I very much appreciate that God has given us the ability to make our own decisions. When my children were young (And still today!) I would pray that God would help them, and I, to make good decisions.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
I. A Clear Division
I appreciate the clear division. You can choose a blessing or a curse. Of course, who would intentionally choose a curse? Only someone who does not believe.
A. Psalms 14:1
The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.
B. Proverbs 9:10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
C. Luke 11:23
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
From these verses we see a continuation of a clear-cut choice. We can go with God, or without God. We are either with Jesus, or against Jesus. There is no middle ground. There is no neutral territory. We must decide which side we are on.
II. You Choose: Joshua 24:14-15
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua reminded the Children of Israel that they had a choice. They could serve the Lord, or they could serve other gods, or no gods.
We also have a choice. We can serve God, or follow some other path, but there will be consequences for our choice. It is important that we make the right one.
III. Believe: Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We can read the words that tell us about Jesus and God but unless we mix that knowledge with faith, our knowledge will be useless. We must believe that the words are true. We must have faith in God. This faith comes about when the Spirit of God speaks to our hearts about the Word of God and we have the opportunity, by the grace of God, to choose to believe. When we respond in faith to the message of Jesus the Spirit of God comes into our hearts and we become a new creation.
IV. Act: Matthew 7:21-27
1 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
We do not change our lives to be saved, but if we are saved, our lives will change. If the Spirit of God dwells inside of us, then we will not be the same.
We must daily decide to follow Jesus. There will always be the temptation to follow old patterns, to do our own thing, but it is far better to follow Jesus, not just in what we say, but also in what we do.
Jesus has offered to us an abundant life. It is up to us to choose whether or not we will receive it.
These are the sermon notes from 11/30/19. All scripture quotes are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Any advertisements that might appear are placed by WordPress. I have no control over them, nor do I receive any money from them.
A Servant of Jesus
October 31, 2019I. Serve Christ: John 12:23-26
As a minister I have heard a lot of teaching on leadership. I have not heard much about being a servant. Now I suppose that you can say that the ideal thing is to be a servant leader, but my concern is on what we emphasize.
I am a servant.
A servant of Jesus.
Long ago I gave my life to Christ. Long ago I asked God to direct me in what He wanted me to do with my life.
I regularly check in with God. If I am supposed to be doing something other than preaching and teaching at the places where I now serve, I am confidant that God will let me know.
All Christians should be willing to let God direct their lives. Where to go to school, what job to take, whom to marry, all aspects of our lives should be given to God to direct. Our first priority is to serve Him.
II. Sons of Light: John 12:35-36
Now we understand that light is to be a symbol of good and darkness represents evil. We also know that Jesus said that He was the light of the world. (John 8:12) Here in these verses we are challenged to ‘believe in the light’ to become ‘sons of light’.
What does this mean?
III. Abide in the Light: John 12:42-46
As I read these verses, one phrase really stood out to me. “for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”.
I remember an old song that talked about being God-pleasers rather than man-pleasers. If we think back to the first point, we are to be servants of God. We should want to please Him. Sadly, there are some who are more concerned with how they look to men than to God.
We are called to abide in the light. We are told that Jesus came as a light, but what does that mean?
IV. The Word and The Spirit: John 6:63
I suggest that in order to be servants of Jesus, in order to be sons of light and to abide in the light we should be guided by the Word and the Spirit.
A. The Word: Psalms 119:105
If we were moving about in the darkness we might run into things and get hurt. If we have a light we can see where we are going and can avoid dangerous obstacles. God’s Word provides the direction we need to live our lives as Children of the Light.
B. The Spirit: John 16:33
We need help to understand the Word of God and to apply it accurately to our lives today. It is the job of the Spirit is ‘guide us into all truth.’ We should not rely on our own human wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of God reveals the truth of God to the people of God.
If we want to be servants of Jesus, let us allow the Word and the Spirit to guide our lives. Then we will truly abide in the Light and be children of the Light.
These are the sermon notes from 8/27/19. All scriptures are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Any advertisements that might appear are placed by WordPress. I have no control over them, nor do I receive any money from them.
Tags:Bible, Christianity, commentary, faith, God, Holy Spirit, Scripture, serving God, The Spirit, The Word
Posted in Christian Teachings, sermon outlines | Leave a Comment »