordan, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.” (2Kings 5:9-15)
God always does these unusual things by speaking them. All God’s works are voice-activated, and He uses our voices. They are what we call prophetic words, “Thus says the Lord…” is a phrase used hundreds of times in the Old Testament. That’s how God did things, by speaking them through people.
Did you ever notice that Jesus healed a lot of people but never prayed for anyone to be healed? He just spoke a word to them and it was almost always something for them to do. “Go, show yourselves to the priests… And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.” (Lk.17:14) He told the man with the withered hand to stretch forth that hand (the very thing he couldn’t do) and when he did it was healed (Mt.12:13). He told the lame man, “Arise, take up your bed and go to your house. And he arose (the very thing he couldn’t do) and departed to his house.” (Mt.9:7) Jesus said to Peter, “Come,” and he walked on the water (Mt.14:29). “Jesus rebuked the devil and it came out of him, and the child was cured.” (Mt.17:18) Those are only a few from the one book of Matthew. Here we have an example of this in the book of John.
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“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4)
In our lessons from Acts 2 we are looking again at verse four. The following context of that verse is clear that every person in that upper room on the Day of Pentecost participated in the ministry of the word and Spirit. The apostles were the human leaders, but the Spirit was the true leader and He made all of them ministers of the word. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues.” And “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?”
To make the church all it can be, God must use all the members; therefore, every member of the body must participate in the ministry of Christ. All are necessary to make the fullest impact on this world and our loved ones. The church today is not living up to its potential as it did in the Model Church. And probably no member is doing that either. We could all do better to be all that we can be. It’s true in our natural life on this planet when it comes to things we want to accomplish. Thomas Edison once said, “The harder I work the luckier I get.” And this is equally true in spiritual matters and in the church. God wants us to live up to our potential. You should too. You want that for your kids and God wants that for His.
The question is – how can we best do this? First we learn that the church is only the church when it is gathered. We are each individual members, but only when the body comes together are we the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We function as a body when all the parts of it are together, and when everyone is participating in the function of that church.
The church is God’s supernatural body of people gathered together to do supernatural things. That’s what we find in Acts. We are not just a PTO meeting, or a session of congress, or a school board meeting. A team is only a team when it is together. We are a meeting of Christ’s team and every member of that team needs to show up for every practice and game. We are a supernatural team, endued with the power of God to do spiritual gifts which enable us to raise the spiritually dead to life by the preaching of the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, give helpful prophetic words, speak in tongues with interpretation, and other such wonderful and powerful things.
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Wednesday, August 6, 2025. John 9:1-12
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Dewey Williams 8.3.25 PM - Obedience
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“And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused.” (Acts 2:6)
I wouldn’t get on a plane if I didn’t know where it was going. Years ago blonde jokes were very popular. My favorite one was where this blonde got on a plane going to Dallas, and walking through the “First Class” section she liked what she saw, plopped down and settled in. A stewardess approached her and said, “Dear, you have a Coach seat and you can’t sit in First Class. You’ll have to move back.” She responded, “I like this seat and I’m not moving. I’m flying to Dallas in this seat and nobody is going to move me.” The stewardess said, “But you have to pay more money to sit in First Class and you haven’t done that. You paid for a seat in Coach. You’ll have to move.” They argued and the blonde refused to move. The captain noticed the argument and asked the stewardess what was going on, and she told him. He went to the lady, whispered something in her ear and she promptly got her things together, got up and moved back to Coach. The stewardess asked the captain what he said to her and he said, “I just told her First Class is not flying to Dallas today.”
Here’s where we’re going with these studies in Acts 2 on The Model Church. The divinely ordained standard for the church of all times is found in the book of Acts, particularly chapter two. The church began with an outpouring of the Spirit. This was the powerful launching of the church, the liftoff that carried the church into the next 2,000 years of life and ministry. It was the beginning of the church as we know it today and will be until the end of the age. There was the Spirit coming upon the gathered believers with power to carry out the Great Commission of Christ (Acts 1:8), to make disciples of all nations (Mt.28:18-20). You can see this with the many languages miraculously spoken by the Spirit-baptized believers. Then there was the preaching of the Bible by Peter which necessarily included the preaching of the gospel and a command to repent and be baptized in water. Three thousand gladly received the word and were baptized that day. Then we come to Acts 2:42-47,
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple (large group), and breaking bread from house to house (small groups), they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
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Wednesday night series continuation of "How to Have Continual Victory Over All Our Enemies"
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What you believe is the most important thing about you. Jesus said things like this many times, “According to your faith be it unto you, and your faith has made you well.” (Mt..9:29) He also said, “All things are possible to those who believe.” (Mk.9:23)
Should we expect God to reward/bless us in this life for our obedience, trust, faithfulness, and service to Him? Here’s another way of asking that question: Should we expect God to keep His promises? Of course! He’s a person of infinite integrity. God tells us, “All the promises of God in Christ Jesus are Yes and Amen.” (2Cor.1:20) Do we have any promises in the New Testament (they are all over the O.T) that assure us the blessings of God come to us in this life for our obedience and service? Overwhelmingly YES!
First Timothy 4:8 says, “Godliness is profitable for all things, having a promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” All things means all things, both temporal and eternal. Note the conjunction and in this verse. The good news is God rewards and blesses us in both the now and the forever. Temporal rewards on earth and eternal rewards in heaven – for doing the same thing! It’s a win-win proposition.
Should we obey and trust God, do what God tells us in the Bible, even if there were no blessings from God in this life for doing it? Yes! Why?
1. Because it’s the right thing to do. There is a reward of a good conscience for just doing the right thing. Doing good carries its own reward. Our doing what God says blesses others and we are called to love our neighbors.
2. We obey God and keep His word to glorify God. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Mt.5:16) We don’t do the will of God just or mainly for rewards.
3. We do it to please God. “We make it our aim to be well pleasing to Him.” (2Cor.5:9)
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The PRINCIPLE of Constant Victory Over All Our Enemies
I want you to notice this principle of death and life in the following verses. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (Jn.12:24) And “So also is the resurrection from the dead The body is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor and weakness, and it is raised in glory and power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” (1Cor.15:42-44) The natural body dies and a glorious, incorruptible, powerful body is raised to life in its place. Keep that in mind when you consider the crucified life that Christ calls and equips us to live.
A principle is a law. Law is not a bad thing; it’s just the way things work. God created the universe with natural and spiritual laws. We are familiar with physical laws; the law of gravity is just one of them. We must find out what those laws are and work with them to achieve success in any area. We must learn about these laws and cooperate with God in order to see what and how He does things, and why. There is the law of works; there is the law of faith; there is the law of sowing and reaping (2Cor.9:6), and the law of sin and death.
The main principle in the kingdom of God is the law of death and life. You might say it’s the law of life and death and life. God gives life, things die, and from that death comes a richer form of life (1Cor.15:42-43). This law has been called the Law of the Death of the Dream. The dream is great, but to reach its fulfillment there must be the death of it. Death and resurrection is a law of the kingdom of God. It is seen the most clearly and all examples show the gospel.
The death of a dream is the gospel way to constant victory. There are lots of examples of this in the Bible. Abraham got a promise from God that he would have many kids with a great place to live. But by the time he was 100 years old he had no children and had lived in a foreign land. He had the God-given dream and then the death of that dream. You can feel the pain of the death of the dream as you read his story in Genesis. But then when Sarah’s womb was dead he had the son God had promised and from this one son God gave him children as many as the stars and sand.
To live in constant resurrection victory, we must consistently live “the crucified life.”
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7/20/2025 Sunday Evening Service with Holli Simpson
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July 13, 2025 Sunday evening sermon with Dewey Williams
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Wednesday Night, July 16, 2025.
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July 13, 2025 Tongues as a gift.
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July 9, 2025 Wednesday Night
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July 6, 2025 Sunday Evening
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The SIGN of Tongues
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Whatever could this mean? I will show signs in the earth.” (Acts 2:4, 12, 19)
You might be wondering, “Why should hearing about tongues interest me?” If you consider yourself a Christian, for at least two reasons. One, it’s in the Bible. You want to, need to understand for yourself God’s word. The Bible was written to you and for you! There is one whole 40 verse chapter in the Bible devoted to the subject (1Cor.14). It’s mentioned as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which makes it good news. Tongues were spoken all over the book of Acts. The church of which you are a member (There’s no such thing as the Early Church – there is only The Church.) was birthed with the experience of speaking in tongues.
Two, your experience in the Lord should match what is in the Bible, our textbook for Christian faith and practice. The Model Church began with this experience of speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4). Personally, I don’t want them to believe anything I don’t believe or experience anything I don’t experience.
So, whatever you believe and experience, you must admit this subject is important to God and it should be to you. Every person in the beginning of the church in Acts spoke in tongues. Maybe you should at least consider knowing about and even speaking in tongues yourself.
What is speaking in tongues? It is a Spirit-filled person speaking in a language he has never learned. The KJV Bible translates it “Unknown Tongue.” It is unknown to the speaker and to everyone else unless it is interpreted by the same Holy Spirit.
Tongues are simply the Greek word glossa meaning languages or dialects. Languages are nothing to be afraid of, any more than being afraid of going to Germany and hearing someone speak German. The difference here is, by the Spirit the language is spoken by someone who never learned that language! It’s a supernatural, spiritual thing. But it is still a language and we do not need to be fearful about it. When you are speaking in tongues you are doing what the Bible says, “speaking the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:11)
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There PATHWAY to Victory
How to Live in Constant Victory Over All Your Enemies
Studies in the Gospel of John (8:48-59)
There is a pathway to victory. You can eventually get there. It is possible.
Jesus is the greatest teacher there ever was or ever will be. If you want to learn how to live the Christian life, which is a life of victory over all your enemies, you need to look at and listen to Christ as you find Him in the Bible. For now, we are looking into the Gospel of John.
We’ve looked at the PROBLEM of defeat in the lives of so many Christians. Large numbers of believers live defeated lives, defeated by their circumstances, their sin, the world and the devil. They are virtual POWs in the war against all their enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil. It is possible to win this victory constantly.
I. There are certain steps that lead to constant victory and Jesus walked that pathway to show us we can too. As the Son of Man, He didn’t heal people to prove He could do it. He didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. He did it to prove we could do it (Jn.14:12). He didn’t abundantly provide for people, “pressed down and shaken together,” to prove He could do it; He did it to prove we could do it (Lk.6:38). If there’s a fig tree or a mountain in your way, speak to it and it will move (Mk.11:22-24). Wouldn’t you like to know His pathway to victory?
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What Does One Accord Mean? (Acts 2:1)
A young preacher just became the new pastor. His first Sunday morning sermon was received with admiration and joy. But things became curious when he preached that very same sermons the second Sunday morning of his young pastorate. But when he preached that same sermon the third time in a row, the deacons called a meeting. They asked him why he would do that and he answered, “When the church begins to do the first sermon I preached, then I will preach a second one.” Although I would never do that, I do understand the sentiment. I feel that way about this sermon, as we are getting into the series on Acts 2. If we don’t get this down, there’s no real reason to go to another one. This is the reason Acts 2 happened. The Spirit would not have been poured out upon these people if they were not in “one accord.”
A dairy farmer father had a teen son who asked him for a three-wheeler, before the advent of the four-wheeler. The dad asked him why, what he intended to do with it, and he replied just to have fun with his friends who already had one. Dad said no! A week or two later the son comes back with the same request. “What do you want to do with it?” He replied, “I can go to the store on it, ride through the countryside, stuff like that.” No! Another week went by and the boy came with the same request. Why? The wise boy answered, “I can use it to round up the cows and go out and fix fences and move hay around the farm.” The dad said, “Ok, now you can have it.” The dad was wanting him to have the three-wheeler, but for the right reason. He wasn’t going to get it until he realized why he needed it.
The powerful and wonderful baptism with the Spirit was to be given to make them witnesses for Christ, as stated in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be My witnesses all over the world.” If we don’t connect with the mission of Christ, we will not get the power of Christ, for the purpose of power is to carry out the mission. We must get this down.
The very first thing we notice when we enter Acts 2 is what the inspired writer said in the first sentence: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place.” One accord means in unison. It has to do with the way they were thinking. They all had the same thing on their minds. There’s great power in a people who are of one mind; there wouldn’t be any more church arguments and splits. Without one vision we have di-vision.
The all together in one place at one time shows a major difference between this Model Church and the typical Modern Church. This must be recognized if we are to be the kind of church God wants us to be, and have Him put His Sprit upon and accomplish the mission Jesus gave the church. These people were all together at one place at the same time with the same thing on their mind because they all had their priorities right. Many believers today don’t have the same priority these disciples had; they are not committed to the mission of Christ in their neighborhood, much less the world. We are not committed to the missi
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Acts 2:1-4 is probably the most controversial and disputed passage in the entire Bible, has been for over 2,000 years. So, do not be offended if everyone does not agree with your interpretation of it. I will begin by noting the two words that most confuse and conflict people: Pentecost and Tongues. I will cover Pentecost in this chapter and tongues in the next. Remember, these are Bible words so we need to come to some understanding of them. God put them in the Bible for our own good.
What is presented in these next two chapters may seem complicated and may require several readings and much prayer and meditation to get the revelation of it, but I have tried to make it as clear as possible. And today’s church world needs some clarity on this matter; half are against the Pentecostal experience and tongues and many make altogether too much of it.
Every sentence in this chapter on Pentecost that you’re now reading is important; therefore, study it carefully. I am taking these important two words in Acts 2:1-4, then using the rest of the Bible to explain them. I’m taking it slowly and carefully because Acts 2:1-4 is the foundation of the rest of Acts, the entire New Testament, and the Church Age. This is the platform from which the church was launched. We must get this right in the beginning. If we don’t we will never hit our target of becoming the Model Church. If your aim is off a milli centimeter at the gun, the bullet will be way off target 100 yards away.
Pentecost means fifty and tongues means languages. The Day of Pentecost was the annual feast of the Jews set up by God in the Old Testament. It represents and memorializes abundance and the blessings of God; it had to do with the harvest of crops. Pentecost is an appropriate name for what happened in Acts 2 where we see a great harvest of souls “from every nation under heaven” being saved. Pentecost happened 50 days after Passover, the Day of Atonement when Jesus was crucified as the Lamb of God. Jesus poured out His blood and 50 days later He poured out the Spirit to bring in the harvest of souls for whom He had died.
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6/18/2025 Wednesday Night "The Argument Against Jesus Intensifies" John 8:48-59
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June 15, 2025 Fathers Day Morning is a contiuation of the Acts study in chapter 2. Sermon notes to come.
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(John 8:30-47)
The themes of bondage and freedom run throughout the Scriptures. Salvation is often pictured as a move from bondage to freedom. Nothing is more valuable, and nothing better pictures salvation than the switch from slavery to liberty. Paul presents salvation as an allegory involving Abraham’s two sons: Ishmael born of the bondwoman Hagar and Isaac born of the free woman Sarah (Gal.4:21-5:1). One was born of a slave woman and so is perpetually in bondage to the law, while the other was born of the free woman, picturing the freedom from the law we have in Christ. Paul declares that Christians are not in bondage to the law but we are born free.
It would be good to establish what freedom is. It is not a license to sin. Freedom gives you the supernatural ability to obey and trust God. Those who practice sin are slaves to sin. “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (v.34-35)
Freedom depends on how you were born. Everybody does the deeds of their father. Like father – like son (v.41). The whole book of First John has this as a proof that you have eternal life – you behave like your father. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (v.44)
If you are born of the flesh you are in bondage to the law of sin and death, but if you are born again of the Spirit, you are born free. Free from sin! “Whoever has been born of God does not sin; and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.” (1Jn.3:9-10) Born living under the law produces sin in a person’s life; but the new birth by the Spirit produces freedom from sin and the law. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2Cor.3:17)
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“Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” (Acts 2:1)
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.” (Acts 2:17)
I was first filled with the Spirit as I was reading John R. Rice’s book The Power of Pentecost and the Fullness of the Spirit. Being a Baptist myself I thought this was strange because Rice was the ‘godfather’ of the Independent Baptists, and this book went against Baptist beliefs. I was attending Emmanuel Baptist College at the time and so I asked my professor if he agreed with Rice and he said, “Certainly not! I do think this power is for special people marked out by God as evangelists, missionaries and maybe pastors.” But this is not what Rice was saying, and it certainly is not what the Bible says. Note the texts. The fullness of the Spirit and the power of Pentecost is for all, for every born again believer. (Acts 2:38-39) Acts 10:44-48 declares, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” You can’t receive something you’ve heard nothing about. You need to say loudly, “This is for me! God has not left me out of this precious and powerful promise. The baptism with the Spirit is for me! Praise God.”
What exactly is this fullness of the Spirit the Scriptures speak of? The name tells us what it is. It is you being filled with God! Your spirit, soul, and body becomes saturated with the Holy Spirit. He fills your inside and comes upon your outside with an anointing that gives you the power of God to be like Jesus and do the things He did. It makes you more like Jesus.
People sometimes say things like, “I don’t want all that Pentecost stuff. I just want to be like Jesus.” Well, Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit at the River Jordan right after John baptized Him in water. Does God want every believer to be baptized in water? Yes, That’s a clear. Then God wants you to be baptized with the Holy Spirit as well, just like Jesus was. Jesus received both water baptism and Spirit baptism (Lk.3:21-22). So, if you’re going to be like Jesus you need both. We all do.
What most people mean when they say they want to be like Jesus is Mister Nice Guy. They want to have a nice life, get along with everybody, work a good job, make enough money to take care of their family, and be a good citizen and neighbor. Love thy neighbor and all that. That is their view of what Jesus was like. But is it a Scriptural view? Is that what Jesus was really like? Consider this. Is the following description of Jesus what you are talking about when you say you just want to be like Jesus? Probably not, but it is the Bible view of Him.
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6/1/2025
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Acts 19:1-7
This chapter will tell if you want to be a part of a New Testament church or not, or be a N.T. believer. First, let’s be clear on this – according to John 3:16 and many other Scriptures, all it takes to be saved (be forgiven and have eternal life) is to believe in Christ. Salvation is by faith alone (Eph.2:8-9). Faith in the death and resurrection of Christ will make you right with God. From the Bible, there’s no doubt about that. But there is more to believe in order to experience the full benefits of our salvation. Since Pentecost it is possible to have the Spirit in you but not have the Spirit upon you. In and upon are two different things.
There’s nothing wrong with being incomplete, unless it is a willful incompleteness. It is better to be complete. Imagine having a bicycle that has no brakes. It will get you down the road, but it is dangerous without brakes. Every bike needs brakes to be complete. Imagine having a house without a roof. That house is not bad, just incomplete. Every house needs a roof to be a complete house to live in.
You don’t want your body to be incomplete. Nothing sinful to have lost an arm or leg or an eye. It’s just better to have two arms, two legs and two eyes, to be complete. Wouldn’t you like to be complete? If you’re not, you are not at full strength. No wonder you’re always struggling if you’re incomplete spiritually; you lack the power Pentecost provides. If you’re saved but not full of the Spirit you are an incomplete believer, much like the believers at Ephesus in our text.
I. All Old Testament believers were incomplete. Before Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4 every believer, though saved, was incomplete. At Pentecost the full blessings of the death and resurrection of Christ was fully realized. Some of those blessings we have gone over in all the chapters we’ve covered leading up to this one. They include:
- The Church was born on this day. This is Christ’s heavenly people, distinguished from Israel. God gave two visions to Abraham to say he would have numberless descendants: stars and sand. The stars represent his heavenly descendants and the sand represents his earthly children. His heavenly people are the church who will live with Him forever in the New Jerusalem. Abraham’s earthly people were incomplete without the church, and their experience was incomplete. This all changed when the Day of Pentecost had fully come.” Full salvation would be for Jews and Gentiles. Every Pentecost Sunday is a birthday celebration for the church.
2. Believers began to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Jn.14:17). Jesus said, The Holy Spirit was with them and would be in them. On this day believers became “in Christ” and Christ came into us. Remember earlier in this book I talked about the sponge being put into the bowl of water and when that happened the water came into the sponge? The water was in the sponge and the sponge was in the water. So, the Spirit came into us and upon us. This began to happen when the Day of Pentecost had fully come.
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Wednesday Evening, Rick Griffith brings an object lesson with the posed question of "How will you answer these three questions?"
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Selected Profound Sayings of Jesus from John 8:12-30
We have read through this section with the emphasis on Jesus confusing a lot of people. Let’s look specifically at some things He said, some of the most profound things ever uttered by Him or any other human.
1. v. 12 “I am the light of the world…” The whole world sat in darkness until Jesus came. Yes I know there was the genius of Alexander, Plato, Agustus, and even Moses and Isaiah, but they were not the light of the world, didn’t ever claim to be. But here comes this carpenter from Nazareth claiming to not only give light to the world, but to BE the light of the world! And if you don’t follow Him you walk and live in darkness! You know nothing… nothing of eternal significance. The purpose of light is to make manifest and Jesus claimed to make manifest God Himself and all eternal realities. He was the perfect man in the likeness of God.
“We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are seen are eternal.” (2Cor.4:18) Jesus makes eternal things manifest. He alone has the words of eternal life. He alone could say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
Don’t get upset at those who cannot see. They can’t know because they can’t see. According to John 3 without being born again, given a new set of eyes, they cannot see and thus enter the kingdom of God. In saving a soul, God must emancipate us and enlighten us.
Even to this day, most people think Jesus worked His works and said His sayings as the divine Son of God; that is – as God. But that is not so. Jesus did everything He did and said everything He said according to what the Father told Him to do and told Him to say. Acts 10:38 tells us that in no uncertain terms. Jesus of Nazareth (a man) was anointed by the Holy Spirit and went about healing all who were oppressed by the devil because God was with Him.” Not because He was God!
Jesus is our model in ministry, whether it be speaking the word of God or doing the works of God. He was and is truly man, doing what man was created to do, bearing the likeness of God and reigning over the earth (Gen.1:26-28). To see this man was to see God. And He did this perfectly, the only one who ever has. That’s because He always did those things that pleased Him.
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May 18, 2025 Sunday Morning Sermon
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My little children for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19)
In my 55 years of studying and preaching the Bible, this is the most unusual and unique verse I have ever come across. The text was written by a man… a man who was in labor to give birth! Like any mother he is in labor to give birth. Only he’s a man! Men don’t give birth, women do. Women travail; men watch. Paul was WOKE two thousand years ago! He said that he, as a man, was pregnant! Actually in labor pains. He went even further than that – he was having labor pains for his grandchildren!
The title question is not “Who is Your Mother?” but “Whose Mother Are You?” Try not to be like Nicodemus who was totally confused when Jesus spoke to him about being born again in John 3:1-8. He asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus was speaking of a spiritual birth, not a physical birth. Same with Paul here. He’s talking about travailing and laboring spiritually, in his heart and soul. Here’s just an interesting thought: We call the birth a “delivery,” but it could just as well be called “takeout.” It depends on one's viewpoint. If you’re the mom it’s a delivery, if it’s the doctor it’s called a takeout.
Another strange thing about this is he is laboring for his “little children” to become pregnant! “I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you!” He is laboring to have grandchildren! And Christ is the grandchild he is laboring for, meaning Christ in another person. Is this not a strange text? He’s writing to his little children for whom he had labored to give birth that they might give birth to their own child which is Christ. Again, all of this is spiritual of course.
They call the travail of a woman about to have her baby labor pains. But that is only the beginning of her labors of love. Any woman can give birth to a baby, but only a mother can raise that baby and care and love it for the rest of her life. All of these are labors of love and it makes all the pain and trouble worth it. Paul was that kind of mother. God wants us to be that way when it comes to our children.
From this I want us to see that all Christians should be mothers! That is, every Christian should be in labor to give birth to children in the faith and then travail for them as Christ is formed in them. This is done through the sharing of the gospel with people and discipling them. All disciples should be making disciples. All believers should be sharing their faith so that others could be born again. In caring for our children, (both physical and spiritual) we should be teaching them the word and praying earnestly for them. This is a high calling and it is not easy.
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Wednesday Night message by Russell Bailey
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If you don’t know why you are here then you are lost. I mean God’s purpose for creating you, not your girlfriend’s answer: “You are made for me to love!” Yeah… she will probably have a new boyfriend in a month. If you don’t know why you’re here, then you can’t know who you are or what you are, where you are going, what you should be doing in your life and with your life. This is that important, so read up.
It is important to know the purpose of everything, especially man. Purpose is important to all of us and it is to God as well. He does all things with a purpose in mind. He created you with a purpose in mind. He had something for you to be and do long before you were ever born. Discovering your purpose is the most important revelation of your life, the most important discovery in your life. That’s what this lesson is all about – discovering your God-given purpose.
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Jesus Confused Many People (John 8:12-30)
I know… I know… People often quote 1Cor.14:33 which says that God is not the author of confusion. That does not mean that He will never say anything that will confuse you. God has always said things that left people scratching their heads and saying, “Huh…” Paul in 1Cor.14 was talking about confusion and controversy in the congregation over the practice of the gifts of the Spirit. (There is still confusion and controversy over these very things.) There was confusion in the way the meetings were being conducted: people speaking out of turn, interrupting one another, and other such things. But differences don’t have to lead to division. If a congregation or a person is confused in what is happening, you should pursue peace and not create disorder. That was happening at Corinth. Paul was not talking about confusion that comes naturally with learning, but confusion in the gatherings themselves. Read the chapter and you will see that is exactly what was happening.
If God says something you don’t understand and your mind is confused, pursue the truth until you are at peace with that. I think I can truthfully say that if you’re never confused about anything in the Bible, you’re probably not learning anything.
If you are not confused right now, maybe in this lesson you can learn how to help someone else who might be confused. Many people do get confused when trying to understand the Bible and they just give up and settle for ignorance. We know that is a horrible decision and maybe you can help them not do that.
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April 27, 2025, Sunday morning
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Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you.” (John 7:53 – 8:11)
Don’t let the familiarity of this story make you think it’s not important. It is heavy laden with truths about God in the New Covenant. They brought before Him a woman who was caught in the very act of committing adultery. She was caught sinning, breaking God’s holy law. The Law of Moses, which is the law of God, is very clear: “The men of her city shall stone her to death with stones.” (Deut.20:10) By the way, the man was to be stoned also; but they never brought the guilty man to Jesus. Didn’t need to because they were only concerned with one thing – “testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.” (Jn.8:6) They were laser focused on getting rid of Him and no better way to do that than find Him in opposition to the Law of Moses. They had the perfect case. If He just forgave her and let her go He would be throwing aside the Law of Moses. If He was the first to throw a stone, how could He justify His teachings on forgiveness, mercy and grace? They had Him between a rock and a hard place. No way out… they thought.
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Easter Sunday morning sermon.
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Jesus raised more questions than He answered. Questions swirled around Him like bees around a hive. He spoke in parables and this raised many questions. He spoke in metaphors and this raised even more. He said things like, “Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you.” Huh? “It took 46 years to build this temple and you said if it was destroyed You could raise it up in three days?” Aside from the things He said, He was a mysterious person who did unusual things… on the wrong day! Questions to Him were countless. Questions concerning Him were just as numerous. The people talked among themselves trying to figure out who He was, where He had come from and where He was going. There were speculations galore.
In this passage we have questions and answers. Most of the questions were unanswered and the answers were speculations. “Truly this is the Prophet.” Moses had predicted a prophet like unto himself would one day appear. They reasoned that this Prophet would be the Lord Himself (Deut.18:15-16). “Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’” But they were confused because they thought He was from Galilee and no prophet had been predicted to come out of Galilee. They didn’t know He was actually born in Bethlehem, in fulfillment of prophecy.
“So there was a division among the people because of Him.” The first thing God did in the first creation was divide the night from the day, so God is good at dividing. Jesus always brings divisions. He said, “I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” (Mt.10:35-36) Do not be surprised if that happens in your own life among your family and friends. In fact, you can pretty well expect it. Just don’t be discouraged by it.
The powers that be sent officers to arrest Jesus and when they came back without Him they asked, “Why have you not brought Him?” They responded, because “No man ever spoke like this man!” They were right. “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” (Mt.7:28-29) He never said, “Thus says the Lord,” only, “I say to you…”
What He said then astounded people and has continued to do so for the last 2,000 years. Let’s look at some of the things He said. Read these out loud for they were spoken.
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Sunday evening April 13, 2025. Speaker: Holli Simpson
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4/13/2025 Sunday Morning "The Day the Church was Born: The Day of Pentecost" Jn. 14:20
In Colossians chapter one we have a long list of amazing unique things said about Jesus Christ. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, He is the image of the invisible God. By Him, through Him, and for Him all things were created. In the middle of all this the inspired apostle writes, “And He is the head of the body, the church.” (1:18) What an amazing statement in the context of other such statements. The church is not a metaphor; it is actually and literally the body of Christ: “bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.” (Eph.5:30)
Never underestimate the importance of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not that important to the world of unbelievers and that is our fault. But nothing is more important to God, and nothing should be more important to the Christian. The church is the best friend your family has, the best friend you have if you want to grow to be more Christlike and make it to heaven when you die.
“Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her,” says what the Lord thinks of His beloved bride, the church (Eph.5:25; Acts 20:28 says, “the church, which He purchased with His own blood). We want to think like Christ thinks. Wisdom does that. We want to love like Christ, love who He loves: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Every couple celebrates their births and so should we. We remember and celebrate what happened in Acts 2. The birth of the church will be celebrated forever for the church will never die. Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of death (Hades) will not prevail against her.” (Mt.16:18). The church is the only people who will live with God in the New Jerusalem. If He thought it was that important, so should we.
What is the church? This needs to be made clear because there is a lot of confusion about this. It is the Body of Christ, the House of God, the Temple (dwelling place) of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1Cor.3:16) The you in that verse is in the plural because he’s writing to the church at Corinth: “to the church of God which is at Corinth.” The church is the local church. Individual Christians are living stones placed individually into this temple by the Holy Spirit (1Pet.2:5; 1Cor.12:13). The church is a local body of people. It is not a building made with man’s hands. It is built by Christ (Mt.16:18; Acts 2:47) and His fellow-workers, which is us (1Cor.3:9). He uses us to build the greatest, most glorious, long-lasting building that will ever be built!
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Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
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Sunday Evening, April 6th, 2025. Speaker: Kim Trujillo
We want to apologize for the sound quality recently. During the recent storms, our sound board was struck by lightning. We’re currently in the process of setting up a new system, and we appreciate your patience as we work to get everything back to normal. Thanks for sticking with us!
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ACTS II
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And multitudes heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (Acts 8:5-8)
I have previously in ACTS I gone into great detail to show that Jesus began to do and teach in the Gospels and in the rest of the New Testament He continued to do and teach: do in Acts and teach in the epistles. I want to now show some of those things the believers did. Keep in mind that it is believers who continued and are to continue the acts of Jesus, not just the apostles. That’s why the extra-dispensational teaching that says these things died with the apostles is, on its very face, a serious error.
I want God to ACT. I want God to DO something… in my life, in your life, in every service, and even daily. Well, what sort of things would God do if He did do something? According to Jesus, silly little things like save you from your sins, save you from yourself, from this present evil world, and from hell. He will never harm you; He will only do you good. He does things like heal the sick, deliver us from addictions and demon oppression, give us eternal purpose and life, equip us to help others, and give us His love, His joy, and His peace. And oh yes… the forgiveness of all our sins.
I want God to speak to us, because His voice comes with power to change things for the better. All God’s acts are voice-activated and since Genesis chapter one He has used the voice of humans to do His work. So, “Speak, Lord. Save, Lord. Heal, Lord. Help, Lord. Do it now. And we will give you all the praise, in Jesus’ name.”
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“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22)
A good subtitle would be “What It Means to Be a Christian.” You may think you already know what it means, but when you compare what you know to the teachings of Christ and the church in Acts, you may find that you are a long way off and there’s a vast difference between what you think a Chrisian is and what a Christian is, according to the Bible, and only the Bible can tell us what a real Christian is. To some it simply means you “Accept Jesus as your Savior and you go to heaven when you die.” But there’s more to it than that.
A family drove about 16 hours to spend a couple of weeks with us. When the couple and their two daughters left, about halfway there the man pulled over to a rest stop without saying a word, got out of the car and went walking around about a stone’s throw away, and started crying out loud to God. After about two hours of this the lady called me to ask that I pray for him because she had no idea what was going on. I did pray and then a few minutes later she called me and said, “He got back in the car, wiped the tears from his eyes, smiled at me and said, “I just got saved. I just gave my life to Christ.”
Later he called me to explain. He said that in all his years growing up his family never missed church. He thought this is the Christian life. But he said they laid our Bibles down when they went in the house and never picked them back up till they headed out the door to church. And he said they never talked about the Lord all week. His father had been a deacon for over 20 years. Then when he spent two weeks with our family, he said he saw what real Christians were and got under conviction that he wasn’t saved at all, and so he had to pull over and work this out with God. He did. I think many people and families in our churches are like him and his family. They think they know what a Christian is, but really have no idea what it means to be a Christian.
Many Christians don’t know who they are “in Christ,” what God has called and commanded them to do, or anything about the power needed to accomplish the God-given task He has given to every Christian. They live ignorant, purposeless, and powerless lives on this earth. They don’t know who they are or why they’re here. I have good news for you. I intend to answer those questions for you in this chapter of our study of Acts two.
This is yet another prequel to Acts chapter two. A very important one. It’s about something that happened that prepared the disciples for what took place on that first Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit. This is a preparation for all who will ever experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This is not mentioned in Acts chapter one, but it is mentioned in our text where Jesus was preparing the disciples for this momentous event in history and in our lives. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
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This passage is about halfway through the three years of Jesus’ ministry. At this point a lot of questions about Him were circulating within the chosen nation. There are six questions asked in this short passage. They were trying to figure out just who He was. Is He the Messiah or what? C.S. Lewis said no one could remain neutral concerning the person of Jesus: “He is either Liar, Lunatic, or Lord.” People back in Jesus’ day were pondering such things. Who is He? (25-26) Where is He from? (v.27) Where is He going? (v.35) They couldn’t come up with answers to any of these questions.
An eight year old girl asked her daddy, who was reading his newspaper, a question and her dad said, “I don’t know, Honey,” as he continued to read his newspaper. She thought for a moment and asked him another question. “I don’t know, Honey.” She paused another minute and asked him yet a third question. Again he replied, “I don’t know, Honey!” Then she asked him, “Does it bother you for me to ask you questions?” He said, “Of course not, Honey, how else are you going to learn anything.”
God Himself asks questions throughout the Bible, not because He is seeking to learn anything. Like any good teacher, Jesus asked questions to try to get us to think and arrive at the right answer without simply being told. “Adam, Where are you?” Like He didn’t know… The omniscient God certainly knew exactly where he was. “Will you also go away? Why are you so slow to believe? Who do people say that I am? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Don’t be surprised if He asks you questions. He asked Elijah, “Why are you here?”
Jesus liked to answer questions with a question or with an answer that didn’t make sense to anyone. He did this in this passage. Where are you from? My Father sent Me (v.28-29). Where are you going? Where I go you cannot come (v.32-36).
Even with so many unanswered questions, some simply believed in Him (v.31). Why did all these people believe while having all these unanswered questions? SIGNS! Truly His story (His words and works) compel us to believe. His signs were given for that very reason (Jn.20:30-31). Here’s the bottom line – you’re never going to have all your questions answered. And neither will you be able to answer all the questions of the people you talk to about Jesus. “Where did Cain get his wife?” Here’s a major key to soul winning. You’re never going to answer all their questions. Just say, “I don’t know,” and go back to the gospel. Just keep bringing them back to the gospel. They don’t know where Cain got his wife and they don’t even want to know the answers to such questions. What they do need to know (as a matter of heaven and hell) is the gospel of Christ.
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3/2/2025 Sunday Evening Speaker: Kim Trujillo
Message: Using Your Gifts
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3/23/2025 Sunday Morning “Having Done All, Stand” https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/home
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Wednesday, March 19th Continued series in John.
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March 16, 2025. Elder, Dewey Williams, preaches Sunday evening on the steadfast love of God.
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March 16, 2025 Sunday Morning Service
ACTS I
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. (Acts 1:1)
(That former account was the Gospel of Luke.)
Here’s a summary of the entire New Testament.
Gospels: The Son of God became the Son of Man, without ceasing to be the Son of God. In the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) Jesus both acts and teaches. He is full of works and words during His famed anointed three year ministry. He died for our sins, rose from the dead, and sealed the New Testament (Covenant) with His blood (Heb.9:16-18).
Acts: In Acts Christ returns to heaven leaving His disciples to continue what He had been doing. That’s why the name of the book is called ACTS. They continued doing the same things He began doing in the Gospels: signs, miracles, healings, and deliverances.
Epistles: Then after Acts we have the Epistles in which Christ continues His teachings through His church. [All these works and words of Christ continue in effect until He comes back.]
Revelation: In the book of Revelation, Christ returns to earth and sets up His kingdom on earth, then judges everyone who has ever lived and they all end up in heaven or hell for eternity.
What is the first word in the title of the book in the Bible that follows the Gospel of John? ACTS of the Apostles. What is the one word title we call this book? ACTS. It’s normally called the ACTS of the Apostles because it is mainly the story of the ACTS of two apostles: Peter and Paul. But people who were not apostles acted in ACTS. Stephen and Philip did powerful Acts in the book of ACTS. “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8) “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” (8:5-7)
Jesus spoke and acted in the Gospels and the believers acted in ACTS. After that we have the written word which we call the epistles. After Jesus went back to heaven we have Him continuing to act and speak in ACTS and the Epistles. These do not contradict each other; they complement each other. God is not doing one thing in one part of the New Testament and then saying something different in another part of it. He wrote both Acts and the epistles. Jesus began to speak in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and He continues to speak in the epistles. The whole N.T. could be written in red letters! Jesus also began to act in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and He continued to act in the book we call ACTS. That’s why we call it ACTS!
Acts 1:1 tells us that. “The former account I (Luke) made of all that Jesus began to do and teach.” He began to do and teach in the gospels and He continued to do and teach in the rest of the N.T. In Acts He continued doing things. Peter explained this in Acts 10:38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.”
Where much of the modern Amer
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Don’t let anyone or anything outside of you control you. Don’t be anybody’s puppet. Don’t let anyone pull your strings. You are not a puppet or some preprogramed robot. God does not control people. He is not interested in controlling you. More on this later.
Some who are reading this feel like you’re a victim of a lot of things, even in bondage and you don’t know how to break free. The truths shared in this lesson will set you free from all sorts of bondages and controls that other things and people have put on your life. Jesus said the truth will make you free. Here is the truth.
Work your way through the passage and note that Jesus didn’t let His brothers tell Him when to go to Jerusalem or what to do when He got there. He was led by His Father and He chose when to go. Disciples in Jerusalem would not openly acknowledge Him for fear of the Jewish leaders. Thus, fear controlled them.
People tend to be controlled by pretty much anything. Hormones! A mother of two came to my office asking me to pray for her. She was pregnant. She said that with her other two children she was absolutely controlled by her hormones, which made her and everyone else around her miserable. I prayed for her and for the next nine months she gave timely testimonies that she had been delivered from hormone control. Some people are controlled by their emotions. Depressed people are controlled by their depression or chemical imbalances. Fear is a terrible master. Phobias control the lives of many people. Phobia of storms. Rejection. Rodents. Insects. You name it.
Even parents are not to control their kids! Instructing and disciplining them is not the same as control. We wish some parents would control their kids! One lady said, “I just can’t control my kids. They’re just wild.” I felt like saying, “I know, I’ve seen them in WalMart,” but I didn’t. You shouldn’t try to control your kids, but you can lovingly train them to obey. I once witnessed about 30 kids from a black preschool come into McDonald’s and they each went to a seat and sat there without getting out of them while the teachers ordered their food. What they wanted was not discussed in the restaurant. They didn’t fight or run around or talk loudly. They behaved perfectly. I told the head teacher before they left how I admired all this and he said, “It’s all how you train them.” He was right.
Some parents are controlled by their kids. I mean, the whole household is run by what that kid wants and wants to do. Believe it or not, that’s wrong. Meeting their needs is not what I’m talking about. I know a family who desperately wanted to be in church, but they couldn’t come because, “Our kid cries every time we put her in the nursery, and we just can’t stand that.” So, they quit coming. I’m pretty sure the Bible doesn’t say, “Do not forsake assembling together, except in the case of your child not wanting to come.”
People’s jobs control a lot of people. When I worked for GM they were giving out orders to work on Sunday and I told them I wouldn’t because I went to church on Sunday. They told me they could fire me for not coming to work. I told them, “So fire me. There are other jobs; I’m not working o
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3/9/2025 The Power of Love: Holli Simpson
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(What Happens to Them and How You Can Keep from Becoming One of Them.)
What does happen to disciples who turn away from following Jesus? Whatever it is, it can’t be good. Peter did but when he repented he was restored. Judas did and ended up committing suicide. Whatever … this is important. It is very important.
First, we need to realize that people leave. We can’t take it personally. Adam and Eve left God. People leave church. Husbands leave wives. In this passage, disciples left Jesus. We can’t let people discourage us. Jesus didn’t. He simply said, “There are some of you who do not believe.” (v.64)
You can be a disciple without believing. You can be a disciple without being a believer. Judas was. Being a disciple simply means you are doing the disciplines. What are those? Reading your Bible, praying, going to church, tithing. You can do all those and still not believe, still not be a believer, still not be saved. The Pharisees did all those things and more, and they certainly were not saved. Jesus pronounced woe after woe on them in Matthew chapter 23:15, 23, 29, and yet we have v.33.
I’ve seen many faithful church members get saved! In fact, historic revivals usually begin with church members getting saved. Judas was a disciple and he wasn’t saved. Look at v.70-71, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”
“Follow Me” was Jesus’ call to discipleship but His call to salvation was, “Believe in Me.” (v.35, 40, 47, and Jn. 3:16).
You can’t be a believer without being a disciple. In the mind of Jesus a believer is a disciple. In the Great Commission Jesus said to baptize believers in Mark 16 and in Matthew 28 He said to baptize disciples. In His mind they are the same. A believing disciple is not perfect, but he does believe in his heart and does the disciplines to some degree. In all your church going and Bible reading make sure you are a believer, which means to make sure all those things are in your heart and done from your heart.
Kids can grow up in church and do all the disciplines as long as they’re with their parents. When they grow up or leave home is when you find out if all of that doing was in their hearts. Here’s the test for all disciples – DO THEY CONTINUE? Hebrews 10:36-39 says this: “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: ‘But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition/destruction, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” Then in Heb.11 the author of Hebrews gives multiple examples of those who “died in faith.” (Heb.11:13)
Studies have always been consistent on this. About 85% of all kids who grow up in church do not continue to go to church when they leave home. My dad used to say, “As long as you put your feet under my table, you will do what I say.” Most kids, when they stop putting their feet under their parents’ table, stop putting their feet inside the building where the church meets. And don’t be fooled by thinking church
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3/2/2025 Sunday Morning "What Does a Good Church Look Like?"
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2/26/2025 Wednesday Night "The Works of God the Father" John 6
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2/23/2025 Sunday Morning "The Timeline for Acts 2”
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2/16/2025 Sunday Morning "Signs" Acts 2:1-4
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February 12 at 6:29 PMJohn 6:53-55
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Sunday evening on Super Bowl Sunday, we paused the game and gather for worship and service just like every other Sunday. Here is a message by one of our elders, Robert Williams
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Sunday, February 9th 2025. Acts Chapter One
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(John 6:22-40)
What do you want from God? For what are you seeking God? You are seeking God, right? Whatever it is, it comes through Jesus Christ whom God the Father sent to earth. Food or bread is a synecdoche - a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole. When we say "D.C." we mean America or "Moscow" we mean Russia. You're in the break room drinking a Coke, eating a donut, watching TV, listening to some music, reading the Bible, and someone asks what you're doing and you say, "I'm on my coffee break." Coffee is a synecdoche for all sorts of things. Bread is food and that is a synecdoche for that which is perishable. Food doesn't last. You eat breakfast and have to eat again at noon, then again at six, and eat a snack in the evening.
In John 6:22-40 Jesus is comparing that which is perishable to that which lasts forever. They followed Jesus to get what was perishable - bread. These were part of the 5,000 men whom Jesus fed in the desert. And He said, "You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you." (Jn.6:26-27) Jesus had been performing signs (miracles with a message) but Jesus said mighty miracles are not the reason you followed Me across the sea; you followed Me because you ate the food.
People spend all their energies, time, and skills pursuing that which is perishable: food, clothes, cars, houses, and adult toys. They work all week to earn enough money to eat; then they eat so they can work. That describes the lives of most of the people on earth. That's a vain life. I hope that's not you. If it is, repent!
It's not that God doesn't want you to have perishable things. In Eden He told Adam and Eve, "Of all the trees of the Garden you may freely eat." Everything was provided: food, water, ... not clothes! He did provide those later. He wants us to eat and have what is necessary for life. He wants you to have a car, a house, clothes.
But He doesn't want you to pursue them or worry over not having them or enough of them.
In Matthew 6:25-33 Jesus tells us not to worry about what we have to eat or wear. Do not worry about these things! Notice what He wants us to seek the kingdom of God, the rule of God in your life. If you seek Jesus for those things He will give them to you. It's funny, if you seek Jesus you get perishable things and eternal life. If you pursue perishable things, you may get some perishable things, but you will eventually lose them, and you will lose imperishable things, like heaven, immortal glorified body, a home in the New Jerusalem whose streets are paved with gold. Make your choice. Either pursue perishable things or imperishable things.
God wants us to have things that perish because we live in a perishable world. It's all going to pass away, burn even (1Pet.3:10). But we need to realize when we use the name Jehovah-Jireh it means God Provides. The actual name was given by Abraham, and it was this, "God will provide for Himself a lamb as a sacrifice," for sin so that his son, Isaac, could live. He provided a lamb; that la
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- 2025 Sunday Evening with Dewey Williams
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The STANDARD Church
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42)
The perfect God specializes in ideal things. When He makes something, He says that it is “very good.” (Gen.1:31) He made man in His image, which means he was perfect, everything God wanted him to be. We eventually mess everything up; we did in Eden and have been doing it ever since. Everything God has done in salvation is to bring us back to that pristine Eden (Rev.22), perfect people living in a perfect environment. When He makes the New Jerusalem, it will be completely glorious and perfect, and we will not ever be able to mess it up, for “there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev.21:27)
When God started the church in Acts chapter two, it was perfect, everything He wanted it to be; His ideal as a bride for His Son, a dwelling place, and a perfect body for His Son. Therefore, it stands forever as His standard. A standard is “something established by authority as a model or example.” (Webster) When clothes designers first show off their ‘wares’ they put them on what they call a “Model.” Designer Clothes are supposed to look like what the model exampled in the beginning. They were designed that way and they are always supposed to look that way. Those who make clothes at home use what they call a “pattern.” They pin the paper-pattern to cloth and then cut the cloth along the pattern and the clothes follow the pattern, whether it’s a shirt, skirt, or whatever. Acts 2 is the standard for the church, designed by the hand of God and meant to be patterned from now until Jesus comes. It’s His model church. Any deviation from Acts 2 is not what God designed.
The standard church is not supposed to be what you are used to. You’ve been in a dead church for years but when God infused some life into it, you didn’t like it. It’s not the type of church you’re used to. But we must always choose and design our churches after God’s standard, pattern, and model we find in Acts 2.
If you continue to read Acts you will see that men began to mess with the pattern, through sin, false doctrine and practices. Paul knew about this when he wrote, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” (1Tim.4:1) False teachings and man-made traditions pervert the pattern and sabotage the standard.
2:41 & 47, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Setting the Stage for The Standard Church, cha.1
I. Mighty Signs, 2:1-4
II. Sermons, 2:5-39
A. Meaningful, v.5-21
B. Messianic, v.22-39
III. Many Salvations, v. 40-41, 47
IV. Multiple Services, v.42-47
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1/26/2025 Sunday Evening Service Mission Report from Juarez Team and Russell Bailey Speaking
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Sunday, January 27, 2025. Last Sermon on the mini-series on 'eternal rewards'
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January 22, 2025 Wednesday Night.
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Sunday, January 19, 2025. A continuation of the Eternal Rewards series.
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Wednesday, January 8, 2025. A sermon in the mini-series "Eternal Rewards"
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Sunday, January 5, 2025, The First sermon in a series about eternal rewards.
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Wednesday Night, January 1, 2025.
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12.29.24 Rick Griffith - Psalm 90
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12.22.24 a Christmas message..."From Obscurity to Exaltation"
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12.15.24 - What it Means to be a Child of God
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Sunday evening, December 15th 2024.
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Wednesday, 12.11.24: Flowing in Spiritual Gifts
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12/4/2024 Wednesday Night "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"
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December 1, 2024 Sunday Morning
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)
God built everything for unity. Unity is God’s will because God is one. He is the perfect plurality in unity. Within the essence of the one God there are three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Man was made to live in unity with God and with each other, another plurality in unity: Adam and Eve, “one flesh.”
Unity is heaven. When Lucifer rebelled against God he was cast out of heaven. When Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” He was telling us to pray for unity. Lucifer landed on earth and the first thing he did was bring disunity between God and man, and the husband and wife. Adam and Eve accused each other for their sin, and so began the first domestic dispute. Sin destroys unity. They’ve been going on ever since. One of their two kids killed the other one: Cain killed Abel. It was a religious hate crime which has spawned religious hatred ever since. Behold the Crusades, the Middle East, and church fights!
Unity in the church is heaven on earth. It’s the way God designed us. He gave it to us by Jesus’ death on the cross and by giving us His Spirit. Now it is our job to endeavor to keep it.
God loves diversity, but He hates disunity in that diversity. He can’t even make two snowflakes or two fingerprints alike. We are all different in so many ways: color, height, tastes. The list goes on. We are not all going to agree on everything – even in church. That’s why our text says endeavoring to keep the unity. Look at the unity in Eph. 4:1-6, then the diversity that follows that passage. This is the genius of Christ’s unified church – we can be different without being divided. We can even have different beliefs and still have the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Differences don’t divide, the flesh divides (Gal.5:19-21).
One of the mantras of our church is: In Essentials we have Unity, in Non-Essentials we have Liberty, in All Things we have Love. It doesn’t really matter what you believe the Bible teaches about healing or prosperity or the millennial kingdom, or many things, which are helpful for your Christian life, but not essential to have fellowship in order to carry out the Mission Christ has given us as individuals and a church.
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“In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thessalonians 5:18)
Attitude determines altitude. A good attitude will take you higher in life and keep you there longer than anything else. A positive, thankful attitude will bless your life like nothing else. God knows this and it’s why He commands us to do it.
I. Characteristics of the Attitude of Gratitude
1. It is Cheap! It costs you nothing. You don’t have to buy alcohol or weed, go to Disney World, buy a boat, or buy anything.
2. It is a Choice. I read this book when I was just starting out in life and it changed my life from that moment on: Happiness is a Choice. The attitude of gratitude will make you happier than anything else. You choose to be happy and you choose to have a good attitude. It doesn’t come from what happens to you, it comes from how you respond to what happens to you. “Two men looked through prison bars: one saw mud, the other saw stars.” It doesn’t depend so much on what you look at but how you look at it.
3. It Proves Itself in a Crisis. The Chinese word for crisis combines two words: dangerous opportunity. Every crisis is an opportunity for advancement in character and/or situation. If you see yourself on your back, try looking up. There’s nowhere to go from where you are but up! Your attitude can change your position in life for the better or for the worse. If life has been handing you lemons, make some lemonade.
II. What to do to Crash Your Life. I know you’re not reading this to find out how to ruin your life, but this can be very instructive and helpful.
1. Contemplate Bad Thoughts. If you want to ruin your day, your life, your marriage, your relationship with your kids, your boss, just meditate on bad thoughts. You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep him from building a nest in your hair, and in your house. Negative thoughts lead to you feeling bad which anchors a bad attitude in you.
2. Become Conflicted. Worry means to be conflicted in your thinking and actions. Martha was conflicted by Mary’s choice of listening to Jesus while she was serving. Worry is the word Jesus used to describe Martha. Worry is the only acceptable sin these days among Christians. “Ya’ll pray for me; you know I’m just a worry wart. I worry about everything.” Well, stop it! Worrying is a sin! Repent! In Matthew six Jesus says three times, “Do not worry…” You will either worry or pray, you can’t do both.
“Rejoice in the Lord always (at all times). Again I say, rejoice! The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if th
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Wednesday, 11/13/24 - Rick Griffith: Psalm 103
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If you will research it you will find the number three plays a very significant role in the Bible: the word occurs 485 times, God is known as the God of the three patriarchs, Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane, was dead for three days, had three really close disciples who saw three prominent people on the Mount of Transfiguration, Paul went to the third heaven where God lives, and there are still many other references. It signifies the number of completion, though not to the degree the number seven does.
As a memory aid I want to show you three sets of threes in Mark 1:9-12 as we continue our study verse by verse through the Gospel of Mark. There is the Trinity, three baptisms, and three visitors in the wilderness.
TAKEAWAYS:
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Learn the definition of the Trinity and who the three persons of the Trinity are.
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It is imperative that you be baptized with the Holy Spirit. It was for Jesus and it is no less for you. Make sure you have this important baptism, because this is what gives you power to live the Christian life.
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Concerning your relationship with God, do not depend on what others say. Get assurance from God.
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Truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 30:30-31) Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, ‘This is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ (John 6:14)
Signs get some bad press in many minds. But if you think of it, signs are good. Every time you write your name you give your sign in your signature. Signs are put on the highway to protect and inform us. Every business has a sign. The sign of a good business is a business with a good sign. There are weather signs and signs on every house that are called addresses. The Bible is full of signs from Genesis to Revelation: the rainbow, circumcision, and hundreds of others. The book of Revelation is full of signs. Jesus acknowledged people will seek for signs before they believe, and then He gave them signs to help them believe.
Yet some people think that asking for signs from God is a bad thing. If they are, then why did God willingly give so many of them in the Bible? God continually gave signs to prove His word. In fact, John tells us why he wrote his gospel the way he did – to tell about seven signs that Jesus did so that those who read about them would believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing they might be saved. And that’s exactly what happened in our present passage that has Jesus performing a mighty miraculous sign.
Before we even get to this, signs were given by God all the way through the Old Testament. In Judges 6:17-24, 36-40 Gideon asks for more than one sign from God to prove He was really speaking to him and telling him what to do. God says, “Okay!” Then He gave Gideon three signs! He thought God would be angry with him (Most people think that) but He wasn’t! God can handle our request for a sign. In fact He loves it.
As stated, John gives seven signs that will cause people to believe in Jesus.
1. Turning water into wine, 2:1-11, (This was Jesus’ first sign and it produced faith in those who saw it.)
2. Healing the Nobleman’s son, 4:46-54,
3. Healing a paralyzed man, 5:1-15,
4. Feeding 5,000 men, 6:1-14,
5. Stilling a storm while walking on the sea, 6:15-21,
6. Healing a blind man, 9:1-41,
7. Raising Lazarus, 11:1-57.
TAKEAWAYS:
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Signs follow believers and signs confirm the word preached. Therefore, we should desire, pray for, and expect signs, wonders and miracles in our lives and when we share the gospel.
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When you are not sure whether God is speaking to you about a certain thing, you could do one or two things: ask for godly counsel and/or ask for a sign. God is happy to confirm His leading with a sign.
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Then again, if you don’t need a sign, that is good. Just believe.
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The purpose of a sign is to confirm what you believe.
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Much is at stake here, and what is at stake is whether sinners will believe and be saved.
I’ve done a study of t
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Who did God put in charge on earth? God is spirit and as such invisible. So who is going to visibly and audibly represent Him on earth? Man! Man is the representative of God on the earth. It must be someone like God, and it must be a man because of what it says in Genesis 1:26-27, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion on the earth.” God’s highest creature was created last. What was said about man was said of no other creature God ever made. Adam represented God on the earth. Not an angel because they too are invisible and not the highest order of living beings. God never put angels in charge of anything on earth.
Adam was the original man who represented God. After God made man He rested. He has stopped creating. Then in Genesis chapter three, when man sinned, God again put on His work clothes and began His work of redemption, His new creation. Fallen man was the closest thing to God on earth to represent Him, but he was now sinful. A sinful man, a sinner, cannot adequately represent a holy God.
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-9 describes the One in charge down here – it is Jesus Christ, the man who is the exact image of God on the earth. God the Father sent His only born Son to earth, born of a woman, fully man. Jesus Christ was God’s representative on earth, made as a man in His exact image. Who else could it be? Not the Pope! Not Mohammed! Not the Dalai Lama! Not Buddha! Jesus Christ is God’s man who truly and fully represents God on the earth. Jesus said this, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (Jn.14:9). Everything God is, Christ is. When you see Jesus Christ you have seen God. He represents God fully. “God was manifest in the flesh.” (1Tim.3:16) When you see what Jesus did, you see what God would do. When you hear Jesus speak, you are listening to God speak. Others spoke about Jesus; Jesus spoke for the Father.
A major theme in the Bible given to us in the book of John is stated by Jesus over and over as He claimed to be the one whom God sent. He is the only unique Son of God. Jesus said so in Jn.3:16. Note just some of the times in John that He declares to be the one whom God sent: 1:18,14; 3:16-17; 4:34; 5:37-38; 6:39,44,57; 10:36; 10:36; 12:49. And that’s just some of the verses where Jesus declares this. He was sent to fully represent God on the earth. Approaching our text Jesus is going to anticipate our saying, “You say you were sent from God and that you represent God on the earth. Prove it!” That’s where Mt.18:16 comes in, the principle that runs all the way through the Bible: “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”
Now read Jn.5:31-47 and you will see that:
I. The Six Witnesses that Jesus Represents God on the Earth:
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Jesus Himself, v.31-32
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John the Baptist, v.33-35
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The Works of Jesus, v.36
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The Father Himself, v.37-38
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The Scriptures, v.39
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Moses, v.45-47
II. Man is God’s representative on the earth; God gave him the charge of ruling the earth in His place.
III. Adam lost his job as God’s representative on earth, except for redeemed men like justified Abraham. Go
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I. John Compared Himself to Jesus. Jesus was the Word; John called himself only a voice in the wilderness. John said he was not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes. Next to Jesus, he said he was a slave.
Now, John was important. He was sent by God as the forerunner to introduce the Messiah and Savior to the world (Jn.1:6). Jesus said that he was the greatest man ever born of women (Mt.11:11). It’s not that he wasn’t important, it’s how he saw himself in comparison to Christ. It’s called humility. Jesus identified the greatest as the one who humbled himself (Mt.18:1-4).
But compared to Jesus? You can’t compare angels to Jesus, much less a mere man of dust. Philosophers were sitting around talking about who they’d like to see walk through the door to be with them. One said Washington, another said Lincoln, another said Plato, and everyone had someone famous in mind. Then one said, “If any of those men walked in we would all stand and greet them. But there is one who if He walked in they would all bow and worship.” No man can compare himself to Jesus. He is king of kings, Lord of heaven and earth, and the Lamb of God before whom all of creation will bow the knee and worship (Rev.5).
But compared to Jesus, our daily or lifelong earthbound and temporary agenda, they are but dust on the scales compared to His plan for your life and how He can use you to accomplish His agenda. He calls you to do more than live a mundane life on this earth. We all need to admit we are nothing and can do nothing without Christ, but with Him we can do all things (Phil.4:13).
II. John Compared Water Baptism to Spirit Baptism.
Water baptism is important because Jesus was baptized and He commanded us to be baptized. Weighty issues are at stake in water baptism or else Jesus would not have allowed Himself to be baptized by John. Enough said. But Jesus was not only baptized in water, He was baptized with the Holy Spirit.
What is this baptism with the Spirit John spoke of? Same as happened to Jesus! This baptism gave Him power to defeat the devil and do His work of helping people, which is what the rest of Mark is about, including giving the wisdom of God in words of power. Acts 10:38 said, “How God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”
To know what this baptism is all about Jesus explains it in Acts 1:4-5, 8. Then this happened in Acts 2 and the future of the church. This is a baptism with power. To accomplish God’s will we all need this baptism with the Spirit.
You might say, “I’m quite satisfied with where I am right now.” Jesus could have said that before He went to be baptized with the Spirit, but then all those people that He helped, healed, delivered, and has saved after that, where would they be?
Beware of being satisfied. Beware of being stagnant in your life with God. Beware of being in a rut. “But I just want enough of God and what He can do for me and my family, and we’re doing alright.” You selfish pig! There are billions of people perishing and on their way to hell, and all you want of God is enough for you and your family? You ev
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The Messenger, Message and Motive
“Behold I send My messenger; John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”(Mark 1:1-6)
Before an important people take the stage, someone introduces him. Before Jesus steps onto the stage of human history, someone comes on to introduce Him. That someone is John the Baptist.
1. God has messengers to announce the good news of God. Messengers are God’s method of communicating with people. “Faith comes by hearing…” (Rm.10:13), hearing the messenger of God. Jesus was the Word; John was the voice. The whole Bible was communicated to us by messengers like Moses, David, Isaiah, Mark, Paul, etc. Then God calls other messengers to preach that written word, to move the logos and scripture to the rhema. God does everything through speaking, and since Genesis chapter one He uses other people to speak to us. They were called prophets or preachers. These are the most important people on earth, those who speak the word of God. John was the premiere prophet, sent to introduce Christ, the Savior. To reject God’s messengers is to reject God. Jesus said, “He who hears you, hears Me; he who rejects you rejects Me.” (Lk.10:16). Spiritually speaking, the one God has called to speak to you (Eph.4:11-16) is the most important person in your life. When that person gives you the word of God he is God’s messenger. These messengers are important because of who sent them and the message they bring. How many times do we read, “Thus says the Lord…”
2. God has a message to speak to you and it is unexpectantly good news. As sinful as man was you’d think it would be news about judgment. The gospel begins with the message of repentance, which is not normally thought of as good news, but it is the best news from God. We are all sinners, but you can be forgiven if you repent. The message is “repentance for the remission (removal) of sins.” (v.4) Repentance is proclaimed!
Baptism in water is the picture of the proclamation: the old life is dead (through the death of Christ), buried (with Him), and raised (with Him). This is pictured powerfully and graphically for us in the waters of baptism. The way we “prepare the way of the Lord” for Him to come into our lives is to repent of our sins, and confess them by our words and our baptism. To repent is to change and everything John preached pictured change: make His paths straight, etc. (Lk.3:4-6). Basically, change your mind about God. He comes to forgive our sins. Not to condemn us for our sins or judge us, but to forgive and save us!
3. The Motivation for Repentance is the good news of God. In the Old Testament it was the fear of punishment. “Turn or burn,” was the message and the motivation. In the New Testament the message is, “Turn and live.” The motivation for us to repent is the good news. Consider how good God is. The Prodigal Son remembered how good his father was that even the servants in his house had “enough (to eat) and more.” Romans 2:4 says it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Christians may need to repent
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John 5:16-30 - "16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, [a]and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now and I have been working.” 18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 30 I can of Myself do nothing."
TAKEAWAYS
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Always check the context to understand the text. The answer to the title question is in the context of the story.
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This is the answer to the title question. In exercising the gift of healing, Jesus was led by the Father to this one man (v.17, 19-20, 30). As Jesus was led by the Father (not that Jesus was not filled and led by the Spirit), we must be led by the Holy Spirit to minister to the ones He leads us to.
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This is the second part of the answer to the title question. Sometimes He doesn’t heal everyone at any given time because they have no faith or because He has other plans for those not healed. For example, this pool was not far from the very gate called Beautiful where Peter and John healed the lame man in Acts 3:1-10. And what about all the people in and around Jerusalem who were healed by the early church (Acts 5:14-16).
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If all the impotent folks at the pool had faith they could have all been healed (Mt.8:13; 9:22, 29; 15:28; Mk.5:34; 10:52; Lk.7:50; 8:48; 17:19; 8:42). We don’t read of any of the other impotent folks at that pool crawling to or calling out to Jesus. You’d think at least one would raise his hand and say, “Me next!” But no! Faith by anyone in this crowd would have put the pull on the Lord. Anyone who believes can be healed of anything at any time. But the man healed here had no faith. That’s where the gift of healing comes in.
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Jesus exercised the gift of healing. He had previously given a word of knowledge with the woman at the well. With the Gifts of Healings, only the healer needs faith, not the one being healed. That faith comes by revelation, as it did with the Father showing Jesus what He was doing.
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Why doesn’t every Christian operate with the gifts of the Spirit to heal everyone? Because God distributes these gifts according to His will. (1Cor.12:11) I often wondered why the Gifts of Knowledge and Healings are given at any particular time concerning certain people or certain illnesses. I still don’t know, except that this is the way of the Spirit.
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Even though Jesus only healed this one lame man at the hospital pool, never doubt the will of God to heal everyone (Mt.4:23-24; 8:16-17; 12:15; 14:14; 15:30; 19:2; 21:14; Lk.4:40; 6:19; Acts 10:38).
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October 23, 2024. Continued Wednesday night series through the book of John verse-by-verse.
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“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)
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Mark was the first to write an inspired gospel and two other writers copied much of his. Mark pictures Jesus as the supreme Servant of the Lord. He went about doing good. Mark’s is an action gospel. We see that very clearly in the first ten chapters. A servant does things immediately. The word immediately appears over 50 times in the 16 chapters of Mark and it deals with the activity of Jesus, how He does things, usually with someone being healed. Watch for this word and realize it doesn’t have to take a long time for Jesus to do something in your life.
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The Good News begins in the first verse of this Gospel, not the first verse of chapter eleven, where Mark begins to narrow his inspired narrative down to the sacrifice of Jesus, which is the heart of the gospel. This is HUGE! The gospel includes not only the sacrifice of Jesus found in chapters 11-16, but the service of Jesus found in chapters 1-10.
There is not much good news these days. If you watch the evening news you are watching bad news. If it’s not bad news it’s not news on TV. People today, as they did 2,000 years ago, need good news. Mark has it. The coming of Jesus into the world was good news. The coming of Jesus into your world will be good news. He did not come to judge, condemn, or hurt anyone. There is no bad news in the good news. Now if you don’t receive Jesus there is plenty of bad news for you, but even that comes later at the end of time.
The key verse in Mark’s gospel is 10:45, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus came to do two things: to serve and to sacrifice. That service is included in what we call the Good News of Jesus Christ. The word gospel means good news.
What Jesus did during His life is good news just like what He did during His death and resurrection. It is “the beginning of the gospel.” While His sacrifice is the heart of the gospel, His service is the hand.
- There are 21 amazing miracles in the first ten chapters of Mark, ranging from casting out demons (1:21-28; 3:11; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:14-27), stilling storms on the sea (4:35-41), walking on water (6:45-51), feeding multitudes – twice! (6:30-44; 8:1-9), transfiguring Himself (9:2-7), and many healings (1:29-34, 40-42; 2:1-12; 3:1-6,10; 5:21-42; 6:56; 7:31-35; 8:22-26; 10:46-52).
When Jesus casts the devil out of your life, that’s good news; when Jesus stills the storms that threaten your life, that’s good news; when Jesus feeds your hungry family, that’s good news; when Jesus heals your body or the body of your loved ones, that’s good news! Everything that Jesus did on the earth was good news: “He went about doing good…” (Acts 10:38).
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Also in the first ten chapters of Mark’s gospel Jesus teaches us how to live in this world and in the kingdom of God (4:1-34; 7:6-23; 9:38-50; chapters 10 & 11), and that’s good news! We need to learn from the infinite wisdom of Jesus. After coming to Him, there is nothing more important (Mt.11:28-30). We have much to learn.
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Jesus calls people to Himself to train and use th
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When and How to Leave a Church
“Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 13:1-4)
Because of so much church hopping (so many churches you can go to), shallow commitments, and people being so easily offended these days, it is necessary to address this very important issue.
First, every Christian should be a member of a local church. “And the Lord added to the church (in Jerusalem) daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) In these modern days some think being part of a local church is optional, but a Christian not being in church is unheard of in the Bible. And I’m not talking about being a member of some so-called universal church. There is a universal church, but it is made up of local churches. In the Bible there are local churches: Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesians, the seven local churches in Revelation 2-3, and the list goes on. Every Christian should be a part of a local church. You should be a member of the church you attend. And only born again, baptized believers in Christ are real members. Membership is important; it speaks of commitment and commitment speaks of usefulness. How can you be useful in Christ’s church and mission if you are not a committed member? No one can give a good reason why everyone should not be a member where they attend.
You should never leave THE church (Heb.10:25). Jesus’ commitment to the church is: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” The worst church in the Bible has Jesus standing at the door knocking to get in (Revelation 3:14-20). You think the church is so bad that you can’t be a part of it, but Jesus is knocking to get into the worst church in the Bible, the one that makes Him sick. He is not forsaking it. He’s trying to get in and stay in! He wants to come in and dine with them. Don’t ever think that the church is so bad that you can’t be a part of it. The Corinthian Church had multitudes of problems (prolonged immaturity, divisions, sexual immorality, members suing each other, getting drunk at Communion, abuse of the gifts, and false doctrine) but in his letter to that church Paul never told anyone to leave! Not one verse in the 16 chapters that he wrote to that church did he ever even hint that anyone should leave that church. Instead, that’s where you find his greatest message on love in the Bible: “love suffers long and is kind, is not arrogant, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.” And we are to love one another as Christ loved the church. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, you also love one another.” (Jn.13:34)
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Sunday morning 10/6/2024 "Church Membership"
We proudly had 18 people join as members this morning!
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TAKEAWAYS
1. Jesus is lord of space. Distance is no problem for Him. This nobleman was 20 miles from home and his dying son, but when Jesus spoke the word, immediately he was healed. Christ is in heaven, but He can hear and send the answer instantly when we pray. We can also pray for those who are nowhere near us as if we were laying hands on them.
2. Note the order: First the nobleman believed and then his son was healed. God does everything for us in answer to our faith. Eight times Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” And He said, “All things are possible for those who believe.” (Mk.9:23) Then we have “These signs will follow those who believe.”
We should believe what Jesus said before we see the answer to our prayer. This son was healed when Jesus gave the word. I love this guy. Jesus said, “Go your way, your son lives,” and he immediately headed back home, considering it done. And it was done. His faith was followed by action. It always is. Faith without works is dead. When you pray about a problem, live as though you believe Jesus will do what He said. During a drought the whole town gathered to pray for rain; but only one little girl brought an umbrella.
3. Note theprogression of faith: First, he believed enough to travel all that way to ask. Secondly, he believed enough to actually ask Jesus to heal his son. Thirdly, when Jesus gave the word of healing, he acted on it. Fourthly, he and his whole family believed in Jesus. The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed; it may start out small, then grow.
4. Sometimes we may need to put a pull on Jesus. Even though Jesus may have chided him by saying, “You people won’t believe unless you see signs;” he simply replied, “Sir, come down before my son dies.” Jesus seems to have not wanted to show a sign, but that didn’t matter to this man. After all, his son was dying. Jesus hadn’t said no! Mary did this with the water being turned into wine (Jn.2:1-7). The Syrophoenician woman did it when Jesus was seemingly refusing her request (Mk.7:25-30). Putting a pull on Christ is not begging, it is asking in faith.
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GOD GIVES HIMSELF THROUGH THE LOCAL CHURCH
He gives Himself by what is called in the Bible the “gifts of the Holy Spirit.” Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 carefully and see that these supernatural enablings equip us to do the things that Jesus and the apostles did.
God is the cure for what ails man and His hospital is the local church. This is what the Bible teaches; you’ll find no other answer in the word of God.
The most difficult thing for a person to see in the greatest thing he needs to see – his need for the Savior. The SECOND most difficult thing for a person to see is the 2nd greatest thing he needs to see – his need for the church (1Corinthians 12:12-13,27): the “you” in this verse is plural, meaning the church).
God lives and works in the local church, giving Himself through spiritual gifts. These Holy Spirit gifts are for the Body to make each of its members healthy and strong. Members of His body, receiving the ministry of the other parts of it, will be healed and edified by the Holy Spirit given through the various gifts.
For example, to affect a cure and make a proper and accurate diagnosis, the physician must find out what is wrong with the patient. The word of knowledge through the same Spirit is in the church for just that purpose. Everything we get from God by grace is through faith. But a person’s faith may be weak and he needs help if he is to receive from God. Faith by the same Spirit is ministered through another member of Christ’s body to that person and he gets what he needs. There are many types of illnesses (spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical, etc.) and so the gifts of healings are in the plural. Gifts of healings by the same Spirit, functioning in the local church, minister the healing of God to those in need. Doctors can only do so much. They can’t cure terminal cases and many other diseases – for those it would take a miracle. To another the working of miracles is given in the church for just such cases. God can do what doctors can’t do. He can work miracles, but he does them through gifts operating in the members of His body, the church.
Maybe a person has demonic or spiritual problems. “Discerning of spirits” is given to ascertain just what deliverance is needed and to affect that deliverance. The light drives out the darkness. How to apply the cures and how to keep from falling into the same problem is given through “the word of wisdom.” Tongues and interpretation of tongues demonstrate the universality (and unity) of the cure and add to the mystery of God’s work. Through these gifts, different things may be given to us from God: messages, prophecies, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, works of power, etc.
These gifts are still in the church today. One seminary professor told his class, “I believe in healing but I don’t believe in healers.” I raised my hand and said, “Isn’t that like saying I believe in preaching but I don’t believe in preachers.” Preaching is preached by preachers. Healings come though members of Christ’s body who are gifted to pray the prayer of faith and heal the sick (James 5:14-15).
You may not have gifts of healings but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pray for sick people, lay hands on them and pray the prayer of faith. You may not have the gift of prophecy, but you can share a word of edification, exhortation and comfort (1Cor.14:3). You may not be an evangelist, but you can still witness.
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Wednesday, September 18, 2024. From the story of the Woman and the Well. Pastor Terry discusses the significance of the Samarian woman and the many people she brings to Jesus.
TAKEAWAYS:
1. Everyone needs to hear the good news about Jesus and who He is. Jesus did something very surprising, to the woman, the disciples, and to most people. He spoke first to a woman (a gender thing), a Samaritan woman (a racial and spiritual thing), and a sinful woman (a moral thing). Be not afraid to witness to someone you don’t know, even someone very different from you. The results might surprise you.
2. Be the first to speak to someone. Most of the time a witness must initiate the conversation about Jesus. Notice, Jesus spoke to her first. He knew what He was going to do: change the subject from physical water to living water. Most people think, “I need to wait till someone asks me about Jesus before I start talking about Him.” That’s not necessarily true. If you do that you will probably never witness to anyone.
3. Lead from a discussion on natural things to spiritual things. Jesus led her from talking about drawing water from a well to drinking living water that would satisfy her thirst forever. Use the F.I.R.E acrostic. Take the conversation from Family, to Interest (Hobbies), to Religion (church history), to Evangelistic questions.
4. Keep the conversation about Jesus. After opening the conversation with natural things, make the transition to spiritual things, to things about the Messiah. Always bring the discussion to the gospel of Jesus.
5. It’s okay to talk about sin. Jesus brought up her marriage sins. Remember, Jesus is the Savior of sinners, and if they don’t know that He knows they are sinners, they will never see their need for Him.
6. Witnessing must become a consuming thing with you, the food you live by. Jesus told the disciples that He had food they knew nothing about, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent Me, and from finishing His work.” (v.34).
7. Sooner or later, your witness will produce fruit, maybe even much fruit. This lady brought the whole town out to meet Jesus. Pray that will happen with you in some measure as you begin to share your witness.
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9/15/2024 Sunday Morning.
Gifts from the Father and the Son
Because we are under the New Covenant of grace and faith, we need to always be mindful of the fact that everything we get from God is a gift of grace. It is never earned. We are not under the law; we are under grace and all God’s blessings are received as gifts of grace. This is a necessary renewal of our minds because people always tend to gravitate toward the covenant of law and works. All God’s gifts are free, but they are not cheap. They were purchased for us by the precious blood of Christ as a part of God’s covenant of grace.
Who doesn’t like to get gifts? They’re unearned, unpaid for – they cost us nothing – they are free, just for being you? We love birthday gifts, the more the better. We love Christmas gifts, the more the better, and the bigger and more costly the better. Well, all God’s gifts are great. “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father.” (Jas.1:17)
The richer and more generous the giver the better! Imagine getting a gift from Elon Musk, soon to be the first trillionaire ever. Or from Oprah Winfrey, who has over $3 billion dollars. She once gave each of her entire audience of 300 people a new car! Imagine what kind of Christmas gift you could get from her! When Linda and I were poor, I’m talking no food in the pantry or fridge poor, I occasionally would save up all year to buy her a great Christmas present. One year I gave her a $350 Michael Kors beautiful red purse. She took it back, got a refund, bought a cheaper purse and had lots of money to spend on what she wanted. She said, “I can’t carry that purse around. Someone will knock me in the head and steal that thing!” If you were poor, you would want me for a husband.
What kind of gifts do you suppose God gives? Good and perfect ones, that’s what kind.
I. Gifts from God the Father. He gave us His only begotten Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins (Jn.3:16). How’s that for starters? And that’s only for starters. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” And Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?”
The Father gives us eternal life. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, His Son.” (Rm.6:23) He gives forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:18). We owed a debt we couldn’t pay; He paid a debt He didn’t owe. That’s quite a gift. It was really the blood of His own Son that paid for this gift. He gives us an eternal glorious inheritance (Rm.8:17; Col.1:15). He gives us the gift of righteousness (Rm.5:11). Righteousness is not something we earn, it’s a gift. Like all gifts, it’s something we receive.
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Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Continuing the walk-through john chapter 4, focusing on the techniques Jesus uses to witness to the woman at the well.
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Wednesday, September 4th Pastor Terry's sermon on the witnessing techniques of Jesus, based on the passage in John 4 - The Woman at the Well.
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Sunday, September 1st. According to Romans 12:1-2, we need our minds renewed. Our minds are renewed by learning and understanding the Bible. Since the Bible was written to tell us everything we need to know about God, think of all the misunderstandings about God in the world and in the church. We need our minds renewed because people have wrong thoughts about God, according to Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your thoughts My thoughts.”
In the last chapter we looked at how people’s wrong thoughts about the sovereignty of God have negatively affected people’s views about God, and how disastrous that is. Because people believe “God is in control of everything” it makes people say things like, “If there is a god, it is the devil.” I’ve personally heard this. It credits God with doing what the Bible clearly says is Satan’s work (Jn.10:10). And of course, the devil loves this. And the wrong view of sovereignty makes people passive when it comes to doing the will of God. Why pray or why witness or why do anything for God if He is in control?
Now we will look at renewing our minds with the word of God concerning covenants. You can’t possibly understand the God of the Bible unless you understand the covenants which make up the entire Bible.
A covenant is a contract between two parties or people, an agreement accepted by the two. God relates to all people on the basis of covenants. Without the cooperation of both parties it’s like God is having a relationship with a pre-programed machine or programed computer. He created us in His likeness so He could have a relationship with another person somewhat on His level. In fact, Adam is called His son (Lk.3:38). So some sort of covenant must be made for there to be a relationship, some basis upon which the relationship is built. God does things under one covenant, but different things under the other.
A covenant is based on promises. One party promises to do certain things and the other will do certain other things. If you’ve ever taken out a loan from a bank you know about this; they agree to loan you their money and you promise to pay it back in increments, usually on a monthly basis.
There are only two kinds of covenants that God has made with mankind: a covenant of works and a covenant of grace. Works means you obey certain rules and rituals and then God blesses you based on your obedience to them. It’s a performance based relationship. If you don’t obey, you break the covenant and end the relationship. The grace covenant requires something of us but it isn’t our obedience or works. It is called faith. “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God; not of works lest anyone should boast.” (Eph.2:8-9) In the old covenant it is “Earn!” In the new it is “Receive.” Works vs faith.
Originally God put the human race into the perfect sinless Adam and made a covenant of works with him. “You may freely eat of all the trees of the Garden, but if you eat of that one you will die to Me and eventually to the perfect world I have made for you and put you in.” Adam disobeyed. He ate and died.
So if God is going to have a relationship with mankind, He had to come up with another covenant, a New Covenant or Testament, based on grace. It’s called the Plan of Redemption, which was immediately enacted when God came to Adam right after he sinned. Remember God slaying the animal, shedding its blood to cover Adam’s shame and nakedness? Then God gave him the promise of the Redeemer who would come and reverse the curse of death....
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7/14/2024 Sunday Evening Service. Holli Simpson preaching on being aware of the tactics of the devil.
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“He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
(Revelation 19:16)
1. Jesus is The King
The Bible calls Jesus the king of kings. If He is the king of kings, who are the kings He is the king of? The answer might shock you. Christians are the kings He is the king of. He makes us into a “royal priesthood.” For the time being, forget about the priesthood, that’s a whole other real of truth about us and the grace of God in our lives. Royal means kingly.
We emphasize the worship of the King and rightly so. We cannot make too much of the King of the kingdom of heaven. The Lamb is the one on the throne who is worshiped by all of creation (Rev.5). All glory, honor and praise to the one whose name is above every other name! When Cornelius bowed to worship the apostle, “Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man.” (Acts 10:26)
II. We are Kings He is the King of
But we also need to learn about the kings our King is the King of. Who are these people and what are their responsibilities and privileges of being kings? The song says, “Who am I that a king would bleed and die for?” I must be something special; He went to the cross to redeem me so He could rule and reign on the throne of the universe forever. What is our part in His kingdom? What are we? Who are we? We are kings! Kings in His kingdom. We need to learn what our responsibilities are. What are our privileges? What do we reign over? III. We are Kings Over What We Conquer.
Here is where we are headed: “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Rev.3:21) Everything we learn to overcome in this life on this earth is further preparing us to reign as kings with Christ. When you learn how to overcome fear and overcome it, there’s another diamond in your crown! You overcame lust. Bam! Another ruby in your crown. You overcame sin. Another gem to shine forever on your head. You have to learn how to overcome. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1Jn.5:4). But we must learn what faith is and how it works. Let’s learn.
IV. We Reign by Faith
So many people don’t even know what faith is, how to get it, how it works, or how to work it. Do you know what God says you can obtain by faith? What it accomplishes? Did you know that faith works by certain laws? And we have to learn those laws? Romans 3:27 refers to “the law of faith.” The kingdom works by faith so it is imperative that we learn the laws of faith and how faith works. And this is just one system in the kingdom we have to learn. There is much to learn. Are you willing to do what it takes to learn them?
What other spiritual laws does faith work by? We must learn them if we are to walk by faith and please God. Laws are principles. Remember in the last chapter I discussed the difference between knowing the Person of Jesus and the Principles of Jesus? We meet the Person, but we must learn the Principles.
It’s one thing to be delivered from things like fear, depression, oppression, disease and death by someone else laying their hands on you, but it’s another for you to learn how to be delivered by Christ on your own. Someone who does this for you can teach you how to do it. This is the training of leadership. You are a born-again leader, but you will become a trained leader. Trained leaders help others to overcome so they too can reign with Christ.
V. We are Kings NOW!to read more click here: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel (good news).
(Mark 1:14-15)
Repent is a good word from God. He is offering us hope, the possibility of change for the better, the opportunity to become like Christ. Thank God for His command to repent. Jonah preached repentance to the wicked city of Nineveh and when they repented God saved the entire city. Repentance is a great word offering hope and change and salvation.
A Christian is a born leader. We are born-again leaders. You need to become a trained leader, but you were born a leader. The beginning of our leadership training is the call of God to repent. That’s why John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus preached at the very beginning of the New Covenant ministry, “Repent and believe the gospel, for the kingdom of heaven has come.” Like any baby you have an immediate influence on those you know. The maniac Jesus delivered was told the same day to go back to his family and friends and tell them what great things God had done for him. Paul describes the Thessalonians: “How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (1Thes.1:9) Repentance is a turning to God, an about face, and serving Him above all else.
Repentance is making a commitment to the kingdom of heaven. Technically, the King of heaven. It is so turning to God that you inevitably turn your back on sin and other gods in your life. Some imagine that repentance is simply halting the harmful habits in their lives. “I no longer smoke, chew, drink, cuss, steal and look at porn. Now I spend my time fishing, hunting, playing softball, and watching TV.” And they think that is repentance. It is not. You can reform your life by quitting nasty habits, but that is not repentance. Repentance is turning to God and serving Him.
Jesus preached, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mk.1:14-15) The kingdom has come, so it’s time to do two things, which are actually two sides of the same coin of salvation. And there are only two sides: Repent and Believe. Most don’t have a problem with believing; their biggest problem is with repenting which takes commitment to Christ and His kingdom.
There’s no such thing as an uncommitted Christian. That’s like saying, “I’m a baseball player but I am not on any baseball team.” I’m a “non-practicing Catholic” (like the majority of Catholics claim) but I’m a Catholic.” If you’re a non-practicing Catholic, you’re not a Catholic. It’s like calling a man an unmarried husband. Marriage requires a commitment. All contracts (borrow money, get a job) require commitment. Commitment is the essence of becoming a Christian.
“Follow Me” requires a commitment to put Christ first. “Then He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.’ (That’s putting the kingdom of God first.) Another also said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:59-62). Commitment to Jesus being first and Lord is the very meaning of repentance. There’s no such thing as a Christian who has not repented and made Jesus the Lord of his life. Jesus said, “Repent or perish.” (Lk.13:3) There is no salvation without repentance. And repentance means commitment.
But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.” (Luke 15:22-23)
We all know God tells us to rejoice in Him at all times, whether good or bad, when we’re down and when we’re up (Phil.4:4). And He says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” (Jas.5:13) This tells us that when Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison, they were cheerful, for Acts 16:24-25 says they, “were praying and singing psalms to God.” Check out Habakkuk 3:17-18, where the prophet says that no matter how big a crop failure he has, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord my God, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Having said all that, we have to admit that it is easier to be full of joy when we have plenty and are prosperous. Famous singer and actress, Pearl Bailey, said, “I’ve been a rich Christian. I’ve been a poor Christian. I’d rather be a rich Christian.” Who wouldn’t? Joy is an inside job, but what goes on around us is nonetheless important. Financial poverty is a bigtime downer. It’s not fun to be broke or poor.
The prodigal son teaches us the difference between being poor and rich. Much poverty is because of lifestyle choices. Some are just lazy. Some waste their lives and what they have on drugs and booze; what the Bible calls prodigal or wasteful living. This son in Luke 15 ended up in the hog pen starving because he wasted his possessions with prodigal living. A tv network journalist spent a week with the homeless people in L.A. and concluded, “This city does not have a homeless problem. It has a drug problem.” That is true of a lot of cities. Prodigal living is the cause of much poverty. But some is caused by circumstances beyond anyone's control.
We can’t blame God for the world’s poverty. We weren’t poor in Eden and we won’t be in the New Jerusalem. Deuteronomy 28 shows clearly that poverty is a curse and prosperity is a blessing from God.
God desires His children to “prosper in all things” (3Jn.2) just like you do for your kids. Notice what this son said when he was in the hog pen, “How many of my father’s servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger.” (v.17) That is the very definition of prosperity: more than enough! The dad made his servants prosperous. What do you think he would do for his sons?
“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2)
There’s the sword of the Spirit which we know to be the word of God. The sword is words that come from God but they are spoken by humans. Jesus wields this sword when He comes back and it comes out of His mouth (Rev.19). There is also the sword of Satan which are also words. This sword kills. A sword is not for spanking, it is for killing. It is seeking a victim. Satan’s sword are words of criticism, murmurs, fault-finding, complaining, griping, gossip, and backbiting. This sword’s victim is your joy! Satan hates your joy because the joy of the Lord is your strength, and he wants you weak. Your joy in the Lord opens the door for the gospel you share.
Unless you are a really warped psycho, if you are at odds with others, you are not a joyful person. People who can’t get along with others (God or people) are not happy people. And “misery loves company,” which means misery is like a deadly virus, it will infect those it comes into contact with. So, don’t be critical and don’t hang around with people who murmur and complain. They will kill your joy, even the joy of the Lord, and sap your spiritual strength before you know it. Critical people hurt others and they will hurt you because if anyone will criticize you behind someone else’s back, they will criticize you behind your back. And their critical spirit will jump on you like a duck on a June Bug and stick to you like a cocklebur on a Collie. The next thing you know you will be critical of others and begin to murmur about them.
There is a spirit of criticism. Chronic critics can’t help themselves. If you get near them that spirit will jump on you and kill your joy. Critical people are not happy people, and if you listen to them you won’t be happy either.
These killjoys live to find the flaws in others. Joyless people come to church to find fault with people. They are like buzzards flying over the beautiful Arizona desert when all the cacti are in bloom and the sun is setting. (If you’ve ever lived in Arizona you’ll understand the phrase about the Arizona sunsets). So many beautiful things to see, but all the buzzard sees is some dead animal waiting for him to pounce on and devour.
Critical means, “inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily.” A critic is someone who is quick on the flaw. Jesus said that we would be judged by the same strictness or standard we use to judge others (Mt.7:1-5). Critical people condemn those who don’t agree with them, or do or say things differently than themselves. But the point of their criticism is not the problem. Their problem is their spirit; they are bent on finding fault and spreading their findings to others. Don’t let them do that to you. Stay away from these drama queens, and kings!
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Sunday, May 12, 2024. A special Mother's Day Message and communion with Russell Bailey.
And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. (Luke 1:46-47)
The NLT says, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” The TPL says, “My soul is ecstatic, overflowing with praises to God! My spirit bursts with joy over my life-giving God!” The Message Translation says, “I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.”
The word for rejoiced here means to jump for joy. It means to exult and to be exceedingly joyful. David danced when he was bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (2Sam.6:14). He was leaping and twirling about. What in the world was Mary so joyful about? She was far from what her name means – bitterness. She was deliriously happy, exceedingly happy, jumping for joy happy. She was “Price is Right” happy.
Why is this young virgin, unmarried Hebrew lady so happy? She’s pregnant! “Unmarried – pregnant – happy?” Those words don’t normally go together. “Virgin – pregnant – happy” in those days can only mean one thing. She has been made pregnant by God and her child is the divine and human Son of God! Mary is the Eve of a “new creation.” (2Cor.5:17) From her and her child will come a new race of people. Human race – for sure, but also a divine race! Her descendants through her son Jesus will be partakers of the divine nature and they shall all be called sons of God. “That you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2Pet.1:4) We have escaped the corruption of this present world means we don’t have the nature of sinners anymore. We do have unredeemed bodies for sure and that is the cause of our sin problem. It’s what the Bible calls, “the flesh” which is literally our body that is still aligned with this corrupt world. Everything wrong we were in Adam was crucified with Christ (Rm.6:6). That’s why Jesus is called the “last Adam.” (1Cor.15:45). As the first born of the new creation, Jesus is the “second Man.” (1Cor.15:47)
We now have God’s nature, which is holy. Therefore we are called saints. First John 3:1 says, “Now we are children of God.” We are not the “only begotten” as Jesus is, but we have been “born of God.”
Back to Mary. This is her song of praise to God because she has become a mother! Here’s what we can learn from this. This song is all about mothers and their relationship with God.
Sunday, April 28, 2024. Continuation of the Joy of Jesus Series.
“Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” (Psalm 144:15)
Your view of God is the most important thing about you. You are living out your view of God. You are being molded into the image of the God you think exists. What you think, what you say and what you do are all determined by your view of God.
If you are living the life of a “practical atheist” there’s a reason. This is someone who says he believes in God but acts as though He is irrelevant and unimportant to his everyday life, the decisions he makes, what he thinks about and does. He doesn’t pray or consult Him in any major or even minor decisions in his life. He thinks God is distant, undetached from people and unconcerned about having a relationship with anyone. He’s too uncaring to be intimately concerned with anybody. And so he lives his life as though He does not exist. But the Bible’s view of God is just the opposite. He notices every sparrow that falls from the sky and has the hairs on every head numbered. He cares deeply about how we think and what we do. He loves us as a husband loves his bride and a mother loves her children.
To find the correct view of God we must look into God’s word where He tells us everything we need to know about God so we can bear the image of God and live the best life possible on this earth. We see everything we need to know about God in Jesus Christ; by His works and words He gives us the perfect picture of God.
I’ve already stated that Jesus was the happiest man on earth when He was here (Heb.1:9). Religious people are basically not happy. Look at their faces in church and you will see many unhappy people. A man got into the choir one week and never again. When I asked him about it, he said he couldn’t stand looking at so many unhappy faces in church! Religion will make you sour because it gives you the wrong view of God.
Religious people are happy at other places. Put that same sad church face at a ballgame and he’s excited, shouting and having a good time. He’s high-fiving people! With the religious world, even among church members, God is like the Pharisees imagined Him to be – too righteous to have anything to do with sinners. They picture Him as cold, legalistic and unmerciful toward those who make wrong choices and mess up their lives. They become like the God they imagine and look down on sinners as being unworthy to eat with.
In contrast to that we see Jesus hanging around sinners all the time. He went to sinners. Invited Himself into their homes to eat and fellowship. We see this in Luke 15 where Jesus has accepted an invitation to Matthew’s home for a party. There you will see the Pharisees critical about what Jesus is doing. They are all in one house among all kinds of notorious sinners. Jesus hears their murmuring and knows their problem is they have a wrong view of God. So He sets about correcting their view of God by telling a parable with three stories. It’s one parable with three stories. This is for emphasis; as if to say, I want you to really get this message about the correct view of God....Click here to read more: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
When God becomes a Man
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh.” (John 1:1,14)
What happens when God becomes a man? It reveals everything. It changes everything.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John shows that he is familiar with Greek philosophy and the Old Testament. He states that in the beginning the Word created the heavens and the earth. This is right out of Genesis. Now John introduces the next page of revelation. He moves from creator to redeemer, from creation to redemption, from Genesis to Exodus. I say that because the word he used for dwelt is the word that means tabernacled, which takes us to the book of Exodus where God redeems His chosen people and right after that gives them the Law and the Tabernacle. That elaborate ornate tent was the place where God dwelt with them. God not only delivered His people; He actually came down to live among them in that wilderness. Jesus did that for all His people. He dwelt among us. Read Exodus 40:33-38 and notice the glory in it.
33 And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
In the New Testament God did not come to live in a tent, He lived in a man, the Word, and His name was Jesus Christ. He was God in the flesh: fully God and fully human. Think of how astounding this is. Paul states it like this, “Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.” (2Tim.3:16)
The RIGHTEOUSNESS of God
Romans 3: 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a [c]propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
As it relates to God, righteousness means to be right with God, to be approved by Him. It is the same Greek word for justification which means to be declared right with God. God justifies, declares righteous, those who have faith in Jesus. Righteousness is the gift of God to those who believe the gospel. Believers have peace with God (Rm.5:1) because the offense of sin has been removed by the sufferings of Jesus.
God’s gift of righteousness involves two things: our sins are imputed to Jesus who died for them on the cross and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. Both of these are huge. God takes our sins away and in the place of our sins He gives us all the righteousness of Christ. Every good thing Jesus ever thought, said and did is credited to our account. We are as righteous as Jesus in the eyes of God. Justification cannot be improved upon. You are as justified when you first believe as you are after decades of right living. It cannot be improved upon and can never be lost. When you are given Christ’s righteousness you are justified before God.
The Joy of Jesus
Turning Water into Wine (John 2:1-11)
Many people have the wrong idea of Jesus Christ. They picture Him as some sort of sad sack who never laughed, never went to a party or had any fun. Nothing could be further from the truth, as we will see from the Bible, our only authoritative information on Jesus, the only infallible, inerrant, inspired book that tells us everything we need to know about Jesus.
In the coming lessons we will look at Jesus in the Gospels and the rest of the Bible and we will see that He was the happiest man on earth. And remember, in salvation God is making us to be like Jesus. We all want to be like Jesus; at least we want all others to be like Jesus! There was joy at His birth, joy in His ministry, joy at His resurrection, and there will be great joy in His return.
The only time He was not joyful was when He was “the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” and that had to do exclusively with His suffering for our redemption. He was full of sorrow in Gethsemane and on the cross when He was taking our sorrow so that we wouldn’t have to take it. He was saving us from our sin and the sorrow it brings. Even then it says in Hebrews 12:2, “Jesus, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Looking at the end, He endured His suffering with joy. We can do that too.
There is a statement about Jesus that is the defining word on the kind of person Jesus was and is. It’s Hebrews 1:9, “You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.” The anointing with oil in the Bible was not some little oil on a finger and dabbing it on someone’s forehead. They poured the oil over them. The anointing oil poured over Aaron’s beard. When Samuel anointed little David, he poured it over his head.
Paradise Between Eden and the New Jerusalem
The Local Church (Acts 2:40-47)
God is the God who creates paradises. He began man’s life on earth by putting him in a paradise called the Garden of Eden. Everything Adam and Eve needed was there. It was perfect: plenty of food, health, prosperity (there was gold in Eden), and basically, it was heaven on earth.
God will end time by creating a new earth and it will be a paradise called the New Jerusalem. You’d probably be surprised how similar Eden and the New Jerusalem are. Read Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22 and you will see they are described in very similar ways. God is the God of paradise. He wants His people to live in paradise, the paradise He Himself gladly provides.
Wouldn’t it be just like God to provide a paradise on earth between the time of Eden and the New Jerusalem? It would. His heart desires that and Jesus taught us to pray it with these words: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That is the will of God.
The paradise God has for us on earth between the two paradises is what we call the local church. Remember, we walk by faith, not by sight. We can only see and experience this paradise by faith. And we can see and experience it. It is the will of God. That paradise is found in Acts 2:40-47, where we find Jesus is the Second Man, the Head over a body of people. This paradise is full of saved, Spirit-filled believers; there is no poverty, no sickness, abounding love and joy unspeakable. This paradise is described for us in Acts.
The local church at Jerusalem was the ideal church, the thing we must all by the grace of God be continually striving for. The problem with this present paradise, the difference between the two at the bookends of time, is that it is placed in the middle of a “perverse generation.” And it has people who sometimes act in the flesh. But it is nevertheless God’s ideal given to us at the beginning of the church age. Between the ascension of Jesus and the descension of Jesus we have this ideal geographical location called the local church.
“In the beginning was the Word… This man came for a witness.” (John 1:1-9)
One benefit of an intense study of the books of the Bible is to keep us balanced in the truth, and nothing is more important. It is the pastor’s job to keep the believers in his church balanced. Let me explain. People get revelations of truth that are powerful and life-changing. But any revelation is partial, and the temptation is to make too much of that revelation so that you ignore what the rest of the Bible teaches on that subject. For example, in 1881 Charles Russell got a revelation on the manhood of Jesus. That truth is important, but he ignored what the rest of the Bible had to say about Jesus, that He is God in the flesh: 100% man and 100% God. Thus, a very heretical movement began that has deceived multitudes.
Or people can get a revelation on some aspect of prayer and begin to neglect what the rest of the Bible teaches on prayer that would balance what was revealed to them. “Whatever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive it and you will have it (Mk.11:24). It becomes a pretext for using God to get whatever they want. They neglect other passages such as John 15:7 and 1 John 5:14-15. We need to know what the whole Bible teaches on any subject or we can go seriously wrong about very important things.
Also, people have very powerful experiences in the Lord. They begin to live off of an experience, that spiritual high, and begin to seek more and more of them. They can ignore doctrine taught in the Bible that grounds them in their walk with the Lord. Then when experiences become rare, they fall away or think they cannot live without another powerful experience. They are shallow and will follow whoever ministers experiences. This can be very dangerous.
Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1Tim.4:16) ...to read more, click here: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
Matthew 21:1-17
This is the most holy week on the Christian Calendar, the week that centers on the gospel by which we are saved: the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. First, we find Jesus riding into the holy city and received as their promised King and Messiah. This is one of the highlights of Jesus amazing life. The King has arrived.
I. The Praise, v.1-11 All of these are crazy, extravagant, demonstrative, over the top: praise, purge, and power.
Everybody loves a parade, especially one with all the joy of celebrating the people’s hero. Jesus has captured the hearts of Israel and they show it as they welcome Him into their capital city with great pomp and praise. Even the Pharisees said, “Look, the world has gone after Him.” (Jn.12:19) The city is full and they all come out to the city gate to shout the praises of their coming King. They took off their coats and tore down palm branches to put them on the street where He will pass in procession. Excitement fills the air. The Son of David has finally come. Extravagant praise is in order. We should do this ever church service.
II. The Purge, v.12-13
It means to get rid of whatever is impure and undesirable. The eating disorder Bulimia involves purging: one eats well, then purposely throws up what was eaten. Jesus purges His temple.
When the King comes to His own house He does not expect it to be dirty, but Jesus found His Father’s house full of thieves and robbers; people selling merchandise much like an outdoor sales carnival. People would come from all over the world and it was much easier to take money to the temple than to drive their livestock there for sacrifice. The religious leaders made a huge profit from their disadvantage, much like vendors do at professional ballgames. Jesus cleaned house and said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” When Jesus comes to your house, His temple, the temple of your body, does He find a house of prayer? Let us get violent with the impure things we do in and with our bodies.
III. The Power, v.14-17
First comes the praise, then comes the purity, now we are ready for the power of God to be displayed. Less than one week away from the worst suffering a human being could ever experience in bearing our sins, Jesus is ministering to others. And not just any others: “the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.” These people must have been in the outer courtyard of the temple because the infirmed were not allowed in the holiest areas of the temple, or perhaps they just came in anyway because they had heard that Jesus healed the sick. Sick people will do pretty much anything to be made well.
Which brings us to the main reason He died. Why did Jesus die? We have the answer in 2 Cor. 5:15, “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves…” Let that sink in, “but for Him who died for them and rose again.” The Christian lives to praise God, wants to purify his heart for Christ, and live for others. When you live for Christ, you live for others. We are saved to bear His image and He did everything He did for others. Let us no longer live our own lives. Jesus has the power to heal and deliver us, and to break the reign of self in our lives. This is salvation. This is what the King does when He comes into a person’s life.
Preached on March 20, 2024. Beginning a verse-by-verse sermon series on the Gospel of John.
March 17, 2024. Sunday morning sermon from John chapter 4, featuring the woman at the well.
It is, if you consider Acts 2:17, “It shall come to pass in the last days, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.” There have been many Outpourings of the Spirit in the history of America. They are commonly called Awakenings or Revivals, but they were Outpourings of the Spirit. Our first settlers were part of the Reformation happening in Europe. Multiplied thousands, seeking religious liberty, flooded the shores of North America. They were known as Pilgrims and Puritans. They set up the governments and laid the foundation for a Christian nation. In many colonial and state governments you could not even hold public office if you were not a Christian. The American Revolution was the aftermath of the First Great Awakening which united the previously conflicted colonies into “one nation under God.” There was a Second Great Awakening and many other Revivals down through the years. These Revivals turned a wayward nation back to God and kept the flames of freedom high. One example is the Azusa Street Revival. There are over a billion Christians who can trace their beginnings to that event. Azusa was the root of a world-wide awakening that has been going on ever since.
Here’s another way to phrase the title of this chapter: why is the most powerful and prosperous nation in the history of the world never mentioned in the Bible? Russia and China are, along with Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, and others. But not America. “Those other nations are in the Bible because of their relationship to Israel.” True, but what nation has ever been a better and truer friend to Israel than the United States? If we had not entered WWII Hitler would have exterminated every Jew from the face of the earth. Our nation moved their capital back to Jerusalem after 2,000 years of there being no capital. Israel exists today because of the U.S.A. No nation has ever been closer to Israel than the U.S. Doesn’t it seem odd that America is not mentioned in the Bible? I shall attempt to answer that question.
It’s because so much of latter-day prophecy concerns itself with after the Rapture (Rev.6-19). Between the time of the church (Revv.2-3) and the Great Tribulation (Rev.6-19) we have one event – the Rapture (Rev.4-5). Look at the Rapture of the church as it is taught in the Bible. Noah was the only righteous man of faith on the earth and so God destroyed the “only evil continually world” with a flood and saved only eight souls with a big boat. The earth had become so corrupt morally and spiritually that after God got His people out, He sent a flood that killed everybody else on the planet. Lot was the only righteous man in wicked Sodom and God got him out of that valley of cities before He rained fire down and destroyed every living soul. God had said, “If I can find ten righteous men I will not send judgment.” He couldn’t and so He did. The point is, God sent judgment on Sodom after He got Lot and his family out.
Preached on Sunday, February 4, 2024
Honor Your Parents
Suppose you were a kid and I told you that upon infallible assurance from God if you would do one simple thing you would live a long life and prosper, would you do it? If you had a gnat’s amount of wisdom you would say yes. Unquestionably! This is it. Honor your parents by obeying them with the right attitude, because it is just the right thing to do because you owe them your very life and because of the promise of God.
Nobody in this world has or will ever love you more than your parents. You might be tempted to think, “Well, my boyfriend loves me more.” You might not think that in six months. Marry him and you may find after a couple of years that he hates your guts! Nobody in this world has done and will do more for you than your parents. For that they deserve your honor and appreciation.
Right below God are your parents! “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ is the first commandment with a promise: that it may be well with you and you may love long on the earth.” (Eph.6:1-3) God put your parents in your life to bless you with provision and care. Therefore, they are to be honored for the place God gave them in your life. The first commandment with a promise means that of all the commandments of God in the Bible this is the very first one that God attached a promise to. All God’s promises are good. There are blessings for obeying God, especially when He directly attaches a promise to it, which He does here. And what is that promise? “That it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.” Do you want things to go well with you on this earth? Of course you do. Then honor your parents and do it with a good attitude.
Imagine what would happen if you started doing everything your parents said, without hesitation or griping about having to do it? They would move heaven and earth to do good things for you. Do you want the keys to the car, or your own car? You want privileges? You want freedom? Then honor your parents. There is nothing parents wouldn’t do for a kid who honors them in this way.
If you don’t honor your parents you probably won’t honor any of the other important people God places in your life. By honoring your parents you are learning to honor your teachers when you go to school. What a blessing to have access to a teacher who would bend over backwards to help a student who honored them by doing all their lessons, making good grades and cooperating in every way.
And if you don’t learn to honor your parents, how are you going to honor your country or the police whose sole job is to protect and serve you. Anyone who straps on a gun to go to work to protect you deserves to be honored. Salute the flag. Untold thousands of brave soldiers have died to give you the privilege of living in a free country.
III. Honor the Elderly
These are older people. In the Bible and in most other cultures, the elders are the leaders of the families and are honored for having lived and endured a long life. They have been through a lot and deserve to be treated with respect. In the Native American culture these are the older men who sit in a teepee, smoking peyote, discussing tribal matters, and making decisions for the entire tribe...to read more click here: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
A quick mini-series on the topic of "HONOR" preached on Jan 14, 2024. This topic will be the theme of our youth camp RIOT.
There are a few sound issues within the first minute, but it is quickly resolved! We apologize for the inconvenience.
The final sermon in the four part mini series on The Greatness of Christ. Preached on December 31, 2023
The second sermon in Pastor Terrys mini sermon on the greatness of Jesus. Preached on December 17, 2023
“When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:23-31)
“Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things.” (Acts 3:19-21)
By Periods I mean Time Periods, those periods of time characterized by certain events or cultural, political, economic and religious things. History is broken up into different periods of time known by what characterized them: Dark Ages (500-1500), Reformation (1517-1648), Revolution (1775-1848), etc.
The Bible talks about the sons of Issachar (one of the tribes of Israel) “who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” (1Chron.12:32) This is talking about the period of time when Israel had chosen a king and Saul ruled, but God had chosen a different king named David. When Saul was killed in battle, the tribe of Issachar read the signs of the time and they went to join forces with David and make him their new king. They saw the time, the period, they were living in and they adjusted their lives to that. They brought their weapons and wealth to David and made him their new king.
These believers in Acts were living in the times of refreshing from the presence of the Spirit, and they knew it. We are living in the same Time Period. Please know that and see the importance of this period of time so you can act accordingly by the power of God and do what God has called us to do in this period. This is the period when we should experience the presence of God and do the works of God like believers couldn’t do in any other period.
Revelation 19:10 says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” which means the essence of Bible prophecy is primarily a testimony or witness to Jesus. Prophecy is about Jesus. There are two primary things about Christ and it is His coming. Christ’s comings is Bible prophecy. It was very confusing to those who lived during Bible times because they didn’t see clearly that Christ would be coming to the earth TWICE: once to suffer and the other to reign, once to redeem people and another to restore the earth to its original position in Eden for those redeemed people to live and reign with Christ....
to read more visit our sermon notes here: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/home
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth.
The Difference Between the Old and the New Covenant.
Sunday morning, Oct. 1, 2023
Pastor Terry continues this series in Acts.
“When they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said, “What must we do?"
Acts 2:37
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
“Take heed and beware the teaching of the Pharisees.” (Matthew 16:6,12)
Imagine a flashing CAUTION sign on the highway. Take heed literally means to stare at or to attend to. Beware means to devote thought and effort to. The Bible doesn’t employ things we do to emphasize things. We underline or highlight. To give prominence to something written the Bible authors use repetition, especially repetition using synonyms. Jesus does this here: take heed and beware. This is a great emphasis in Jesus’ teaching. He said it several times. What are we to take heed to and beware of? Whatever it is, it is important.
What the Pharisees teach is important. It says Jesus came in the fullness of time and part of that fullness of time was when the Pharisees were around. There never was a time in the history of Israel when Jesus could have pointed at one group of people and said, “If you want to know what God is NOT like, look at the Pharisees! God is not like them.” And their behavior came from their beliefs, what they did came from what they taught. Jesus said, “Beware the teaching of the Pharisees.”
This message seems to be out of place in this series on the book of Acts. We don’t encounter the Pharisees until Acts 4 where it talks about the Sadducees, scribes and priests. These people were all part of a huge religious system that taught the same thing about God and “the traditions of the elders.” But I’m bringing them up here because by this time in our study of Acts we are sure to have some who disagree with what I say in these early chapters of Acts.
Disagreements are normal. Christians sometimes disagree. People will disagree. That’s not all bad. It’s like the old saying, “If everyone is thinking alike, somebody is not necessary.” The Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron.” We can learn from each other, unless you think you already know it all, then you can’t learn anything.
We must never let differences divide us. Differences don’t actually divide people. According to Galatians 5:19-21 the flesh divides people. “The works of the flesh are hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions…” The fruit of the Spirit is love and that covers a multitude of differences. Agreeing to disagree is vital to any relationship: marriage, parenting, living in church.
This is why churches need a “Statement of Faith” that gives the essentials of what they believe. It should be printed in every bulletin along with this: “In Essentials we have Unity, in Non-essentials we have Liberty, in Everything we have Love.” It’s not that this will stop divisions. Some will have their own scruples and beliefs that cannot keep from dividing because they are intolerant of differences.
Sunday Evening, September 24, 2023
Elder, Dewey Williams speaks on staying the in fight.
“Earnestly desire spiritual gifts.” (1Corinthians 14:1)
This is a series examining the book of Acts. We believe in the last days that God has and will pour out His Spirit in mighty waves of power that will make disciples of all nations and bring a harvest of souls unlike anything in all of history. God has given us a blueprint of what the Spirit-filled church should be like. The Bible is a book of precedents and Acts is the precedent for the church in the last days. This is especially relevant and critical for such a time as this, such a time as we are living in right now.
“I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly,” Jesus. (John 10:10)
There are two planes or levels of living the godly life. In a plane you ascend to another level. God has bought every Christian a First-Class Ticket to heaven, paid for by Jesus’ blood. Most chose to travel in Coach.
In John 10:10 Jesus is telling us why He came from heaven to earth. He didn’t say He came to judge the wicked, although He could have come to do that. He didn’t say He came to condemn, although He could have. He didn’t come just to teach or perform miracles. He came for two reasons. There are two things here: life and abundant life. He came that we might live and that we might have fullness of life. You can live without having fulness of life. As the song says, “I’m trading my sorrow for the joy of the Lord.” Sorrow is one level but joy is another level.
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues.”
(Acts 2:4)
This is the second chapter in a row on speaking in unlearned languages. Tongues are so controversial, why preach on tongues at all? Because it’s in the Bible, and that’s all the justification needed. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “AllScriptureis inspiredby Godandisprofitable…” Tongues are in the Scripture and therefore they are inspired by God and therefore profitable. Why would we neglect part of Scripture when all of Scripture is inspired and is profitable? What the Bible says about tongues is inspired by God. Why would you want to not learn about something God gave us that He Himself declares profitable for us? God only gives good gifts, and He gives them for our own good.
If the gifts of the Spirit passed away, then whole sections of the New Testament cannot possibly be profitable. Might as well tear them out of your Bible! What would be profitable for us to study the rest of the book of Acts and 1Cor.12-14 if those passages are no longer profitable?
Besides all that, in 1 Cor.12:1 God tells us that He does not want us to be ignorant of spiritual gifts. If there is a major flaw in the modern American church, it is its ignorance of the gifts of the Spirit. If you ask the typical 100 people what their spiritual gift is, 99 of them would tell you they have no clue. That in spite of the fact that God has told us He doesn’t want us ignorant of spiritual gifts! Then 1Cor.14:1 says, “Desire spiritual gifts.” We are supposed to want to have and use the gifts God has given to us. Desire is a very expressive Greek word. Some translate it, “Earnestly desire spiritual gifts.” Go after them! You will never desire something you think will not profit you. You will never have something you do not honor. “He who honors Me, I will honor.”
Wednesday Night, August 23, 2023
Continued series through the book of Acts, verse by verse.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them the ability.” (Acts 2:4)
The problem in the church is called tongues. It’s not a problem with God, just with people. Many make too much of tongues while many don’t even believe they exist because the phenomena has passed away altogether. I explained this in a previous study. Check it out; it’s called The Passing.
There is much confusion over this issue and it has divided the church for over a century now. I say a century because between the writings of Saint Augustine (354 - 430 AD) and the Azusa Street Awakening (1906) the church as a whole did not even deal with it. They believed the practice passed away with the apostles. Today some Pentecostals and Charismatics make it too important. The UPC for example teaches that you cannot go to heaven unless you first speak in tongues because tongues is the proof you have the Holy Spirit. Others believe that tongues are either a psychological thing or a demonic manifestation, nothing of God about it at all. In this chapter we will deal with this important subject.
First I want to tell you to RELAX. You may be a Christian and never be filled with the Spirit or speak in tongues and still be forgiven and go to heaven when you die. You will never be pressured to do anything you are not comfortable with or believe anything you don’t want to believe or do anything you don’t want to do. No pressure! That’s God’s way. We are told, “As many as received Him…” You may ask someone to lay hands on you for the fullness of the Spirit and the manifestation of tongues, but you still need to receive from God.
But at least consider that you might be missing a lot: a lot of gifts from God that He has for you. Don’t be afraid. We’re not going to try to force you to do anything. We are not going to manipulate you in any way or try to teach you how to speak in tongues. Nobody in the Bible ever taught others how to speak in tongues. We’re going to preach the word and lay hands on those who want that, but you don’t have to participate in anything you don’t want to. You don’t have to be afraid of tongues/languages because they were invented and given to men from God (Genesis 11). Here in Acts 2 He gives them again, only this time not to confuse people but to help them understand the gospel and “hear the wonderful works of God.” Tongues show the universality of the gospel and add a powerful supernatural element to the preaching of it.
You won’t be considered some sort of 2nd class citizen in the kingdom or in our church. Remember, In Essentials we have Unity, in Non-Essential we have Liberty, in All Things we have Love.
Did the baptism with the Spirit accompanied by supernatural power, signs and gifts pass away with the death of the apostles or the completion of the Bible? This lesson will seek to answer this question.
Actually, the two events go together. Some assume the inspired New Testament Scriptures were written by members of the 12 apostles, so it would stand to reason that when the apostles all died the Bible would be complete. But the truth is, the man who wrote more of the N.T. than anyone else was not even an apostle. Luke was a Gentile! And nobody knows who wrote the long book of Hebrews. James was not written by an apostle. It was written by the half-brother of Jesus who was not converted until after Jesus’ resurrection.
When did the apostles die? Nobody knows for sure. So when was the N.T. complete? Again, nobody knows for sure. The best guess is around 1500 A.D. when a reformer named Erasmus went around the Mediterranean world collecting the various manuscripts from the different churches. Even then Martin Luther, the main reformer, didn’t even believe James was inspired and didn’t want it included in the canon.
So, the question is mute because nobody knows when the Bible was canonized or when the apostles died, plus they certainly didn’t write all the N.T.
People surmise that the gifts died out when all the apostles died and the reason behind this belief is “the apostles did all the signs, healings, and miracles.” Several verses seem to teach this. Nobody would go blatantly against the Bible; they just pick certain verses to believe and teach to the neglect of other verses. Acts 2:43 says, “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.” Of course, no one would deny the apostles did miraculous things. Who would expect anything different?
“On the Day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” Acts 2:1-4
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
I previously gave this word of prophetic hope and I hope you have been putting it into practice. What you expect, you will experience; unless of course you are doing something that frustrates the grace of God, like knowingly sinning against your own conscience and/or the law of God. The grace of God always brings good because there is nothing bad in grace, and “grace came by Jesus Christ.” (Jn.1:14)
Expectation bringing manifestation is shown throughout the Bible. Check out Hebrews 11. Abraham expected he and Isaac would come back from the mountain of sacrifice and they did. The woman with the issue of blood expected that when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed and she was. The centurion expected his servant to be healed when Jesus spoke the word and that servant was healed. What you expect you will experience. What are you expecting from the Lord? Expectation is the same thing as faith. “This is the confidence we have in Him: if we ask anything according to His will we know that He hears us. And if we know that He hears us we know that we have the petitions we have asked of Him.” (1Jn.5:14-15)
July 16, 2023, Sunday morning
“The Promise”
Behold I am sending forth The Promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:44-53)
Because the modern church has somehow lost the necessity of our participation in the mission of Christ, I thought it good to return to the days of yesteryear where the church took the call to service as an integral part of their call to salvation, when the “Follow Me” of Jesus included the “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt.4:19) We have over six billion people on the planet who are lost and on their way to hell, who have never known the wonders of the forgiveness of sins and being remade into the likeness of Christ. What better place to start to recover the purpose of the Christian and the church than going back to the beginning of the church.
Luke wrote two books in the New Testament; both are history books. He wrote more of the N.T. than any other writer. He wrote the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. The second book follows the first in chronological order. So, to introduce the beginning of Acts we must look at the end of Luke.
The theme of this passage is The Promise. The gospel was complete: Jesus had fulfilled all the Scriptures concerning His death and resurrection (v.44-48). The only thing left was the goal of this gospel which is called by Jesus here “The Promise.”
Wednesday, July 12, 2023.
Fellow Workers for the Kingdom
“Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.” (Colossians 4:7-18)
The Kingdom of God is the theme of all of Jesus’ parables and thus His teachings. How often did He say, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?” It is also the theme of the entire Bible, at least since the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. God’s kingdom is His reign over creation to bring about the revelation of His glory through man. His reign doesn’t mean His control. No king controls things or people. Jesus is the king of the kingdom but there are enemies and rebels in His kingdom. Satan, demons and people are some of those enemies who seek to keep the kingdom of God from coming to earth as it is in heaven where there are no enemies. The rulers in His kingdom are saved people who have believed in Jesus and repented of their sins. These are the very ones who join Him in the work of His kingdom. They are workers building the kingdom. “We are God’s fellow workers” (1Cor.3:9) helping Him build His church.
“Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most out of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.”
(Colossians 4:5-6, NLT)
There are at least three types of churchgoers. One, those who think they know everything they need to know. They obviously don’t listen because they don’t think they need to learn anything. They are plateaued and stagnant. They don’t grow in the grace and knowledge of God. They are satisfied where they are. These are the vast numbers who wouldn’t know if the pastor was preaching heresy, because they don’t listen to what he says anyway. They come merely as a matter of habit and convenience. They are not wise.
Secondly, those who think they know everything. Their main occupation at church is to critique. If they don’t agree, whey will argue and leave. These cant’ grow either. They are not wise at all.
Thirdly, there are the ones who never know enough. They come hungry, eat, and come back the next time hungry again. They are not stuck where they are; they are growing, becoming stronger and more like Jesus. They take advantage of all the services and the notes that are passed out. These ask questions. To them, “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do.” (Prov.4:7, NLT)
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Read Acts 17:22-31 and you will see that everybody is religious and have wrong views about the true and living God. Athens was full of idols; even an empty altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. In Paul’s sermon there he also tells them (and us) many things about God.
The point is, everybody has an opinion about God, what they think He is like. They assume their opinion is correct, at least they hope it is, because they base their whole lives on what they think God is like. What you think about God is the most important thing about you. Everyone lives out their own view of God. To get a heavenly perspective for earthly living, paramount in getting the right perspective on life is your view of God.
You might be thinking, “Why do I need to know what God thinks about Himself? What difference does that make to me? What does that have to do with me?” Well, what you believe about God will determine how you behave on this earth, whether good or evil. How you behave is what God will judge you on at the judgment. The worst thing you could do in your life is have an incorrect opinion or view of God. The Pharisees had an incorrect opinion of God and Jesus told three stories to correct their erroneous view (Lk.15). Only God can give you the correct view of Himself.
How does one know if his view of God is correct or incorrect, if it has been given by God, or some demon? I mean, there are many different opinions about who God is and what He is like. Muslims have one view, Buddhists have another, Islam has another, and on and on it goes. Who’s to say who’s correct? Isn’t one about as good as another? Doesn’t everyone have the right to think what they want to think about God? God alone has the correct opinion of Himself.
You don’t want others to think wrong things about you, now do you? Of course not. Someone spreading lies about you can be arrested on the charge of slander or libel. If your neighbor tells everyone things that are not true about you, you will want to correct them. They say you are a liar, or a thief, of a child molester. You don’t want others to think things about you that are not right. God is the same way. He actually wants us to know the truth about who He is and what He thinks, likes, and does. It’s actually for our own good.
Wednesday Evening, June 7, 2023
“Wives submit, Husbands love, Children obey, Fathers bring them up…” (Colossians 3:18-21; Eph.6:4)
God has a blueprint which is a detailed plan of action, a schematic which is a drawn out plan, a well-defined purpose for the family. That’s because the family is important to God. That is the understatement of all time. He invented it, established it, and works to make it what He intended it to be. To show this we have this statement in Malachi 2:16, “I hate divorce.” Bible writers never overstate anything. God hates divorce! Why? Because it hurts the family and if it hurts the family it is not good, and if it’s not good it’s not of God.
God invented marriage and performed the first ceremony. Jesus’ first public act after baptism was to bless a wedding and He performed His first miracle at one. The family is important to God.
The modern family needs help, perhaps like never before. If you don’t know this you need to come out of your cave and take a look around. A pastor friend of mine said he led his church to Denver to do a month of VBS in four different neighborhood churches. He told me it took them into the third week to find kids who had the same last name as their parents.
The family needs help and God wants to help. He will help if we cooperate with Him. He will help you with His Spirit. Before the lengthiest passage in the Bible on the family we have this verse, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Eph.5:18) God helps the family by giving us His word. Before our present passage we have, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Col.3:16) If we will do what He says we can have the family God designed for us. He has plenty of help so we can do just that. To have a family as God set it up, please take a very long look at the passage that proceeds this one: Col.3:12-17. This is the foundation for the precise instructions given by God to each member of the family in Col.3:18-21. Do this and the responsibilities will come naturally, even joyfully and easy.
God also gives help by the church, other members of the church who have successful families. For example, Grace Church has four pastors with a combined experience of 175 years without a divorce. Here is a wealth of help for anyone struggling in their marriage and family. Seek these people out. Quickly. These are men and women who are here to help you. God has put them in your life to counsel you. Get their counsel. What other church around here has four pastors with so many years of successful families? They have learned some things you need to know. Seek them out. If you have experienced divorce, forget it and move on. Start where you are. Say, “No more! I will have a godly home!”
“And Mary said, ‘His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” (Luke 1:50)
Look what the greatest mother of all time said under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which makes this the Word of God. Part b of her statement means to pass this on to our children. We all need mercy, which means we all need to fear God, for His mercy is on those who fear Him. This is what the most blessed by God woman who ever lived said. She was expressing her own life and heart as our example. Be like Mary.
The word for fear used in the Bible is phobia, but the actual definition is quite different from the phobias we talk about today. The fear of God is the utmost respect for God, not something that makes people run from God but makes them run to God. After they sinned, Adam and Eve ran from God because of their guilt feelings; they knew they had disobeyed God. But overwhelmingly to fear God means to honor Him as someone who deserves an abounding respect for who He is and what He does. To fear God means to be in awe of Him and the glory of His presence, power, and compassion. As one would honor a governor or president who comes into the room, or some highly accomplished athlete or celebrity, one should honor God even more.
May 10, 2023
The Peace of God
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)
I. The Emphasis of Peace in the world is everywhere. Most people long for peace in the world. At least that’s what all the Miss Americas say: “World Peace.” Give peace a chance. Buddhism’s main teaching is how to have peace within you. Hinduism teaches Nirvana as finally being at peace with the universe: no more reincarnation. Every home longs for peace between the parents and among the children. Peace is very important, is it not?
First, we need to recognize there is a difference between peace with God and the peace of God. Peace with God comes when anyone gets saved. You were once an enemy of God, but now peace has been made by the blood of His cross (Col.1:20). And “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rm.5:1) We are declared right with God when we believe on Jesus and because of that righteousness we have peace with God. The war is over. We are at peace. We have made an unconditional surrender of our lives to God and there is no more war between us. We are friends.
The peace of God is that sense of utter well-being in our hearts, the shalom the Hebrews speak of. “It is well with my soul.” Our hearts are at rest. No matter what it’s like around us, there is peace inside of us. Paul was in jail awaiting the trial of his life by a tyrant who hated Christians, and he spoke peace over these Christians in Colossae (1:20). Those who have peace can minister peace. Jesus said, just before His arrest, trial, beating and crucifixion, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (Jn.14:27) Peace means the absence of a troubled or fearful heart. This is Jesus’ last legacy.
April 26, 2023
There is something infinitely more important than the outward clothes we wear to church and that is what Paul discusses in this passage. “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”
V.12-13, Paul appeals to us as the elect of God. This is not something we can be proud of because God has chosen the weak, poor, and foolish ones of the world (1Cor.1:26-29). This is something to be humbled about. And God calls us holy! We are holy, not sinners! Believe what God says about you. You are holy and beloved. And so, put on tender mercies…” Longsuffering means to suffer long. We are to suffer long with others whom we have complaints against. Suffer long! And bear with one another. Bear means to endure whatever wrong others heap on you. Forgiveness is something we are all familiar with because we have been forgiven many times. There can be no relationship with anyone without forgiveness because we have all sinned.
We need to be careful here because it’s easy to say you do these things and with those words soothe your conscience, but then walk away from your church. Not saying there’s never a reason to leave a church, but after all this, why would you? One lady called me to say she was leaving the church and joining another church because she had been offended by some ladies. I told her I would not send her church letter to the other church until she first made things right with those ladies. She did, then she never left.
V.14, Love is what binds us together, it never separates us because love never fails. It’s so easy for people to say, “I love you… Goodbye!” That’s not love. I know about people who don’t do these things in v.12-13 and yet say, “I love you.” Verses 12-13 describe love. If you want to know what love is, read v.12-13.
April 23, 2023
Zombies in Church
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth.” (Colossians 3:5-11)
The Christian has three enemies to his spiritual life. Enemies to our faith are the most important and dangerous enemies we have. To destroy or even damage our faith is to interrupt our relationship with God and nothing is more important than that (Heb.11:6). First is the world; second is Satan; third is our flesh. The world, the flesh, and the devil. These are real and have caused many a shipwreck for the Christian pilgrim.
The inspired apostle addressed two of our enemies so far in Colossians: Satan and the world. Both have been dealt with and defeated at the cross of Christ. We were crucified to the world and the world to us when Jesus died on that cross, because we were in Him when He died. Satan was utterly defeated and had his authority stripped away at the cross. Bout the only thing he has left is lies, but that’s not to say he is someone we must not deal with. All he had with Eve was a lie and he knew how to use that effectively. He still does. Using the world as his bait, he maneuvers us to fall to temptations and loss.
Paul was a great theologian, and his writings are deep. Even the Apostle Peter thought so (2Pet.3:16). We’re not talking snorkeling here; we’re talking scuba diving. Paul does not throw his doctrinal pearls along the shore; neither does he cast nuggets in creek beds. If you want the pearls you have to dive deep and to find the motherlode of gold you must dig deep into the rock of the earth. Paul goes down deep and stays down long in Colossians. He feeds the hungry soul with meat and the believer must chew to get any nourishment out of what he writes.
Without background we’re not going to understand much of this important passage in Colossians. All this putting off and putting to death the flesh makes little sense without what is taught in the context of these verses and in Romans chapter six.
Either the sinful nature of the lost person animates his flesh (members of his body) or the regenerated new nature of the Christian that God creates in him (and every Christian) at the new birth does. Unless he is acting like a zombie! “Do not present your members (of your body) as instruments of unrighteousness to (serve) sin, but present (give) yourselves completely to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. The NLT says, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Rm.6:13)
April 12, 2023
The Cross Has Finished It
Finished what? According to this passage, three important things: Sin, Satan, Shadows. Read the passage and notice those three things. The cross has freed us from sin, Satan, and the shadows of rules and rituals. We have been set free. “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. This freedom is the greatest thing in the world. The shackles of sin have been broken and we are free from its power. Satan has been so defeated that Christ paraded him before His Father and the heavenly hosts and his defeat celebrated as a Roman general entered Rome is a victory parade with a captured king walking and/or running behind his chariot and the multitudes who lined the street cheering our great Savior’s victory. We are free! Hallelujah! Paul told the governor of his day that he wished everyone in the court that day was as free as he was, “except for these chains.” Physical shackles did not take away from his liberty in Jesus.
Christ has finally and forever, by means of His death on the cross, put our sins out of His sight and mind (I will remember their sins no more.), destroyed the work of the devil in the lives of believers, and delivered us from the rituals and rules of the law: God’s and man’s laws. Indeed, “It is finished!” They are finished. We need to know this, but Satan and his worldly system doesn’t want us to know it.
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Acts 1:1-3 tells us that Luke had written a previous book in the Bible: “The former account I made of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” Luke actually wrote more of the New Testament than any other man. Paul wrote more books but Luke wrote more than Paul or John. His former account was the Gospel According to Luke. Put these two very long books together and you have a Gentile believer writing the full record of all that Jesus began both to do and teach and continued to do through the Holy Spirit in the early church. What a historian he was and without a doubt inspired by God.
Jesus spent 40 days between His resurrection and ascension giving the disciples many infallible proofs of His resurrection. He presented Himself alive after His suffering (passion, death). He proved to them that after He died He rose from the dead, by being seen by them and speaking to them about the kingdom of God.
In order for us to join Christ and the Holy Spirit in doing His will we need to have it proven to us and we need to be fully convinced that the Christ we actually live for is the One who died and rose from the dead. Only the Holy Spirit can do this and do this He must for everyone who hopes to serve Christ. The first order of business in the early church was to ordain a witness (1:21-22) of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The importance of the resurrection of Christ cannot be overstated. It is seen by the proofs of it provided by Christ for 40 days and the preaching of the disciples that followed.
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March 26, 2023. Sunday Evening, Elder Dewey Williams brings a message on what it means to be devoted.
March 22, 2023. Pastor Terry continues in Colossians on Wednesday Evening preaching a message on “STRONG FAITH”
Your relationship with God depends on your faith, which is the word of God revealed to you that produces a corresponding action of obedience and trust. Don’t think you ever need more faith. When you are saved you have all the faith you will ever need. Jesus said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you will move giant trees into the sea.” (Lk.17:5-6) Galatians 2:20 says we live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. But it is a matter of having stronger faith. Faith is like a muscle which must be exercised to grow stronger.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.” It’s not a matter of how much faith you have but of how strong your faith is. The stronger your faith, the better your relationship with God, the more Christlike you’ll be and the more you get from God (He rewards). Who doesn’t want that?
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Sunday Morning, March 19, 2023 with pastor Terry
“I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for His body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming His entire message to you.” (Colossians 1:24-29)
INTRODUCTION: One thing leads to another: day follows night, sowing produces an eventual reaping, love is followed by giving. In this passage one thing leads to another. Salvation leads to Serving the Lord, which means Speaking for Him and Speaking for Him leads to Suffering for Him. All this is in the context of the church but it happens as we serve the Lord by speaking for Him outside the church. When we share the gospel with lost people, they often rise up against us. It just goes with the territory.
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March 15, 2023. Wednesday evening, Rick Griffth shares a message with us and poses the question, "What are the two most important. questions?" Listen to find out.
Sunday Morning service at Grace Church. March 5, 2023, Pastor Terry continues his series in Colossians 1:15-16.
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world.” (Col.1:15-16)
After telling us what God has done for us through Christ in 1:13-14 Paul begins to tell us about who this Christ is. The Father “rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” We were born in the flesh into the kingdom of darkness, headed by the prince of darkness, Satan himself, who leads a multitude of demonic powers who control the world. “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.” (1Jn.5:19) When we are saved God transfers us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ.
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Sunday Morning, March 12, 2023. Pastor Terry continues his series in Colossians. Elder, Donnie Collins leads us in communion.
Sunday Evening, February 26, 2023. Elder Dewey Williams shares a message with us from Matthew chapter 20, The Parable of the Workers.
Wednesday night service with Pastor Terry, March 1, 2023
“We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power…” Colossians 1:9-14
We should be praying these inspired prayers of Paul for ourselves and other Christians. Note Paul writes, “We always pray for you. So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We also pray that you will be strengthened…” We will never be busier than Paul, doing more important things, and he found the time to pray for others.
After we Come to Jesus to be saved, the only thing left is to Learn from Him, which we do by studying His word (Mt.11:28-29). Everything we need to know about God and His will for our lives is found in the Bible. In it we have everything we need to have the complete knowledge of His will, to always honor and please the Lord, to produce every kind of good fruit, and to learn to know God better.
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Sunday morning, February 26, 2023. Pastor Terry continues his series in Colossians.
"We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will." (Col. 1:9-11)
February 19, 2023. Sunday Morning Pastor Terry begins Colossians 1:1-8 a verse-by-verse study in the book of Colossians.
Wednesday night, February 15, 2023. Pastor Terry begins a verse-by-verse overview and study on the book of Colossians.
The Book of Hebrews is actually an excellent way to introduce the Book of Colossians. In Hebrews Jesus is described as the greatest HEBREW ever which leads us to Colossians where He is declared to be the greatest HUMAN ever. These things are true and as such demand a response from every other human. How are we to live because Jesus is the greatest Hebrew and Human ever? How should we worship and how should we serve God? Because Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth, and Lord of my saved life, how should I then live?
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February 5, 2023, Sunday Morning Pastor Terry continues his series on Abraham, and closes service with a special time of prayer for families and their children.
Sunday Morning, January 29, 2023, Pastor Terry continues his series over the blessings of Abraham.
Wednesday Evening January 27, 2023. Pastor Terry continues his series on the blessings of Abraham.
What Are the Blessings of Abraham?
“Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing He promised to Abraham.” (Galatians 3:14)
“Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are heirs and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” (Gal.3:29)
You may not know your rich old Uncle Henry very well. You only visited his house twice a year (Christmas and Easter). But when you hear that he has died and left you in his will, and that will is being read at a certain place at a certain time – you would be there! You want to know what rich old Uncle Henry has given to you in his will. If you don’t know what he left you, you can’t enjoy what he left you. If he left you a million dollars and you don’t know it, you’ll continue to live without the benefits of those million dollars.
The next three lessons in this series are the reading of Abraham’s will, what he left you now that he’s dead. He has passed on to his children certain blessings and you want to know what they are or you can’t enjoy them, If you are a Christian, you are an heir of Abraham and of Christ the Seed of Abraham (Gal.3:29).
The blessing of Abraham is a plenary blessing. That is, there are several aspects to that blessing. The blessing is multi-faceted. Like the Trinity, within the one true God there are three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is one baptism, but within that one baptism there are four: baptism in water, by the Spirit into Christ, by Christ with the Spirit, and a baptism with fire. The blessing of Abraham has at least five blessings within it. We will look at those six blessings within that one blessing. The first two are automatic for every believer in Jesus Christ. The others are different and must be enjoyed by personal direct faith in them.
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January 22, 2023. Sunday Evening Pastor Terry is back with us continuing his series on Abraham.
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January 15, 2023. Sunday Evening, Madison Birdwell, Our Young Adults Sunday School Teacher shares a word with us from Esther 2:12 and Esther 4:14
Prayer:
(Exodus 15:2) My Father is God, and I WILL exalt Him.
Father, You have spoken a word over me that You will to heal me, and that there will be peace in the healing. I thank You, Lord, that You are a man of war (Exodus 15:3) that fights my battles, and I need only to hold my peace (Exodus 14:14).
You have set before me a choice of life or death (Deu. 30:19 & dream), and have given me the will to make my own decisions. And as Your Son once cried out, I will choose to pray that same prayer daily, that not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). I lay aside what is comfortable-what has been “normal” and press on toward the “better things” that You have spoken over my life (Phillipians 3:13-14).
Help me to remember that my affliction(s) is light (2 Cor 4:17) in comparison to Your sacrifice for me, and that You have considered these trials necessary that my faith be found genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7).
I have received Your anointing (Isaiah 61:1),
I have been planted as a mighty oak (Isaiah 61:3),
Clothed in Your [robe of] righteousness (Isaiah 61:10),
For the purpose of bringing You glory (Isaiah 61:3).
You have declared over me many promises, such as beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and the garment of praise in place of the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3).
I will have double honor and everlasting joy (Isaiah 61:7). ALL who see me will acknowledge that I am an heir, whom the Lord Himself has blessed (Isaiah 61:9).
January 11, 2023. Wednesday Evening Service Rick Griffith shares a message with us about how sometimes God's plans are inconvenient. A message we all need to hear!
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January 15, 2023, Sunday Morning Ben Harper shared a post-holiday message with us about the simplicity in Christ.
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Pastor Terry Simpson, preaching on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023.
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
The greatest blessing God gives in 2023 or any other year is Himself. The first blessing God gave to Abraham was He showed up in Abraham’s life. When He showed up He spoke. “My sheep hear My voice.”
When He comes into your life, you get everything that is in Him. “In Christ we have all things that pertain to life and godliness.” He Himself is the fullness of joy and everlasting pleasures (Ps.16:11), overflowing and everlasting life, infinite wisdom, peace that passes our ability to understand. He Himself, His presence, His person, His glory, His holiness, His grace, His life is just Him!
Miss Him and you miss everything! He is eternal life (Jn.17:3). He is salvation. He is joy unspeakable and the fullness of glory. He is everything your heart has ever longed for. Get Him and you are blessed. All the blessings of God come with Him. And He is ours by His grace through simple faith. Receive Him and be blessed. His name is Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord. The greatest blessing God gives is Himself.
In Christ there is no curse, only blessing. He is the great guilt-remover; in Him there is no condemnation. He is our redemption, our justifier, our sanctification, our eternal life. He is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins (Jn.1:29). He is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit (Jn.1:33). He is the Creator of a new heart, the promise-keeping faithful God. He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is the covenant-keeping God, the Beloved Husband of the Church, the Head of the body, the Foundation of the temple of God.
In Him and with Him I lose all sense of sorrow, guilt, loneliness and lostness. Life takes on meaning and significance with Christ. He is love and He loves me and He fills my heart with that love for Him and all others.
He is my beginning and end, the Seed that crushes Satan’s head, the Passover Lamb, my great High Priest, my Healer lifted up on the pole (I have looked at Him and been healed and saved). He is my great Lawgiver of love, my Conqueror and Judge, my Ebenezer, King, the Chronicler of the ages and my life, my great Scribe, my wall-building Protector, the One who has come for such a time as this, my Psalm, my wisdom, the One whom my soul loves, my Prophet, God’s gospel, the great power of God who Acts on my behalf, my Justifier, Gift of the Spirit, Consoler, the One who rescues me from the curse of the law, who has blessed me with every spiritual blessing, my Joy always, my coming King, my Melchizedek who blesses me, my patient endurance, my Example, my deliverer from wrath, my Light, my Righteousness and Love, my new heaven and earth. He is my Aloha and Omega.
He is my everything. His presence overwhelms me, and I am totally complete and satisfied in Him. Since He is the Blessing of everyone who knows Him, we should bless Him. Worship Him who is worthy.
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New Year Resolution 2023
This resolution will separate the attendees from the real church members. It is the most important resolution you will ever make. And it is one resolution you can actually keep. How do I know that? Because God will help you keep it. How do I know that? Because it is the will of God? How do I know that? Because it is in His word. Do you want to be blessed this coming year? Of course you do. This is the one thing you can do that will insure your being blessed. It cannot fail.
Here it is. Say it out loud: I will devote myself to Learn and Live the Word of God, the Holy Bible. This is a huge and wonderful task you have assigned for yourself. It will be a challenge, but one you can meet. How do I know that? Because God will help you.
You know God will help you because it is based on His Word in Matthew 11:29 where Jesus said to Come to Him and Learn from Him. It’s simple, we only have two jobs, two responsibilities before God, for the rest of our lives. If you’ve come to Christ, the only thing left is a lifelong pursuit to learn from Him. We learn from Him by fully devoting ourselves to the word of God. This takes more than a resolution; it takes a serious commitment to base your entire life on God’s word.
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“You will always harvest what you plant.” (Galatians 6:7; Genesis 16)
The text goes on to say that if we sow to the flesh we will reap of the flesh and this contrasts with sowing and reaping in the Spirit. The flesh produces an Ishmael and the Spirit reaps an Isaac. Carefully read Gal.4:22-31 and you will see how profound this is to us.
Don’t let the grace of God and the New Covenant, expressed in the covenant promises God made to Abraham, lead you to think you can take acting according to your sinful nature lightly. There are temporal consequences for wrong decisions, for doing things outside the will of God; and the flesh is outside of God’s will. It is in fact the enemy of God (Rm.8:7).
Yes, there is no curse in the covenant of grace, except to those who oppose us and that includes Satan and his helpers, and people who join him in accusing the brethren. “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” And there is certainly no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rm.8:1). And a believer will never perish (Jn.3:16). God cut the covenant with Abram while he was asleep. Now that’s grace!
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THE MEANING THE CHRISTMAS
You’ll never discover the meaning of Christmas from watching Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. I just don’t get celebrating Christmas without Christ. There’s Santa, jingle bells, Christmas trees, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Rudolf, elves and families getting together, but no Jesus!
I want us to get the true meaning of Christmas, even without the Roman tax decree, the wise men and shepherds, as important as they may be to the story. What is Christmas? It’s CHRIST and Him alone. So that’s what this lesson is all about: Jesus Christ, Son of Man, Son of God. He was born at Christmas. That’s it.
We begin at the beginning. Turn to John 1:1-3, then v.14 and 16-18. Read it carefully. “The Word was with God and the Word was God.” How can that be? That can be because within the essence of the one God there are three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God was the Father and the Word was the Son of God. This Word was the creator. Some say God first created the Word and then the Word created everything else. The text will not permit that. Read v.3. “Nothing was created except through Him.” Did the Word create Himself? Of course not! No thing or person can create itself. Before it comes into existence it or he was nothing. Nothing cannot create something. It’s impossible. It’s an intellectual absurdity. The Word was the creator God.
“And the Word became human.” (v.14) The creator God took upon Himself human flesh. He became a man. A baby born in Bethlehem, so says the prophecy and so says history. Why was He born? John tells us.
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George Barna gives the most conservative stats on the problem we are facing. He says that 69% of kids raised in church will leave the church after high school when they no longer consider themselves responsible to their parents. And they “never return” except maybe occasionally when visiting their parents. For all practical purposes they are lost to Christ, His church and the purpose of God in the earth. They are of the world. (The church is the purpose of God in the earth.)
This is a major problem because to leave the church is to leave Christ. Every Christian believes this statement: Outside of Christ there is no salvation. But let me insert a word that does not change the meaning of that one bit: Outside of the body of Christ there is no salvation. People will back off from that because they have decapitated Christ, cut His beloved head off. What is the church? It is the body of Christ. “He (the Father) put all things under His (Christ’s) feet and gave Christ to be head over all things to the church, which is His body…” (Eph.1:22-23) Then, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Rm.12:5)
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Still studying the Kingdom of God, I have stated that most people have never heard a sermon on the Kingdom. Before this series, I can’t remember ever hearing or giving a lesson on the kingdom of God/heaven. But after you see it in the Bible you discover that this is the subject of virtually every sermon in the Bible; it is on every page of the New Testament. It is mentioned no less than 87 times in the N.T. This is huge!
Likewise, we rarely hear anything about God the Father. Jesus is the gospel and should be preached in every sermon. The Holy Spirit is getting some attention these days, but the Father is still absent from our thinking and learning. And yet, He is mentioned 261 times in the N.T., not counting the many other times He is mentioned as God without saying the word Father, like John 3:16.
The Father is everywhere in the N.T. Everything good comes from the Father (Jas.1:17). Even Jesus came from the Father. “The Father who sent Me” is said by Jesus many times just in the book of John. When Jesus came as a man, He was the exact likeness of the Father, just like Adam had been (Gen.1:26; Col.1:15; Heb.1:1-3). All the gracious words of Jesus were given to Him by the Father, “The words I speak are not Mine but the Father who sent Me.” (Jn.14:14) Everything Jesus did, all His works, were the works of the Father (Jn.5:19-20). He revealed the Father (Jn.1:18). If you want to see what God is like just look at Jesus (Jn.14:8-10; Jn.1:14,17). He is the fullness of God in a human body! (Col.2:9)
The question for the ages: WHY DID THE FATHER PUT PEOPLE THROUGH ALL THAT JUDGMENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT BEFORE HE SENT JESUS? We’re talking 4,000 years from Adam to Jesus! Why’d He take so long?
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“In Christ you have been made extravagantly rich in every way. You have been endowed with a wealth of inspired utterance and the riches that come from your intimate knowledge of Him. So now you aren’t lacking any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the unveiling of the Lord Jesus.” (1Cor.1:5,7, TPT)
This is really going back to the beginning of the study of spiritual gifts as it is given to us in First Corinthians; something God wants us to know at the very beginning of His letter to the Corinthians. I’m doing this to set up the importance and explanation tongues as it is taught in 1Cor.14.
The NCV translates our text as, “You have been made rich in every way, in all your speaking and in all your knowledge so that you have every gift from God while you wait for Jesus to come again.” Are you waiting for Jesus to come again? Then you already have every spiritual gift.
People say things like, “I have the gift of giving,” or hospitality, or whatever. Yes you do and you also have all the other gifts of the Spirit. What you mean by saying you have a particular gift is that you have a ministry and that’s different. “Now there are diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit...
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“Then He leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.” (Mt.21:33-43)
In the first installment of “The King of the Kingdom” we saw that the King Came, Lived, Died and Rose from the Dead. This is the heart of the kingdom because it is the gospel of Christ by which we become citizens of the kingdom. The King is actually the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and everyone who believes this gospel is saved for the kingdom. But the story of the King doesn’t end there.
But before we continue, a word about relevance. Four-fifths of this study is prophetic and the question is asked, “How is this relevant for me, for my life today?” This is relevant because of who we are to worship and serve: King Jesus or ourselves. And our hope for the future will determine how we live now. 1Cor.15:58 says, concerning the hope of our resurrection, “Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” We need to know that we will be facing the judgment of God for our behavior when Jesus comes back. Eternal rewards are at stake (2Cor.5:10).
V. The King Went Away. The disciples asked the resurrected King if He were going to at this time restore the kingdom to Israel. No! They had not figured on what we now call the Church Age. Right after they asked Jesus that question, He left. He went back to heaven. When He left, He left us in charge. He gave us the awesome responsibility of continuing His work and preaching His gospel.
In almost all the parables of the Kingdom of God there was a king or landowner or rich person with power who left everything he had to his servants. They were to do everything as though he were there. When Jesus left, He left His servants in charge. They were to do what He told them to do while He was away. He left us here to serve Him and rule the world, even as Adam had been given the commission (Gen.1:26) and Jesus actually did. We are responsible. We let things happen! We are responsible for what happens on earth. He has not left us naked and unequipped to fulfill our responsibilities; He has sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to clothe us with His power to ‘stay awake’ and do our jobs: share the gospel and heal the sick. This is called Christ’s Great Commission (Mk.16:15-18).
The difference between the good servants and bad ones is - Jesus is king in the hearts of the good servants. Is He the king of your heart? If not, your future is not good. If so, when He returns you will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.”
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This exclamation was given by Pilate at the trial of Jesus, and he is saying this about Jesus Christ. He is the king of the kingdom of God/heaven. Every kingdom has a king; the man Jesus is the king of God’s kingdom. The king is important because He rules, God has given Him authority to rule. He is the King of Kings.
In the Old Testament the kingdom belonged to Israel, more specifically to David and his descendants (Mt.1:1). The final king must be a son of Abraham and a Son of David. Jesus was known as the Son of David, and “Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” (Mk.11:10) The king of the kingdom is a man. As the Son of God, He is worshiped. As the Son of Man, He rules. Jesus is both.
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This will be the first in a series of sermons on the important subject of the kingdom of God, otherwise known as the kingdom of heaven; they are the same thing. Don’t be confused over the two phrases, the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God.
When you begin to look at this in the Bible you will probably be amazed and overwhelmed as I was when I began to notice the importance of the kingdom of God in the Bible. The phrase is used many times to express it’s important to God. I am going to read several scriptures to show you what I mean.
But first let me define the Kingdom of God/heaven. What is the Kingdom of God? First, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are the same, just two different names for the same thing. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God. And it’s not just something that is in heaven. The kingdom is everywhere, and it includes every place Jesus is King and He is king of the universe, heaven and earth, things physical and spiritual. In essence, the kingdom of God is reality. It includes everything that exists. It includes all of reality. You can’t really know all of reality by observing with our natural senses, and even our spiritual senses need information from the Holy Spirit. God must reveal reality. Jesus came to bring the kingdom (He is the king.) and to explain it by His preaching and teaching. As we go through this series of parables you will see this repeatedly. The Kingdom of God includes everything that Jesus is king of, and that is everything and everyone.
The first mention of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament is found in Matthew 3:2 where John the Baptist comes on the scene to introduce the King of the kingdom. So, what did John preach when he came out of the wilderness to the Jordan River to preach to Israel. This is what he preached, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The phrase at hand means it is here. The kingdom of heaven is here! As your hand is here in your presence, so the kingdom of God is here. When you meet someone, you shake hands, or you give them a knuckle bump. That means you have met him, he is here. The king has arrived, so therefore repent. Repent means to change your mind about God, to change your mind about yourself in such a way that it changes your life, it changes the way you live.
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Why People Need the Church1 Corinthians 12:7-11
We get nothing from God unless we really want it. Desire is a strong word when Jesus said, “You will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7) Jesus does not throw His pearls before swine and He does not leave the precious pearls lying on the beaches of this world. Like gold, anything valuable must be dug out with great labor and expense. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God,” the psalmist said in 42:1. God said, “You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) I fear many just go through religious motions, doing things out of habit and tradition more than desiring the things of God with all their hearts. We must not do that. Jesus deserves our whole heart. We must never profane the holy things of God. Christ purchased them by His death.
People were made by God to bear His image and likeness, and to rule the earth. The first couple blew it and by sin marred the image of God. But Jesus came to restore that image in those who will believe. He has predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ. So being like God in character and actions is our God-given purpose in creation and salvation. After we are justified by faith, God begins a process of sanctification to make us like Jesus. This will continue until we die, or Jesus comes, and our bodies are transformed to be like His glorious body. At that time, we will bear the image of God because we will be like Jesus who was and is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).
God is the answer to all our mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, domestic, social and environmental problems. Jesus showed us this as He went around solving all these problems. But Jesus isn’t here anymore. No, but His body is. That’s the rub: how He has chosen to administer Himself is what presents the biggest challenge to most people....To read more click the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/08/why-people-need-the-church
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The Holy Spirit as He Relates to People
There are two things that will keep you from being useful to God. This is important because our eternal rewards are dependent upon how God uses us on this earth. One, no fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Two, not realizing the importance of the church. You can be a moral person, even a religious person, many Muslims and Hindus are, but you cannot be useful to God unless you have a relationship with the Spirit whose first job is to baptize you into the body of Christ (1Cor.12:13). After that He equips us with spiritual gifts to build up the church numerically and spiritually. So, if you want to be useful to God and gain eternal rewards, then get to know the Holy Spirit and His local church.
This is not an exhaustive study on the Holy Spirit. I’m only seeking to introduce you to the Holy Spirit. If a stranger came up to you and offered you a gift, you might be leery to take it. “I don’t know this person and I don’t know if this gift will damage or destroy me! What if it’s a bomb or something laced with poison?” The Spirit is strange to many Christians. They are strangers to the Holy Spirit: who He is, what He does and the gifts He gives. He can relate to people because He is a person.
Let’s start with you, with you as a spirit-being. You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. In the core of your being, you are a spirit person. It is your spirit that gives you the capacity to communicate with the spirit world. This is important because God is a Spirit. Jesus said so in John 4:24. You can’t know God except as your human spirit communes with the Holy Spirit. He is your friend, the best friend you have on earth. He is Jesus within you.
The problem is, for the natural man, the lost person, sin has made his spirit dead to God (Eph.2:1). So, the first thing the Spirit must do is raise your spirit from the dead. He does that sovereignly. Jesus described the new birth as the wind blowing where it pleases (Jn.3:1-8).
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God’s Presence Manifest is The Glory of God
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.”
(1 Corinthians 12:7)
The glory of God is the manifest presence of God. Manifest is the key word here. To manifest means to reveal something, to show it to the senses so that you can see and/or hear it. A statue’s cover is pulled off and the sculpture is made manifest. Now everyone can see what it is. God is a Spirit, and we cannot see Him … unless He manifests and reveals Himself. And old game we play goes something like this. Someone takes something, puts it in his hand and puts both hands behind his back. He puts the thing in one of his hands and places both hands in front of him with the thing concealed within one of his fists. He says, “Choose a hand and you get it if it’s in it.” He picks a hand, and the holder opens it. Bam! He chose correctly. How do we know? Because the holder opens his fist and reveals it. Until he opens his hand, only the holder knows where it is. It must be revealed. God is an invisible Spirit and therefore must reveal Himself. When He does, we see His glory. The glory of God is His manifest presence.
The heavens show the glory of God. God is glorious and His glory is everywhere all the time, but we cannot see the glory unless He reveals it. Atheists see the stars, but all they see is great balls of fire in the sky. They see a sunset or a newborn baby but do not see the glory of God.
We sing songs about the glory of God, even call heaven the “Glory Land.” We tell people to “give God the glory!” Technically speaking, we cannot give God glory; we ascribe to Him the glory that is already His. No need to ask God to send His glory because it is everywhere. We ask God to “show us Your glory,” because even though it is always with us, we do not always see it. It is not always made manifest.
God has manifested Himself, and thus His glory, all through the ages. Sometimes God manifests His presence in obvious supernatural ways. He did so to Adam in Eden, to Moses at the burning bush, the Red Sea and at Mt. Sinai, to Joshua as He made the sun stand still, and to King Hezekiah as, in answer to prayer, he saw the sundial go backward. God’s manifest presence is not without historical precedence.To read more click here: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/08/gods-presence-manifest-is-the-glory-of-god
The Gospel of The Kingdom
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ…” (Mark 1:1)
Notice the good news of Jesus Christ did not begin in Mark 15 and end in Mark 16 where the death and resurrection of Christ is proclaimed. It begins with Mark 1:1 and continues through the rest of the book of Mark. The heart of the gospel by which we are saved is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ; but that’s not the totality of the gospel. God’s gospel includes everything He did for us and taught to us in Mark chapters 1-14. The Bible calls this “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” Moses and all the prophets, and Jesus and the apostles preached the kingdom of God. John the Baptist began his preaching with, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus’ first sermon was, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is here.” Most of the Bible is the gospel of the kingdom. Faith in the death of the Messiah is just how you get into the kingdom. You are born again and that’s great, but after you’re born you need to grow. Don’t stay a baby all your life.
The heart of the gospel is what we are to believe to be saved from our sins. All you really must believe is the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to be forgiven of all your sins and have eternal life. Without believing this you cannot be saved. “The gospel by which we are saved… how that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures.” (1Cor.15:1-5) “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rm.10:9-10) Faith in this gospel is the only thing you have to believe in order to be saved. Please know this.
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The Bible is full of mysteries. Spiritual mysteries. “The wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God.” (1Cor.2:7) Paul wrote, “Servants of Christ have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries.” (1Cor.4:1) And “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…” (1Tim.3:17, NKJV) Mysteries are all about the spirit world, where there are angels and demons, Satan and God, and YOU! You are a spirit-being in an earth suit. You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. One day, all saved people will have new earth suits, glorified, resurrected bodies.
Born again people feed on the mysteries of God. Mysteries are what we need to hear to break us loose from the ordinary mundane material things of this earth. We spend all week in that material world and our souls hunger to hear about the spirit world, something greater than ourselves and our earthbound life.
Spiritual gifts are part of that mystery. They are spiritual gifts. Gifts from the ultimate Spirit-being to us for our help and good. They take us into the realm of the invisible God when He manifests Himself to us through the body of Christ.
Chapter 13 is the great love chapter, but sandwiched on either side of that great chapter are these words about desiring spiritual gifts. Sure, love is the better way, but let me explain that. It’s not love or gifts. He wouldn’t tell us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts on both sides of the love chapter if that were so. The love chapter is between two important chapters on spiritual gifts. There’s a reason for that and this is it. God’s love is best shown by spiritual gifts. Gifts are the best way to love. Gifts are how you show your love. Don’t just tell your honey you love her on Valentine’s Day, show her. Give her flowers and/or candy. Spiritual gifts are the best way to show love, God’s kind of love, which is miraculous, supernatural, and spiritual love.
Earnestly desire means to passionately want something. You want something so badly you are obsessed with it, hot after it. You have affection for and are zealous for it. Be enthusiastic about what you want. We are to earnestly desire charisma (the Greek word for spiritual gifts). What do you passionately and enthusiastically desire? Like you are about your keys when you lose them, or your wallet, or your debit or credit card, or your phone when one of them is lost? We should desire spiritual gifts more than those things. Do you earnestly desire spiritual gifts?... To read more click the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/07/do-you-earnestly-desire-spiritual-gifts
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UNITY: One Body
“We have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit and we all share the same Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 12:13
To some people these glorious, wonderful and powerful truths about spiritual gifts may seem irrelevant. They are dealing with financial loss and problems, serious health issues, family and relationship problems and a plethora of other mental, emotional, career and domestic problems. But look at Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-36. This is what unity looks like and produces in a church community. We want a Revival, a Restoration of what the church was in the Bible, when individual and family lives and nations were changed for the better. The one-word Biblical term for that is - saved. “And each day the Lord added to their church those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)
God never answers our questions or gives us His solutions with a straight answer. Jesus never gave a straight answer to people’s questions. His answer came in the form of a curve ball. The mighty prophet Elijah went to a dark cave to have his own pity-party. He repeatedly prayed for God to kill him. He was so depressed he wanted to die. God came to him and He didn’t say, “There, there, My son, bless your darling heart. It’s going to be alright. I love you.” No, Gd told him to leave the cave and go forth and anoint his replacement. Not exactly what he was hoping to hear, I’m sure. And while he was going, he was to anoint the next kings of Aram (Syria) and Israel. God gave him the cure for depression: leave your pity-party and go do something for others. But it came in the form of a curve ball.
A man came to Jesus asking Him to make his brother share the family inheritance with him. After all, he was his brother. “I’m a member of the family!” Jesus’ answer was, “Beware! Guard against every form of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Then He tells a story about a man who put his abundant crops in a larger barn (Lk.12:13-21). God plants the answers beneath the soil. The church is the field (1Cor.3:9). You expect God to give you a straight answer? He won’t do it. He will throw you a curve every time. It won’t be obvious, not to us. After we see it, it will. Jesus told parables that nobody understood them, but later they would.
You want an answer to your marriage problem? He says, “The church is your answer. I’ve given my children words of wisdom and the gift of praying for one another. Next question.” You want an answer to your drug, anger or lust problem? “The church, where I have gifted members of My body with power to cast out demons and to pray.” Health problems? “I have given to My church gifts of healings.” You need financial help? “I have given to the church some with the gift of giving; they can help you if they know about it. And there are teachers God has gifted the church with and those with words of wisdom to help you with financial advice.
This truth of spiritual gifts is not irrelevant at all. God has deposited His solutions and the answers to your problems in the church, which is His body with supernatural power to help one another. That help comes in the form of spiritual gifts.
...To read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/06/unity-one-body
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The New Jerusalem
“And he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
And it shone with the glory of God.” (Revelation 21:9-27)
Revelation 21:2 calls this the New Jerusalem. The old Jerusalem, like everything else on the old earth has burned up by this time. What a heritage had been the old Jerusalem. It was chosen by God to be the capital city of His people and so King David moved his throne and the Ark of the Covenant into that formerly pagan city. David’s son, Solomon, built the great Temple of God there. That city was destroyed and Israel scattered for almost 2,000 years until the United Nations gave Israel back their land. Just recently President Donald Trump moved the capital back to Jerusalem. That temple and city will play a prominent role during the Millennium as Jesus rules the world from that historic city. What was revealed to John was the New Jerusalem, and it will look nothing like the old one, and it will never be destroyed.
I. The New Jerusalem Defined, Rev.21:2,9-11
First we are told what this city is. It is a city for sure, but it is the city where the bride of Christ resides. John said it looked like a “bride beautifully dressed (adorned) for her husband.” Indeed, it will be. The groom is Jesus and the bride is His church. Remember, John is writing this letter to seven local churches, revealing their future. And make no mistake about it, the bride of Christ is His church, made up of all the local churches.
“I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” If you read Ephesians you will see that the church is the body of Christ, the temple of God and the bride of Christ (5:25-32; 1:23; 2:19-22; 1Cor.3:16; 1Pet.2:4-5). This is the church in its glorified state, where Christians will end up. Only the people of God are the New Jerusalem.
Furthermore, “It shone with the glory of God.” The glory of God is the shining brilliance of God, the shekinah glory, which had been seen throughout the history of Israel over the tabernacle and temple. This glory would blind a person without a glorified body, like it did Saul when Jesus revealed Himself to him. It is described for us as the apostles looked at Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. He shone like the sun. The glory of the New Jerusalem can only be witnessed by the glorified saints. This is the place Jesus went to prepare for us.
II. The New Jerusalem Described, v.12-27
A. The Dimensions, v.12-21 The city, wall and gates are described (v.15). The city is a perfect cube (v.16) made of beautiful and durable materials. The streets are made of pure gold (v.21). All of this pictures that it will last throughout eternity. The walls were 216 feet thick [244 cubits; 12x12] (v.17), symbolizing the security of the citizens inside. This wall is built on a foundation of 12 precious stones (v.18-19). The wall has 12 gates, each made of a singular pearl (v.21).
Twelve is the number for God’s people. All the measurements of the city are twelves and multiples of twelve, indicating they will hold all of God’s chosen people. The walls are 144 cubits thick (12x12). The entire area of the city is 12,000 stadia (14,000 miles square). The names of the 12 tribes of Israel are written on the gates (v.12) and the names of the 12 apostles are written on the 12 foundation stones of the wall (v.14). This represents that in eternity all the people of God will be there, Old and New Testament believers.
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The Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15)I love the Good News – Bad News jokes. The surgeon came into postop to give the patient news of the surgery. “I have good news and bad news.” The amputee said, “Give me the good news first.” The good news is - the surgery was a complete success!” What’s the bad news? “We amputated the wrong leg!” The pastor stood before the congregation and said he had good news and bad news. “The good news is we have all the money we need for the new building project. The bad news is – it’s still in your pockets!”
I have good news for you and bad news. The good news is – we live the day of the favor of the Lord and because Jesus has died for our sins and risen from the dead we can be forgiven of your sins and receive the gift of eternal life. Jesus has suffered in our place and taken the punishment for our sins at the cross. As Jesus said in Luke 24:47, “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”
To help us see why the good news is so good, God gives us the bad news. The terrifying day of judgment is coming. More specifically, the great white throne judgment where all lost people will stand before Jesus Christ the judge and give an account of everything they have done in their lives on this earth, and those whose names are not in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire.
There are some things we cannot afford to be wrong about. Yet it’s so easy to be deceived. Judas was. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven ...” (Mt.7:21-23) Ever think you were right about something and then found out you were dead wrong? Once Linda and I got in a lively discussion over what street one of our new church members lived. I said she lived on Cherry Street and she said she lived on Cheery Street. I put her in the car to show her. You can’t imagine the surprise on my face as we rounded the curve to her street and I saw the sign that said – Cheery Street! I was wrong.
Eternity in heaven or forever in hell is not something we want to be wrong or deceived about. There is no second chance. Nothing is more relevant for everyone than this truth on final judgment. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 25:46, “And they will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
There are certain things we learn from this passage of Scripture that need to be imprinted on our hearts. I will mention four of them... to read more click on the following link...http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/05/the-great-white-throne-judgment
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The Time of the Lord’s FAVOR has Come
There were three Sabbaths in Israel: one day a week, one year out of every seven, and a year after the seventh Sabbath year or every 50th year. The one every 50th year was called the Year of Jubilee and it is described for us in Leviticus chapter 25. “It will be a jubilee year for you:
- When each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. (v.8-10) In terms of the New Covenant, the earth returns to the dominion of man, as it did when Jesus came and restored that dominion originally give to man by God in Gen.1:26.
- During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own. You may eat whatever the land produces on its own. (v.11-13) No working. God does all the work; we rest, which is what Sabbath means.
- All debts were cancelled. (v.41) All sins are forgiven.
- Any slave or servant “will no longer be obligated to you.” (v.54) Freedom for all.
What time is it? This could be a very important question if you are on a time schedule, trying to keep an appointment or pick up a child from school. When Jesus made this statement in Luke 4:19 He wasn’t talking about looking at your watch or calendar. He’s talking about an age when the Lord comes, a dispensation, a period of time when the Lord does things a certain way that He didn’t do at other times.
Remember when we started the series on “The sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” The word age is the idea Jesus is referring to here. Often we refer to this as the “Times” in which we are living. The time of the Lord has come and that time is a time of favor from the Lord. It is the time between the coming of Christ to the earth and the going of the church to heaven. Between Christ’s first coming and the rapture/resurrection of the church is the time the prophet and Jesus are referring to. This is the time of the Lord showing favor.
It’s not that God had not shown favor to people before. He certainly had in the lives of Noah (who found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord, Abraham, David and others. The Joshua generation was shown great favor. It’s a matter of the tenor of the times. A tenor is a continuous course of action, a movement.
Favor means “Something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice; friendly or well-disposed regard; the state of being approved; excessive kindness or preferential treatment; a gift bestowed as a token of goodwill and love.” When Jesus came it was a special day (time) of grace and favor from God to Israel and the peoples of the earth. The Old Testament (Covenant) was based on justice and law, but the New is based on the unmerited favor of God. “From Christ’s abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. The law was given by Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16-17) We are in the time of God’s favor. Glory to God; it’s a great time to be alive!... To read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/04/the-time-of-the-lords-favor-has-come
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The Judgment of All Christians
We must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. (2Corinthians 5:10 NLT)
I. The JudgedEvery Christian, every believer between Pentecost and the Rapture will be judged. That’s why it is called “The Judgment Seat of Christ.” Paul says, “We must all stand…” and “We will each receive…” Don’t think because you are saved from your sins and have received the gift of eternal life that you will not be judged by God. “Each” means this judgment won’t be some community affair or church gathering. This is a one-on-one examination by God. Romans 14:12 says, “Each one will give a personal account to God.”
II. The JudgeThe Judge is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. If you compare 2Cor.5:10 (where it says Christ is the judge) to Rm.14:12 (where God is identified as the judge) you have one of the clearest statements of the deity of Christ found anywhere in the Bible.
Jesus clearly identifies Himself as the judge in John 5:22,27, “The Father judges no one. Instead, He has given the Son absolute authority to judge. And He has given the Son authority to judge everyone because He is the Son of Man.” God gave authority to rule and judge to man; Jesus is that Man who judges everyone.
III. The Judgment
Who He will judge is us, but what will He judge? “We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” The word evil literally means worthless; having to do with the effect of what you do on others. Injurious is a synonym. Think of the Ten Commandments. Six of them concern what we do to others: honor your parents, don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal from anyone or lie about them, and don’t covet what they have. Because you hurt others, you will be judged for what you do... click on the following link to read more... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/04/the-judgment-of-all-christians
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As long as you don’t quit!
If it is God’s will to heal the sick and infirmed (the maimed, blind, lame, diseased) then why are not all healed? Well, it should not come as a surprise to you that the will of God is not always done on this planet. Jesus taught us to pray: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt.6:10). The will of God was done in Eden before sin and there was no sickness there. Jesus walked in the will of God; He always did the will of His Father and so He healed everyone who came to Him for healing. Only the will of God is done in heaven and there is no sickness in heaven. But on this earth, the will of God is not always done.
We have enemies. Satan is the head of a “host of spiritual forces of wickedness, principalities, and powers,” the Bible says (Ephesians 6:10-18). These are the enemies who steal, kill and destroy our lives (Jn.10:10) and work against the will of God. We are to resist them (James 4:7), put on the armor of God, and stand strong in the Lord. God has given us many mighty weapons to fight for the will of God.
This answer to why everybody isn’t healed still doesn’t satisfy, does it? If my loved one dies from some accident or by a murderer, or disease, why? How could this have been prevented?.. to read more, click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/04/its-okay-to-fail
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The Attitude Everyone Should Have
If I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. (Philippians 1:19-26)
Paul is in prison with the executioner sharpening his axe right outside his cell. This man loved to travel; he loved life and the open road. Yet here he is in prison writing an inspired epistle to this church; the theme of this letter is joy and peace. This is where he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Paul uses those two words over and over. He is like a bull standing between an altar and a plow saying, “I’m ready for either.” Paul was in a state of absolute shalom, having the peace of God.
Attitude is important. Attitude determines altitude. Your attitude in life will determine your altitude in life, how high you fly, whether you live like a chicken or an eagle. Attitude does more to determine your quality of life than anything else, and probably quantity of life; more than the amount of money you make or have, your health, your career or anything else. Think of that. A positive attitude is good, but a faith attitude is better. Faith it till you make it. I didn’t say, fake it till you make it. It’s faith it till you make it. Put your faith in Christ and trust Him and you will have an attitude like Paul.
Everyone should be able to say what Paul wrote here, the attitude Paul had. Ready for sacrifice or service, for death or life, the altar or plow: “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” The NLT says, “My life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” Every person alive should have that as the overwhelming desire of their lives. As you read this passage can you speak this of yourself? If not, you need to repent. Make whatever adjustment you must to get there... to read more, click on the following link:
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The Last Days and the Second Coming of Christ
Highlights of the Great Tribulation
For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21)
The Great Tribulation is a time of severe judgments on the earth. They are not easy to talk about. The reasons I share them with you is because they are in the word of God, and all God’s words are profitable (2Tim.3:16-17). We don’t want to be like the Joel Osteens of this world and only read the refrigerator verses. All God’s words are true and profitable.
Secondly, they are written to us. Revelation 1:3 promises a special blessing upon those who read, hear and keep the words of that last book in the Bible. I am hoping and praying that these truths will stir us up with zeal for our own repentance and for that of our loved ones.
Thirdly, in Revelation the judgments of the Great Tribulation are directed by the Lamb of God. True, this world is bringing all these things on themselves, but the judgments are from the scroll in the hands of Jesus.
When my oldest daughter was still crawling around on the floor, I came into the living room with an old noisy vacuum cleaner. It sounded like a jet plane taking off. She started frantically crying. I tried to get her attention toward me. “Hey! It’s me, your dad. I would never hurt you or allow anything to hurt you.” I was hoping she would see that the scary thing was coming out of my hands. She didn’t and I had to shut the thing off. What I hope you will see in the highlights of the Great Tribulation is that the judgments are directed by our Savior who loves us, and that you will trust Him in all these things.
These highlights are important because of what Jesus said in Matthew 24:6 & 8. “For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” As we approach the rapture and the great tribulation, these things will become more and more intense and frequent. We don’t know how bad they will get before the rapture happens and the tribulation starts. These judgments are the beginning of sorrows and they will continue as a woman in travail, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman; they’ll increase in intensity and frequency. (1Thes.5:3) We need to be looking for the beginning of these even now... to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2022/04/the-last-days-and-the-second-coming-of-christ-highlights-of-the-great-tribulation
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Kings Have Enemies
“When Herod the king heard there things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:3)
“He was despised and rejected by men.” (Isaiah 53:3)
This is our second look at the Christmas story under the theme of King Jesus. In the first one we saw “The Uniqueness of King Jesus.” There is none like Him. He’s the one we worship at Christmas and will throughout eternity. He is on the Lamb who was slain who is worthy to receive worship.
Now we turn the corner to look at the commonality of King Jesus with all Christians who are also kings. There is much we have in common. The dark side of Christmas we don’t usually look at. We like the brightness in the skies over the shepherds as the angels announce the coming of the King, and the star that led the way to Bethlehem for the wise men. But there is a dark side to Christmas. There was “no room for Him in the inn” but His parents must have had many relatives, descendants of David, in that town who didn’t have room. This pattern of rejection followed Jesus all His life.
When Jesus was born He had enemies. There was already a king on the throne in Judea and that king named Herod was a ruthless wicked paranoid king who was troubled at the news of King Jesus being born in his realm; and when Herod was disturbed all Jerusalem was disturbed. He tried to trick the wise men to return and tell him where King Jesus was so he could go and worship Him also. That was a lie. Satan is the father of lies. Herod revealed what he wanted to do when he found out the wise men had outsmarted him. He sent the army to Bethlehem to kill all the baby boys who had been born in the last two years. That was the slaughter of the innocents prophesied by Jeremiah. Such is the hatred of some for King Jesus.
To read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/12/kings-have-enemies-2
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Power to Obey God
Jesus said, “I can of Myself do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
We need the power of God to obey God. We don’t need divine supernatural strength to obey our employer. Money is all the motivation we need. You don’t do what he says and you are fired. But when it comes to God, we need faith because God does pay you for your obedience, but not with money. That’s why we need faith and that’s why we need God to do something inside of us that will motivate us and give us the power to obey Him. We cannot obey God without the power of God coming within (Ephesians 3:16).
Obedience to God is important. We are saved by grace, but we will be judged and rewarded for our obedience. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2Cor.5:10) That is for the Christian! Paul includes himself in that judgment. Our eternal rewards are determined by our obedience to God’s word.
This will set you free. The only thing required of us is faith and love. We are saved by faith. Faith works by love. “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” (1John3:23) Paul thanked God for the Colossian Christians because “we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints.” (Col.1:3-4) If we are ever going to obey God, we must have faith and love. Both these are gifts from God (Eph.2:8-9; Rm.5:5; Acts 18:27) to be received simply by faith.
Jesus was asked, “What is the great commandment in the law? He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” The good news is: faith works by love (Gal.5:6).
Everything God requires of us is found in the word love. “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal.5:14) When you love your neighbor you won’t bear false witness against him, you won’t steal from him, murder him or covet what he has. This love is an inside job.
God commands us to love and He expects that commandment to be obeyed. Our greatest blessing comes in obeying the commands of God. Cursed are those who do not obey God. Obedience is necessary to please God and to gain eternal rewards.
You might say, “But how can love be commanded? I thought love had to be free or it isn’t love.” It indeed must be free. We are not robots. But love is a choice. Contrary to popular opinion, love is not a feeling or just an emotion. Love is a choice. We must freely choose to love God and others.
Jesus adds another commandment of love in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” We are to love God above everything and everyone else and love our neighbor as we love ourselves; but there is a higher love than for neighbors and it is love for the family of God. We are to love them as Christ has loved us. He denied Himself and took up the cross to love those who believe in Him. “Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.” (Eph.5:25)... click on the following link to read more:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/03/power-to-obey-god
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How Man Exercises Dominion Over God’s CreationGod created mankind for a purpose. It’s an eternal purpose so that purpose will never change. We were created to be like God, created in His likeness. We were given the highest position in God’s universe – dominion over the earth, both seen and unseen world, the material and spiritual world. We were given dominion. Everything was to be subject to man’s rule under God. God had given the earth to man.
As we know, Adam and Eve blew it. They sinned and Satan usurped the dominion. Jesus and Paul declared him to be the prince of the power of the air, the ruler and god of this world. That’s why there is so much strife and suffering in this world. Satan is the lord of pain, disease and strife. He is a cruel taskmaster.
But then Jesus came as a man in the exact image of the invisible God. As a sinless man He ruled over demons, disease, storms and everything. Sin gave and still gives Satan the right to rule and ruin our lives. Jesus exercised absolute authority and power over the spirit and material world while He walked this earth.
Then Jesus died on a cross to take away our sins. By His sacrifice He declares and makes believers righteous. Christ takes away our sins and gives His righteousness to us. Satan has no more right to rule over us. He has been cast down. Christ has triumphed over death and the devil. He did that Himself, but He did not do that for Himself. He did that for us and as us. He took our sins, thus taking away the right of Satan to be our god and inflicting oppression and suffering upon us (Col.2:13-15)... to read more click on the following link...http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/02/how-we-exercise-dominion-over-gods-creation-2
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Two Great Mysteries
(Ephesians Chapter Three)
Everybody loves a great mystery. So does God. In the Bible there are many mysteries. A mystery is something you wouldn’t know unless God told you. He does this by the Holy Spirit, who Himself is a mystery. Jesus Christ is a mystery. We wouldn’t know who Jesus was if God did not reveal it. Peter said, “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.” And Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17) We might think Jesus was a great man, even a great man of God, a prophet or something; but we would not know He was the Son of God. We wouldn’t know He was dying for the sins of mankind or that He rose from the dead unless the Spirit revealed these things. He first revealed them to the writers of the Bible and then to our spirit.
There are two mysteries revealed in this chapter: the mystery of the church and the spirit of man.
I. The Mystery of the Church, v.1-11
“How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery, the mystery of Christ, the fellowship of the mystery, the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The word revelation used here is the same as the Greek word for the last book in the Bible – Revelation. (Revelation 1:1) It is apocalypse which means an unveiling, appearing, manifestation, making unknown things known. The book of Revelation is about the second coming of Jesus, which had been made known before that book was written. But the revelation of the church was made known after that, especially given to Paul (v.4)... to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/02/two-great-mysteries
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Seeing Yourself the Way God Sees You
You were dead in trespasses and sins, but God made us alive together with Christ. (Ephesians 2:1-5)
The way you see things can be called your worldview. It’s the way you look at things, your belief system that causes you to see things a certain way, your perspective on everything, the grid by which you judge everything to determine if it is right or wrong. Everybody has a worldview. It’s the way you look at everything. Liberals tend to be liberal about everything and conservatives seem to be conservative about everything. Your worldview explains to you why things happen the way they do.
But there’s only one worldview that is correct and that is God’s. The way He sees things are the way they truly are. He is the truth and any other viewpoint is error. What we need to do is see things from God’s viewpoint. How does the all-knowing, ever-present and all-wise God look at everything? We find that in the Bible. The way God sees things is wisdom indeed.
The Bible shows us how God sees mankind in general and you in particular. God knows you better than you know yourself. We can be deceived. We can even deceive ourselves and the devil is always around to see that you don’t see things God’s way, or you don’t see yourself the way God sees you. He doesn’t want you to see yourself the way God sees you if you are lost and he doesn’t want you to see yourself the way God sees you if you are saved.
Ephesians chapter two tells us how God sees you without Christ and how He sees you in Christ. I want to point out the contrast between the two.
I. How God Sees Every Lost Person , v.1-3,11-12
And this means every lost person: moral, ethical and “good” lost person and every depraved murderer, thief, liar, no matter how despicable he or she may be. Paul was the moralist of men who lived according to the law of God “blameless.” He had a zeal for God according to God’s law. But Paul includes himself in this list of dark and depraved characteristics listed here. He says, “Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, just as others.” (v.2)
There are differences of decay in the human race, but we are all dead in trespasses and sins. Some are worse than others, but we are all under the power of this sinful world, the prince of the power of the air, and our sinful flesh. The only difference between one sinner and another is the degree of decay, moral decay.
The lost person is dead to God but there are some things he is very much alive to. He is alive to “the course of this world.” He is alive to “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works…” That is, the devil. He listens to his lies. He is alive to the “desires of the flesh.” They are responsive to the world, the flesh and the devil, even if they are unaware of it.
But we are all dead to God. We are not sick, we are dead. We are devilish, deceived, disobedient, depraved, defiled and doomed. That is how God sees us. It’s not that a lost person never does any good. Jesus said, “You, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” Parents take care of their children, but it is their own righteousness. They do it for themselves. We were made to live for God’s glory but they don’t care about God’s glory or God’s will... to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/02/seeing-yourself-the-way-god-sees-you
Link to the Livestream & Sermon notes below:
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Learning Warfare from DavidFor we do not wrestle against flesh and2blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of this giant; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (1Samuel 17:32)
Here’s the problem people have. God has given us everything He has. We are joint-heirs of Christ. I mean, right now! There is nothing God has that has not already been given to us. But it is deposited in our spirit-man. And our spirit-man is in enemy territory, what the Bible calls heavenly places. The heavenly realm of the invisible world includes our spirit, our soul and our body. Satan is that invisible enemy that fights against us to keep our inheritance away from us. He does not want us to use our riches in Christ to live this life.
We must fight those spiritual forces of wickedness to get the blessings into our material world. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Death and life are in the power of your words. What you speak can curse or it can bless (3:9). I will save for another chapter what speaking blessings and life is, but for now just know you must speak to your enemies.
Jesus said to do this in Mark:11:22-24, “Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/02/david-teaches-how-to-do-battle
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The Blessings and the Battles
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3)
“We wrestle against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” (Eph.6:12)
We marvel at the richest men in the world like Bill Gates, Bezos and others who have hundreds of billions of dollars. What must their lifestyle be like? What good could they do for mankind? What control they could have over politics. But these guys are Ozark Hills compared to the Rocky Mountains when it comes to the real richest people in the world. These are the ones Paul calls plutocrats in 1 Corinthians 1:5. A plutocrat is a wealthy person with power. We have found out in the financial and political world that these media moguls are not only rich but they are more powerful than anyone else in the world. Wealth means power. Or as my dad used to say, “Money rules the world.”
But there is another wealth that comes with power and it is spiritual wealth. That’s what Ephesians is all about. The Christian is enriched with “every spiritual blessing.” This wealth has already been given to every Christian. God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.” It’s in the bank and its waiting for our withdrawal. This wealth does not come automatically; we must access it. That’s where the battle starts. There are spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies who do everything they can to keep you from living in God’s blessings.
The blessings are from God; the battles are from Satan. We don’t enjoy the blessings without a battle. What are these blessings? They are found in the promises of God and they consist of everything Christ has paid for on the cross. Find a promise from God in the Bible and it’s yours. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2Cor.1:20)
The spirit world controls the physical world. The heavens rule. Hebrews 11:3 says, “the things which are seen were made of things which are invisible.” Visible things were made from invisible things. Sure, that could mean atoms, but now they can be seen, so that’s not the whole truth. Everything in the natural world is controlled by the spirit world. God and angels, Satan and demons, and humans are spirit-beings.
Paul speaks of some of these blessings in the first chapter. Things like being chosen for the purpose of making us holy. Think of it – chosen by God to be without blame before Him in love. We have the blessing of adoption, which means we are heirs of God to everything God has, and He has a lot. He has made us accepted. The only other time this word is used in the New Testament is when Gabriel said to the virgin Mary, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you.” (Luke 1:28) The word accepted means highly favored in Ephesians 1:6. Every believer in Christ is highly favored like Mary. We also have forgiveness of all our sins. What a rich blessing that is! Jesus has already paid for all your sins. These are but a few. There is the promise of healing and deliverance. Everything Jesus did on the earth is available to us. He has not changed... to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/the-blessings-and-the-battles
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Bone of His Bone, Flesh of His Flesh Genesis 2 & Ephesians 5We come to the second chapter on the duties Paul expounds after establishing the doctrine of the church. Behavior comes out of our belief. Initially as newborn babies we are carried by the Father; but as we mature we are called upon by God to take personal responsibility for our behavior. We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
It is helpful to realize there is a certain law in the world that keeps us from soaring like the eagle. This law keeps us from living the way we should as Spirit-filled believers. It is the law of gravity. I’m not talking physical science here; I’m talking sociology. That law is in the world. It is in the natural man among whom we live daily. These natural lost people keep us from obeying God by the continual pull they place on us. Their influence is pervading. As the eagle must break the law of gravity to soar, so must we break the law of the gravity of this lost world and all its practices to fulfill our responsibilities and live like we should. This world is no friend of God, neither is it our friend.
This chapter is full of responsibilities and reasons for those responsibilities. Paul switches back and forth between what we should do and why we should do it (and in some instances tells us how we should do it).
I. What All Christians Should Do, v.1-3
A. What to do? Two simple words – imitate God. The NKJV says, “Be followers of God.” It is the Greek word for mimic. Mimic God. Do what He does.
And if we were to do that, what exactly would we do? What identifies us as followers and mimics of God? Verse two tells us, “Walk in love.” Chapter four explained more fully what some of that means: speak what builds people up, not what tears them down, impart grace, do not be bitter, be kind to one another, tenderhearted and forgiving. Love is patient and kind, does not envy, is not proud or rude, is not selfish, is not easily offended or provoked, and endures all things. We were made and saved to bear the image of God.
B. Why Do It? The why of things should be explained to maturing children. Paul tells the main reason to imitate God. It’s because we are His children. We should bear the family resemblance, have the same characteristics as our Father. We move from being what our Father says to doing like our Father. This is our purpose in creation and salvation – to be like God (Genesis 1:26; Romans 8:29). Secondly, we are to do it because Christ gave us the example of love by giving Himself for us. He died for us, offered Himself as a sacrifice to God for our forgiveness, healing and total salvation. We are to do for our brothers and sisters in Christ the same thing Christ has done for us. This sacrifice is like a sweet-smelling aroma to God... to read more click the following link...
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/bone-of-his-bone-flesh-of-his-flesh-genesis-2-ephesians-5
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Why We Need the ChurchWe get nothing from God unless we really want it. Desire is a strong word when Jesus said, “You will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7) Jesus does not throw His pearls before swine and He does not leave the precious pearls lying on the beaches of this world. Like gold, anything valuable must be dug out with great labor and expense. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God,” the psalmist said in 42:1. God said, “You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) I fear many just go through religious motions, doing things out of habit and tradition more than desiring the things of God with all their hearts. We must not do that. Jesus deserves our whole heart. We must never profane the holy things of God. Christ purchased them by His death.
People were made by God to bear His image and likeness, and to rule the earth. The first couple blew it and by sin marred the image of God. But Jesus came to restore that image in those who will believe. He has predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ. So being like God in character and actions is our God-given purpose in creation and salvation. After we are justified by faith, God begins a process of sanctification to make us like Jesus. This will continue until we die or Jesus comes and our bodies are transformed to be like His glorious body. At that time, we will bear the image of God because we will be like Jesus who was and is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15)... to read more click the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/why-we-need-the-church
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The Church is Jesus Christ
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
I am fully aware of the fact that most people do not believe what is stated in this title; some will never believe it no matter how much they see it in the Bible. That’s because they don’t want to believe it, and that’s just because it will make the church a priority they don’t want in their lives. Even though Jesus gave it that priority for Himself: He loved the church and gave up His life for her.
Just make sure you fully believe what the Bible says, because this is important and it will affect your whole life. If I can show you this truth in the Bible, would you believe that the church is Jesus? If I could show you where Jesus said the church and Jesus are the same, would you believe it then? (John 8:45-47)
Here’s a line of thought that most people have accepted without even considering if it is true or not; it goes virtually unchallenged in our day. It has to do with priorities. You have probably been recommended a list of priorities something like the following and accepted it; after all it is comfortable and easy.
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Jesus Christ
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My Family
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My Job
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The Church, and then whatever you want after this.
Here’s the error of this list. Jesus never intended for you to separate #1 and #4. In God’s mind and word there is no distinction between Christ and His church. It’s not that any of us died on the cross for the sins of the world. Only Jesus did that. But the Holy Spirit put us in Him and what happened to Him happened to us: we were circumcised with Him, baptized with Him, crucified with Him, raised with Him, and now sit in heavenly places with Him. We are one in the sense we were in Him when He died and rose again. We are in Him and He is in us. We are one.
This changes everything. And that’s what so many people tend to not like. Well, what did Jesus say that would make me believe the church is Jesus? In Matthew 25:31-40 we have Jesus describing the judgment... to read more click the following link...
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/the-church-is-jesus-christ
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What is the Church
Jesus said, “I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
If God’s eternal purpose is the church, we should know what the church is. It comes from a Greek word that means “called out ones.” It’s the idea of calling citizens or civic officials out of their homes for a meeting, a gathering of some significance. Not everyone in the community was called out, just the qualified ones. They would be called out and conduct important business; they were representatives of the community and society in which they lived. In ancient Israelite days the elders were called out to meet at the gates of the city.
The church is the ones God calls out from among the people of the world to assemble for His business, which is to observe the ordinances, worship, preach the word, make disciples and exercise the gifts of the Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ, the church.Ecclesia is the Greek word used by the Holy Spirit in the Bible to translate the word Jesus used that comes to us as the English word church. We see this Greek word transliterated in the names of some Spanish churches. Out of the blue Jesus first mentioned this word church. Nobody had ever used the word church as it relates to the people of God. They were the children of Abraham and they were the Israelites. There were tribes within Israel (Judah, Benjamin, etc.), but there was never a church. The church began with Jesus. The church began in the mind of Christ and He first spoke about it here in Matthew 16:18.
Three things about the church we need to know.According to the Biblical hermeneutical ‘law of first mention’ we learn some important things from Jesus’ statement. First, the church belongs to Jesus. He calls it, “My church.” It is His church. These called out ones are His followers, His family, who belong to Him. In John 10 He called them, “My sheep.” He is the owner-shepherd of these sheep who laid down His life for them. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (v.11) He does that because He is their owner, not a “hireling who does not own the sheep but flees when he sees the wolf coming.” (v.12) Jesus says in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep and am known by My own.” He made the raw materials in the old creation and He made them over in His new creation: “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.” (2Corinthians5:17). They are the ones born again of the flesh and of the Spirit (Jn.3:3-7). Every member of the church belongs to Jesus.... to read more click on the following link...http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/what-is-the-church
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Repentance and the Eternal Purpose of God“Unless you repent, you will perish.” (Luke 13:5)
Jesus said, “Repent or perish.” He left no other option. If you don’t repent you will perish. It’s that simple. Without repentance your life will be lost. You will perish. If you don’t repent you can forget about fulfilling your purpose under God. Your life will be wasted. It will serve no purpose, nothing of eternal significance. Put your hand in a sink of water. Splash around with that hand. Make all the stir you want. Then pull it out. The hole that remains in that sink of water will be the impact your life will make for eternity. The hole made by your hand will perish. So will you, without repentance.
Every preacher in the Bible preached that we must repent. All the Old Testament prophets preached repentance. John the Baptist did (Matthew 3:1-2). Jesus preached it at the beginning of His ministry (Mark 1:15) and the last thing He instructed His disciples to do before He went back to heaven was to preach repentance to the nations (Luke 24:45-48). The first full-gospel evangelical sermon to the Jews in Acts chapter two has Peter preaching repentance (v.38). Paul, preaching to the Gentiles in Acts 17, said, “God now commands everyone everywhere to repent…” Then he tells us why: “because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world.” (v.30-31) All this makes all of us responsible to repent before God.
Repentance is the flip side of the coin of belief. You can’t believe without repenting. Repentance has believing within its very nature. They are married by God and God will not allow divorce. They are each a side of God’s coin of salvation.
So, repentance is a part of John 3:16. Perish doesn’t just mean go to hell. It means to have a life that doesn’t count for anything before God. Without repentance even our good works will perish with us. Whatever you do in this life will be gone, and gone forever, if you do not serve the purpose of God for which you were created. Everlasting life is not just about length or quantity of time; it has to do with quality of life and time. Eternal life contains quality as well as quantity. It is the quality that produces the quantity... to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/repentance-and-the-eternal-purpose-of-god
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God’s Purpose – My Life
This is the second in a series of vital messages concerning God’s purpose and your purpose in life. In this series we will be looking at and learning the most important lesson in life. People are always asking, “What is God’s will for my life?” That will be answered for you in this chapter and in this book. God’s will for your life is His purpose for creating and saving you. If you are not saved, then turn to Jesus and ask Him for mercy and a new life. His death on the cross was to pay for our sins and His resurrection was to give us His life, abundant and eternal. Trust Him and He will save you.
God’s last and greatest mystery is actually God’s eternal purpose for creation and salvation, and that includes you. A mystery in the Bible is something we would not know unless God told us. For example, Jesus Christ is one of those mysteries. Peter called Him the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and Jesus said flesh and blood had not revealed this to him but His Father who is in Heaven. Looking at Jesus eating, sleeping, spitting, and being crucified you would never conclude that He was the Son of God. The Spirit must reveal this. There are dozens of mysteries in the Bible. The one we will be covering in this series is God’s greatest mystery and His last mystery revealed. And it involves His purpose for your life.
Even though this is God’s greatest mystery and it concerns His purpose and will for your life, many who read these words will not benefit from what you are about to read at all. It will mean nothing to you if you don’t believe it. Or if you don’t adjust your life to God’s word. If you don’t believe it, it will because it interferes with what you want to do. You don’t want to believe it because you have things you’d rather do. You just don’t want to align your life to fit into God’s purpose. If so then you will miss why you are here and God’s will for your life. Before you reject or ignore this message, consider that it is indeed the word of God... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/gods-greatest-mystery-is-his-eternal-purpose-gods-purpose-my-life
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Where is the Peace?
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men!” (Luke 2:1-20)
The peace is supposed to be on earth. That’s what the angels said. Jesus came to bring peace on earth. Peace on earth brings glory to God on the earth in the highest measure. Wherever the peace of Christ reigns God is glorified. Peace is a major part of His glory. Jesus walked in peace on this earth and it is in this that, “We beheld His glory.” (John 1:14)
Peace is when men have good will toward one another. Without good will toward all men there will be no peace on earth. Good will is the illusive thing among the sons of men. If you have good will toward men you can live in peace with them.
But this peace can only come through the Savior who is named by Isaiah, “The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus is the Prince of Peace; He is the peace that passes all understanding. He is peace and He gives peace. That’s why He was born, why He died and what His reign produces. Jesus came to bring peace on earth by placing good will in the hearts of people for others... to read more click the following link:
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2021/01/where-is-the-peace
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What Can the Devil Do?
I mean what can the devil do if you let him? And I don’t mean let him in the sense of giving him permission. Criminals don’t ask permission to rob and kill. We have things we can do to keep him at bay and if we don’t do them, he will steal, kill and destroy us and our loved ones. We must be vigilant in resisting him.
An old church catechism that dates back to 1646 says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Far be it from me to say that a 400-year church creed is wrong, but how do we best glorify God? I’d rather go to the Bible to find man’s chief end, why God made and saved man. In Genesis 1:26 and Romans 8:29 it says that the chief end of man is to be like God, to bear His image, that we might have dominion over the earth (everything on it, in it and under it), to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The chief end of man is to be like Jesus. That is what glorifies God. He glorified God in everything. When we think like Jesus we glorify God. When we speak like Jesus we glorify God. When we do the works of Jesus, that glorifies God. It glorifies God when we are healthy, because Jesus was healthy. It glorifies God when we do miracles because Jesus worked miracles. It glorifies God when we heal others, love others, lay down our lives for others, show compassion, speak the truth in love, cast out demons, because Jesus did all those things... to read more click the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/12/what-can-the-devil-do
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The Dead Girl and the Dying Woman
“Suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment; for she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made well.’ But Jesus turned around and when He saw her He said, ‘Be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that hour.” (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48)
“But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.” (Mt.9:18-19, 23-26; Mk.5:22-24, 35-42; Lk. 8:41-42, 49-56)
Jesus said this concerning salvation: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” even the saving of a soul (Mt.19:26). What man cannot do, God can do. There are many things man cannot do. Try as I may, I cannot fly on my own. I cannot play basketball like Michael Jordan. I cannot be anything I want to be because I cannot do anything I want to do. I can be anything God wants me to be and I can do anything God wants me to do. He wants me to believe in Him and His Son, so I can. What He wants me to do He can give me the power to do. He wants me to repent, so by His grace and power I can repent. He is the author and finisher of our faith and He grants repentance.
What we are looking at in this passage of Scripture is Jesus doing something only God can do. And remember, what is impossible with men is possible with God: with God all things are possible. There are no impossibilities with God. In Jesus we have hope when there is no hope. Here are two helpless and hopeless cases. Jesus fixes both.
If you are in an impossible situation right now, with God all things are possible. There are no impossible situations with Jesus Christ. If your marriage is dead, if your love for your spouse is dead, He can resurrect your relationship and your love. He is the resurrection and the life. I have seen Him resurrect the deadest marriage. In marriage counseling I found out that the husband had done everything she asked, but she still committed adultery. It was ugly. These were leaders in our church. There was a horrible public court custody battle over their young son. Divorce came with hurt, devastation and ill-will. They both left our church. They moved. I heard about a year later from another pastor they had reconciled and were once again happily married and had begun visiting his church; in fact he had remarried them. I was breathless, and happy. I saw what God can do.
If you are jobless and broke, He is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Our Provider. He can make a way where there is no way. He is the Way-maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. When I was working three part time jobs trying to provide for my family during my college days, our cupboards and refrigerator were empty. I put seven rolls of pennies, the last cent we had on earth, as our tithe into the offering plate. Someone sitting on the same row at church looked down the row and concluded that must have been Linda and me. That afternoon I was studying the Bible on my couch and I saw the top of somebody’s head go past our picture window. Somebody did not want to be seen. I opened the door and found about a dozen paper sacks full of groceries. I had caught the pastor’s wife. Our cupboards and refrigerator were full. That night at church people began walking up to me and stuffing money into every pocket I had. I left church that day with hundreds of dollars in my pocket. God had come through and I hadn’t told a soul about our predicament. He knew. And He met my family’s need.....
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The Dead Girl and the Dying Woman“Suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment; for she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made well.’ But Jesus turned around and when He saw her He said, ‘Be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that hour.” (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48)
“But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.” (Mt.9:18-19, 23-26; Mk.5:22-24, 35-42; Lk. 8:41-42, 49-56)
Jesus said this concerning salvation: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” even the saving of a soul (Mt.19:26). What man cannot do, God can do. There are many things man cannot do. Try as I may, I cannot fly on my own. I cannot play basketball like Michael Jordan. I cannot be anything I want to be because I cannot do anything I want to do. I can be anything God wants me to be and I can do anything God wants me to do. He wants me to believe in Him and His Son, so I can. What He wants me to do He can give me the power to do. He wants me to repent, so by His grace and power I can repent. He is the author and finisher of our faith and He grants repentance... To read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/11/the-dead-girl-and-the-dying-woman-with-god-all-things-are-possible
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WHY I WANT GOD TO HEAL ME
- “And great multitudes followed Him and He healed them all.” (Matthew 12:15)
- “And the whole multitude sought to touch Him for power went out from Him and healed them all.” (Luke 6:19)
- “When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” (Luke 4:40)
- “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’” (John 11:40)
I know I cannot speak for everyone, but I can and do speak for me. Everyone wants to be healed when they are sick. Our medicine cabinets and health insurance premiums declare it. But most want to be healed just to feel better and not die. Those are not wrong reasons to want to be healed, but they are not the best reason.
I am not praying for God to heal me because I fear death. I am not afraid to die. God delivered me from the fear of death years ago when I woke up in the middle of the night with severe chest pains. I took some aspirin and crumbled onto the bathroom floor in excruciating pain. On that bathroom floor the peace of God filled my heart. As I laid back down in the bed, I remember thinking I will surely wake up in heaven. I didn’t... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/11/why-i-want-god-to-heal-me
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https://www.facebook.com/189242644430048/videos/836711497099989
Forgiveness and Healing in the Same Package
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.” (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26)
“Two for the Price of One” is a good sign you’re going to get a good deal. “Buy One – Get One Free.” That is attractive. It draws people to stop and look. What can I get two things for the price of one? Usually the only deal I get like that is – buy one shoe and get the other one free. Deals are hard to come by, and usually there’s a hitch of some sort. But in the case of the paralyzed man both priceless gifts come without a price. FREE is an even better and more attractive sign.
In this story we have a man getting two priceless gifts – forgiveness for the soul and healing for the body – simply by Jesus giving them to him. They cost him nothing. Jesus paid for everything we get from God. It’s free to us but it cost Him His life and blood. That means that whatever God has is free: it costs us nothing and the only thing we must do to get it is believe. Faith is the key that unlocks the door to God’s treasure-house of gifts. And these are the best treasures in the universe: things like forgiveness, eternal life, deliverance from demonic influences and addictions, peace, joy, hope, love, eternal purpose, and God Himself in your life. These things are indeed priceless... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/11/forgiveness-and-healing-in-the-same-package
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Blaming Someone When a Loved One DiesWhat NOT to say when someone you love isn't healed. We believe that God is Sovereign and everything that happens, happens because we believe what God says in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For, My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."
This is one of the weightiest issues for Christians who believes the Lord heals by faith today. It is the ultimate question that must have an answer. And there is no easy answer. But I will try to give some clarity. Here’s how it goes. The Bible teaches that God does everything in our lives through faith, from salvation to healing. No one who knows the Bible can deny that. Many times Jesus said, “According to your faith let it be to you,” and every time He said it He was referring to healing. By grace you have been saved through faith.
Here’s the problem. Someone you love is sick and everybody is praying for him with all the faith they can muster. They are believing with all their heart. But the loved one dies anyway. Then someone comes up to you and says, “If you had more faith your loved one would not have died.” That’s a double whammy. First, your loved one dies and you are in deep mourning. Second, you are being blamed for that loved one’s death.
Your response to all this is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. You will either let it destroy your faith in what the Bible teaches about faith and healing, you will never pray for someone to be healed again. Or you will take it and say, “You know what? I am not perfect at this. I have a lot to learn. Father, would you teach me what I need to know so I can more effectively pray for the sick.”
Don’t form your theology out of your wounds; form it out of what you know of Jesus from the gospels. Paul wrote, “We are bound to thank God because your faith grows exceedingly.” (2Thessalonians1:3) Ask God to grow your faith and help you do better in praying the prayer of faith. This tragedy could be the very thing God will use to spur us on to larger faith. None of us have yet been conformed to the perfect image of Christ. We are ever learning to be more like Jesus... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/11/blaming-someone-when-a-loved-one-dies
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The Spirit of HealingGod anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
God loves to heal people. God is spirit and He is the Spirit of healing. In this message we will see Him in three places and in each place the Bible teaches us He is the Spirit of Healing. The Holy Spirit upon Jesus was the Spirit of healing; the Holy Spirit inside the Christian is the Spirit of healing; the Holy Spirit in the church is the Spirit of Healing.
I. The Holy Spirit was the Spirit of Healing upon Jesus, Acts 10:38
When Peter identifies Jesus as “Jesus of Nazareth” he is referring to the human nature of Jesus. As God His home was heaven, but as a man His home was Nazareth. He was a man made in the image of the invisible God (John 1:14; Colossians 1:15). Before He was anointed with the Holy Spirit we know of no miracles of healing done by Him. It was the Holy Spirit who gave the man Jesus the power to heal.
As a man He didn’t heal people to prove He could do it; He healed people to prove WE could do it. We are being conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). The same Spirit that baptized, came upon, and anointed Jesus of Nazareth to heal all who were oppressed by the devil is the same Spirit that will come upon us when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5,8) to equip us with the spiritual power to do His works. We were created and saved to be like God, like Jesus that is (Genesis 1:26). It takes the Holy Spirit to accomplish that for us as individual Christians and for us as the church, the body of Christ... to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/12/the-spirit-of-healing
Matthew’s Miracles Sermon on the Mount: God’s Moral Health Manual
All authors write with a certain style. Matthew’s method is easy to observe. (1.) He gives summary statements at junctures in his story of Jesus Christ. We have such a one in 4:23-25 where he writes, “Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. And great multitudes followed Him.” (2.) Matthew groups the teachings of the Messiah and does the same with His miraculous works. For example, in chapters 5-7 we have a collection of His sayings we call the Sermon on the Mount and then in chapters 8-9 we have an abundance of His healings and miracles, nine to be precise, along with a couple of those summary statements. There are scattered teachings and miracles throughout Matthew, but in several places he groups these things. If you’re looking for a certain parable Jesus told you will more than likely find it in Matthew 13 where there are seven of them. There are more scattered throughout Matthew, particularly chapters 20-21-22, but the bulk of them are grouped in chapter thirteen. If you want to know about the second coming you can read all about it in Matthew 24-25, where Jesus answers the question, “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (24:3)
After giving a snapshot of the ministry of Jesus (4:23-25) and before he gives a collage of miracles (chapters 8-9) Matthew gives us this sermon which consist of the ethical and moral instructions concerning how those in His kingdom are to live. Though they are moral, they are more than that. They are geared toward health. If we live by these teachings we will live good moral lives, but we will also live healthier lives. Holiness and health are related. In living both healthy and holy lives we are doing the main things: we are glorifying God and bearing the image of Christ who lived both a healthy and a holy life... to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/12/matthews-miracles-sermon-on-the-mount-gods-moral-health-manual
Below are the links to the livestream & Sermon Notes:
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“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6)
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Faith is the most important thing there is. Jesus is the most important Man there is because He is the God-man, Redeemer, Savior and Lord of all. Love is the greatest thing there is for it is the very heart of God. But faith is the most important thing there is because we cannot know the Savior nor the love of God without it.
I. What is Faith? Faith is the God-given ability by which we communicate with the spirit world and that includes God who is spirit (Ephesians 2:8; John 4:24). We cannot know God except by faith. Faith is that which operates in our spirits, our inner man, in contrast to the flesh which functions according to the dictates of our five physical senses and the human brain (in things like logic and emotions). Faith takes us into another realm of existence, into the unseen world of eternal realities. Faith is the hand that receives what God freely gives.
Faith is the revelation of the spirit world (which includes God) made known to our spirits. We are more than material mass, more than physical molecules. If you don’t believe in God, or that the Bible is the word of God, it is not because those things are not real and don’t exist; it just means you have no faith. Without faith you are dead to God. Make no mistake about it, not everybody has faith: “For not all have faith.” (2Thess.3:2) In fact, everyone who is not a Christian does not have the faith of God’s elect. (Titus 1:1)… to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/09/without-faith-it-is-impossible
Below are the links to the livestream & Sermon Notes:
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Matthew’s Miracles Sermon on the Mount: God’s Moral Health Manual
All authors write with a certain style. Matthew’s method is easy to observe. (1.) He gives summary statements at junctures in his story of Jesus Christ. We have such a one in 4:23-25 where he writes, “Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. And great multitudes followed Him.” (2.) Matthew groups the teachings of the Messiah and does the same with His miraculous works. For example, in chapters 5-7 we have a collection of His sayings we call the Sermon on the Mount and then in chapters 8-9 we have an abundance of His healings and miracles, nine to be precise, along with a couple of those summary statements. There are scattered teachings and miracles throughout Matthew, but in several places he groups these things. If you’re looking for a certain parable Jesus told you will more than likely find it in Matthew 13 where there are seven of them. There are more scattered throughout Matthew, particularly chapters 20-21-22, but the bulk of them are grouped in chapter thirteen. If you want to know about the second coming you can read all about it in Matthew 24-25, where Jesus answers the question, “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (24:3)
After giving a snapshot of the ministry of Jesus (4:23-25) and before he gives a collage of miracles (chapters 8-9) Matthew gives us this sermon which consist of the ethical and moral instructions concerning how those in His kingdom are to live. Though they are moral, they are more than that. They are geared toward health. If we live by these teachings we will live good moral lives, but we will also live healthier lives. Holiness and health are related. In living both healthy and holy lives we are doing the main things: we are glorifying God and bearing the image of Christ who lived both a healthy and a holy life... to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/12/matthews-miracles-sermon-on-the-mount-gods-moral-health-manual
Below are the links to the Livestream & Sermon Notes:
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/08/even-when-god-did-give-sickness-he-healed-it-in-answer-to-prayer
Even When God Gave Sickness, He Still Healed Them in Answer to Prayer“Have faith in God. Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:22,24)
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The Bible is complex, very complex. There are 66 books written over thousands of years by many authors and that alone will make any book complicated. But the Bible was authored by God who inspired men to write without error, so that means even though it is extremely complex, it has a unified message. God is complex, but in a sense He is simple. Though He is a trinity, He is one. Complicated and thus beyond human reasoning, yet simple enough for a child to understand, for as such is the kingdom of God. The mind of man can never fully comprehend the fullness of divine revelation given to us in the Scriptures. We do not know it all.
Why do you think there are so many Christian denominations, all with different doctrines, if the Bible is not complicated? One believes one thing because of certain Scriptures and another believes another thing about the same subject because of other Scriptures, and so these denominations believe different things!
For example, some believe God puts sickness on people while others believe God heals people. Why would He do both? This reasoning leads people to believe one or the other, and never both. When in fact, many of the things people differ about are both true. One of the explanations for this is different dispensations, somebody is not rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:5). The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is more than the words Old and New, greater than a blank page between the two testaments in your Bible... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/08/even-when-god-did-give-sickness-he-healed-it-in-answer-to-prayer
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How to Draw a Crowd“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him – from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.” (Matthew 4:23-25)
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Christianity loves a crowd. The bigger the better. But so do others love crowds. Stores like to be full. When you see a commercial on TV, say of a car dealership, they show you a showroom and lot full of customers getting the car of their dreams on the spot. They are saying, “Come on in and get yours.” So do stadiums. Nothing like being there, especially if there’s a big screen to watch the replays on.
Christianity is after people, the more the merrier. Because people are lost and Jesus is a Savior, people are sick and Jesus is a healer, people are addicted to harmful things and Jesus is a liberator, people are ignorant of the things of the Spirit and Jesus is the preeminent master teacher of all time.
We want more people because of what goes on when we assemble. What goes on in church are the most important things in the world. We want more people, we want everybody, to praise God. He deserves it and we need it. We want more people to come and pray. The church is the house of prayer and the more people praying the better. God answers the prayers of His people and so we want more agreement prayer (Mt.18:19-20). Preaching and teaching the word of God goes on in church so we want more to hear. In this text Jesus went everywhere teaching in their synagogues (churches) and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. How can they believe unless they hear and how can they hear without a preacher (Romans 10:14). We want everybody to hear the word preached, to worship God and to pray together. So what’s the best way to get more people together? How do we draw a crowd?... to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/08/how-to-draw-a-crowd
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The Prayer of Faith
“The prayer of faith will save the sick.” (James 5:15)
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I have a dollar bill in my hand. It can do nothing for me. I can’t eat it. I can’t wear it. I can’t drive it. I can’t live in it. But if I have enough of them I can exchange it for something to eat and something to wear and something to drive and a house to live in. Money is the currency of exchange. With it I can buy anything I want. What money is in the physical realm of existence, faith is in the spiritual realm. And the spiritual is much more substantial and lasting than the physical. With faith I can have anything God has and I can do anything God can do. “With God nothing is impossible and nothing is impossible for those who believe,” Jesus said. Everything God has is free. It doesn’t cost money, intelligence, effort or anything. But you can have it if you have faith. And faith is the gift of God.
The words of Mark 11:22 & 24 are some of the most astounding words ever spoken by any human. “Have faith in God. Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” And they were spoken by Jesus Christ Himself, so they must be true. If anyone knows anything about faith and prayer, it would be Jesus. He lived by faith in His Father and nobody ever spent more time in prayer than He did. He’d get up early in the morning before anybody else woke up and stay in prayer long after everyone else went home and went to bed (Mark 1:35; John 7:53-8:1). He prayed so much the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. This tells us we have to learn to pray and we have to learn how to pray. No wonder they asked Him how to pray, they had seen God multiply food for the multitude and many other miraculous things. And they had heard Him say many astounding things about prayer... to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/08/the-prayer-of-faith
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Introduction: The PurposeGod blesses us by speaking to us. On day six the word of God says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion…’” (Gen.1:27-28) It is the will of God for us to multiply, to reproduce ourselves. We do that the same way Adam and Eve did, by having babies. Our babies are in our image, made in our likeness. Multiplication is good. It’s one of the reasons we are here.
We know this in the natural realm. But many Christians do not know this is also true in the spiritual realm. It’s not enough for you to be godly, God wants you to reproduce yourself by making others godly. God wants His seed to be implanted by you into others who will in turn grow and produce other Christians. God wants us to reproduce ourselves in the lives of others we touch. To reproduce yourself in one other person is good, but how much better to reproduce yourself in many others. The more the better.
So we have two purposes as redeemed humans: We are to reproduce ourselves physically by having children and we are to reproduce ourselves spiritually by making disciples... To read more click the link below:
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/08/reproduce-yourself
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Faith Speaks Part 2Healing can be hard when we are ignorant of the law of faith, not knowing how faith works. We are afraid of new things, even afraid to learn new things. But God has nothing but good things for us to learn. He desires only our good. The design of these lessons is that we will no longer be ignorant of how God heals and how faith works. We can read the Bible for years and attend church for decades and still not know it all. Even the apostle Paul wrote, “For we know in part…” (1Cor.13:9) Nobody knows it all.
Right after I finished seven long and laborious years of formal theological studies, I was asked by my associate pastor if I wanted to go hear Dr. Paul Youngie Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world in Seoul, Korea, preach on Church Growth. I first thought, what else is there to learn that I have not already learned in the last seven years. I reluctantly agreed to go. The good doctor gave seven points and I had never heard a single one of them before! Everything this pastor of the largest church in the history of the world told us I had never heard in a seminary classroom or read in a textbook. After he told the first point, I grabbed my pen and began to make notes. I was utterly amazed. He talked about visions and dreams, and cell groups, and healings! I’ve since discovered that all the largest churches in the world in every country have grown because of the healings that take place in those churches. This is right in line with the method of Jesus. He knew how to draw a crowd; just heal everybody who comes and more will come. Then you teach them the word of God...to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/10/faith-speaks-part-ii
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Faith Speaks pt.1If you have a God who is Almighty and infinitely good and gracious, which is the God of the Bible, the God who is, the God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins, the God revealed by Christ, wouldn’t you assume He would could heal and would want to heal sick people? I think you would. What kind of God is it, what kind of heavenly Father, who has the ability but didn’t want to heal people, it was just not His will to heal people? He would either be almighty and not good or all good and not almighty.
We have three options when it comes to God concerning healing:
1.God is good but not powerful. His heart is good and compassionate and kind but He is just not able to do this. There’s a problem with that when you consider the many times the Bible calls God the Almighty God, and when you consider these words from Jesus, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt.19:26) And what Gabriel told Mary, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Lk.1:38) There is nothing to hard for God. He has all might to heal anybody of any sickness. Jesus proved that in His ministry.
This is serious because a lot of people believe this. Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a best-selling book entitled When Bad Things Happen to Good People in which he taught that God wanted to do a lot of things that He was not able to do. This, in his view, got God off the hook when people are not healed. When we fail we seek to come up with excuses and this is one of the worse and unscriptural excuses anybody ever came up with... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/09/faith-speaks
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We are currently in a series of messages in the gospel of Matthew I am calling Matthew’s Miracles where we are tracing the miracles of Jesus. Within this Matthew series is a miniseries on the Ministry of Miracles (Matthew chapters 3-9). And within that we have important truths concerning the Preparation for a Miraculous Ministry (chapters 3:13 – 4:22). We have gone over some of this, but this is a good time to review and maybe get a better grasp on what is needed to have the Miraculous Ministry of Jesus. And this is what we are after. We are being conformed into the image of Jesus which includes His ministry. We are being made like Jesus in character and word and deed. We continue His work. But to do that we must be prepared. The word of God teaches us what it takes to be prepared for our God-given ministry. This is the highest calling anyone could possibly have. Wherever you live and with whomever you live, this is your Christian ministry... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/10/matthews-miracles-ministry-of-miracles-preparation-for-a-miraculous-ministry-birth-baptisms-and-battle
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“I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
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Does God Use Sickness to Chasten His Children?What we believe about God will affect everything about us. We live out what we believe, and especially what we believe about God. What we be…lieve determines how be…living. The Pharisees had a view of God that was totally different than what Jesus came to reveal about God. And remember, He was the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Everything we know about God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He was God manifest in the flesh. When you see Him you see God. There is nothing we need to know about God that cannot be seen in Jesus. He came to reveal the Father.
Jesus gives in summary statement what God is like when He said what He did in John 10:10, “The thief came to steal, kill and destroy; but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” God is good; Devil is evil. Don’t confuse the two. God does good and Satan does evil. God is love and love does no harm to its neighbor. (Romans 13:10) God does no harm to anyone. That is His nature...to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/what-we-believe-about-god-will-affect-our-healing-does-god-use-sickness-to-chasten-his-children
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**How to Get Rid of Unbelief
Let’s Review the Importance of Faith and Unbelief:**
1. Behold the Power of Faith!
Faith can accomplish anything God can do because it connects us to the power and will of God. Jesus said, “Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:22-24) Jesus also said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mk.9:23) Think of that. Let that sink in. Faith makes all things possible in your life.
Hebrews 11 is the faith chapter: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice (you can’t worship God without faith); By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death (you can’t make the rapture without faith); By faith Abraham obeyed (you can’t please God without faith); By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead (you can’t pass the tests God gives without faith); By faith Sarah received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age; therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand by the seashore; By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; By faith he forsook Egypt, kept the Passover, passed through the Red Sea; By faith the walls of Jericho fell down; By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe; Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel and the prophets subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens; By faith women received their dead raised to life again.”
The time would fail me to tell of the things people can do by faith. It is the most powerful force on the earth. Faith can do anything God can do. If it is the will of God, faith can do it. Unbelief will cancel the will and power of God in your life. Unbelief can’t do anything God wants you to do or receive anything God wants you to have... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/how-to-get-rid-of-unbelief-and-have-faith-in-god-2
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1-11)
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The Ministry of Miracles: Defeating the Devil
The topic of Ministry of Miracles will be a series of lessons within the book entitled “The Miracles of Matthew.” I want us to see how Jesus began His ministry of miracles and so learn something of how we are to begin ours and what all that ministry involves. Remember, we are not just reading Matthew as a history book; we are studying the inspired Scripture which is profitable for doctrine and for instruction in righteousness that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2Timothy3:16-17)
Matthew was not just written for our information; it was written for our instruction. Jesus had trained His disciples and before He left the planet He commissioned them to do the same things He had done: go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Mt.28:19-20) We do not study the Bible to just learn; we study it to live. Don’t just learn it, live it. In the closing words of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said if we want our house to withstand the storms of life we must hear and do what He says...
to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/the-ministry-of-miracles-defeating-the-devil
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Below are the links to the livestream and to our website to get the sermon notes:
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The Anointing with the Holy Spirit: How the Christians in the Bible Began their Ministry
We see how important to Jesus it was to begin His ministry with the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Matthew 3:16 where it says, “the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” That was His personal baptism with the Spirit, His anointing that enabled Him to do His miraculous ministry. As far as the inspired account goes in Matthew and the other three gospels, Jesus did no ministry, certainly no miraculous ministry before this event. This is what equipped Him with power to do what He did. The same had been true of His famous forefather David. Before David killed Goliath, wrote a psalm, or was Israel’s greatest king: “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” (1Samuel 16:13) Before Jesus healed anyone, or cast out a demon, or preached a sermon, trained disciples, or did anything in ministry, the Spirit of God came upon Him. We cannot possibly have the ministry of Jesus without this anointing of the Spirit.
In this study we will look at how important this anointing with the Spirit was to the followers of Jesus in the book of Acts. They got this from Jesus before He left. One of the places Jesus gave the Great Commission is in Luke 24:45-49 where Jesus said, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of the Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endured with power from on high.” They had the message and they had the mission: Christ suffered and died, so go to all nations and preach repentance and removal of sins through His name. It couldn’t be clearer... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/the-anointing-with-the-holy-spirit-how-the-christians-in-the-bible-began-their-ministry
“Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any…” (Luke 8:43-48)
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The Importance of Healing and HealthI know that healing and health are important because I know that everybody wants to be healthy. Everybody in the world wants to be healthy. You want to be healthy. You want your kids to be healthy. Nobody wants to be sick. If anybody just wants to be sick, their mind is sick. You do not want to be sick and neither do you want your kids to be sick. Nobody in the world wants to be sick. That makes healing and health important.
`We also know this because it is seen in this text. This woman had been sick 12 years and had spent a fortune going to doctors and she remained sick. Imagine her going to every doctor she could find, making an appointment, sitting in his waiting room, being examined, diagnosed, treated, hospitalized, taking more prescribed medicine. All to no avail. She’d spent all she had and was no better. But she was not going to give up. It’s that important. We are all like that. Still looking for healing, in her weakened condition, she came into a huge throng of people and pressed in till she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed... to read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/the-importance-of-healing-and-health
“As You have sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)
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Miracle Mindset: The Image of God in the Gospel according to MatthewWe need a miracle mindset if we are going to bear the image of Christ. Our natural minds do not have this, but God has this, and we need His mind on everything. We need to have our minds renewed. We find God’s mind in His word. We pick up this miracle mindset from the Messiah in Matthew. We need to learn to think like God thinks, because we are His image.
Man was made to bear the image of the invisible God to the created universe, both visible and invisible. “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them have dominion…” (Genesis 1:26) We were created to be like God and to represent Him by ruling under His lordship. We show His image by exercising our dominion in doing His works. We bear His image by thinking like God, speaking the word of God, and doing the works of God. That is the clear undeniable teaching of Scripture. We were not made to be God but to be like God in our character and actions. “Be holy, for I am holy,” says the Lord (1Peter1:16)...
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“For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”
(1 Corinthians 11:23-34)
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Healing in the CommunionCommunion is one of only two church ordinances sanctioned by Christ. Both ordinances speak of the greatest thing God has ever or will ever do: the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. All of eternity begins with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Forever we will be in heaven worshiping the Lamb on the throne of the universe. His death and resurrection is the most important thing that will ever happen in time and the results of it will continue and be remembered forever.
The first ordinance (something Christ has “ordained”) is for new believers; it initiates us into the church. As the Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ (1Cor.12:13), so man baptizes us in water to picture our participation in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. We begin the Christian life by putting our life into the hands of the body of Christ. Someone puts us under the water and we depend on him to bring us back up. Someone buries us and raises us up. This is to picture that our spiritual life depends upon our relationship with the church. As the spiritual baptism immerses us into the universal spiritual body of Christ, so by water baptism we are immersed into the local physical body of Christ. This is a one-time event... To read more click on the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/healing-in-the-communion
1 Timothy 2
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God desires all men to be saved. That’s what it says in First Timothy 2:4. Does that mean all men are saved? No, it does not. If God desires it then why are people lost and some of them will die and go to hell forever? Here’s the answer given to us in the same passage. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” All people aren’t saved because they have not come to the knowledge of (and believed) the truth. It’s our job to give them this knowledge. What knowledge? This knowledge: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1Tim.2:3-7)... To read more click this link - http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/07/why-we-are-healed-and-some-are-not
God desires all men to be saved. (1Timothy 2:4)
God desires all men to be healed and healthy. (Matthew 12:15)
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I have been in the hospital three times within the last two months. During my second visit I began to drink divine water out of a firehose. God was giving me messages faster than I could comprehend at the time. But I had the pen of a ready writer. I have spent my time since then preaching that word, under the theme of “The Image of God in Man.” I hope you have read or listened to them because they are lifechanging. To reread and relisten to them would be time well spent. A lot went into those messages.
My third time in the hospital God turned on the firehose again. Welcome to chapter two of what God has shared with me from His word in recent times. This will be on “Divine Supernatural Miraculous Healing.” That is the theme of the series I am beginning right now... To read more of this sermon click the following link: http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/06/divine-supernatural-miraculous-healing
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Miracle Mothers and the Beginning of a New Time“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…” (Galatians 4:4)
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There are some things that permeate the word of God. That is, once you see it in the Bible you see it all in the Bible. My favorite Bible professor, Dr. Jimmy Milliken, once told our class of young preachers that the sovereignty of God is like that. You may study the Bible for years or all your life and never see it; but once you do see it, you see it everywhere. After careful study and teaching the Bible for many years I concluded: you cannot possibly understand the Bible without believing in the sovereignty of God. Jesus is Lord and there is nothing He is not involved in. The Bible puts it like this: “We… being predestined by Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Ephesians 1:11)
While sitting in a hospital room recently because of a heart attack and congestive heart failure, God showed me this about another subject which we call doctrines or teachings. It has to do with the purpose of God in creation and redemption. “Let Us make man in Our image, and let them have dominion…” (Genesis 1:26) then in Romans 8:29 it states that those who love God and are the called according to His purpose are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn over many brethren.” So, the reason man was made and saved is that we might bear the image of God.
The title God gave me for this was “Christlikness.” We were created and saved to be like Christ. I called for the hospital chaplain and asked for a Bible, note paper and a pen. While there I wrote about 20 pages of notes on this subject and given the time could have written 200 pages. What God showed me there I have since been seeing everywhere in the Bible... to read more click on the following link:
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/05/miracles-mothers-the-beginning-of-a-new-time
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Jesus and Us Empowered by the Holy Spirit“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all way were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
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Everything Jesus Christ did on earth He did as a man in the perfect image of God anointed by the Holy Spirit, so He could enable we who are reborn in the image of Christ to do the same things He did.
Jesus never ceased to be God but He did His work as a man to example for us what we can do in His name and by His Spirit, with His authority and power.We need to be clear about one thing: Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, and always will be. The Word is the eternal Son who created all things; and the Word became flesh (John1:1-3,18). There was a moment in time, in the womb of a virgin, when the eternal Son of God became a human being, without ceasing to be God. Within the one person of Jesus were two natures: divine and human. Since His incarnation He has and always will be completely God and completely man. Two natures in one person.
I. Jesus did everything He did as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:38
Peter says that Jesus of Nazareth, a designation of His manhood, was anointed by God the Father with the Holy Spirit. This is what enabled Him to do good and heal all. He did all these mighty works because He was anointed. It says, “for God was with Him.” It does not say He healed all because He was God. It says, “for God was with Him.” Not the God the Father because He was the One who anointed Him. Not Himself; He did not anoint Himself. God the Holy Spirit was with Him, empowering Him to do what He did. His power came when the Holy Spirit came upon Him in Luke 3:21-23; 4:1,14-19... to read more click on the following link:
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The Image of God in Man“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion…” (Genesis 1:26)
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INTRODUCTION
Without knowing this about God and man we are lost: lost to our importance and significance as humans and lost to knowing the reason we exist and the purpose of Christ’s salvation. We lose this and we lose everything. We don’t know where we came from or why we are here. We don’t know our worth and value. We have no idea of why Christ came to die and rise again to save us. We don’t know why we exist or why Christ came. This is the first mention of man in the Bible and according to the hermeneutic law (the science of interpreting Scripture) of first mention it will say a huge amount about the doctrine of man. And it does. Everything else said in the Bible about man comes out of this text. Even the coming of Jesus and the great salvation He provides for mankind answers to this Bible verse. Jesus came as the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and by His death and resurrection to begin a new creation in which man is remade in the image of God (1Corinthians15:49). God made man in His image and after His likeness.
What in the world does that mean? After God made everything in the visible and invisible world (Everything He’d made up until man; Gen.1:1-25) He made man so that every other created thing could observe him and know what the invisible God was like. When they see man they would know everything they need to know about God. That is the purpose of every living human being. We were made to bear the image of God, to be like God. Man was made to think like God, act like God and do the works of God. We will never be God, but we were made to be like God and to have dominion over everything in God’s creation... to read more click on the following link...
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/06/the-image-and-dominion-of-god-in-man
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Our Responsibility in Bein Christlike“Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:22-24)
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It is clear from these words of Jesus that our responsibility is to have faith, speak, pray and believe. These are things we are clearly responsible to do. If we are not careful we can blame God for not doing anything about our dire situation: find fault when He does not answer our prayers, for letting bad things happen to us, being passive when it comes to our provision and protection. “He didn’t heal my loved one. He didn’t come through for me when my marriage was falling apart. He allowed me to get laid off or didn’t help me keep my business going, and now I can’t pay my bills.” On and on it goes.
God gets blamed for a lot of things. But the truth of the matter is, some things are our responsibility and things happen to us or we don’t get out of a lot of situations because we have not done what God told us to do. We cannot do what only God can do, but God will not do what He has told us to do. If someone remains in a destructive lifestyle, it may be because he will not repent; he’d rather live with his sin that with God. Maybe I have not done what I should have done with my job or business or health or relationship. We cannot blame God for our divorce when we have not loved our spouse the way God says. When relationships deteriorate it is because we have not done our responsibility. Someone is always at fault, but it is never God... to read more click on the following link:http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/05/our-responsibility-in-being-like-christ
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What It Means to be ChristlikeWhen it says “the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch” we always think that means they were sweet loving people like Jesus and so they said, “Let’s call them little Christs; they are good citizens and do no harm to their neighbors.” But if you look at the context of that statement it has very little to do with their character, as important as that is. Jesus certainly was a loving meek Man. But I assure you, if you look in the Bible, that is not the aspect of Jesus that made them think they were Christlike. That would have been true of the first 30 years of His life, but Jesus was much more than that.
Jesus was the powerful Son of Man who worked miracles: cleansed lepers, healed the blind and lame, and raised the dead. His love did more than make Him good; it made Him powerful. Sure He went about doing good, but He was also anointed by God to heal all who were oppressed by the devil. How could He do that? Because God was with Him (Acts 10:38), not because He was God. Jesus of Nazareth didn’t do His mighty works as the divine Son of God. He lived His miraculous life and did His mighty deeds as a man full of the Holy Spirit. He always called Himself the Son of Man, meaning He was fully man and He lived as a man... to read more click the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/04/what-it-means-to-be-christlike
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What it Means to be a Christian
“And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)
Ideas of what it means to be a Christian range from the extremely limited to the exceedingly and ridiculously broad. Some people have such narrow-minded views that heaven must necessarily be a scarcely populated place. One denomination believes that you must be baptized in water in Jesus’ name only, speak in tongues, wear certain kinds of clothing, tithe and do good works the rest of your life. Oh, and use the King James Version of the Bible. Still others are so broad in their interpretation of what it means to be a Christian that it basically comes down to just do the best you can. (Nobody ever does the best he can.) Just be a good person and you are a Christian. This is patently absurd and is counter to everything in the Bible. Yet multitudes believe this. Some may even add water baptism or other rituals that allow a person to live in sin and never repent and still be a Christian and make it to heaven when they die.
But God is not that narrow-minded or open-minded. Truth is never open-minded. We must look at the Bible to see what it means to be a Christian; not at what others say, or how we feel about it. God wrote a book and in that book He tells us who they are who are right with Him and who are not. We must go by the Bible or we have no source of authority for what we believe. God would never want something so important as this to be left up to our own ideas or the opinions of others. It is He who wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you might know that you have eternal life…” (1John5:13) God wants us to know and that knowledge is found only in the Holy Bible. So, we will use the Bible as our inspired source to determine what it means to be a Christian... to read more click on the following link... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/04/what-it-means-to-be-a-christian
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The Sufferings of Christ and the Glory that Followed1 Peter 1:11
I want us to examine the sufferings of our dear Savior, but not as one examines a rose so as to take away the beauty of it. In close inspection of the pains and sorrows of the Lamb of God we will find beauty unequaled.
I. His Sufferings were PURPOSEFUL All His sufferings were unjust. Pilate passed the verdict when he said, “I find no fault in this man.” Yet He still suffered. He had gone about doing good, healing all who were oppressed. What did He do to deserve such torment? He healed the sick, fed the hungry, taught the word of God, glorified God by everything He said and did. He never sinned once. But still He was brutally arrested, unjustly tried, convicted and endured the most excruciating pain of any human being ever. Why? What was the purpose of His sufferings? He was suffering for you, and me. We were guilty. We have broken the law of God and become criminals in God’s holy courtroom, condemned to die. That whip was our whip. Those stripes upon His blessed back were stripes that should have been on our sinful backs. Those nails were our nails. He went through hell on that cross because of us and for us. That was the purpose of His sufferings. He suffered the punishment for our sins.... to read more click on the following link:
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(To God and It should be to Us) Ephesians 5:22-32I know people will argue with the premise of this lesson, but I have read the Bible and gotten God’s perspective on what is important and it is the church of Jesus Christ. The way God sees things is reality. The church of Laodicea saw themselves as rich and increased in goods; but God tells them the truth, “You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) “But I thought my family was the most important thing on earth?” You think your family is more important than God’s family? The church is God’s family, the household of God, His own dear children, the only ones whom He calls His beloved and will be with Him forever in heaven. That is the church and that’s why it is important to God and should be to us, and will be if we see things the way God sees things. Read Jesus’ perspective on this: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26) Of course, the Lord doesn’t want us to literally hate anybody. But His words are powerful and they at least mean that God’s family is more important than ours. Jesus is the only mediator between us and God, and He is also the only mediator between us and all others. If anyone comes between us and Him that cannot be. God never intended for there to be a competition between our family and His. What we want is our family to be in His family... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/04/why-the-church-is-the-most-important-thing-on-earth
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Jehoshaphat: the Power of PraisePraise is not powerful. We need to be careful substituting something we do for God. People say that prayer changes things. No, God answers prayer and so He uses prayer to change things. Prayer is not an entity in itself that accomplishes things. God uses prayer. It’s the same with praise. Praise is powerless, but it is a weapon and tool God uses in a powerful way in our lives. Praise is not powerful; God is powerful. We don’t simply go through the mechanics of singing praise words and then expect God to do for us what He did for Judah when the three enemy armies came against them. We must do what they did: they came to God, prayed, heard from God, marched into battle with praise, and God delivered them. God is powerful, but He uses praise in a powerful way. That’s why I say that praise is powerful, because God uses it in a powerful way.
There is such a thing as an evil day, as stated in Ephesians 6:10-18. Living in a sinful fallen world every day has its share of evil; but some days are especially bad in that we are attacked in unusual ways. When the enemy attacks with a frontal assault, that is the evil day. For this we need the armor of God in order to remain strong and stand against his evil assaults. He is always lurking about, seeking strategies and wiles to get the advantage over us, and when he does he will attack at our most vulnerable times and areas. It is interesting that Ephesians may be easily outlined with these words: Our Wealth, Our Walk, and Our Warfare, each in the proper order. We are wealthy beyond measure because we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph.1-3). We have a walk of peace, unity and power (Eph.4-5). But neither of those exempt us from the attacks of the principalities and powers of darkness. In fact, they are the very reason they assault us: we are so wealthy and living in peace, and they simply cannot have that because it so glorifies God...
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/04/jehoshaphat-the-power-of-praise
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Following the Ways of God2 Chronicles 17-19
“His heart took delight in the ways of the Lord.” (17:6)
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The northern kingdom of Israel with its headquarters in Samaria knew no godly kings until its destruction. The dates for that kingdom were 922 – 721 B.C. They had one sorry sinful king after another. Jehu was kind of good in that he did the will of God concerning the annihilation of the house of wicked Ahab and Jezebel (2Kings10). Although Israel did have some pretty good prophets (Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, and Hosea), they were not enough to stem the tide of wickedness carried on by the kings of the north, nor turn them from the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin and was the reason it was destroyed.
The southern kingdom of Judah had a few godly kings (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Hezekiah, and Josiah) in a list of many bad ones, and it had several good prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Malachi, and others). This kingdom lasted from 922 – 586 B.C. Judah would typically go from two or three or more bad kings and then have a good one along the way, followed by another string of bad kings. God had mercy on Judah because of the promises made to David and Judah, and the house of God was there. The Messiah had to come from the line of David and He had to come to Jerusalem, “the city of the great king.” Jesus was born and died in Judah.
Jehoshaphat was one of the few good kings who was the son of a good king. Asa his father left him a legacy and an unfulfilled task of ridding Judah of all its idolatry and teaching the people the ways of the Lord. Jehoshaphat had momentum with him, as few kings in Judah and no king in Israel had.No righteous king ever completed the task of ridding all the high places, much like no king in Israel ever removed the golden calves, or they never eliminated all the Canaanites from the Promised Land. Some did better than others, but nobody ever completely cleaned house. The good kings never got the kingdom all the way back to the way it was under David, who was the standard for godliness and worship for the nations of Judah and Israel. But Jehoshaphat was one of the best kings at doing this. It says of him: “Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals (idols).” (17:3)… to read more click on the following link:
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Rehoboam and Jeroboam - Service and SacrificeFirst Kings 12-14
Israel’s fourth king is doomed to division and decline as depravity takes over the throne. Through the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon there has been mostly a unified monarchy; but everything changes with Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. As a judgment against Solomon’s apostasy, ten of the twelve tribes are torn away from the house of David and given to an exiled rebel from the North, a man called Jeroboam. Abraham Lincoln quoted Jesus when he said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The same goes for a kingdom. Division was followed by depravity and decline; as one kingdom becomes two, both begin a downward spiral into destruction as they turn away from God. Only Judah will have an occasional good king.
From this point on there will be two kingdoms whose histories are recorded for us concurrently throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles, with Chronicles focusing on the Southern kingdom of Judah because it was the line of David, to whom God had made everlasting promises. You will see throughout the inspired Biblical record that the dates for each king is compared to the reign of the kings in the other kingdom. For example, “In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.” (1Kings15:9) From now on there will be two kingdoms: Israel is the northern ten tribes and Judah is the southern two tribes of Judah and Benjamin (all of Judah and most of Benjamin).
Solomon turned from God in a big way. It appears that after Solomon’s blatant turn away from God in his later years he realized his error, repented and wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. He had learned his lesson. However, it did not take the consequences of his apostasy away. Even while Solomon lived God promised ten of the tribes to an industrious young man of valor named Jeroboam (11:26-40). Solomon heard of it and like King Saul before him sought to kill God’s appointed king; but Jeroboam fled to Egypt until Solomon died.
At Rehoboam’s inauguration Jeroboam and his northern people asked Rehoboam to ease the workload and taxes that Solomon had imposed on them. In a display of arrogance, he listened to his cronies and threatened to increase both. Listen to the words of the wise elders to him, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” (12:7) That was Rehoboam’s problem – he didn’t want to serve anybody; he wanted others to serve him. Therefore they left him and under Jeroboam’s leadership set up their own kingdom in the north. They would never again be one... to read more click on the following link:
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Solomon and All of His Glory“So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.” (1Kings10:23)
While Solomon was not the greatest king ever (David has that honor), he was the richest king Israel ever had. Much of that was because of the spoils of war brought in by King David before Solomon ever ascended to the throne. Much of that ornate expensive temple that Solomon built was paid for and the material supplied by David. In a sense Solomon had everything handed to him; he was born with the golden spoon in his mouth.
But Solomon was a successful king and leader of God’s people. His reign was marked by complete and total success in wisdom, justice, riches, peace, and glory. Jesus referred to him this way: “Solomon in all his glory.” (Matthew 6:29) He was the richest and wisest of all the kings of his day. Nobody else even came close. People traveled from all over the world to behold the glory of his wealth, works and wisdom.
Proverbs 13:20 says, “He who walks with wise men shall be wise,” and we learn much wisdom from this wisest of men; and nothing is more important than wisdom. We learn from Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David. Now we are about to learn from Mister Wisdom himself. Let us learn his lessons and be better Christians for it.
Our riches and wisdom, like Solomon’s, come from Christ, the Son of David. We inherit our wealth in spiritual riches from the Son of David by what He did for us in the gospel and by what He gave to us. Solomon’s wisdom came from God, through the hearing heart given to him in answer to prayer. So does ours. Christ is our wisdom and our glory is the cross of Christ by which He purchased all our inheritance... to read more click the following link...http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/03/solomon-in-all-his-glory
Below is the link to the Livestream and Sermon notes:
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SEEKING THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
“The Lord was with Him.” (1 Samuel 2:19)
“You will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)
I want us to look at the overwhelming blessing of the Lord being with us and what our responsibility is to have that happen. I am not talking about the omni-presence of the Lord here. All of God is everywhere at the same time. David said, “If I make my bed in Sheol (the realm of the dead), You are there.” You can’t go anywhere that God is not already there and has been there since the beginning of time. God can’t go anywhere because He is already everywhere. That is the doctrine of the omni-presence of God.
The presence of God we will look at here in the Bible is that special presence of God that shows up to bless and favor you. Of the scores of times “the Lord was with him” appears in the Bible it is always used as the cause of someone being blessed. We shall see that. It means the Lord is with you because He is for you. He is on your side and He helps you to withstand great trials and accomplish great achievements. That’s the presence of God we will be looking at in this study. His presence is better than a good luck charm. Someone gave me a rabbit’s foot once and I asked him what that was for. He said it’s for good luck. I told him it wasn’t that lucky for the rabbit. God is not a four-leaf clover or Lucky Charms. He is God and when He is with you, you are blessed.
Well, you might say, God says He will never leave us nor forsake us. That is true. He will never leave us, but we can leave Him. If God seems far from you right now, guess who moved? The Prodigal Son left his father; the father didn’t leave him. Jonah ran from the presence of God. People forsake God all the time. The harsh reality is that some people live their whole lives without the blessed presence of God in their lives. What a loss! We are going to look at the earthly and eternal blessings that come from the Lord being with us... http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/12/seeking-the-presence-of-the-lord