Messiah
Luke 2:1-7
The Jewish people of old waited for the Messiah to come to earth. From the time that Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, you remember that story, God had a plan. For His only Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Many verses in the Old Testament talk about His Son being born to a virgin and even specifing the time period He would be born. The shepherds were not surprised to hear that God’s son had been born, Luke 2:11.The wise men were watching the stars and expecting the king of the Jews to be born, Luke 2;1-11. Each Jewish girl hoped that God would choose her to be the mother of His Son.
When the time was right for Jesus to be born, Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem. Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of His child and Joseph had been borrowed to be the earthly father. By the way it is interesting to note that God was often borrowing things. He borrowed a father for Jesus. He borrowed a tomb for Jesus to be placed because He would not be there long. He borrowed people or things to use for a period of time throughout the Bible, then would allow them to return to their purpose. That’s the case here. Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem for the census used by the Roman government to count the people.
Mary gave birth, as the story records, and laid him in a manger, an animal feeding box. History tells us that when Jewish babies were born they were washed in water, then rubbed with salt usually, and wrapped in swaddling clothes very tightly. The Bible records this event happening to this very special baby.
This baby was named Jesus according to the message of the angel Gabriel given to Mary, and of course, it was repeated to Joseph and even saying to Joseph "You shall call his name Jesus, and He shall save his people," Luke 2:1-7, our scripture reading for today. The world had waited a long time for God’s son and now the waiting was over.
The waiting is over for us as well. Jesus was born, He grew up, and He died for you and me. This time of year when folks are thinking very much about God and going to church, I hope you will spend some time thinking about Jesus and worshiping God. Spend time learning about God, and what He would have you do to be saved. Be obedient, be faithful in your obedience to God’s will to be pleasing in His sight. God will give a son to us, the Bible predicted in Isaiah 9:6, and my son will be responsible for the people. And just so Jesus was born in that special way. I hope you will take some time to look again. At the birth of Jesus, his living a perfect life, and dying on the cross for all of us.
~Philip
17 December 2010
16 December 2010
God’s Miracle
Matthew 1:18-25
People often wonder why God sent His son Jesus to earth as a baby. Jesus became a man so He could live a life like people to experience temptation and even death. God could have sent Jesus to be rich and an earthly king. Instead Jesus was born to common people and lived a common life. It must have been very difficult for Jesus to leave heaven to live on earth, but even then He was willing to leave that clean and pure place to born in a barn, which was probably very dirty and smelly. Jesus owned everything in heaven, but when he was born there was nothing, not even a house there in Bethlehem. There was not room at the inn as we often say. Jesus was with God who spoke and created the world, but as a baby He would depend on his parents for warmth.
Because Jesus was a man, though, He knows how we feel when we are tempted or experience physical pain. Jesus also knows how it feels to be disappointed and rejected. So when you are facing a difficult time, when you are struggling in your life, remember that Jesus understands how you feel. Thank God today for sending Jesus to live as a man here on earth. In Philippians 2:7, it says, "He gave up His place with God and agreed to be like a servant. He was born to be a man and become like a servant."
Our scripture reading today comes from Matthew 1:18-25. You may want to go back and read some scriptures before that. We see there in Matthew 1 the genealogy of Christ given. It says this one is the father of this one, and so on until you get down to verse 16. There you get to the other side of the equation. It says Joseph, the husband of Mary, and then the angel of the Lord speaks to Mary and tells her the child she is going to have is from God. She will be blessed and bear a son she would call Jesus, for He will save His people. He will be the Messiah which means "God with us".
We believe God did a great miracle in sending His son in that very special way through the virgin birth. It is at this time of the year that many people celebrate His birth. Even though the Bible doesn’t give us a specific day and time Jesus was born. We kind of know, and experts, Biblical scholars, will say this is probably not the time of the year He was born, but we are going to take this time to especially focus in on the birth of Christ. What an amazing thing God did when He sent His son to come and live here among us and experience all those things we have to go through. You see we have a high priest who is separated from those experiences we have, but instead was tempted as we are, except He did it without sinning and then became the payment from our sins. What an amazing thing we celebrate when we celebrate the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ to save us from our sins.
If you want to know more, check out our website at www.churchofchrist.com which has a link called "What to do to be saved".
~Philip
Matthew 1:18-25
People often wonder why God sent His son Jesus to earth as a baby. Jesus became a man so He could live a life like people to experience temptation and even death. God could have sent Jesus to be rich and an earthly king. Instead Jesus was born to common people and lived a common life. It must have been very difficult for Jesus to leave heaven to live on earth, but even then He was willing to leave that clean and pure place to born in a barn, which was probably very dirty and smelly. Jesus owned everything in heaven, but when he was born there was nothing, not even a house there in Bethlehem. There was not room at the inn as we often say. Jesus was with God who spoke and created the world, but as a baby He would depend on his parents for warmth.
Because Jesus was a man, though, He knows how we feel when we are tempted or experience physical pain. Jesus also knows how it feels to be disappointed and rejected. So when you are facing a difficult time, when you are struggling in your life, remember that Jesus understands how you feel. Thank God today for sending Jesus to live as a man here on earth. In Philippians 2:7, it says, "He gave up His place with God and agreed to be like a servant. He was born to be a man and become like a servant."
Our scripture reading today comes from Matthew 1:18-25. You may want to go back and read some scriptures before that. We see there in Matthew 1 the genealogy of Christ given. It says this one is the father of this one, and so on until you get down to verse 16. There you get to the other side of the equation. It says Joseph, the husband of Mary, and then the angel of the Lord speaks to Mary and tells her the child she is going to have is from God. She will be blessed and bear a son she would call Jesus, for He will save His people. He will be the Messiah which means "God with us".
We believe God did a great miracle in sending His son in that very special way through the virgin birth. It is at this time of the year that many people celebrate His birth. Even though the Bible doesn’t give us a specific day and time Jesus was born. We kind of know, and experts, Biblical scholars, will say this is probably not the time of the year He was born, but we are going to take this time to especially focus in on the birth of Christ. What an amazing thing God did when He sent His son to come and live here among us and experience all those things we have to go through. You see we have a high priest who is separated from those experiences we have, but instead was tempted as we are, except He did it without sinning and then became the payment from our sins. What an amazing thing we celebrate when we celebrate the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ to save us from our sins.
If you want to know more, check out our website at www.churchofchrist.com which has a link called "What to do to be saved".
~Philip
15 December 2010
Pray for Others
Ephesians 3:14-21
It’s interesting at this time of the year what things are important to us. They might not be important at other times of the year–things like "I have to get this gift, or go to this event." There are some things in our life that are very important for us as Christians. For example, it is important that a Christian belong with fellow believers and be active in a church. Christians receive a lot of blessings from the set up that God planned in His church. It is important that we are actually engaged and involved in doing things within that group that we call the church that help us grow spiritually.
There are some things that we are responsible for as Christians in the church. This means that we as Christians must do some things. It is more than just dropping a check in the offering plate somewhere or coming to church just to be checked off the list. It is a matter of using our time, talents, and treasures. We use our time, in particular, to reach other Christians and to reach out to others who are not Christians and bring them to Christ.
One thing we need to do is to pray for our brothers in Christ. Jesus taught His followers how they ought to pray in Matthew 6:5-15. We should be kind and loving people to each other.
In Ephesians 4:32, by the way, our scripture reading today comes from the chapter before that, Ephesians 3:14-21.In chapter 4 verse 32 though, it says, " Be kind and loving to each other forgive each other the same as God forgave you in Christ."
Think about where you are spiritually. Do you forgive other folks, are you in the right relationship with God? Are you actively engaged in His body, actively working in His church. Do you do what God would have you to do? Do you pray for others of like faith, those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you forgive others, especially those who are other Christians?
If you are not today, I would encourage you to go to God in prayer, to see what it is He would have us to do, then apply God’s principals to our life. It is easy today to get distracted with all the stuff around us. But today I want to encourage you to pray for other people.
One of the best gifts you can give someone is the gift of care and concern for them, to pray for them. Examine yourself this day and see if you are involved in church and caring and praying for others.
Are you praying for our sins to be forgiven and putting God first in your life? If not, today is the day to begin doing that.
~Philip
Ephesians 3:14-21
It’s interesting at this time of the year what things are important to us. They might not be important at other times of the year–things like "I have to get this gift, or go to this event." There are some things in our life that are very important for us as Christians. For example, it is important that a Christian belong with fellow believers and be active in a church. Christians receive a lot of blessings from the set up that God planned in His church. It is important that we are actually engaged and involved in doing things within that group that we call the church that help us grow spiritually.
There are some things that we are responsible for as Christians in the church. This means that we as Christians must do some things. It is more than just dropping a check in the offering plate somewhere or coming to church just to be checked off the list. It is a matter of using our time, talents, and treasures. We use our time, in particular, to reach other Christians and to reach out to others who are not Christians and bring them to Christ.
One thing we need to do is to pray for our brothers in Christ. Jesus taught His followers how they ought to pray in Matthew 6:5-15. We should be kind and loving people to each other.
In Ephesians 4:32, by the way, our scripture reading today comes from the chapter before that, Ephesians 3:14-21.In chapter 4 verse 32 though, it says, " Be kind and loving to each other forgive each other the same as God forgave you in Christ."
Think about where you are spiritually. Do you forgive other folks, are you in the right relationship with God? Are you actively engaged in His body, actively working in His church. Do you do what God would have you to do? Do you pray for others of like faith, those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you forgive others, especially those who are other Christians?
If you are not today, I would encourage you to go to God in prayer, to see what it is He would have us to do, then apply God’s principals to our life. It is easy today to get distracted with all the stuff around us. But today I want to encourage you to pray for other people.
One of the best gifts you can give someone is the gift of care and concern for them, to pray for them. Examine yourself this day and see if you are involved in church and caring and praying for others.
Are you praying for our sins to be forgiven and putting God first in your life? If not, today is the day to begin doing that.
~Philip
14 December 2010
Love
1 Cor. 13:4-13
This is the time of year that we think of people whom we love. We want to get together with those whom we love. We can use a lot of reasons at different times of the year for coming together, but this time of the year especially we want to show others that we love them and care about them. You might have a dinner and exchange gifts or go to a party somewhere and see people you don’t see every day. There you get the opportunity to say you love them and care about them.
Our Bible reading today comes from 1 Corinthians 13:4-13, and talks about love. God wants us to love other people the same way He loved us. In 1 John 4:4-8, it says, "Dear friends, we should love each other because love comes from God. The person who loves has become God’s child, so the person who loves knows God. The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love." It is not always easy to love other people. Maybe over the years someone has hurt your feelings or said something bad about you. Whatever it might be, it is hard for us to love that person, but God wants us to love them anyway. Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, "but I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who do bad things to you." This verse tells us we should love other people no matter how they treat us. In Luke 10:27, the Bible talks about love there too. It says you must love other people the same as you love yourself. I hope we will think about these verses today and we will love other people the same way God loved us.
You may remember in our text for today, verse 13 may be the most familiar verse of all. It says these three things continue, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. God even looks at our lives and says the key is this, Love God first, others second, and things will tend to fall into place. First, we have to love God with all of our being, with our heart, soul, mind and strength. We have to love those who are sometimes not very loveable. Let us think today of a way to show love to someone who is around us. It may be that your showing somebody love care it will change their life forever.
We are on facebook now, check us out!
~Philip
1 Cor. 13:4-13
This is the time of year that we think of people whom we love. We want to get together with those whom we love. We can use a lot of reasons at different times of the year for coming together, but this time of the year especially we want to show others that we love them and care about them. You might have a dinner and exchange gifts or go to a party somewhere and see people you don’t see every day. There you get the opportunity to say you love them and care about them.
Our Bible reading today comes from 1 Corinthians 13:4-13, and talks about love. God wants us to love other people the same way He loved us. In 1 John 4:4-8, it says, "Dear friends, we should love each other because love comes from God. The person who loves has become God’s child, so the person who loves knows God. The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love." It is not always easy to love other people. Maybe over the years someone has hurt your feelings or said something bad about you. Whatever it might be, it is hard for us to love that person, but God wants us to love them anyway. Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, "but I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who do bad things to you." This verse tells us we should love other people no matter how they treat us. In Luke 10:27, the Bible talks about love there too. It says you must love other people the same as you love yourself. I hope we will think about these verses today and we will love other people the same way God loved us.
You may remember in our text for today, verse 13 may be the most familiar verse of all. It says these three things continue, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. God even looks at our lives and says the key is this, Love God first, others second, and things will tend to fall into place. First, we have to love God with all of our being, with our heart, soul, mind and strength. We have to love those who are sometimes not very loveable. Let us think today of a way to show love to someone who is around us. It may be that your showing somebody love care it will change their life forever.
We are on facebook now, check us out!
~Philip
13 December 2010
God’s Plan
Mark 10-35-45
From the time Adam and Eve sinned, God had a plan to save people from their sins. Sin became a part of life, a part of man’s being, and we know that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But we know that part of God’s plan was to send His Son Jesus to earth as a baby, not just to send Him as a baby, but to have Him grow up and eventually die on the cross for you and me.
Our scripture reading today comes from Mark 10:35-45. There the Bible reminds us that our salvation does not come only from Jesus’ birth, because the fact that he was born does not finish the process, but our salvation happens because He died. We know from our scripture today that Jesus reminds his followers that He came to earth to be a servant. He also told them that he came to save people. We know that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to find us and to save us from our sins. Jesus came to earth to die. That was his purpose in living. It was God’s plan in the very beginning that Jesus would come and save us from our sins.
Why did God have this plan? It is very simple, because He loves us and wants every person to obey Him. God wants every person to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. This Christmas season is fine for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is more important, though, that we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection each Lord’s Day throughout the year. When you share the Christmas story this year be sure to tell them about His death on the cross too, because we see in that God’s true love for us, giving us a hope of heaven when this live is over. In the same way, the Son of man came, not only to be serving people who would be serving Him, instead He came to serve other people. The son of man came to save many, Mark 10:45.
Spend some time to day reading your Bible and again I encourage you to read with 20/20 vision--twenty verses before and twenty verses after. Put God first with the way you are living your life today. Find a way of doing service, find a way of being pleasing to God this day by putting Him first in faithful obedience to His will. Nothing short of that will do. We need to hear the Word, believe it, repent of our sins, confess our faith, be baptized, and continue to live faithfully by giving of our time, talent, and treasures. We need to continue to study God’s Word. It is not a matter of being able to do enough to save ourselves, instead it is a matter of our faith being put into action to be pleasing in His sight. Let’s do it God’s way, and put Him first in our life, walking by faith and not by sight this day and every day.
One other thing, come be with us for our services which begin at 9am on Sunday morning for classes, 10am for Worship Services, and 5pm for evening service. Wednesday night Bible study is at 7pm.
~Philip
Mark 10-35-45
From the time Adam and Eve sinned, God had a plan to save people from their sins. Sin became a part of life, a part of man’s being, and we know that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But we know that part of God’s plan was to send His Son Jesus to earth as a baby, not just to send Him as a baby, but to have Him grow up and eventually die on the cross for you and me.
Our scripture reading today comes from Mark 10:35-45. There the Bible reminds us that our salvation does not come only from Jesus’ birth, because the fact that he was born does not finish the process, but our salvation happens because He died. We know from our scripture today that Jesus reminds his followers that He came to earth to be a servant. He also told them that he came to save people. We know that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to find us and to save us from our sins. Jesus came to earth to die. That was his purpose in living. It was God’s plan in the very beginning that Jesus would come and save us from our sins.
Why did God have this plan? It is very simple, because He loves us and wants every person to obey Him. God wants every person to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. This Christmas season is fine for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is more important, though, that we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection each Lord’s Day throughout the year. When you share the Christmas story this year be sure to tell them about His death on the cross too, because we see in that God’s true love for us, giving us a hope of heaven when this live is over. In the same way, the Son of man came, not only to be serving people who would be serving Him, instead He came to serve other people. The son of man came to save many, Mark 10:45.
Spend some time to day reading your Bible and again I encourage you to read with 20/20 vision--twenty verses before and twenty verses after. Put God first with the way you are living your life today. Find a way of doing service, find a way of being pleasing to God this day by putting Him first in faithful obedience to His will. Nothing short of that will do. We need to hear the Word, believe it, repent of our sins, confess our faith, be baptized, and continue to live faithfully by giving of our time, talent, and treasures. We need to continue to study God’s Word. It is not a matter of being able to do enough to save ourselves, instead it is a matter of our faith being put into action to be pleasing in His sight. Let’s do it God’s way, and put Him first in our life, walking by faith and not by sight this day and every day.
One other thing, come be with us for our services which begin at 9am on Sunday morning for classes, 10am for Worship Services, and 5pm for evening service. Wednesday night Bible study is at 7pm.
~Philip
10 December 2010
Christians Must be Faithful
Faithfulness Comes With Gospel Obedience
2 Timothy 4:6-8
As we have already mentioned, the greatest challenge for Christians is to stay faithful to God in daily living, but I want to encourage us today to take a step back and reevaluate where we are as Christians. Faithfulness begins with faithful obedience. That’s where it really starts. God says, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." He extended His invitation to everyone, not to just a certain group of people. In the beginning, I guess, it was to the Jewish people. He went to His own and His own received Him not. Then that invitation was opened up to all people everywhere.
God loves us all and wants us all to be saved–black and white, rich and poor are precious in His sight. This is a quote from the book of Matthew, which says, "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. You might want to take your Bible and mark that verse because Jesus is saying something really great there. He is saying, "Look, I want you to know that you can come to Me and find rest in Me."
Jesus sent His disciples out into the world to preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, he who does not believe shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16. Those who are to be saved must obey the gospel. I tell our folks all the time that it is Faith + Obedience = Salvation. You see, without faith you won’t ever start in this process. Faith without obedience is dead. We are to faithfully obey God’s will.
In Hebrews 9 we are told that Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Those words are important to know that we must be obedient to His will. Those who are faithful to God have heard what He has to say. They have faith in Christ. They are willing to repent of their sins, confess their faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord, and to be obedient to the Lord in baptism. Those are Christians. Those who fail to do so, are not Christians. It is hard for us to even imagine because of the part of the world we live in. If you ask almost anybody in our part of the world, "Hey, are you a Christian?" Almost everyone will say "Yes". But then if you ask, have you heard the word, believed it, confessed your faith, and been baptized? Have you done those things necessary to become a Christian, and having done that have you been faithful in your service to God? Many will say, "Well, not really, but.....
We need to reevaluate don’t we? Christians must be faithful to God. Again, maybe it is the greatest challenge that Christians face–the challenge to be faithful. I hope we will evaluate today, and find ourselves right where we need to be. If we find ourselves some other place we will take the steps today, make the changes to make it to heaven. God has given us a blessing today. He has given us the time to make things right with Him. We can’t go back to yesterday and are not promised tomorrow, so we need to evaluate today.
Faithfulness Comes With Gospel Obedience
2 Timothy 4:6-8
As we have already mentioned, the greatest challenge for Christians is to stay faithful to God in daily living, but I want to encourage us today to take a step back and reevaluate where we are as Christians. Faithfulness begins with faithful obedience. That’s where it really starts. God says, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." He extended His invitation to everyone, not to just a certain group of people. In the beginning, I guess, it was to the Jewish people. He went to His own and His own received Him not. Then that invitation was opened up to all people everywhere.
God loves us all and wants us all to be saved–black and white, rich and poor are precious in His sight. This is a quote from the book of Matthew, which says, "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. You might want to take your Bible and mark that verse because Jesus is saying something really great there. He is saying, "Look, I want you to know that you can come to Me and find rest in Me."
Jesus sent His disciples out into the world to preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, he who does not believe shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16. Those who are to be saved must obey the gospel. I tell our folks all the time that it is Faith + Obedience = Salvation. You see, without faith you won’t ever start in this process. Faith without obedience is dead. We are to faithfully obey God’s will.
In Hebrews 9 we are told that Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Those words are important to know that we must be obedient to His will. Those who are faithful to God have heard what He has to say. They have faith in Christ. They are willing to repent of their sins, confess their faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord, and to be obedient to the Lord in baptism. Those are Christians. Those who fail to do so, are not Christians. It is hard for us to even imagine because of the part of the world we live in. If you ask almost anybody in our part of the world, "Hey, are you a Christian?" Almost everyone will say "Yes". But then if you ask, have you heard the word, believed it, confessed your faith, and been baptized? Have you done those things necessary to become a Christian, and having done that have you been faithful in your service to God? Many will say, "Well, not really, but.....
We need to reevaluate don’t we? Christians must be faithful to God. Again, maybe it is the greatest challenge that Christians face–the challenge to be faithful. I hope we will evaluate today, and find ourselves right where we need to be. If we find ourselves some other place we will take the steps today, make the changes to make it to heaven. God has given us a blessing today. He has given us the time to make things right with Him. We can’t go back to yesterday and are not promised tomorrow, so we need to evaluate today.
09 December 2010
Christians Must Be Faithful
Faithfulness is Anchored By True Worship
2 Timothy 4:6-8 John 4:24
Over this week and part of last week I’ve been giving you some things that will help us in the challenge of being faithful Christians. Christians face this challenge in being faithful to God in daily living. As we live our lives day to day we need to spend time focusing on God. We should do those things we’ve been talking about–-being obedient to the gospel, spending time with Christian living on a daily basis by following God’s example. We should be growing in God’s Word, praying to God, taking care of others and serving God.
Today I will give you one other area that we need to remember that is essential for faithful Christian living. Faithfulness is anchored by true worship. Christians should look upon worship as a privilege and a blessing. It is a part of the Christians life to be engaged in worship as a group.
The Bible teaches, and we should study and make sure we understand this, that Christians who serve the way God would have them serve will be involved in worship service as a group. Communion is a part of true worship to God. We commune with Him; we join with Him. 1 Corinthians 11, and Acts 20:7. Christians must not only worship, but be sure we are engaged in worship the right way. God is a spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24. This is a key verse for us. Now what we see here is that we worship God in spirit. That means that our hearts are right, that we are engaged in worship. Worship is not an observer kind of thing, but participtory . We have to be engaged–we have to be singing, taking the Lord’s Supper, studying, giving, and doing those things that are involved in worship to God. The faithful worshipers will never forsake the assembly, will never forsake church because they just don’t want to go. Instead they will be looking forward to that time when they can be together. Hebrews 10:25. Christians gain strength from worshiping with other Godly people.
Never fail to be among those who gather together to praise and serve God in Christian worship each Sunday. Make sure you are there and make sure you are involved. We would even like for you come and be a part of our service. We have Bible classes at 9am on Sunday, 10am Worship service, and Evening service at 5pm.We have Bible classes at other times during the week. Make sure that wherever you are, you are involved in true worship, worshiping God the way the Bible teaches we should worship God. If we do that we are well pleasing to God.
~Philip
Faithfulness is Anchored By True Worship
2 Timothy 4:6-8 John 4:24
Over this week and part of last week I’ve been giving you some things that will help us in the challenge of being faithful Christians. Christians face this challenge in being faithful to God in daily living. As we live our lives day to day we need to spend time focusing on God. We should do those things we’ve been talking about–-being obedient to the gospel, spending time with Christian living on a daily basis by following God’s example. We should be growing in God’s Word, praying to God, taking care of others and serving God.
Today I will give you one other area that we need to remember that is essential for faithful Christian living. Faithfulness is anchored by true worship. Christians should look upon worship as a privilege and a blessing. It is a part of the Christians life to be engaged in worship as a group.
The Bible teaches, and we should study and make sure we understand this, that Christians who serve the way God would have them serve will be involved in worship service as a group. Communion is a part of true worship to God. We commune with Him; we join with Him. 1 Corinthians 11, and Acts 20:7. Christians must not only worship, but be sure we are engaged in worship the right way. God is a spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24. This is a key verse for us. Now what we see here is that we worship God in spirit. That means that our hearts are right, that we are engaged in worship. Worship is not an observer kind of thing, but participtory . We have to be engaged–we have to be singing, taking the Lord’s Supper, studying, giving, and doing those things that are involved in worship to God. The faithful worshipers will never forsake the assembly, will never forsake church because they just don’t want to go. Instead they will be looking forward to that time when they can be together. Hebrews 10:25. Christians gain strength from worshiping with other Godly people.
Never fail to be among those who gather together to praise and serve God in Christian worship each Sunday. Make sure you are there and make sure you are involved. We would even like for you come and be a part of our service. We have Bible classes at 9am on Sunday, 10am Worship service, and Evening service at 5pm.We have Bible classes at other times during the week. Make sure that wherever you are, you are involved in true worship, worshiping God the way the Bible teaches we should worship God. If we do that we are well pleasing to God.
~Philip
08 December 2010
Christians Must be Faithful
Faithfulness Requires Service to God and Others
2 Timothy 4:6-8
For this week and part of last week we’ve been talking about Christians must be faithful to God in daily living. We talked about the fact that we have to be faithful to God even if our life is challenged. Rev. 2:10. We talked about our key passage, 2 Timothy 4:6-8--that we should be like Paul who said,"I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course I have kept the faith,." and because of that we have an assurance of heaven when this life is over. It begins with obedience and continues with daily Christian growth in God’s Word. It means that we pray to the Father in heaven.
Today I want to remind you that faithfulness means we have to serve God and others. A faithful Christian, those of us who are truly faithful to God, must be in service to God and our fellow man. We serve God by serving others, the least of mankind. Matthew 25:40 and following teaches. Opportunities come to do good, and when they come we must use those opportunities to honor God, Galatians 6:10 teaches.
Pure religion, faithfulness, this life of a Christian, involves service to others, James 1:27. Jesus says even a cup of cold water would be service to others. When we do small deeds of service, that remind us about the Lord. The greatest service we can do is to tell them how to serve Christ themselves--how to be in Christ. The greatest thing we can do is evangelism, and to go beyond evangelism in caring for others. This time of year, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to help others. We have requests to help others, and many of you are willing to help those people." It shouldn’t be just at this time of year, but it should happen year around. If we ar faithful as Christians we will be faithful to serve others as we serve God. So, look for opportunities today. Seek where it is that you can be used in God’s service. You might say, "I want to serve, but I just don’t know what to do." Maybe it is sending cards, maybe it is encouragement-- to talk just about good things and not be negative. Maybe it is, as we talked about this morning, just a cup of water to somebody. Whatever you can do, be busy doing it, not for your on good or glory, but so God can be glorified in our service to Him. Check out our website at www.elbachurchofchrist.com and come to one of our services.
~Philip
Faithfulness Requires Service to God and Others
2 Timothy 4:6-8
For this week and part of last week we’ve been talking about Christians must be faithful to God in daily living. We talked about the fact that we have to be faithful to God even if our life is challenged. Rev. 2:10. We talked about our key passage, 2 Timothy 4:6-8--that we should be like Paul who said,"I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course I have kept the faith,." and because of that we have an assurance of heaven when this life is over. It begins with obedience and continues with daily Christian growth in God’s Word. It means that we pray to the Father in heaven.
Today I want to remind you that faithfulness means we have to serve God and others. A faithful Christian, those of us who are truly faithful to God, must be in service to God and our fellow man. We serve God by serving others, the least of mankind. Matthew 25:40 and following teaches. Opportunities come to do good, and when they come we must use those opportunities to honor God, Galatians 6:10 teaches.
Pure religion, faithfulness, this life of a Christian, involves service to others, James 1:27. Jesus says even a cup of cold water would be service to others. When we do small deeds of service, that remind us about the Lord. The greatest service we can do is to tell them how to serve Christ themselves--how to be in Christ. The greatest thing we can do is evangelism, and to go beyond evangelism in caring for others. This time of year, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to help others. We have requests to help others, and many of you are willing to help those people." It shouldn’t be just at this time of year, but it should happen year around. If we ar faithful as Christians we will be faithful to serve others as we serve God. So, look for opportunities today. Seek where it is that you can be used in God’s service. You might say, "I want to serve, but I just don’t know what to do." Maybe it is sending cards, maybe it is encouragement-- to talk just about good things and not be negative. Maybe it is, as we talked about this morning, just a cup of water to somebody. Whatever you can do, be busy doing it, not for your on good or glory, but so God can be glorified in our service to Him. Check out our website at www.elbachurchofchrist.com and come to one of our services.
~Philip
07 December 2010
Christians Must Be Faithful
Faithfulness Means that We Pray
1 Thessalonians 5:17
As we face the challenge to continue to be faithful Christians, that great challenge each Christian face, we know that faithfulness involves daily Christian living, and faithfulness involves growth in God’s Word. Today I want to give you another area that is an essential part of Christian living, which is, faithfulness means that we pray to the Father which is in Heaven. It simply means that we have to be in prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore, pray.. Our Father in heaven, hallowed it be thy name." Matthew 6:9
Our prayer is a great privilege. It is opportunity to communicate with God. God is near enough to hear our prayers. He hears those prayers, especially those who are faithful and strong. He has a special relationship with those children. Just like we would recognize the voices of our children, He recognizes the voices of His children. The Good News is that God is faithful and strong enough to answer those prayers. In the Bible we learn that we are commanded to pray.
One of the simple verses of the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, one that you have memorized over the years, says "Pray without ceasing.". It is the idea of being in the right place with God so that we can pray and talk to God, and He can hear our prayers and answer them. Prayer is a time to communicate with God, to pour out our hearts to God. Because prayer is our connection with God we should continue constantly.
We should continually pray and always be involved in prayer with God, Romans 12:12. Prayer is one of the areas of obedience to God. Proverbs 28:9, says "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." The Bible is simply saying that if we are going to be faithful and hear God’s law and really do what God says, then God hears our prayer as a sweet smelling aroma, something He likes to hear. If we are not right with God it is sickening for God to hear us coming to Him if we are not right. Someone might say, "Are we not to pray then?" The answer is, "No, not at all." It is a good place to start. Prayer is certainly needed when we need forgiveness. God wants to hear from us. God is like a friend who when we really communicate with Him, and hear what He has to say from the Bible, it’s kind of like that phone call from a friend, that when you hang up the phone, you say, "Why did I go so long without talking to that person?" I ought to call them more often." It is one of those relationship in which we want to be involved. So get involved with God!
~Philip
Faithfulness Means that We Pray
1 Thessalonians 5:17
As we face the challenge to continue to be faithful Christians, that great challenge each Christian face, we know that faithfulness involves daily Christian living, and faithfulness involves growth in God’s Word. Today I want to give you another area that is an essential part of Christian living, which is, faithfulness means that we pray to the Father which is in Heaven. It simply means that we have to be in prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore, pray.. Our Father in heaven, hallowed it be thy name." Matthew 6:9
Our prayer is a great privilege. It is opportunity to communicate with God. God is near enough to hear our prayers. He hears those prayers, especially those who are faithful and strong. He has a special relationship with those children. Just like we would recognize the voices of our children, He recognizes the voices of His children. The Good News is that God is faithful and strong enough to answer those prayers. In the Bible we learn that we are commanded to pray.
One of the simple verses of the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, one that you have memorized over the years, says "Pray without ceasing.". It is the idea of being in the right place with God so that we can pray and talk to God, and He can hear our prayers and answer them. Prayer is a time to communicate with God, to pour out our hearts to God. Because prayer is our connection with God we should continue constantly.
We should continually pray and always be involved in prayer with God, Romans 12:12. Prayer is one of the areas of obedience to God. Proverbs 28:9, says "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." The Bible is simply saying that if we are going to be faithful and hear God’s law and really do what God says, then God hears our prayer as a sweet smelling aroma, something He likes to hear. If we are not right with God it is sickening for God to hear us coming to Him if we are not right. Someone might say, "Are we not to pray then?" The answer is, "No, not at all." It is a good place to start. Prayer is certainly needed when we need forgiveness. God wants to hear from us. God is like a friend who when we really communicate with Him, and hear what He has to say from the Bible, it’s kind of like that phone call from a friend, that when you hang up the phone, you say, "Why did I go so long without talking to that person?" I ought to call them more often." It is one of those relationship in which we want to be involved. So get involved with God!
~Philip
03 December 2010
Christians Must be Faithful
Faithfulness Involves Faith in God’s Word
We began the month of December by discussing the fact that Christians must be faithful to God, and they must stay faithful to God in daily living. In Revelation 2:10, the Bible says "Don’t be afraid of the things you are about to suffer, but be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life."The same would be true for us today. We should be faithful to God to the point of death, and if we have to die for the cause to be faithful to God we should do it. That is a challenge for us. We have been looking at another key text, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, where the Bible is talking about Paul’s life and he says, "I’m ready now to be offered, my departure is at hand." He wants to be able to say of his own life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."
We hope we can say the same thing. We talked about the fact that faithfulness begins with gospel obedience, and that faithfulness continues with daily Christian living. Today I want to mention to you that faithfulness also involves growth in God’s Word. The Bible is God’s inspired road map for us from earth to heaven. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) That, by the way, is another important verse today. You might want to mark it in your Bible and use it as a keynote. We cannot live by bread alone but we have to have spiritual food too, and study those words of God. It is the sincere milk of the word, you see, that nourishes the Christian and enables us to continue to proceed in this growth as a Christian . The righteousness that will come from the law of the Lord is that good part of life that we need.
As we become more righteous we need to spend more and more time with God’s law. The psalmist would challenge us to meditate on His Word both day and night. (Psalm 1:2) In other places in the Bible we learn that Bible study is a must. It is thought that our Bible study should be a progression. We need to learn about God; we need to learn about just the basic knowledge of God. We also study the Bible to learn of the greatness of God. We need to study our Bible to become familiar with God’s grace and His mercy. We then continue to study our Bible even beyond that to learn how to become a Christian and to worship. The teachings of the Bible are meant for our every need. Thy Word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee. (Psalm 119:11) We need to be reading our Bibles daily. We need to be meditating on God’s Truth, those great lessons in life. We need to allow those truths to become part of our lives as we live each day for God.
~Philip
Faithfulness Involves Faith in God’s Word
We began the month of December by discussing the fact that Christians must be faithful to God, and they must stay faithful to God in daily living. In Revelation 2:10, the Bible says "Don’t be afraid of the things you are about to suffer, but be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life."The same would be true for us today. We should be faithful to God to the point of death, and if we have to die for the cause to be faithful to God we should do it. That is a challenge for us. We have been looking at another key text, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, where the Bible is talking about Paul’s life and he says, "I’m ready now to be offered, my departure is at hand." He wants to be able to say of his own life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."
We hope we can say the same thing. We talked about the fact that faithfulness begins with gospel obedience, and that faithfulness continues with daily Christian living. Today I want to mention to you that faithfulness also involves growth in God’s Word. The Bible is God’s inspired road map for us from earth to heaven. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) That, by the way, is another important verse today. You might want to mark it in your Bible and use it as a keynote. We cannot live by bread alone but we have to have spiritual food too, and study those words of God. It is the sincere milk of the word, you see, that nourishes the Christian and enables us to continue to proceed in this growth as a Christian . The righteousness that will come from the law of the Lord is that good part of life that we need.
As we become more righteous we need to spend more and more time with God’s law. The psalmist would challenge us to meditate on His Word both day and night. (Psalm 1:2) In other places in the Bible we learn that Bible study is a must. It is thought that our Bible study should be a progression. We need to learn about God; we need to learn about just the basic knowledge of God. We also study the Bible to learn of the greatness of God. We need to study our Bible to become familiar with God’s grace and His mercy. We then continue to study our Bible even beyond that to learn how to become a Christian and to worship. The teachings of the Bible are meant for our every need. Thy Word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee. (Psalm 119:11) We need to be reading our Bibles daily. We need to be meditating on God’s Truth, those great lessons in life. We need to allow those truths to become part of our lives as we live each day for God.
~Philip
02 December 2010
Christians Must Be Faithful
Faithfulness Continues With Daily Christian Living
2 Timothy 4:6-8 Philippians 1:21
As we continue to talk about the challenge to be a faithful Christian, a person who is faithful in their daily service to God, we continue to remember our key verse. I hope you have spent some time this week reading 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Maybe you would want to read that whole chapter. We see as Christians the challenge to be faithful, maybe it’s the greatest challenge that we face. We have been talking about it, we began by talking about faithful obedience, but faithfulness continues with daily Christian living.
It is important to become a Christian, but just as important as it is to become a Christian, it is important to live a Christian life each day. Without daily Christian living we are not holding up that name and be what God wants us to be. Those who live a Christian life, live like Christ lived, think like Christ thought, walk the walk that Christ walked. Paul said it this way in Philippians 1:21, and again this is one of those verses we should put a star by or highlight in our Bible and maybe even memorize it. Paul says, "For me to live is Christ."
Christians must spend their lives living for Jesus. Your days should be used in service to God, my days should be used in service to God. Faithfulness means that we find ways to make our life what Christ would have it to be. We remember those great examples that Christ has set of doing what the Father wanted Him to do. Jesus has said, "Look, I came not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent Me." What if our attitude was-- we came not to do my will but the will of Him who sent us? In John 17:18, the Bible says Jesus is there praying, and He says, "Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."
Because we have been sent to do His will, we should do that and not our own. Sometimes we are selfish aren’t we. Sometimes we want to do it our way. But if God says, "Do this," we should do it. We should be willing to do those things that every day it takes to be a Christian. It should not be that when our life here is over, people are surprised that we even went to church. It ought to be that we have lived our lives each day to the best of our abilities doing it God’s way.
I hope that is the case with you, and you will take time today to make sure if you need to make changes you will make them. Then if you have questions, follow up and make sure you have those answers. When you have God’s answers to life’s questions, then do it His way.
If you have questions you may e-mail us at office@elbachurchofchrist.com or minister@elbachurchofchrist.com. We also have a website at www.elbachurchofchrist.com. I hope you are faithfully living daily as a Christian.
~Philip
Faithfulness Continues With Daily Christian Living
2 Timothy 4:6-8 Philippians 1:21
As we continue to talk about the challenge to be a faithful Christian, a person who is faithful in their daily service to God, we continue to remember our key verse. I hope you have spent some time this week reading 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Maybe you would want to read that whole chapter. We see as Christians the challenge to be faithful, maybe it’s the greatest challenge that we face. We have been talking about it, we began by talking about faithful obedience, but faithfulness continues with daily Christian living.
It is important to become a Christian, but just as important as it is to become a Christian, it is important to live a Christian life each day. Without daily Christian living we are not holding up that name and be what God wants us to be. Those who live a Christian life, live like Christ lived, think like Christ thought, walk the walk that Christ walked. Paul said it this way in Philippians 1:21, and again this is one of those verses we should put a star by or highlight in our Bible and maybe even memorize it. Paul says, "For me to live is Christ."
Christians must spend their lives living for Jesus. Your days should be used in service to God, my days should be used in service to God. Faithfulness means that we find ways to make our life what Christ would have it to be. We remember those great examples that Christ has set of doing what the Father wanted Him to do. Jesus has said, "Look, I came not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent Me." What if our attitude was-- we came not to do my will but the will of Him who sent us? In John 17:18, the Bible says Jesus is there praying, and He says, "Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."
Because we have been sent to do His will, we should do that and not our own. Sometimes we are selfish aren’t we. Sometimes we want to do it our way. But if God says, "Do this," we should do it. We should be willing to do those things that every day it takes to be a Christian. It should not be that when our life here is over, people are surprised that we even went to church. It ought to be that we have lived our lives each day to the best of our abilities doing it God’s way.
I hope that is the case with you, and you will take time today to make sure if you need to make changes you will make them. Then if you have questions, follow up and make sure you have those answers. When you have God’s answers to life’s questions, then do it His way.
If you have questions you may e-mail us at office@elbachurchofchrist.com or minister@elbachurchofchrist.com. We also have a website at www.elbachurchofchrist.com. I hope you are faithfully living daily as a Christian.
~Philip
01 December 2010
Christians Must be Faithful
Faithfulness Comes With Gospel Obedience
2 Timothy 4:6-8
As we have already mentioned, the greatest challenge for Christians is to stay faithful to God in daily living, but I want to encourage us today to take a step back and reevaluate where we are as Christians. Faithfulness begins with faithful obedience. That’s where it really starts. God says, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." He extended His invitation to everyone, not to just a certain group of people. In the beginning, I guess, it was to the Jewish people. He went to His own and His own received Him not. Then that invitation was opened up to all people everywhere.
God loves us all and wants us all to be saved–black and white, rich and poor are precious in His sight. This is a quote from the book of Matthew, which says, "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. You might want to take your Bible and mark that verse because Jesus is saying something really great there. He is saying, "Look, I want you to know that you can come to Me and find rest in Me."
Jesus sent His disciples out into the world to preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, he who does not believe shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16. Those who are to be saved must obey the gospel. I tell our folks all the time that it is Faith + Obedience = Salvation. You see, without faith you won’t ever start in this process. Faith without obedience is dead. We are to faithfully obey God’s will.
In Hebrews 9 we are told that Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Those words are important to know that we must be obedient to His will. Those who are faithful to God have heard what He has to say. They have faith in Christ. They are willing to repent of their sins, confess their faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord, and to be obedient to the Lord in baptism. Those are Christians. Those who fail to do so, are not Christians. It is hard for us to even imagine because of the part of the world we live in. If you ask almost anybody in our part of the world, "Hey, are you a Christian?" Almost everyone will say "Yes". But then if you ask, have you heard the word, believed it, confessed your faith, and been baptized? Have you done those things necessary to become a Christian, and having done that have you been faithful in your service to God? Many will say, "Well, not really, but.....
We need to reevaluate don’t we? Christians must be faithful to God. Again, maybe it is the greatest challenge that Christians face–the challenge to be faithful. I hope we will evaluate today, and find ourselves right where we need to be. If we find ourselves some other place we will take the steps today, make the changes to make it to heaven. God has given us a blessing today. He has given us the time to make things right with Him. We can’t go back to yesterday and are not promised tomorrow, so we need to evaluate today.
~Philip
Faithfulness Comes With Gospel Obedience
2 Timothy 4:6-8
As we have already mentioned, the greatest challenge for Christians is to stay faithful to God in daily living, but I want to encourage us today to take a step back and reevaluate where we are as Christians. Faithfulness begins with faithful obedience. That’s where it really starts. God says, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." He extended His invitation to everyone, not to just a certain group of people. In the beginning, I guess, it was to the Jewish people. He went to His own and His own received Him not. Then that invitation was opened up to all people everywhere.
God loves us all and wants us all to be saved–black and white, rich and poor are precious in His sight. This is a quote from the book of Matthew, which says, "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. You might want to take your Bible and mark that verse because Jesus is saying something really great there. He is saying, "Look, I want you to know that you can come to Me and find rest in Me."
Jesus sent His disciples out into the world to preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, he who does not believe shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16. Those who are to be saved must obey the gospel. I tell our folks all the time that it is Faith + Obedience = Salvation. You see, without faith you won’t ever start in this process. Faith without obedience is dead. We are to faithfully obey God’s will.
In Hebrews 9 we are told that Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Those words are important to know that we must be obedient to His will. Those who are faithful to God have heard what He has to say. They have faith in Christ. They are willing to repent of their sins, confess their faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord, and to be obedient to the Lord in baptism. Those are Christians. Those who fail to do so, are not Christians. It is hard for us to even imagine because of the part of the world we live in. If you ask almost anybody in our part of the world, "Hey, are you a Christian?" Almost everyone will say "Yes". But then if you ask, have you heard the word, believed it, confessed your faith, and been baptized? Have you done those things necessary to become a Christian, and having done that have you been faithful in your service to God? Many will say, "Well, not really, but.....
We need to reevaluate don’t we? Christians must be faithful to God. Again, maybe it is the greatest challenge that Christians face–the challenge to be faithful. I hope we will evaluate today, and find ourselves right where we need to be. If we find ourselves some other place we will take the steps today, make the changes to make it to heaven. God has given us a blessing today. He has given us the time to make things right with Him. We can’t go back to yesterday and are not promised tomorrow, so we need to evaluate today.
~Philip
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