The Jewish people were trying to take God out of the equation while still holding on to their blessings. What they didn’t realize, and what we often fail to realize, is that God is the source of every blessing in our lives. When you remove the source, the blessings begin to spoil. They become a burden and a curse to us and those around us.
Skeletons in the Family Closet by Pastor Abidan Shah
The message coming up this weekend is titled – “SKELETONS IN THE FAMILY CLOSET.” Every family, even the good ones, has them. This message will help you deal with them positively and move forward with confidence and hope.
The Blessing of Spiritual Vision
We live in a world that is defiled by sin and evil. It clouds our vision of God. Every time we try to visualize God, some impurity of life gets in the way. It requires a solid commitment to repent from sin and submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Then and only then will we see the hand of God all around us. As Hebrews 12:14 also reminds us, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” In this message we will seek to answer three important questions: 1. Who are the pure in heart? 2. What does it mean to see God? & 3. How does this blessing work?
The Blessing of Not Getting Even
Mercy is often confused with meekness. But meekness is giving things over to God while mercy is reaching out with love to the offender. It is a spirit of generosity towards those who are least deserving. Jesus often reprimanded the scribes and the Pharisees saying that God desires mercy not sacrifice. He wants us to reach out to those who are least deserving and show them the love of Christ. He wants us to see things from the perspective of the other person. He wants us to give the offender the benefit of the doubt. That’s mercy. God has shown us this mercy in Jesus Christ. In fact, he has gone a step further and shown us grace by giving something that we don’t deserve.
The Blessing of Sorrow
In our series on the Sermon on the Mount we come now to the second beatitude -"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." This is probably one of the most needed messages today. It's about grief and sorrow, something all of us face in this life. Where does sorrow come from? It comes from loss.Throughout life we have losses, some big and some small. In fact, life is a series of losses. The real question is "What do we do with our losses?" If we handle them God's way, the result is comfort. If we look for superficial ways, it will not work. God has the right answer to our sorrow. By the way, I love Luke's rendition of this beatitude - "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."