Sermons on John (Page 2)

Service: Serving One Another

In the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, the author writes, “When we are preoccupied with our own concerns, much of the world is simply invisible to us. Service is rooted in seeing—in seeing others as God does. God cares about productive and nonproductive people, poor people and rich people, educated and non-educated people. God cares about everybody.” God wants us to see people as He sees them. He wants us to have the same mindset as Christ—in humility He put the needs of others before His own. As Foster explained, “More than any other single way, the grace of humility is worked into our lives through the Discipline of service. Humility, as we all know, is one of those virtues that is never gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it the more distant it becomes. To think we have it is evidence that we don’t… Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of humility… a deep change occurs in our spirits” as a result of true service.

God’s Promise of Protection-Part 2

We will be talking about this concept of “abiding” off-and-on throughout this year. This morning, I want us this to consider the implications of Psalm 91 on “abiding” when you look at it through the lens of God’s promises and our steadfast obedience to His Word. Remember what we learned in part one of this short series: God does not promise to keep us from trouble and difficulties in this life—He promises to see us through it! So as we considered His promises to protect us in Psalm 91, do not lose sight of the fact that He is working all things—the good, the bad, and the ugly—together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Effects of an Encounter with God’s Love

One of the effects of not meeting inside our facilities is that underutilized buildings tend to fall into disrepair. This past week, I was walking through the auditorium and actually walked through a cobweb! As I thought about the significance of that, I realized that just like our underutilized facility, the spiritual life of a believer who is not spending time in the Word and in prayer daily has the propensity to become stagnant and corroded. In other words, your daily spiritual walk has an effect on your spiritual well-being. That’s a pretty obvious statement, but one that we don’t seem to remember on a day-to-day basis. As we continue our journey through the second half of the book of First John, I want us to remember that the second half of this book is all about God’s love. I firmly believe that anyone who is encountering God’s love on a regular basis will not emerge unchanged. So this morning, we will be considering the effects of an encounter with the love of God.

The Definitive Measure of Truth

In order to recognize counterfeit currency, you must be completely familiar with the real thing! In our study this morning, we’re going to take a few minutes considering real and counterfeit Christians—apostates and authentic believers. When considering this subject, it is essential that we know and understand who Jesus is and how we can come to know him better, because He is the definitive measure of truth!

What Does It Mean To Live On Mission?

As we reflect on our church mission statement, we see that the last portion of this statement says that we are to “Equip People to Be On Mission.” But what does it mean to be “On Mission”? What will that look like in my personal life? We want to think about what it means to Live On Mission right here, right now, right where you live. My goals for you are to 1) help you overcome any anxiety/fear that you might have about being on mission for God, 2) equip you to serve God according to your giftedness, and 3) enable you to take ownership of your daily—even hourly—walk with Christ, because being On Mission for God requires more than one hour per week!

God’s Plan for Mankind

When we speak of the mission of Christ, our minds most often turn to the end of the Gospel of Matthew or the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles—“The Great Commission.” All four of the gospel accounts provide passages that clearly teach the mission of Christ. Dr. Luke also makes this mission crystal clear in Acts 1:8. In a nutshell, Christ’s mission was to seek and save the lost. But Christ’s mission is not found only in these books—His mission is found throughout Scripture. Our focus for this sermon series will be Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. Today, we will take a moment to explore Paul’s understanding of the mission of Christ and how that His mission should also be our mission!