This weekend, we are moving forward through the book of 1 Peter. Peter is reminding his audience of the purpose of trials in this life. The Jewish people were no stranger to trials, but Peter wanted them to remember that ultimately, difficult situations help strengthen our faith by the grace of God. The title of this weekend’s message is “GENUINE FAITH.”
This weekend, we turn our attention to the parable of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The owner of the vineyard hired the workers at different times, but still gave each a generous reward for their work. It wasn’t based on the hours they labored, but rather on the grace of the owner. The title of this weekend’s message is “REWARD.”
This weekend, we are starting a brand new series. Before you can be a disciple, you must believe in Jesus and trust Him for salvation. At the heart of everything that a disciple does, there must be a desire to see the lost come to faith. Over the next few weeks, we will be talking about salvation and recapturing a desire to see the lost around us believe for the first time. This series is titled “FIRST, BELIEVE.”
This weekend, we are looking in the book of Galatians at Paul’s charge to restore someone caught in sin. As you heard in an earlier message, none of us can go through the process of discipleship alone. We need one another to help us stay focused and to bring us back to God when we lose our way. The title of this week’s message is “DISCIPLESHIP: RESTORATION.”
If you remember from last weekend’s message, Jesus told His opponents “Moses wrote about Me.” The question is – how and where did Moses mention Jesus? The clue is found in John 1:14 “…we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” If you want to find Jesus in the Old Testament, look for “grace and truth.” Those are the marks of the second person of the godhead.
This weekend we are actually going to look at the passage, 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” This is so easier said than done. But the world needs to see this lived out, especially by Christians.
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.
We often hear message after message about how we should do this and not do that. This Sunday we are shaking things up a little bit. You will be hearing brief testimonies about what happens when the Holy Spirit gets hold of a person’s life. This does not mean that we never falter. Each of the men who will be sharing will be quick to remind you that they are not speaking because they have mastered the art of the Christian life. Instead,it’s only by the grace of God that they are standing.
We take time off, brave the crowds, and spend our hard earned money to buy presents because we like to see our loved ones happy. We find joy in seeing them excited. So also, God takes delight in seeing us open the two greatest gifts He sent us in His Son Jesus – grace and truth.
This is one message we cannot afford to miss. Many Christians are living in condemnation when they should be walking by grace. Other Christians are living in lies when they should be walking in the truth. Grace lifts us up and truth sets us free.
Luke 2:51-52 tells us, “Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Here lies the secret to what makes a successful child– “favor with God and men.”
Ever wonder what it was like for Joseph and Mary to raise Jesus! They knew that He was the Son of God but at the same time He was fully human. Of course, we immediately think of Him as the perfect child since He was sinless. Who wouldn’t want a child like that! But let’s not forget that Jesus chose to restrict Himself and “learn obedience” (Hebrews 5:8).
As parents, there are some very valuable truths that we can learn about the development of children from the childhood years of Jesus. This series will also teach our children some very important lessons on what it means to be a young boy or girl who pleases God.
There’s much that we can learn from Bathsheba’s life, most importantly that God shows His grace on those who deserve it the least.
In Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ we find 4 “not so illustrious” names. So far we have seen the first two – Tamar and Rahab. Now we come to the third one – Ruth.
Why did Matthew include her? Because Ruth had three strikes against her – she was poor, a widow, and a Moabite. None of this interfered with God’s plan of grace on Ruth’s life. He saved her and grafted her into Jesus’ genealogy. He can do the same for us today.
It doesn’t matter what our past has been, we can find grace through Jesus Christ.
What a blessing for us to know that all of us can come to Him and find grace! Furthermore, it doesn’t matter what we have in our past. God’s grace can cover every sin.
We should never lose sight of the fact that “We Stand By God’s Grace.”
There are plenty of excuses and reasons to hold off the most important decision that we can ever make. Receive Christ as your Savior now before it is too late.
Salvation brings certain changes in your life. There will be a difference in your life before Christ and since Christ.
This was no ordinary power but Resurrection Power. This power is available to every believer who wants to do the extraordinary with God.
WHEN GOD DISRUPTS YOUR LIFE by Pastor Shah, Clearview This morning we are starting a brand new series on the Book of Jonah, titled, “RUNNING FROM GOD.” All of us who grew up in church are familiar with the story of Jonah and the Whale/Big Fish. Both children and adults love this book. When the... Continue Reading →