Message

061119.jpg

Developing A Thankful Attitude

God, Message / By /

This week is Thanksgiving, a day to celebrate the goodness of God in our lives. It’s a day to remind us of all the things we have to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is not the only day of the year we should be thankful. In fact, thanksgiving should be a continual attitude in our lives.

Today, I’m going to talk about “Developing A Thankful Attitude.” A thankful attitude does not come naturally, it’s something that must be developed with God’s help. NIV Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. The first thing this verse teaches us is that thanksgiving has an object, thanks is to be directed to a person, in this case to the Lord. A thankful attitude is directed to God, for His goodness and love. A believer who has a thankful attitude gains many benefits in their life. Being obedient to God’s command to be thankful, brings His blessing on your life. Being thankful to God helps you be thankful toward people as well. Being a person with a thankful attitude will work wonders in your relationships, in your family, at work and in the church.

What’s the opposite of being thankful? It’s being ungrateful Neither God nor other people like being around an ungrateful person. Let’s see how thankful a person you are. I’ve come up with a test consisting of three questions with three possible answers which will tell if you have a thankful attitude.

First question: You are in the ten item, cash only line at ShopNSave with your two cans of green beans and one can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup with a fresh $20 bill from your ATM machine in your hand. The person in front of you has fifteen items and a checkbook in their back pocket. How do you respond? A. Gratitude for the Green Bean Bake your family will enjoy. B. Grit your teeth and wonder if the guy ahead of you failed math or reading. C. Yell at the cashier, “Checkout Line Violation — 15 items! 15 items!”

Question two: You are driving your daughter to school, and as you drop her off, the car in front of you decides to just park there, trapping you in the school parking lot. How do you respond? A. You look out the window and give thanks for this time to stop and smell the roses and car fumes. B. Grab the steering wheel tighter as steam comes out of your ears. C. Honk your horn continuously until you sound out “move your car” in Morse code.

Third question: The election is just over and your candidate or issue did not win. What is your attitude? A. Thank God that you live in a free country and were able to vote. B. Go around with a scowl on your face for a month. C. Put a sign on your work cubicle which says, “Supporters of _____________ stay out.”

If you had all As that’s great, if you had a few Bs or Cs then you need to listen up today. NIV 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. It is God’s will for you to develop a thankful attitude, it is God’s will for you to give thanks in all circumstances. Today, we’re going to go through a passage in Philippians 4 verse by verse to see how you and I can develop a thankful attitude.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 19, 2006 message entitled Developing A Thankful Attitude

061112.jpg

Keeping Your Life In Balance

Life, Message / By /

Today, my topic is “Keeping Your Life In Balance,” or maybe I should have called it “How To Keep All Your Plates Spinning.” Life is complex these days and each of us has many hats to wear. We have our role in our families, our roles at our jobs or in our schools, we have our role in our church and a myriad of other responsibilities to keep us busy. And somewhere in the mix, we try to keep God in it all. Unfortunately, sometimes we only have time for God on Sunday. That’s not so good, that’s not a life in balance.

The way to keep your life in balance is to balance God’s five purposes for your life. Those five purposes are summarized in two important Scriptures that Jesus spoke, The Great Commandment and the Great Commission, which we’re going to look at in more detail today. These passages do not just give us guidance for Sunday mornings, but for every day of our lives. First, let’s look at the Great Commandment, NIV Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Someone had asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the Bible was and this was Jesus’ reply. Love God, the purpose of worship and love your neighbor, the purpose of ministry to others.

The second statement of Jesus that we’re going to look at today was spoken by Him just before He was taken back to heaven, it is some of Jesus’ last words on the earth. NIV Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Here Jesus gives His disciples of all ages instructions on how to live and keep their lives in balance. The third purpose of your life is to “go and make disciples”, the purpose of outreach, telling those who don’t know God about Jesus and the truth.

The next purpose is related to Jesus’ instruction to baptize new believers. Baptism is a sign that the new believer has become part of God’s family in the church and is the purpose of fellowship. The last purpose referred to in the Great Commission is to learn and practice God’s Word, the purpose of discipleship. In the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, we have God’s five purpose for your life summarized. As you and I learn to live lives balanced with those five purpose, we will have effective, fulfilled lives as we serve God. So, let’s look in some more detail, how these five purposes apply to our daily lives.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 12, 2006 message entitled Keeping Your Life In Balance

061105.jpg

A Biblical Perspective On The Stem Cell Debate

Message, World / By /

Today, I’m going to talk about “A Biblical Perspective on the Stem Cell Debate.” This issue has been around for a while, but has come to Missouri in the form of a ballot initiative called Missouri Amendment 2 : The Stem Cell Initiative. If you’ve been following the news or just the World Series, you’ve heard from actors, politicians and doctors giving you their 30-second take on the issue. It’s a controversial issue and confusing for many people, in fact I really didn’t understand what was at stake until I attended a pastor’s meeting several months ago. At that meeting a Christian PhD scientist explained what Amendment 2 was all about from a biblical perspective.

I began to study the issues in more depth. For those who don’t know my background, besides my theological degree, I also have a PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and so have the background to understand the issues. Several weeks ago I wrote a blog article on the issue entitled “Missouri Amendment 2 and the Stem Cell Debate – A Biblical Perspective.” To date over 5000 people have read the blog, spending on average 5 minutes on the page. People can comment on the blog and there were so many comments that I could only publish some of them, but I will refer to some comments this morning.

Note that my title this morning is called “A Biblical Perspective.” Here at Life Church, we believe that the Bible is to be our authority on the decisions we make in life. NIV Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Not everyone agrees, here is part of a comment to my blog, misspellings included. “You are an idiot. You must realize that religeon can never be part of politics and it should never be. You, like so many like you, take liberties with your alledged interpretation of the bible, a fictional book at best.” This person has a religion, it’s just not based on the Bible or on God’s truth Here’s another comment from another person, “Reading 2000 year old scripture and applying it to today’s problems with health is stupid.” Is applying the Bible to today’s moral issues involving life and death stupid? I don’t think so. If we don’t use the Bible as our standard, then there is no standard.

NIV Romans 8:7 The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. As a believer, I submit my life to God’s Word. As a church, we submit our lives to God’s Word. As you will see this morning, the issues involved in this debate, although seemingly complex at first, are actually quite simple to understand. The Biblical teaching in this area is also very clear for those who take it seriously. There is no disagreement among evangelical Bible-believing denominations, churches and ministries on this issue. Why should Life Church get involved in the debate at all?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 5, 2006 message entitled A Biblical Perspective On The Stem Cell Debate

061029.jpg

Expand Your Vision To The World

Message, World / By /

What is vision? Vision is eyesight, but today I want to talk about something more than mere eyesight. Another definition of vision in the dictionary is “a mental image of the imagination.” For some people, vision in life is limited essentially by what they can see with their eyes, they have a small vision. God wants you to have a large vision, a vision in your imagination painted by God’s spirit NAS Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained. A vision from God focuses your life on what’s important. People who have no vision from God simply do what they want, they are self-centered, they are unrestrained, their lives are chaotic, they never accomplish anything of significance in God’s eyes. God doesn’t want you to live life like that, consumed with just working, paying your bills, taking care of yourself, He has much bigger plans for you.

Today, my message is entitled “Expand Your Vision To The World.” I’m going to talk about how you can take your vision off of yourself and expand it to God’s vision for your life. God wants you to make an impact on your world that is far bigger than your life and the life of your immediate family. NCV Mark 16:15 Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.” Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Then Jesus’ command applies to you. God’s vision for your life is for you to go and tell the Good News to everyone you meet. That’s your mission in life, that’s a large vision that God has for you to reach out to make a difference.

What will be the final result of Jesus’ followers carrying out God’s vision? NLT Rev. 7:9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. One day, there will be a vast crowd of believers, from every nation, every people-group on this earth, worshipping God. God wants you and me to have a part in making it happen. God wants you to have a vision to reach many people for Jesus, both here in St Louis and around the world. Your life is meant to affect history and eternity.

Last week, I spoke about talking to other people about Jesus and I gave you some important tools in order to do that. However, I know that nothing will happen as long as we have a small vision, as long as our vision for next week is centered on ourselves. Change in life only happens as we allow God to change our thinking and our vision. So, let’s look at the question, “How can you expand your vision to the world?”

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 29, 2006 message entitled Expand Your Vision To The World

061022.jpg

How Can I Talk About Jesus?

Life, Message / By /

Becoming a believer in Jesus Christ is the most wonderful thing that could happen to anyone. The Bible says that when someone becomes a believer, they are “born again.” It’s as if you are born into a new world. It’s a world where God is so close to you that He actually lives inside of you. You are born into a new world where your sins are forgiven and your guilt is gone. You are born again into a world where your life now has purpose and meaning. When you become a believer, you are born into an eternal life that will never end. And I could go on and on about the wonderful new life of everyone who has become a believer.

When you find something great in life, what do you want to do with it? You want to share it with those you love, those you care about. The same is true for the believer. You have found a relationship with a person named Jesus that is so wonderful that words can hardly describe it. Every believer wants to share what they have found with other people. If someone doesn’t want to share what they’ve found in God with others, it makes you wonder if they’ve really found God at all. Why? Because every believer is meant to be God’s messenger to tell others about Jesus.

NIV 1 Thessalonians 1:8 The Lord’s message rang out from you your faith in God has become known everywhere. The people in the church at Thessalonica spread God’s message and shared their faith all over the place. The result was that more and more people came to experience the most wonderful experience in life of becoming a believer. Today, my message is entitled “How Can I Talk About Jesus?” You may be sitting here today and thinking that you’d really like to tell others about Jesus, but you’re afraid or you don’t know how.

Let’s see how the Bible says you should talk to others about Jesus. NIV 1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. The Bible says that you should always be ready to give an answer to those who are searching to find God. To do that, you need to build a friendship with people you want to share with. So today, let’s prepare by answering the question, How can I talk about Jesus?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 22, 2006 message entitled How Can I Talk About Jesus?

061015.jpg

Mission Possible

Life, Message / By /

Today, I’m going to talk about what is the most exciting part of life. It’s actually not very well known. A recent poll showed that less than 1 in 4 church goers practiced it in the last year in the US. I’m talking about one of the 5 purposes that God has for your life, the purpose of outreach. the purpose of telling someone else about your faith in Jesus Christ.

Today, we’re beginning a new message series called “Reaching Out To Make A Difference.” God wants to use you to be a bridge to Himself for people who don’t know Him. In our last message series, I talked about the purpose of Ministry – serving believers in the church. Now, I’m going to talk about the purpose of outreach or mission – serving unbelievers by telling them about Jesus.

A lot of believers apparently think that telling people about Jesus is mission impossible. Yet, it’s not impossible to reach out to others, so I’ve entitled today’s message “Mission Possible.” God has given every believer a mission. As a believer you don’t have a choice whether to accept your mission or not. If Jesus is your Lord, you accept every mission He gives you. Your mission is to tell the people in your circle of influence about your faith in God. Your and my mission is mission possible.

Is everybody going to like you sharing your faith with them? Absolutely not. NIV Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. When you take a little heat for sharing your faith, you should rejoice because you’re on the right track. In fact, if you’re not taking any flack for being a Christian, there is something wrong with your life. If you’re not having any opposition, then people don’t know what you stand for. Jesus put it this way NIV Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you.

Even though most people claim to be Christians, most people are not Christians. They need to hear how they can have a relationship with God. Even when people seem to reject the message of God at first, don’t give up. Lives changed for Jesus Christ are what makes life exciting. Outreach is your purpose in life, it’s not just the purpose of pastors or evangelists. You can reach people that no one else can reach. So today, let’s look at the question “Why should you reach out to those around you with the good news about Jesus?”

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 15, 2006 message entitled Mission Possible

Scroll to Top