"Love me tender, love me true" were the words of one of the ballads sung long ago by Elvis Presley. As I was thinking on the words of that song, I could picture Jesus singing it to us…and hopefully, us singing it to Him! But, in the real world of today, there is an awful lot of hate, murder, and barbarism going on. How can we then love those who are so full of evil; those who are bent on our destruction? Jesus has the answer. He was a “grace dispensing machine”, and that is exactly what we must strive to be. Instead of being like a bug exterminator, spray-stomp-spray-stomp, when it comes to sin, we must be more like perfume in the room and bring the refreshing truth of a life in Jesus Christ. Jesus never condoned evil – He never turned a blind eye to it – but He was always ready to forgive it. As was once said, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love least”. Jesus honored the dignity of every single person, whether He agreed with them or not, and so must we. Do not let the constant struggle of today’s modern world put you into a divisive existence. Let the complete, pure, “agape” love of God rule in all you do. (John 15:12, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8) (Listen to entire sermon below.) 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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Temptations, even though a bad thing, can really be a good thing. When you are tempted, it exposes the weaknesses still within you. And, boy, are there a lot of areas of temptations – hatred, anger, disappointment, unkind acts, jealousy, selfishness, etc., as well as the old stand-by, sensual lust. News flash though – the temptation is not the sin, giving in to the temptation is the sin. In our sermon, we will discuss the reasons why God uses temptations:
To further our understanding of temptations, we will also discuss the stages of temptation:
(Hmm—those look mighty familiar, don’t they?) But God never reveals something that He does not show a way of escape. There are steps out of temptation:
Thank You, Lord, for saving our souls. Jesus is truly the only way out of this mess…take it! (Listen to entire sermon below.) 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. I grew up hearing those words…and most of you probably did, too. If you practice being angry, you’ll get really good at being angry. The same goes for selfishness, impatience, judgment, hatred, etc. God tells us to reject those areas and, instead, opt to practice kindness, trust, self-control, etc. But here is where the warning comes…YOU CAN’T MEET GOD’S MEASURE in those areas! Only the Spirit of God can meet the measure of God. So, in order to meet His expectations, you need to have Him inside of you. He tells us that if we walk by the Spirit, we cannot sin. Whew—that’s a relief. But it will take practice letting Him rule and not your broken nature. So start practicing God’s way…you’ll get really good at it! References: Romans 12:9-21, Galatians 5:1, 16-25 (Listen to entire sermon below.) 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. Some of you may remember the comedian Flip Wilson and his humorous routine where he would say, “Here come da judge, here come da judge”. Is that the song people sing when you come in the room? I hope not, but if you struggle with being somewhat judgmental, Jesus has a remedy. He says, "don’t”! Ever notice that some Christians are piercingly critical people. Get a revelation folks; our criticism often crushes the one being criticized – whether you know it or not, it does. Criticism is NOT correction. Criticism is the Adam nature’s version of correction! The Spirit of God is the only One in a position to criticize because His criticism is not disparaging, it is correction in the superlative. We have to let Him do it because He is the only One who can do it with hurting and wounding. You may never voice your criticism but if you’re even thinking it, you have a problem! Let’s look at God’s training manual on this issue: Mathew 7:1-5, Romans 2:17-29, Romans 5:8-11. (Listen to entire sermon below.) 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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Peter asked the Lord how many times he should forgive someone who sinned against him. The Jewish law of that era required forgiveness for three times, so Peter thought he was being generous when he asked if it should be seven. And what did Jesus say…seventy times seven! That doesn’t mean to keep track, folks. That was just an example of hyperbole, meaning it was an exaggerated amount to get the point across. In doing the math, that would be 490 times…but that is for each offense. So, if offended ten times in a day, that’s 4,900 times to forgive someone in one day! You get the point. Jesus was saying to always forgive. And He qualified it saying to forgive others as you have been forgiven by Him. The deal is this: confess, repent, and return the favor to others. There are four stages in this forgiveness business, and we will cover them today. (Matthew 18:21-22, Matthew 6:12) 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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