Grace Bible Church Anderson Sermons: Recent Episodes
Grace Bible Church, College Station Texas
Original sermons recorded at Grace Bible Church in College Station Texas. Please note there are many more recordings not listed here.Visit our sermons archive at www.grace - bible.org for more audio messages. All recordings are available as free MP3 downloads.Most messages have supplementary Notes and PowerPoint slides.
How you respond to the Word of God determines the outcome of your life. There are many responses that yield nothing of benefit to your life while there is one response that will enable you to receive everything that God is offering through his Word.
Contrary to popular opinion (“God helps those who help themselves”), God helps those who cannot help themselves! That is you! And that is me! We cannot deliver ourselves from our greatest enemies – sin, death and our adversary. But God, through the power and authority of His Son, deliver anyone and everyone who comes to Him for help.
In the face of withering temptation, Jesus’ allegiance to His Father, and to His Father’s will was unwavering. His steadfast endurance in His wilderness testing serves as an example for us to follow. Using only resources available to us, Jesus said “no” to temptation and “yes” to His Father. As you face temptation and battle the adversary, imitate Jesus!
John the Baptist is the prototype, but we are all similarly called to be forerunners to the King. We are not here to build a kingdom for ourselves. We are here to welcome Jesus and His kingdom. And we are here to point others toward Jesus, our King.
David was known as a "man after God's own heart," yet he experienced many moments of unexpected challenges. The same is true today, we all face unexpected challenges in our lives, from relationship strains and financial challenges to a job loss and unexpected diagnosis. One thing is certain: in this broken world filled with broken people, we will face challenges. Yet God promises peace in the midst of these troubles (John 16.33). Join us as we look at David's response to an unexpected challenge he faced as we look to respond well when unexpected challenges unfold in our life.
With the New Year comes dreams, goals, and resolutions, but as we pursue these things, what are we looking for? Is it fulfillment, satisfaction, financial stability, status, or something else? The same question could be asked about church. When we come to worship God, what are we seeking? Are we coming to church because of the tradition we were taught, or because the Bible says we should, or because we're genuinely curious about Jesus and we want to know him? In John 1:35–42, two men wrestle with this same question as Jesus asks them, "What are you seeking?" How will we respond to this question ourselves? The hope is that we will seek to know Jesus more by accepting his invitation to follow him and learn from him, and as we do, we will invite others to know and experience Jesus for themselves.
Jesus’ birth is the fulfillment of God’s promises; The long-awaited Messiah offers salvation and peace to all who receive Him, but His mission also brings division and calls for deep personal response, challenging Christians to obediently wait in faith, hope, and steadfastness.
God has made extraordinary promises that he loves to fulfill through ordinary people for his praise.
Encountering Jesus will change your life now and forever. And learning to tell the story of your life with Jesus will change the lives of others.
With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is all too easy for Christians to become a distracted people! In the narrative of Mary and Martha, we learn that activities, even good ones, must not overshadow our relationship with Jesus. When we let distractions allow us to miss presence and intimacy with God, we will become anxious and troubled. However, when we make Jesus our Main Thing, we experience the abundant life that He has offered us. In this sermon, we learn how to overcome distractions and become more devoted disciples of Jesus!
This morning we’re studying Acts 20 to understand how the greatest legacy is centered on God's glory, Christ's Gospel, and our neighbor's good.
Every person matters to God. And every moment represents an opportunity to represent Jesus before people who are lost and searching. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see the opportunities, compassion to care and courage to act.
When has your life ever gone perfectly as planned? Never! Our plans may fail, but God’s plans never fail. Even when life feels uncertain, confusing and out of control, God is at work in us and through us as we keep trusting and keep obeying.
God’s grace offered to us through Jesus Christ seems too good to be true! That God would offer to forgive our sins and give us eternal life through no effort or merit of our own is such an impossibly generous gift. And yet God’s grace is exactly what each and every one of us needs. God’s grace is worth defending because God’s grace is our only hope.
What do we do when we have gone all in on following Jesus but we find it to be difficult? Did we do something wrong? Did we somehow make a mistake? In this sermon we will look at what we should do when the reality of being a disciple of Jesus sets in. In other words, we should expect fierce opposition, we should seek the help of God and we trust in the justice of God to make all things right.
Some churches limp along. They keep the doors open, but they don’t make a deep and lasting impact on their community or the world. Other churches thrive because they remain focused on the timeless truth of gospel and the priority of spiritual multiplication. The church in Antioch is an illustration of a thriving, multiplying church. May we follow their example and invest our lives in the things that matter for eternity.
No one is beyond the transforming power of Jesus. If God can change the Apostle Paul from an angry, self-righteous persecutor of the Church into the most ardent and effective advocate the Church has ever known, then He can change you as well. The question for each of us is simply, “Will I allow Jesus to change me today?”
We have all been given the gift of the gospel, are we willing to share it? As followers of Jesus, we are invited to experience the joy of sharing the gospel with others through the Holy Spirit’s help until people from every corner of the world believe.
What does a beautiful life consist of? By looking at the life of Stephen, the first Martyr of the church, we can see that the a beautiful life is found when we put our faith in Jesus, allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, lay our lives down for others while courageously expecting resistance.
God loves the Church. And through the Holy Spirit, God dwells in the Church. Because of His love and because of His holiness, God will keep the Church purified through discipline when necessary in order to protect us from the consequences of sin and to preserve the power of our witness.
Will you allow God to use your most difficult struggles, and your most triumphant successes, to glorify Himself and build His Church? He can do exceeding abundantly beyond all we can imagine in us and through us when we surrender our lives entirely to Him.
Faith + or faith alone? Acts 2:38, when taken out of context, is often misunderstood and misapplied. Peter’s call to “repent and be baptized” does not represent additional steps a person must do to receive forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life. His call to “repent and be baptized” is a challenge to turn away from stubborn self-righteousness and rejection of Jesus, and to turn toward God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
When God’s people allow God’s Spirit to speak God’s message to them and through them, miraculous things occur. It is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that sets us apart. Will you allow God Spirit to speak to you and through you today?
Acts is a story that has not ended. Acts lays the foundation for our story, as God invites each of us to find eternal significance and supernatural strength through participation in His Kingdom program through the Church.
The world around us intends to shape our understanding of reality – truth, goodness, identity, meaning, purpose. Its pressures are sometimes obvious, more often subtle, but always deceiving and destructive. Be aware; resist; and actively allow your maker to mold your life to conform you in every way into His image.
There is a spiritual aspect to our world and it is vital that we understanding the role it plays as we follow Jesus. In this 4 part series we will be looking at 4 Topics. 1.) Why does the spiritual matter? 2.) Who is our spiritual enemy? 3.) How do we prepare ourselves for spiritual struggle? 4.) What is our role in the spiritual world?.
There is a spiritual aspect to our world and it is vital that we understanding the role it plays as we follow Jesus. In this 4 part series we will be looking at 4 Topics. 1.) Why does the spiritual matter? 2.) Who is our spiritual enemy? 3.) How do we prepare ourselves for spiritual struggle? 4.) What is our role in the spiritual world?
There is a spiritual aspect to our world and it is vital that we understanding the role it plays as we follow Jesus. In this 4 part series we will be looking at 4 Topics. 1.) Why does the spiritual matter? 2.) Who is our spiritual enemy? 3.) How do we prepare ourselves for spiritual struggle? 4.) What is our role in the spiritual world?.
Today we are studying Psalm 22 to better understand how we can confess our despair & celebrate God's deliverance.
God’s presence with His people is one of the most consistent and powerful themes throughout the entire Bible. We frequently feel alone, surrounded, and under attack in a world turned against God, but we are never alone. As we remember with David in Psalm 139 God’s omniscience (He knows all things) and omnipresence (He is everywhere at all times), our confidence is restored that God is with us and will never forsake us.
Are we thankful people? Are we thankful when life is less than ideal? What exactly are we thankful for? While there are many things that may capture our hearts about God, these things are often expressions of God's Hesed. What is God's Hesed? Well, translators struggle to bring this powerful Hebrew word, Hesed, into English which is evidenced through the many different English words translators use in this Psalm (compare NASB, NIV, ESV, etc...), but "Loyal Love" (NET) is helpful. Join us as we see God's unwavering and unstoppable faithfulness to His promises in action to a people from long ago that reaches us today and become a thankful person, even when life isn't perfect.
Reality #1 - If we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, we are God’s children! Reality #2 - We mess up a lot; none of us live up to God's perfect, righteous standard! So, what should we do when we sin? In Psalm 51, David, a man after God's own heart, cries out to God in the midst of his crushing guilt from his terrible sin. In this beautiful poem, we are given a framework for true confession that leads to restored and fruitful relationships with God.
Let's face it, we are a people who are constantly busy, stressed out, and overwhelmed. We need something better, more stable, and far more benevolent than our cultural shepherds of productivity, performance, and social media. In Psalm 23, we find that God is the true source of stability, security, protection, and provision. The LORD's persistent loyal love to His people should motivate Christians to appreciate their security in Him, enjoy full communion and fellowship with Him, and see Him as the fulfillment of all of their longings!
A literal reading of Psalm 122 encourages believers to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, which includes the Jewish people and all who call Jerusalem and Israel their home. We will discover reasons for why we should pray for the peace of the holy city in the Psalm and then look at some ways we can meaningfully, pray with faith and understanding, for a peace that seems so elusive during these difficult days.
There is a growing temptation within our world to see topics, arguments and positions instead of seeing people. The result? Massive division. Jesus also navigated a world where the temptation was to only see positions, topics and arguments, yet He chose to see people first. Jesus was never afraid of having theological conversations, but He never missed the reality that He was dealing with people, made in the image of God and for whom He would die, this included those who would reject Him and have Him killed. Even those people, He saw and looked to help bring life and freedom into their lives. Join us as we unpack one such encounter where Jesus sees people and looks to reveal light, truth and freedom, after all, seeing people matters.
Our identity is gift from our Creator, and that identity includes the gift of our sexuality – male and female. But the blessings of this gift can only be fully enjoyed inside the boundaries established by God. Therefore, God’s word prohibits homosexual behavior, along with every other form of sexual sin. For those who struggle with attractions and behaviors outside of those boundaries, is real change even possible? The answer is absolutely yes! Our Creator offers us hope and healing through His power that raised Jesus from the dead.
In the beginning, God created us in His image, male and female. His image is reflected in and through our bodies, male and female. His original design and intent remain unchanged, and reflect His desire for men and women to experience the most fulfilling life possible. Knowing God’s word on the subjects of sexuality, gender and identity will guide us to accept ourselves and to respond with both truth and love to others living alongside us in a fallen world.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, but we are also fatally flawed. Only the work of God’s Son can restore in us God’s beautiful design and purpose – physically and spiritually – both now and forever.
What are the marks of a healthy church? We drive by big, shiny buildings with a cross on top and assume they must be the home of a healthy church. But the New Testament says nothing about buildings, budgets or even the size of churches. Instead the focus is on things like serving together, guarding the truth and relying actively and humbly on God’s power. So the question for us is simple? Are we a healthy church? And are you investing in the health of your church?
All people could be characterized as falling in one of two categories: the self-indulgent, and the self-righteous. Both are lost and need to be found by a gracious heavenly Father. Which of the two are you? Will you allow yourself to be found? Will you receive God’s extravagant grace extended to you through His Son, Jesus?
Our identity, our purpose and our destiny are all determined by the gospel. Until Jesus returns, our mission remains the same: live out and live for the gospel – the good news of forgiveness of sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ for everyone who believes.
Life is hard. Temptation to give up on following Jesus surrounds us. Hebrews 12 provides us with a way to run the race set before us with endurance: we need to look around, look in, and look up.
Who is the Holy Spirit? What is His agenda? How does He go about it? Each of these questions could fascinate us for a lifetime, yet we will give a quick glance at the gift of God's Spirit, given to every believer to help us follow Jesus and look more like Him throughout our lives.
Although all Christians are now incorporated into a new family under the banner of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there will inevitably be disagreements of personal opinions, values, and convictions. How believers handle such disagreements in these grey areas will either honor God and reflect the gospel, or not. Through this sermon we shall see specific ways that the gospel message influences the way we handle our differences of opinions. Ultimately, the gospel is good news because we can love one another even when we disagree!
How do we live in a way that honors Jesus in a world that does not? Every follower of Jesus has faced this challenge. The problem is not unique to our generation. Even in the Apostle Paul’s day, Christians in Rome were surrounded by a pagan, sensual, hedonistic culture. Paul instructed them, and he instructs us, to honor Jesus publicly by submitting to governing authorities, privately by loving our neighbors, and personally by walking in holiness.
God chose the nation of Israel to have a special relationship with Him, and He promised to bless them in powerful ways. And yet most of the nation of Israel has not trusted in Jesus. So does God still have a future in store for the nation of Israel, or has He abandoned His promises? If so, how do we know that He will keep His promises to you and me? Romans 11 tells us that God is a faithful promise-keeper, even when His plans are hard to understand. We can trust that He will keep His promises to Israel, and He will keep His promises to us! His promises are reliable, and His plan is perfect.
We all make excuses. It’s just a natural human tendency to shift the blame when things don’t work out as planned or desired. But in Romans 10, Paul makes it clear that there is no legitimate excuse for failing or refusing to believe in Jesus. Specifically, Paul addresses the Jewish people, but his point applies to all. No one will be able to stand before God and offer an acceptable excuse. Everyone will be held responsible for choosing to believe in Jesus for eternal life or choosing to reject him. He is the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to the Father except through Jesus.
If the Jews are God's chosen people, then why are there so few of them experiencing His grace through Jesus their Messiah? Has God failed to keep His promises to Israel? And if He has failed to keep His promises to Israel, how can we, non-Jews, trust that He will keep His promises to us – namely, "nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"?! Paul argues in Romans 9 that God has always been true to His promises and His character, abounding in mercy to the undeserving. God demonstrates His faithfulness by acting through individuals and among the nations to make His saving power known throughout the earth.
Some churches shrivel and die. Other churches thrive and flourish. What about our church? Will we fade, or will we flourish for generations to come? And more specifically, what can you do to help your church become or remain a vibrant, growing community of faith?
How do we respond when things don't go how we expect? After all, we live in a broken world where things constantly unfold in unexpected ways, so how do we respond? In Luke 24.13-35 we encounter two people who are confused, discouraged and saddened because life has not gone according to plan. As they travel with this burden they realize hope and clarity can be found in the midst of their confusion. Join their journey to see how Jesus brought hope and clarity in their time of confusion.
How do we become people who are resilient? We prepare our identity for battle, we resolve to take our next faithful step and we remember that God is for our good.
Jesus' disciples preached and performed miracles, but they didn't ask Him to teach them how to do those things; they asked Him to teach them to pray. In response, Jesus teaches about what we should pray for, how we should pray, and who we pray to.
In the year of Jesus’ birth, shepherds were not at the top of the socioeconomic ladder! They lived on the margins of Ancient Near Eastern culture, and yet the good news of Jesus’ birth was announced to them first! Why? Because they were eager for good news. And when they heard, they believed the good news, they shared it with others, and they worshipped God for the gift of His incarnate Son. Are you eager for good news today?!
How do we respond when people around us share their struggle with their faith? Or, how do we respond when we do everything "right" and yet our prayers seem to fall flat? God speaks into this through Luke's gospel as he writes to his friend Theophilus, who needs reassurance in his faith. See how Luke responds and looks to bring relatable encouragement, hope and even joy into this challenging space.
In the midsts of suffering and hardship, what is God doing? Is he just watching or hoping we figure it all out? In this section of Romans, Paul reminds the church that God displays his care deeply for us in the midst of our troubles. The Spirit intercedes for us, the Father is making good plans for us and the Son is securing our future glory.
When the Spirit leads our lives, we are changed. The moment we trusted in Jesus for forgvienss of sins and eternal life, the Holy Spirit began to live in us. As we listen to the Spirit and follow His leadership, we begin to experience freedom from sin, an ever deepening sense of the love of our heavenly Father, and hope that gives us strength to endure and overcome the challenges of this broken world.
Life in a broken and fallen world is full of pain, many disappointment, incredible loss, and great difficulty. In the midst of this reality, God calls us to give thanks in all circumstances, to rejoice always. Today we will see why we can be thankful, and how we can cultivate gratitude no matter what season we find ourselves in. The prophet Habbakuk shows us that we follow a God who is attentive to our needs, who is faithful to His people and His promises, and who is in control and for our ultimate good!
The gospel is good news because the Holy Spirit changes us permanently from the inside out. We can’t change ourselves, and following a list of rules won’t transform our character, but the Holy Spirit has the power to reorient our entire lives to love and live for righteousness.
If I am in Christ (Romans 6), why do I still battle temptation and sin…all the time?! Why do I do the things I know I shouldn’t do, and why can’t I consistently do the things I know I should do? In Romans 7, Paul describes and explains the intense battle each and every follower of Jesus experiences as a part of the normal Christian life. This constant battle could lead us to despair, but as Paul concludes the chapter, he points us toward the victory we can experience through the indwelling and empowering Holy Spirit (Romans 8).
How does Acts 1:8 serve as a framework for how God wants us not only to be working locally, but also cross-culturally and internationally? As one of our Global Outreach Initiative Sundays, we want to explore how our value of fulfilling the Great Commission can play out in our individual calling alongside our church’s key partnerships.
Fullness of Life is found in the new way of the Spirit and not in following the old way of the law.
If God’s grace covers all of our sin, then why should we even bother to avoid sin and pursue holiness? In Romans 6, Paul answers this question by reminding us that sin is completely inconsistent with our new identity in Christ. Sin is a destructive, evil master, and Jesus died and rose again to set us free sin’s tyranny! We don’t have to say “yes” to sin any longer. Instead, we are free to serve a good master, Jesus, who gives us eternal life, righteousness and sanctification when we say “yes” to Him.
At this very moment, each member of humanity is represented before God by one of two men – Adam or Jesus Christ. Adam’s one sin in the Garden brought death to himself and to all of humanity. No one can escape the verdict of condemnation because we are related to Adam. It may not seem fair, but because we were represented by one man, Adam, in death, we can also be represented by one man, Jesus, in life. And the one great hope for all of humanity is that the gracious act of Jesus completely overcomes the deadly act of Adam...and this gift is available to all who believe.
Having believed in the faithful work of Jesus Christ, God has declared us to be in right relationship with him...we are justified! And that is not just a legal declaration. Our justification changes our lives right now. We were God’s enemies, but now we are at peace. We were without hope, but now we have hope that endures forever, even when we are experiencing suffering in this life. We were destined for eternal death, but now we have eternal life. Our justification changes everything!
Paul tells us unambiguously that we are justified by God through faith alone, apart from our own best efforts. That’s easy to understand, but so hard to accept! We are tempted to add our own good works and religious practices back into the equation to earn, keep, or prove our righteous standing before God. But God gives us Jesus Christ’s righteousness for free, so let’s learn to enjoy God’s extravagant generosity!
Our sin has created a rift between us and God, and there is nothing we can do to make things right again. But God, in His immeasurable grace, refused to abandon us. Instead, He intervened with a solution: His Son. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives His righteousness in place of his or her own sin. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We add nothing to the equation; we simply accept what God gives us through Jesus. This is amazing grace!
There is no question that having the right information and being part of the right organizations creates a strong portfolio. Having a strong portfolio allows us to separate ourselves from other candidates when new opportunities arise, helping to secure a favorable outcome. While knowledge and networking work in this world, does it work with God? Can we create a spiritual portfolio that will make us more favorable in God's eyes? And if we can't, how do we respond?
We need the good news of Jesus because we are not righteous enough, judgement is coming and our religion cannot save us.
God is right – in all that He is and all that He does. God’s “right-ness” is revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the fulfillment of His covenant promises through Abraham to the entire world. And God is also right in His condemnation of mankind’s active rejection of God and of His self-revelation. Our rejection of God proves our need for God and His saving work through Jesus. Our sin proves our need for the good news of the gospel!
The gospel is good news. In fact, the gospel (a Greek word that actually means “good news”) is the very best news ever! In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul explains in great depth and clarity why the gospel is such great news. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He has the power to make us right with God. He has the power to remove our debt of sin and separation from God, to grant us the promise of eternal life, and to begin the process of transforming us into His image. Through the gospel all things will be made new. That’s the best news ever!
In the busyness of day to day life, it is so easy for us to become distracted and discouraged from the things that really matter. What is the mission of the Church, and of each and every man and woman who comprises the Church? We help people find and follow Jesus.
Wisdom is following the example of a diligent and hard working ant in contrast to the foolishness of a lazy person.
We can become people who us our words like Jesus did through spending time with him, meditating on his word and remembering what he has done for us.
Is there any area of your life that seems out of control, and what can you really do about it? In the message today, we learn that through the power of the Holy Spirit, the people of God can live out the self-controlled life. When the followers of Jesus dwell upon the gospel, have a focused direction, and exercise self-discipline, they display both God and His gospel!
There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible that speak about our wealth! Today we will see how our generous, giving God cares deeply about how we steward our wealth because wealth is a great gift, but makes for a terrible god. As we study Proverbs, we learn that we can either worship our wealth or worship God with our wealth, loving the Giver and not just His gifts.
Parenting has been called "the greatest single preserve of the amateur." It is a daunting responsibility sometimes, and children don't come with an instruction manual. But, in writing the book of Proverbs, King Solomon had a clear and simple goal for his children: To help them grow in wisdom. Proverbs is filled with wisdom-based advice on how to move immature (and even foolish) young people toward a life of God-honoring "skillful living." Applying this advice in our modern context also takes some skill and insight. But with wise advice, and in the power of the Spirit, it's possible.
Someday soon there will be a cosmic reversal of fortunes. The proud will be humbled, and the humble will be exalted. Which will you choose – humility or pride? Will you descend into pride, or will you ascend, like Jesus, through humility? Choose wisely!
The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about friendships. Those who are wise use what they have to make friends, use their friends to become mature and look to their friends as a place of refuge.
More than intellect, knowledge or education, “wisdom” describes skillful living. Wisdom is God’s to give, and He loves to give it lavishly. Wisdom blesses; wisdom beautifies; wisdom protects. Will you seek wisdom and receive wisdom from the Lord, or will you choose your own way?
Church, this present world is a spiritual battleground. Walking and talking with God during the battle is essential to our personal growth and our victory over the enemy. When we fail, and we all will fail from time to time, the solution is to ask for forgiveness. When we look to tomorrow and hope to do better, the key is to ask for His protection. Deepening intimacy with our heavenly Father through prayer will give us the confidence and strength to live in a way that honors the Lord.
We have needs and desires that only God can fulfill, and our heavenly Father is more generous than we can possibly imagine. So Jesus instructs us to ask, and to keep on asking!
When we pray, we frequently jump straight to asking God to meet our needs and fulfill our desires. And God does invite us to bring everything that is on our hearts to Him, but Jesus instructs us to first remember that relationship takes priority over requests. Remember! The One who invites us into conversation is our gracious Father and transcendent King!
Prayer is like a foreign language. We don’t instinctively know how to speak with God, but deep inside us we need to, and we long to, communicate with our heavenly Father. For this reason, one of Jesus’ highest priorities in transforming His followers into His image is to teach us to pray. Are you ready to learn how to pray?
The world’s economy runs on to merit, but God’s kingdom runs on grace – unexpected, undeserved and unlimited favor from the Creator and Redeemer of mankind. On this Easter Sunday we remember and celebrate the ultimate demonstration of God’s grace given freely to us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
What kind of King is Jesus? He is a King who sees us, dwells with us and transforms us.
Prayer is always the appropriate response to every situation. James reminds us to pray when life is hard and when life is good, when we are sick and when we are in sin. James reminds us of the value of community in our lives and the power of God unleashed through our prayers. So let’s get to work building a deep and enduring lifestyle of prayer!
Prayer is always the appropriate response to every situation. James reminds us to pray when life is hard and when life is good, when we are sick and when we are in sin. James reminds us of the value of community in our lives and the power of God unleashed through our prayers. So let’s get to work building a deep and enduring lifestyle of prayer!
In our most stressful and trying situations, where is our hope. As believers our hope should not be in our ability to plan well or our wealth, instead our hope is found in Jesus Christ.
We have a problem. A big problem. Our problem is ourselves! Our hearts are divided and our affections are disordered. We want to love God and others, but we also want to pursue our own insatiable self-interest. The result is conflict in our relationships and distance from our God. But God has a bigger solution – His grace, His favor which empowers us to love Him with an undivided heart and love others more than ourselves. And He offers His grace freely to us when we turn from our pride and humble ourselves before Him.
Words are powerful and dangerous. We will one day answer to God for the words we speak. After all, words can destroy people’s lives or heal their hearts. And not only are words powerful, they also reflect what’s in our hearts. For that reason, the only way we can control our speech is to ask God to change our character. We need His wisdom and His grace to speak and act in ways that build up rather than tear down. When we live according to God’s wisdom, our lives and our words will reflect His peace and His righteousness.
Eternal life is a free gift received by faith. Eternal life isn’t earned and it cannot be lost. However, God’s intention for our lives is not merely to give us eternal life, but to transform our lives so that we reflect His character. And this is James’ concern as well – maturity. Mature faith expresses itself outwardly in good works that glorify God. Immature faith, or as James describes it, “faith without works,” is useless and cannot save a Christian from a worthless life and a poor evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ. So, James exhorts us express our faith through our good works and not miss out on all that God intends for our good.
Whether it is socioeconomic status, political affiliation, race, education, external appearances, etc., we all tend to play favorites, or show partiality. However, James informs us that the followers of Jesus should not show favoritism, but instead show love. In James 2:1-13, we see that favoritism is wrong because it's inconsistent, illogical, immoral, and inconsiderate. Thus, we must show love, and not favoritism, by evaluating our own hearts, reflecting on our gospel identities, and moving into action to love our neighbors as ourselves!
If we turn quickly to anger in the midst of our trials, if we fail to listen attentively to God’s voice, if we become distracted by other voices around us, or if we simply choose to ignore His voice, will destroy our intimacy with Him and undermine our journey toward maturity. On the other hand, when we listen attentively, and say “yes” to all that He has for us, our lives will be blessed. Our circumstances won’t necessarily turn out pleasant all of the time, but our lives will fulfill God’s purposes for us and bring pleasure to His heart.
When life gets hard, we are often tempted to doubt God’s goodness, or even to blame Him for the consequences of our own sinful choices. But sin comes from within our own hearts. So James urges us to resist sin’s lies, and instead to trust in the goodness of God. God never leads us toward evil and death, but instead He sent His Son to save us from our sins and to lead us into life. God is always good, and always generous, and James calls us to remember this fundamental truth at all times and especially when life gets hard.
It has been observed that suffering will either make us better or bitter. The outcome depends entirely on our response. We can’t control when trials come, how frequently they will appear in our lives, or how intense they will be. But we can choose our response. When we embrace the truth that God is able to use our sufferings to deepen and mature our faith, and when we seek His guidance through our pain with an undivided heart, He transforms us. He causes our faith to reflect the character of His Son, Jesus, who embraced much greater suffering so that we could have eternal life.
Today we are studying 2 Timothy 1, which explains the Christian’s goal of sharing the gospel.
By looking at the invitation that Jesus gives his disciples, we can clearly see that the call on our lives has two parts to it. First, we are called to be a disciple of Jesus and Second, to make disciples of Jesus.
Nothing is as it should be in this world. But the present struggles will come to an end. The final chapters of our Bible describe a perfect ending, which actually reflects the perfect beginning of the rest of our lives. God will bring heaven to earth and we will experience perfect relationships in perfected bodies in a perfect place with satisfying labor in the very presence of our Creator and Redeemer. There will be no more sorrow, or fear, or temptation, or death, but only the fullness of God’s intended blessing. The best is yet to come!
The world as it now exists is not all that God has planned for us. The best is yet to come! When Jesus returns to the earth, He will fulfill all of God’s promises and defeat all of God’s enemies. In fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, including all of the blessings extended to the gentiles, Jesus will establish God’s kingdom on earth and reign with His people for 1,000 years. After this He will destroy Satan, judge all sin, abolish death forever, and make way for the arrival of the new heavens and the new earth.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will return. And when He returns, He will bring joy to His followers and judgment on His enemies. He will gather His people together for a great feast, a party that will be better than anything we can possibly imagine. But those who say “no” to Jesus’ invitation will face destruction. Are you with Jesus, or against Jesus? Will you have a seat at His table? Are you inviting others to join in His celebration? Are you living your life today for His party or for your own?
In preparation for Christ’s return, God will decisively demolish the world system that is full of deception, immorality, greed, and idolatry. This world order that opposes God is described in Revelation as “Babylon,” and it will inevitably fall, exposing people’s rejection of God. But even as we anticipate the eventual emergence and then destruction of Babylon during the tribulation, we see the patterns of Babylon in the cultures of our own day. As followers of Jesus are encouraged to flee from Babylon. We are exhorted to keep our selves distinct from the world so that our worship remains pleasing to the Lord and our witness speaks powerfully to the lost all around us.
Have you ever thanked God for His justice? We often talk about God’s grace and love, but words like “judgment” and “wrath” tend to make us uncomfortable. But the Book of Revelation shows us that God’s justice is good and necessary! His justice is rooted in His character, and it flows from His holiness and love. His justice flows from His commitment to re-create a world in which men and women can flourish. Evil must be abolished for God’s perfect kingdom to arrive, and on His kingdom coming and remaining rests our greatest hope. Along with the angels and saints around God’s throne, let us praise God for His justice!
From the beginning of human history Satan has been building a counterfeit kingdom alongside the Kingdom of God, competing for the allegiance of men and women who are made in the image of God. Satan’s plan will reach its most powerful form during the second half of the tribulation, when through the work of the Antichrist (1st beast) and the false prophet (2nd beast) he will establish a kingdom which is both political and religious, as well as economic. During these trying times, men and women will face the ultimate choice – Satan or the Son of God?
Jesus makes a seemingly crazy promise to "...whoever believes..." that they will "...do the works that He does and even greater works than these...". Learn what this promise means and what it does not and hear from people that are seeing it come true throughout the world. If this promise is true in your life and Jesus sees you in this way, how will you respond?
Satan is the ultimate bully! He is real. He is smart. And he is powerful. But we give him more credit than he deserves. Revelation 12 reminds us that in the cosmic conflict that has been raging throughout all of human history, the devil cannot win. God wins! Our adversary was defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and he will be defeated fully and finally when Jesus returns. He can also be defeated today as we, God’s people, stay alert, remembering that every day is a spiritual battle and remaining faithful to our risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
Nothing can silence the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ! But because His gospel includes both bitter news (our sin must be judged) and sweet news (Jesus died and was raised for our sins), all of God’s messengers should expect opposition. Nevertheless, no matter how the world responds, we should proclaim His message with confidence. Jesus and His kingdom will prevail!
God is not impulsive or reactive. All His ways are intentional and consistent with His righteousness. When He brings judgment on the earth it will be measured and purposeful. His judgments will vindicate His people who have suffered injustice; His judgments will display His power; and His judgments will expose the hardness of human hearts. And yet even as His righteous judgments come upon the earth, men and women will have opportunity to repent and be rescued by Him.
Amidst God’s judgment being poured out on the earth in the Great Tribulation, we might wonder, “Will God keep His promises to His people?” In chapter 7, right in the middle of unprecedented distress, there is an abrupt vision given to John. This interlude shows us how God, even in the midst of His judgment, is faithful to His people and His promises. Knowing this, the Church can confidently participate as His world-wide witnesses with hope that goes beyond all circumstances.
For millennia God’s people have cried out to Him, “How long, O Lord?” How long will you delay bringing justice to this earth? How long will you delay establishing Your righteous reign upon the earth? When the Lamb of God takes the scroll and begins to break its seals, “tribulation” will begin upon the earth. It will be a time of unprecedented distress. God will judge those who oppose Him, vindicate those who trust in Him, and save those who turn to Him. His ways are always right, but even as His justice arrives, His mercy and grace will not depart.
God alone is worthy of worship. And in God’s throne room everyone knows what to do – worship. Worship God the Father because He is the Creator and rightful ruler over all that He has made. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that will not fade away. Worship God the Son because He has redeemed men and women from every nation so that we might give God His rightful worship and exercise dominion over His creation. Worship. God has designed us for worship. May we, like the angels now before His throne, give Him the worship He so rightfully deserves.
What would Jesus say to us if He wrote us a letter?! In chapters 2-3 of the book of Revelation, Jesus dictated to John seven personal letters to seven unique local churches, encouraging them to stand firm in their faith, warning them to turn away from sin, and reminding them of their future reward in Him. And His message still applies to us today. In the midst of a culture hostile to us and to our Savior, never compromise or become complacent, but stand firm until Jesus returns!
The Revelation of Jesus Christ is one of God’s treasured gifts to the Church. The Revelation shows us the future Kingdom that God will bring to earth, and more importantly, the One who will accomplish God’s perfect will for all of His creation. John’s vision of the resurrected Son of God in all His glory reminds the Church that Jesus is able to fully accomplish God’s plan. Jesus is the One who holds both the present and the future in His all-powerful and loving hands. May we be a people who entrust to Him not only our tomorrow but also our today.