© Carolyn Marshall, www.livinglifephoto.com
“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) Through God’s unmerited grace, not as the result of any effort, ability, intelligent choice, or act of service on our part, we become Christians. Out of gratitude for this free gift, we will seek to help and serve others with kindness, love and gentleness, and not merely to please ourselves. We are each under construction by our God who creates masterpieces, and are a work in progress. Christ is day by day chiseling and building us. He is removing the unwanted and harmful things in our lives and rebuilding the internal workings of our heart and mind. Just like the roads we travel each day, the construction goes on and the traffic cones are deployed. We must steer around them just as we need to steer around the things that are still obstacles in us so we don’t fall into pot holes or drive where the road is no longer there. Please watch the video below prior to listening to Pastor Ted's message.If you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS.
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© http://rblog.thebowmans.us/ Matthew 5:48 “Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Oh great…Jesus is telling me to be perfect like He is!! No way!!! For most of us, that seems a measure we can’t meet…or is it? God won’t tell us to do something He knows we can’t (or at least not without His help). So what does it mean? If we look at the original meaning of the word “perfect” we can see that it is not telling you to be morally perfect (nice goal though!) or to be sinless (another nice goal). God knows, because of the Adam nature, we won’t be. No, the Greek word used is teleios, meaning having reached its end, finished, complete, whole, or mature. It’s really more about your “graduation” than your “grades”, so to speak. What does this “maturing and completing process include…well, one of the best ways to see Jesus' perspective on perfection is to look at Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” as recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. Jesus shows us His side of the story and how we can be complete to meet that measure. The point made is that we CAN be perfect like He is perfect…meaning COMPLETE, FINISHED, WHOLE, and MATURE! Jesus really covered it all! Go on now, what are you waiting for…start your engines! If you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS. PRINT OR VIEW HAND OUT BELOW© http://www.123rf.com It’s not about money or time…it’s about YOU. Giving all to Jesus is what everyone needs to do to develop spiritually. Beware, it will not come naturally, and it will cost you everything. This Christian life is anything but a boring life for sure…sacrificial, but not boring. To have Jesus scour the landscape of your life and weed out, and sometimes tear out, all that is unclean and profane is a task of love and honor. No, I’m not crazy–it’s the love of God that propels Him to do it and the honor of mankind to receive it. So it’s not what you DO–it’s who you ARE in Christ. Being surrendered to God means you constantly put aside what you think, what you feel and what you want. You’re not left an empty void, though…by putting away YOU (the lower), you get God (the Higher). When you do that, you get God doing the thinking, wanting and feeling. So give it all to Jesus…He’s waiting for you. “Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land.” (Isaiah 43:19 NCV) LISTEN TO AUDIOIf you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS.
Hudson Taylor was an English missionary who served in China–51 years! He was constantly encouraging people to put the Lord first and spent his life sacrificing his comforts and his dreams to bring the word of truth to the lost. Even though he came from a Methodist and Baptist background, he developed his work as non-denominational welcoming all groups. He started the China Inland Mission which brought 800 missionaries to China, established 125 schools and directly resulted in over 18,000 conversions to Christ. He worked tirelessly against the opium trade there and became one of the most significant Europeans in China in the 19th century (1800’s). Mr. Taylor adopted wearing native Chinese clothing even though this was rare among missionaries at the time. [From Hudson Taylor’s (1832-1905), A Higher Calling–quotes in the public domain.] What about you? Do you have an “anything-goes” attitude toward serving God? Would you:
Follow along with the audio of the sermon to hear “…the rest of the story.” Audio: (Click forward button below to play audio of message and/or download file. Message originally recorded on 2/15/12.)
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