When God saves a person, He begins a change from the inside out. This sermon is an introductory sermon for this series on Philippians and looks at some changes God makes in believers' lives.
We don't know the purpose God has for our suffering, but we know that He does indeed have one for it. This sermon focuses on the lesson that Paul learned in his suffering - God's grace is sufficient.
Many Christians are worriers. They fret and stew and wring their hands all the time. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to trust Heavenly Father to provide for our needs because He already knows what we need.
The whole Bible is about Jesus. He is not necessarily seen in every verse, but the whole thing points directly to Him. Like today, even His earliest disciples sometimes missed the passages in the Old Testament that pointed to Him. This message goes through a very, very brief survey of texts in the Hebrew Scriptures that point ahead to Christ.
This is the second half of a text that was first dealt with March 11. While the other message focused on prayer, this message focuses on how we live our lives - particularly around non-believers. The point is, our life should match our words and vice versa.
Believers have no reason to be ashamed of believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation. The world believes the Gospel is foolish, but it is what God has chosen to use to transform lives.
Many years before the cross, Jesus, the Suffering Servant, was prophesied. This sermon look s at the Suffering Servant and His work on the cross on the behalf of sinners.
In this passage, Paul gives practical advice about speaking to God and people. This message focuses on the prayer aspect.
This is the day that the Lord has made, thus we should rejoice and be glad in it. This message applies this simple statement to three areas of life.
As Christ's ambassadors in the world, Christians are to appeal to others to be reconciled to God because God has done everything necessary for us to do so in sending Christ to die on the cross for our sin.
It is important to pray for our leaders. This is especially true during this election season. Paul calls all Christians to pray and then pray some more.
As we go through life, we deal with many struggles. We are weak and often don't even know how to pray as we should. In those times, the Holy Spirit comes alongside Christians, helps us, and intercedes for us. At the same time, God is using all that comes into our lives, both good and bad, to make us like Christ, Who's glory we will experience one day as Christians.
We live in a fallen world. All of creation, including Christians, are affected by sin and the curse. This causes all of creation to groan as we await our adoption as sons and daughters of God. The great hope we have is that one day, we will experience the glories of Heaven.
Jesus is Lord. That means He rules. He reigns. He is sovereign. But many people today don't acknowledge this. One day, everyone will. One day everyone will confess that Christ is Lord. It would be wise to do it now, in this life rather than later.
In the last days, there will be an increase in mockers who follow after their own lusts and scoff at people who await Christ's return. However, the reason that they can do this is because God is not willing that any should perish, and therefore we have a seeming delay In Jesus' return.
There are many opinions about who Christ is. Is He a man? Is He God? Is He a god, but not THE God? This sermon looks at three plain and powerful passages that show, very clearly, that Jesus is God and not a created being.
2016 will be full of surprises for us. We have no idea what lies ahead. But we do know what God wants His people to do - the same thing He wants them to do every year. He wants us to be faithful to fulfill the purposes of the church. The early church provides a model for us to follow in the book of Acts. Listen in to hear what they are.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angels announced it to nearby shepherds. In many ways, their message to the shepherds typifies God's message to us as communicated through the birth of Christ.
The birth of Christ was accompanied by many miracles. The greatest one was when Jesus stepped out of eternity and into a stable; the incarnation. Jesus, the Word, becoming flesh was the greatest miracle of all. Listen in to hear about this great truth.
Jesus' birth happened when and where it was supposed to. God had ordained eons ago that Christ would be born in Bethlehem and just the right time. And at just the right time, God sent John as the forerunner of Christ to herald the Messiah.
How badly do you want to follow Christ? Jesus Himself said that if we don't hate our family, we couldn't be His disciple. Rather than try to explain away His words, this sermon takes a serious look at what Jesus said and meant for His original hearers and for us today.
If we are not careful, the world will squeeze us into its mold. We as Christians will start to act and think like non-Christians. To combat that, we need to renew our minds, which leads to a transformation in the way we act, talk, and think. Listen in to hear more about renewing our minds.
God has done so much for us, and yet we often hesitate to give ourselves in service to Him. In today's text, Paul urges us to do just that - present our bodies as a living sacrifice.
This is the conclusion of last week's text. David gives us three more ways to live right in a wrong world.
Many times, this is a "wrong world". The wicked prosper, but the righteous do not. In the 37th psalm, David counsels us on how to live right in a wrong world.
The average American spends around 90,000 hours at work over the course of their working lives. Since work is such a huge part of our lives, it would behoove us to know what God's plan for work is. Thankfully, Paul lays out some very clear principles in the passage before us. Have a listen!
We need to consider the work of God - both during the days of prosperity and adversity. He is involved in both. During the good days, we should be happy and recognize that they came from Him. In the bad days, we should consider that God has caused or at least allowed them for a purpose in our lives. Listen in to hear what Solomon says about the work of God.
There is always a tendency to idealize the past. We must fight that temptation and live in the here and now. Otherwise, we miss what God is doing in our lives today. Listen in to hear why living in the past is unwise.
In all of life, and especially during times of trial, we are often tempted to be slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to anger. This is precisely the opposite of what James says we are to be. Listen in if you too are warring with anger.
God is constant. He is steady. He is never changing...and thankfully so! If He weren't, we would have no stability or security in this life. Today's text presents a picture of God Who is always the same.
