First John Church: Recent Episodes
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PROVERBS 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
John 14:6 In-Context6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Matthew 25:14-30
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,m who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,a each according to his ability.n Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.o 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.p Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.q Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.r 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This week we study the person of God, we look into God's character and his Triune being. We also take a deeper look into salvation.
The 10 points of Salvation
- Anybody can be saved: God is not partial.
- Repentance is required. (That too is granted by God)
- Peace with God never comes until we have Christ\
- Christ is God (Lord of all or not Lord at all).
- His Humanity-His virgin birth, His Perfect life.
- His Sacrificial Death.
- His physical, bodily resurrection.
- Only 2 possibilities, 2 kinds of people:
You have Jesus and are experiencing eternal Life
-OR-
You don't have Jesus and are already experiencing eternal death
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There is no other name-Jesus is God’s only solution.
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Everyone must take the step of placing their faith in Christ alone and surrendering to his Lordship. (Believe and receive)
This is the 1st installment of the annual First John Evangelism seminar. We discuss faith-sharing techniques and information regarding resources that involve us as Christians sharing our faith.
This week we talk about the evidence of your faith. If there is no evidence of your faith, do you really have faith?
Acts 101At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"4Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea."7When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.8He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."14"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."15The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate.18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three [1] men are looking for you.20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."21Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?"
For Historical Context: Philip the Evangelist was told by an angel to go to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, and there he encountered the Ethiopian eunuch, the treasurer of the Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians "Candace" was the Meroitic language term for "queen" or possibly "royal woman"). The eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship[Acts 8:27] and was returning home. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading the Book of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 53:7-8. Philip asked the Ethiopian, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He said he did not ("How can I understand unless I have a teacher to teach me?"), and asked Philip to explain the text to him. Philip told him the Gospel of Jesus, and the Ethiopian asked to be baptized. They went down into a water source, traditionally thought to be the Dhirweh fountain near Halhul,[1] and Philip baptized him.
A Story About Three Servants 14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he talked with his servants. The man told them to take care of his things while he was gone. 15 He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. He gave one servant five bags of money. He gave another servant two bags of money. And he gave a third servant one bag of money. Then the man left. 16 The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money. The five bags of money earned five more. 17 It was the same with the servant who had two bags of money. He invested the money and earned two more. 18 But the servant who got one bag of money went out and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master’s money in the hole.
19 “After a long time the master came home. He asked the servants what they did with his money. 20 The servant who got five bags of money brought five more bags to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of money. So I used your five bags to earn five more.’ 21 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with small things. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
22 “Then the servant who got two bags of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of money to care for. So I used your two bags to earn two more.’ 23 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with small things. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
24 “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. 25 So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is the bag of money you gave me.’ 26 The master answered, ‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant, and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed? 27 So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would get my money back with interest.’
28 “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of money. 29 Everyone who uses what he has will get more. He will have much more than he needs. But the one who does not use what he has will have everything taken away from him.’ 30 Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness! There people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
This week we learn about our role in the kingdom, as workers in line to fulfill the spiritual job that God has enabled us to do. But the question is asked, what priority do we place on this task that God has assigned us?
Also check out the pastors mission page on the link below:
https://www.charactercamp.net/
This week we continue with our study, what is your purpose in life in accordance to God's will?
What is your purpose here on Earth? Wouldn't it be a shame to live here on earth not knowing the purpose for your existence?Today we talk about the purpose of our lives according to God's purpose. SUNDAY 02/13/2022
At the request of Pastor A. Davidson, we have added this Eulogy honoring a dear friend of the First John Family, Brother Brandon Robinson.
This series speaks about how a person's life is not their own, but the purpose of an individual's life is to be used of God.
Are You responding to the voice of God? this is definitely a question you should asking yourself.
This week we wrap up our series and we are able to see the correlation of the Christmas story and Ruth's story. We are able to see how God can completely turn a bad situation into a good one, and how having faith in God, in addition to him showing us his favor makes all the difference!
This Sermon is about Ruth and her journey after the death of her husband and the hardships she faced.
- Worship God sincerely-
You as an individual must truly enter into the presence of God.
- We cannot let any other god/priority have leadership over our lives-
If there is anything that is taking priority or precedence over our lives or preventing our service to God we must turn our back on it.
3. Demonstrate holiness with the culture that’s around us-
Show others what a Holy and true Christian walk is about
- We have to care for the family of God- if we want our world to change we have to care for the family of God. God says “how can you care for me who you have never seen when you hate your brother that you see all the time?”
5. Show our culture the love of God-
The people that we are trying to reach will not care about what we are saying if there is no love shown in the beginning.
6. Share the message-
It is our duty to share the Gospel. We must not be afraid to share the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must help save everyone we can from Hell.
This addresses the issues of people's efforts in regards to the quality of work they produce for their earthly employer VS the quality of work set forth for their Heavenly employer.
Today we wrap up this important series; we pray that this has helped you make the decision that aligns with your faith.
this week's lesson comes from Matthew Chapter 16, and discusses voting for our nation's leaders according to the word of God.
This is a continuation of the garden series. how can obedience mean anything without free will?
This week we pick up where we left off exploring the consequences of the choice that Eve has made, and the consequences of what other women face when they make choices similar to Eve's.
We pick up this week where we left off in Genesis Chapter 3, which takes place in the Garden of Eden.
Pastor Arthur Davidson from First John Church In Houston, Texas teaches us about Joy teaching from the book of Matthew Chapter 7.