Pastor Tim Jupp: Recent Episodes
Tim Jupp
What makes mankind think he can create God in his own image? What audacity to attempt to give the creator of all whatever attributes we want? We don’t get to determine our own personality yet we think we can give our creator His. We think we can make our set of rules and determine for ourselves what is right and wrong. This is delusion: this is the great lie; this is the slippery slope that leads to eternal destruction! Woe to those who speak it; cursed are those who dare to teach it!
“We have sinned against God, and it is inevitable that sin should be followed by punishment. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
"Christians, too, often find God’s wrath troubling. As C.S. Lewis said, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power.” There have been times in my life where I too have thought, Give me a divine eraser and 10 minutes, and I’ll take wrath out of the Bible."
TEXT: ROMANS 1:18-32
SONGS:
YOUR NAME IS HOLY, PHIL WICKHAM
ONLY A HOLY GOD, CITY ALIGHT
IN CHRIST ALONE, ACOUSTIC COVER
I STAND AMAZED IN THE PRESENCE, ACOUSTIC COVER
Contentment is hard to find in this crazy world where peace, hope and love seem to be absent. But for the believer, beloved of God, those called to be saints, knowing the Word of God and His word to us, brings joy and contentment even in a world thundering with Apocalyptic warnings. A thorough understanding of the gospel enables us to make sense of life and yes, the peace found therein, is meant for you.
It is not surprising that the church in every generation has acknowledged the importance of Romans, not least at the time of the Reformation. Luther called it ‘really the chief part of the New Testament, and … truly the purest gospel’. He continued: ‘It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul.’ John Stott
Josh McDowell ; Wherever the Gospel of Jesus is proclaimed, we see lives change for the good, nations change for the better, thieves become honest, alcoholics become sober, hateful individuals become channels of love, unjust persons embrace justice.
Why???
because it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
TEXT: ROMANS 1:8-17
SONGS:
IT REALLY IS AMAZING GRACE, PHIL WICKHAM, CROWDER
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, UPPER ROOM
MERCY, ELEVATION WORSHIP
TO BE USED OF GOD, ANDRE CROUCH
LORD IS IT MINE, SUPERTRAMP
Paul’s desire to go to Rome may seem a little eccentric to some but I think he makes good sense in his explanation; Rome was the capital of the empire, the center of the gentile, more glorious, earthly speaking and more decadent, spiritually speaking than any place in the world. If there was a place where the Gospel needed to go, it was Rome. Paul declared, he had a debt to pay, he was anxious to get there and he was not ashamed to tell the gentile world the good news of forgiveness for all through the work of Jesus Christ. For Paul, the chance to see the church at Rome solidify was of the highest priorities. They must understand “the just shall LIVE by faith”. A thorough understanding of the gospel enables us to make sense of life and yes, the peace found therein.
TEXT: ROMANS 1:8-17
SONGS:
GOD SO LOVED, WE THE KINGDOM
COME NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP, BRIAN DOERKSEN, WORSHIP CIRCLE
I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY, OAKRIDGE BOYS
I SPEAK JESUS, LIVE FROM THE PORCH WORSHIP
UNASHAMED, MATTHEW WEST
No greater demonstration of love has ever been witnessed by the world than God’s love manifested in His Son, Jesus Christ. The very center of the whole Gospel message is summed up in these words:
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Everybody wants the little lamb but, make no mistake; every human on the planet will meet ‘Jesus the Judge’. The pertinent question is, which judgment will you be at or maybe, what you will be judged for. All believers will have their works judged on merit or value to determine what rewards we may receive in the life to come. Some of us will receive honor and a crown others will be ashamed when we have to answer Jesus with no surviving good works. The really good news is, all of us, will have our tears and shame washed away regardless of our surviving works! "The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:17
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:10-15
SONGS:
SONG OF THE SAINTS, PHIL WICKHAM, CHRIS TOMLIN
THE KING IS COMING, RED ROCKS
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, MERCY ME
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
God’s desire for us to be Holy is to like Him, so we can be with Him. Holiness is our Lord’s foremost attribute and He cannot and will not tolerate sin in His presence; therefore we must be holy, the unholy cannot see Him! Christ Jesus came into our world, lived a perfect holy life, and died on our behalf so that we might be made holy. Our very best holiness, accounted for nothing, His holiness gifted to us counts for everything!
Having been given such a great gift, it is my light duty to live joyfully trying to serve the KING of KINGS ; JUST KEEP TRYING!
“The pursuit of holiness requires sustained and vigorous effort. It allows for no indolence, no lethargy, no halfhearted commitment, and no laissez faire attitude toward even the smallest sins. In short, it demands the highest priority in the life of a Christian, because to be holy is to be like Christ — God’s goal for every Christian.” Jerry Bridges
TEXT: ,MATTHEW 22:1-14
SONGS:
RESURRENDER, HILLSONG
COME HOLY SPIRIT COME, JOSH BALDWIN
LORD I NEED YOU, MATT MAHER COVER
EVEN SO COME, PASSION COVER
“Where Will you be on The Day of the Lord?” As a blood bought believer in Jesus Christ, and one who has received the grace of His righteousness, I will be with Him, coming in the clouds to the Mount of Olives. The born again will have been taken as His bride and emerge from the wedding chambers at the end of the week of tribulation on earth. Where will you be? That is a question that requires your attention now; people, ‘The King is Coming!’
1Thessalonians 5:9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He urges us forward by setting a most certain hope of victory before us. The wish of God is to save us from the wrath to come.
TEXT: Isaiah 6:6-13
SONGS:
THE KING IS COMING, SERVICE OPENER
THE KING IS COMING, RED ROCKS
HE WHO IS TO COME, GATEWAY, KARI JOBE
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
ONE DAY, WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN, MATT REDMAN
So, we look at our lives and we say, 'What do You need from me, I don't want to be found unfaithful, though my best is not good enough'; His best was more than enough. There is a wedding day. It's coming. We are betrothed to Jesus Christ and He will return for us.
Chance Faulkner
From heaven Christ came and sought her.
The Son of God took on flesh that he might woo and win his unfaithful bride. Putting on her humanity, he lived the life she never could—loving the Lord in complete faithfulness and loyalty. He died an excruciating death in her place to redeem her from the debt of death that she deserved.
He takes responsibility for her—her debt ,He makes his debt, his righteousness he gives to her. All her needs are met and she is safe under his generous provision.
He adores her—he has eyes for no one else. His banner over her is love. His heart is hers.
He is devoted to her—not holding back in loving affection. In her sin, he is infinitely compassionate. Not pulling back in distance from her but drawing near in tender devotion. In her worst he gives her his best.
Christ spends himself on her. He sweats for her. He bleeds for her. He dies for her. He gives himself up for her. For he loves her.
And where he goes, she goes also. For he’ll not have heaven without her.
TEXT: MATTHEW 22:1-9
SONGS: GRATITUDE, BRANDON LAKE COVER
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, UPPER ROOM
HOW DEEP THE FATHERS LOVE FOR US, MISSION HOUSE
HOLY, WEDDING DAY, CITY HARMONIC
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, MERCY ME
The future of humanity has indeed been planned a long time ago. It is a glorious future filled with unimaginable beauty, splendor and honour: NONE of which is deserving, ALL of which is completely unearned and unwarranted grace!
For some reason, we have been desired by God! Our love, relations and friendship often seem so unworthy and unattractive even to each other but the God of glory sees us differently. Our Lord Jesus love looks beyond our darkness and permeates our sin with his own righteousness transforming us from our lowly estate into His glorious state that we might share in His glory as His brother, His friend and His bride!
Stop and ponder the wonder of God’s master plan. He chose to suffer for a world that hates Him. In doing so, He would pay the price needed to free His bride from sin and death, but also in the process, He would bond deeply with Her. She in turn would deeply bond with Him through the sufferings she would face in a very perverse and cruel world. This strong bond would intensify the desire He would have to be reunited with her and she with Him.
The second coming isn’t just an event. It is the uniting of two lovers, a Groom and a bride to be. Oh how marvelous is the wisdom of God.
TEXT: HEBREWS 2:5-10
SONGS:
PEOPLE GET READY, MATT REDMAN
THE KING IS COMING, RED ROCKS WORSHIP
LOVE OF GOD, PHIL WICKHAM
HOLY, WEDDING DAY, CITY HARMONIC
If the First Advent was predictable, to the genuine just and devout believer, then it would makes sense that the Second Advent would be just as predictable. Keep in mind, the day and the hour have been kept even from the Son but the genuine just and devout believers should be able to discern the times and season. Are you starting to see them? Are you watching?
Jesus is coming; the signs of the times are everywhere!
But how do we discern His coming?--John Bevere: There are spiritual seasons and times and God determines them. It is important to understand times and seasons. Perhaps this is why one third of Scripture is prophetic. God has much to say, so we can prepare, be ready and act in alignment with either the time or the season.
Jesus rebukes the spiritual leaders. --Lu 12:54 ¶ Then He said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. 55 "And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. 56 "Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
Luke12:37 "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.
TEXT: DANIEL 9:20-27
SONGS:
THE KING IS COMING, RED ROCKS
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
JESUS IS COMING AGAIN, HYMN
1) You can know the times and the seasons.
2) It takes the whole team to win a game.
"The return of Jesus was never intended to make believers fearful, passive, or obsessed with timelines. It was meant to produce clarity, urgency, and holy resolve. Jesus is not returning for a distracted, compromised bride. He is returning for a people awake, purified, and joyfully anticipating His appearing.
The King is coming soon. Are you ready?
The choice—and the preparation—begin now.
We live in unprecedented times. Global shakings. Moral confusion. Widespread deception. Even those with little spiritual awareness can sense that something is accelerating—that history is moving toward a defining moment. Scripture tells us exactly what that moment is: the return of Jesus Christ."
John Bevere, The King Is Coming
We are sons of Abraham but so are the Jew and Arabs. They are trying to earn their salvation; we know we can’t! We know we shouldn’t be striving with guilt to please the one who loves us. If we are in touch with who our mother is, the church which is His bride, we will understand our Groom, our Lord, our Saviour, and King is coming soon. We should have an eager expectation to see Him; quite simply, it’s time to prepare!
Two Streams of Humanity- (RAY PRITCHARD)
Picture Abraham as the father of two vast streams of humanity. What starts as a purely personal family problem comes to signify the great division of humanity into two groups—those who trust in God alone for salvation and those who trust in their works to help them earn salvation.
From one man the two lines of humanity come forth:
The line of works and self-effort looks like this:
Abraham- Hagar- Ishmael- Mt. Sinai- The Law- Earthly Jerusalem
Bondage -Death
The line of faith looks like this:
Abraham- Sarah- Isaac- Mt. Zion- The Gospel- Grace- Faith in Christ
Freedom, forgiveness, salvation- Heaven
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:21-31
SONGS:
THE BLESSING, MOTHER DAUGHTER WORSHIP, KINGDOM CITY
HOW GREAT THOU ART, ON THAT DAY, MATT MAHER, COMP.
NO LONGER SLAVES, AMANDA COOK, BETHEL
HOMESICK FOR HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
Here we are at the end of Paul’s ministry and it ends as it began; he is trying once more to persuade the Jews of Jesus divinity. Once more he fails; it’s his final attempt, it’s their last chance for his last-call. Finally, he regretfully but clearly declares, the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" Almost 2000 years have past and the wild branches are haughty!
All He wanted was a few men who would think as He did, love as He did, see as He did, teach as He did and serve as He did. All He needed was to revolutionize the hearts of a few, and they would impact the world.”
― David Platt,
"The opportunity of a life-time must be seized during the life-time of the opportunity." — Leonard Ravenhill
We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road,
and those who've gone before us line the way.
cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
their lives a stirring testament to god's sustaining grace.
o may all who come behind us find us faithful,
may the fire of our devotion light their way.
may the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe,
and the lives we live inspire them to obey.
o may all who come behind us find us faithful.
Steve Green, Find Us Faithful
TEXT: ACTS 28:11-31
SONGS:
ONE MORE DAY, ELEVATION
YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST- CITY ALIGHT
BREAK ME FOR THE NATIONS- CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS
Storms in life will come; they are unavoidable! Some will last a short while, some will bring us to our knees, and some will leave us breathless on the cold shores of disaster. But rest assured, storms will come! In the end it’s not what happens as much as how you react. Panic destroys, feelings of defeat are defeating; depression steals our energy and leaves us useless. There is but one solution: put you sailor’s whits together, trust God and “let her drive“no matter what shore you may land on!
TEXT: ACTS 27
SONGS:
DOXOLOGY, BRANDEN LAKE
PRAISE SETH SCHLEUTER
CORNERSTONE, HILLSONG COVER
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, TIS SO SWEET, GATEWAY CHURCH
IT IS WELL, BETHEL
God is NOT responsible for the shipwreck. Through Paul, they were warned not to sail. But God knew they would anyway and knew how He would use their folly to accomplish His plans. Divine providence is guiding us through storms and trials with eternal purpose. (Rom 8:28)
There will always be time to rejoice at the close of the storm where we see what a great thing God is doing! A valuable ship and all its cargo is lost but hundreds of souls come to see Jesus.
"Certainly in the incident of this shipwreck and the landing of Paul on the island of Malta we see the providence of God in the life of the apostle Paul. All of this is recorded for our learning. " Dr. J. Vernon McGee
"You could not have dropped into Paul’s lodging at any time during the two years that he was at Rome before the emperor liberated him, without hearing him preach of the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Every arrow in his quiver was aimed at the one target, and he knew how to hit the white of it each time." C.H. Spurgeon
TEXT: ACTS 28:1-10
SONGS:
TESTIMONY, ELEVATION COVER
THE STORY I'LL TELL, MAVERICK CITY COVER
THE GOODNESS OF GOD, BETHANY BERNARD
I SPEAK JESUS, KINGS PORCH
SERMON 1- ISAIAH 1:11-20, Mr. Jake Bozin
"God abhors the multiplication of outward services, when the heart is full of wickedness, and the life of rebellion and iniquity. Allwho would render to him acceptable offerings must begin by putting away their sins. "
SERMON 2- JOB 1, 2, Mr. Matt Bessem
The Book of Job teaches us vital lessons about faith, perseverance, honesty, and divine sovereignty. Life may bring storms, but we serve a God who is greater than our circumstances. Let us emulate Job’s resilience and trust in God's plan.
SONGS:
CATHEDRAL, JONATHAN HESSLER
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
PRAISE, ELEVATION COVER
FIRM FOUNDATION, COVER
The race of mankind is just too wicked to repent and therefore the only potential end to this worldly conflict would be the death of faith and therefore the damnation of humanity. Christ foresaw the conflict He would bring and willed it to be, so that some would be saved. Emphatically, He declared that He came to throw a sword into humanity.
R.C. Lenski: If Christ had not come, the earth would have gone on undisturbed in its sin and its guilt until the day of its doom. Now Christ has come and He came to take away that sin and that guilt that resulted from man’s perversion. Some repent, but most cling to their sin, and two distinct camps emerge.
Jesus came to cast a sword into the world , drawing a line directly down the middle of our household that all people hereafter will be defined primarily, not by wherever they stand on the topic of the day, BUT by where they stand in their relationship with Him. He is the dividing line of history.
TEXT: MATTHEW 10:34-43
SONGS:
HE AROSE, PHIL WICKHAM, TOMMEE PROFITT
O PRAISE THE NAME, AGNES DEI, GATEWAY COVER
HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US, MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, UPPER ROOM COVER
I HAVE DECIDED/ JESUS PAID IT ALL, ELEVATION WORSHIP
Paul’s shared the Gospel of Jesus with four men; they reflect
four reasons why people ignore the greatest truth for their lives.
These are the reasons why non-Christians’ refuse Jesus as the Christ and Christians
refuse to let Jesus Christ reign. Don’t allow fear, materialism, pride or the
temporary pleasure of sin keep you from acting on the truth! Truth demands
faith; faith demands action! Conviction must end in commitment!
The word of the Lord comes to give believing men rest . It rolls away the stone from the door of the grave and reveals resurrection, immortality, and eternal life through Jesus Christ, the Saviour.
The man who will hear the gospel message, and receive it into his soul, shall know the peace of God.
TEXT: ACTS 21-26
SONGS:
YES WE BELIEVE, PAUL BALOCHE
COME YE SINNERS, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN, JOURNEY WORSHIP
O COME TO THE ALTER, ELEVATION WORSHIP
Paul had been in the same place as Agrippa. They were doing their own thing regardless of anyone else’s opinion. Paul had been fighting every impulse inside of him; the spirit had been screaming into Paul spirit that this Jesus was the Messiah; I can only imagine the tension tearing him apart at the Stephens stoning. Then the voice, both strange and strangely familiar, coming from the blinding light of Christ’s magnificence hits the apostle right between the eyes. “Who are you, LORD?” Paul says already knowing exactly who it was. “I am Jesus and I have appeared to you so that I might send you to be my witness and my official to the gentiles”. Paul turns to Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision”. The question now was for Agrippa, would he obey the calling of the Holy Spirit? Agrippa turns to Paul and says “almost”, “almost you persuade me to be a Christian!”
Oh how tragic to believe but not have room for Jesus. Oh the grace that call the sinner to repent: Paul knew he was unworthy as did Agrippa but our apostle and the king went different directions. How about you, which way will you go?
Those who chose to reject God during their lifetime on earth will be separated from him for eternity. This is not God's desire, but man's own choice. God holds every man accountable for his rejection of Christ. Billy Graham.
TEXT: ACTS 26
SONGS:
YES, WE BELIEVE, PAUL BALOCHE
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, COVER
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
ALMOST PERSUADED, HYMN
It is the same today. Jews are hated and Christians being spiritual Jews follow close behind. We are the enemy of the enemy of God. We worship a living savior who lived righteously, took our penalty and defied death and hell. Our resurrected Savior calls all men everywhere to repent before the great and terrible day of the Lord when Jesus returns. The Lamb of God comes again as the Lion of Judah and will reign over earth as King of Kings from Jerusalem! Amen! Jesus is alive!
" The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the ground of the believers standing before God and the hinge of the transformed life."
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest event in the history of the world. It is so foundational to Christianity that no one who denies it can be a true Christian... A person who believes in a Christ who was not raised believes in a powerless Christ, a dead Christ.
TEXT: ACTS 25:13-27
SONGS:
IS HE WORTHY, CHRIS TOMLIN
JESUS SAVES, PRISCILLA OWENS
LIVING HOPE, ONE CHURCH COVER
I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED, DANIEL WHITTLE
WE BELIEVE,NEWSBOYS
Even in the face of injustice, you can maintain faith and patience. Paul’s trust in God was unwavering despite his wrongful imprisonment. He used his rights wisely to seek justice and fulfill God's purpose, in declaring his citizenship and by appealing to Caesar. We too can be known for a patient endurance, trust in God, the pursuit of justice, and power in being a witness through adversity in the face of injustice.
Proverbs 29:25 ¶ The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe. 26 ¶ Many seek the ruler's favor, But justice for man comes from the LORD.
– Martin Luther King Jr. “As my sufferings mounted, I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into A CREATIVE FORCE!!. I decided to follow the latter course.”
TEXT: ACTS 25:1-12
SONGS:
WAYMAKER, LELAND COVER
FIRM FOUNDATION, HE WON'T, CODY CARNES, COVER
FOR HIS GLORY AND MY GOOD, CITY ALIGHT
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
I WON'T BACK DOWN, TOM PETTY
Today we see another trial of sorts to Paul’s faith, just a day after the mock Sanhedrin trial, two days after the mob’s beating him half to death. Where does Paul’s head go when hears this news? Are the words of His Lord, “you must also bear witness at Rome” enough? Watch what God does as the night unfolds: God, by His sovereign protection orders the details of His plan through human effort. Today, we have become witnesses to the complex providence of God. Paul was going to Rome; Christ had said so! He was NOT going to die on the temple mount! God used Paul’s demeanor, his nephew’s ear and 470 men through the orders of the Roman Commander Claudius Lysias to send His chosen man to a new ministry in the Capital.
ISAIAH 41: 9-11 I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am you God.
I will strengthen you, I will surely help you. I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness. Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.…
TEXT: ACTS 23:12-23
SONGS:
THE STORY I'LL TELL, LEE PARK WORSHIP
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, GRACE COMMUNITY
IT IS WELL, BETHEL
HE WILL HOLD ME FAST, PARK CHURCH
It would appear from the silence of the text that none of the apostles or elders tried to see Paul in the barracks; nor any of his entourage. His only visitor was a nephew who came with urgency. We have no prior record of Paul ever having been imprisoned, alone. Can you imagine the tears of anguish for what must have seemed like failure and missed opportunity to share Jesus with his people? Imagine the man we see as a pillar of strength crumbling! How can we stay strong when everything seems to have gone wrong? When our hopes have been cruelly crushed? When disappointment threatens despair? This I know from the text and my own life; it is in our weakest moments that our Lord comes closest: His comforting words caress our trembling aching souls, yarsew/tharseo, breathe brother, I am right here, be of good cheer, you’re not finished yet!
Christianity is anything but safe. Jesus made it clear that trouble and persecution stood in the future for His followers.” AH BUT….When Jesus is with a man, troubles have lost their power to trouble him.
― Dillon Burroughs
TEXT: ACTS 22:24- Acts 23:11
SONGS:
RAISE A HALLELUJAH, BETHEL COVER
LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS, BIG HOUSE WORSHIP
THE JESUS WAY, PHIL WICKHAM
I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS, BRANDON LAKE
AS FOR ME AND MY HOME, BRANDON LAKE
The Lord had told Paul in a vision close to 30 years earlier, “they won’t hear you in Jerusalem, Paul; 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.'”But here he is, drawn once more by his love for his countrymen and the city of David, coupled with his conviction that the gospel should be offered to the Jew first. This Is The Turning Point when all his will, intellect and energy was completely directed to the world’s masses and the best was yet to come!
Alexander Maclaren wrote, “Though bruised and hustled, and having but a minute or two beforehand looked death in the face, he is ready to seize the opportunity to speak a word for his Master... There is nothing more striking in Paul’s character than his self-command and composure in all circumstances. This ship could rise to any wave, and ride in any storm... It is not easy to disturb a man who counts not his life dear if only he may complete his course...
TEXT: ACTS 21:27-ACTS 22:24
SONGS:
MY TESTIMONY, ELEVATION CHURCH
AMAZING GRACE, LIBERTY WORSHIP COLLECTIVE
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
I SPEAK JESUS, KING'S PORCH
While we may wonder about Paul’s friends and there advice, how should we both give and receive advice.
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Paul’s friends demonstrated the common inclination of being quick to point out God’s will for someone else’s life.
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Paul’s friends no doubt meant well but, they were trying to make God’s will conform to theirs.
“To choose to suffer means there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.” [Oswald Chambers: My Upmost For His Highest. p. 223]
- Paul’s friends in urging him not to go to Jerusalem were actually being used by the enemy to discourage him in following the Lord. We have no trouble following the guidance of the Lord, as long as it is leading through blessings and ease. But we cannot imagine God’s will leading us or anyone we love through difficulties or trials.
The truth is that neither the present nor absence of trouble is an indicator of God’s will.
Acts 21:13 "For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" This was the true spirit of a martyr.
TEXT: ACTS 21:15-26
SONGS:
TOUCH OF THE MASTERS HAND (THE VIOLIN), WAYNE WATSON
GOODNESS OF GOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
NOT MY WILL, LIZZIE MORGAN
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
MAJESTY, DELIRIOUS
There are times in life when we alone know what we are supposed to do. In these times you must simply obey. No one can help you. No one can tell you what the right thing is, for either it is too hard a thing or too strange. Godly friends will sooth your conscience or comfort you with words like “no one will blame you” or “God can handle this”.
But, in that time, you alone know what your Father would have you do, in that time; it’s just you and your Father. It was in such a time that Paul said ‘none of these things move me’: my Father will see me finish: I must go!
TEXT: ACTS 21:1-14
VIDEO: MP3, CALVARY BAPTIST COLUMBUS GEORGIA
SONGS:
THE JESUS WAY, PHIL WICKHAM
THE WONDERFUL CROSS, CHRIS TOMLIN, COVER
NOT MY WILL, I SAY YES, LIZZIE MORGAN
I SURRENDER ALL, SALEM ST. LOUIS COVER
THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, RESOLVED WORSHIP TEAM
If Christ’s sacrifice for man’s redemption was greater than we dare imagine, how should we then live? Paul is just one example of total abandonment; one of many witnesses. We will not find God’s approval living our lives seeking pleasure, prosperity or popularity, nor will we find any joy there; our walk in this world must be about eternal glory and the joy of finishing well. (Pastor Tim)
Hebrews 12:1,2 ‘In light of ‘so great a cloud of witnesses’ let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith’
"Paul's life was bound to Christ" accurately reflects the Apostle Paul's radical transformation and total devotion, summarized in his declaration: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). His life had Singular Purpose: Paul's purpose became the advancement of the Gospel of Christ . Every action, every hardship, and every joy was filtered through his mission to glorify Jesus' name.
His commitment led to immense suffering, including imprisonments, beatings, and shipwrecks, yet he endured it all for the sake of Christ, counting his life as nothing compared to finishing his ministry."
"There is a golden thread that runs through the Bible which can sometimes go unnoticed by some. It involves this road that we travel on. For all God’s children of all generations, the walk of faith that we are engaged in does notoccur in a vacuum, rather it occurs in an onward and upward motion."
TEXT: ACTS 20:13-38
SONGS:
I LIFT MY EYES UP, HOUSE FIRES
BE THOU MY VISION, BOYCE WORSHIP COLLECTIVE
YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST, CITY ALIGHT
THE JESUS WAY/ I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS, COVER
LIVING FOR JESUS, THOMAS O. CHISHOLM
Paul was so clearly following God’s leading that he was immovable from his course. He would use the day he had to do the work he was called to, changing his will for the Lord’s without hesitation. Paul had one more day to build into people he loved and he did not disappoint!
TEXT: ACTS 20:1-12
SONGS:
ONE MORE DAY, SONS OF SUNDAY
BETTER IS ONE DAY, MATT REDMAN
BREATHE, MELODIE MALONE
JESUS AT THE CENTER, BETHEL COVER
HOW GREAT THOU ART/ ON THAT DAY, MATT REDMAN, CHRIS TOMLIN
He has given us one more Sabbath to meet together… to breath in His Word, to comfort one another…. One more day to break bread together… one more day surrender… one more day to reconcile… one more day to alter society…
When we are ready to quit, when we feel we have no more to offer and when success seems but a dead dream, it is then in our fear and trembling that we may see the transforming power of God released. The Lord said “I have many people in this city”: but where the movement of God goes the spirit of opposition follows. So the Jews in Corinth are not seeking moral renewal in any way; they bring false charges against Paul and Paul thinks “Here We Go Again” but this time God’s hand intervenes through the voice of the Roman Proconsul.
“Great names come and go, but the name of Jesus remains. The devil still hates it, the world still opposes it. It is the weapon that defeats the enemy and the motivation that compels our sacrifice and service. !! ― Warren W. Wiersbe,
To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living.
You see…."Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live! Leonard Ravenhill:
TEXT: ACTS 18:1-17
SONGS:
I KNOW A NAME, ELEVATION CHURCH
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
WHAT IF I TOLD YOU, PHIL WICKHAM
SEND ME, BETHEL
Oh Yes the church boldly declares Another King but one who promotes the civil kings and their kingdoms because our King is the King of Kings "and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Luke 1:33
“Be ready church, to reason with them, to dialogue, not monologue. Divide asunder and reveal what lies beneath. Know your scriptures so that you can reveal Jesus, present to them nothing more or less than Jesus. Set Him before those in your life as the only way to life.
Set Jesus before them as the one true and rightful king who takes this broken, fallen, and upside down world and turns it right side up.”
(Joe Parker, sermon, the WORD THAT TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN)
ACTS 17:1-12
SONGS:
THAT'S MY KING
KING OF KINGS, BETHEL COVER
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, TIM HUGHES COVER
IS HE WORTHY, CHRIS TOMLIN
Paul had been very pre-suppositional in his approach every where he went; what is notable here is his use of evidence. But make NO mistake; his approach remains very pre-suppositional: “there is really only one God, you once knew Him, you have always known about Him” Some will hear, some will not; either way, anyway and everyway it will always be about Jesus. The good news is Jesus! Paul’s apologetic was simple; Christological: you say He cannot be known, ‘But… You Do Know Him!
"God has placed every man where he is on the face of the earth and in the culture he lives in order to seek the true God. God did not make an arbitrary decision, but God pre-destinates out of a loving heart and expects men to seek Him wherever they are in this world. He certainly does not engage in a game of hide-and-seek, but rather has gone out of His way to be obvious."
TEXT: ACTS 17:13-34
SONGS:
OUR GOD, CHRIS TOMLIN
ONLY A HOLY GOD, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, CITY ALIGHT
GREAT ARE YOU LORD, ALL SONS AND DAUGHTERS
GIVE US CLEAN HANDS, CHRIS TOMLIN COVER
WORTHY OF IT ALL, BETHEL
Paul obviously believed there was a time to Stand Tall and stand firm; a time to be strong and time to muster all authority. Here, at Philippi, Paul’s confidence in the leading of God was obvious. God had fashioned an unmistakable path to the equally unmistakable call. No matter how evil the adversary, how hopeless the circumstance or how dangerous the potential reprisal, it was time to be bold and courageous, a time to speak and be heard. Given the opportunity and circumstance, Paul and his team exercised a kind of daring wisdom and strategy, and in the face of evil chose to ‘Stand Tall’. So, we too, when we know, we are where we are supposed to be, should declare who sent us to this present darkness and in the name of Jesus, speak and ‘Stand Tall!’
"What greater spectacle has the earth witnessed than that of scourged and incarcerated men, suffering from unjust and cruel inflictions, and anticipating greater sorrows; yet, with a calm mind, a pure conscience, a holy joy, pouring forth their desires and praises at midnight, into the ear of the God." C.H. Spurgeon
TEXT: ACTS 16:10-40
SONGS:
PRAISE, SEPH SCHLUETER
PRAISE THE LORD, IMPERIALS
DOXOLOGY, MAVERICK CITY
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, AUSTIN STONE
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
I SPEAK JESUS, PORCH WORSHIP
Some doors He opens and some doors He closes. It can be difficult to know what to do next, so just do what you know is right, go above and beyond and get tough when the going gets tough. God will give you clear direction! We must be working our Fathers business if we want to know what business we have in His work. It’s about inertia: the Spirit won’t direct a body not in motion; get moving your idle feet!
"God never causes evil. He does, however, open and close opportunities to accomplish His purpose in individual lives and in the grand scheme of history. "
CHARLES SWINDOLL
TEXT: ACTS 16:1-12
SONGS:
COME REST ON US, BETHEL
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, SHANE AND SHANE
COME HOLY SPIRIT COME, JOSH BALDWIN
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, CALVARY WORSHIP COVER
OCEANS, HILLSONG
This passage leaves us with questions we cannot definitively answer and good people have disagreed as strongly as Paul and Barnabas over it. While I am certain there is blame in this separation I’m not certain whose it is! Or ... what portion belongs to who! But this is what I know; God is merciful and long -suffering: He will take our foolishness, our faults and failures and turn them into building blocks for His kingdom! ‘We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose’.
John MacArthur
“Few things are sapping the strength of the church of Jesus Christ more than the unreconciled state of so many believers. So many have matters deeply embedded in their craws, like iron wedges forced between themselves and other Christians. They can’t walk together because they do not agree. When they should be marching side by side through this world taking men captive for Jesus Christ, they are acting instead like an army that has been routed and scattered and whose troops in their confusion have begun fighting among themselves. Nothing is sapping the church of Christ of her strength so much as these unresolved problems, these loose ends among believing Christians that have never been tied up. There is no excuse for this sad condition, for the Bible does not allow for loose ends. God wants no loose ends.”
TEXT: ACTS 15:32-41
SONGS:
HANDS TO THE HEAVENS, KARI JOBE
WHERE THE FREEDOM OF THE LORD IS, LIFE CHURCH
FALL AFRESH, BRYCE MOORE
BY OUR LOVE, FOR KING AND COUNTRY
In this life you will meet some people who are just agitators, trouble makers that thrive on attention drawn from the drama they created. They are out there and they will be in the church. Wherever they are not apposed with spiritual integrity, they will be the cause of great destruction!! Paul and Barnabas held their ground and appealed to the only higher authority on the planet: the result, ‘the people were encouraged and rejoiced’.
"They stole their way into the church-- by deceit and counterfeit holiness, they crept in among the faithful."
The devil is always at work distracting the church, discouraging the church, and detouring the church from its main mission. The devil will raise up false teachers, legalists, and liberals to stifle the work of the church. John G. Butler wrote, “Evil wants to stop progress of the work of God, So evil causes all kinds of trouble in the church to keep the pastor and people occupied with the trouble instead of being able to concentrate on proclaiming the Word of God.”
TEXT: ACTS 15:21-31
SONGS:
FREEDOM, JOSH BALDWIN
WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, GATEWAY WORSHIP
WHO YOU SAY I AM, HILLSONG
BY OUR LOVE, FOR KING AND COUNTRY
There will always be some who wish to make salvation earnable and therefore deservable but it is not There will always be some who wish to add necessities to our faith; we must not allow them. We believe Ep 2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, it is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, it is not of works, lest anyone should boast. but....There are necessary things to live Godly: stay away from anything that looks like, smells like, sounds like Satan ie. Ozzie Osborne, horoscope, tarot cards etc; do not lift your hand in violence except in defense; keep your sex inside your marriage and strange as it seems don’t be drinking, eating blood, that is enemy territory.
Warren Wiersbe writes that "The progress of the Gospel has often been hindered by people with closed minds who stand in front of open doors and block the way for others.
"Salvation from start to finish is altogether the work of God, and man can add nothing to it." —
TEXT: ACTS 14:1-21
SONGS:
IS HE WORTHY, SHANE AND SHANE
CHRIST ALONE, COVER
THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, RESOLVED
They say, everyone’s got a story! I seldom meet someone who doesn’t have a story. They’re out there and I suppose in their own way that is their story. But what we usually mean when referring to ‘their story’ is the stuff they’ve been through! It’s trials, tribulations, afflictions, illness and deaths that mark out journey here on this planet. It’s sin, divorce, assault, grief or poverty that unfortunately highlight our lives. The silly thing about some of today’s Christian thought is that Jesus keeps us from that. WRONG! Jesus keeps us through it when we walk with him through it! The last words I remember my pastor saying to me was: ‘Tim, finish well!’ So today, we like Paul and Barnabas face a world that hates Jesus, yet it is by walking with Him through it, we finish our journey well.
"Behold the courage of these Christian men! They counted not their lives dear to them, and returned to do their Masters work in the very places in which they had been so grievously persecuted. The welfare of the infant churches they deemed of more consequence than their own safety; and they threw themselves again into the midst of danger."
"Every Christian who wishes to follow Jesus faithfully and desires to see people come to know the Savior will have to bear some measure of suffering . It’s what I like to call the missions law. We simply won’t reach people without sacrifice." Tony Merida
TEXT: ACTS 14:19-28
SONGS
NOT MY WILL, LIZZIE MORGAN, SEPH SHLUETER
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, COVER
We find here some simple lessons on how to face opposition. Sometimes you dig in, sometimes you run but you never stop playing the role God has called you to play. What is certain is; Satan will attack, first with subtle suggestions of error, then mischievousness innuendo, followed by malice slander with intent to destroy. Therefore, be on guard, recognize the enemy and ‘show the devil to the door!‘ Remember; when Satan opposes you, he creates an opportunity for the gospel to be used by you!
"During this time, despite the subtle propaganda poisoning people's minds against the gospel, there was nevertheless a sweeping proclamation of the gospel going forward and many were turning to Christ.
Bold perseverance in the face of hostility is as much an evidence of the power of God as the great numbers who come to Christ
TEXT: ACTS 14:1-18
SONGS:
GOD OF REVIVAL BETHEL
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS, JESUS PAID IT ALL, UPPER ROOM
JESUS LIFTED ME, CAIN
We preach Jesus because there is life in no other. Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved." We cannot predict when the Spirit will call or when He will stop calling. No one can say where or when revival will come or when it will end. But… we can say with great certainty; 1) The enemy will rise to stop it, 2) Revival will come to close, 3) But the true disciples of Jesus Christ will be left full of joy and the Holy Spirit.
"No nation has ever improved morally without a spiritual revival. History proves that point. Various nations of the past have tried to improve and pick themselves up by their bootstraps morally in order to save their country from disintegration, but they could not do it unless they experienced a religious revival. “There has never been a country in the history of the world that lasted and improved itself except by a religious and spiritual revival.” Billy Graham
TEXT: ACTS 13:13-52
SONGS:
BILLY GRAHAM REVIVAL, JOSH BALDWIN
HOW GREAT THOU ART, JOSHUA AARON
WHAT HE'S DONE, PASSION
COME YE SINNERS, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
MIGHTY TO SAVE HILLSONG
The Spirit of the living God will lead Christ’s church into victory every time the children of God obey. But a culturally driven tolerance for all manner of wickedness and sin is leaving the church powerless. We have been allowing our attempts to remain relevant to supersede simple obedience. God forgive us! We need whole- hear-ted teaching and unquestioning obedience to the Word of God! It’s complicated! We seek the work of the Spirit that only flows through clean vessels. Study to know what God is saying to you and do it: and keep doing it!
JOHN PIPER: The main business of the church is to obey the Holy Spirit in promoting God’s glory among the nations by sending out workers called by God to preach the gospel
SPURGEON: WITHOUT THE SPIRIT OF GOD, WE CAN DO NOTHING, WE ARE AS SHIPS WITHOUT WIND, WE ARE USELESS.
TEXT: ACTS 13:1-12
SONGS:
HANDS TO THE HEAVENS, KARI JOBE
COME HOLY SPIRIT COME, JOSH BALDWIN
FALL AFRESH, BRYCE MOORE
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, JEREMY RIDDEL
SEND ME, RIVER WORSHIP
‘The Hand of the LORD’ was with them and great many people believed and were taught in Christian doctrine. Here in Antioch ‘Christianity’, at least in name, is born. The very idea that ‘The Supreme Being’, who cannot ignore sin, is willing to completely forgive it, was such good news to the heathen theist, they could not and did not resist. When the hand of the Lord accompanies the efforts of sincere believers, stuff happens, lives are changed and the Christian church thrives!
F. F. Bruce
Imagine if you will.. a group of two or three of the unofficial missionaries in the streets of Antioch, with a small group gathered around them, listening to the gospel. Someone watching asks another bystander, “Who are these people?” The other answers, “O, these are the people who are always talking about Christos, the Christ-people, the Christians” .the Jesus. While it may have been meant as a term of derision, it really was a supreme compliment for the pagans to notice that these men were “Christ-men.”
TEXT: ACTS 11:19-26
SONGS: BUILD YOUR CHURCH, MAVERICK CITY
NEW WINE, HILLSONG COVER
TAKE ME AS I AM, CAIN
THE JESUS WAY, PHIL WICKHAM
I SPEAK JESUS, KINGS PORCH
This story is the turning point of ‘The Acts of The Apostles’. No human being is common or unclean. Nobody is to be spurned, shunned, rejected, despised because of his ethnic origin or race or culture or physical traits or social restraints. All of us have a history and all come to the foot of the cross the same way! Repentance of prejudice is not easy or quick but is necessary for individual and ecclesiastical health.
Billy Graham famously said, "Christianity is not a white man's religion and don't let anyone tell you it's white or black. Christ belongs to all people."
TEXT: ACTS 11:1-18
SONGS:
LOVE OF GOD, BRANDEN LAKE, PHIL WICKHAM
THE LOVE OF GOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, FANNY CROSBY COVER
"At once this changed the views of the apostles and of the early Christians; gave them new, large, and liberal conceptions of the gospel; broke down all their long-cherished prejudices; taught them to look upon all men as their brethren; and impressed their hearts with the truth, never after to be eradicated."
The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.
– John MacArthur
Before you meet Jesus as Judge, you may meet him this very morning as the Forgiver of sins—the Peacemaker of God. That's how Peter's sermon begins and ends.
And if you believe in Him, you will receive forgiveness of sins through His name and be pardoned when you stand before Him as judge. If you believe in Him, that means trust Him with your life as the Peacemaker of God; so trust Hm with your life as the Lord of all; trust Him with your life as God's anointed one, full of the Spirit and power; trust Him with your life as stronger than sin and Satan; trust Him with your life as One who died and rose again and lives today; trust Him with your life as the One who will judge the living and the dead; and trust Him with your life as the forgiver of sins.
TEXT: ACTS 10:32-42
SONGS:
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME, HILLSONG COVER
CORNERSTONE, HILLSONG COVER
MY FAITH HAS FOUND A RESTING PLACE, BECOFI CREATIVE
The name of Jesus is able to do what no amount of human persuasion or human power can ever do. He alone can impart strength and sensation to paralyzed legs. His power alone can raise a corpse from the dead. He alone can call a soul out of spiritual bondage and impart eternal life .He is still doing great wonders in changing depraved natures, breaking hard hearts, subduing obstinate wills, enlightening darkened judgments, and winning rebellious minds.
God is still in the miracle making business but we fail to see that the greatest miracle of all is the saving of the lost soul. When the church, does what it’s supposed to do, the Lord blesses; this is when the church grows. So, Peter goes out of Jerusalem and visits the new churches and God decides to bless with miracles: lame walk, dead rise, loners join the assembly and all of them are souls forgiven of their burden of sin and reunited with their Heavenly Father. And the church grew.
TEXT: ACTS 9:32-43
SONGS:
AWESOME GOD, PHIL WICKHAM, MW. SMITH
WAYMAKER, LEELAND
TOO GOOD TO NOT BELIEVE, EMMY ROSE
MIGHTY TO SAVE, HILLSONG
What grace was it that could lead the Saviour's heart to speak to such a man as Saul, who had breathed out threatenings against His church? Had he not haled men and women to prison?? Had he not compelled them in every synagogue to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ?
Oh but the transforming work of God! —and quite radical!!.
Through a personal encounter with Jesus, this man named Saul is transformed from Christianity’s fiercest opponent into its most devoted missionary. This is what God does in conversion. He changes people.
Do we agree that Saul was most probably the greatest of the apostles? Can we agree he saw his life turned upside down! Here is a scary thought: this may be, in some ways, a pattern for your life. (Paul said that his conversion and calling was a pattern for all of us. 1Timothy 1:16)
If so, I want to leave you with hope regarding what God is doing. Are you are trying hard to serve Jesus and often opposed, experience rejection and mocking or suffering strange or irregular events: have you been waiting for God to show up and make things right? Know this; God chose Saul to suffer many things to bear His name before kings!
“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” A. W. Tozer
TEXT: ACTS 9:23-31
SONGS:
LOVE LIFTED ME, ENCOUNTER MUSIC
THE JESUS WAY, PHIL WICKHAM
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
Conclusion: I remember Terry and Liz when we transitioned to Essex county and the ministry, how we were accepted, encouraged and helped into the life God had planned for us. We needed such friends that for the love of their Lord intervened into the darkness of our world so we could see our path forward. Ananias played that role for Saul, a new friend when desperately needed in the transition of his life. A devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all. Acts 23:12 without which Saul may not have had his ‘eyes finally opened’.
God predetermines men to the stations they shall take up in this world; especially those who are to take up stations that are to be highly useful and serviceable to Him.
TEXT: ACTS 9:10-22
SONGS:
MADE FOR MORE, JOSH BALDWIN
HIS MERCY IS MORE, MATT BOSWELL
SEND ME, BETHEL
MAJESTY, DELIRIOUS
The church hadn’t begun its missionary work. They could have sent Phillip and Stephen a few weeks earlier and maybe everything had been different, but God had told them they would take the gospel to Samaria and so they would! This baby church, still learning, not a year old: indeed, was a fragile group of transformed Jesus followers who’s fellowship was suddenly destroyed but they could not keep silent.
The seed of truth was buried in them and where they went the gospel went. Jesus had said Samaria was ready for a great harvest and here we see it was the seed in them that would be harvested and great joy came to Samaria.
Wherever the established believer is driven, he carries the knowledge of the gospel, and makes known the preciousness of Christ in every place. (MHCC)
Persecution is good for the church. It turns the church loose. It disconnects the church from its comfort and sends it out in dependency. JOHN MACARTHUR
TEXT: ACTS 8:1-8
SONGS:
BUILD YOUR CHURCH, MAVERICK CITY
CORNERSTONE, HILLSONG
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
Stephen’s conclusion is this; “nothing has changed”. Men have always been a race of rebels: good men have been slow to obey: even the best of our fathers had to learn the hard way. Most rejected the truth in ancient times; it was so in Stephen’s day and so it is in ours. You are of the remnant, the faithful few born into this race of rebels, a populace with hard hearts and slow ears. but we, members of this race of rebels, are being mercifully molded by the Holy Spirit. Slowly but surely, we are beginning to reflect the life our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
“There is that disposition in our sinful hearts, which always resists the Holy Ghost, a flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against His motions; “MCCH
TEXT: ACTS 7
SONGS:
HOW GREAT THOU ART, JOSHUA ARRON
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
I SURRENDER ALL
Stephen, a man of Spirit, a man of faith, plays such a small role in the establishment of the church, we could easily pass by him but I would argue, he played the supremely crucial role. He is not just a link between the fisherman and the Pharisee, he is the bridge from the Hebrew to the Hellenist, and he is the catalyst of world evangelism. Stephen wasn’t just the obedient blessed deacon; he was the cotter pin that held the wheels in place when the church was at the starting line. T. JUPP
"He is great proof – mark this – he is great proof that the effect of a man’s life has nothing to do with the length of it. And the effect of a man’s ministry has nothing to do with the length of it. His ministry was so short, so very short, and yet it was the catalyst that caused the Church to move out in the next step in its commission and reach Judea and Samaria with the Gospel. Stephen was the trigger that shot the Church into the world.
And I don’t think that anybody can fully estimate the results even of a brief work, even of a brief work of one man, when that one man has the courage to do and say what he knows is right, whatever the consequences. And Stephen did. He took no thought for himself. He did what he knew was right and let the chips fall. "J. MACARTHUR
"The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully surrendered to Him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man. D.L.MOODY
TEXT: ACTS 6:8-15
SONGS:
COME REST ON US, MAVERICK CITY
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
HAVE THINE OWN WAY , ADELAIDE POLLARD
THE JESUS WAY, PHIL WICKHAM
Do not think for one moment that the gates of hell will not attack. Satan desires the church to be an embarrassment to her founder and Lord. Know this, without doubt, as soon as people begin to repent and seek after the righteousness of Christ, the enemy arises and sews seeds of complaint and murmurings in the ranks, sometimes even over real issues! So you say ‘so-and-so’s’ got issues; well, that’s the heart of the issue. Thanks Einstein! Guess what! We all got issues! Move on; God only uses folks with issues! He only uses imperfect people and He wants to use YOU!
When we are knit together in brotherly affection, the Lord commands blessing. Where brotherly love continues, and saints walk in holy unity, the witness they bear is powerful, and the increase they gather is palpable. C.H.SPURGEON
TEXT: ACTS 6:1-7
SONGS:
BUILD YOUR CHURCH, MAVERICK CITY
COME HOLY SPIRIT COME, JOSH BALDWIN
WEDDING DAY, (HOLY)
BY OUR LOVE, FOR KING AND COUNTRY
The enemy is real and his attacks don’t have to any make sense but God calls for a Holy church to do His Holy work, not to fear! In a culture where holiness and piety have become bad words, we ought to expect opposition, insult and tribulations: we ought to respond to opposition by continuing somewhat stubbornly, somewhat cautiously but always faithfully. In fact, we ought to flourish when we joyfully recognize we are being maligned because of the name of Jesus for the battle is about the name!
MATTHEW 10: 21 "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Hated of all men for my name’s sake.—these words sketch out the history of the persecution with a precision which marks and attests the divine foreknowledge. From the days of Stephen to that of the last martyr under Diocletian it was always as a Christian and for the name of Christ that men thus suffered.
Would they but renounce that, all would have gone smoothly with them.
As Tertullian said of the sufferers of his day, “We are tortured when we confess our guilt, we are set free if we deny it, for the battle is about a Name”
TEXT: ACTS 5:17-42
SONGS:
O PRAISE THE NAME, HOLY, DBU WORSHIP
MAN OF SORROWS, BRYCE SHEEHAN
SON OF SUFFERING, GC COLLABORATIVE WORSHIP
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
The church had real fear of the local authorities and real fear of
interrupting the work of God and so the miraculous was limited to apostles.
But in the midst of the fear, a sweet spirit was maintained among the
brethren who held the apostles in high esteem and met door to door.
The church of the 21 century must recognize the limited power of the
authorities and recognize a greater authority calls us to a radical faith.
Pursuing a sure foundation of purity, submissiveness and fellowship will
result in ‘more and more people believing and were brought to the
Lord—crowds of both men and women.’
This is the church that alters society!
TEXT: ACTS 5:12-16
SONGS:
OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD, MICHAEL W. SMITH
HOW GREAT THOU ART, MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
LOVE OF GOD, PHIL WICKHAM, BRANDEN LAKE
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS, REAWAKEN WORSHIP
When the pouring out of the Spirit comes Satan is always there to counterfeit and destroy. He even uses “well-intentioned dragons” with pretence in their heart and willingness to compromise. We must guard our hearts against self deceit and judge ourselves so that we will not be judged.
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” 1Co 11:30
"The Church has never been harmed or hindered by opposition from without; it has been perpetually harmed and hindered by perils from within.” (Morgan)
The terrible severity of the punishment can only be understood by remembering the importance of preserving the young community from corruption at the very beginning. Unless the vermin are cleared from the springing plant, it will not grow.
TEXT: ACTS 4:23-5:12
SONGS:
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, CALVARY WORSHIP
COME HOLY SPIRIT COME, JOSH BALDWIN
LORD I NEED YOU, MATT MAHER PHIL WICKHAM
CLEAN HEART, BRYAN AND KATIE TORWALT
All the best attributes a man can know, stem from association with Jesus. If Jesus resurrection is the single most important truth in human existence then all men everywhere should hear of it. But will they believe it? People’s ability and/or willingness to listen will be altered by how we live our lives. They must see a human demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s transformative power in us. Radical faith- ‘conforming us into the image of the son’ paints a picture of the glorious victory found in the truth of Jesus.
Its more than words - the world must see Jesus in us!
TEXT: ACTS 4:13-31
SONGS: HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
THE WONDERFUL CROSS, CHRIS TOMLIN COVER
MORE LIKE JESUS, PASSION WORSHIP
I SPEAK JESUS, KINGS PORCH
It’s a crazy mixed up world. Darkness rules and often sides against you with no reasonable cause except that you are light. But John MacArthur says: ‘Persecution always results in growth. Mark that. If you're obeying the Lord and you wind up in a mess, you can assume that God ordained the mess. So stick around, there's something that's going to happen in that mess.’ When the real resistance hits, it’s because you are on the right track, it’s not time to quit, it’s time to hold the line!
TEXT: ACTS 4:1-12
SONGS:
HOLD THE LINE, JOURNEY WORSHIP
IN CHRIST ALONE, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
THE SOLID ROCK
THE JESUS WAY, I HAVE DECIDED, CHABROS MUSIC
I WON'T BACK DOWN, TOM PETTY
First, Peter exalts Jesus. Only in Jesus could there have been forgiveness. Although it is Israel that is indicted, the world (Pilate) is found guilty on the same charges. The appeal to repent and be converted puts the Jew and Gentile on the same grounds. Justification through forgiveness in Jesus name is available to all.
Just as the lame man could not walk but was made well through faith In Jesus, your broken condemned life can be healed by faith in Jesus. Amazingly, the name that announces our guilt is also the name that announces our salvation: Jesus!
What’s in a name? Everything
TEXT: ACTS 3:11-26
SONGS:
THIS IS AMAZING GRACE, CHRIS TOMLIN
SUCH AN AWESOME GOD, MAVERICK CITY
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME, PHIL WICKHAM
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN, JOURNEY WORSHIP
Jesus had said, at this very spot, that the miracles He had done spoke for Him. Peter is very clear; he is a representative of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It is Jesus’ miracle not Peter’s. It’s as if Jesus had said 'just wait a few more weeks and your rejoicing will cause a thousand to rejoice with you. Your party is not ready yet!' Then suddenly after Pentecost Peter says 'arise and walk, TODAY IS YOUR DAY!'
When God performs miracles, it demonstrates His compassion and willingness to intervene in the lives of people, often in situations where they are suffering or facing seemingly impossible circumstances, thus showcasing His merciful nature.
It is crucial to emphasize the necessity of the righteous motivation of Jesus miracles — for they are rooted in genuine, gut-felt compassion.
TEXT: ACTS 3:1-11
SONGS:
IN THE ROOM, MAVERICK CITY, MATT MAHER
I STAND AMAZED, LIFE SPRING CHURCH
WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE LORD, STEVE FURTICK
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
MY TESTIMONY, ELEVATION CHURCH
Jesus had told them to ‘wait for the promise of the Father’. ‘When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place’. Then they continued under the apostle’s direction and ministry as The Lord continued to build His church!
When we see the Lord begin to pour out His blessings, and we continue in devotion, awe, generosity and joy we will find in an AWESOME CHURCH!
"When Christians manifest that they are sincere and earnest in the cause of Christ; are united in affections and efforts; are joyful in the Lord, and strive to do good as they have opportunity to all, it may be expected that religion will prosper."
Behold the employment of the primitive and apostolic Church.
-
They were built up on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the corner stone.
-
They continued steadfastly in that doctrine which they had so evidently received from God.
-
They were separated from the world, and lived in a holy Christian fellowship, strengthening and building up each other in their most holy faith.
BIBLE HUB
TEXT: ACTS 2:42-47
SONGS:
CHURCH/TAKE ME BACK, COCHRANE AND CO.
BETTER IS ONE DAY, MATT REDMAN
GRATITUDE, I AM THEY
BY OUR LOVE, FOR KING AND COUNTRY
Radical faith alters society! On that day, without a sound system or amphitheater, 3000 people were cut to the heart, believed in the resurrected Jesus and chose to identify as Jesus followers!
God had chosen to use a fisherman, Peter, who dared to warn of impending doom and gloom to a rebellious generation but also offered hope of salvation to those who would call on the Name of the Lord. Then he persuasively established His claim that Jesus is the resurrected Lord.
Just about two weeks earlier Peter had the greatest catch of his life; 153 large fish! Remembering that Jesus had told him, “I am going to make you into a fisher of men”, Peter cast a net again and took in 3000 souls: it would be The Fisherman’s Greatest Catch!
'The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was, “Repent.” He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man.'
TEXT: ACTS 2:22-41
SONGS:
JESUS DOES, WE THE KINGDOM JESUS SAVES, PRISCILLA OWENS COME YE SINNERS, WORSHIP INITIATIVE LIVING HOPE, MARYANNE GEORGE, BETHEL. I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS, BRANDON LAKE
Conclusion: Radical faith will bring an altered society: early in Acts God chose to use a fisherman. Peter dares to warn of impending doom and gloom to a religiously twisted, rebellious, self serving generation. Then, just as Joel had done 800 years earlier, Peter declares mercy in the name of Jesus: He says, ‘before the coming of that great and terrible day of the Lord, it shall be, that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'
"This Peter…. Stands up amidst the scoffers and the mockers on the very day of Pentecost with a voice that needed no microphone, bold, forward, ardent; rises now to defend the apostles of Jesus Christ, and Christ himself, from an injurious charge. Infused by the Holy Spirit, now boldly confessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ! "
TEXT: ACTS 2:14-21
SONGS:
HOUSE OF THE LORD, PHIL WICKHAM
BUILD YOUR CHURCH, MAVERICK CITY
JESUS AT THE CENTER, BETHEL WORSHIP
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
THE KING IS COMING, RED ROCKS
Conclusion: Radical faith will bring an altered society and God chose to use a fisherman and a Pharisee to kick His church off the ground. Between Pentecost, 33 AD and 66 AD, when Paul dies, the world was turned upside down. Why? Because the Spirit descended on a group of average people who wanted to serve Him: that’s what the Book of Acts is all about.
When Christians manifest that they are sincere and earnest in the cause of Christ;-and are united in affections and efforts; are joyful in the Lord, and strive to do good as they have opportunity to all, the Gospel is bound to prosper. “ FBN COMMENTARY
TEXT: ACTS 2:1-14
SONGS:
DOXOLOGY, BRIAN JOHNSON
HANDS TO THE HEAVENS, KARI JOBE
COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME, JOSH BALDWIN
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, VERTICAL CHURCH
Conclusion: Ten days in between Christ’s ascension and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The apostles were NOT inactive but preparing to receive the necessary supply for their mission. These guys had learned to trust in the Word and to pray: “Dad, you promised! Dad, you promised and we know you keep your promises! So, we are waiting on you until your promise comes!
"Waiting is extremely tough when we are ready to go, ready to move, fire in our bones to get the job done! Waiting, is not a passive waiting around for something to happen that will allow us to escape our troubles. Waiting does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. Those who wait are those who work, because they know their work is not in vain. The farmer can wait all summer for his harvest because he has done his work of sowing the seed and watering the plants. Those who wait on God can go about their assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and conclusions to their lives." LIFEWAY.COM
TEXT: ACTS 1:12-26
SONGS:
HOLY SPIRIT YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, THE TORWALTS
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, JEREMY RIDDLE
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, CHRISTY NICOLS
THE KING IS COMING, RED ROCKS WORSHIP
If we are called to do something for Christ then we should assume that He will enable us to do it! He has called us to do something! If we have not yet received the power, we had better wait! But the early church didn’t JUST wait… they all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…. Does that sound kinda radical? Is that asking too much? That is the choice we have before us!
The degree to which our faith becomes radical is:
The degree to which our society may be altered!
The degree to which our local faith becomes radical is:
The degree to which our local society may be altered!
*Personal contact with Jesus alters everything, because when we encounter Him; we are never the same again. Jesus is in the business of changing people and transforming lives. OSWALD CHAMBERS
SONGS:
BUILD YOUR CHURCH, MAVERICK CITY
GLORIFY THY NAME IN ALL THE EARTH
THE COMMISSION, YWAM KONA MUSIC
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, JEREMY RIDDLE
I SPEAK JESUS, LIVE FROM THE PORCH*
It is not for me to know the times or the seasons. The Father has kept those plans to Himself. He is sovereign and will do what He sees fit when He sees fit! Jesus said to Stephen, Phillip, Saul and Tim; you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be a witness for me!
You may not see it coming but there is a destiny for you and the day of your destiny will come!
C.H. Spurgeon: All His eternal purposes work towards the glorifying of the Son, and quite as surely, they work together for the good of those who are in his Son. The purposes which concern our Lord and ourselves are so inter-twisted as never to be separated.
To have our times in God’s hand must mean not only that they are at God’s disposal, but that they are arranged by the highest wisdom. God’s hand never makes mistakes and if our times are in his hand, those times are ordered exactly how He chooses.
We need not puzzle our brains to understand the dispensations of Providence.
TEXT:ACTS 1:6-14
SONGS:
WAYMAKER, ACOUSTIC COVER PASSION
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
HIS GLORY AND MY GOOD, CITY ALIGHT
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.The Point is simply this: Jesus is The Wonderful Counselor, He Mighty God, The Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace, and Jesus is one of us.
Jesus is my brother, my friend, my confidant, my role model and HE is King of the World. He is the Son of God and the Son of Man! Tell me, if you can, who or what should ever make me faint, fear or quit?
If God is for me, who can be against me? Like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved! Today, though weary worn and tired, my step shall move toward the cross, my hammer shall swing toward the anvil, and my life will inch closer to my rest!
*TEXT: ISAIAH 9:1-7
SONGS:
I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY, CASTING CROWNS
HIS NAME SHALL BE, O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL, PASSION COVER
HE WHO IS TO COME, CODY CARNES COVER
BECAUSE HE LIVES, MUSAIC WORSHIP*
Jesus is wonderful! He is the very definition of wonderful. He is wonderful, in his Virgin birth, in His Davidic Lordship and in His humble human home. He is wonderful in His in His pre-existence, in his role as Creator and as the Sustainer of the universe. He is wonderful in His mighty miracles, His masterful teaching, His many prophecies, in His abhorrent sufferings and in His intentions at His death, burial, and resurrection. He is wonderful in the great Christophanies of the Old Testament and His appearances as "The Angel of Jehovah!" He is wonderful now, in His future kingdom and at the judgment of the living and the dead. Jesus name is Wonderful; He is the very definition of Wonderful. Inspired by *C.H. Spurgeon
TEXT: ISAIAH 9:1-7
SONGS:
JOY TO THE WORLD, PHIL WICKHAM
WHAT CHILD IS THIS, DAMASCUS WORSHIP
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP,O COME LET US ADORE HIM, CENTRAL WORSHIP
HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL*
Isaiah 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the nations will rally to Him, And His place of rest will be glorious."
Come home! Do you hear it? Are you listening? There is a still small voice that screams at your soul to come take rest in Him; His rest is glorious and endless and has no memory of wrong. The Nazarene is calling His assembly to gather from all walks of life, from all nations of the earth, from all persuasions and philosophies; the church universal is the city who’s builder and maker is God.
The prophets said that he would be called by a despicable title, and it was so, for his countrymen called him a Nazarene."
This is a name at which devils tremble, for they besought him, even Jesus of Nazareth, that they should not be sent into the deep when he cast them out. It was the name which in contempt was nailed above his head upon the cross— “Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews.” Oh, but it is a glorious name,! (C.H. Spurgeon)
TEXT:LUKE 1:26-38/ MATTHEW 2:19-23
SONGS:
MANGER THRONE, PHIL WICKHAM
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD, HOW GREAT THOU ART, ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG
SOFTLY AND TENDERLY, FOUNTAIN VIEW
I STAND AMAZED, HOW MARVELOUS, LIFESPRING WORSHIP
God’s faithfulness to Eve, to Noah, to Abraham, to David and even to Solomon is unquestioned and unquestionable. The Fathers’ promises are irrevocable; His calling and purpose are eternal. It is His path and branch that will succeed and prosper. It was in His time the stump of Jesse shot forth a fresh shoot which branched out to bear His fruit eternally.
When redemptive history is done, and all the ridges are done, there will be no death, there will be no sin, lions will be lying down with the Lamb in the new earth and Jesus will be King! THAT’S GLORIOUS! (J.Piper)
'Observe that here is the grand mystery of the incarnation.Christ is that seed of the woman.That seed of the woman, that glorious One, — He speaks not of seeds as of many but of ONE seed— how he abhorred the devil and all his devices. There was enmity between Christ and Satan, for he came to destroy the works of the devil and to deliver those who are under bondage to him.
For that purpose was he born; for that purpose did he live.' (C.H.SPURGEON)
Now you know the rest of the story.- why there had to be a virgin who would bear a son; why there had to be new DNA. Can you conceive of a toddler who never threw a fit, a child that never lied or a teenager that never rebelled? There was One: He inherited the righteousness of His Father just like we do. But His Father was Grace and Truth and Righteousness and He was a chip off the old block.
*Merry Christmas! PastorTim
TEXT: LUKE 1:26-38
SONGS:
O COME O COME EMMANUEL, JOSHUA ARRON
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME, JESUS CULTURE
HOW GREAT THOU ART, MISSION WORSHIP
HE WHO IS TO COME, HOPE CHURCH*
"There are certain graces which are never produced in Christians, to a high degree, except by severe temptation.” There is a peculiar tenderness, without which one is not qualified to shepherd Christ’s sheep, and to feed his lambs,— a tenderness, without which one cannot strengthen his brethren, a tenderness which does not usually come to such a man as Peter, except by his being put into the sieve, and tossed up and down by Satanic temptation."
Peter was to be sifted, so our Lord warned him; and Satan was to operate with the sieve. Satan had an intense desire to destroy Peter— indeed, he would like to destroy all the chosen of God— and therefore he desired to sift him as wheat, in the hope that he would be blown away with the husks and the chaff. C.H Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 22:31-34
SONGS:
LORD I NEED YOU, WORSHIP 24
THERE'S NOT A FRIEND LIKE THE LOWLY JESUS, BROWARD CHURCH
PETER'S DENIAL, THE SKIT GUYS
SEND ME, BETHEL COVER
Mankind is sinful, depraved and deceitful in nature. We will always default to self service. Imagine following Jesus into the heart of danger, being told of His demise and then carrying on a argument of self en-grandeur. One of His followers’ would have Him dead: literally all the others sought their own honour. Jesus washes their feet and objects to their selfishness by demonstrating a new model of leadership, serving. Honour, we don’t deserve, but it will come if we only learn to serve first.
How firmly pride and love of preeminence can stick to the hearts of Christian men.
The sin before us is a very old one. Ambition, self-esteem, and self-conceit — lie deep at the bottom of all men's hearts, and often in the hearts where they are least suspected! Thousands imagine that they are humble — who cannot bear to see an equal more honored and favored than themselves. J C RYLE
TEXT: LUKE 22:20-30
SONGS: ABIDE WITH ME, REMEMBRANCE DAY
THE LAST POST
MORE LIKE JESUS, PASSION WORSHIP
LEAD ME TO CALVARY, BROWARD CHURCH
SEND ME, DAVID FUNK
We cannot doubt that the time of our Lord's crucifixion was appointed by God. His perfect wisdom and controlling power arranged that the Lamb of God should die, at the very time when the Passover-lamb was being slain.
The death of Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover. Jesus was the true sacrifice to which every Passover-lamb had been pointing for 1500 years! What the death of the lamb had been to Israel in Egypt — Jesus' death was to be to sinners all over the
world. ***J C RYLE
What Jesus did that Thursday was the Passover changed, adjusted to a new covenant. It was the fulfilling of the foretold in the picture of the Passover. Those who have trusted in the shed blood of Jesus are wearing it, so to speak, on the doorway of their lives. What is even more incredible is Jesus the very next day fulfilled the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The two holiest days in the Israeli calendar came together in one 24 hour period. We remember and honour both in what we call the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion or the Sacrament. What we do, we do as directly ordered by Jesus Himself, to do it until he comes. We dare not relegate such a priority to the periphery of our worship! It is a command with warning; ‘don’t take this lightly ‘or ‘in an unworthy manner’. I wonder how many of us understand just how important the Lord’s Supper is. It is most sacred!
TEXT: LUKE 22:7-23
SONGS:
PRAISE THE NAME, HOLY
I STAND AMAZED
JUDAS, COMMUNION SONG
ALAS AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED, AT THE CROSS***
These cosmic signs will be so great that the world’s population will cower in fear to the point of passing out. -men will be gripped by anxiety. All of this will culminate in the dramatic, spectacular return of Jesus, coming with His church to this earth. !!!
Believers will stand apart from the unbelieving world at this point. Rather than being in distress, believers will be saying, MARANATHA! COME JESUS COME!
Luke warns us to be on Guard!
Matthew 24 says;
1) It will be like the days of Noah; it will be too late once it happens.
2) It will be like a thief in the middle of the night; if the good man of the house had been watching he would have prevented the loss.
3) A wise servant keeps everything in order because he doesn’t know when the day of inspection will be.
It’s going down! This generation will not pass away! We can’t know the day and hour but we should know the signs of the times of Jesus’ return.
So, you say: what in the world should I be doing? We all should be careful to do the things we’re supposed to be doing, praying always and being aware. Not anesthetized, not discouraged and not distracted by life’s headaches or busyness!
TEXT: LUKE 21:34-38
SONGS:
COME JESUS COME, STEPHEN MC WHIRTER
LORD I NEED YOU, PHIL WICKHAM, MATT MAHR
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, MICHAEL W. SMITH
HYMN OF HEAVEN, BETHEL WORSHIP
What a day it will be when Jesus breaks though the clouds and settles the world’s power struggles, takes His rightful throne in Jerusalem and rules the promised Kingdom we call Earth! Then this anxious world will know peace!
C.H SPURGEON
Here is the Master’s word to us, “When you hear of wars and commotions, don’t be terrified: for these things must first come to pass; Should great wars occur, as they certainly will, there is nothing in them to terrify the Christian. Should they even come to your own doors, it is not for believers in Christ ever to be the victims of a scare. Whatever may happen, what is there for them to fear?
Though you are surrounded on all sides with many miseries, yet nonetheless be valiant and courageous, and bear out these things bravely.
*Whatever happens, all is well with the righteous. I know not what is to be, nor do I wish to know; but I know that all is well, and that all shall be well forever and ever.
TEXT: LUKE 21:5-28
SONGS:
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
IT IS WELL, BETHEL
BLESSED ASSURANCE, JEREMY RIDDLE
YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH OAKRIDGE BOYS*
While this story is an encouragement to those who cannot and a challenge to those who will not, it is chiefly a warning to those who exploit!
While those who labour in the word are worthy of double-pay, they have no right to demand better pay than the Shepherd of us all. NEVER!
The prosperity gospel is a stench in the nostrils of God; their entire system of religious business will be torn down! The neglect of the poor and elderly is anti-gospel and to prey on the vulnerable is to invite hell!
“The gift of Christ was his whole life, his sacrificial death, his triumphant resurrection, and his glorious ascension. The overwhelming, unmeasurable, sacrificial generosity of Christ is to be the well of grace that you draw from for yourself
God sets the standard for generosity.
TEXT: LUKE 21:1-6
SONGS:
EVERYTHING'S IN YOUR HANDS, MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
GENEROUS GIVER, VINTAGE WORSHIP
I DON'T HAVE MUCH, MISSION WORSHIP
TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE, CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS
I SURRENDER ALL
If it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1 Corinthians 15)
To doubt is natural but disbelief is a choice. To deny the truth without investigation is to casually invite peril. Risking yourself and all those you influence is not just fool hardy but callous. Being careless with a human soul is wicked, evil and demonic! If there is a God, His abode is Heaven! If Heaven is real place then Hell must be just as real!
If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil. JC Ryle
TEXT: LUKE 20:27-47
SONGS:
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE, MERCY ME
THE SOLID ROCK, HARBOR POINT WORSHIP
WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN, MAVERICK CITY
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
“Those that are most crafty in their designs against Christ and his gospel cannot with all their art conceal them from his cognizance. He can see through the most politic disguises, and so break through the most dangerous snare;” MATTHEW HENRY
Application:What do we learn about Jesus answer?
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”Ma28:18
“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.”1Pe 2:13
A) Caesar only has delegated authority from God
B) Caesars Government is therefore legitimate
-render to him what is due
C) We should be good citizens even with bad governance
D) We should trust God to remove and appoint leaders as HE sees fit
Caveat: Pray and do what is within righteous behavior to affect that appointment; speak, write, picket if you must but always VOTE!
TEXT: LUKE 20:19-26
SONGS:
TRUST IN GOD, NEWSBOYS
CORNERSTONE, AMANDA COOK
I GIVE YOU MY HEART, PASSION
WORTHY OF MY PRAISE, SANCTUS CHURCH WORSHIP
LIVING FOR JESUS, THOMAS CHISHOLM
It was not simply an act of evasion that any time Jesus was in these kinds of debates He would use the technique of answering a question with a question, confounding the opposition and leaving them in ruins. R.C SPROULIt was one of those days in the Passion Week; Jesus was doing His thing teaching and preaching. But the temple was enemy territory; the religious elite would have none of it. They didn’t care what His credentials were, they were plain to see; Jesus was moving in on their sheep and they were more than prepared to go to war to protect what was theirs. For honour, prestige and wealth they hated, rejected and would kill their own Messiah. Folks, the warning to the religious elite is dire but all those that stumble at the rock of offense will be broken!
TEXT: LUKE 20:1-19
SONGS:
HOUSE OF THE LORD, PHIL WICKHAM
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW, BRIAN JOHNSON
KING OF KINGS, HILLSONG COVER
THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT THAT NAME,
Every part of our lives as His disciples is an extension of the life of the pre-existent Son. The Son calls us into His eternity, to live in harmonious union with Him, to participate in the redemption of creation, and to be a part of His glory. John Sartelle,God has dedicated Himself to us and to our stories.
As the Author, God is in complete control of our lives. He knows the beginning and He knows how it’s going to end. He knows what needs to be placed in our lives to untangle that knot of sin inside of us, to make us more like His Son. God also knows what lies ahead of us. He will place trials in our lives to make us stronger and ready to face the next chapter. But through the whole story, the Author (our God) is with us. He isn’t just watching our story unfold, He is guiding it, moving it along. He is intimately a part of it.God is still writing your story. Don't let go of your faith because of what you have yet to see. TOBY MAC
TEXT: HEBREWS 11:1-12:6
SONGS:
BLESSED ASSURANCE, CAIN
GOODNESS OF GOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
HE WILL HOLD ME FAST, SELAH
MY STORY, YOUR GLORY, MATTHEW WEST
"This is the one easily besetting sin of our nature—to turn aside from the living God and to make unto ourselves idols in some fashion or another; for the essence of idolatry is this— to love anything better than God, to trust anything more than God..... In some form or other this great sin is the main mischief in the heart of man; and even in saved men this is one of the developments of remaining corruption. We may very easily make an idol of anything, and in different ways. No doubt many mothers and fathers make idols of their children, and so many husbands and wives idolize each other, and we may even make idols of ministers, even as there were idol shepherds of old. Equally is it certain that many a thoughtful man makes an idol of his intellect, and many another makes an idol of his gold, or even of that little home wherein he enjoys so much content.... Anything, however holy, which comes between us and the personal dealing of our soul with God, as he is revealed in Christ Jesus, by faith and love and hope, becomes an idol to us." SPURGEON
TEXT: 1 KINGS 12:26-33
SONGS:
I EXALT THEE, PHIL DRISCOLL
I GIVE YOU MY HEART/ I EXALT THEE, BETHEL
CLEAR THE STAGE, JIMMY NEEDHAM
HEART OF WORSHIP, MATT REDMAN
"From the very first page of the Scriptures, we learn that our God is a God who speaks. God’s speech sets him apart from false idol gods who have a mouth but cannot speak. The responsibility of God’s people is to listen to their speaking God. Listening to God is a mark of righteous character and covenant faithfulness." -- "God speaketh once, yea twice, Many times and divers ways God solicits and admonishes men; yet such is the dullness and security of their hearts, that they either do not, or will not, hear and understand them." (HALL)
Yes, the truth is out there but who really wants to know, who is listening, do we want to hear the truth, have we ever? Do not we not all just prefer status quo? Has not mankind has always rejected, hated and killed those who dared to break the sound of silence? Brethren, let us open our ears to hear even when it irritates us to the bone; may we never simply turn our collar to cold and damp; let us pray and think! Let us dare to speak the truth at the risk of being cancelled and/or hated and let us dare to pierce the darkness with our words even if they only echo through the wells of silence!
TEXT: 2 KINGS 17:13-23
SONGS: SOUND OF SILENCE, NEW HOPE MEMPHIS
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
I GIVE YOU MY HEART, BETHEL WORSHIP
GIVE US CLEAN HANDS, EG WORSHIP
The bones of Elisha scream out, that the power of God has not gone anywhere; the power of God has not diminished in any way shape or form. God is still on the throne and God is speaking this morning through the authors of the Hebrew chronicles we call the Kings. He screams to me through words that echo through the halls of memory; words of Ron Jupp, Don Howard and Bernard McCarty; words of the sacred authors buried in my heart from the days of youth. To me these men, long since retired still speak the words of truth! Dead Men Still Speak.
TEXT: 2 KINGS 13:20B-25
SONGS:
RATTLE, ELEVATION CHURCH
TOO GOOD TO NOT BELIEVE, CODY CARNES
SUCH AND AWESOME GOD, TROY WORSHIP
HYMN OF HEAVEN, BETHEL WORSHIP
"Christians are living defeated and/or powerless lives because they fail to realize, they are not equipped for defense. We must learn to strategize and have a plan of attack. We must put on the whole armour of God to be equipped for that attack. Our training is spiritual, but our battle is strategically subservient to the deliverer. Our victories and our peace come only when we conclude we must shoot until it is finished as faithful soldiers of the Captain of our Faith, Jesus Christ." (TIM JUPP)
The true Christian is called to be a soldier, and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death, he is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence, and security, He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven. Warfare with the powers of hell is the experience of every individual member of the true Church. Each has to fight. What are the lives of all the saints, but records of battles?” “Every professing Christian is the soldier of Christ.
As for true Christians, faith is the very backbone of their spiritual existence. No one ever fights earnestly against the world, the flesh, and the devil, unless he has engraven on his heart certain great principles which he believes. J.C Ryle
TEXT: 2 KINGS: 13:14-20
SONGS:
THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, TABERNACLE CHOIR
BATTLE BELONGS, PHIL WICKHAM
'TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS, TRINITY WORSHIP
FAITH IS THE VICTORY, JOHN YATES
Nobody is privy to God’s secret timetable regarding His appointed judgments.
It seems as if life will continue to go on as in the past without any divine intervention. But God sets judgment in motion in top secret fashion.
Ahab’s drama is approaching its final curtain. Right on cue, Jahu now makes his entrance. Israel will be purged at last of Ahab’s house and the worship of Baal it has introduced. Judah, too, will be cleansed. Even the Davidic line will seem under threat. God’s quiet ways are, for the moment, at an end. Earthquake is the order for the day.
(Pulpit Commentary)
Sermon Conclusion:The reprieve was over, the delay was done. The time Ahab bought by his show of humility had run out. Jehoram’s superficial reform did NOT fool anyone. The disgusting pagan worship of the Baals was at its end.
Habakkuk 2:2
Then the LORD answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets,That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, It will not tarry longer.
When the judgment of God comes, it will not trickle in but come full throttle, executing justice at the rejection of mercy!
TEXT: 2 KINGS 2 9:1-15a
SONGS:
ONLY A HOLY GOD, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY- CITY ALIGHT
BILLY GRAHAM, 1971
SEARCH ME OH GOD, HYMN SING
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
One cannot help but conclude that God is still active among His children, believers and unbelievers, righteous and unrighteous. The hand of providence moves the lives of those aware of it and not. Make NO mistake; God is still on the throne. NO man, woman, church, country or kingdom will stand that God is against or will fall that God is for. I think God moves His pieces on the board of life most often without our notice with so many eyes wide shut, but when He has opened the eyes of our heart we may suddenly notice His moves. It’s all about the timing! His timing! (TIM JUPP)
God’s eternity is not only beyond time, but somehow embraces all time as well. The ontological distinction between past, present, and future is nullified. All are present at once to God’s timeless gaze. Thus, God “knows the flight of time in His eternity, in the way that a person standing on top of a watchtower embraces in a single glance a whole caravan of passing travelers,” (ANDREW BRENNER UOF)
TEXT: 2 KINGS 8:1-15
SONGS:
HAND OF PROVIDENCE, MICHAEL W. SMITH
THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS, BIG HOUSE WORSHIP
TRUMP SHOOTING
EVIDENCE, JOSH BALDWIN
ONE DAY, WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN, MATT REDMAN
As clearly as the four lepers and the young prophet in training all have the eyes of their heart opened to the redemption at hand, the two kings Ben-Hadad and Jehoram absolutely never get it. They each experience God’s repeated mercy, yet neither are able to see it.
Though God be shown merciful and loving, though He is exposed to be long suffering and patient and though He is seen to be the God of the second chance to the second chance, there is nothing in the rebellious, unregenerate man that will choose to submit to a God that he still sees as nothing more than authority. His, “eyes are wide shut”!
The passage which is now to engage our attention needs to be read at a sitting, so as to perceive its connections, its unit and its wonders. In it there is a striking mingling of light and shade: the dark background of human depravity and the bright display of the prophet’s faith; the exercise of God’s justice in His sore judgments upon a rebellious and wayward people, and the manifestation of His amazing mercy and grace. A.W.PINK
He is ever ready with his mercy, he waits to be gracious, yes, he is always beforehand with us in his grace, but he is very slow footed in punishment; Verily he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. C.H.SPURGEON
TEXT: 2 KINGS 6:24-7:20
SONGS: OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART, PAUL BALOCHE
HOLY HOLY HOLY, MISSION WORSHIP
HEART OF WORSHIP, MATT REDMAN
JUST AS I AM
HIS MERCY IS MORE, MATT BOSWELL
The theme on provision and redemption through God’s mercy continues in this section. Remember that Elijah had predicted that Ahab’s sons would meet utter obliteration. Yet in this story, God shows tremendous mercy and patience to Jehoram but he never sees what Elisha’s humble servant sees.
The captured Syrians soldiers are fed and released: Nahaam heart would have seen God’s mercy but Ben Hadad’s did not. The ‘eyes of his heart’ were never opened. The ‘eyes of the heart’ are opened for the lowly and those called to righteousness, ‘that you may know, what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.’ Ephesians 1:18
What Elisha’s servant was really blind to was the goodness of God. He might have claimed that God was mighty to save, but in the moment of his greatest need, he lost sight of that. So instead of praying for strength, Elisha prays for vision. And his servant’s eyes are opened to see the armies of God’s love surrounding the murderous hoards of Arameans.
*“Both believer and unbeliever alike need to see a fresh glimpse of God’s love. That one look will do more than 10,000 practical points or doctrinal lessons.”
J.D. GREEAR
TEXT : 2 KINGS 6:8-23
SONGS:
BATTLE BELONGS, PHIL WICKHAM
GREATNESS OF OUR GOD, HILLSONG
OPEN OUR EYES LORD, CITIPOINTE CHURCH
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, CHASE OAKS*
"By His nature He is inclined to bestow blessedness and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people.The goodness of God is the drive behind all the blessings He daily bestows upon us. Out of God’s goodness flows our redemption.
God acts according to the ordinary working of the laws of creation and operations of His providence. But when the Enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a more apparent and noticeable standard against him, coming out more into the open and obliging men to take cognizance of Him."It would appear the author wanted us to believe that God not only can but will do anything He sees fit to persuade His children to make their needs and requests known to their Father. Whether Israeli or gentile, male or female, rich or poor, a novice or seasoned in the word, the Father has provided a way home for the lost, a way back for the rebellious, a way of healing for the sin sick. We have not been abandoned in a wicked generation without hope but rest in the assurance, that even in dark times God the Father is still redeeming His own, whatever it takes! (T.JUPP) TEXT: 2 KINGS 4:1-6:7
SONGS:
THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD, WORSHIP INTITIATIVE
GOODNESS OF GOD, BETHEL
JORDAN PETERSON, MIRACLES, THE STORY OF HIS WIFE
TOO GOOD TO NOT BELIEVE, EMMY ROSE, BETHEL
The miracles of scripture are not for putting on a show. Miracles of scripture are not for great stories to tell the kids. The miracles of scripture are to remind you that God can do whatever He wishes to do. They are really about His sovereignty, and they are about His love for His children, to whom He shows mercy. It's about His glory, because He lost you and He wants you back. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get you back. (T. Jupp)
When God’s glory is revealed—either in grand and glorious ways, or in the unassuming ways that are often His habit—it’s always to call people to believe and trust in Him. It is for His glory and our good.
TEXT: 2 KINGS 2:1-7
SONGS:
HOW GREAT THOU ART; MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
THIS IS MY FATHERS WORLD; MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
TOO GOOD TO NOT BELIEVE; CHRIS DAVENPORT
HIS GLORY AND MY GOOD; CITY ALIGHT
"The desperate disease of man gave occasion for the introduction of that divine remedy which God alone could have devised and supplied. By the plan of mercy, and the great gift which was needed for carrying it out, the Lord found means to display his boundless love to guilty men." (Commentary)
Naaman, the Syrian was cured! The general had become a father figure to a child of God before the Father took Naaman in and he became a child of God. We often talk about grace and I think, at the expense of good works. Here, God the Father sees the good works; is glorified by them and rewards the supplier. (Mat5:16)
This is not at the expense of grace for no good works could possibly heal our leprosy or take away our sin! Without Christ we are as Gehazi, incurably condemned, the walking dead!
TEXT: 2 KINGS: 1-19
SONGS:
GOOD GOOD FATHER, CHRISTOPHER DUFFLEY
HOW DEEP THE FATHERS LOVE, MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN (FULL OF LOVE), SHANE AND SHANE
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
There is only one thing that can destroy the power of sin - the blood of Jesus Christ. Reject Jesus, and there will be death in the pot. Trust Jesus, and there will be no harm in the pot. God’s provision will always be sufficient even in the darkness. The second story reinforces the first that God can and will make a way to feed His people their daily bread, both physically and spiritually but we must trust and eat. T.Jupp
"The miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ ought to be considered; they are not trifles, and they ought not to be passed over as if they were the mere common-places of a daily newspaper. Neither earth nor heaven, time nor eternity yields choicer gems of thought than the achievements of our Lord.
Remember, that since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, what he did at one time ought to be well considered, because it is the index of what he is prepared to do again, should the need arise. Still would he sooner feed his own sheep by a miracle than allow them to lack any good thing. His accomplished wonders have not exhausted his strength!
When there were five thousand people to be fed and no towns and villages near enough to supply them with bread, then Christ was ready, full-handed in time of scarcity, prompt to dispense his liberality, able to meet the emergency so perfectly."
C. Spurgeon
TEXT: 2 KINGS 4:38-44
SONGS:
TOO GOOD TO NOT BELIEVE, CHRIS DAVENPORT
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, MADI HUNT
IT IS NO SECRET/ WHAT A FRIEND, SINGING CONTRACTORS
One of the great mercies of God is that He is well acquainted with our sorrows. He is a God who enters in to our lives, whether is be great joy or great grief.
God often afflicts His children in the most sensible manner, that He may afterwards give them stronger tokens of His love, by delivering them, and giving them a happy issue out of their afflictions, and making those afflictions confirm them in the faith and fear of the Lord. Ostervald.
I see her righteousness, her humility, her contentment, her gratefulness; her graciousness and still calamity fell on her! Note, her response was to take it to God ASAP. No one else, no delay; I believe she believed it would be well; a miracle child should have a miracle healing!
*Our response must still be - to take it to God! We may not see a miracle but we must know God’s intends to make good ‘all things to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose’. Romans 8:28. Whether in prayer, scripture, church, counseling, comradery, take it to God!
TEXT: 2 KINGS 4:8-37
SONGS:
HOW GREAT THOU ART, MISSION HOUSE
GRATITUDE: BRANDEN LAKE
IT IS WELL, BETHEL WORSHIP
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL, HORATIO SPAFFORD*
It should come as no surprise of the God who supernaturally created the universe should choose at times to supernaturally intervene in it. John MacArthurPsalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.
*Remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity.”He will never neglect the children of His own house! “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me,”God has a way of His own. He does His wonders as He pleases. Be content often to stand still and see the salvation of God! Be ready to obey Him, and that will be far more in accordance with your position as a finite creature than the vain attempt to map out a course for your Creator. Keep to the obeying, and rest assured He will not be behind with the providing. Charles Spurgeon
The theme is complete and totally about God’s great mercy. But here we have a simple short narrative about divine provision. Our widow is overwhelmed by her need and in desperation cries to her heavenly Father. God hears our cries! He redeems us out of our poverty. Remember, redemption is a re-acquirement of the lost. We were all once a possession of God’s, He made us, He breathed life in to us and gave us His Spirit. Through our sin, He lost us. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, He bought us back again. (Pastor Tim Jupp)*
TEXT: 2 KINGS 4:1-7
SONGS:
IN THE ROOM, MATT MAHR
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, VENTURE WORSHIP
GOODNESS OF GOD, BETHANY BERNARD
The abomination was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. The shear brutality of the battle against a peaceful brother nation was nothing more than an exercise in depraved carnage for personal retribution.
As it turns out, Jehoshaphat needed to see just how evil evil is to receive Jehu’s warning fully, that helping the wicked yields wrath. Well intended compromise tends to compromise wellness. (1Kings 22)
We know not what blessings befall our families, friends, neighbours, co-workers and countryman only because we are. We are salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savour, it is only useful to be cast into the street.
If there is no separation, then we are in danger of being polluted by the evil. 2Corinthians 6:17 “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."
TEXT: 2 KINGS 3
SONGS:
BETTER IS ONE DAY, MATT REDMAN
WORD OF GOD SPEAK, MERCY ME
I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR, MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
GIVE US CLEAN HANDS, CHRIS TOMLIN
The cure was lasting, and not for the present only: The waters were healed unto this day, What God does shall be forever.
I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
When God, by his Spirit, heals a soul, there shall be no more death nor barrenness; the property is altered: what was useless and offensive becomes grateful and serviceable.
TEXT: 2 KINGS: 2:19-25
SONGS:
SUCH AN AWESOME GOD, CENTURY WORSHIP
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS
THE BLOOD WILL NEVER LOSE IT'S POWER, REVERE WORSHIP
JESUS DOES, WE THE KINGDOM
Are we willing to count the cost? Listen to heart of the story:“There it is Elisha, you’ve seen your mentor in all his troubles and now his horrific death. Will a double portion of his spiritual inheritance be enough? What troubles may come your way, confrontations loneliness, hatred? Are you sure you want to pick up that mantle? Are you really willing to follow in his footsteps?”
TEXT: 2 KINGS 2:1-18
SONGS:
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, JEREMY RIDDLE
NEW WINE, HILLSONG
FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, LANCASTER BAPTIST CHURCH
There are lines crossed that require a response from a Holy God, even so, in His justice, God’s grace is revealed. When God chooses thunder to reveal His will into our lives, it is still a revelation of His loving mercy, though there is some finality to it. The Father is crying out for man’s repentance before His hand of wrath falls like lightning on the arrogant refusal of His gracious mercy. The continued rejection of His truth is the continued rejection of mercy and ends in a just death sentence. Justice must come! Ahaziah is Dead!
The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Judgment is his strange work; but when he executes it, his mind is plainly to be seen.
When God’s power restrains Himself, then it is power indeed: The power that binds omnipotence is omnipotence surpassed.!!!
God marks His enemies, and yet He bestirs not Himself but holds in His anger. If He were less divine than He is, He would long have since sent forth the whole of His thunders and emptied the cannons of heaven; He would have long ago blasted the earth with the wondrous fires of its lower regions, and man would have been utterly destroyed.
TEXT: 2 KINGS 1:1-18
SONGS:
AWESOME GOD, MICHAEL W. SMITH
ONLY A HOLY GOD/HOLY HOLY HOLY, CITY ALIGHT
RESURRENDER, HILLSONG
HIS MERCY IS MORE, MATT BOSWELL
Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil.” It is the very nature of God to hate evil. And God always acts in accord with His character. So the existence of evil requires punishment. God would not be God if He did not punish evil.
“God’s great mercy and fierce wrath are both solid realities that stretch like railroad tracks to a point beyond our comprehension." Dick Brogden
Mercy does not stand alone as the attribute of God! Though God’s mercy endures forever and triumphs over justice.There is a day when mercy has run it's course and though it may continue to stand as a testimony to the great grace of God, that day is the conclusion of mercy! The continued rejection of truth is the continued rejection of mercy and ends in a just death sentence- Ahab is dead.
Justice must come!
TEXT: 1 KINGS 22:1-40
SONGS:BEHOLD OUR GOD, Sovereign Grace Music
OPEN OUR EYES LORD, Robert Cull
VIDEO CLIP, YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH, A FEW GOOD MEN MOVIE
ONLY TRUST HIM, John H Stockton
The lord, who is great in power and righteous in all His ways, restrains His anger to show us mercy, not destining us for wrath, but for salvation through Jesus Christ. “The miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love.” ―
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Dane Ortlund - Not once are we told that God is 'provoked to love' or 'provoked to mercy.' It is His anger which requires provocation; BUT..his mercy is pent up, ready to gush forth." —
*It might appear as if God is willing to forestall judgment against evil indefinitely.
There is no such evidence here! It would only be forestalled as long as the evil one was repentant. Three years later, Ahab again inquires of the prophets of Baal and hastening his death. Yet the mercy of God continued, in that Ahab never witnessed the death of his family. The judgment was completed after the death of Ahab.
This is a classic example of God’s mercy: we should never forget, our God must be provoked to wrath but His mercy endures forever.
TEXT: 1 KINGS 21:15-29
SONGS:
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, FANNY CROSBY
HIS MERCY IS MORE, MAT BOSWELL
GIVE US CLEAN HANDS, CHRIS TOMLIN
SEARCH ME OH GOD, J. EDWIN ORR*
Isn’t Elijah a lot like us? Didn’t the brother of our Lord declare “Elijah was a man of like passions as we are”. James 5:17.
So, why such an ending? Why would Elijah fear for his life after such a great victory? Where was the great prayer warrior now?
Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded. Jeremiah 31:16
When all goes well, we are so in danger of believing all will continue to go well that we may in fact miss what does go well. False expectations destroy careers, marriages and churches because the good is inappreciable in the shadow of the great.
1) Don’t think you can walk it alone!
2) Everyone must take a break! (remember the Sabbath)
3) You have NO idea what God is going to do!- Just that it is good
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
PASTOR TIM
Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not, it is neither your graces nor feelings on which you are to live: you must live simply by faith on Christ. With all these things against us, now-in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be now, whether on the mountain or in the valley.. be encouraged !! “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” SPURGEONTEXT: 1 KINGS 19:3-9SONGS*:
HOW GREAT THOU ART, CALVARY LIVE WORSHIP
IT IS WELL, KRISTINE DE MARCO
BECAUSE HE LIVES, CROWDER
LAND OF THE LIVING, YOU DON'T LIE, CHURCH OF THE CITY
TESTIMONY, MR. BRIAN PARE, VISITING FROM NAPLES FLORIDA
BRIAN LED SOME OF OUR WORSHIP TODAY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE SONGS DID NOT RECORD PROPERLY. WE ARE GRIEVED BUT SUCH ARE SOME DAYS IN CHURCH LIFE.*
The resurrection was the single most important event in human history: on that one day our redemption was accomplished. The first Easter Sunday was one of the most grueling long days recorded in scripture. The emotional roller coaster the young church was put through must have been exhausting as debates and disagreements’ inflamed and threatened their very existence. But, our Lord would not have the gates of hell prevail: He comes to them tenderly in their great sorrow and commissions them to proclaim the good news of the glorious resurrection! It was a day like no other ever has been or will be again!
TEXT: LUKE 24:1-12
SONGS:
O PRAISE THE NAME, HILLSONG
MY JESUS I LOVE THEE, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
LIVING HOPE, BETHEL
REVELATION SONG: MISSION HOUSE WORSHIP
When they hailed Him as King, sang Him Hosannas and put palms under His feet, ‘Jesus Read Their Palms’. Though Jesus loved Jerusalem, her people and their rightful praise, He knew their heart and though they gave Him a parade, He knew they were going to kill Him. Tragically, though they hailed Him as king and put branches under His feet He could read their palms and so, Jesus wept!
That infamy Jesus was willing to bear; and the strength of his confidence in God, His love for man, and the depth of His humiliation, was shown in the readiness and firmness with which He went forward to such a death.
TEXT: LUKE 19:28-41
SONGS:
LET THE ROCKS CRY OUT
PRAISE HIM, PRAISE HIM, FANNY CROSBY
O PRAISE THE NAME, HILLSONG WORSHIP
ONE DAY, WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN, MAT REDMAN
WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE, GAITHERS
Baffled, befuddled and bewildered, Elijah is suddenly filled with doubt and fear: he is shocked, stunned and staggers unready for the mind that can see the hand of God and still raise the fist to Him. Yes, such evil does exist; it twists and turns causing turmoil every which way. It is inexplicable, unreasonable and unfair because it is purely satanic! After the rain, some will repent and some will waver but the enemy will continue to rage tempting the righteous despair and give up. More than ever, after the rain, we need to remember the goodness of God and listen for the still small voice. This man will be back!
TEXT: 1 KINGS 18:41-19:3
SONGS:
LET IT RAIN, MICHAEL W. SMITH
BATTLE BELONGS, PHIL WICKHAM
LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS, SELAH
TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS, CENTURY WORSHIP
YOU'VE ALREADY ONE, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS, TRUE GRIT MOVIE
There is a faith which God cannot refuse; to which all things are possible; which laughs at impossibility; which can move mountains and plant them in the sea.
F.B MeyerRe 5:7,8 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Every prayer which broke out in sob from an agonizing heart, every sigh of the solitary and struggling Christian, every groan of those groping God- ward, mingles here with the songs of the happy and triumphant and with the majestic public refrains that lead us unto worship. These all are the golden bowls of incense in the throne room of our great and mighty Father in heaven. TEXT: 1 KINGS 18:36-38, 43,44
SONGS:
DO IT AGAIN, ELEVATION CHURCH
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, MADI HUNT
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS, ALABAMA
HYMN OF HEAVEN, BETHEL WORSHIP
DON'T STOP PRAYING, MATT REDMAN
“Only when the fireworks were finished and a terrible hush fell over the mountain did Elijah hear something, and what he heard was so much like silence that it was only through the ear of faith that he knew it was Yahweh. Nonetheless, the message came through loud and clear: that there was no longer any question who had been the star at Mount Carmel” By devastating everything, Yahweh leaves no room for doubt that HE is the living God. Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures, pp. 29-30:
TEXT: 1 KINGS 18:20-40
SONGS:
ONLY A HOLY GOD, CITY ALIGHT
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, MISSION WORSHIP
SUCH AN AWESOME GOD, TROY WORSHIP
GIVE US CLEAN HANDS, CHRIS TOMLIN
Whatever we may adore, in worship, it must be God alone.
At no time may we transfer such honor to any other created thing, or anything we may think is more important; even for an instant. Francis Turretin
To have a cognitive knowledge of who God is, is not even close to following Him! Baal worship is not gone but has morphed to subtle and culturally moral compromises. Look how we strive to grasp all we can in the here and now and store up in our barns ‘goods for many years’. How lightly we treat sexual sin and His call to worship with Holy hands! We are compromised; when we eventually embrace our sin we find it very difficult to embrace our God and then finally we can’t!
**TEXT: 1 KINGS 18: 16-21
SONGS:
HOW GREAT THOU ART/ ON THAT DAY, MATT REDMAN
I EXALT THEE, DAVID FUNK, BETHEL
HEART OF WORSHIP, MATT REDMAN
HE IS LORD, MICHAEL BETHANY**
"Contrary to human reasoning, God picked a bunch of earthen vessels in which to put His treasure, so that the surpassing greatness of the power would be of God and not from any man. The fact that He used such humanly unimpressive men should give us hope that perhaps He can use common people like us to help further His kingdom."
The mature saint just obeys. Others waiver under the stress of chastisement or danger but in the end those that fear God will choose to serve God. Whether born in a tent or with a silver spoon the calling of God is without repentance, the providence of God without check and the plan of God without question. There are pieces God strategically positions to put the King in check, Elijah is the Rook, now enter the Bishop, Obadiah. (T.Jupp)
TEXT: 1 KINGS 18:1-16
SONGS:
MY HANDS ARE OPEN, JOSHUA BALDWIN
IS YOUR ALL ON THE ALTER, ELISHA HOFFMAN
MAKE ROOM, COMMUNITY MUSIC
SEND ME, RIVER VALLEY WORSHIP
"Faithful is God who has called you into His kingdom- He has promised to assist you in all your trials. He who has called you is faithful and if you trust Him, He will preserve you."TEXT: I KINGS 17:17-24SONGS:
MORE THAN ABLE, ELEVATION CHURCH
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, WORSHIP INITIATIVE CIRCLE
GOOD TO ME, EAGLE BROOK WORSHIP
SAME GOD, ELEVATION CHURCH
"When we consider the promises of Christ, risking everything we are and everything we have for His sake is no longer a matter of sacrifice.
It just makes common sense." David Platt.
"If we trust Him as she did we shall not be losers, but infinite gainers: we may not only be assured of more grace, but will depend on His kind providence for the supply of all our necessary wants: our bread and our oil shall never fail." (BFB Commentary)
TEXT: I KINGS 17:7-16
SONGS:
BROKEN THINGS, MATTHEW WEST
MADE FOR MORE, JOSH BALDWIN
TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE, FAMILY PIANO
I SURRENDER ALL, JOURNEY CHURCH
TRUST AND OBEY, COLLIN NOWELL
In times of great distress God raises up men that man would not raise up. God will always separate those He chooses to use. He takes them on wilderness journeys, which are God’s preparation and provision for their souls. That man doesn’t get what he wants, he gets what he needs. In keeping with his person, a nobody of any report, he finds himself at the Cherith of loneliness, or the Cherith of bereavement or disease, the Cherith of heart ache, disaster or rejection - all in order to accomplish the specific task his God has called him to.
Elijah who? Nobody, and that’s OK. It has to be OK.
TEXT: 1 KINGS 17:19
SONGS:
MY HANDS ARE OPEN, JOSH BALDWIN
NEW WINE, HILLSONG
TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE, Frances R. Havergal
TO BE USED OF GOD, ANDRE CROUCH
“It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. C.H. Spurgeon
God has a purpose and plan for our days. Caves, crooked paths and injuries all have meaning within His plan. Graciously God uses our divergence, our rebellion and even our despair if we are willing to give back to Him what He has already redeemed. The question is: are we listening, can we hear the ‘Still Small Voice’, do we still hear the Holy Spirit calling out to us in subtle whispers; do you understand, He is not finished with you, can you see, there are no insignificant events in the life of the believer. Look up child of God, God has appointed your steps. There is a master plan!
We have a hope that grows into confidence and emerges into sight!
Proverbs 4:25 -27
Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left;TEXT: 1 KINGS 19:11-21SONGS: TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, CITIPOINTE WORSHIP
BE THOU MY VISION,
IT IS WELL, KRISTIAN DE MARCIO
I BELIEVE, JONATHAN HESSLER
“The birth of Christ was the incarnation of God: it was God taking upon himself human—a mystery, a wondrous mystery, to be believed in rather than to be defined.” — Charles Spurgeon
"God chose the stable for His Son to be born in for a very important reason. You see, when God sent His only Son to live on this earth, He made a strategic decision not to shelter Him from the harsh realities of this life. God had no intention of shielding His Son by having Him born into the make-believe world of the rich and famous.
For our sake, Jesus was given no aristocratic advantage. For our sakes He became poor, that through his poverty we might become rich."
That first Christmas, earth was oblivious to the significance of some quiet, unassuming birth in some quiet, unassuming village. For the Father, the time had come to reconcile, Satan raged to stop the innocent birth and the angelic realm rejoiced to see the day! The ‘Word of God’ laid aside His reputation of glory, dignity and majesty to become one of us. ‘So He came unto His own but His own did believe Him.’
No, mankind rejected the Prince of Glory! We mocked, railed, assaulted and killed the one who came to save us. Humanity prefers Santa Claus, Rudolph and Frosty. Most of us try to see the spiritual side to the pagan synchronicity. But, oh believer, step into the light and see Christmas as scriptures alone can show you. See little Baby Jesus as the Anointed Saviour in a manger and rejoice with the angels.
SONGS:
WHAT CHILD IS THIS, KIDS CHOIR
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL, SOUTHEAST WORSHIP
MESSIAH, GAS STREET WORSHIP
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, CHASE OAKS
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"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” We see Jesus as He was before His birth and ministry upon the earth. He was with God and was God, and through Him the world was made. He dwelt with God before time began and unfolded the creation of the world. He watched as man rebelled against God and the Garden of Eden was no longer a safe haven for man.
From His presence with God, He beheld the terrible flood that would consume the whole earth and destroy all that had the breath of life—save eight souls and an ark full of animals. He would witness the unfolding of the history of men as they would fight and kill one another, and the chosen people of God would rise in victory in their faith and fall in defeat in their unbelief. The “time” would come as the fullness of all things had come, and He knew that to save men from their downward spiral of destruction and fear of death—He would have to become a man."
The creative agent of all that is, of all that ever will be, became Jesus the Christ, the only begotten of the Father, the only anointed redeemer of Adam’s rebellious race. Complete God, complete man, charged with a duty to accomplish the impossible.
He came to earth as one of us, grew like one of us, lived like one of us, and then died for the likes of us. He was a Man on a mission from day one. Our baby Jesus whom we remember today came with an overwhelming ambition to live and die to reconcile me! Praise His holy name forever and ever, Amen! (Pastor Tim Jupp)
SONGS:
MANGER THRONE, PHIL WICKHAM
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, TIM HUGHES
GRATITUDE, I AM THEY
MESSIAH, GAS STREET WORSHP
So what did the angels see at the incarnation of Jesus? They saw the long awaited Messiah, the Anointed One that would overcome the powers of the sinfully persuasive evil dragon. They saw the hope of redemption dawning. A new era of grace was about to begin, where sins could be and would be wiped away by the sacrificial work of the Lamb of God. They could NOT and would NOT contain themselves! They had to sing!
Job 38:4-7Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off it's dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Wars; corrupt self serving governments; violence in the homes in the streets and in the churches; the celebration without the cause; the fake hero Santa; the spirit of antichrist in Islam, liberal Christian theology and the prosperity gospel all are Satan still attacking Christ and His Christmas.
Either we pretend or we just live as if Satan is an allegoric figure of evil, but He is real. Satan is just as real as Jesus but he is not glorious, nor is he victorious! He is the defeated hateful enemy that is still trying to stop Christmas. From the first Christmas even until now the old dragon still spitefully rages. He despises the message of ‘peace on earth and good will toward men’ sung on that Holy Night when Christ was born. What did Satan see? His ultimate demise! (Pastor Tim Jupp)
"We must never forget that we are at war. The birth of Jesus inspired a great war across the heavens, and now we are part of that battle.The Christmas story is not “a religious glow to warm a dark night.” It’s not just a cute little scene with bath-robed shepherds huddled around a manger-crib, telling the baby’s parents how cute he is. No, a dragon lurks outside the stable; this is cosmic warfare.
(The War On Christmas, Rich Hill Christian Church)
TEXT: REVELATION 12
SONGS:
O COME O COME EMANUEL, TOMMEE PROFITT
COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME/O COME LET US ADORE HIM, BETHEL
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
"The Lord God appointed a set time for the coming of his Son into the world; nothing was left to chance. Infinite wisdom dictated the hour when the Messiah should be born, and the moment when he should be cut off. His advent and his work are the highest point of the purpose of God, the hinge of history, the centre of providence, the crowning of the edifice of grace."
"Redemption demands a louder note of gratitude than creation! Sweet as providence must ever be to the believer, yet redemption--- redemption is the best wine kept unto the last, the last and best work of heaven, the mirror in which the brightest attributes of Jehovah are most clearly reflected. This is the head-stone of the corner, crowning the great temple of divine grace. “God so loved the world” — not JUST to make it fair and beautiful; that is not enough: “God so loved the world ”— not JUST to sustain it, and give it day and night, and summer and winter; that is not enough: but the line that will fathom the depths of divine love is this:
He “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”SONGS: JOY TO THE WORLD, UNION WORSHIP
MESSIAH, GAS STREET MUSIC
HOW GREAT THOU ART
This sermon was preached on Sunday, November 19th, by Mr. Jon Lang while Pastor Tim was headed into surgery. The very moment the service began, while we played Too Good Not to Believe, we received news that Pastor Tim was finally headed into surgery after a 6 day wait. It was pretty incredible! Only God can write this stuff!
The topic of prayer is something that is deeply treasured as a daily part of Jon's journey with Jesus Christ. If there is a man who can testify to the power of prayer, it is Jon. We could not have chosen a better person to preach this sermon!
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
― Abraham Lincoln
"Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer can do."SONGS: TOO GOOD NOT TO BELIEVE, CHRIS DAVENPORT COVER
SAME GOD, ELEVATION CHURCH
SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS, UNION WORSHIP
"There is a day coming when the Lord Jesus Christ shall judge His people and give to everyone according to His works. The great white throne shall be set up. The Judge of all shall sit upon it. The dead shall be raised from their graves. The living shall all be summoned to the judgment bar. The books shall be opened. High and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple — all shall at length give account to God, and shall all receive an eternal sentence."
"Those that are called to business for Christ he furnishes with gifts; on the other hand, from those to whom he gives power he expects service. He delivers the pounds with this charge, Go work, go trade. Matthew Henry
TEXT: LUKE 19:11-28
SONGS: THE CHRIST, THE KING
OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART LORD
HOLY HOLY HOLY
HAVE IT ALL
HIS NAME IS JESUS
The principal design of Jesus coming in to the world is to reclaim such persons from the ways of sin and misery, and with great compassion He would bring them to repentance and obedience and the hope of eternal life.
It is the grand design of Christ’s mission on earth to recover those like Zacchaeus in his unconverted state, were wandering in the way to everlasting ruin.
John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.This man Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector in what was a regional tax office. He wasn’t just rich, he was filthy rich! But like the rich young ruler, he knew there was something he lacked. His curiosity about this Rabbi Jesus drove him up a tree so to speak, literally. When Jesus walks under the tree and looks up, eye contact, name, a calling alongside and acceptance, forgiveness and mercy! No doubt dumb founded, proudly Zacchaeus leads toward home, he stops, thinks of Jesus' reputation and declares his repentance. He has become the child of Abraham whom Jesus had sought!
TEXT: LUKE 19:1-10
SONGS:
GOD SO LOVED, WE THE KINGDOM
HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR
LIGHT OF THE WORLD, HERE I AM TO WORSHIP
COME YE SINNERS
"The blind beggar outside Jericho was not shy about making his needs known. He was calling out at the top of his lungs, begging Jesus to stop and help him. He knew full well that he was blind and that he had no hope apart from this miracle-working teacher he had heard so many people talk about as they passed his place by the side of the road. He received mercy because he knew his need and cried out for it."
Paul Chappel
The blind beggar does not immediately go back to his family or immediately seek to enjoy all the things he has missed out on. No, he praises God and follows Jesus. This man did not see Jesus as just a healer of his eyes but a healer of his soul. Once Bartimaeus saw Jesus he knew he had found everything he was never looking for.
To be able to see, hear, and serve “The Son Of David” was the greatest blessing there could ever be. Most likely this man became an eyewitness to Palm Sunday, the horrors of the Crucifixion and the joy of the Resurrection. He witnessed the truth and it changed him forever. Unlike the rich, young ruler, we know his name because his story is supposed to be remembered (Mark 10) - He saw Jesus and he was never the same!
TEXT: LUKE 18:31-43
SONGS:
IN THE ROOM, MATT MAHER
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
PASS ME NOT O GENTLE SAVIOR, FANNY CROSBY
AMAZING WORSHIP, CELTIC WORSHIP
"We were designed for more than the trivial pursuit of pleasure. The hard truth is that we will never find relief if we continue to seek it through possessions or through people. Seeking satisfaction in the things of this world is like chasing the wind. Once you’re finally exhausted and weary from your pursuit, you’re left empty-handed and disappointed and unsatisfied.
The problem is that our hearts are black holes of discontentment, devouring relationships and possessions, all while screaming, “I need more, I need more !!” We’re always eating, but we’re famished. Always drinking, but we are never, never satisfied."
“No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of looking at things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go before we lay hold." Oswald Chambers
TEXT: LUKE 18:18-30
SONGS:
CHRIST IS ENOUGH, HILLSONG COVER
COME YE SINNERS, LINGER CONFERENCE
I'D RATHER HAVE YOU, TOMMEE PROFFIT, BROOKE GRIFFITH
I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS, REAH MILLER
I think Christians fail so often to get answers to their prayers because they do not wait long enough on God. They just drop down and say a few words, and then jump up and forget it and expect God to answer them. Such praying always reminds me of the small boy ringing his neighbor's door-bell, and then running away as fast as he can go. We must not be weary, though our requests do not immediately succeed; but patiently persevere in calling upon God day and night.
E.M. Bounds
Do not just begin to pray and pray a little while and throw up your hands and quit; but pray and pray and pray until God bends the heavens and comes down. Oh, men and women, pray through; pray through! - R.A. Torrey
TEXT: LUKE 18:1-17
SONGS:
ALMOST HOME, GETTY MUSIC
SAME GOD, ELEVATION CHURCH
TOO GOOD NOT TO BELIEVE, BRANDON LAKE
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS, ALABAMA
HE WILL HOLD ME FAST, SELAH
Q: What is the battle of Armageddon?
Regarding the battle of Armageddon, Mr. Billly Graham has stated:
“The Bible plainly forecasts the coming of yet another great war. It will be a war to eclipse anything the world has ever seen. It will embrace most of the nations of the world; and its focal point will be in the Middle East, where the armies of the world will some day deploy themselves, centering at Mount Megiddo. This great war has been called the battle of Armageddon. In the midst of this terrifying war that could destroy civilization the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth in glory and power to judge the nations of the world and set up His own glorious kingdom."
Conclusion: The purpose of apocalyptic scripture is to give us hope. So we pray and we do not faint, lose heart or give up. Jesus' recognized revealing, His great rescue of the remnant and His righteous reckoning are coming! The wicked will be judged, the Lord will return for His humble children who groan for reconciliation and hope in consolation. We watch the news and groan within ourselves, our world is such a mess with hatred, indulgence and debauchery but there is a blessed eternal hope, Messiah is coming soon; it’s gonna get fixed!
TEXT: LUKE 17:20-37
SONGS:
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW, MAVERICK CITY
WORTHY OF IT ALL, BETHEL
I WISH WE'D ALL BEEN READY, D.C TALK
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
"It would be a shameful crime, if, after receiving God's mercies, we should forget to praise him. God would not have our tongues lie idle while so many themes for gratitude are spread on every hand. He will have no silent children in His house house."
TEXT: LUKE 17:11-19
SONGS:
HOW GREAT THOU ART (COVER)
GRATITUDE, I AM THEY
ALAS AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED (COVER)
GRATITUDE, REPRISAL, PASSION
The duty of forgiving offenses is one of the most difficult duties of the Christian religion. It is so contrary to our natural feelings; it implies such elevation above the petty feelings of malice and revenge, and is so contrary to the received maxims of the world, which teach us to "cherish" rather than to forgive the memory of offenses, that it is no wonder our Saviour dwells much on this duty.
*Following Jesus and being a Christian takes incredible courage, for it calls us to stand up for what is right in the face of opposition. It requires for us to follow Jesus to unexpected places, unforeseen assignments, and minister to diverse groups of people. To love the unlovable, to lead the rebels, to forgive our offenders. It takes the losing of ourselves, a life that is contrary to this world and great faith to choose the JESUS WAY!
TEXT: LUKE 17:1-10
SONGS:
THE JESUS WAY, PHIL WICKHAM
RE-SURRENDER, BETHEL WORSHIP
LORD I NEED YOU, MATT MAHER, PHIL WICKHAM
REFINERS FIRE, JEREMY RIDDLE*
1 Samuel 2:8 “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the dunghill--to set them among princes, and make them inherit the throne of glory!"
What an amazing stoop of love is that--from His throne in the Heaven of heavens, the Lord reaches down to the dunghills of earth--that He may deliver those who are in a lost and loathsome estate!
He exalts beggars to the status of "beloved children." He takes them into the place of nearness unto Himself. He brings them into union with His dear Son, making them "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ!" (Romans 8:17). He takes them out of the miry clay of an unregenerate state--and sets them upon the rock. Shame is replaced by the highest honor; filthy rags are replaced by the spotless robe of righteousness, poverty is replaced by the unsearchable riches of Christ! A.W. PINK
TEXT: LUKE 16:14-31
SONGS:
HOUSE OF THE LORD, PHIL WICKHAM
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
ALAS AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED, NEWMAN CITY MUSIC
COME YE SINNERS, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
The organized church continues to fail. The locking in of traditions and teachings of men have made hypocrisy mainstream. It has been the undoing of the gospel to raise human directions and objections to Biblical status. But there is a better way!
We must recognize that which we naturally value is temporal and is passing away! Prosperity, promiscuousness and technology have numbed our spiritual senses so that we do not think of the eternal but we focus singularly on personal wealth and gratification. But there is a better way!
1) Love your brothers and sisters in the tangible. Remember love is an action not a feeling.
2) Keep opinions on the opinion shelf and remember all scripture is for our learning not just the parts we like but especially the parts we don’t like!
TEXT: LUKE 16:14-18
SONGS:
BETTER IS ONE DAY, PASSION
HOLY HOLY HOLY, SHANE AND SHANE
HOW GREAT THOU ART, JOSHUA AARON
"The Pharisees, who had dedicated themselves to the pursuit of righteousness, had degenerated into a group of hypocrites. They were involved in a parade and in a charade. Their joy was to parade their righteousness and their holiness, not before God, but before the eyes of men. They lusted for the applause of human beings. They paraded their righteousness before the eyes of the people. Their parade was a charade. It was an exercise in hypocrisy. It was a pretense, as their righteousness was not genuine."TEXT: LUKE 14:1-14
SONGS:
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, TIM HUGHES COVER
MORE LIKE JESUS, KRISTIAN STANFILL
HYMN OF HEAVEN, BETHEL WORSHIP
Being the Great Teacher He was, the Head of the new dispensation of religion, and beholding the people misled by their religious guides, He invites them to come, those oppressed by the burden of ceremonies and traditions, those oppressed by ignorance, sin and trouble, those destitute of true ease of conscience, He invites them to Himself, as the One who could give adequate consolation under all their sorrows. CH Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 13:31-35
SONGS:
COME YE SINNERS, ACAPELLA
COME AS YOU ARE, COVER
THE LOVE OF GOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN, JOURNEY WORSHIP
COME YE SINNERS, LINGER CONFERENCE
"In making guilty, polluted rebels and heirs of endless perdition holy--not merely servants but children, heirs of God, and partakers of endless life and glory-
the grace of God surpasses all finite conception."
Our Saviour came to guide men's consciences, not to gratify their curiosity.
Ask not, How many shall be saved? But, Shall I be one of them? Matthew Henry
TEXT: LUKE 13:22-30
SONGS:
THIS IS MY SONG, NORTH POINT CHURCH
BLESSED ASSURANCE, NEW HOPE
HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US, CELTIC WORSHIP
I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED, DANIEL WHITTLE
The congregation rejoiced over the glorious things Jesus did and His adversaries were put to shame. Today the same craziness goes on. The church becomes entrenched in practices that restrict the movement of the Holy Spirit, God gets placed in a box and told how to operate and traditions become dogma. Then, some poor soul steps out of line and straight away, Christ's adversaries get all bent out of shape.
TEXT: LUKE 13:10-22
SONGS;
I STAND AMAZED, AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN, GREEN ROOM, JOURNEY WORSHIP
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
HOSANNA, HILLSONG
May we be such parents, such brothers, such sisters, such children, that it shall be the first anxiety of our spirits that our children, our parents, our husband, our wife, our friends, our brothers and sisters, should be brought to partake with us in the things of God! C.H Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 12:49-59
SONGS:
BLESSED ASSURANCE, JEREMY RIDDLE
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
I SPEAK JESUS, PORCH WORSHIP
“Where your chief treasure is laid up, there will your heart be also fixed, and the whole tenor of your thoughts and affections will naturally flow in that direction.""Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find him intent on the business entrusted to him."
TEXT: LUKE 12:35-48
SONGS:
SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD
HAVE IT ALL
I SURRENDER ALL
LIVING FOR JESUS
“Rest assured that the lord, who provides for the millions of fish in the sea and the myriads of birds in the air will not suffer His own children to perish for the lack of things of this life.” C.H. SPURGEON
TEXT: LUKE 12:22-34
SONGS:
NO ONE EVER CARED FOR ME LIKE JESUS
HOW GREAT THOU ART, CALVARY CHURCH
GRATITUDE, BRANDON LAKE
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS
TRUST IN GOD, ELEVATION CHURCH
“Each of us will eventually give away all our earthly possessions. How we choose to do so, however, is a reflection of our commitment to the kingdom of God.”
Charles Stanley
"The Christian must keep his feet upon the earth, but his head in the heavens."
Ripley Commentary
TEXT: LUKE 12:13-21
SONGS:
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, NEW VISION WORSHIP
HAVE IT ALL, BETHEL WORSHIP
TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE, KARI JOBE
'TREASURED POSSESSIONS', PASTOR JEREMY JOHNSON, FEARLESS CHURCH
I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS, FELLOWSHIP CREATIVE
"Of all the spiritual dangers to which Christ alerted His disciples, few of them outweigh His warnings concerning hypocrisy. If we would not become Pharisees, let us cultivate a heart religion. Let us realize daily that God looks far below the outward surface of our profession, and that He measures us by the state of our hearts. Let us be real and true in our Christianity. Lets abhor all part-acting, and fake appearance of devotion, put on for public occasions. It may deceive man and gain us the reputation of being very religious, but it cannot deceive God. "
TEXT: LUKE 12:1-12
SONGS:
THANKS AND PRAISE, PHILIPPA HANNA
REFINERS FIRE, JEREMY RIDDLE
LIVING FOR JESUS, HYMN
THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, WEST
COAST BAPTIST COLLEGE
"It is a triumphant view which bursts upon the soul as it contemplates the fact that the work of the second Adam has repaired the ruins of the first, and that man is redeemed; HALLELUJAH, his body will be raised; not another human being should die, and the work of death should be ended.. Death is not only at an end; it shall not only cease, but its evils shall be repaired; and the glory and honour shall encompass the body of man, such as would have been unknown had there been no death. DEATH SHALL, BE AT AN END."
1Peter 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
SONGS:
CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY
CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS
WORTHY OF IT ALL, EMMIE ROSE, BETHEL
LIVING HOPE, PHIL WICKHAM
AMAZING GRACE, NEW VISION WORSHIP
“I look at the cross of Christ. There I see that sin is so black and damnable, that nothing but the blood of God's own Son can wash it away. There I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker, that all the angels in heaven could never have made peace between us. Nothing could reconcile us, short of the death of Christ. Ah, if I listened to the wretched talk of proud men, I might sometimes fancy sin was not so very sinful! But I cannot think little of sin, when I look at the cross of Christ.” J.C RYLE
The greatest injustice the world has ever seen was there. At the cross, all the guilt of the world received complete pardon and the only' Innocent' the world had ever known received utter condemnation. Sin could not stick to Him, Hell could not hold Him. Death had no power over Him. Our Great High Priest is the New Viel! Now we go boldly to the Holy of Holies because Jesus the Messiah is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. T.A JUPP
TEXT: MATTHEW 27:43-51
SONGS:
WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS, ISAAC WATTS
KING OF KINGS, HILLSONG
O SACRED HEAD NOW WOUNDED, ROBERT BRIDGES
"Those eyes which had looked upon him with wonder at first, now began to glare with the eyes of wild beasts. Those tongues which were ready to give him applause, now began to howl with indignation. They rose up to slay the preacher; curiosity was turned into indignation; a few hours ago they would have welcomed the prophet to his own country, now they would rather chant, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not get it.!!“ No one ever came on such an errand of love as the Saviour, and no one ever received such treatment at the hands of sinners.”
TEXT: LUKE 11:45-54
SONG:
HOW GREAT THOU ART, CROSSPOINT CHURCH
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, COVER
MAN OF SORROWS, HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR, GRACE COMMUNITY
It is utterly inconceivable that any soul could have deserved to be redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The mere thought is abhorrent to every holy mind---- not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” Over and over again the apostle insists upon this grand and fundamental truth. We are not justified before God by works in any measure or in any degree, but by faith alone; There is no point in the history of a saved soul upon which you can put your finger and say, “In this instance he is saved by his own deservings.” C.H. SPURGEON
The great tragedy is that the Pharisees at one time had sought to be holy. They wanted to be set apart but somewhere along the way they began to desire the appearance of holiness more than holiness. The hypocrites ambition is to be thought good, not to be good. R.C Sproul
TEXT: LUKE 11 37-44
SONGS:
WONDERFUL GRACE OF JESUS, HALDOR LILLINUS
AMAZING GRACE, MY CHAINS ARE GONE, CHRIS TOMLIN
HEART OF WORSHIP, MATT REDMAN
HOSANNA, HILLSONG
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” There is a deadly, implacable, infinite, eternal hatred between Christ and that sin of which Satan is the representative. No compromise can ever be thought of, no quarter will ever be allowed.
What a ridiculous suggestion, that the Lord of glory was in league with the the Prince of devils. ---- he never allies himself with Satan, to advance the kingdom of God, but he comes against him as a strong man armed, determined to fight until he wins a decisive victory.!! C.H. Spurgeon
"The strong man will not be defeated by a lesser man. If by some trick, compromise or opportunistic advance this individual under his control gains ground, the last state of the lesser will be worse than the first. Satan is still the king of this world and will not yield a single soul without battle. Do you see the uselessness of self reformation, the utter poverty of self help?" Pastor Tim
TEXT: LUKE 11:14-26
SONGS: RAISE A HALLELJAH/SURROUNDED, MICHAEL NEALE
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD, M.W. SMITH
WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?, FRANCIS HAVERGAL
BATTLE BELONGS, PHIL WICKHAM
"How many times we ask of God, and have not because we do not wait long enough at the door! We knock a time or two at the gate of mercy, and as no friendly messenger opens the door, we go our way. Too many prayers are like boys’ runaway knocks, given, and then the giver is away before the door can be opened.
O for grace to stand foot to foot with the angel of God, and never, never, never relax our hold; feeling that the cause we plead is one in which we must be successful, for souls depend on it, the glory of God is connected with it, the state of our fellow men is in jeopardy. We must urge and plead again and again until we obtain the answer."
SpurgeonTEXT: LUKE 11:5-13SONGS: SAME GOD, ELEVATION CHURCH
SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
God will have His children pray to Him, and links all His promised supplies to their petitions for them; He encourages us to draw near and keep near to Him, to talk and walk with Him, to open our every case to Him! That is the kind of shocking accessibility conveyed in Jesus' word Abba. God may be the Sovereign Lord of the Universe, but through his Son, God has made himself as approachable as any doting human father. - Author: Philip YanceyTEXT: Luke 11:1-4
SONGS:GOOD GOOD FATHER, EMMY ROSE, BETHEL WORSHIP
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, CHRISTY NICHOLS
WORTHY OF IT ALL, BETHEL WORSHIP
“Tender, heartfelt worship is hard for a person who thinks of himself as having arrived. (for the one who has better things to do, for the one who is caught up in trivial pursuits) No one celebrates the presence and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ more than the person who has embraced his desperate and daily need of it.”
Paul Tripp
“Seek the Lord with un-containable desperation. If you must get away from everything and everyone to give Him your undivided attention, DO IT”
"When our lives are packed to the brim with things that squeeze God to the periphery, it’s a sure sign we’ve replaced our devotion to God with a love for something else".
Priscilla Shirer
"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities."
TEXT: LUKE 10:38-42
SONGS:
BETTER IS ONE DAY, MATT REDMAN
THIS IS THE AIR I BREATHE, HILLSONG
THE MORE I SEEK YOU, COVER BY VICTORIA & ASHLEY JUPP
I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS, RHEA MILLER
Once a man has truly experienced the mercy of God in his life he will henceforth aspire only to serve. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Happy are those whose self-centered lives have been crushed and reshaped by the Master's hand to be full of mercy. John Haggee
Christ's people have been saved; we do not do good deeds to be saved. The Great Samaritan has already saved you; Jesus has reconciled you to the Father; He brought you into the safe haven of the Church, His Bride, given you His ministering saints, bidden us to bring you to maturity so you many do those good deeds and He promised to reward us when He returns. Therefore, be true followers of our Lord; do the practical deeds of kindness of mercy and kindness. If you have failed to be available for others physical or spiritual needs before, begin now with a generous heart and the generous God you serve will bless you generously.
TEXT: LUKE 10:25-37
SONGS:
I STAND AMAZED, FLAT IRONS WORSHIP
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
"Nothing rejoices the heart of the Lord Jesus so much as the progress of the gospel, and its getting ground of Satan, by the conversion of souls to Christ!"
Our Lord inwardly rejoiced, with a holy and spiritual joy, in the prospect of the extensive success of the gospel, the salvation of souls, and the glory which would redound to God.
"He has not entrusted this task to the prudent and the wise but to the simple, foolish, uneducated … The simple tidings of Christ's message were hidden from the proud and self-sufficient Pharisees and scribes, but they were revealed to babes, that is, to the humble and unlearned who received them gladly."
NOTES FROM PASTOR TIM,
The particularization of the gospel: general revelation - the law - the Gospel of Christ, has simply made it easier and easier to be found and reconciled to God.
We are the beneficiaries of God’s plan to put His mercy dead in front of our faces. This Gospel, too simple for the complex to understand; too straightforward for the twisted minds of the self sufficient to grasp; but to the babes to whom it has been revealed and have received it with joy, it is the power of God unto salvation!
TEXT: LUKE 10:21-24
SONGS:
NEW NAME IN GLORY, AUSTIN MILES
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, FANNY CROSBY
I SPEAK JESUS, KINGS PORCH
We preach Christ crucified, and every sermon shakes the gates of hell. We bring sinners to Jesus by the Spirit’s power, and every convert is a stone torn down from the wall of Satan’s mighty castle. Satan intended to make the human race the captives of his power, but they are redeemed from his iron yoke!!!! God has delivered many of them, and the day shall come when he will cleanse the whole earth from the serpent’s slimy trail, so that the entire world shall be full of the praises of God. (Spurgeon)
In this we have great reason to rejoice!! Do not the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents? Is this not our greatest wish for those we love? Is this not the vision of our Lord, to see satan fall like lightening?
TEXT: LUKE 10:17-20
SONGS:
HIS NAME IS JESUS, JEREMY RIDDLE
ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS' NAME
ASHTON/THRONE ROOM, MICHAEL W. SMITH
THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, KARI JOBE
"The world is to the Church like a scaffold to a building. When the Church is built, the scaffold will be taken down; the world must remain until the last (elect) one is saved: "Then shall the end come." Before Jerusalem was destroyed, "this gospel of the kingdom." was probably "preached in all the world" so far as it was then known; but there is to be a fuller proclamation of it "for a witness unto all nations" before the great consummation of all things: "then shall the end come," and the King shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and decide the eternal destiny of the whole human race."
Men are either going to Heaven or to Hell—and it is time that we came to close grips with them about this all-important matter!
By the love and wounds and death of our Christ, by your own salvation, by your indebtedness to Jesus, by the terrible condition of the heathen and by the awful hell whose yawning mouth is before them, ought you not to say, Here I am, send me?
C.H.Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 10:1-16
SONGS:
WHAT HE'S DONE, PASSION
I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY, OAKRIDGE BOYS
SEND ME, HILLSONG
HE IS LORD, STEVE VEST
"What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness, Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and ridicule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far county. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus."
Brennan Manning
"The way to rise in the ranks of Christ is to go down. Be willing to do the meanest thing, and you are growing in Christ’s esteem. When you are great, you are little. When you are nothing, then are you great. The Lord take away from us the black drops of pride that make us stand up on our dignity, and think we must be somebody! Somebody? God will not use you as long as you are somebody; but when you are nobody, then will God greatly magnify you, and use you in his Church."
TEXT: LUKE 9:46-56
SONGS:
RE-SURRENDER: HILLSONG
I SURRENDER ALL
REFINERS FIRE: BRIAN DOERKSEN
SEND ME: BETHEL WORSHIP
Want of faith is the great cause of failure among disciples, both as to themselves and their work for others. There may be other specific maladies in certain cases, but this is the great and main cause of all failure: "Because of your unbelief."C.H SPURGEON
TEXT: LUKE 9:37-45
SONGS:
THE GOODNESS OF GOD, BETHEL WORSHIP
TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS, SHANE AND SHANE
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, HILLSONG
“Before He came to the earth, Jesus was the Commander of the angel hosts.
The brightest and most exalted of the sons of the morning heralded His glory at the creation. They veiled their faces before Him as He sat upon His throne. They cast their crowns at His feet, and sang His triumphs as they beheld His greatness.
Yet this glorious Being loved the poor sinner, and took upon Him the form of a servant, that He might suffer and die for us. Jesus might have remained at the Father's side, wearing the kingly crown and the royal robe; but for our sake He chose to exchange the riches of Heaven for the poverty of earth.”
"He who had once been waited on by angels, becomes the servant of servants, takes a towel, girds himself and washes his disciples’ feet! He who was once honored with the hallelujahs of ages, is now spit upon and despised! He who was loved by his Father, and had abundance of the wealth of affection, could say, “He that eats bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”
Oh for words to picture the humiliation of Christ!
SONGS:
KING OF KINGS, HILLSONG UNITED
HOW LOW WAS OUR REDEEMER BROUGHT, SOVEREIGN GRACE
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP, UPPER ROOM
HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR
The event described in these verses, commonly called "the transfiguration", is one of the most remarkable events in the history of our Lord's earthly ministry.
It is one of those passages which we should always read with particular thankfulness. It lifts a corner of the veil which hangs over the world to come
and throws light on some of the deepest truths of our religion. J.C. RYLE
TEXT: LUKE 9:27-36
SONGS:
ADORE HIM, BETHEL WORSHIP
IS HE WORTHY, SHANE AND SHANE
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE, THE GAITHERS
God loved the world... Herein is love (unusual, unprecedented love), not that we loved God, but that he loved us. He loved us, when we had no love for him, when we lay in our guilt, misery, and blood, when we were undeserving, ill-deserving, polluted, and unclean,. …to be the propitiation for our sins; consequently to die for us, to die under the law and curse of God, to bear our sins in his own body, to be crucified, to be wounded in his soul. O what love is here! **MATTHEW HENRY
SONGS:**LIGHT OF THE WORLD, WE THE KINGDOM
NOEL, LAUREN DAIGLE
THE LOVE OF GOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
"Today, some say, “He is a good man,” others say, “Nay; but he deceives the people.” Some say that he is divine, though not actually God; others that he has become God, though he was not always so;. Some agree that his teachings were admirable for the occasions on which he delivered them,; while others ridicule his teachings as altogether impracticable. The doctrines of flesh and blood concerning Jesus are very various. Today they rip apart the seamless clothing of the Crucified. They retain his example, and profess to value it; but his sacrifice they fling aside as a rag of superstition.
They dare to deny his miracles while they applaud his precepts: they will have nothing to do with the doctrine of the cross; but with the self-denial of the cross they affect to be enamored. Our Lord will not thus be divided. Those who take not a whole Christ take not Christ at all.!!!!
The character of Jesus is much too hard a nut for philosophic teeth to crack. Men wonder at him, and, as the case may be, they admire or abhor him;” The brightness of his glory blinds them.. They guess, and reason, and blunder. Jesus is to them a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." Spurgeon
Pastor Tim's conclusion....
So you say you know it’s Him? You know this Jesus is God. So what! You follow His teachings? You follow His moral code? You follow the soft side of His demeanor? Good, you do well but Jesus said follow me not just my works and teachings!
Now will you follow Him into battle? Will you pick up your own cross daily and die to yourself daily? Will your life be marked by giving of yourself for His kingdom? Or will you hold on tightly to what this world appears to offer?
Who do you say that I am? This question demands more than answer it demands a response!
TEXT: LUKE 9:18-27
SONGS:
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, FOUNTAIN VIEW ACADEMY
CORNERSTONE, AUSTIN STONE
I HAVE DECIDED, BRANDEN LAKE
"There is none like Christ for pity to souls; His compassions fails not. 3. He did not only pity them, but he helped them; many of them were sick, and he, in compassion to them, healed them; for he came into the world to be the great Healer. After awhile, they were all hungry, and he, in compassion to them, fed them. Note, In all the favours Christ shows to us, he is moved with compassion.
So generous was his soul, that he gave all he had for the help of those that had not. The fox had its hole, and the bird its nest, but he had no dwelling-place. Stripped even of his garments, he hung upon the cross to die. He steps in, he takes upon himself the uplifted lash, and his shoulders run with gore; he bares his bosom to the furbished sword, and it smites the Shepherd that the sheep may escape.".
Spurgeon
There is nothing that identifies a man more; a brother is marked by behavior that reflects his Master. When we've got nothing left and the call of duty comes, there is no time for rest; it's time to pray, bless God and move out with empty purses, worn shoes and the clothes on backs, just one more time.This is the place of miracles.
TEXT: LUKE 9:10-17
SONGS:
SUCH AND AWESOME GOD, MAVERICK CITY
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, AUSTIN STONE
BRING THEM IN
The better a man is, the more anxious is he to know the worst of his case. The more a man gets rid of sin and the more he lives above his daily faults and errors, the more he cries,, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; O try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Bad men do not want to know their badness; it is the good man, the man who has been renewed by grace, who is anxious to discover what is his disease, that he may have it healed. Spurgeon
How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin."—Job 13:23.
Guilt is a God-given mechanism. Conscience is to bring peace into the soul of the humble, repentant one and drive the rebellious to their knees. If this is ignored, it causes a hardening of the very arteries to the heart and leads to a cold madness and eventually destruction. O believer, confess to your Lord today and never allow yourself to be haunted by guilt again!
TEXT: LUKE 9:7-9
SONGS:
JESUS DOES, WE THE KINGDOM
COME AS YOU ARE, CROWDER
TO THE TABLE, ZACK WILLIAMS
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN, SHANE AND SHANE
The most important event that has ever happened since the creation of the world is the coming of Jesus Christ, God's Son, into the world. Therefore the most important thing anybody could ever learn, or any church could keep clear in its vision, is why Christ came.
If Christ is the Creator, Ruler, and Sustainer of the universe as the Scripture says, and if the purpose for which he came is not yet completed, and if the church is his bodily instrument for finishing that purpose,then no knowledge is more important than the knowledge of why Christ came to this earth. Few things could be clearer—the purpose of the body of Christ is to extend the mission of Christ in the world.
Christ has passed on to the church his mission to seek and save the lost. As long as this age lasts, our charge from Jesus is to tell of his salvation with our lips and show his love with our lives so that people from every tongue and tribe and nation will be saved by faith and give him glory for his mercy.
Christianity Today
TEXT: LUKE 9:1-6
SONGS:
GLORIFY YOUR NAME, PAUL ARREND
JESUS SAVES
HAVE YOU ANY ROOM FOR JESUS
SEND ME, BETHEL WORSHIP
Brother, are you still breathing? It's not too late! Seek out Jesus and you will be made well. There are moments in our lives that sear into the tracks of our minds' memory, good and bad. We cannot and we will never forget the experience. Our lives are changed forever. The date, the time, the place, all written in stone, the names of those involved and their faces and, for the believer, the unmistakable presence of the Divinity. We look back with thanksgiving in our hearts, never forgetting what He has done.
Ephesians 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
TEXT: LUKE 8: 40-56
SONGS:
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, CHRISTY NOCKELS
GOD IS SO GOOD, PASSION
WHAT HE'S DONE/DOXOLOGY, PASSION, AMANDA COOK
Christ was commissioned by God, and therefore he had divine authority behind him. Jesus only had to speak, and his Word was potent with leprosies, with fevers, with dropsies, indeed, and with death itself; The name of Jesus is a mighty power in heaven, in earth, and in the deep places under the earth. There is no part of the universe where the King’s name is without influence; the warrant from his throne may be executed among angels, and among demons, and certainly shall not be powerless among the sons of men. “Where the word of a king is, there is power”; and where the name of the King of kings is on the proclamation, who shall be able to resist it? The name of “Jesus Christ of Nazareth” is full of power."
C.H. SPURGEON
TEXT: LUKE 8:40-49
SONGS:
HIS NAME IS JESUS, PHIL WICKHAM
JESUS PAID IT ALL, DINAH WRIGHT
I BELIEVE, JONATHAN HESLER
We probably have not the faintest idea of the number, subtlety, and activity of Satan’s agents. We forget that he is king over an enormous host of subordinate spirits who do his will. We should probably find, if our eyes were opened to see spirits, that they are about our path, and about our bed, and observing all our ways, to an extent of which we have no conception. In private and in public, in church and in the world, there are busy enemies ever near us, of whose presence we are not aware.
It is the bent of Satan's nature to do harm, to kill, and to destroy. No wonder that he is called Apollyon, the destroyer.
J.C. Ryle
Satan is real and so are his demons; they have become easy snares ambushing unsuspecting in the shadows of our unbelieving world. Any who deny the reality of spiritual wickedness are subject to it. No wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. (2Corinthians 11:15)
TEXT: LUKE 8:26-39
SONGS: A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD, M.W. SMITH
BREAK EVERY CHAIN, JESUS CULTURE
WHAT HE'S DONE, PASSION
“The storms of winter often bring out the defects in a man’s dwelling, and sickness often exposes the gracelessness of a man’s soul. Surely anything that makes us find out the real character of our faith is good.” J.C RYLE
I thank God for every storm that has wrecked me upon the Rock, Jesus Christ.
In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone. When his vessel is on its beam-ends, and no human deliverance can avail, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God. Happy is the storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! C.H. Spurgeon…
TEXT: LUKE 8:22-25
SONGS:
Cornerstone, Hillsong
It Is Well, Kristene Dimarco
It is Well With My Soul, Jeremy Riddle
“None are so near to Jesus Christ as those who hear the word of God and do it. The union between him and them will live when all other ties are sundered, and will grow more intimate and delightful for ever.”
"It displeases God to see his people dividing themselves up in little subgroups, with each one thinking they’re better than the other, for whatever reason. We know better. But do we always act better? It’s human nature to divide ourselves up into little groups called “us and them.” If it’s not race then it’s language or education or economic status or life-style or even how long you’ve lived in the community. But this is not what God wants from us. His eternal purpose for the church is to show both the world we can see and the world we cannot that the blood of Jesus Christ is the strongest binding force in the universe. It is our sharing in the blood of Christ that ensures us that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and it is the blood of Christ that bonds us into one family - crazy aunt in the attic and all. We are all related by blood. Divisions among us wound Jesus Christ himself, and shame God before his enemies." Alison Buckllin
TEXT: LUKE 8:19-21
SONGS:
GOOD GRACE, HILLSONG
I SPEAK JESUS, KINGS PORCH
AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, AUSTIN & LYNDSEY ADAMEC
For what purpose has Christ been pleased to make his disciples the light of the world? Why has he put this honour upon his church, and upon each one of his followers? Why does God make men to be lights to other men?
We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light giving word, lest we slip with our feet. Each man should use the word of God personally, practically, and habitually, that he may see his way and see what lies in it. When darkness settles down upon all around us, the word of the Lord, like a flaming torch, reveals our way.
C.H.Spurgeon
It is the great object of our lives to make known the gospel of Christ in every place.
The whole duty of a follower of Christ is to reveal the Gospel truth to the lost.
There Is No Light For Sinners Except In The Lord Jesus.” — J.C. Ryle —
TEXT: LUKE 8:16-18
SONGS:
JESUS AT THE CENTER, CATCH THE FIRE
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
GO LIGHT YOUR WORLD, CHRIS RICE
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, HILLSONG
"We can never be careless with the soil of our heart for the soil determines whether the Word of God will produce fruit. Our heart is God’s field and we are farmers together with God. We must cultivate the soil of our heart with Him so that it continually produces a harvest to His glory."
"The greatest, strongest, mightiest plea for the church of God in the world is the existence of the Spirit of God in its midst, and the works of the Spirit of God are the true evidences of Christianity. Every growth of spiritual life, from the first tender shoot until now, has been the work of the Holy Spirit.... The Spirit of God must come and make the letter alive, transfer it to our hearts, set it on fire, and make it burn within us." TEXT: LUKE 1:1-15
SONGS:Fall Afresh, Bryce Moore
New Wine, Hillsong
Different, Micah Tyler
Have Thine Own Way Lord, Emily Mills
"Those bitter tears she shed were the tears of a true contrition; they meant a holy hatred of her past sin, and a sincere determination to lead another life; and not being repelled, but accepted, by this Holy and Merciful One, deep and strong gratitude arose in her; and penitence, love, and a new and blessed hope surged and strove together in uncontrollable emotion within her heart. "
This is a story about a woman of ill repute who finds forgiveness in Jesus. She is a sinner saved by great, irresistible, rich, and boundless grace. But, we know nothing about her, what was her sin, where is she from, what is her nationality, is she old, young, thin, tall, wealthy or married? Her identity is not given: we will not know her story by her name, she is only a sinner saved by grace!
The story however, is not triumphant; it is a tragedy about Simon! It is his house, his party, his friends, his invitation and only his words found in the dialogue! It’s about a man who couldn’t or wouldn’t realize his own need for forgiveness. He and his sect, the Pharisees, would help fill Hell, yet our merciful Saviour accepted the invitation; Why, Jesus hated the Pharisees? But our Jesus loved the Pharisee! He was moved by a patient compassion for Simon realizing he was only a sinner that needed to be saved by grace!
TEXT: LUKE 7:36-50
SONGS:
IS HE WORTHY, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
WORTH OF IT ALL, EMMY ROSE, BETHEL
MY JESUS I LOVE THEE, WORSHIP INITIATIVE
ALABASTER HEART, KALLEY HEILINGENTHAL
It is no unusual thing for the bravest hearts to be subject to fits of doubt. What a mercy it is that it is not your hold of Christ that saves you, but His hold of you! What a sweet fact that it is not how you grasp His hand, but His grasp of yours that saves you . —
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hope rests on faith, and at the same time quickens faith, and is the ground of our bold confession. Hebrews 10:23
Do not be shaken by your trials, or by the arguments of your enemies. We have the same inducement to hold fast the profession of our faith--for it is the same religion still; we have the same Saviour, and there is held out to us still the same prospect of heaven!
Charles H. Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 7:18-35
SONGS:
GOOD GRACE, HILLSONG
BLESSED ASSURANCE, JEREMY RIDDLE
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH
IT IS WELL, KRISTENE DIMARCO
the procession is arrested by another—a company of disciples and much people are coming up the hill. We need not look at the company but we may fix our eyes upon One who stands in the center, a Man in whom lowliness was always evident and yet majesty was never wanting. It is the living Lord, even He who only has immortality and in Him death has now met his destroyer.
The battle is short and decisive—no blows are struck—for death has already done his utmost. With a linger the chariot of death is arrested—with a word the spoil is taken from the mighty and the lawful captive is delivered. DEATH IS DEAD AND DONE!
This was a rehearsal upon a small scale of that which shall happen by-and-by, when those who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live—then shall the last enemy be destroyed.
Spurgeon.
TEXT: LUKE 7:11-18
SONGS:
KING OF KINGS, HILLSONG
GOD, YOU'RE SO GOOD, PASSION
WHAT HE'S DONE, PASSION
My soul, whatever your disease may be, this great Physician can heal you. If he be God, there can be no limit to his infinite power; if he be truly divine, there can be no boundary to the majesty of his might. Come then with the blind eye of your understanding, come with the limping foot of your energy, come with the maimed hand of your faith, come just as you are, for he who is God can certainly heal you. The utmost length of human sickness can be reached by this great Physician. Have confidence, O poor doubting heart! Have an un-staggering confidence in the Divine Healer.
Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 7:1-10
SONGS:
HOW DEEP THE FATHERS LOVE FOR US
MY FAITH HAS FOUND A RESTING PLACE
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
Christians today are weak on holiness. We would rather point out a dozen sins in the life of someone else than take an honest look at the sin in our own life. We love to point the finger at others, but when someone points it at us, or when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we are quick to defend our actions and make excuses for our failures.But, an honest Christian reserves his strictest criticism for himself. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:16 to watch your own life and doctrine closely, for in so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
REDEEMING GOD
LUKE 6:39-42
SONGS:
LORD, I NEED YOU, MATT MAHER
I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR
PURIFY MY HEART, JEREMY RIDDLE
MAKE ROOM, CHASE OAKS WORSHIP
"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
Without this giving and forgiving spirit there will be nothing in civil society, and even in Christian congregations, but divisions, evil surmisings, injurious discourses, outrages, anger, vengeance, and, in a word, a total dissolution of the mystical body of Christ. Thus our interest in both worlds calls loudly upon us to GIVE and to FORGIVE. I think there is not one text of scripture that declares the bounty of God more fully in rewarding acts of charity and mercy than this before us. O how liberal a paymaster is God! How sure and bountiful are the returns Christ makes to us.
Adam Clarke
TEXT: LUKE 6:36-38
SONGS:
And Can It Be
I Surrender All
I Could Never Out-love the Lord, Gaithers
Take My Life And Let It Be
“Whoever is truly humbled — will not be easily angry, nor harsh or critical of others. He will be compassionate and tender to the infirmities of his fellow-sinners, knowing that if there is a difference — it is grace alone which has made it! He knows that he has the seeds of every evil in his own heart. And under all trials and afflictions — he will look to the hand of the Lord, and lay his mouth in the dust, acknowledging that he suffers much less than his iniquities have deserved.”
― John Newton
TEXT: LUKE 6:27-36
SONGS:
SUCH AN AWESOME GOD, Cross Point Church
CLEANSE ME
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE BLOOD, Maverick City
MERCY, Elevation Church
"Everything about our religion which is not heart-work must be unsatisfactory to us. As men cannot live upon the chaff and the bran, but need the flour of the wheat, so do we need something more than the form of godliness and the letter of truth, we require the secret meaning, the in-grafting of the Word into our spirit, the bringing of the truth of God into our inmost soul: all short of this is short of the blessing. The highest grade of outward religiousness is un-blest, but the very lowest form of spiritual grace is endowed with the kingdom of heaven."
YOU SEE……“The kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a larger, homelier, less self-conscious class of people who understand they are sinners because they have experienced the TWISTS AND TURNS of moral struggle.” ― Brennan Manning
Jesus was contrasting two sets of life conditions; hunger and satisfaction, grief and joy, poverty and wealth, being despised and reviled by people as well as being honored by them. Jesus made another contrast and it was between now and then. He is speaking to the people of God, the people who have suffered for the kingdom of God, who are hungry for the kingdom of God and who week for the kingdom of God. These folks know their shortcomings and see their faults. They thirst for righteousness, they weep over their failures and are condemned by the self-assured and the self-righteous, to whom Jesus pronounces 'woe'. Pastor Tim
TEXT: LUKE 6:20-26
SONGS:
LORD I NEED YOU, Matt Maher, Phil Wickham
I SURRENDER ALL
COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING, ABOVE ALL ELSE, Shane and Shane
How blessed is the condescending grace of the choice, it takes the weak things, the foolish things. God passes by the king on purpose that he may meet with the beggar; he leaves the noble that he may lay hold upon the base, and passes over the philosopher that he may receive the fool. Oh this is strange, it is passing strange,.
Spurgeon
“God could not have chosen anyone less qualified, or more of a sinner, than myself. And so, for this wonderful work He intends to perform through us, He selected me- for God always chooses the weak and the absurd, and those who count for nothing.”
— Francis of Assisi
TEXT: LUKE 6:12-16
SONGS:
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS
SEND ME, BETHEL WORSHIP
Our divine Master healed men every day of the week; from the first day even to the close of the seventh day, he went about doing good, and healing all manner of diseases. The healing virtue did not flow from him occasionally, but perpetually. It was not like that famous pool which was only now and then touched with the angel’s wing, and so made salutary to the sick folk lying around; but whoever stepped into the pool of Christ’s mercy found healing at any hour of the day or night.
The Lord Jesus frequently made the Sabbath to be a high day of grace and blessing. There was, I suppose, something about that day that led him more specially to display his great power upon it; or, probably, he felt bound to meet the superstition of the Pharisees, and he met it by a flood-tide of mercy upon that day to the sons of men.
TEXT: LUKE 6:1-11
SONGS:
HANDS TO THE HEAVENS, KARI JOBE
HEART OF WORSHIP, PASSION
MAKE ROOM, CHASE OAKS WORSHIP
Whatever other men may do, this Man, this One, this One alone, if no other with Him—this One beyond all other teachers, however gentle and compassionate—this Man receives sinners! He will speak and tell of His mysteries, too, even when sinful ears are listening, for He receives sinners as His disciples, as well as His hearers.
If they will come and join the class who cluster constantly about Him, they shall be thoroughly welcome and the deeper and higher Truths reserved for disciples shall be revealed to them, and they shall know the mystery of the kingdom! When He has cleansed sinners, He receives them not only as disciples, but as companions. This Man permits the guilty, the once profane, the lately debauched and formerly dissolute, to associate themselves with Him—to wear His name, to sit in His house—
He makes them here partakers with Him in His affliction, and hereafter they shall be partakers with Him in His Glory. Into His heart's love He receives sinners, takes them from the dunghill and wears them as jewels in His crown. He plucks them as brands from the burning and preserves them as precious monuments of His mercy. SPURGEON
Matthew and the disciples have taste of the new wine and know that it will be far better than the old. A new life, a new destiny with lighter burden and greater cause will be the new message of forgiveness and healing for the whole world.
TEXT: LUKE 5:27-39
SONGS:
Thank you Jesus For The Blood, Worship Initiative
I Stand Amazed, Flatirons Worship
New Wine, Hillsong
It is a great truth which lies at the foundation of the gospel system, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, cleanses us from all sin. When a man is washed in the sacred laver which is filled with the blood of the atonement, he is not partially cleansed, but he is clean every way. Not so much as the shadow of a spot remains upon the blood-washed.
If that cleansing were partial it were unavailing. If it left but one sin still upon us in the sight of God, it would have no power to save. It is only because when once applied by the Holy Spirit and received by faith it makes a total and complete cleansing from all past guilt, that it is of any use whatever to the poor trembling conscience of the distressed sinner. Spurgeon
TEXT: LUKE 5:12-26
SONGS:
How Great Thou Art, Flatirons
Thank you Jesus For The Blood, Worship Initiative
Mercy, Elevation Church
John Piper says; there is no cost you can pay in following Jesus that won’t be made up a thousand-fold in the Resurrection!
If God has worked in this way to preserve the truth of the gospel for people who need it, is this not still an incomparable challenge to give your life to the spreading of the gospel?
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen.
3000 souls were caught when Peter opened his mouth to fish at Pentecost. A sinful, violent, foul mouthed man was willing to humbly follow instruction and let Jesus use his boat. Our Lord asks the same question of us today. Your boat, your ambition, your hope, your dreams. Can I use your boat?
TEXT: LUKE 5:1-11
SONGS:
I BELIEVE, JONATHAN HESSLER
PEOPLE NEED THE LORD, STEVE GREEN
FRANCIS CHAN, THE SEND
SEND ME, BETHEL
.
“Jesus' blood cries out for mercy. There is a sense in which we can say that Jesus' blood--being poured out into the cursed ground--also secures the new creation. There are depths here--depths that ought to make us fall on our knees, confess our sin and worship the God who sent His eternal Son to become the sin-bearing, curse-removing Second Adam! As John Henry Newman put it: O loving wisdom of our God, when all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight *and to the rescue came! “
"*You might be the most moral in the world, but yet the curse of God is upon you; you might be lovely and kind and gracious, upright in behavior, almost Christlike in your conduct, but, if you have not been born again, and regenerated by sovereign grace, the curse of God still rests upon your head. Spurgeon
Jesus life had been in danger before it began. John said ‘The dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as He was born’ Rev 12:4. There had been the slaughter of innocence in Bethlehem and this, His first appearance as prophet at home. He would have slip through angry crowds repeatedly! They would seek to kill Him again and again. No justice would be found Good Friday just a kangaroo court, a screaming mob and the hateful hypocritical, religious elite! What was it about Jesus that sinful man wanted Him dead?
They were cursed but Lamb of God would choose not to slip away this time but to go to the cross, sacrifice His own life and remove that curse.
TEXT: LUKE 4:14-31
SONG: HOW DEEP THE FATHERS LOVE FOR US, CELTIC WORSHIP
WERE YOU THERE, ANDREA THOMSON
LAMB OF GOD, HYMN
“There is no cure for the ills of the world except the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Christ is the Good Physician. There is no disease He cannot heal; no sin He cannot remove; no trouble He cannot help. He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician who has never yet failed to heal all the spiritual maladies of every soul that has come unto Him in faith and prayer. James H. Aughey
Jesus destroyed satan's grasp when He died and guaranteed our salvation when He rose. Adam's race was cursed, sick unto death but Jesus had bent towards undoing our curse, so He died as our substitutionary death. This was Christ's cure.
TEXT: LUKE 4:31-44
SONGS: CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY
WHAT HE'S DONE, PASSION
JUST AS I AM, HYMN
LIVING HOPE, BETHEL
"In all points Jesus was made like unto his brethren, and now it remains that in all things his brethren should be made like to him. The Savior’s public life begins and ends with temptation. It commences in the wilderness in a close contest with Satanic craft, it ends in Gethsemane in a dreadful affray with the powers of darkness." Spurgeon
Can you imagine our King coming into a city that bears His name, then walking into the house that was built for His praise, knowing behind a certain curtain is His throne and the people are singing, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!
Temptation is the lying snake's business, it's his craft. But Jesus' secret ambition was to give His life away for Adam's sinful race; our redemption was His singular goal, the cross was the only way.
SONGS:
MY JESUS I LOVE THEE, Linger Conference
WHAT HE'S DONE, Passion
ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS' NAME, Jesus Image Worship
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. "I am come, not to act according to human motives, passions, or prejudices; but according to infinite wisdom, goodness, and mercy. Jewish passions and prejudices would reject publicans and sinners as those alluded to, and shut the gate of heaven against the Gentiles; but God's mercy receives them, and I am come to manifest that mercy to men."
"This man receives sinners." “It was a singular group which had gathered round our Saviour, when these words were uttered; for we are told by the evangelist—"Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him." The publicans—the very lowest grade, the public oppressors, scorned and hated by the meanest Jew—these, together with the worst of characters, the scum of the streets and the very riff-raff of the society of Jerusalem, came around this mighty preacher, Jesus Christ, in order to listen to his words. On the outside of the throng there stood a few respectable people, who in those days were called Pharisees and Scribes—men who were highly esteemed in the synagogues as rulers, and governors, and teachers.
These looked with scorn upon the Preacher; and watched him with invidious eyes, to find some fault. If they could find none in him personally, yet they could easily find it in his congregation; his deportment towards them shocked their false notion of propriety, and when they observed that he was friendly with the very worst of characters, that he spoke loving words to the most fallen of mankind, they said of him what they intended for a disgrace, albeit it was highly to his honour: "This man receives sinners." I believe that our Savior could not have wished to have had a sentence uttered concerning him, more evidently true or more thoroughly consistent with his sacred commission. It is the exact portrait of his character; the hand of a master seems to have limned him to the very life. He is the man who "receives sinners." Spurgeon
SONGS: KING OF KINGS, FLATIRONS
HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR, CHOIR
LIVING HOPE, BETHEL
There is nothing that shuts up the way of mercy and salvation from us so much as the opinion of our own righteousness.
John's business was to make way for the entertainment of the gospel in the hearts of the people, to bring them into such a frame and temper as that Christ might be welcome to them, and they welcome to Christ.
He bound them, not to such ceremonious observances as were imposed by the tradition of the elders, but to change their mind, and change their way, to cast away from them all their transgressions, and to make them new hearts and to live new lives. The design of the gospel, which now began, was to make men devout and pious, holy and heavenly, humble and meek, sober and chaste, just and honest, charitable and kind, and good in every relation, who had been much otherwise; and this is to repent. Matthew HenryTEXT: LUKE 3:7-15
SONGS:
Lord I Need You, Phil Wickham, Matt Mahr
Cornerstone, Austin Stone Worship
Mercy, Elevation Church
"Suddenly, after four hundred years of prophetic silence, out of the wilderness came a man who acted and looked every bit like the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament. He said to the Jewish people, “Come to the river, and be baptized for the remission of sins. God was saying through John: “Everything has changed. The kingdom of God is at hand. The Messiah is about to appear. Your salvation has come close, and you’re not ready. Before He comes, you must repent and take a bath."
R.C. Sproul
TEXT: LUKE 3:1-6
SONGS:
Such An Awesome God, Crosspoint
There is A Fountain, Shane And Shane
To The Table, Zach Williams
Come Every Soul By Sin Oppressed, Hymn
"Behold then, how great an interest God the Father takes in the work of salvation. It is called "his business;" and though Jesus Christ came to accomplish our redemption, came to set us a perfect example, and to establish a way of salvation, yet he came not upon his own business, but upon his Father's business—his Father taking as much interest in the salvation of men as even he himself did—the great heart of the Father being as full of love as the bleeding heart of the Son.
Behold, also, the condescension of the Son, that he should become the servant of the Father, to do not his own business, but the Father's business. See how he stoops to become a child, subject to his mother; and mark how he stoops to become a man, subject to God his Father. He took upon himself the nature of man, and though he was the Son, equal in power with God, who "counted it not robbery to be equal with God," yet he "took upon himself the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
I shall exhort the children of God, with all the earnestness which I can command, with all the intensity of power which I can summon to the point, to labour after the same spirit, that they too may unfeignedly say, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? "
Go out now, and if you are tempted by the world, may the Spirit enable you to reply, "I must be about my Father's business." Go out, and if they call you fanatical, let them laugh at you as much as you like, tell them you must be about your Father's business. Go on, and conquer!" SPURGEON
TEXT: LUKE 2:39-52
SONGS:
What He's Done, Kristian Stanfill
What A Beautiful Name, Maverick City
I Have Decided To Follow Jesus, Steve Moctezuma
"God called apart a peculiar people to use as He sees fit to reconcile a lost and dying world. Through the great example of these strange folks who forgive, repent, offer mercy and seek peace, the world is changed. They continue to learn, grow and pursue holiness to the end; they become credible examples of Christ likeness, leaving their mark behind them, that mark of the Lord Jesus Christ." Pastor Tim Jupp
"There is a great deal of pessimism around today that grips and even paralyzes people. They wring their hands in a holy kind of dismay. Society is rotten to the core, they say. Everything is hopeless; there is no hope but the return of Jesus Christ. If we are pessimists and think we are capable of doing nothing in human society today, I venture to say that we are theologically extremely unbalanced, if not actually heretical and harmful.
It's ludicrous to say Christians can have no influence in society. It is biblically and historically mistaken.
Christianity has had an enormous influence on society down through its long and checkered history. No life ever lived on this planet has been so influential in the affairs of men like the life of Jesus Christ. From that brief life and its apparent frustration has flowed a more powerful force for the triumphant waging of man's long battle than any other ever known by the human race. By it millions have been lifted from illiteracy and ignorance and have been placed upon the road of growing intellectual freedom and control over the physical environment. It has done more to allay the physical ills of disease and famine than any other impulse known to man. It's emancipated millions from chattel slavery and millions of others from addiction to vice. It has protected tens of millions in exploitation by their fellows. It's been the most fruitful source of movement to lessen the horrors of war and to put the relations of men and nations on the basis of justice and of peace. Christ and his church have had an enormous influence. And if only we were out and out for Jesus Christ in the fullness of our commitment, then we would have far more influence than we do.
So, away with pessimism, and away also with blind optimism, as if we thought utopia was around the corner. No, Christians are sober-minded, biblical realists, who have a balanced doctrine of creation for redemption and consummation. We are not powerless. "You are the salt of the earth." Christians are to hinder social decay and in the prevailing darkness, we are to illumine society and show it a better way."
(JOHN STOTT)
SONGS:
I BELIEVE, JONATHAN HESSLER
I SPEAK JESUS, KINGS PORCH
ONLY JESUS, CASTING CROWNS
THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, WEST COAST BIBLE COLLEGE
(Note, we apologize for segment of audio trouble in the recording)
POOLE: “All men's eyes will be upon you.” The church of Christ can no more be hid than a city on a hill. The church of Christ is intended for all men to come into. Hence it is brought into the world in such form that all men may see it and have an opportunity to go into it.
“A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to get up, is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest and happiest when he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible and knows that which passes knowledge.” A. W. TOZER
SONGS: At Calvary
Mercy, Elevation Church
Go Light Your World, Chris Rice
"Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty...acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts,
and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours."
J. I Packer
SONGS:
MY HANDS ARE OPEN, BETHEL
HAVE THINE OWN WAY, EMILY MILLS
THE CHANGE IN ME, CASTING CROWNS
“THE HOLINESS OF GOD IS TRAUMATIC TO UNHOLY PEOPLE”
R. C. Sproul
“Can any person properly discharge the work of the ministry who is engaged in secular employments? A farmer and a minister of the Gospel are incompatible characters. As a person who holds the plough cannot keep on a straight furrow if he look behind him; so he who is employed in the work of the ministry cannot do the work of an evangelist, if he turn his desires to worldly profits. A good man has said: "He who thinks it necessary to cultivate the favour of the world is not far from betraying the interests of God and his Church."
Such a person is not fit, , properly disposed, his mind is not properly directed towards the heavenly inheritance, and is not fit to show the way to others.” Adam Clarke
SONGS: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HILLSONG
REFINERS FIRE: JEREMY RIDDLE
I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS: BRANDEN LAKE
"Do not sit down and try to pump up repentance from the dry well of a corrupt nature. It is contrary to the laws of your mind to suppose that you can force your soul into that gracious state. Take your heart in prayer to Him who understands it and say, "Lord, cleanse it. Lord, renew it. Lord, work repentance in it" . Spurgeon
Biblical repentance is as essential to reconciliation as mercy is to forgiveness. Reconciliation by definition must have two parties and both parties have essential roles to play! The offender may have a change of mind that brings a change of heart. The offended may have a change of heart that brings a change of mind. Either way, repentance is essential.On a grander scale is our relationship to our Lord. It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. We come under the influence of the Spirit of God where our mind is changed, mastered by the grace which causes justice to gives way to mercy. It is the Master’s mind that is strangely reflected in the wholly graceful life of the mature believer.
SONGS:
THERE IS A FOUNTAIN (FULL OF LOVE) SHANE AND SHANE
RESURRENDER: HILLSONG
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS: AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
“The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”
― Francis Chan
We live in a world where the ‘Prince and Power of the Air’ is Satan: evil and hatred abound. But we are first and foremost reconcilers, reconciling with all those willing to reconcile! Just as we were undeserving but reconciled to God through grace alone, we seek peace, healing and reconciliation through grace alone.
Peacemakers seek peace, they heal, they fix, they cure, they mend, they recover, restore, repair, rebuild. They try to right wrongs, heal suffering and end wars; they are the salt that preserves and the light that cannot be hidden. Peacemakers are the children of God who cannot stop nattering on about God’s mercy and peace!
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
SONGS: FALL AFRESH, JEREMY RIDDLE
HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US, CELTIC WORSHIP
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us. A. W. Tozer
"We are designed to be channels, conduits of blessing, useful tools in the hands of the Master Builder, the Carpenter of our souls, our Redeemer. The Dream Weaver weaves with intention. Our Resident Holiness has designed our transformation with specific purpose. So, when the Holy Spirit reaches you and reveals your great weakness, it is not to hurt you or anger you or make you feel worthless- quite unlike the intentions of men, quite the opposite.
It is because our greatest strengths are coupled with our greatest weaknesses and He is revealing what He wants you to be and to do. Could your will be in the way of His design? Then, get out of the way.
SONGS: MAKE ROOM/HOW GREAT THOU ART, COMMUNITY WORSHIP
REFINER'S FIRE, JEREMY RIDDLE
HAVE THINE OWN WAY, EMILY MILLS
History hinges on a single pivotal event: the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. There, God’s great redemption of mankind was accomplished—a rescue mission that culminated at the end of Christ’s three-and-a-half-year public ministry but began before the world was formed.
This incredible tapestry is woven throughout the Scriptures in red.
The great Bible teacher of yesteryear, William Evans, noted, “Cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds.” The blood of Jesus stains every page, every book, in both testaments. Evans observed that “the atonement is the scarlet cord running through every page in the entire Bible”; it “is red with redemption truth.” He’s the hero of the story because His sacrifice on the cross provided salvation for mankind. The “scarlet thread” of redemption is interwoven through the entire story and can be seen in the many accounts of biblical history that tell His story.
It weaves together the hides of the animals slaughtered in the Garden of Eden to provide garments for Adam and Eve.
It snares the ram provided in Isaac’s place on Mount Moriah.
It stains the doorposts in Egypt and trickles down the altar in the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem.
That blood-red cord binds the Old Testament to John the Baptist's introduction of Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” and to the beams of a Roman cross at Golgotha, where Jesus declared, “It is finished!”
Though Jesus had a miraculous birth, though He performed many nature-defying wonders, and though He taught the most sublime truths ever proclaimed, none of these provide salvation, and none are the focal point of His ministry.
The epicenter of all history, especially redemptive history, is the cross. Bethlehem’s baby was born to die! He made the plan to save the world.
CROSSWALK
TEXT: LUKE 2:25-35
SONGS: JOYFUL JOYFUL, JOY TO THE WORLD, PHIL WICKHAM
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD, CHRIS TOMLIN
AWAY IN A MANGER, PHIL WICKHAM
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME, MARYANNE GEORGE
“There is no better way of taking flies than with honey, and no better way of getting men to Christ than by drawing them to him by a display of the privileges and advantages which belong to a godly life.”
“But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: PSALM 4:3
The ungodly cannot comprehend the godly; they scoff at them, they turn their glory into shame because they themselves love vanity and seek after lying. The godly man is not understood by the people among whom he dwells;
God has made him to be a stranger and a foreigner in their midst.
They who are born twice have a life which cannot be comprehended by those who are only born once. Those who have received the Spirit of God have a new spirit within them which is so singular that the carnal mind cannot perceive what it is.
When a man has become a new creature in Christ Jesus, the old creatures round about him cannot make head or tail of him. They look at him, they see him actuated by motives which they cannot understand, they see that he is kept in check by forces which they do not acknowledge, that he is constrained by energies of which they are not partakers, and that he looks for a something which they do not desire; so the Christian becomes in a measure like to Christ himself. SPURGEON
"There is something peculiar about the creatures that are being made to go through the metamorphosis of spiritual life. The changes that have begun are irreversible; the farther we go, the more they are undeniable." (T.Jupp)
TEXT: MATTHEW 5:10-16
SONGS: GOOD GRACE, HILLSONG UNITED
RE-SURRENDER: HILLSONG
I BELIEVE: JOHNATHAN HESSLER
"God's goodwill in sending the Messiah, brought peace into this lower world. Peace is here put for all that good which flows to us from Christ's taking our nature upon him. This is a faithful saying, attested by an innumerable company of angels, and well worthy of all acceptation, That the good-will of God toward men, is glory to God in the highest, and peace on the earth." Matthew HenryThe world romanticizes ‘little baby Jesus’. He is cute, cuddly, lovable and most of all harmless. He is born in a stable, laid in a manger amongst the cattle lowing but ‘no crying He makes’, really? Jesus is so much more than that. Jesus is the purpose, theme and striking feature of the grand tapestry of the Father. The baby born that day in Bethlehem is the long awaited and anointed Redeemer of the world. He is the Master, intent on buying back condemned mankind, intent on saving us from the evil tyrant that had enslaved Adam’s race. The Prince of Peace had plans to give His life to bring peace to men. GOOD NEWS, our race has been redeemed! Ours is only to believe in His good will toward us to receive His free gift of righteousness, salvation and reconciliation.
TEXT: LUKE
SONGS: O HOLY NIGHT, CHRIS TOMLIN/CECE WINANS
i HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY, CASTING CROWNS
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING, CHRIS TOMLIN
SILENT NIGHT, BETHEL WORSHIP
'God's plan of salvation for sinful mankind was determined and decreed before man was even created. The promise was made to God the Son' John McArthur“The plans of God obviously involve more than just the cross. THEY involve the events right down through the ages and especially the dramatic days of the end leading up to the return of Jesus. What is coming upon the Earth will seem like the most 'out of control' time ever. And yet it will be perfectly controlled... from the throne of Heaven. 'Things are not falling apart, they are falling into place!
The more men are acquainted with the Bible, and the more observant they are of providence, the more they will see that one is the fulfilment of the other; and the more abundant and conclusive will appear the evidence that both have one Author, and are conspiring to the promotion of the same great end. (FBC Commentary)
TEXT: LUKE 1: 68-79
SONGS: O COME O COME EMMANUEL, TOMMEE PROFIT
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, CHRIS TOMLIN/CECE WINANS
HIGH KING, THE MCCLURES
HOW GREAT THOU ART, HILLSONG
The tapestry of life continues to be woven. Occasionally a chance arises to repair an older, tattered piece of the weave. Something happens to jolt our awareness back in time to an event that resulted in tears and rips. With new, more mature vision, we see the circumstances in present time and have compassion for the unclear events of the past. While the new experience is being woven into the design, the old rip is simultaneously being repaired. All is well.
Bessie Senette
Here the Bridegroom and His best man were together before they were even born and the first Word of the New Testament came; a silent word to end the silence. God was weaving His tapestry. The Consolation of Israel was present. The Light of the World was incarnate. God's intentions were not to leave Mary in the dark. We are not to wander but wait- Wait to see His plans unfold, as the strands of the Divine are carefully woven into the masterpiece of providence.
TEXT: LUKE 1:39-56
SONGS: WORTHY OF IT ALL, BETHEL
WAYMAKER: LEELAND/GATEWAY
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, HILLSONG
“Submit yourselves unto God”— it is what angels do, what kings and prophets have done, what the best of men delight in— there is therefore no dishonor nor sorrow in so doing. Our Creator is infinitely good, and his will is love: HE IS “too wise to err, too good to be unkind,” (Spurgeon)
― Oswald Chambers “ As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him—to give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses.”
It is not the first time God has changed good people's good plans. God had Abraham leave his family and home; Moses, He had lead the Hebrews of of Egypt at the age of 80, Esther represented her people as the wife of a pagan king, Hosea married a prostitute as a powerful metaphor and Saul had his theological ideologies shattered to a thousand pieces.
It seems our dreams just get in the way of His plans and our plans seldom match up to His will. So, God by His sovereign love closes the door to our will, our plans and our dreams and graciously opens a door to His perfect plan within our purview. Sometimes everything needs to change. It can be terrifying, but God who is the Dream Weaver is more able to build our of our shattered pieces than we could ever imagine from the best of our talents and abilities.
"Our God supplants and replants dreams in the hearts and minds of those He wants to use in His grand plan of redemption.' (Tim Jupp)
TEXT: LUKE 1:26-40
SONGS: MAKE ROOM/HOW GREAT THOU ART (CHASE OAK WORSHIP)
MAKE ROOM (CASTING CROWNS)
PIECES (THE IMPERIALS)
“Deep in our hearts is the longing for the divine, for the wonder of the mystery that is God, for the hope that there is a divine plan that will finally override the chaos of our anxiety plagued world.” Rev. Keith Jobberns
Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous and blameless before God, both old and simply past their day. The days of Zacharias seeking God's face for a son were long gone. He had humbly and boldly, timidly and aggressively gone to God with a thousand conversations. The answer had always been no. Dare he dream again? He dare not ask Elizabeth. But, an angel! There was hope and doubt, uncertainty and excitement all in one package! A thousand conversations.
TEXT: LUKE 1:1-25
SONGS: ADORE HIM, THE Mc CLURES
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME, MARYANNE J GEORGE
BECAUSE HE LIVES: SADDLEBACK CHURCH
"The mind of man is a busy thing; if it is not employed in doing good, it will be doing evil. It is an excellent, but rare union, to be active in our own business, yet quiet as to other people's. If any refused to labour with quietness, they were to note him with censure, and to separate from his company, yet they were to seek his good by loving admonitions. The Lords is with you while you are with him. Hold on your way, and hold on to the end. We must never give over, or tire in our work. It will be time enough to rest when we come to heaven." Matthew Henry
Oh, the tragedy of idle hands. Life is short and our time is beyond our ability to calculate. We may not have tomorrow, sometimes life ends abruptly; besides, our context in Thessalonians has been the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. Let Him not find us at the top of a hill looking up but in the trenches looking out to expand His kingdom. Carry on day by day until we hear Him say ‘well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into your rest!’
TEXT: 2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-18
SONGS: RESURRENDER, HILLSONG
THE CHURCH'S ONE FOUNDATION
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
“What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer.”
― E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer
Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon. Martin Luther
TEXT: 2 THESSALONIANS 3:1-5
SONG: RESURRENDER, HILLSONG
LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS, BIG HOUSE WORSHIP
"If to take hold is good, to take fast hold is better. Even a touch of the hem of Christ’s garment causes healing to come to us, but if we want the full riches which are treasured up in Christ we must not only touch but take hold;
We are to take fast hold of instruction, and the best of instruction is that which comes from God; the truest wisdom is the revelation of God in Christ Jesus:. We are not to let him go but to keep him and hold him, for he is our life.The more we abide in the Lord Jesus and the more firmly we take hold upon him, the better will it be for us in a thousand ways." Spurgeon
"These things you were taught are not only worthy but necessary. Every doctrine, practice and tradition has it's root in proper worthy worship. The doctrine must never be moved, the practice may change with every generation but the traditions must be held fast until such a time as the LORD Himself changes them!" Pastor Tim
"A priest took a Testament from an Irish boy. “But” cried the boy, “you cannot take away those six chapters of Matthew that I learned by heart.” They may take away our books but they cannot take away what we have fed upon and made our own. “His flesh is meat indeed, his blood is drink indeed,” for when we have fed upon him our Lord Jesus remains in us the hope of glory.
Hold fast the truth, O believers in Jesus, for it is your treasure." Spurgeon
TEXT: 2 THESSALONIANS 2:13-17
SONG: CORNERSTONE, AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
ABIDE WITH ME
I BELIEVE, JONATHAN HESSLER
"My prayers for God's justice now and in the future ought to be qualified by the Gospel. That is, when I pray, I ought to pray that God would give relief to the troubled, that He would change the hearts of troublemakers; that He would save them. And for those who will not be saved, I can pray that God would intervene, that they would know His justice. When the knee will not be bowed, when the heart is hard, when God's name and God's people are being slandered and mocked and destroyed, we ought to pray with fear and trembling and great humility for that righteous thing, for the awful justice of God."
J.Scott Lindsay
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."
TEXT: 2 THESSALONIANS 1
SONGS: LIVING HOPE, MARYANNE J. GEORGE
I WANT TO KNOW YOU, CITY ALIGHT
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
"God began the work of grace in the soul. He had a design in it. It was deliberate, and intentional. It was not by chance or haphazard. It was because he had some object that was worthy of his interposition.
There is no reason why he should begin such a work and then abandon it. God abandons nothing that he undertakes. There are no unfinished worlds or systems; no half-made and forsaken works of His hands. There is no evidence in His works of creation of change of plan, or of having forsaken what He began from disgust, or disappointment, or lack of power to complete them. Why should there be in the salvation of the soul? God’s grace is the beginning and the end; man’s co-operation lies in the intermediate process linking both together. " Matthew Henry
*Charles Spurgeon: "If he gives you the grace to make you believe, he will give you the grace to live a holy life afterward."
TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 5:23-28
SONGS: SUCH AN AWESOME GOD, MAVERICK CITY
LORD I NEED YOU, AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH*
What made the early church take off like wild fire? What is that missing element, that 'je ne sais quoi', that rare and strange contagion? What is the 'how' in endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? If it was so clear and easy, everyone would be doing it, they are not! The ugly fact of 21st century western Christendom commodity, strangely unavailable and tragically so. In a world where the demand is as high as Everest, the supply is Dead Sea low!
"Joy is an affection of the soul springing from the hope or possession of some suitable good.Though God sometimes calls us to mourning, yet it is no where said: mourn evermore, because rejoicing ought to be in a more constant practice, and all spiritual mourning tends to it, and will end in it; and he commends it as seasonable to these Thessalonians, to support them under their present sufferings. The grounds of a Christian's joy always abides, and he is not only to retain it in the habit, but to mix it with all his sorrows and sufferings.
Matthew Poole
TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-22
SONGS: GOODNESS OF GOD, BETHEL WORSHIP
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, AUSTIN STONE
COME THOU FOUNT/ABOVE ALL ELSE, SHANE AND SHANE
"By the unity of the Spirit we are to understand, not only a spiritual unity, but also a unity of sentiments, desires, and affections, such as is worthy of and springs from the Spirit of God. By the bond of peace we are to understand a peace or union, where the interests of all parties are concentrated, cemented, and sealed; the Spirit of God being the seal upon this knot." (Clarke)
There is no greater joy professed in the church of Jesus Christ than this… that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ… what a witness to the world we profess when we live together in the unity of the bond of peace.
¶ Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; 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. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3
We must be looking out for everyone; the weak, the young, the fearful and timid, as well as the unruly, untoward and lazy. Not all parts of the body are honorable, even presentable, but they are part of the body. We must endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit of the bond of peace, pursuing the good of all.
TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 5:14-15
SONGS: TO KNOW YOU MORE, CITY ALIGHT
I SURRENDER, HILLSONG
HOW MARVELOUS, AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
"Rarely does a week go by in my life when I am not involved personally with some pastor who is feeling the agonies of an unappreciative, unloving, even cruel and abusive congregation. It seems to go, sadly, with the territory.
Even Jonathan Edwards, one of the great preachers in the history of the church – maybe the greatest theologian in America’s history, certainly the main instrument of God in the Great Awakening in America, our greatest revival historically. Jonathan Edwards pastored the same congregation for 23 years, and through those 23 years, while they were hearing the truth of God from the greatest theological mind in the world at the time, they were unappreciative, and in the twenty-third year, they ran him out of the church and did everything they could to destroy his reputation so no other church would call him as pastor. And he ended up his life ministry with a little bit more than a dozen Indians, speaking to them about the very basic things of the Christian faith. After all that time, all that profound and blessed preaching, they threw him out of the church.
I read that story some years ago, and it was such a tragic story that it never has left my conscious mind. And I always think, too, of Spurgeon, the greatest Baptist preacher of his day, the greatest preacher of his day period. His sermons would be preached, and then he would edit them, and they would be on every ship, they said, that left England. And they would go all around the world. There was no one even like him. And yet he was thrown out of the Baptist Union, and the vote was made to do that, and it was seconded by his associate pastor who was his brother. Talk about wounded in the house of your friends. He never really recovered physically from that, died a premature death. And I think it was contributed to, in some measure, by the severe disappointment.
It doesn’t seem to matter how gifted, doesn’t seem to matter how faithful, how diligent, how hardworking a pastor and a shepherd may be. It’s amazing how people can treat him with cruelty. I understand what it is to be wounded in the house of your friends. I understand what betrayal means. Anybody in Christian ministry does. The enemy, of course, of the church, Satan himself, does anything he can to orchestrate that kind of thing."
John MacArthur
"Pastors, seek your people's joy. People seek your pastor's joy. Grow your joy in Jesus together." John Piper
TEXT; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:12,13
SONGS: I BELIEVE, JONATHAN HESSLER
HEART OF WORSHIP, BRANDON LAKE
FOR THIS CAUSE, RESOLVED WEST COAST TEAM
"It is not for us to tell the heirs of salvation to awake because they are in danger of the wrath to come, for they are in no such danger; that is past and gone. Rather let us remind them that their salvation is nearer than when they believed, and so stir them up to watchfulness and activity by appropriate motives.
Into what a deep slumber some professing Christians have fallen! How utterly insensible they are to the sins and sorrows of those around them. They believe God has a people, and they are very glad he has, as far as they are capable of being glad of anything that does not concern themselves. But, “the world lieth in the wicked one,” and multitudes are perishing."
Spurgeon
TEXT: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
SONGS: Redemption Draweth Nigh, Greater Vision
I Believe, Jonathan Helser
Blessed Assurance: Jeremy Riddle
Yet Not I But Christ: City Alight
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words
And never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
¶ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. HALLELUJAH!
1 Corinthians 15:16-20
¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter1:3-5
TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
SONGS: HOW GREAT THOU ART, HILLSONG
MERCY, ELEVATION CHURCH
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKAM
"The more we understand of the holiness and the righteousness of God, the more we begin to see by contrast how desperately fallen we are and how utterly dependent we are on His grace and mercy. Holiness is the characteristic of God’s nature that is at the very core of His being. Only as we encounter God in His holiness is it possible for us to see ourselves as we really are. The practical life of the Christian flows from the vision of the God of holiness. "
R.C. Sproul
The quiet life is the practical outworking of a life associated with a holy, holy, holy God.
TEXT: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
SONGS: Holy, Holy, Holy, Hillsong
Such An Awesome God, Troy Worship
Mercy, Elevation Church
C. S. Lewis wrote, ―Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. Without courage, men and women will fail to be loving, to sacrifice, to count the cost, to tackle the challenges or take on the responsibilities that God calls them to. Undoubtedly, one cause of remaining immature and one of the shortest routes to ineffectiveness is to run scared, to be overly cautious, to play it close to the vest. Unless, through the courage of faith, we are willing to saddle up, we will simply remain in the corral and miss the growth experiences and fruitfulness of the open range.
Love is rudimentary; it is where we are rooted and grounded to our faith. Paul will tell the Thessalonians, this is where their strength lies and this is where they will need to continue to grow because it opens the door to holiness. Like he said to the Ephesians, this love surpasses all knowledge.
TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 3:9-13
SONGS: SURRENDER, HILLSONG
LORD I NEED YOU, AUSTIN STONE
HYMN OF HEAVEN, PHIL WICKHAM
It is the testing of our faith that produces character. - the character to love, the character to build into others lives, the character to persevere and help others to do the same.. the character that can live out these words with all sincerity Isa 35:3 ; Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
2 Corinthians 7- For even when we came into Macedonia, our body had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way—struggles from the outside, fears from within. 7:6 But God, who encourages the downhearted, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. 7:7 We were encouraged not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement you gave him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your deep concern for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever. Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," Hebrews 3:13
TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 3l1-8
SONGS: MY HANDS ARE OPEN, Bethel Worship
I WANT TO KNOW YOU, City Alight
THE CAUSE OF CHRIST, West Coast Baptist Bible College
"To the lost soul, Spurgeon earnestly heralded the gospel. He fervently prayed that his proclamations of Christ would drive sinners to look to Christ and be saved. Even while he was weighed down by the burden of unregenerate sinners, he counted it a joy “to deal to-day with lost souls who are not yet hopelessly lost.”
Every time the gospel of Christ pierced the heart and ransomed an enemy of God, the pastor rejoiced exuberantly. In Spurgeon’s view, it was a “joyful business altogether,” for “the Savior is glad to save, and the sinner is glad to be saved.” Furthermore, personal salvation incited corporate acclamation, as Spurgeon said, “What joy there is in the church of God when sinners are converted! It is a joyful business altogether"Those that receive the Word grow in the Word and in grace. They change, they go through a metamorphosis and there is no turning back. There is always conflict and there are always enemies hindering the Church. But, the crown Paul hoped for was to rejoice with them in grand reunion at the coming of Jesus Christ. It was his greatest motivation, it was the energy that kept him going, the gas in his tank!TEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13-20
SONGS: GOOD GRACE, NEW LIFE CENTER
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD: CHRIS TOMLIN
BLESSED ASSURANCE: JEREMY RIDDLE
"A man who waits is not living on the wages of today, but on the recompenses of a time which is yet to come; and this is the mark of the Christian, that his life is spent in eternity rather than in time, and his citizenship is not of earth but of heaven. He has received a believing expectancy which makes him both watch and wait. He expects that the Lord Jesus will come a second time, and that speedily. He has read of his going up. into heaven, and he believes it; and he knows that he will so come in like manner as he went up into heaven. For the second advent he looks with calm hope: he does not know when it may be, but he keeps. himself on the watch as a servant who waits his lord's return. He hopes it may be today, he would not wonder if it were tomorrow, for he is always looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Son of God. The coming of the Lord is his expected reward. He does not expect to be rewarded by men, or even to be rewarded of God with temporal things in this life, for he has set his affection upon things yet to be revealed, things eternal and infinite."
SpurgeonTEXT: 1 THESSALONIANS 1
SONG: GOOD GRACE, LIFE CENTER CHURCH
HYMN OF HEAVEN: PHIL WICKHAM
BLESSED ASSURANCE: JEREMY RIDDLE
“There are two things that every human being absolutely must come to understand - the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. These topics are difficult for people to face but they go together: if we understand who God is, and catch a glimpse of His majesty, purity, and holiness, then we are instantly aware of the extent of our own corruption. When that happens, we fly to grace—because we recognize that there’s no way that we could ever stand before God apart from grace.” R. C Sproul
We do not seek a license to sin. We seek the transforming regeneration of our salvation. We are new creatures in Christ, no longer at home in this world but constantly in tension with it. What we seek is for the periods and times of sin to diminish and give rise to spiritual rest as we walk according to the Spirit of our redemption.
"Joshua directs their choice in this matter by an open declaration of his own resolutions: "But as for me and my house, whatever you do, we will serve the Lord, and I hope you will all be of the same mind." Matthew Henry
There will be a day when all will bow before Him There will be a day when death will be no more, Standing face to face with He who died and rose again Holy, holy is the Lord
And on that day, we join the Resurrection And stand beside the heroes of the faith
With one voice, a thousand generations Sing, "Worthy is the lamb who was slain"
**TODAY WE MUST CHOOSE! FOR THERE IS COMING A DAY... That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2
SONGS:
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS; FOUNTAIN VIEW ACADEMY
WHEN IT'S ALL BEEN SAID AND DONE; ROBIN MARK
HYMN OF HEAVEN; PHIL WICKHAM**
The new nation of Israel was meant to have a justice system focused on mercy. Families would appoint a 'ga-al', translated 'avenger, redeemer, near kinsmen', to seek justice when families were wronged. Six cities were set out across the nation where grace could be found at the gates. The avenger could not enter here; only a trial could release the seeker of grace.
The cities of refuge picture life in the kingdom of God. The idea of manslaughter versus murder is the contrast between the sinner who seeks forgiveness and the calloused rebel who doesn't seem to care that Jesus died in our place. Though it is God who is wronged and Jesus, the appointed avenger, Jesus suffered outside the gate on our behalf, so we could find grace at the gates.
SONGS: God, You're So Good, NLC Worship
His Mercy Is More, Shane & Shane
How Marvelous, Austin Stone Worship
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NASB
There are always obstacles in our way and there will always be strongholds with gates shouting victoriously over little egos. But, we do not fight alone, nor for ourselves but for the kingdom of our Lord, and Savior. One thing is sure, if we do not fight we will not win; if we do fight we fight alongside the Lord of Hosts.
SONGS: As The Deer, Shane & Shane
Raise A Hallelujah, Bethel Worship
It Is Well, Kristene DiMarco
We are indeed getting old and surely enough we will not always be able to accomplish what we once did but this is not the end of our duty. We must continue the fight for the kingdom to leave a legacy of blessing. This is for them. Who knows, maybe, just maybe your posterity will be called to accomplish more than you ever could have imagined yourself! Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God. Joshua 17:9
"First, then, let this brave veteran stand before us. Let us look at him and learn something of HIS FAITHFUL FOLLOWING OF HIS GOD. Perceive, Beloved, he never went before his God. That is presumption. The highest point to which the true Believer ever comes is to walk with God, but never to walk before Him. It is true that we walk before the Lord in the land of the living, but that is in another sense, meaning under His eyes. We never run before God so as to outrun His Providence and become the directors of our own steps.
They who travel before the cloud will soon find other clouds lowering upon them. Those who leave the fiery pillar and will be their own guides, shall soon be in the fire, without a guide to bring them out again. We ought to follow the Lord. The sheep follow the shepherd. “He puts forth His own sheep,” says Christ, “and goes before them, and they follow Him.” They follow as the soldier follows the captain–he points the road, leads the van and bears the thick of the danger–while the faithful warrior keeps close behind."
SPURGEON
TEXT: JOSHUA 15
SONGS: Good Grace, Life Center
Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing, Shane & Shane
Be Thou My Vision, Shane & Shane
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Deuteronomy 28:1-3
We often seem to have the confidence and sometimes we have the courage as well, but if we are to have the conquest, we will need to have the commitment to follow loyally and whole-heartedly. The question is, are we loyal enough to His cause to know the blessing of God's abundant watch-care?
TEXT: JOSHUA 14
SONGS: SUCH AN AWESOME GOD, TROY WORSHIP
COME THOU FOUNT/ABOVE ALL ELSE: SHANE AND SHANE
HE LEADETH ME
There is a sincere faith that has a hope so sure, it by passes all shame. In fact, it causes those who have it to glory in what others despise. This faith is seldom found in any but those in whom the die has been cast by a sovereign, loving God and the hand of a faithful mother.
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power.
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudity, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor by power.
My pace is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road is narrow. My way rough. My companions few. My guide is reliable and my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I’ve stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give ’til I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He’ll have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear!
Penned by a martyred pastor from Zimbabwe 100 yrs ago
TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 1
SONG: No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus, Steffany Gretzinger
The Goodness of God, Bethel Worship
I Love To Tell The Story
*"Those that have God on their side need not be disturbed at the number and power of their enemies; more are those that are with us than those that are against us; those have the hosts of the Lord that have the Lord of hosts engaged for them." Matthew Henry
"It is one of the great evidences of true faith* for her to keep on, to continue, to abide, without any visible signs or tokens of what she knows is hers. The life of faith is a wonderful thing!"
TEXT: JOSHUA 11
SONGS: Cornerstone, Hillsong,
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms: Big House Worship
God, You're So Good: NLC Worship
"God did not save you so you could wage eternal warfare. The streets of the New Jerusalem will not be lined with ranks of soldiers. This war, entrenched as it is right now, is merely the prologue to your eternal peace.
One day soon, the tumult of battle will give way to hallelujah choruses. The civil war within you will end in cease-fire under God’s reign. No wayward thoughts will disquiet you; no rogue desires will distress you; no nagging temptations will torment you.
“After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10)."
Desiring God
TEXT: JOSHUA 10
SONG: A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD- , M.W. Smith
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, Hillsong United
THIS WE KNOW, Vertical Church Worship
“Mercy is an attribute of God, an infinite and inexhaustible energy within the divine nature which disposes God to be actively compassionate . A.W. Tozer
SPURGEON, THE LORD'S MERCY
It is tender mercy. With His gentle, loving touch, He heals broken hearts and wraps up wounds. He is not only gracious in what He provides, but also in the gracious manner He provides it.
It is great mercy. There is nothing little about God, and His mercy is like Himself: infinite. You can’t measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives even the most terrible sins to the most terrible sinners, and then proceeds to give great favors and great privileges.
It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be. As rebels, who were once doomed to the eternal fire we deserve, it is the sovereign love of God alone which saves us, for we have no such power ourselves.
It is rich mercy. God’s mercy is medicine to your sagging spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for your weary feet.
It is diverse mercy. As Paul Bunyan said, “All the flowers in God’s garden are double.” There is no single mercy. You may think you have only one mercy, but you will find God’s mercy is multifaceted.
It is plentiful mercy. Billions have received it, yet it is far from being exhausted. It is as fresh, as full, and as free as it has ever been.
And finally it is unfailing mercy.. It will be with you in times of trouble to prevent you from sinking, with you to be the light and life of your life, and with you even in imminent death, to be the joy of your soul when earthly comfort is fading fast.
TEXT: JOSHUA 9
SONGS: HIS MERCY IS MORE, SHANE & SHANE
SUCH AN AWESOME GOD: FAITH TROY WORSHIP
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS: AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP
i want the mountain. I want the celebration that comes after years of a desert journey. I want to know what it is like to have Jesus lead every step of the way, to be assured of His presence. I want that holy place where the blessings of the Lord rain down like drops from heaven, the Mount of Olives where Jesus so often fellowshiped with His disciples.
‘We don’t come into this house, any more than Israel traveled to Shechem, to make a new covenant with the Lord on some different terms. We come to renew the old one, the ancient one, the eternal one, the one the Lord made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then fulfilled, validated, and guaranteed in the life and work, the death and resurrection of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith has been revealed by God, it concerns a work of God, and no human being, therefore, can alter it.”
REV. ROBERT RAYBURN FAITH PRESBYTERIANTEXT; JOSHUA CHAPTER 8:30-35
SONGS; MY HANDS ARE OPEN, BETHEL
I SURRENDER, HILLSONG, OF DIRT AND GRACE
I SURRENDER ALL, HYMN
Regardless of where we come from or who we may think we are, if we are in Christ, we have been made something new! We are emissaries of the King of kings, sent to go make peace with an alienated world. We have been equipped and appointed to the high calling of the 'Ministry of Reconciliation.'
"There has been a long-standing quarrel between God and man. It commenced in that day when our first parents hearkened to the serpent’s voice and believed the devil rather than their Maker. Yet God is not willing for that quarrel to continue. According to the goodness of His nature, He delights in love. He is the God of Peace and He has, on His part, prepared everything that is necessary for a perfect reconciliation. His glorious wisdom has devised a plan whereby, without violating His Justice as the Judge of all the earth and without tarnishing His perfect holiness, He can meet man upon the ground of mercy and man can again become the Friend of God. That blessed work was done long ago and now all that remains is that man should be reconciled to God, that he should be willing to end the dispute and that his heart should turn towards his Maker again in love, peace and perfect reconciliation. He bids us, His ministers and, indeed, all His servants–each according to his opportunity, experience, knowledge, ability and Grace–to go abroad among the sons of men and exercise “the ministry of reconciliation,” to labor to bring men into harmony with God, that they may be willing to accept what God has done toward the making of an everlasting peace and ending, once and for all, this grievous quarrel." C.H.Spurgeon
TEXT;
SONGS; Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
How Great Thou Art, Hillsong
God, Your'e So Good, Passion
“It’s Good Friday. A day unlike any other, as the universe holds its breath. A day filled with sombreness and suspense. And a day when history became reshaped by Christ, His life, witness and death—and rising again to newness of life for us.
A grisly cross miraculously became the greatest ever revelation of divine love. The harrowing death which Jesus undertook on our behalf completely restored our broken relationship with Father God, thus making us His adopted children by our faith in Christ.”
The cross is the ultimate evidence that there is no length the love of God will refuse to go in effecting reconciliation." R.Kent Hughes.
TEXT: 2 Corinthians
SONGS: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
How Marvelous, Austin Stone Worship
Hallelujah, What A Savior, TVC Worship
'It is God who sought that the world should be reconciled. Man did not seek it. He had no plan for it. He did not desire it. He had no way to effect it. It was the offended party, not the offending, that sought to be reconciled; and this shows the strength of his love.
It was love for enemies and alienated beings, and love evinced to them by a most earnest desire to become their friend, and to be at agreement with them.”
C.H. Spurgeon
TEXT; 2 CORINTHIANS 5
SONGS; Rejoice The Lord is King, EMU Worship
What Love My God, City Alight
Living Hope, David Funk, Bethel Worship
We like Israel are in an epoch battle against evil. We must never understand the power of the enemy. We will suffer through strayings, slippings and setbacks, but victory is ours when we turn back and humbly embrace our Master's covenant love. Indeed, one of the most difficult things we will ever face is the reclaiming of lost ground. At this point in our walk we will have failed, then we will need to know our God has not failed and will not fail us. He will call us to get us to get up and offer us fresh courage for new ground.
"When sin is heartily put away, and men are disposed to hear and obey God, there is no reason to be discouraged, or to fear to undertake any service to which he calls them".
SPURGEON
TEXT; JOSHUA 8
SONGS;
New Wine, Hillsong,
Goodness of God, Bethel Worship
This We Know, Vertical Church Worship
Our Lord had come to lead the campaign but His presence demands holiness. Sin had entered the camp. The movement of the Commander of the Lord of Hosts had been halted. Thirty six men died. They may have been fathers, uncles, brothers or husbands and they definitely were sons and grandsons. They were someone's best friend and they were tragically gone because of a reckless disregard for the movement of the Holy Spirit of God. If we are to see the 'kingdom come', we must seek His presence and we won't find His presence until we find holiness.
Alas! we are sadly prone to sin, and evil has great influence over us. When I say this, I refer not only to those who are “dead in trespasses and sins,” in whom sin is the great reigning power, for they are the servants of sin; but I refer also to the people of God. Even we that have been born again, and are, in a measure, sanctified by the Spirit of God; even we, I say, have a fleshly nature, whose tendencies are evil, whose desires draw towards sin. How soon we slip! How much we need to be held up! How ought we daily to cry for grace, lest we also should be “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin”! Spurgeon
TEXT; JOSHUA 7
SONGS; The Church's One Foundation, Wesley
Lord, I Need You, Chris Tomlin
Yet Not I But Christ, City Alight
We may face daunting challenges, un-scaleable walls or impregnable Jerichos. We can be crippled by fear, sidelines by doubt or halted by the errant belief that faith is defined as absolute certainty. Then, waiting for absolute certainty leads to burying your Lord's talent under a tree and squandering His gracious opportunity. Acting in belief in spite of unbelief is the 'shoe leather' of faith. It is the courage shouted out at all Jerichos but God will lead only those who are brave enough to follow. The reward only goes to those who calculate the risk and go all in.
TEXT; JOSHUA 6
SONGS; Good Grace, Hillsong
Such An Awesome God, Worship Initiative
Victorious, Heart Cry of David
General Joshua issues the orders but “the shout of the King was among them!” This story is all about mans submissiveness to the movement of God. Joshua is the chosen leader of the nation and it is to Him, the Lord draws His sword not to the elders of Israel.
Consecration, circumcision and Passover are all important but Joshua must continue to submit to His King. “Lord, what are you saying?”
"Our God is The Lord of Heavens Armies, he is the commander in chief of the greatest military force known to man. His soldiers are angels, who move immediately at the voice of his command. They are unstoppable, no weapon can destroy them, no army can defeat them and no one can escape them. They ride on the wind and move in the blink of an eye, they are the Angels of The Lord and He is The Lord of Heavens Armies."
TEXT: Joshua 5
SONGS: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, MW Smith,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Hillsong United
Do It Again, Elevation Worship
The people of God had to realize while entering into the covenant promise, that it was only God that made their way prosperous and successful. It was only God who placed fear in the minds of the Canaanites and it was only God who stopped the Jordan. Now it was twilight on the plains of Jericho; a fresh start, a new day, a new beginning, but they must learn to trust the only true God who brought them there!
"God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, … be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats are the very food of faith".
George Muller.
TEXT; Joshua 5:1-12
SONGS; My Hands Are Open, Bethel Worship, Refiners Fire, Brian Doerksen, This We Know, Vertical Worship
Oswald Chambers said, “Consecration means the continual separating of myself to one particular thing. We cannot consecrate once and for all.” As we continually consecrate ourselves to God and take the next step of faith that he leads us to then we will see God do great things among us.
The people of Israel were to expect God to work a miracle. They were to be eager, gripped by a sense of wonder. Israel was not to lose sight of their God who can do the incredible and the humanly impossible. God always does wonders among a sanctified people!
TEXT: Joshua Chapter 4
Songs: My Hands Are Open, Bethel Worship
The Goodness of God, Bethel Worship
The Story I'll Tell, Maverick City Worship
**GOD IS LOOKING FOR A PEOPLE WHO ARE READY TO ACCOMMODATE A VISITATION OF HIS GLORY IN THEIR MIDST- NO MATTER WHAT IT COSTS (LARRY SPARKS)
What is our Jordan? Is there a destiny? Have we been waiting to see what God will do? God's promises are seldom easy; remember Abraham's child of promise, Joseph's dreams of being a deliverer, or David's anointing as King? Zion is no easier. There will be no microwave instructions. It will take the presence of God, our commitment to holiness, as well as courage, strength and tenacity to go the long haul! Are you ready for tomorrow?
Text: Joshua 3
Songs; My Hands Are Open, Josh Baldwin
Refiners Fire, Brian Doerksen**
God's sovereign hand reached down in mercy, not only to Rahab and the two young men, but to Joshua and yet another generation of Israel that did not deserve the kingdom. The patriarchs were not holy men when they were called. God's sovereign grace turned sinners into saints. Neither Rahab nor the young men were holy in the house of ill repute but grace came with a knock at the door, bearing salvation for many.
"Wonders of grace are God’s delight, he loves, for Jesus' sake, to call unto himself the lowest of the low, and the vilest of the vile. The Lord acts in the same manner still. Let us rest assured that Jesus still receives sinners, and that publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before the self-righteous and captious. It is very remarkable that in the pedigree of Christ there should be so many women with blotted characters; that there should be an incestuous Tamar, a harlot Rahab, an idolatrous Ruth, and an adulterous Bathsheba, so that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners, has descended as to his earthly parentage from the loins of sinners, and so is nearly akin to them. O the depths of the grace of God! How matchless is the condescension of the Redeemer! SPURGEON
Text: Joshua 2
Songs: Such An Awesome God, Worship Initiative
Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Austin Stone Worship
Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus, City Prayz Band
Joshua could have been frozen by fear or commanded by courage. He said, Get ready, in three days you will cross this Jordan and take this land that God has given you. Courage is contageous; when a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened." Billy Graham. Zion lies before you! Go take it!
"On the threshold of this high enterprise the Lord appears to his servant and says, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” When God’s people come into fresh positions they shall have fresh revelations of his love. New dangers will bring new protections; new difficulties, new helps; new discouragements, new comforts; so that we may rejoice in tribulations also, because they are so many newly-opened doors of God’s mercy to us.
*We will be glad of our extremities, because they are divine opportunities. What the Lord said to Joshua was particularly encouraging, and it came precisely when he needed it. Great was his peril, and great was the consolation of that word from the Lord of hosts, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” SPURGEON
Songs; Good Grace, Hillsong
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Hillsong
My Confidence, Iron Bell
He Leadeth Me, Sovereign Grace Music*
“Regarding the Spirit of Christ, It was a spirit of undivided consecration to the will of God his Father. It was a spirit urged onward by an absolute necessity to serve God.”
*“Religion can not go halves with anything else; it must be all.” Christians were to be wholly consecrated to the Lord regardless of their station or walk of life. Furthermore, he said “Do not think you need to be a minister to dedicate yourself to Christ. Many a man has disgraced a pulpit, and many a man has sanctified an anvil…many a man has consecrated a plough.” Indeed, “We ought in all our business, as well as in our sacred acts, to do all for Christ.”
And so, whatever you do, do it in devotion to Christ and consecration to God.
"Any way you count it up, add it up financially, add it up socially, add it up materially; added up anyway you add it up, God’s business is big business. The biggest business in which we can be engaged is to win men to Christ, to remake mankind in the image of God. Children, teenagers, young people, young marrieds, men and women, that’s our business. God’s business is big business." W.A. Criswell
What is the good business of God? Has it changed, or is it always about the redemption of mankind and the salvation of the Bride? If the example of the 12 year old Christ was staying on mission, what does it say to us? The Father's business is our mission, our assignment, our calling; our purpose is for going and growing into the good business of God.
Spurgeon
Text: Luke 2:40-52
Songs; I Surrender, Hillsong United,
To Know You More, City Alight
I Have Decided To Follow Jesus, Steven Moctezuma*
God has a purpose for our lives. Even the cragged paths and slight injuries have meaning within His plan. Graciously He even uses our divergence and rebellion if we are willing to give back to Him what He has already redeemed. The question is; are we listening enough to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit calling out to us? Can you hear God telling you what is your rightful destiny? Listen child of God, your Father certainly is speaking. The day of your calling may be today.
Text: Luke 2:25-35
Songs: How Low Was Our Redeemer Brought, Sovereign Grace,
What Love My God, City Alight, Because He Lives, David Crowder
This was so not like other times! Gabriel had appeared to Mary and Zacharias. Joseph just had a dream but to this group of average working class men, both the Angel of the LORD and a heavenly host appeared! It was the day kings, prophets and wise men and all the angels had longed for! It was the night of nights, the main event, the really big show! It was the most incredible moment in human history but the invitations were sent exclusively to humble shepherds! NO ONE EXPECTED THAT!
TEXT; Luke 2:1-20
SONGS; Noel, He Is Born, Tommee Proffit, O Holy Night, David Crowder, Silent Night, Chris Tomlin
An Unexpected Christmas
https://youtu.be/TM1XusYVqNY
Will there be Christmas?
Of course!
More silent and with more depth.
More like unto the first one, when Jesus was born in solitude.
Without many lights on earth
but with the star of Bethlehem
shining on paths of life in its immensity.
Without colossal royal processions
but with the humility of feeling as if we are
shepherds, young and old, seeking the Truth.
Without big tables and with bitter absences
but with the presence of a God who will fill everything.
Will there be Christmas?
Of course!
Without streets overflowing with people
with our hearts burning
for the One who is about to arrive.
Without noise or festivals,
complaints or stampedes …
but living the Mystery without fear
of the “COVID-Herod” that tries to
rob us even of the dream of waiting.
There will be Christmas because GOD is on our side
and He shares, as Christ did in a manger,
our poverty, trials, tears, anguish and orphanhood.
There will be Christmas because we need
a divine light in the midst of such darkness.
COVID-19 will never be able to reach the heart or soul
of those who put their hope and their high ideal in heaven.
THERE WILL BE CHRISTMAS! WE WILL SING CHRISTMAS CAROLS!
GOD WAS BORN ON EARTH AND HE BROUGHT US THE HOPE OF OUR SALVATION.
(J. Leoz)
"No sooner was Zacharias recovered and restored to his speech, but he sings the praises of his Redeemer, and offers up a thanksgiving to God; What it is that Zacharias makes the subject-matter of his song: what is the particular and special mercy which he praises and and blesses God for. It is not for his own private mercy; namely, the recovery of his speech, though undoubtedly he was very thankful to God for that mercy; but he blesses and praises God for universal mercies bestowed upon his people: he does not say, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that has visited me in mercy, that has once more loosed my tongue, and restored my speech: but, "Blessed be the Lord that hath visited and redeemed his people."
William Burkitt
Text: Luke 1:57-80
Songs: Joy To The World/Our God Saves, Revere Worship
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
How Great Thou Art, Celtic Worship
“Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism beside the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high; whoever looks at the child in the manger and sees the glory of God precisely in his lowliness. Dietrich Bonhoeffer”
*Love incarnate wrapped in flesh
Heaven bent to dwell with us
Oh what a mystery
Oh what a mystery
The sacred gift to break the curse
The Father's heart revealed to us
Oh what a joyous thing
Oh what a joyous thing!! (Lyircs From Adore Him Paul McClure)
Truly there was never a subject of sweeter song than this—the stooping down of Godhead to the feebleness of manhood. Worthy of peerless music is the fact that “the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” There is no longer a great gulf fixed between God and his people; the humanity of Christ has bridged it over. We can no more think that God sits on high, indifferent to the wants and woes of men, for God has visited us and come down to the lowliness of our estate.” SPURGEON*Text: Luke 1:39-56
Songs: O Come Let Us Adore Him, Awaken Worship
Worthy of It All, Allen Payton, Bethel Worship
“God travels wonderful ways with human beings, but he does not comply with the views and opinions of people. God does not go the way that people want to prescribe for him; rather, his way is beyond all comprehension, free and self-determined beyond all proof. Where reason is indignant, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps us away: that is precisely where God loves to be. There he confounds the reason of the reasonable; there he aggravates our nature, our piety—that is where he wants to be, and no one can keep him from it. Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly…. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Text- Luke 1:26-40
Songs- Everybody Hurts, REM, WayMaker, Passion
"He who lit up the deepest recesses of the heart is the light of the world. Jesus boldly and openly avowed the truth concerning Himself when He said, “I am the light of the world.” Let our meditation now be directed to our Lord Jesus.
That Jesus is the light—the light of the world—is to be seen in all parts of His blessed history. Look at Him in His cradle. Shines there a star above the house wherein the young child sleeps? Brighter far than yonder star is He who lies cradled in the manger. He has come, the predictions of whose advent had illumined centuries of darkness. As a babe, devout men hail Him, “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.” To the eye of faith, what radiance emanates from the newborn babe!
Look, for the like was never looked on before. There God is veiled in human flesh. Behold the mystery of the incarnation. God is manifest in our nature, He dwells among us. The light is clear and dazzling. Well might the angels have sung, “Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, goodwill towards men.” Sweet babe! You have pierced the thick darkness of earth’s sorrow, You have enlightened her scenes of sadness, infusing joy into her gloom. SPURGEON
Do you see what I see? I see a righteous man who just doesn't hope anymore. Why? He knew the stories of Samson and Isaac. He knew the scriptures well. He knew the time of Messiah was near. But no word from God had come to Israel in 400 years. His wife had not born children. Why now? Why him? Why her? Because most certainly, There Will Be Christmas!Text: Luke 1:1-25
Songs- The Hope of Christmas, Matthew West
Here I Am To Worship, Tim Hughes
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Chris Tomlin
‘This world is enemy-occupied territory and that Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. It is primarily through prayer that much of this sabotage takes place. Prayer is how we spiritually fight back against the enemy. “Prayer is fundamentally a warfare activity.” c.s. Lewis
Whether peril or peace, whether chained or unchained; regardless, the gospel will go forth, the battle will be won but all our armaments will be useless until we recognize the fuel behind them is prayer; the foils of sabotage are birthed on our knees. Our awesome Commander and Chief, the Captain of our Salvation will not see us lose but lead us to victory, revival and the Kingdom. He has no plan B, Jesus is coming to take His throne.
"God has decreed to make the prayers of His people the cause of His triumph in many battles." John PiperText: Ephesians 6:18
Songs: Such An Awesome God, Worship Initiative
My Confidence, Iron Bell Music
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Michael W. Smith
“All the church’s triumphs over sin and error have been effected by the word of God. So long as she uses this and relies on it alone, she goes on conquering; but when any thing else, be it reason, science, tradition, or the commandments of men, is allowed to take its place or to share its office, then the church, or the Christian, is at the mercy of the adversary.”
Charles Hodge
It's a battle field, not a playground. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the church that is fully armed for battle, but the soldier who thinks he can go to battle without a sword commits suicide. The sword must be taken up if the kingdom is to be defended, let alone see increase. Only the sword of the Spirit cuts between the joints and marrow of the soul and the thoughts and intents of the heart. Scripture is more powerful than a two edged sword. This is how we fight our battles.
“If you were not soldiers, you would not need armor. But being soldiers, you need to he clad from head to foot in armor of proof. I suppose every Christian here knows, as a matter of theory, that he is a Christian soldier and that he has been enlisted under the banner of the cross, to fight against the powers of darkness until he wins the victory.
You are a soldier at all times, Christian. You ought to sit even at your table as a soldier sits and you should go out especially into the world as a soldier goes out. Never take off your armor, for if you do, in some unguarded moment you may meet with serious wounds. But keep your armor ever about you and be watchful, for you are always in the midst of enemies wherever you may be. SPURGEON
When my world is shaken, overwhelming floods come up and the walls fall down. You are my firm foundation, the rock of my joy and the helmet of my salvation.
TEXT; EPHESIANS 6;18
SONGS;
MY CONFIDENCE- IRON BELL MUSIC
CORNERSTONE- HILLSONG
IT IS WELL- AUSTIN STONE
Unlike the Roman 'thureos' and counter- intuitively, this faith shield only grows stronger and lighter with use. Nothing else but faith can quench the fire that the devil hurls at us. We believe in what our God can and is willing to do. When we trust Him, our faith will not be shaken, our feet will not be moved no matter what the attack, arrow or aim the evil one has planned for us. Whatever scheme he has, it will fail against the shield of faith. He tried killing our Lord who arose! Failure! He 's going to set up his kingdom, a one world order- which Christ will rule! Epoch failure! For now, we hold on to every promise He made, we will see the victory come and we will see the enemy run!
"Saving faith is a movement of trust going out from ourselves onto and laying hold of and resting upon the object of its confidence. So in picking up the shield of faith we are called to a life of faith. Not a one time expression of that faith but a continual movement onto God."
“The NT pictures the Christ life as a walk that is also a fight, since world, flesh and the devil constantly oppose us and have to be beaten back. In this fight it is for faith that we fight and resist the enemy by drawing strength from God through prayer with an energetic refusal to be crushed by strain, discouragement or perplexity. The life of faith is lived not on beds of ease but on fields of war.” J.I. Packer
Text: Ephesians 6:16
Songs:
God Of Revival, Bethel Worship
This We Know, Vertical Church Worship
Jesus has called you to be His church, His body, His bride though He is your Saviour, Redeemer and King! Jesus! He calls you now to be His friend, to draw near to Him to find peace with Him in this crazy upside-down deceptive world of counterfeits and chaos. Jesus, His Gospel, His message, His story is a love story about a prince who shall be King seeking His bride from out the chaos. What a story! Know it well brethren, for the knowing Him, His life and His story, these are the boots of the gospel of peace!
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
“This world is racing to hell. In a full sprint and with the hearty approval of their unsaved peers, unrepentant sinners chase down every temptation, indulge every lust, and gleefully invite their own destruction. The only hope for this doomed culture is the transforming work of the Holy Spirit unleashed in the lives of sinners through the proclamation of the gospel.” John MacArthur
"Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty, and it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries." – Charles Spurgeon / “The Lover of God’s Law Filled with Peace” (January 1888)TEXT;Ephesians 6:15
Songs:
My Hope Is Built, Norton Hall Band
I Speak Jesus, Here Be Lions
Stand Up Stand Up For Jesus
“As the breast-plate defends the heart and lungs, and all those vital functionaries that are contained in what is called the region of the thorax; so this righteousness defends everything on which the man’s spiritual existence depends.” Adam Clarke
It seems some want to rely on the grace of God for righteousness without righteous living. Some want to live in such perfect harmony with their set of rules and regulations that any power of grace is forever lost. Self righteousness is paper armor. If the Lord show allow me enough character to put on His breastplate daily, then I shall not be harmed, for I shall be clothed in His righteous defense.
Text: Ephesians 6:14b
Songs:
Holy Holy Holy, Hillsong United
Lord I Need You, Chris Tomlin
Yet Not I But Christ, City Alight
"We live in a culture where people genuinely believe there are over 300 genders; where gay marriage is legal; traditional values are discriminated against; transgender men win awards for being women; children as young as six-years-old are being given gender reassignment surgery; radical Islam terrorizes and is pandered to in the media; Christians meanwhile live peacefully and are reviled; abortion is celebrated; students are given 'safe spaces' and 'trigger warnings' to allow them to avoid challenging worldviews; parts of the church have fallen away; 52-year-old men identify as 6-year-old girls; and the truth is criminalized as 'hate speech.' How did people get so confused? How did life get so absurd?" Mark Fairley, The War On Truth
What this boils down to is this; The redeemed of the Lord should be in the perpetual pursuit of honesty, humility and integrity before men. Until death we the believer will remain in the War on Truth.
Ephesians 6:14a
Songs: Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Austin Stone Worship
The Goodness of God, One Sonic Society
This We Know, Vertical Worship
"If you think spiritual warfare is irrelevant to you, you may already be losing the battle. At least you’re ripe for Satan’s picking. Demons have a notorious way of acclimatizing to where they are,. And in secular Western society, this means playing right into our neglect and diminishing of the supernatural.
But Ephesians 6, and the rest of the Scriptures, would have us stay aware of the unseen realm, and remember that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against . . . the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” It is not Christian to suppress the supernatural." Tope Koleoso
Set yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. This battle will not be won with horses or guns and bombs but with holy resolve, faith and equipping of the Holy Spirit. Let us sing praises to our King and boldly stand against the enemy empowered and equipped. The battle has been won and THE ENEMY CAN'T!
Ephesians 6:10-14Songs:
Belong To You, (Enemy Can't), Iron Bell Music
Raise A Hallelujah, Bethel Worship
Praise The Lord, Imperials
"The work of the gospel takes place when we take the gospel to work with us by living for Christ" Tim Jupp
"The Spirit not only produces in us the faith by which we’re justified, but he gives us new life in Christ, new desires, new inclinations, new instincts. By the Spirit, our coming into such rest does not make us idle or lazy. Rather, Paul says, the Spirit begins to make us “zealous for good works",eager and ready to do good, devoting ourselves to acts that serve the good of others. The Reformation recovery of such ultimate rest for the soul produced a different kind of people. Not a lazy and apathetic people. But the kind of people with new energy and freedom, new vision and hope, fresh initiatives, fresh freedom from self, and new desires to expend self for the good of others. The kind of people who have the Spirit of God in them. It’s been called “the Protestant work ethic.” John Piper
"Sharing your testimony releases hope. Each one of us was rescued and brought out of something for a reason: "so that you may declare the goodness of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9, MEV).
In these dark days, it's critical that people see the hope of resurrection. More than ever, people need confidence that God is real, that He loves them and that He can truly their transform lives into something of value. As one who's experienced that transformation, your testimony has the power to release that hope.
Perhaps your story will encourage the addict that freedom can be had. The sick that their symptoms are not the final answer. The depressed that there is a place of exceeding joy. The outcast that there is acceptance. The worried that God will provide. No matter how big or small, your story might be just the hope that someone needs to make it through whatever he or she faces today. Don't hold it back." Kyle Winkler SILENCING SATAN
Ephesians 6:5-9
Songs:
Start Right Here, Casting Crowns,
Refiners Fire, Brian Doerksen,
The Cause of Christ, Resolved, West Coast Baptist College
We sometimes make the mistake of thinking our homes are brick and mortar. It would be better we didn't own one. A home and a house are two very different things. But like a house, a home must be built from the ground up on a firm foundation and carefully maintained through the years. We lay footings and build walls from the ground up but we never finish the improvements. We may add windows into future dreams, a kitchen where laughter and joy are stewed or a hearth of hardy conversation in the family room- whatever the case, the Christian home must continue to grow from the ground up in grace, in love and in righteousness. Then, when the storms of life come, 'It is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock, Jesus Christ.' Luke 6:48
Ephesians 6:1-4
Songs, From the Ground Up, Dan & Shay,
My Hope Is Built, Norton Hall Band,
As For Me And My House, Austin & Lyndsey Ademec
"What a golden example Christ gives to His disciples! Few masters could venture to say,
"If you would practice my teaching, imitate my life", but as the life of Jesus is the exact transcript of perfect virtue, He can point to Himself as the paragon of holiness, as well as the teacher of it. The Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model. Under no circumstances ought we to be content unless we reflect the grace which was in Him. As a husband, the Christian is to look upon the portrait of Christ Jesus, and he is to paint according to that copy.
The true Christian is to be such a husband as Christ was to His church. The love of a husband is special. The Lord Jesus cherishes for the church a peculiar affection, which is set upon her above the rest of mankind: “I pray for them, I pray not for the world.” (John 17) The elect church is the favourite of heaven, the treasure of Christ, the crown of His head, the bracelet of His arm, the breastplate of His heart, the very center and core of His love. Ah! beloved, what more could Christ have done in proof of His love than He has done"?
Spurgeon
"What else shall we say? If such is the love of Christ, how shall we think of it but in a way of holiness? Let us seek to be like him; let us try to fulfill his will, that he may purify us, and sanctify us by the washing of water by the Word, that we may be holy as he who has called us is holy. Let us think of this love by striving after sanctification; and let us think of this love, above all, by rendering to him now and as long as we live the full love of our heart. We cannot love him without being moved to love him more."
Spurgeon
Ephesians 5:25-33
Songs: How Deep The Father's Love For Us, Austin Stone Worship
To Know You More, City Alight
"What a wonderful expression! To think that we, poor creatures that we are, should be thus joined to Christ by a marriage union, nay, by a vital union,-is indeed amazing. Oh, the depths of the love of Christ, that such an expression as this should be possible! There is a mystery that He should leave His Father and quit the home above and become one flesh with His elect, going with them and for their sakes, through poverty and pain, shame and death. This is a marvel and a mystery indeed! The Spirit of God follows us into our homes and teaches us how to live for the glory of God! May He help us to do so for Christ’s sake, amen. "
C.H. Spurgeon.When we realize the relationship we call marriage is heavenly in a very real sense, everything about what we thought we knew changes. Paul is not using the relationship of Jesus and the church to illustrate how to live together. Quite the opposite. He is audaciously declaring that your marriage ought to illustrate that relationship. This changes everything! We are to reflect divine love and respect for the whole world to see Jesus and His Bride. Indeed, A Picture Paints a Thousand Words! *"There are a lot of ways to display God’s love but none more prominent than the cross of Christ. All other beams of heavenly benevolence are secondary to Calvary. It is there that Christ married infinite love of God with infinite love for helpless people. A perfect, zealous love of God’s glory was showcased in the willingness to take the place as the substitionary lamb of God. When Christ became sin for us, he raised love to the heights! Every other reflection of love must salute this great gospel flag."
Erik Raymond, Gospel Coalition
Ephesians 5:22-33
Songs: Holy, Wedding Day, City Harmonic, I Stand Amazed, Norton Hall Band, More Like Jesus, Passion*
People talk about the will of God as if it's hidden and hard to find. Indeed the perfect will of God for your future is, but how we are to live today is not! The hidden will of God is revealed on the pages of scripture. Christians are to be the light of the world, alert, holy, submissive, sober and filled with the Spirit, singing and praising God with thankful hearts.
These things are not hidden. They are plainly written in black and white. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Be being filled with the Spirit! Sing your heart out! Have a thankful heart! Submit to one another! Wake up from your slumber! THIS IS LIVING
Ephesians 5:18-21
Songs:
How Great is Our God, Harvest Church,
In My Heart There Rings A Melody,
Breathe On Me Breath of God
"Time is a strange commodity- we can't save it, retrieve it, relive it, stretch it, borrow it, loan it, stop it or store it. We can only use it or lose it. We can't call 'time out' in the game of life. Indeed there is no such thing as a literal 'instant replay'. That appears only on film."
; "I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call earth "home." Before you know it, I am calling luxuries "needs" and using my money just the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget the war. I don't think much about people perishing. Missions and un-reached people drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace. I sink into a secular mind-set that looks first to what man can do, not what God can do. It is a terrible sickness. And I thank God for those who have forced me again and again toward a wartime mind-set." John Piper- Don't Waste Your Life
2Ti 2:4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Lord give us a wartime mind set. Give us an urgency to BE AND TO DO. Give us an understanding of holiness like never before. Give us the power and the tenacity to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live sensible and upright and Godly lives in this present age as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.…
Ephesians 5:14-17
Time, Pink Floyd,
Time Is Short, Billy Graham,
Take My Life And Let It Be, Kari Jobe
We once walked in darkness but Christ has given us light that we might walk in light. As your light shines before men, "they see your good works and then, may they glorify the Lord!"
They may choose to go back to darkness. We must not chase them or turn down our lamps but continue to shine in the darkness. Where light abounds, darkness cannot. Darkness only abounds where light is not. What they do, they do in the dark; what we do, we do in the light. We can have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness. There is a Necessary Division.
"Division is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion; God has divided them, let us not confound them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sober, honest, and bold in their Lord's work, leaving the works of darkness to those who shall dwell in it for ever. Our Churches should by discipline divide the light from the darkness, and we should by our distinct separation from the world do the same."
Spurgeon
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9
Ephesians 5:8-13
Songs: Who You Say I Am, Hillsong,
Have Thine Own Way,
Go Light Your World, Fountain View Academy
In this passage, Paul makes a threefold argument;
There is stuff that goes on around here that is really dark. If we are not careful we will reflect that darkness. People in that darkness will not inherit the kingdom of God. Period.
Therefore, don't try to justify inappropriate behavior with empty arguments or listen to those who do. Why would you want the 'Stench of Darkness' on you? Don't even hang with them.
"As human beings we love the concept of holiness when we are in the right, but we are often reticent to apply it when we are wrong and brought under the stark scrutiny of its light. I recall talking to a very successful businessman who throughout our conversation repeatedly asked, “But what about all the evil in this world?” Finally, a friend sitting next to me said to him, “I hear you constantly expressing a desire to see a solution to the problem of evil around you. Are you as troubled by the problem of evil within you?” In the pin-drop silence that followed, the man’s face showed his duplicity.
The longer I have encountered this question about evil, the more convinced I am of the dis-ingenuousness of many a questioner. The darkness of evil is more than an exterior reality that engenders suffering in our world; it is, at its core, an internal reality that systemically builds us for autonomy and destruction, blinds us, and from which only God is big enough to rescue us. You see, the problem of evil begins with me. The darkness is within.
You see, the problem of evil has ultimately one source: it is the resistance to God’s holiness that enshrouds all of creation. And there is ultimately only one hope for life: that is through the glorious display of God at work within a human soul, bringing about his work of pushing away the darkness. That transformation tenderizes the heart to become part of the solution and not part of the problem. Such a transformation begins at the Cross. Our holy God deals with evil in us to transform us and draw us into his life and embrace.
What a glorious gospel this is."
Ravi Zacharias
Ephesians 5:3-7
Songs: Holy Holy Holy, Sovereign Grace, Refiners Fire, Brian Doerksen, Free Amen, For The Kingdom
Do our lives and actions pass the 'smell test'? Have we learned to be more like Jesus and are we on the way of holiness? When we come to grips with who we really are as loved children of God; when we remember how much Jesus loved us and how He proved His love, we will want our lives to scream, 'Jesus', to mimic the life of the Savior. He gave Himself freely and then He gave Himself! When we can learn to give of ourselves freely and ultimately give ourselves, we bring not tears to the Spirit but a smile to the face of our Father. There is a sweet smelling aroma in the nostrils of God. It is the Scent of Sacrifice. This is Agape.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Songs: God, You're So Good, Passion, And Can It Be, Sovereign Grace, Yet Not I But Christ, City Alight
" If you think you can walk in holiness without keeping perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a grave mistake." C.H. Spurgeon
Likewise, if you think you can walk with God and not your fellow believer, you have diluted the truth of the Church. We must live with and live well with one another to 'not grieve the Spirit'.
If we are to grow to an ever-increasing reflection of the Son of God, we must seek perpetual fellowship with one another, through the Holy Spirit. This is the way of holiness.
Ephesians 4:25-32
Songs: The Change In Me, Casting Crowns, Spirit Of The Living God, Refiners Fire
"There is a something in them which is not to be found in the best 'worldling', something which is not to be discovered in the most admirable carnal man; a something in their character which can be readily perceived, and which marks them as belonging to another and a higher race, the twice-born, the elect of God, eternally chosen by him, and therefore made to be choice ones through the effectual working of his grace. There must be a clear distinction between Christians and all other people." Spurgeon
This is a simple passage. Identifying how we shouldn't walk or 'dress' is easy. The question is, how and when does the transformation take place? Will I ever really get there? No. But what I know is... day by day and little by little, this man is looking more like Jesus. "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." Romans 8:29a
We must continue in the battle. We must not quit!
" God aims first to renew man's darkened spirit by imparting life to it because it is this spirit which God originally designed to receive His life and to commune with Him. God's intent after that is to work out from the spirit to permeate man's soul and body." Watchman Lee
Ephesians 4:17-24
Songs: Song Story, More Like Jesus, Passion Worship,
Hands To The Heavens, Kari Jobe,
More Like Jesus, Passion Worship
"The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, " This is truth. God help me to walk in it, come what may!" A.W. Tozer
Under the direction of Jesus we will grow up the be the mature adult 'body' we are supposed to be. We must know we need to grow! We must desire truth! We must allow truth to change us!
"God is dead and Marx is dead. Actually I'm not feeling too well myself." (Eugene Gonesco)
"Well that feeling has now resulted in another fatality. We now dig the final grave by burying ourselves. Truth is dead. We have killed it. Nietzsche thought God was dead and went with a lantern looking for Him. But he got it wrong. God was not dead, Truth was dead. We have extinguished the lantern in our halls of learning so that it is possible for a Harvard student to say," I can believe anything I want so long as I don't claim it to be true."
Ravi Zacharias
Ephesians 4:14-16
Songs: We Believe, Newsboys, Lord I Need You, Matt Maher
This passage is about Christ's gifts to the church, His bride - NOT gifts to members of the church. GIFTED STONES - specifically given to equip, build up and to lead officially or unofficially with an office or none. Who are these people; what is their purpose and what end product should result from their acceptance in the church? Mature, grown up believers living in unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God! Mere men, ordinary people gifted by Christ to His Church.
"God's glory is most majestically displayed not through you or through me but through US.
God raises up the Church and says to all creation in the heavens, on earth and under the earth- this is the Bride and body of My Son, bought and purchased by His blood to be My people and receive My power and enjoy My Presence and declare My praise forever and ever."
David Platt
Ephesians 4:11-13
Songs: The Church's One Foundation, To Know You More, City Alight
To The Table, Zach Williams
As there is one God eternally existing in three persons, there is one body eternally existing in myriads. The Church is one and the unity must be fought for until the day our great hope is realized. Until then grace has been gifted to us in measures appropriate to our calling. 'These are ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS in God's plan.' Your giftedness is what you essentially need for victorious living and what the Church essentially needs from you in this age. Until He comes again, use your gifts. They are ESSENTIAL.
"The Lord has measured out the exact proportion of each believer’s gift.
The exact proportion of enabling grace on the part of God is linked with the exact proportion of enacting faith on the part of each believer; and God is the source of both. The sum of this is that God gives both the grace and the faith to energize whatever gift He gives to the full intent of His purpose. In light of the truth just stated it is clear that since they sovereignly given no gifts should be sought; that since they are essential elements in God’s plan no gifts should be unused; and that since they come from the Lord, no gifts should be exalted"
John McArthur
Ephesians 4:7-10
Songs: Hillsong, Surrender, Crushing Snakes, Crowder
Today it seems there is no tolerance for men of conviction, even in the church. Just take a stand that scripture takes and you will be labelled intolerant. Now more than ever we need MEN OF CONVICTION who know that one way is right and the other is wrong. We need men who will dare to say, 'thus saith the LORD', here I stand; As for me and my house!
"We admire a man who was firm in the faith, say four hundred years ago...but such a man today is a nuisance, and must be put down. Call him a narrow-minded bigot, or give him a worse name if you can think of one. Yet imagine that in those ages past, Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, and their compeers had said, "The world is out of order; but if we try to set it right we shall only make a great row, and get ourselves into disgrace. Let us go to our chambers, put on our night-caps, and sleep over the bad times, and perhaps when we wake up things will have grown better." Such conduct on their part would have entailed upon us a heritage of error. Age after age would have gone down into the infernal deeps, and the pestiferous gobs of error would have swallowed all. These men loved the faith and the name of Jesus too well to see them trampled on...
It is today as it was in the Reformer's days. Decision is needed. Here is the day for the man, where is the man for the day? We who have had the gospel passed to us by martyr hands dare not trifle with it, nor sit by and hear it denied by traitor, who pretend to love it, but inwardly abhor every line of it...Look you, sirs, there are ages yet to come. If the Lord does not speedily appear, there will come another generation, and another, and all these generations will be tainted and injured if we are not faithful to God and to His truth today. We have come to a turning-point in the road. If we turn to the right, perhaps our children and our children's children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to His Word."
Spurgeon
It is Christ's prayer that 'they may be one as we are one'. (John 17) "Christ wishes His disciples to be kept in a state of unity by maintaining a like-mindedness and an identity of will, being mingled together as it were in soul and spirit and in the law of peace and love for one another. He wishes them to be bound together tightly with an unbreakable bond of love, that they might advance to such a degree of unity that their freely chosen association might even become an image of the natural unity that is conceived to exist between the Father and the Son. That is to say, he wishes them to enjoy a unity that is INSEPARABLE and indestructible which may not be enticed away into a dissimilarity of wills by anything at all that exists in the world or any other pleasure, but receives the power of love in the unity of devotion and holiness." Cyril of Alexandria
LOVEUNITYPEACE- These are the INSEPARABLES.
Ephesians 4:1-6
Songs: Good Grace, Hillsong, Church, Take Me Back, Cochren & Co.
For this reason Paul says, Drive On, the mystery revealed is- the Creator of the universe always wanted you and will always want you as His treasure, His Church. For this reason he prays, that you will know the power of the Spirit, the fellowship of Christ and the comforting fullness of the Father. Now what Paul declares in great doxology is great benediction. Our God is not able- He is exceedingly, abundantly, super able, beyond imagination to supply all you ask or think to ask. Such love is worthy of our honour in all past, present and future generations of this age and the ages to come.
"Prepare yourself Church to be a carrier of the glory of God in these last days." Paul Gitwaz
Ephesians 3:20-21
Songs: Worship Rises, Joshua Sellers, God of Revival, Brian Johnston, Bethel
"This prayer of the apostle is one of the most grand and sublime in the whole oracles of God. The riches of the grace of the Gospel and the extent to which the soul of man may be saved here below are most emphatically pointed out here. Every word seems to have come immediately from heaven; laboring to convey ideas of infinite importance to mankind.
No paraphrase can do it justice and few commentators seem to have entered into it's spirit; perhaps deterred by it's unparalleled sublimity". Adam Clarke
Paul's response to the thought of some of his children turning away from the Christ of redemption drove him to his knees. He implored the God of mercies to grant strength, knowledge and love with the power of the Holy Spirit for their steadfast continuance.
Ephesians 3:14-19
Songs: Holy Spirit, Jesus Culture, To Know You More, City Alight
The church of Jesus Christ is the most important institution in the world. The assembly of the redeemed, the company of the saints, the children of God are more significant in world history than any other group, organization, or nation. The United States of America compares to the church of Jesus Christ like a speck of dust compares to the sun. The drama of international relations compares to the mission of the church like a kindergarten riddle compares to Hamlet or King Lear. And all pomp of May Day in Red Square and the pageantry of New Year’s in Pasadena fade into a formless grey against the splendor of the bride of Christ…Lift up your eyes, O Christians! You belong to a society that will never cease, to the apple of God’s eye, to the eternal and cosmic church of our Lord, Jesus Christ. (John Piper)
Text: Ephesians 2:1-13
Songs: Good Grace, Hillsong, The Cause of Christ, Kari Jobe
"Do you see the building rise as each one of God's chosen is brought in, called by grace and quickened? Do you mark the living stones as in sacred love and holy brotherhood they are knit together? Have you ever entered the building, and see how these stones lean one upon another bearing each others burden, and so fulfilling the law of Christ? Do you mark how the church loveth Christ, and how the members love each other? How first the church is joined to the corner stone, and then each stone bound to the next, and the next to the next, till the whole building becometh one? Lo! the structure rises, and it is complete, and at last it is built. And now open wide your eyes, and see what a glorious building this is-the church of God.
Men talk of the splendor of their architecture-this is architecture indeed; neither after Grecian nor Gothic models, but after the model of the sanctuary which Moses saw in the holy mountain. Do you see it? Was there ever a structure so comely as this-instinct with life in every part? Upon one stone shall be seven eyes, and each stone full of eyes and full of hearts. Was ever a thought so massive as this-a building built of souls-a structure made of hearts?
There is no house like a heart for one to repose in. There a man may find peace in his fellow-man; but here is the house where God delighteth to dwell-built of living hearts, all beating with holy love-built of redeemed souls, chosen of the Father, bought with the blood of Christ." Spurgeon
Ephesians 2:19-22
Songs: Hands To The Heavens, Kari Jobe, Church, Take Me Back, Cochren & Company
Paul again reminds us of who we are, where we came from and what our proper response to grace must be. But here he adds the news that there is now only one people of God. The playing field has been leveled. The great chasm of benefit that Israel once knew is gone; Israeli privilege is a thing of the past. We are not longer aliens from the commonwealth or strangers to the covenants, but children of Abraham. The great chasm has been filled with the blood of Jesus Christ.
"Christ has filled the chasm. He has taken us to the other side of it; He has brought us nigh; but what a gulf it was! Look down and shudder. Have you ever stood on a glacier and looked down a crevasse, and taken a stone and thrown it down, and waited till at last you heard the sound as it reached the bottom? Have you not shuddered at the thought of falling down that steep? But there you stood but a while ago, an heir of wrath, even as the others. So the Apostle puts it, " even as others". Oh! How far off you were. C.H Spurgeon
Ephesians 2:11-18
Songs: Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Austin Stone Worship, God, You're So Good, Kristian Stanfill
The whole point is our utter unworthiness met supreme grace and then we were freely given glories beyond 'the stuff of dreams'. Though we were to work a million lifetimes, we could not earn the first trace of what is granted to us; His Church, His Body, His Bride.
We were once the spiritual dead, the sons of disobedience, objects of wrath and in the chains of our rebellion. Then came grace.
Ephesians 2:1-10
Songs: Zach Williams, To The Table, Big Daddy Weave, Redeemed
" As long as there is summer and winter, day and night, seed time and harvest, there will be a church in the world. No pestilence will destroy the fruit of the substitutionary, sin-atoning labor of the righteous soul of Jesus. Jesus died to purchase a people for Himself out of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. Jesus shed His own blood to redeem a bride for Himself. Until He comes again, there will be a church on earth."
R.C. Sproul
Sermon Text: Ephesians 1:20-23
Music: Holy, The Wedding, City Harmonic
" I am fully persuaded dear people, that unless we see something like this happening, the average man will stagger back from our efforts, our conferences, conventions and crusades- they will stagger back disappointed, disillusioned and despairing.
But oh if something happens that demonstrates God! Now people, that's revival!"
Duncan Campbell, 1968 Lewis Island and Hebrides Revival.
Song, God of Revival, Phil Wickham
I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live.
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
John 11:25-26
Audio Clip, Pastor Billy Graham
Song, Just As I Am, Billy Graham Crusade
Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. There is a 'not so subtle' declaration of His proper identity and a gathering of various celebrants but there is no pomp or ceremony. What was called 'Jesus Triumphal Entry' was not triumphal in the least. It was a final showdown with an impromptu parade. Jesus had come with an attitude of surrender and subservience, hardly fitting the King of kings and Judge of the world. Jesus had come to die. Be assured, He who came weeping on a foal of a donkey will return victorious on a white steed. The real triumphal entry is coming soon. Look around folks, HERE COMES YOUR KING!
Song: What Love My God, City Alight
God is never not revealing Himself. In days like these that are so apocalyptic in nature, He is all the more. God is certainly revealing Himself to everyone, but how much more to those who know Him! Paul's prayer for us is that we will be given wisdom and insight into God, to understand what is going on around us. Oh that we would be enlightened by divine wisdom and revelation unto a full grasp of the hope of our calling in Christ, the riches of our inheritance in Christ and our outrageous enablement in Christ. In days like these do we see Christ coming, do we hear Christ calling? It is Christ revealing Himself right now, in this present apocalypse. Ephesians 1:15-19
Song: Yet Not I But Christ, City Alight
He is our inheritance, our future and our hope. He gave us His guarantee, His seal, and His Holy Spirit as a promise. There could be no greater hope.
Song: Blessed Assurance, Worship Circle
Ephesians 1:11-14