Protecting Your Marriage

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Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 7 

“Protecting Your Marriage”

Pastor Jerry

Matthew 5:21-22 (NLT); Exodus 20:14 (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Today is week seven of our sermon series concerning, “Truth!”

It is crucial to know “What’s the Truth?”

God gave us ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments. The overall intent of the 10 Commandments is to teach us truth on how to show love. They show us how to love God and how to love others.   

Today we’re going to look at the 7th commandment and how it will teach us truth on how to show love. The message today is titled, “Protecting Your Marriage.”

-So, here is Truth number 7 in our series! Exodus 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.”             

Whenever God gives a commandment it is to show us the truth. Whenever God says a negative He always has a positive purpose behind it. He always has a reason. It is not to cause you pain. It is for your protection.

Nothing destroys a family faster than being unfaithful. God says this is my protection plan. I don’t want you thinking it doesn’t matter.

Today we’re not going to reflect on the past, but to focus on the future. God invented sex. But like everything it must be controlled. He wants us to use it not abuse it.

God says I’ve given you the drive of attraction. Properly controlled and expressed within a marriage it’s beautiful and fantastic. But outside of marriage it is destructive and detrimental to your health as a human being — emotionally, spiritually, in every way.

Today, what I want us to look at is how do you affair proof your marriage. Notice God wants us to use intimacy as a tool for building a marriage not to destroy it. In Hebrews 13:5 “Husbands and wives be faithful to each other. God will judge those who are immoral and commit adultery.”

A recent study said fifty percent of all husbands and probably 35% of all wives have committed adultery. This happens even among Christians. So beware Christians, you are not exempt from this temptation. Be on your guard!

God’s commandments are for our protection, to show us how to truly love. So, let’s look directly at the six steps on how to protect your marriage.

  1. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S STANDARDS.

Regardless of your past, regardless of your failures, say today, I’m going to make a commitment to maintain God’s standards. That means you agree with God about what He says about intimacy. Ps. 119:9 “How can a person keep his way pure?” The answer is “by living according to Your word.” God’s standard is very clear in His word. Adultery is never an option, under no circumstances is it OK. You need to publicly affirm God’s standard. That’s the first step if you want to protect your marriage.

  1. The second step: MAGNIFY THE CONSEQUENCES

Remind yourself of the devastation and destruction that is caused by sexual sin. Prov. 6:32 “The one who commits adultery is an utter fool for he destroys his own soul.” Nothing damages emotions like unfaithfulness. Nothing! Jesus said if your eye causes you to sin it’s better to lose an eye than lose your soul. Prov. 6:26 “Adultery will cost a man all that he has.”  

  1. The third step: MAINTAIN YOUR MARRIAGE

A growing relationship to your spouse will reduce the pull and attraction away from them.

1 Cor. 7:3 “A man should fulfill his duty as a husband, a wife should fulfill her duty as a wife and each should satisfy the other’s needs.” Get serious and get down to learning what it is that your spouse needs and determining that you’re going to meet those needs to the very best of your ability.  The goal in marriage is to be best friends. How do you build a friendship?  Time!

  1. The fourth step: MANAGE YOUR MIND

People don’t just fall into immorality. The battle for any temptation in your life begins in your mind. James 1:14“Temptation is the pull of a person’s own evil thoughts and wishes…” You become what you think about. 2 Tim. 2:22 “Turn your back on lustful desires &give your positive attention to goodness, integrity, love & peace.” We are great in deceiving ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” You can convince yourself that anything is OK given the circumstances.

  1. The fifth step: MAINTAIN PROPER RELATIONSHIPS.

Most affairs occur between close personal friends, coworkers or family members. How do you maintain a proper relationship in casual relationships? Ephesians 5:3 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sinful immorality.” it takes more than good intentions to remain pure. You need a plan.

  1. The sixth step: MINIMIZE THE OPPORTUNITY

Don’t place yourself in situations where you know you’re going to be tempted. Recognize the circumstances that weaken your standards.   Be alert and be aware of them. I Cor. 10 “Be careful. If you’re thinking `I’d never behave like that” let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin.” Some of you are thinking this is a great message but I’ve been married so many years it could never happen to me. We can fool ourselves very easily, and that opens the door to Satan sowing temptation in our path.

THE PATHWAY BACK TO PURITY

If you’ve been unfaithful to your mate or if you are facing a temptation to go down the wrong path, there is hope. You can make things right! You can come to Jesus Christ now and be set back on the right path. There are three steps to getting back on the right path:

  1. (First) Acknowledge the sin.  Call it what it is. It’s wrong. It’s sin. It’s not just an affair. It’s adultery, that’s what the Bible calls it. This is unacceptable to God, it always has been it always will be.
  2. (Second) If you’ve been unfaithful to your mate or if you are facing a temptation to go down the wrong path, End the relationship immediately. Do it now. “Today if you hear God’s voice don’t harden your heart” the Bible says. Take action immediately. Don’t delay.
  3. (Third) If you’ve been unfaithful to your mate or if you are facing a temptation to go down the wrong path, Avoid all contact with that person from now on. Do whatever it takes to break the relationship.

Now listen, God thought up intimacy relations between men and women. It’s His idea. In marriage it is wonderful and fantastic and a beautiful expression of Christ’s love for the church the Bible says. But used improperly it destroys marriages, damages families and lives. God says I want you to know the Truth! Open your life to Jesus Christ. You ask for forgiveness for past mistakes and sins and receive that forgiveness and then you can forgive yourself. Then you make a commitment to be morally pure the rest of your life forward. That means you’re going to be faithful only to the person you’re married to.

 

Let There Be Life

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Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 6 

“Let There Be Life”

Pastor Jerry

Matthe 5:21-22 (NIV); Exodus 20:13 (NIV)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Today is week six of our sermon series concerning, “Truth!”

Knowing the truth during this Pandemic can mean the difference between life and death. It is crucial to know “What’s the Truth?”

God gave us ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments.

(Can you name the ones we’ve covered?)

1- God First   (No other gods before me)

2- No Substitutes  (No graven images)

3- Holy Name (Use not the Lord’s name in vain)

4- Day of Rest (Keep the Sabbath Holy)

          5- Honor Parents (Honor thy Father and Mother)

Today we’re going to look at the 6th commandment and how it will teach us truth on how to show love. The message today is titled, “Let There Be Life.”

So, here is Truth number sixth in our series! Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.”             

Did you know that by the time the average American child has hit 6th grade they have already witnessed over 8,000 murders on television. They have watched over 100,000 acts of violence on television and the internet. We live in a violent society.

When you look at this verse, “Thou shalt not murder” that seems like a very straightforward command but actually it’s often misunderstood, so we want to talk about what does this mean and what does it not mean.

I. WHAT DOES THIS COMMAND NOT MEAN?

  1. It is not prohibiting killing animals for food.

The Bible is very clear about the difference between human life and animal life. Many places in Scripture, it’s very clear, He says it’s OK to kill animals for food. Genesis 9:3 “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

  1. (Second this Command) is not prohibiting punishment.

May times in Scripture God commands punishment for certain crimes. He says some crimes cannot be ignored. . Lev. 24 “Anyone who commits murder shall be put to death…the

principle is a life for a life.” That is very clear in the scriptures. God wants justice in this world.

  1. (Third this Command) It’s not prohibiting protecting the helpless.

God says there are some things that are worth fighting for. There are some things that

are worth dying for. It’s right to stand up to stop the spread of evil.

II. HOW DOES THIS COMMAND APPLY TO SHOWING US HOW TO LOVE

Ultimately, the sixth commandment is about more than just murder. The sixth commandment has to do with the respect one has for people and the value one places on their lives. What God is saying is Life Matters and Life is of Value

  1. (However, this Command from) God says NO to taking your own life.

God says Don’t do it. People say, “It’s my life and I have a right to live it and to take it.” God says, “No, you don’t. I gave you your life and only I have the right to take it away.” You don’t own your life and you don’t own the right to take it. “We are not our own bosses to live and die as we ourselves might choose.” Scripture says, you’re not your own, you’re bought with a price.

  1. (Second, this Command from) God says NO to mercy killing.

The technical term for “mercy killing” is euthanasia. This is causing the death of someone because of deformity, or old age, or an incurable disease. Job 12:10, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; every man’s life is in God’s hands.” Only God has a right to determine when I should stop living.

  1. (Third, this Command from) God says NO to abortion.

Psalm 139 “You, God, created every part of me, You put me together in my mother’s womb. When my bones were being formed when I was growing there in secret, You knew I was there. You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me were all recorded in Your book before any of them ever began. God is saying that’s a person inside the mother, not a blob of tissue.

The numbers of deaths caused by the Pandemic is staggering. But did you know every year in this country we legally kill over 1,000,000 unborn babies mostly for the sake of convenience. Life is no longer a sacred thing, it is a dispensable thing. The sixth commandment was given to teach people to show love for life.

So…What’s The Reason Behind This Commandment

  1. God says, “You shall not murder.” Basically, what God is saying is that human life is precious, it is sacred, and we ought to have the utmost respect for all human life. Why?

I believe that there are two main reasons.

(1) First, human life is sacred because we are made in the image of God. 

God created all of life, including plants and animals. But if you look at Genesis chapter one, you’ll see that humans were created in a different way than the way all the other things were created. In every other act of creation, God said, “Let there be,” and it was so.  But the creation of human life was different. God said, “Let us make man…” God didn’t just speak us into existence as he did everything else. No, he made us.

In Genesis 2:7, “God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” God didn’t “breathe the breath of life” into any other creature, only man.”

(2) The Second reason human life is precious is because of the price that was paid.
What is a human life is worth? Paul writes in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We are worth so much that Jesus Christ was willing to give his life so that he might know salvation. We all sin! The good news is, even then, you can repent and God will forgive you. Did you know that most of the Bible was written by three men who were murderers: Paul, David, Moses -all took the life of another person. Yet they came to God, were forgiven, and God used them in a great way. That’s the message of grace.

Where do you stand before God today?

The Bible teaches us that life is a sacred gift from God. We are to love life and seek to preserve and sanctify it. We are to be for Life! God sees people made in His image, and worth saving. That’s why God sent the life of his only Son to die for them!

 

Honoring Our Parents

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Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 5 

“Honoring Our Parents”

Pastor Jerry

Matthe 15:3-9 (NLT); Exodus 20:12 (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Today is week five of our sermon series concerning, “Truth!”

Knowing the truth during this Pandemic has become a very big problem in today world?” “What’s the Truth?” The truth can mean the difference between life and death.

Thousands of years ago God gave ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments. The overall intent of the 10 Commandments is to teach us truth on how to show love.

Today we’re going to look at the 5th commandment and the message today is titled, “Honoring My Parents.”

So, here is Truth number five in our series! Exodus 20:12 “”Honor your father and mother….”

Let me ask you: Do you think that all parents are worthy of honor?

WHY DID GOD GIVE THIS COMMANDMENT? If some parents may not be worthy?

  1. There are no perfect parents.

All of us have weaknesses and faults and inconsistencies, we make mistakes. Only God is the perfect parent. Even the best parents have made mistakes and sinned. God is saying I want you to honor the position of parenthood.

God gave the fifth commandment …because…

  1. Respect for authority begins at home.

This is a critical lesson that every child must learn. It determines how well you’re going to do at school, in your career, in relationships.

God gave this commandment …because…

  1. How I relate to my parents will affect every other relationship.

It is the major forming factor in your life. Your style of relating is set at home. Even today, as a grown up, when you act in ways you don’t understand and can’t figure out your behavior, many times it’s because you’re still reacting to your parents.

HOW AM I TO HONOR MY PARENTS?

It depends on what stage of life you’re in. Each stage you apply this command differently.

  1. AS A CHILD, I HONOR MY PARENTS BY OBEYING AND RESPECTING THEM.

Eph 6:1 “Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you.”  Obey — do what they say, willfully, pleasantly, immediately. The Bible teaches that as long as you’re under your parent’s roof you’re to obey them.

  1. AS A YOUNG PERSON, I HONOR MY PARENTS BY ACCEPTING AND APPRECIATING THEM.

The older you get, you start seeing the faults of your parents.  You start seeing their hang-ups, faults, the holes in the armor. It becomes important for you to accept them in spite of their weaknesses. Why should I choose to accept my parents?

Acceptance means:

  1. Realizing that God used them to bring me into the world.

Your parents may have been excellent, mediocre or poor but regardless of how they treated you growing up, the fact is they gave you something that nobody else in the world could give you — they gave you your life.

Acceptance of my parents means:

  1. Listening to what they have to say. When you’re out on your own, you’re not bound by their advice but you don’t despise it. “Listen to your father who gave you your life and do not despise your mother.” Pr. 23;22. You can disagree without being disagreeable.
  2. Acceptance of my parents includes forgiveness. The fact of life is we often hurt those we love the most — intentionally and unintentionally. If you live together for any length of time you’re going to be hurt by the people in your family. Families must be built on forgiveness because we hurt each other. Prov. 20:20 “If you curse your parents, your life will end like a lamp that goes out in the dark.”

The fact is God gave you your parents for a purpose. You honor your parents when you forgive them for what they did wrong and you choose to focus on what they did right. Deut. 26:11 “Be grateful for the good things that the Lord has given you and your family.” God says I’m not only to accept my parents, the good and the bad, but I am to appreciate them. It’s easy to take parents for granted. Some of you had super parents and it’s easy for you to appreciate them. For some of you it’s a little more difficult. I would suggest that there are at least two things you could appreciate about your parents regardless who they were:

  1. You can appreciate their effort. Parenting is a difficult, time-demanding, energy draining job. It takes incredible energy just to feed, cloth, provide, and corral your kids, much less teach them anything. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult parenting has become during this Pandemic. First, you can appreciate your parents efforts.

 

  1. Second, you can appreciate their sacrifice. Parenting is expensive. The economics today alone are staggering. When a couple chooses to have kids they are choosing to do without some other things. So we should appreciate the sacrifice. Prov. 23:22 “When your mother is old, show her your appreciation.”

The last stage I want to mention that applies to how we honor parents is…

AS AN ADULT, I HONOR MY PARENTS BY AFFIRMING AND NOT ABANDONING THEM.

For many parents, growing older, the older they get the less respect they get. They lead lonely lives. Your parents have a great need, a desperate need, to feel and to know that they made some kind of positive contribution in your life. They need affirmation. God says He wants you to affirm your parents for the rest of your life as long as they’re alive.

How do you do that? You affirm your parents by staying in touch with them. And that is difficult with the Pandemic going on. Prov. 3:27 “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.” Do the right thing while you’ve got time to do it. Affirm your parents now.  The Bible says that the way you treat your older, elderly parents is the demonstration of your true faith. I Timothy 5:8 “Anyone who won’t care for his own relatives when they need help, especially his own family, has no right to say he is a Christian. Such a person is worse that the heathen.” That’s pretty strong.

A word to parents: If you want to be honored, you must be honorable.

 The key to good parenting is loving discipline. Every child must learn two things:

  1. Disobedience brings pain. Every person has to learn that. God says that — you disobey God there is pain in your life. Every child has to learn that disobedience brings pain.
  2. Obedience brings freedom. As a Christian parent, your number one goal in your life should be to insure the fact that your kids come to know Christ when they are old enough to understand.

It is easy to honor your father and mother when they are good, godly people. But some of you had parents who hurt you deeply. So what does God expect you to do? How do I honor a parent who was dishonorable to me? God is not asking you to deny the pain. He’s not asking you to make excuses for your parents, for their dysfunction. Only But He does know and He does care and He can help you overcome that pain. He can even bring good out of it if you’ll let Him.

He wants you to know Him and He wants you to get to know Him through His son Jesus Christ. He loves you more than you will ever realize. Honor your Heavenly Father by giving your life to Jesus today.

 

God’s Word for Workaholics

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Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 4 

“God’s WORD for Workaholics”

Pastor Jerry

Mark 6:30-32 (NLT); Exodus 20:8-10a (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Today is week four of our sermon series concerning, “Truth!”

There is confusion in our world today in who and in what to believe and it has never been more important than now to know, “What’s the Truth?”

Thousands of years ago God gave ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments. The first and great commandment is to love God with all our being—which is what the first four commandments teach us. And the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself—which is what the last six commandments teach us.

Today we’re going to look at the 4th commandment and how it will build our faith and teach us truth on how to show love. The message today is titled, “God’s Word to Workaholics.”

So, here is Truth number four in our series! Exodus 20:8-9 “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. You have six days in which to do your work but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work.”

Today we’re going to look at what God has to say about taking a day off each week for rest.

Would you agree that there are people who work too much and in doing so causes damage to their health and also hurts their relationships with their families?

It’s interesting to me that God has more to say about taking a day off than He does about either murder or adultery.

 Why do you think God is commanding us to do this? Isn’t it a Truth that God has given to teach us how to Love Him (and in so doing showing us how to love ourselves). The Truth is that observing the Sabbath…is for your benefit!

  1. THE SABBATH: …IS AN ANTIDOTE TO BURNOUT

What does the word Sabbath mean? Sabbath means “Day of rest“. God says every seventh day you are to take as a day of rest. Why? Mark 2:27, Jesus said “The Sabbath was made to benefit man, and not man to benefit the Sabbath.” The purpose is to prevent burnout.

When is the Sabbath? Saturday, Sunday, Friday? It doesn’t matter. The answer is once a week. God doesn’t care when you do it as long as you do it once a week.

In the New Testament the first Christians took the Jewish Sabbath and began to celebrate it on Sunday in honor of Jesus’ resurrection.

The Truth is that keeping the Sabbath Holy… is for your benefit!

  1. WHAT ARE YOU TO DO ON YOUR SABBATH

How do you “keep it holy”? What does it mean to be holy? Holy means “set –apart,” different. God says, I want you to set one day a week apart to do something different than you do the other six days of the week. How do I do that? God wants you to use the Sabbath, your day, at least once a week: (1) to rest, (2) to recharge and (3) to refocus.

  1. (First) God says you make the day holy by using the day to rest your body.

Psalm 127:2 “God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest.”  Your body needs rest. This is so important that God used Himself as an example. When he created the world, it says he took six days to create the world and on the seventh He rested.

How about you? Have you felt burned out? You need to have time off to rest. There are a lot of tempting things that pull you toward your work — money, success, recognition …and with the Pandemic, especially for health responders, there’s the un-relinquishing demand. Our bodies were not built for nonstop work. The first principle, the first thing you do to keep the Sabbath holy, you rest your body.

  1. (Second) God says you make the day holy by recharging your emotions.

Use the day to recharge your emotions because constant work creates a stress that drains you. Americans are always in a hurry, wanting what they want now. That’s why this coronavirus pandemic is so hard – we don’t know how to wait (we don’t know how to be patient). We don’t find it easy to wait for needed doses of inspiration and encouragement. How do you do that? There are 3 things that are universal that you need to build into every Sunday (or build into your Sabbath):

  1. In order to recharge your emotions (first) you need to include time for quietness.

Ps. 23:3 “He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Quietness and soul restoration go together. The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” You need to schedule quiet periods in your life and God says part of your Sabbath needs to be a quiet time.

  1. In order to recharge your emotions (second) you need to include time for family.

Sunday has historically been a day for two things: church and family. God wants you to plan some special time with your family, to spend special time with them that draws your family together. Relax, have some fun with your family. You’re not wasting time,

  1. In order to recharge your emotions (third) you need to include time for fellowship

You need time with other believers. That is why this Pandemic is causing so much strain on the church and people’s lives. We draw strength from being together.  When we get together we encourage each other. That’s why you are going out of your way to come to church today under these circumstances. It’s not ideal, but it’s needed.

Many of you grew up in churches where after Sunday church you had a family over for dinner. That is lost today, especially in this Pandemic. I think that is the thing that’s most missing: the fellowship, the interaction, the relationships, the hugs that we need to recharge.  

  1. (Third) and finally, God says you make the day holy by REFOCUSING your SPIRIT.

You need God. This is the most important part. Ps. 95:6 “Come let us bow down in worship before the Lord our Maker.” Sunday is mainly a day to worship, to get a focus on God, a time to remember what’s important, a time to get a spiritual make over. You need every week to refocus on God. That’s what worship does. It helps bring into focus what’s really important.

The problem is if all you ever do is work and play, then, pretty soon you start thinking that that’s all there is to life is work and play; however, there’s a lot more to life than just work and play. Be still, and know God.

Mark 8:36 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” God wants you to ask that question every seven days, God wants you to stop and reexamine your priorities, reevaluate, regroup, relax, tune into God, listen to Him, get your perspective right, get your priorities rebalanced and refocus on God. You need that every seven days. That’s what makes Sunday a holy Sabbath!

You need to understand this Truth in order to know how to love God and love others! Jesus says, “I came that you might have life.” When you do it God’s way, you benefit — physically, emotionally, spiritually, in every way.

When you don’t follow God’s truth and you don’t have Christ as the center of your life, you’re out of balance. Matthew 11 “Come to me, all you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! Jesus says if you’re carrying a heavy burden today, come to Me—because you’re carrying something that I don’t want you carrying. You’re trying to be God. Now is the time to let go! Let God be God and you be just you. That’s the truth! The Sabbath was made for man to benefit you. Come to Jesus—He is waiting for you!

 

 

Taking God Seriously

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Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 3

“Taking God Seriously”

Pastor Jerry

Luke 6:45 (NLT); Exodus 20:7a (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

We are in the third week of a new sermon series concerning, “Truth!”

That is because I believe that telling the truth is a problem in our society?” So, “What’s the Truth?”

God gave ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments. The overall intent of the 10 Commandments is to teach us truth on how to show love.

Today we’re going to look at the 3rd commandment and how it will build our faith and teach us truth on how to show love. The message today is titled, “Taking God Seriously.”

So, here is Truth number three in our series! Exodus 20:7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God .” The third commandment can be summarized in one sentence: God says, “Take My name seriously”.

Paul Dickinson has written an interesting book called Names. He has a hobby of collecting strange and unusually names.

What’s in a name? God says there’s a lot in a name when it’s His name. In the third command in Exodus 20:7 He says, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”

Why is that so important to God? God says that your name represents three things: reputation, character, authority. God says when you misuse My name it’s no little deal. It’s a big deal because you’re defaming My reputation, My character and My authority and you are not taking Me seriously.

  1. HOW CAN I USE GOD’S NAME INCORRECTLY?

When we think about misusing God’s name we usually think about swearing. But there are many, many other ways you can misuse God’s name besides just swearing.

  1. You can use God’s name to express irritation.
  2. You can use God’s name to manipulate others.
  3. You can use God’s name to be impressive.
  4. You can use God’s name impulsively.

These are all different ways we can misuse God’s Name.

  1. YOU CAN MISUE GOD’S NAME TO EXPRESS IRRITATION

This is when you use profanity or swearing to express irritation. Books and music and TV are filled with profanity. It takes maturity to discipline your speech, especially when you’re angry. It takes discipline and self-control by not doing that. So people misuse God’s name to express irritation.

  1. MISUSING GOD’S NAME TO MANIPULATE OTHERS

Some people say “God told me what to do.” In today’s world they call that forgery. Forgery is when you use somebody else’s name to get what you want. There are a lot of spiritual forgers in the world who misuse God’s name.  You can misuse God’s name as a cover for yourself and to manipulate others.

  1. YOU CAN MISUSE GOD’S NAME BY TRYING TO BE IMPRESSIVE

Insecure believers can try to prove how spiritual they are by their jargon, by using continuous religious phrases, spiritual cliches. Some people use the name of Jesus when speaking so they sound more spiritual. Talk doesn’t impress me, life style does. Titus 1:16 “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him.” We take God’s name in vain when we claim to be committed to Him but we don’t back it up with our life style. Isn’t it just words.

  1. MISUSING GOD’S NAME IMPULSIVELY

 This is one many of us fall into as a trap. When you use God’s name as a convenient expression of fear or joy or surprise. “Suzy’s pregnant! O, my God!” You’re reducing God to a level of an expression. Don’t do that. God says when you use my name, you need to take it seriously.

Of the top 10 commandments, the ten most important things in life, number three is “Don’t misuse My name.” God says this is serious business.

  1. HOW CAN I USE GOD’S NAME CORRECTLY?

 God promises blessing when you use His name correctly. I challenge you to do a study. There are literally hundreds of verses in the Bible that talk about the name of God. There’s ncredible blessings for the person who honors God’s name. God takes this very seriously.

  1. USE GOD’S NAME CORRECTLY-REVERENCE GOD’S NAME CONTINUALLY

Treat it with the utmost respect. Use it carefully. Use it lovingly. Use it as an act of worship. Don’t just let it slip out flippantly. When you say “God”, mean it in your heart. Ps. 29:2 “Give to the Lord the glory due His name.” Honor God’s name. It’s a great offence the taking of God’s name in vain.

You need to reverence God name continually. Reverence involves not only protecting God’s name but knowing it. Ps. 9:10 “Those who know your name will trust in you…” God has many names, well over 100 names of God in the Bible, each one of them reveal a different aspect of God’s character — love, justice, holiness, the things he’s promised to care for. The way you get to know God is to get to know the names of God. If you only know one name you don’t know God very well.

  1. USE GOD’S NAME CORRECTLY-REPRESENT GOD’S NAME CLEARLY

II Timothy 2:19 “A person who calls himself a Christian should not be doing things that are wrong.” Our lifestyle can misuse the name of God. If you call yourself a believer act like one.

Your walk needs to match your talk. The reason why some people never come to Christ is because they met a Christian in name only who claimed to be a Christian but there was no difference in their lifestyle. “I don’t need to be a Christian because I’m just like them.” The truth is that there are people all around you that are watching and evaluating your speech and your actions and they’re checking to see how you’re different and how you’re different in your life style. So guard your mouth, guard your actions.

  1. USE GOD’S NAME CORRECTLY-RELY ON GOD’S NAME COMPLETELY.

 Ps. 33:21 “No wonder we are happy in the Lord. We trust His holy name.” There are 1000s of verses in the Bible that say that God has made a number of promises to honor His name. Whatever you do you should do it in the name of the Lord, trusting and relying on His name. Jesus said, “If you ask anything in My name I will do it.” Only a perfect person can come into His presence. I don’t have any right on my own just to come to God and say, “God this is what I need and request.” Through Christ I can. He’s the bridge.

One day, the Bible says in Matthew, we will give an account for every idle word. The good news is: You can overcome the judgment. How? By trusting in the name of Jesus Christ. He will forgive you in advance. Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” The name of Jesus Christ is the way you bypass that judgment.

Luke 6;45 Jesus said, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Ultimately the only way to clean up your mouth is to have a change of heart. Jesus can do that. God says don’t misuse My name. Use it with awe and reverence, be serious.

When you mess up and misuse God’s name, what do you do? The first thing you need to do is tell God you’re sorry and apologize for misusing His name. And you need to ask his forgiveness. But, if there is a bigger problem going on in your life … you commit that problem and your life to God, and say to Him. “Jesus Christ, come in and give me that new heart and tongue.”  Ask Him to help you, ask Him now to come into your life, and He will.

 

Accept No Substitutes

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Sermon Series

Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 2

“Accept No Substitutes”

Pastor Jerry

Romans 1:18-23 (NLT); Exodus 20:4-5b (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Last week we began a new sermon series concerning, “Truth!”

There are many current issues which have brought to our attention the fighting and the dishonesty and the deception being played out in our culture.

As I claimed last week: you could say we are living in the Age of Dishonesty. It certainly is time to begin asking again, “What’s the Truth?”

Thousands of years ago God gave ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, at their heart and core, are all about love.

Today we’re going to look at the 2nd commandment and how it will build our faith and teach us truth on how to show love. The message today is titled, “Accept No Substitutes.”

So, here is Truth number two in our series! Exodus 20:4-5b “You shall not make any idols, you must never bow to an image or worship it in any way.” The second commandment says two things: don’t idolize anything and worship God only.

FIRST—(I.) DON’T IDOLIZE ANYTHING

What is an idol? An idol is anything that takes the focus off God and puts it on something else. When anything is first in my life that is not God it’s an idol even if it’s a good thing.

It’s interesting; archaeologists tell us in every culture throughout history there have been idols. There is the desire of man, deep down in his nature to worship. In order to fulfill this instinct, this desire to worship, men and women will turn objects or people or things into objects of worship. God says don’t do that.

In Biblical times there were three primary idols. There was Baal the sex god, Mammon the money god; and Molech the violence god. There were many others but these were the big three. We don’t worship those carved idols today, but, we will pay billions of dollars today to watch movies to entertain us with images of sex, violence and money. It’s the same things, isn’t it?  We don’t worship objects as much as we worship images, images of success, images of wealth, images of status, images of sensuality. It’s very difficult to know the truth in an environment where the culture is praising that these are the most important things in life.  

Deut. 4 reads “For your own good don’t sin by making an idol in any form at all.” Today we wear our idols on T-shirts and hats. God says for your own good don’t idolize anything or anyone. Why?

  1. Idols will disappoint you.

They always promise more than they can deliver. Jeremiah 10:14 “Those who make idols are disillusioned because the gods they made are false and lifeless.” Advertisement says wear our label and you’ll be popular, buy our product and you’ll be successful, drink our brand and it won’t get any better than this, buy our toothpaste and you’ll have sex appeal. They always promise more than they can deliver. And we worship their claims and bow down. Idols will always disappoint you. That’s truth! God says for your own good don’t idolize anything or anyone. Why?

  1. Idols will dominate you.

Without you realizing it idols will end up controlling your life. The Bible says, “Before you knew Christ you were controlled by dead idols, who always led you astray.” The Bible says there are two inevitable effects when you love something more than God: First (1) The thing you love more than God will begin to control you. The word we use today for idols is the word “addiction”. You can be addicted to numerous things. But eventually it controls your life when you love something more than you love God. That’s truth! Second (2) You will be led astray, you lose your perspective when something takes place in your life that ought to be where God is.

The Bible says a problem with idols, anything that you love more than God, will distract you and cause you to lose your values. It will dominate your life. That’s truth! God says for your own good don’t idolize anything or anyone. Why?

  1. Idols will deform you.

Idols will change you. You will lose the uniqueness that God gave you because you become like what you value most. Psalm 115:8 “Those who make idols become like them and so will those who trust in them.” We shape an idol and it ends up shaping us. You will become like whatever is first place in your life.

One time a rich man came to Jesus. He asked “What must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus says “Go, sell everything you’ve got and give it to the poor and come follow me.” Be willing to let go of anything for Me to be first in your life. It says that this man could not decide if it was worth giving up what he loved, so he walked away sadly and did not follow Jesus.

How about you? What do you love the most? Do you need to give up anything? What is it that you’re holding on to that’s keeping you from being all God wants you to be? If you hold on to it, it’s an idol.

The Bible says idols will distract you, dominate you, disappoint you, and will eventually destroy you if you don’t let go. That truth! So God says, “For your own good don’t let anything get first place in your life — keep Me first.” The second commandment says two things: don’t idolize anything and worship God only.

The SECOND thing this commandment says is– (II.) WORSHIP ONLY GOD!

God says “Worship only Me”. Worship means giving my highest love and devotion. Only God deserves my highest loyalty. The Bible in Romans 1 says, “Many exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself.” It blows my mind when I think about the crazy things that people will worship.

There are two motives behind idols. Why would people want to make a statue or a form that they can bow down to?

  1. It is an attempt to limit God’s location.

If I can put god in a statue or if I can put him in a place, like God is only at church, then I know exactly where God is. If I don’t want Him to be around, I just don’t go to that place. You’ve got Him under control — it’s limiting His location. How foolish!

The second reason why people would want to make a statue or a form that they can bow down to is:

  1. It’s an attempt to reduce His power and size.

I’m going to whittle Him down to size. If I’ve got God in a statue, in a little box or an idea (like God’s only in the Bible) then it’s less threatening, He’s more convenient and more manageable. We have reversed Genesis 1:27 that says “Let us make man in our image” and now we’re saying, Let us make God in our image. We want to make God like us so we can control our situations. It’s a whole lot easier to change my image of God than it is to change me.

A lot of people change their theology because they can’t justify their lifestyle any other way. We want to keep doing with what we are doing. We want God in our lives but we want Him in a shape we can control. I want just enough God to bless me but I don’t want Him to run my life.

The Truth is that there are three benefits of worshiping God only, putting Him first in our lives.

FIRST (1.) IT WILL BE FOR MY DELIGHT – there is fulfillment when you put God first in your life and you love Him first. God says you will experience all the fulfillment in life that you’ve been looking for in other places.

Ps. 37:4 “Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desire.” That promise  says if I seek my happiness in the Lord, not in other things, but in the Lord, God will give me my heart’s desire. That is a guarantee. Romans 10:11 “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Accept no substitute. Only God!

The second benefit of worshiping God only, putting Him first in our lives.

SECOND (2.) IT WILL DELIVER ME – The bible says you will experience freedom like you’ve never felt if you will put God in first place in your life. Incredible freedom. Jesus said, “If you obey my teaching you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” “If the Son sets you free, you will be really free.”  

When you are set free, you’re set free first from your past (completely forgiven),  you are set free in the present(with the Spirit’s power), you are set free in the future (know real life). In Christ you’re free in the past, present, and future. That is real freedom.

As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him. Whatever you love you’re going to become like. Whatever you worship you’re going to be devoted to. If you worship Christ, love Christ, give your all to Christ, you’re going to become like Him. That’s what God wants you to become.

You can’t become all God wants you to be and all you want to be without putting Jesus first in your life, and accepting no substitutes. That’s truth!

 

 

The Foundation for Love Revealed

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Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 1

“The Foundation for Love Revealed”

Pastor Jerry

Matthew 22:35-40 (NLT); Exodus 20:2 (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

We begin a new series today concerning, “Truth!”

The death of George Floyd and the Pandemic outbreak and the political fighting, all of these have brought to our attention the dishonesty and the deception being played out in our culture.

We are living in a period of time called “The Post-Truth Era.”  Deception and truth twisting has become commonplace at all levels of authority in contemporary life. You could say we are living in the Age of Dishonesty.

All of this has caused me to question: “What is truth?” So, in response to those questions, I want to take a stand today on truth!

And first I must present several important things I believe concerning truth that you should know. The first is, “Truth is discovered, not invented. Another fact is that truth is transcultural. Truth is unchanging, even though our beliefs about truth change. And all real truths are absolute.

Truth is still truth. But, truth is living in a much different world today called Postmodern. Its description says, “Truth does not exist objectively; it is a product of a person’s culture.” The culture’s situation in which we live today as Christians is “The New Tolerance” which is “to recognize and respect others’ beliefs, practices, etc., without sharing them” & “to bear or put up with someone or with something not especially liked.”

For years we have been living in a changing and permissive society where basically, anything goes and we are supposed to tolerate it, even if it causes us harm. It certainly is time to begin asking, “What’s the Truth?”

Thousands of years ago God gave ten truths for living; they’re called The Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments, at their heart and core, are all about love. In Matt. 22 we read about a lawyer who asked Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment in the law?”  Jesus answered, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”

Jesus was simply quoting what had already been revealed hundreds of years earlier through Moses: The overall intent of the 10 Commandments is to teach us truth on how to show love. The first and great commandment is to love God with all our being. Jesus then went on to say, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The commandments define love! Years later, the apostle Paul wrote, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).

As Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate in John 18:38, the Roman governor asked this exact same question. “WHAT IS TRUTH?” Jesus Himself reminds us that truth is more than a mere set of facts. Truth is a Person. Simply put, you can’t know truth without knowing Jesus. He told his closest followers, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life….” (John 14:6).

As a Christian I guess I can say, we must get back to the basics. We must become students of the Bible. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free” (John 8:31b–32). Freedom comes from getting into the Word and letting the Word get into us.

So for the next ten weeks we’re going to look at the Ten Commandments, these ten truths, and how they can make a difference in your life and why God gave them.

Deut. 6:6-7 says, “Never forget these commands that I am giving you. Teach them to your children.”

Why did God give the Ten Commandments? He gave them not to hurt us but to help us. Not to punish us but to protect us. We need to know what’s right and what’s wrong — what are the parameters in life. The overall intent of the 10 Commandments is to teach us truth on how to show love.

  I. THE FOUNDATION FOR LOVE REVEALED

Today we’re going to look at the foundation of that truth for Love Revealed, the very first command.

Truth number one! Exodus 20:2 “You shall have no other gods before ME.”

What’s the principle?  Put God first; in my life and in my family, and in society. He deserves to be number one in your life because He made you. Everything you have in life is from God because He’s given it to you.

What does it mean to “have no other gods before Me”?  What is a god? A god is anything that dominates your life, anything that controls your life. Even good things that God has created for us to enjoy, become gods when you give them first place in your life. God says, “I deserve first place in your life.”  Here is the foundation for a knowing the truth — put God first.

  II. HOW DO I PUT GOD FIRST?

How do I do that? What does it mean to put God first? I took the acrostic F-I-R-S-T and I’m going to give you five ways to put God first in your life and your family.

1.Now we start with the letter F – FINANCES

Put God first in your finances. Let’s start with the most difficult one. Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of all your income, and He will fill your barns to overflow.” God says give ME the first part back and I’ll bless all the rest. God has said that money is the number one test of your priorities. The way we spend our money says what’s first in my life.

Deut. 14:23 “The purpose of tithing is to teach you to put God first in your lives.” What’s tithing? God says that the first 10% of all I make goes back to Him. The purpose is simply to teach us to put God first. Tithing is an act of worship.

2. Second, in the acrostic F-I-R-S-T is the letter I – INTEREST

If God’s really going to be number one, you put Him first in your interests. That means in my fun times, my play times, my amusements, recreation, hobbies, pass times. I Corinthians 10:31 “Whatever you do, do it all for God’s glory.” How do you do that? In everything you do, you put God first. Do it with an attitude of gratitude.

In  Eph. 5:19 says, “Talk with each other much about the Lord.”  If He’s first in your life you’re going to make God a part of your conversation. You won’t be ashamed to talk about Him because He’s first.

3. Third, in the acrostic is the letter R – RELATIONSHIPS

If you want God first in your life you’re going to have to choose your friends carefully. Prov. 27:19 “What a man is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.” Why is that? What does who my friends are have to do with God being first in my life? Because you become like the people you spend the most time with.

It seems our kids and many adults are getting models of behavior from TV, Social Media-Facebook, & Youtube. Often in those environments you don’t see a lot of men and women who love God. Perhaps some programing changes are needed. Put God first in your relationships.

4. Next in the acrostic is the letter S – SCHEDULE

Put God first in your schedule, in your time. Eph. 5:16-17 says, “Make the most of your time… grasp firmly what you know to be the will of the Lord.” How do I put God first in my schedule? When God made you, He has a plan for your life. If you find yourself having more things to do than you have time to do, it means you’re doing some things that aren’t God’s will. They may be good things. But God never puts more on you than He puts in you to bear it up. He doesn’t ask you to do more than you have time to do.

Make a daily appointment with God. Ten, fifteen minutes. You read your Bible and pray and talk to God about all the things you’ve got to do. You set aside a meditation time! “You have a quiet time.”

5. Finally, the last letter in the acrostic is the letter T – TROUBLES

When you face unexpected problems and pressures, when you have a crisis, who do you turn to?  God says, “Turn to Me first when you’ve got a problem.” Many people, when they’re in a tight situation do everything they can physically to try to correct the problem then they say, “I guess now all we can do is pray.”  Prayer should not be your last resort, it should be your first option.  Psalm 50:15 “Call upon me in your day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will honor ME.”  God says, “Put Me first, even in the tough times.”

How do you know when God’s first in your life? You stop worrying. Worry is the warning light that God is not first in my life at this particular moment. Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God [put Him first in every area of my life] and all these other things shall be added unto you.” Put God first.

If you want to build a life on truth you’ve got to have the right foundation.  You’ve got to put God first.

I want to challenge you to make a commitment to do the right thing, the right thing for your own life, the right thing for your family, the right thing for our nation and that is to say:       “I’m not ashamed to say I want to build my life on God’s truths, on the teachings of scripture and the Ten Commandments.. I want God to be first in my finances, interests, relationships, schedule, and troubles: believing that if I follow His truth, He’ll keep His promise to bless my life in the areas that I put Him first in.”

The Forgiving Father

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Father’s Day Celebration

“The Forgiving Father”

Pastor Jerry

Luke 15:1-2, 11-24 (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

In Bill Cosby book, Fatherhood, he tells several humorous stories about Fathers.

Well today is Father’s Day.  And did you know its not a religious holiday.

However, it has long been observed that our children get their view of God from their fathers. The way a father treats his child, speaks to his child, disciplines his child plays a major role in the formation of that child’s understanding of God.

Nevertheless, some stories of fatherhood experiences can’t be laughed at like the stories that Bill Cosby tell. Maybe for some people their feelings about God cannot get past their childhood experiences.  I pray that today…God will bring healing to such broken hearts.

That’s why I want to speak just for a few moments with the time that remains this morning about the Love that God has for each of you on this Father’s Day. My comments are focused on the Scripture reading of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.  I have preached many sermons on this parable but I have never preached this story from the vantage point of the father. This parable is aimed at those people who are particularly troubled, broken and who have gone astray and because of that are uncertain whether or not God could still love them.

The prodigal asks for his share of inheritance money from his father and then goes off into a far country and squanders all of it. He finally ends up at a dead end. This boy’s sinfulness was so great that there was nothing left in him that could motivate the father to love him. If the father loves him, then it is only because that is the nature of the father. The boy has done nothing to deserve it at all.

The son finally realizes the seriousness of his brokenness and decides to return home. It is interesting that there is no mention of him cleaning himself up first. The Parable of the Prodigal Son ends showing the Father running to greet him with open arms. And therein lies Jesus’ point. This is the story of how God loves you too.

As I was preparing this message a Christian song that came out several months ago from Christian artist Matthew West kept playing over in my mind. The song is entitled “The God Who Stays.”  The message of the song is about God who never gives up on you when you go astray.

The Parable of the Forgiving Father is the story of how God loves you.

Let’s look at five great truths about God’s love on this Father’s Day from this parable:

I.     First, this story for Father’s Day tells us that God’s love has no limits. If there was a breaking point where the father was pushed too far to love his son, certainly this young man found it. From the father’s perspective at least, there is no condemnation. He greets him instead with open arms.

I don’t care what you may have done; you have not stretched beyond the limits of God’s love. His love knows no limit for you.

II.    Secondly, this story for Father’s Day tells us that God’s love is a patient love. We do not know how long the prodigal was gone. Perhaps a long time! It was long enough for him to apparently go through a whole lot of money. He did everything wrong. Yet, we get the strong impression that the father never stopped looking down the road hoping, waiting, and longing for his return. A person cannot stray away so long from God or stay apart so long from God’s love that it is no longer offered.

In the same way God’s desire is not revenge but relationship and restoration. He wants you to return. He longs for you to return. He is waiting for you to return.

III.    Third, I think that this story for Father’s Day implies that God’s love is eager. Jesus made this clear when he said: When the father saw his son returning that He ran and embraced him and kissed him. He is so overwhelmed with joy.

The Pharisees who were hearing this story sees God as the chastiser of sinners, not the lover of sinners.

 Just like the father in the parable, he is eagerly anticipating and waiting for you to return. God’s love is not stingy; it is extravagant.

IV.   Fourth, this story for Father’s Day implies that God’s focus is upon the sinner and not the sin. The son’s focus, like ours is oftentimes, was upon his sin, upon his own unworthiness.

The focus of the father, however, is entirely different. He doesn’t shout at his son; instead, he shouts orders to his servants: “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him. Bring a ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet. Kill the fatted calf. Let us drink and make merry.” His focus is on his son.

But some might say, what about the son’s sin? I think we can rightly say that change had come to this young prodigal’s life. When you realize your mistakes, and you become men and women who seek God willingly, there is change. But the point here is that the father’s love at all times remains focused on the boy, not the sin.

What you have done and how long you have done it is no longer a consideration. As far as we know, the father never even asked the boy how he wasted all that money or what he did that was so evil.  That doesn’t matter. What matters is that he wants to come back home.

    V.    Finally – fifth, this story for Father’s Day implies that God’s love is a joyful love.   The father cheers and dances and throws a party singing: “For this my son was lost and now he is found. HE was dead and now he lives.” The father shouts thanksgiving to the Lord.

It is hard for us to relate to that kind of joy from a Holy God. Joy is not the response that we have when someone has hurt us. That is what makes the father’s love so amazing.  Jesus said: “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 who simply think that they don’t need repentance.”

I well imagine that it was very hard for those listening to Jesus to understand the love God has for his children who go astray …and for those listening to change their thinking about God’s attitude toward sinful people.

But we can change out attitude by concentrating on these five facts from this Father’s Day story about Gods love.

Do you understand this story? If we can learn from this Father’s Day story, then, why don’t you come home today? Our Heavenly Father is longing for you, loving you, waiting to run to you, and will be filled with joy when you come home.

 

Can You Hear the Rain?

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“Can You Hear the Rain?”

Pastor Jerry

1 Kings 18:15-20, 41-45 (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Would you agree that every sound carries some sort of message? For instance, if your spouse slams the door, it probably carries the message of someone that is angry. Or, if you are a health worker and you hear a person gasping for breathe, it carries the message that the Covid-19 virus has disabled another person’s ability to fill their lungs with air.

Sound is simply vibrations in the airwaves that your ears pick up and translate into associated meaning.  The sounds signal something that is coming. I can’t see it, I can’t touch it, I don’t necessarily feel it – but, something is on the way. How do I know that the sound signals something is coming this way? Because it’s getting louder all the time, (the closer it gets the louder it gets). You can know rain is coming before you feel it falling on your head.

In our Bible lesson reading today it says Elijah looked up to heaven  and shouted … “I hear the sound of an abundance of rain…” and he spoke those words in a place and a time where there had not been one drop of water from the sky in more than three years. He looked up into the heavens and into a sky without a cloud and said, “I can hear the sound of rain.” Why did he say that? (Because in faith he could hear a sound only the Spirit can make.)

He heard a sound that meant something good is about to happen! God said to him to announce to the people it’s getting ready to rain, the rain is on its way, so Elijah announced, “I hear the abundance of rain coming.”

What does that mean to you today? Can you hear the rain? It may mean that somebody listening today to this message will hear the sound that God is sending. Showers of blessings are on the way.

I don’t know who I’m talking to who hears the sound of the Spirit today …but you’ve prayed, and you’ve called on the Lord. I come here today to tell you: God’s blessings are coming, the rain is coming; because God has already sent it even if you don’t see it.

Like Elijah, “I hear the sound of the Abundance of rain”: I don’t see any sign, (but I hear it). Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

“Can you hear the sound of rain?”: What is the rain to you? The rain is Gods power visiting your life in whatever area or areas that are in drought, or in lack, or that’s broken or empty. The definition of what is the rain to you is simply answered prayer. God’s gonna make it rain, even before you see it.

For every miracle (somebody has to pray). Elijah got himself in the birth position (head between his knees) and began to labor in prayer for what he heard in the Spirit.

Have you been praying? Elijah sent his servant out to look toward the sea for an answer. You have to get your eyes where God is …you do that by looking in the Word. His servant returns: I’m looking but I don’t see any evidence of an answer to your prayer. But Elijah just keeps on praying, he sends his servant back to look again, Elijah keeps on praying.

Delay is not denial (Moses was delayed 40 years before delivering the children of Israel, but not denied.) Elijah is praying: (head between his knees) prayer is serious business and hard work. Go back to the sea look again (which is like saying spend some more time in reading the Word and praying) then come tell me what you see.  On the 7th time the servant comes back with the report: Behold there arises a little cloud out of the sea. In other word: There was a little sign from the Word that came up to me.

All you need sometimes is a word from God that help is on the way.

 If you’ve got a Word from God you can make it through the storm.
If you’ve got a Word from God you can overcome the coronavirus pandemic.
All you need to hear is a word from God. It can seem to be a small Word.

That’s what happened to Elijah: He was told the cloud looks like a man’s hand (It didn’t look like much but Elijah’s faith grabbed hold of it). There’s something about faith that lets you see the greatness in little things:

Faith can see: A meal for a multitude in only a couple loaves of bread & a few fish..
Faith can see: A king in a simple smelly shepherd boy.

The servant saw a little cloud …but Elijah saw more …he saw (a river filling, ground soaking, drought busting rainstorm coming). I don’t care how big the problem may seem to you, or how long is has existed: The promises of God come in His timing and one little Word from God can set you free, and can change you forever. Jesus said: All it takes is faith.

Even a little faith like the size of a mustard seed and you can command mountains to jump into the sea and they will have to go. CAN YOU HEAR THE RAIN?

 Right now the Word from God is that the drought in your life is breaking and the rain is on the way: Can you hear the Rain? Somebody listening to this message hears the sound … Your spirit has been dry for so long, and you’ve felt so distant from the presence of God (but the Word of God is that that drought is breaking now, the wind is blowing and the rain of Gods supernatural presence is coming to flood your soul right now). Just open up and let it fall on you.

Ask God: To Send the healing rain. It’s time: You’ve been waiting; You’ve been praying. Can you hear the rain? The Rain is Here!

And while Elijah was praying the wind blew and the clouds turned black and the rain came.
Do you heard what God is saying to you? God wants to send you showers of blessings where you need it most.

Can you hear the rain? Will you receive God’s showers of blessings that are coming even when you don’t see them yet?

 

Help Me Breathe! Please!

Launch Sermon Player

“Help Me Breathe! Please!”

Pastor Jerry

Matthew 7:12a, 20-25 (NLT)

 

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, to empower believers to live lives of love, justice and unity. The function of the Holy Spirit is never to divide us, but to gather us together. All of us! On that first Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit gathered the disciples together, they cared about each other and believed that it was important to stand up for each other when there is injustice, to speak and to act in love.

What about now? When we hear about the way people abuse and misuse other people, do we stand-up for them? Do we speak out and act in love for them?

Have you heard this statement before? “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The passage has often been used to promote the rights of marginalized groups, and came to represent for many people a moral standard for which the United States should strive.

As the people of God, who believe that all people are created in God’s image and who are called throughout scripture to work for justice and peace and to particularly work on behalf of the marginalized, we must speak out and stand up when there is injustice.

As Christians, and as Americans who believe that all men are created equal and that we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, we are called to remember that “all” means “all.”

We have seen injustice recently. “I can’t breathe” was the repeated cry of a dying black man suffocating from the pressure on his neck by the authority of law enforcement two weeks ago!  George Floyd is yet another casualty in the history of racism against blacks in the United States of America.

His last words were, “I can’t breathe!

I can remember two separate episodes in my life recently, when I could not breathe. My heart had gone into afib and I was gasping for breath and finally I passed out and collapsed. (If it had not been for a defibrillator device implanted in my chest that shocked my heart to begin beating regularly again – the doctors said I would have died).

When I woke, after a few moments I was breathing normally again. Those two events without breath were desperate experiences and I do have a new appreciation for life, and for breath…

It is a desperate situation when someone cries out, “I can’t Breathe!”

However, do you realize that we all are dependent on the Lord for every breath we breathe? In Geneses God breathes breath into the first man, Adam. Gen 2:7, “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The Bible reminds us of our full dependence on God for every breath we breathe.

In the same way the Church, without the breath of God, we the body of Christ would collapse in the very places where we stand.

That’s why I have titled this message, “Lord, Help Me Breathe! Please!”

How will we, the Church, be people who are called to heal the racial divide that plagues our nation? …and the world?

We too often hear stories of injustice toward our fellow human beings that are hard to comprehend.  We wonder why in the world people would act so cruelly. The scripture simply identifies them as 15 “… false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.”

When people are threatened to have their breath taken away, we are called to take action. We are called upon to become part of the Kingdom of God! But life in God’s Kingdom is quite different than it is in the world. The Church which is part of the Kingdom of God has been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, love, forgiveness, grace, hope and faith—all of which enable us to be God’s presence in the world. And when we are God’s presence in the world …we are “helping our brothers and sisters to breathe.”

At the center of Jesus’ teachings is what has come to be known as the Golden Rule. (Matthew 12a) “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you…”

In order for us to live by this rule, in our daily lives, it is necessary for us to adopt a different perspective of people. In order to treat others like we would like to be treated, we must see ourselves in them. To be compassionate is to be conscious and sympathetic to others’ distress and also desire to eliminate it. 

When we are compassionate and sympathetic to other people’s distress, we are “helping our brothers and sisters to breathe.”

For Jesus, the way we treat others is a matter of character—it’s a matter of the heart. Jesus knows that what’s in our hearts spills over into how we live our lives and treat others. Jesus knows that people who mistreat others with disrespect are people who have heart trouble, and as a result, they hurt others because they themselves are so deeply hurting.

That, in part, is why Jesus came in the first place—to heal our hearts that we might learn to experience the joy of life, ourselves. Often time people mistreat others because they can’t see any value or joy in their own lives. Perhaps they never heard words of praise or worth from anyone else.

That’s exactly what happened with Star Daily. Star was known in England as a vicious killer and a ruthless armed robber. When he was a kid his teacher routinely called on him to stand and read a passage in front of the class. And as usual, the students laughed at him. And that was it. In anger he threw the book against the wall and yelled.  “You will fear me! You may hate me! But this will be the last time you’ll laugh at me!” And he ran out of the room. For the rest of his life he made it his purpose to mistreat others as he had been mistreated.

And many of us understand the hurt of those who are mistreated; because we’ve been there. Our hearts have been broken by hurtful, demeaning words.

But, when we see worth in others and let them know that, we are “helping our brothers and sisters to breathe.”

Jesus came to heal our broken hearts by restoring our sense of worth and value. He does that by reminding us that God sees great worth and value in us. He tells us that God loves us. Jesus came to let us know that we all are created in God’s image which means we were created with worth and value woven into the fabric of who we are.

When we let others know that Jesus loves them, we are “helping our brothers and sisters to breathe.”

We need to be able to judge good fruit from bad. “Because every good tree bears only good fruit, but a bad tree bears only bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them”

All of us have things hidden away in the closets of our hearts that we’ve done that embarrass and shame us—things we’ve done that have robbed us of our dignity. We know we’ve messed up but we can’t seem to let go of the guilt. And the guilt causes us at times to demean and mistreat others in order to make us feel better about ourselves.

Jesus came to heal that brokenness. T

When we confess to him the areas where we’ve fallen short he forgives.  And because he forgives us completely and unconditionally, the guilt disappears and we’re able to believe in ourselves again and in the process to treat others with value and dignity.

When we let Jesus forgive us and we forgive others, we are “helping our brothers and sisters to breathe.”

That’s what the Golden Rule is all about. It’s about living in a relationship with Jesus who heals the brokenness of our hearts and fills them with his love and forgiveness. And as he mends our hearts he creates in us the kind of character that reaches out and values others.

His love makes us loving.

His valuing of us enables us to value others.

His belief in us sets us free to believe in others.

His compassion toward us makes us compassionate toward others.

His forgiveness of us motivates us to forgive others.

“Lord, Help Me Breathe! Please!” Yes Lord, I depend on You for every breath I breathe.  Use me in “helping our brothers and sisters to breathe.” As God’s children, who live in the reality of God’s Kingdom, we are to live lives of love and compassion—lives that do not condemn and that seek to treat others as we would want to be treated.