Prairie Baptist Fellowship - Sermons: Recent Episodes
Pastor Phil Perry
We are a Bible-centered church seeking to grow hearts toward God and reach our world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we exercise our liberty, great care must be taken so that we don’t slip down the slope of idolatry. It is possible to be so carefree in our life that we become careless in our walk with the Lord. Liberty is a means to reach all people with the gospel, but if we don’s set up safeguards, we may find ourselves drawn towards them and not them toward the cross.
Liberty is an incredible gift given to us as a means of reaching more people with the gospel. It is not meant as a means of personal freedom to do whatever we want to do or to exploit the Grace of God. Liberty allows us to be all things to all people so that some may come to faith; however, it requires discipline so that we don’t walk over the line and become compromised ourselves.
We not only struggle with living godly in an ungodly culture about sex, it also extends to marriages as well. God is the one who instituted marriage, He gives it definition and gives resources to help deal with problems in marriage. There is no perfect marriage, because it is always involves 2 sinners. We can strive to be godly and biblical in our marriages though and allow God’s grace to heal what is broken.
Our culture is highly charged sexually. We try to navigate it and at times get it right but at times miss the mark horribly. Christians of all kinds from new believers to the most senior leaders have sinned greatly and there are countless books written to help us “overcome” sexual issues. It comes down to this though, do I believe what God says about sex and will I obey?
We live in a day when anyone seemingly will sue someone for just about anything. From what appears to be frivolous issues like kids playing sports to serious issues involving life and property and freedom. What should be our attitude as believers when we have been wronged? Should we use the courts to settle our differences? Should we ignore issues when we have been wronged?
One of the hardest things we are called to do as the church is to deal with each other’s brokenness and sinfulness. Often it will be ignored until it becomes a festering wound and the church is left wounded and hurting because it was not dealt with sooner. There is no such thing as a victimless sin, all sin involves tremendous consequences. We must covenant together to deal with sin sooner rather than later and take a stand against all forms of immorality and sin.
Easter, Resurrection Sunday, the Lord’s Day; all point to the reality that this day is all about remember what Jesus did in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. What is the significance of that day? Was He simply a misunderstood wise teacher who paid for His truth with His life? Was He an example for His followers to emulate on living moral and loving each other? Was He a rebel who was duly punished for opposing the government and causing an uprising? No, He was the only truly innocent man who died in your place and mine. He alone is worthy of our worship and devotion; do you believe this?
We are called to serve, but division can corrupt our service and cause us to serve with ulterior motives. From leadership down, we must think properly about ourselves. We tend to think highly of ourselves and judge our faults with extra grace; while thinking poorly of others and judging their faults with extra scrutiny. Ultimately God Himself will judge us and He is the only one who matters. It is expected of His servants to be found worthy of the trust He places us under. Will we be found faithful or deficient?
The third installment on the subject of Unity revolves around the need to choose maturity. Unlike physical maturity that happens with little choice of when or how; spiritual maturity is something we must choose to engage in. Just because we show up in church or “do the Christian thing” does not make us a mature Christian. Many get to a certain point in their walk with Jesus and stop growing. God expects us to continue the journey to become more like Him, until the day we stand before Him...
The importance of unity is continued to be emphasized. Paul has stressed unity under the cross at first and now the next reason for unity is the wisdom of God. We have so much more to be united in that has real significance as opposed to all of the stuff that we use to separate us. The closer we are to embracing God’s wisdom, the closer together we will be...
There are a number of issues that Paul will address with this church, but he begins with the need to be unified, specifically under the Gospel. In some ways it is logical, come together first and then fix your problems. It is more than logical though, as the pursuit of peace with God and men has been a core value since war broke out with God and each other. The only lasting peace though is in response to obedient living under the Gospel.
These 2 books are a reminder that as we build His church, we are sinners with great problems, and we minister to other sinners with great problems. There is no perfect church, just as there are no perfect saints this side of glory. Paul begins this first letter with a reminder of who they are in Christ and then will spend the next 16 chapters telling them to act like who they really are and not the world that they live in. Do you look more like Jesus or America?