Episodes
Sunday Nov 22, 2015
A CLOUD OF SAINTS (Romans 16:1-16)
Sunday Nov 22, 2015
Sunday Nov 22, 2015
Why do you work for the Lord? For me, it is because I love the Lord and because I know that I know that I will have eternal life with the Lord, but it is also because of the many saints who have come before me. In the book of Hebrews, the Lord tells us of the many saints who have labored for the Lord. He says,
Heb 11:13-16
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
KJV
This is why we work for the Lord, because we desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
All of these saints came before us, each having faithfully run the course of the race that was laid out before them, and I know that they are now watching us from heaven cheering us on as we run the same race that God has laid out before us.
Heb 12:1
12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
KJV
You may not have thought of this, but Paul is with the Lord and he is one of those witnesses that are watching us, and today we are going to learn the names of a few more saints who are standing with Paul, and with Jesus, watching us as a cloud of saints, witnessing us as we run the race that is set before us.
Without a doubt this is a lesson that, just like with the begats and the begots at the beginning of Matthew, there is a list of names that is so easy just to pass by without reading. But as I sat there this week trying to figure out whether I should spend much time on this list or not, I told myself that God has put this list in His Word for a reason, so I committed myself to studying it, and learning what God has for us here.
Even after spending the week with these names, I don’t know if this list is here just so we have a list of saints who we can be sure are in that cloud of witnesses watching us, or if it is to assure us that there have been those who came before us, and God was glorified by their work just as He is by our own work. Either way, I just want God to be glorified by this study.
Sunday Nov 15, 2015
THE PHILOSOPHY OF A MISSIONARY (Romans 15:19-33)
Sunday Nov 15, 2015
Sunday Nov 15, 2015
When you think of the term missionary, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Merriam-Webster defines the term missionary as: a person undertaking a mission and especially a religious mission
Certainly, the contemporary definition of the word missionary would be somebody sent out by a Christian church to spread the gospel message of Christ. When we think of famous Christian missionaries we think of names like Eric Liddell, David Livingstone, Lottie Moon, George Muller, or Hudson Taylor. These are people who spent much of their lives sharing the Word of God by undertaking the mission given to them by Christ.
Without a doubt, the apostle Paul was one of the most influential missionaries that God has ever put in the field to share God’s Word. It was as a result of Paul’s three major missionary journeys, as described in the book of Acts, that the gospel message was spread throughout the Middle-East and Europe.
Our lesson today gives us Paul’s philosophy on missions. He was never one to sit in a church, whether it was a beautiful church or simply a barn somewhere, and wait for people to come to him. Paul was tasked to be Christ’s minister to the Gentiles, so he went out into the world preaching the gospel message of Jesus Christ where it had never been taught before.
Paul’s undying vision of missions was to evangelize to the lost, to pioneer new fields, to plan strategically, to go by the Spirit’s leading, to be independent of the financial support of the home church, and, on the contrary, to teach his converts the joy of giving, and, above all, to be a constant source of blessing. These were the things that comprised the missionary philosophy of Paul. It is no wonder that he turned the world upside down.
Sunday Nov 08, 2015
ONE LORD, ONE SPIRIT (Romans 15:13-18)
Sunday Nov 08, 2015
Sunday Nov 08, 2015
The way to happiness and harmony between God’s people is not always easy, for people are different. Imagine that, I am different from you, and you are different from me. In fact, praise God that we are different, for it shows that we are a unique creation of God, with a unique task to perform for the Lord.
We are different because we are saved from a multitude of backgrounds including, racial and religious differences, and even social and educational differences. It is inevitable that people of different ages and temperaments, abilities and drives, concepts and natures should have trouble adjusting one to another within the fellowship of a local church. But it can be done. It cannot be done by our nature, nor can it be done by our own self-will, but it can be done through the grace of God working in us.
When you think about it, the things that unite us are far stronger than the things that divide us. We are united in Christ by a common birth, by precious blood, and by one belief.
Eph 4:4-7
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
KJV
Certainly, it is true that the things that bind us are far stronger than the things that divide us, and it is the fact that these things are true, that we have only One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all, and it this truth that makes it possible for us to make sure that we are…
Eph 4:3
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
KJV
When our eyes are on the Lord, when we remember that our love of Christ is the tie that binds us and it is far stronger than the things that divide us, then our ability to get along is simple and assured.
Sunday Nov 01, 2015
WE HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE WORLD (Romans 15:8-12)
Sunday Nov 01, 2015
Sunday Nov 01, 2015
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a message just for the few, or the select. It is a message for the world. It is a message of God’s grace, God’s love, God’s truth, God’s sacrifice, and ultimately God’s judgment.
As Christians, we are the ambassadors for Christ on this earth. Our home is in heaven and our eternal destiny is secure resting safely in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not have to be good to get into heaven, for we are already citizens in heaven. Christ has paid the price for our sins, and our faith in Him has made us the adopted sons and daughters of the almighty God. I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I will be greeted and welcomed by my Lord Jesus in heaven when I leave this life.
We are sojourners on the earth, with a message of the good news of God’s grace to declare. Part of that message is how we embrace and accept our fellow believers in Christ. This is what our lessons have been about over the last several weeks, for we are to treat our brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that will build them up, and that will be for their lasting benefit.
In areas where we have the flexibility to accommodate a weaker brother’s beliefs in debatable issues, we are to accommodate them. Our guide is to never be a stumbling block, but to always be a stepping stone in our brother’s spiritual growth. In all things we are to love our God with all of our heart, mind, spirit, and soul, and then we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
This is the witness that we are to have to the outside world, one of compassion and love for one another. As a body of believers, we are to have unity in essential beliefs, and we are to have liberty in non-essential beliefs.
Yet, there is also a time when we are to stand up for what is God’s truth. There can be no compromise in the areas of vital truth.
This is what our lesson is about today, how the believer is to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the world.
Version: 20230822