Posted on Feb 20, 2017 in General |
Recently in my office, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a few topics that as a Pastor I need to go over again with the congregation. One of those topics was about temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NLT says, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin. But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.”
So what is temptation? Temptation is any solicitation to do evil or the means to tempt with the purpose of causing one to fall or sin. Simply put, Satan tempts us to sin against God. If we fail to see temptation for what it is, then we also become blinded to the consequences of sin, which is death. As believers, we must realize sin was designed to steal, kill, and destroy from our lives and then kill us too. God didn’t lie, John 10:10 and Romans 6:23.
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Posted on Feb 20, 2017 in General |
Today I want to remind you of a simple yet powerful truth that every child of God needs to be assured of. That is the power of God’s forgiveness in our lives. Far too many believers go through life un-assured of God’s forgiveness in their lives and as a result they lack the confidence needed to walk close with God. Many people feel condemned and live trapped by their past sins, sins that God tells us He will forgive us of when we turn to Him. As with anything we need from God, the assurance of it is found in the Word of God itself. So if we need forgiveness, we must find what God tell us in His Word about Him forgiving us. 1 John 1:9 says,” if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This means as a believer if we sin, we are to go to God and ask Him to forgive us of the sin in repentance, and His promise to us is He does.
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Posted on Feb 20, 2017 in General |
With the world at its worst, the church needs to be at its best. With all the reasons many un-churched find not to come to our churches, the church needs to make sure when they do show up, it is doing what draws people to Christ. We must remember God wants to help and change people’s lives no matter where they are in life, what they have done, or what was done to them. People will come from all walks of life; hurting, feeling dirty, sorrowful, empty, and confused. Others will come high minded, impressed with themselves, and not even feeling like they need God. The question is will we each be ready? We must realize in spite of all their hate and dark things, Jesus still love them.
Many who will come didn’t have anyone to help direct their lives in the right way or to take them to a life giving church. Something else did the directing for them, or maybe a better word is misdirected; misdirected about God and His church. The following are a few helpful things that the church can do to be prepared when those we have been praying for and inviting show up.
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Posted on Feb 20, 2017 in General |
In Psalms 119:68 we read, Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. Many Christians don’t really doubt God is good but are confused over what God is good about. God’s goodness is clearly revealed in His plan of redemption for mankind. In other words His goodness to us can be seen in everything He redeemed us from. Galatians 3:13-14 states “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree v)14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ: that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Now according to Deuteronomy 28 the curse of the law was threefold; spiritual death, sickness and disease, and poverty or lack. What that means to us is that through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, God in His goodness to mankind has provided eternal life, healing and divine health, and provision and wealth.
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Posted on Feb 20, 2017 in General |
Do you know God really cares about you? So many live and die without knowing this simple yet powerful truth, much less ever experiencing it personally with their lives. However, God wants this truth to be real to us and permeate every part of our lives. There can be many reasons why it is hard for people to believe God cares about them and has good planned for their lives. One reason could be their life experiences tell them something totally different. Maybe losing a loved one, a job, having an accident, getting a divorce, or even getting sick has made them really question that God cares about them. Also many people all of their lives have heard and thought something totally different than God cares about them and therefore have allowed their feelings, circumstances, and past experiences to form their beliefs about God. Do you know what is supposed to form your beliefs about God? Are your feelings, circumstances, or experiences really supposed to? No, only the Word of God is to do this. Only God’s Word cast the right picture of God to us, what He is like and what He does and doesn’t do. Hearing God’s Word produces a true knowledge about God and then produces faith in us. Biblical faith is always based upon knowledge of God and we can only get that from the Word of God.
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