Look at what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:5-7. Paul reminds his disciple of who God is, who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done, and then speaks of his own responsibility to preach that truth to the unreached. And though you have heard this probably a hundered times in church we cannot escape the Bible's unrelenting pursuit to commission us into the ministry of God. When we know who he is and what he has done for us, our response is praise, prayer, and eventually it must become preaching! Theology leads to doxology which leads to missiology. The knowledge of God leads to the admiration of God which leads to the mission of God. Another way of saying it if you aren't getting the picture is that faith leads to conversion, conversion leads to discipleship, discipleship leads to transformation, and transformation leads to evangelism. In other words, you cannot have a real knowledge of who God is and the works of his Son and simply sit on the sidelines of history as people wander aimlessly into destruction. You must heed his call, get into the fight, and become a missionary, not in deeds alone, but by preaching the Word of truth wherever you go. When we truly know God we will surrender all we have for the sake of the call!
- Sep 3, 2023Shepherds & Servants Part 5: Know God And Obey His Call (1 Timothy 2:5-7)
Shepherds & Servants Part 5: Know God And Obey His Call (1 Timothy 2:5-7)
Look at what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:5-7. Paul reminds his disciple of who God is, who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done, and then speaks of his own responsibility to preach that truth to the unreached. And though you have heard this probably a hundered times in church we cannot escape the Bible's unrelenting pursuit to commission us into the ministry of God. When we know who he is and what he has done for us, our response is praise, prayer, and eventually it must become preaching! Theology leads to doxology which leads to missiology. The knowledge of God leads to the admiration of God which leads to the mission of God. Another way of saying it if you aren't getting the picture is that faith leads to conversion, conversion leads to discipleship, discipleship leads to transformation, and transformation leads to evangelism. In other words, you cannot have a real knowledge of who God is and the works of his Son and simply sit on the sidelines of history as people wander aimlessly into destruction. You must heed his call, get into the fight, and become a missionary, not in deeds alone, but by preaching the Word of truth wherever you go. When we truly know God we will surrender all we have for the sake of the call!
- Aug 27, 2023Shepherds & Servants Part 4: Pray For The People (1 Timothy 2:1-4, 8)
Shepherds & Servants Part 4: Pray For The People (1 Timothy 2:1-4, 8)
I'm sure I don't have to convince you that your leaders should be men of prayer. However, it is a good reminder for them and for us, that prayer is very important for a church, therefore it is very important for those who shepherd and serve the church. Look at what Paul writes to Timothy, the Elder of the church of Ephesus, in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, 8.
We must see prayer as an urgent need both for our leaders and for ourselves. We must pray as a church the prayers that we see in this passage. We must see the responsibility of prayer for the church, how we are to pray for the church, and how we should pray for those outside the church. Most of all, our leaders must be praying over you as is their duty as shepherds and servants. A church, depending on Christ in prayer, pleases the Lord!
- Aug 20, 2023Shepherds & Servants Part 3: Hold To The Faith (1 Timothy 1:18-20)
Shepherds & Servants Part 3: Hold To The Faith (1 Timothy 1:18-20)
I want you to think about your faith this morning. What is your faith in? What does your faith do? Who has your faith made you become? If your faith is in the power of Christ who has overcome all temptations and holds the power of life in the palm of his hands, you are redeemed, and can indeed overcome any trials or temptations you may face. Unfortunately, many do not have a faith in Christ which transforms them and empowers them. Many place their faith in their own strength and ability. Many place their faith in the pleasures of this world to power their few temporary moments of elation. Many place their faith in money. Those with the Gold make the rules. And many place their faith in false gods or false gospels. This morning our hope is two-fold. That if you haven't, you would place your faith in the only true hope of the world, Jesus Christ. And then secondly, that those of you who have placed your faith in Christ, would hold strongly to your faith as if your life depended on it. Especially, those called to be Shepherds and Servants in the church.
- Aug 13, 2023Shepherds And Servants Part 2: Praise God For His Mercy (1 Timothy 1:12-17)
Shepherds And Servants Part 2: Praise God For His Mercy (1 Timothy 1:12-17)
Why is an understanding of God's mercy so important to us as believers? Why should we not only be aware of it but deeply meditate upon it? I think it is because as humans we have a sickness called desensitization. The more familiar we become with something, the less important it becomes. Where as the cross, the sacrifice of Christ, and the sin which he saved us from should always break us, we've heard about it so much in church that it is just the same old record. But when we are talking about something as important as the mercy of Christ to save us from our sins we should never ever allow ourselves to be desensitized to it. Instead we should determine to keep the same sober- mindedness about it that we had when we first realized it. And if we can do that, we will have no problem praising God and worshipping him as he deserves. A worship that extends beyond the weekly worship service and permeates our entire lives. We should be in a perpetual state of praising our God because of the mercy he has shown us in saving us from our sins. Today I want us to leave with a sense of understanding that; There is nothing that can keep us from praising God when we are constantly aware of the mercy Christ has shown us.
- Aug 6, 2023Shepherds And Servants Part 1: Protect The Gospel (1 Timothy 1:1-11)
Shepherds And Servants Part 1: Protect The Gospel (1 Timothy 1:1-11)
The Ephesian church was very dear to Paul's heart and he wanted to make sure that they did not stray from the faith in his absence. All of this is the setting in which we find ourselves for the foreseeable future. So what is the primary message that Paul gives to Timothy for the Church of Ephesus? As we will come to find out later, it is for the establishing of church leaders and proper church community. But here Paul simply communicates to Timothy his most pressing matter, that as the primary Shepherd in Ephesus at the time, Timothy must make sure that the other Shepherds are preaching sound doctrine. By the way, I'm using the term Shepherd here as it communicates what an elder or pastor is primarily supposed to do; shepherd the people of God spiritually. We will get into that topic more in depth later in our study. For now we must focus on the issue at hand; Shepherds must protect the Gospel so that the church won't abandon the Gospel. The message of Christ as our Lord and God, who redeemed us from our sinful state through the sacrifice of his own life is non-negotiable. The commands He expects us to live according to, in order to show our devotion to him, are inalienable. When we move away from the standard of the Word of God and its precepts, we will inevitably walk away from our faith.
- Jul 30, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 8: Stay In School (2 Timothy 2:15)
Summer Mix Tape Part 8: Stay In School (2 Timothy 2:15)
The KJV says in 2 Timothy 2:15, “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” In many passages, the Bible reminds us that as Christians we are to never stop being a student; we are to never stop studying. In other words, Christians stay in school for life! For you kids or students, that may seem unappealing, but let me assure you, if you love Jesus, you'll love learning all you can about him and his creation. Studying the Bible and learning how to have a deeper faith in Christ isn't a burden, it's a blessing. Our attitudes should be that of Psalm 25:4 which says, “make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” The point this morning is simple, regardless of how old you are, you should never lose a desire to learn all you can about Christ and his kingdom.
- Jul 24, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 7: Love Does Not Equal Acceptance (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Summer Mix Tape Part 7: Love Does Not Equal Acceptance (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Let's talk about love. But not love like in ahhhh, but love as in like... hmmm. To explain what I'm talking about let's look at the love chapter; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Love is patient and kind.... blah blah. Love is all nice and polite and will do anything for you and accept you no matter what right? Well hit the brakes cupid. Look at verse 6 again. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Did you get that? Love is kind, not arrogant, not rude, not irritable or resentful. Love will make you feel accepted but love doesn't accept all that you do because true love does not, cannot rejoice at wrong doing!
And it is this issue, this point, that may be the fulcrum of the current spiritual war which is raging in our culture. As believers we must place our faith in Christ above all, yes? And our faith in Christ is in accordance with a belief in the scriptures, yes? And our scriptures tell us that true faith is exhibited through righteous living, right? And our scriptures, the Bible, tells us how to live righteously, correct? So what happens when we are faced with a choice to either appear loving by accepting someone's sin or appear unloving by neglecting to accept one's sin?
For the longest time, the church answered this dilemma through the mantra, “hate the sin, love the sinner.” But today we are confronted with so many changing cultural norms that in order to hate the sin, we must hate the very thing by which people find their identity. For example, I can easily tell an alcoholic that I hate their sin of drunkenness and dependency on alcohol, and they will most likely agree and not be offended by it. Why? Because being an alcoholic is not something anyone wants to be celebrated for. But in the last decade it has become mainstream for certain other sins and the people who indulge in them to be celebrated for those sins, because those sins define them. And if you dare tell them that the sin which defines them is sin, and that you can't accept their sin or their lifestyle as right, according to scripture, then you are considered intolerant, a bigot, a phobe, and you are othered by society. We are told that if we don't accept someone's lifestyle then we are not being loving and we need to change our stance or be canceled. And we are left wondering? When did telling someone that we can't accept their sinful lifestyle become unloving. In fact, according to 1 Corinthians 13:6, aren't we being loving when we do not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoice in the truth?
- Jul 16, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 6: God’s Call To Ministry (Exodus 3)
Summer Mix Tape Part 6: God’s Call To Ministry (Exodus 3)God's call to ministry for Moses shows us how we can persevere in our call, no matter the difficulties we will face. Someone with a true calling will keep going regardless of their failures, excuses, and disappointments. In the end we will realize that we are empowered to live our calling not because of our strength but because of the power of Christ in us. Don't give up on what God has called you to do!
- Jul 9, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 5: The Forgotten God (Romans 8:11)
Summer Mix Tape Part 5: The Forgotten God (Romans 8:11)
You may think that calling the Holy Spirit the forgotten God is a bit extreme but I don't. In my opinion the Holy Spirit has been tragically neglected for far too long and for all practical purposes has been forgotten, not just by secular society, but by the church itself. Francis Chan, in his book Forgotten God, says, “If I were Satan and my ultimate goal was to thwart God's kingdom and purposes, one of my main strategies would be to get churchgoers to ignore the Holy Spirit.” This cannot be tolerated and must be addressed.
Some people talk a lot about, or even boast about, the Spirit, but their lives don't produce any of His fruit. Others speak about Him in theological terms but don't have any connection with an experience of His actual power. Still many simply ignore Him and rarely feel a relationship or intimacy with God.
We need to be awakened to our need for the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our church and to show us how to make him relevant and real in the way we live. If the Holy Spirit moves, nothing can stop Him. If he doesn't move, we will not produce fruit, we will not exhibit a genuine example of Christ to the world, and we will not find the strength to push through complacency and trials. Most of all, if the Holy Spirit doesn't move we will continue to be satisfied with the superficial means of this world rather than the supernatural moving of God.
- Jul 2, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 4: The American Covenant (Deuteronomy 4:1-8)
Summer Mix Tape Part 4: The American Covenant (Deuteronomy 4:1-8)
What great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us? A nation, not all that unlike Israel, that started when a few religious separatists against all odds, boarded ships, crossed an ocean, and took possession of a new world. A nation that started upon the words and the commandments of the Lord our God. A nation born from full sail rejection of idolatrous tyranny. A nation born of an American Covenant. A covenant which states time and time again, “keep and teach the righteous statutes of the Lord and you will be blessed.” And make no mistake about it, God has blessed America. But just as with the Covenant that was given to the Israelites from Mount Sinai, this covenant is conditional. Though God unconditionally will never forsake his elect; when dealing with nations, there are stipulations to his blessings. Follow his commands and seek his will and things will go well for you. Ignore his commands and seek your own desires and things will go poorly. Tuesday, as we celebrate the birth of our nation, founded on the principles of the Bible and for the expansion of Christ's kingdom, let it be a warning. We have sunk further from God as a nation than we ever have. We have forsaken his Word and forgotten his will for our nation. We have become pagans worshipping the gods of the flesh and celebrating demonic perversions and sexually immoralities that our forefathers couldn't even have imagined. Our freedoms are hanging on by a thread and because of this we are more divided as a country than we have been since the Civil War. In short, we are in drastic danger of seeing God remove his hand of blessing from us. You see it and I see it. If not for a miracle the end of the republic is in sight.
- Jun 25, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 3: Faithfulness In A Time Of Apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)
Summer Mix Tape Part 3: Faithfulness In A Time Of Apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)We are living in a time of great apostasy in the church and I'm afraid it may get much worse. Those who stay the course must do so by staying faithful to the Word of God.
- Jun 18, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 2: Highs and Lows (1 Chronicles 16:11)
Summer Mix Tape Part 2: Highs and Lows (1 Chronicles 16:11)We often think of a negative attitude as debilitating to a believer, and it is, but we don't often think of a positive attitude in the same way. A positive attitude can take our eyes off Christ just as easily as a negative one. In the highs and the lows of life, if our eyes aren't fixed on Christ, we will undoubtably lose our joy and our way. If both a negative and positive attitude can lead us astray in our faith, we must have a positional attitude, one that is fixed on Christ.
- Jun 11, 2023Summer Mix Tape Part 1: Prayers, Testimonies, and Communion
Summer Mix Tape Part 1: Prayers, Testimonies, and CommunionSometimes we just need to hear from God. This week we hear testimonies from a few different people, pray for revival and for our country, and focus on communion.
- Jun 4, 2023Weird Flex Part 7: I Have No Ambition Or Anything Else (Proverbs 13:4)
Weird Flex Part 7: I Have No Ambition Or Anything Else (Proverbs 13:4)
Proverbs 13:4 says, “the soul of a sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.” Proverbs 1:32 says “the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.” The book of Proverbs makes it apparent that fools are lazy and apathetic and because of that they have produce very little of value . A fool brags that they have no ambition or anything else. It is not wise to be lazy, apathetic, and unambitious. But, we can all relate a little right? I mean who doesn't want to take a break every now and then, lay back, and just chill? The problem is, without moderation and discipline, times of rest and relaxation can turn into days of rest and relaxation which can turn into weeks which can turn into months. Before you know it you've allowed a few moments of rest to become a habit of laziness and lethargy. Take vacations for example. There is very little in this life better than working hard all year and then enjoying that week at the beach where you sit around and do nothing, right? But then comes that next week when you have to go back to work. I don't know about you, but I rarely feel ready to jump back into that week at full speed. In fact, I would much rather have another week of vacation. Laziness can become a habit very fast. Or think back to Covid. We were basically told to stop working, stop going to the gym, stop living life, and nestle down in our homes and watch Netflix for a year. I dare say we have all recovered from the months upon months of sluggish living. It is possible many never will. And that is foolish. Why is it foolish to live a lifestyle void of ambition, void of hard work and diligence? Because, laziness doesn't produce anything of true worth. Television watching doesn't produce anything of worth. Cheering for a team doesn't produce anything of worth. Playing a video game doesn't produce anything of worth. Sleeping all day produces nothing of worth. In other words, you cannot produce anything of value unless you do something productive. This message is huge for our graduates and those who will be graduating in the upcoming years. At every turn you will be confronted with two options. Go make something of yourself where you contribute to society and produce things of value to humanity or indulge yourself in staying stagnant in habitual laziness. Go create a life of value or continue to be idle. Go add value to the world around you or turn into a leech mooching off of society. Be someone who is dependable or someone who is simply dependent. If you choose to reject the path of laziness you will find your life filled with meaning in serving others and serving Christ. But if you choose the path of no ambition what you will find out is that at some point it is unsustainable. It is sin, and it is foolishness. You cannot produce anything of value unless you do something productive.
- May 28, 2023Weird Flex Part 6: I’m Wasted (Proverbs 20:1)
Weird Flex Part 6: I’m Wasted (Proverbs 20:1)
Proverbs 20:1 says, “wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Simply put, it is foolish to be led astray by alcohol. It is unwise to drink too much, to wander into substance abuse, and to blatantly sin by becoming drunk. Like it or not, alcohol is a huge part of our society, and a huge problem in our culture and it must be addressed. And, I know that this may be a sensitive subject but Proverbs has a few things to say about the foolishness of alcohol consumption and substance abuse and I think it would be negligent of me as your pastor if we didn't at least give it a look. I've also noticed that it is not just a problem, but that this problem is celebrated. It is not uncommon for someone to brag about how much they drink and how often they are drunk. Even when I was in high-school kids would come to school flaunting how wasted they were. Like some badge of honor many people unashamedly admit that their weekend plans are to get wasted. In no small part our society lives for the weekend and many weekends involve binging on alcohol or drugs. The Bible says that this is foolish. It's not godly, its not God honoring, and it clearly shows a lack of fear in God. It's also not uncommon to see substance abuse celebrated on social media. Look at some of these tweets. The point is simple, a fool brags about being high, being drunk, being wasted... they may think it's cool but it is a weird flex. So, for those struggling with substance abuse or addiction, there is hope in the wisdom of Christ. For those who socially drink but often find they take it too far and get drunk, it's time to repent and find wisdom in the Word of God. And for those who like to use recreational drugs like Marijuana, it's time to turn from your foolishness and return to the wisdom found in God. But you may say, it's not a sin to drink. And you would be right. But is it always wise? This morning I want us to focus on the dangers of alcohol and drugs while also wrestling with the fact that alcohol isn't forbidden for believers and is in some case prescribed. When it comes to this particular subject we must find a balance of staying within God's will and if choosing to partake doing so with moderation. Wisdom is often finding that middle ground. But, let's be honest. That is hard. That is difficult. And if it can't be done, then it should be done away with. The main point is simple, When alcohol or drugs can not be handled with wisdom, the wise thing to do would be to not handle them at all!
