God wants us to fulfill His purposes for us by living for Him every day. In this way, we can grow to be the kind of people that God wants us to be. Ultimately, God wants every single person to grow into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Christ the King gives His kingdom 1) Knowledge, 2) Good Works, 3) Strength, 4) Family. Each person should understand that Christ the King is the source of Knowledge, Good Works, Strength, and Family. I want everyone to appreciate that Christ the King is the charter of His kingdom.
Regardless of how many new technologies we obtain, the focus of the gospel is still the same: people. Jesus was about people; the church is about people; we need to be about people. What does that mean? It means continuing to worship and take care of the saints in the local body, reaching out to others in the community with the gospel and growing the body of Christ. Taking the message of the gospel to the rest of the world as we have opportunity (Matthew 28:18-20).
This sermon sets forth some optimistic resolutions each Christian should make in light of the new year. Each member should be motivated to go forward into the new year and work for God anticipating great accomplishments. I want to motivate all to be optimistic toward this new year.
In this lesson we will set forth several reasons against pleasing people, and for pleasing God. That we would focus less on pleasing people, and more on pleasing God.
Why would God be angry that some people rejected His invitation? This is the rejection of God Himself. Why so serious? Justice demands punishment of sin and all have sinned. There is no forgiveness outside of the wedding feast. God only justifies those who believe and obey Jesus Christ (Romans 3:26). Those who have sought justice in this life alone will be disappointed to find themselves alongside of those to whom they served justice having rejected God’s invitation.
When we worship the King of Glory we must respect his 1) Dominion, 2) Holiness, 3) Majesty. How we worship is important. God is not an object of our manipulation. He is a person of high esteem. Each should recognize these truths in worship.
In Jesus’ invitation we see: 1) The Wise, 2) The Foolish, and 3) The Authority of Christ. Each person should understand that it is wise to hear the message of Christ and act on it and foolish to hear but not act.
God has prepared a wonderful feast. He offers the bread and water of life, Jesus Christ. “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” (John 6:35). This is God offering Himself because Jesus is God with us. He gives a great feast, the abundant life (John 10:10).
When you fail, 1) Remember what is important, 2) Glory in Your Weaknesses, 3) Accept Correction, 4) Don't Look Back, 5) Keep Telling Others About Jesus.
The fruit of the Spirit is goodness because goodness 1) Originates in Love, 2) Cares About Others, 3) Gives to Others, 4) Works for the Benefit of Others, 5) Sacrifices for Others. Each person should have an understanding of God’s goodness and how it informs goodness in our lives.
God produced a morally perfect person, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, both God and man in the flesh. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” God knew all along that mankind would not accomplish salvation. God proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt over the many years of waiting for His Son to come into the world. Today, that record stands. Man needs God to save him, and the history of the Bible documents all of man’s failures “that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:29).
In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ ? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” This teaching answers all the questions that need to be answered about this issue.
First, God does not give miraculous visions today. Those miracles ended after the time of the apostles. First Corinthians 13:8-10 says, “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect (complete) has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” Today, the complete word of God has been revealed by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Prophecies, tongues, knowledge, and other miracles were “in part.” The knowledge that comes through the revealed, written word of God is complete.
When we give 1) We do well, 2) We Produce Fruit, 3) We Please God, 4) We Show Faith in God. Each hearer should understand that giving is a holy and righteous act that spiritually benefits everyone including us. The aim of this sermon is to encourage giving.
Every child born into the world is innocent. Genesis 8:21 says that man begins to sin “from his youth,” not “from his birth.” Every single person has a chance to live a morally pure life, but no one does. Everyone sins eventually. At the dawn of time, however, this had yet to be proved. Could some man live a morally pure life without God’s aid? The Old Testament shows otherwise.
The miraculous gift of tongues was a sign that confirmed the word to unbelievers. God gave the apostles and other disciples the ability to miraculously speak foreign languages so they could take the gospel to the world. This miracle would convince unbelievers to believe the gospel as it did in Acts 2.
At the pool of Bethesda we see an 1) unrealized cure, 2) unabashed command, 3) unjustified criticism, 4) unapologetic confirmation. Each should understand the events that occurred at the pool of Bethesda and learn the lessons of appropriate compassion and sinful apathy. Each should have a better understanding of this event in the life of Christ.
Christianity makes sense because 1) There is a Creator, 2) Mankind Has a Purpose, 3) The Creator Supports and Sustains Us, 4) He Desires the Unity of Mankind, 5) He Reveals Himself in Jesus, 6) He Saves by His Grace. Each should understand that these fundamental truths make sense of the world.
Tongues were not always understood by others, so they did not edify others. Without a translator, they edified the speaker of the tongue only. The gift of prophecy always edified because it was spoken in a language everyone understood. So, if speech edifies (whether it is a foreign tongue or a prophecy), then it is a language heard and understood. Tongues edified the speaker, so tongues were always understood by the person speaking them. That’s not true of people speaking tongues today. They often claim not to know what they said. So, they are not really “speaking in tongues.”