Message

Loving God’s People in Community (1 John 4:7-21)

Message, Video / By /

http://www.youtube.com/embed/9AkTEFuJh8M Today, we’re going to talk about church. What is the importance of church? A recent poll in April asked the question: Is attending church important? 49% of the people said somewhat or very important, while 51% said not too important or not important at all. About 50:50. When those under 30 were asked the question: only 20% think that attending church is important. Although as people grow older, many do return to church, this number is the lowest ever seen for this age demographic. Today, overall, 36% of people are regular church attenders, the lowest percentage in this decade. While, 40% have not attended church at all in the last 6 months, an all-time high. The top two reasons why people think that attending church is not important are: 1. I find God elsewhere and 2. Church is not relevant to me personally. Those are the opinions about church of people in our society today. So, this morning, we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about church. My message is entitled “Loving God’s People in Community.” The Bible defines the church as the community of God’s people. The universal church therefore is comprised of all believers regardless of what denomination or local church they attend. By definition, the universal church has only believers in it.

Ephesians 2:19-20 (NIV)  Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

…

Loving God’s People in Community (1 John 4:7-21)Read More »

Loving All of God’s People (Numbers 12)

Message, Video / By /

Priorities in life are important. The things that you prioritize are the things that you get done. If you don’t have priorities, than you won’t achieve God’s long term goals for your life. Our current message series if called “Four Priorities for Life.” This summer we’ve looked at the priorities of Loving God and Loving God’s Word.

Today, we’re going to begin to look at the third priority, the priority of Loving God’s People. My message today is entitled “Loving All of God’s People.” When I speak of God’s people, I am talking about those who are believers in Jesus Christ. Now, many of the principles that we will be talking about apply to our interactions with non-believers as well, but in this message we are talking about God’s people. In the Old Testament, God’s people were primarily the Jews of the nation of Israel. Even there, God opened the door for those of other nationalities to become part of Israel.

In the New Testament, God’s people are the church, comprised of both Jew and Gentile of every nation. The church is to be an all-inclusive community of those who believe in Jesus Christ, irrespective of language, race, nationality or appearance. When the church was birthed on the day of Pentecost, we read …

Acts 2:5 (NIV)  Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

…

Loving All of God’s People (Numbers 12)Read More »

Loving the Truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3)

Message, Video / By /

The Bible gives us priorities for our lives. God’s Word teaches us how we are to live our lives with God’s priorities. When your priorities are in order, then the rest of life falls into place. In our current message series, “Four Priorities for Life” we’re looking at four of God’s top priorities. The first priority was Loving God. Today, we’re looking at the second priority of Loving God’s Word.

My message today is entitled “Loving the Truth of God’s Word.” The Bible is the Word of God. As such it contains God’s truth. We can say unequivocally that God’s Word is 100% true. No other book can make the same claim.

Psalm 119:160 (NIV)  All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

…

Loving the Truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3)Read More »

Loving the Guidance of God’s Word (Psalm 119:113-120)

Message, Video / By /

Happy 4th of July weekend! I trust that you are having a blessed holiday. We celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, 238 years ago. The Declaration of Independence begins with these famous words …

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,”

So, the founders of our nation, acknowledged their creator God and the rights that He had blessed them with. Today, 238 years later, we must be careful to not forget the godly principles our country was founded upon. As Christians, we have been blessed to live in a country that was founded on biblical principles and gives us the freedom to worship God. Yet, we must remember that our allegiance as believers is first and foremost to the Kingdom of God.

Psalm 144:15 (NIV)  Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

…

Loving the Guidance of God’s Word (Psalm 119:113-120)Read More »

Loving God by Serving Others (John 21:1-17)

Message, Video / By /

We’re in a message series called “Four Priorities for Life. Last Sunday, we talked about Loving God through Worship. I hope that you grew in learning to worship God throughout the week. Last week, three of my boys and I attended an Assemblies of God Faith and Science conference in Springfield. We learned from a number of eminent scientists from around the world, how God’s greatness is seen in nature. From remote galaxies to the genetic codes in our cells, God’s incredible design was seen. God’s handiwork was a great opportunity for worship.

Today I’ve entitled my message “Loving God by Serving Others.” This message is going to show how two of our priorities for life are interrelated. In the future, we’re going to be talking about the priority of Loving God’s People. Today, we’re going to talk about how we can express our love for God by serving those in His family. Of course, serving is an expression of our love for people.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25 about what is going to happen on judgment day. Jesus will sit on His throne and divide people into two groups that He calls the sheep and the goats. The sheep will go into eternal life with Jesus, whereas the goats will go away to eternal punishment. How does Jesus say that He will decide who is a sheep or a goat? To the sheep Jesus said …

Matthew 25:40 (NIV)  “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

…

Loving God by Serving Others (John 21:1-17)Read More »

Loving God through Worship (Psalm 116)

Audio, Message / By /

Today, we begin a new message series called “Four Priorities for Life.” Life in the 21st century is busy, we all have to keep a lot of plates spinning. Most of us are responsible for ourselves, our families, our homes, our work and our church. Each of those responsibilities has many components that take our time and energy each and every day. Not only are we busy in the 21st century, but we have an unprecedented number of distractions in life that can keep us from fulfilling our responsibilities.

Never before in the history of mankind have we had the ability to connect with basically unlimited information and entertainment at the click of a button, whether on the internet, via direct access television or on our smart phones. It is estimated that by 2017, 70% of the world’s population, 5 billion people, will have a mobile phone. That represents unprecedented communication opportunity and unprecedented distraction possibility. With so many distractions, many people are living unfocused lives, unsure of what they should be prioritizing in life. God’s Word has a great deal to say about what our priorities in life ought to be, in order to be successful in God’s eyes.

Psalm 90:12 (NIV)  Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

…

Loving God through Worship (Psalm 116)Read More »

Scroll to Top