Episodes
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
TO LOVE AS JESUS LOVES-PART I (John 13:31-35)
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
In our message today, the Lord is going to give His disciples, and all of us, a new commandment, “…to love one another, as Christ has loved us.” Now, I have to admit, for me, that is a tall order because there are people around, even some Christians, who are hard to love. But that is what this new commandment tells us to do.
John 13:34
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
KJV
Now, Jesus is not just talking about loving other Christians. He is talking about everyone. He is saying that we should love everyone as Christ loves us. Is there someone you know that you just say, Lord that is not happening, I cannot love this person? Someone who has done you wrong, perhaps, even harmed you? Friends that have betrayed your trust? Family members who may have abused you, either physically or mentally? There are likely more than just one person who may fit into this category.
Well, why is it a new commandment? Love is not new. The Old Testament certainly taught us to love. In the New Testament gospels, Jesus even gave us a summary of all the commandments when He said,
Matt 22:37-39
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
KJV
What’s new, is that Jesus said that “we are to love as I have loved you.” Never before has this world known love like the love that Jesus Christ showed and the love that Jesus Christ gave. And that is what made it radically new. We are to love others not just as we love ourselves, but as Jesus loved us. This takes the love we are to show to a whole new level.
Click on the link to below to hear a message on how to love that person, who has harmed you, in the same way that Jesus Christ loves them.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 28, 2018
GOD WANTS YOUR WORSHIP (John 4:1-23)
Sunday Oct 28, 2018
Sunday Oct 28, 2018
Have you ever been out working under that hot July sun and you are sweating, and getting really thirsty? So, you go inside for a moment and pull a soft drink out of the refrigerator. Boy, it is ice cold and you drink one and it tastes so good and it just seems to hit the spot and you go back out to working in the yard and before long in that 100 degree heat you're thirsty again. So, you go back in for another soft drink and you drink that one, and it seems so good and it seems to satisfy, but before long you're thirsty again. But this time, instead of a soft drink, you tell yourself, I know what I need, and you go back and you get you a big tall glass of ice water, pure, ice cold water, and you drink it and you tell yourself, now that really does satisfy my thirst.
Ok, so why is that? Well, if you look at that bottle of soft drink, you'll see that it says it is artificially colored, artificially flavored, and most of all artificially sweetened. That tells me that there's just something there that doesn't have that touch of authenticity and reality. Instead of fake news, it is a fake cola, right?
Now, there are a lot of us who are trying to satisfy and to quench our thirst with things that are artificially colored, things that are artificially sweetened, and artificially flavored, and what we need is the water of life. What will truly satisfy us is to learn how to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Clink on the link below to hear a message explaining how God created you to worship Him. And until you learn how to worship him, truly reverence him, truly praise him, truly love him, truly adore him, truly have communion with him, there will always be in your heart and in your spirit a God shaped vacuum. You can be a Christian, and not know how to worship God, and as a result there will be this God shaped vacuum in your heart. Learn from the Word of God about how to worship Him.
Amen.
Sunday Oct 14, 2018
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD (INCLUDING ME) (John 3:16)
Sunday Oct 14, 2018
Sunday Oct 14, 2018
What was the very first Bible verse that you can remember memorizing?
It would be John 3:16 for me. In fact, with my memory going away in my old age, it is probably the only verse I still have memorized. I know lots of verses by their context, but if it wasn’t for the internet search engines and the Bible concordance on my computer, I would have a hard time finding them. But John 3:16 is one I still remember.
So, why do you think that is? Why would this verse stay with me so readily, when others do not? It is because it tells me of God’s love for the whole world, but it is written in such a way, that it seems like He is talking to just me. God loves the world, but the word whosever means including me.
Who does the verse say loves this poor lost world? The one, true, almighty God. The eternal, self-existing, uncreated, and having need of nothing, God. It is God, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. It is God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. It is God, who takes the initiative. It is God, who loves and gives. It all begins with God.
That God is “not willing that any should perish” is a great Biblical truth that is revealed to us. John tells us in 3:16 that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That is God's earnest desire for all the children of Adam. The gospel invitation is extended to all. If you want to make the invitation of this verse personal, then put your own name in the verse. For example say, For God so loved the world (including Keith Martin), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever (including Keith Martin) believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God’s plan for salvation, includes me, even me. God does not want me, or you, or anybody else to perish.
The word Perish is a word that should make us all tremble as we think of the consequences of our sin against God. The word perish reveals the other side of God's character. He is not only a God of immeasurable love, he is also a God of infinite holiness. It is the finality of the word that terrifies us. Death, and what occurs on the other side of death, is a mystery to the lost person, but John 3:16 brings clarity to the mystery. In it, God puts a choice before us. He says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The choice that God gives us is to believe in Jesus Christ or perish. If we reject Christ, then God will allow sin to complete its work beyond the grave of condemning the soul to an eternity in torment.
But that is not what God wants for us. God would have every person come to repentance. That is why the invitation of John 3:16 is universal, hinging on believing in him. Those who do, become heirs of everlasting [eternal] life. God created us with eternity in mind. We have an immortal soul and spirit that will exist for all of eternity. This great verse, which summarizes the whole gospel story, begins with God and ends with everlasting life. It begins with one who had no beginning. It ends with that which has no ending.
The fact that Jesus Christ has come into the world provides each person with the ultimate test of believing or disbelieving, of choosing whether to continue in their sins and surely perish, or whether to believe in him and pass from death to life. The coming of Christ into this world is the single decision point of eternal destiny for each of us.
This great verse is the essential foundation of the gospel of Christ. God loved the world, including me, so much that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever, including me, believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Don’t walk away and reject such a gift. Choose Christ. Choose eternal life.
Click on the link below to learn just how much God loves you.
Amen.
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
LOVING GOD EQUALS JOY IN YOUR HEART (1 Peter 1:8)
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
Sunday Oct 04, 2015
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LIBERTY (Romans 14:13-14)
Sunday Oct 04, 2015
Sunday Oct 04, 2015
Tuesday Sep 01, 2015
A CHRISTIAN'S LOVE (Romans 13:8-11)
Tuesday Sep 01, 2015
Tuesday Sep 01, 2015
Friday Nov 07, 2014
HOW SECURE IS GOD'S LOVE? (Romans 5:6-11)
Friday Nov 07, 2014
Friday Nov 07, 2014
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014
THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY (James 2:8-13)
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014
Sunday Oct 02, 2011
THE CASE FOR LOVE AND PROPHECY (1 Cor. 13:8 to 14:6)
Sunday Oct 02, 2011
Sunday Oct 02, 2011
In this lesson Paul completes his description of agape love, and then he compares it and the gift of prophecy to the gift of tongues. He tells us of the permanence of agape love and how tongues fail. He tells us of the supremacy of prophecy over tongues. He tells us to desire that which is permanent and that which is of more value to the body of Christ. Here what Paul has to say in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 13:8 to 14:6. Listen and be blessed by the Word of God as we learn a description of Jesus Christ.
Sunday Sep 25, 2011
THE GIFT OF LOVE (1 Cor. 13:1-7)
Sunday Sep 25, 2011
Sunday Sep 25, 2011
Paul describes the gift of love as the more excellent way. But this kind of love is more than an emotion. It is an act of will. Love involves the heart, the mind, and the will. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Although we are to covet earnestly the best gifts, they are to be exercised in love, and only the Spirit of God can do that. Love is the thing that needs to be added to every gift of the Spirit. Without love your gift is worthless. Paul describes this wonderful gift in a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. Listen to how the Word of God describes agape love and be blessed.