Brooklyn Tabernacle - Audio Sermons Feed

In the age of social media, we’re always on the defense, ready to pounce on anyone who disagrees with us or attacks us. But Jesus didn’t get defensive—even when He was being led to His death! The Old Testament prophesied that He would be quiet like a lamb during His trial. After all, Jesus is the Lamb of God. We should strive to be gentler and quieter, like lambs, in this harsh world.

When was the last time you bragged on Jesus’s goodness? We have so much to thank Him for! Spiritually healthy Christians are glad—full of songs, even! When we keep our eyes on Jesus and His ability to handle our problems, we are no longer sad or mad. Whether through words or songs, we have plenty of reasons to tell others of His wonderful deeds.

Peter denied Jesus, his friend and Savior, three times. Afterward Jesus looked over at Peter, who then wept deeply. How did Jesus look at him? Was He disappointed? Angry? More likely, Jesus looked as He does at us today—with compassion. Despite our shortcomings, Christ is full of love for us. What a wonderful thought!

There’s nothing worse than doing evil in the name of religion. But it was the high priest who stirred people into condemning Jesus to the cross! All across history we see hatred manifested in the works of religious people. This does not reflect or uplift the name of Jesus—it does the opposite! As Christians, we are called to love even the people who disagree with us.

No one wants to die. But Jesus said that's exactly what needs to happen if we want His life! Just like a seed has to be buried in the ground in order to grow into what it's meant to be, so we too have to die to selfishness and our own ways if we want the life of Jesus. Are you willing? A kernel of wheat has to die to release its germ, providing for hundreds of other wheat stalks to grow. Jesus use...

Have you ever been wrongly accused of something? There are few things more frustrating than injustice. Jesus was falsely convicted. He lived such a pure and sinless life that the Pharisees had to hire people to make up accusations against Him! As Christians, our lives should have no room for hatred or bias. Let’s pray to have good testimonies like Jesus.

To follow Jesus at a distance is to be a lukewarm Christian. God said He would rather we be hot or cold—never lukewarm. If we “tone down” our beliefs to appease others, we add distance to our relationship with Jesus. We must draw closer to Him every day!

Politics are filled with hatred and anger. This is nothing new. Jesus was taken by an organized group of men who hated Him. Though it seems hard to consider, we could be like those men! Are we so caught up in our political devotion that we are against the things of God? We must choose the love of God every single day. By God’s grace, we can display that to an angry world.

Again and again in the Bible and in our own lives, we see God pick up broken pieces and make something amazing. He uses our failures to humble us so that we can showcase His strength and not our own. The moment we realize we fail is when we are most usable to Him. If we've messed up, we haven’t gone too far. God uses failures in beautiful, healing ways if we let Him.

Imagine being asleep when the Son of God wants help! Just like the disciples were physically sleeping when Jesus prayed before His crucifixion, we too can be spiritually asleep when Jesus wants us alert. There are people who need to hear about Him! Let’s be alert, because it’s harvest time!

We are in spiritual warfare every single day. What is our greatest defense? Prayer! Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray so that they wouldn’t fall into temptation. That command applies to us today. The best way to stay strong against attacks from Satan is to get alone with God and pray. Let’s ask God for a spirit of prayer!

Life feels hopeless sometimes. But Jesus made us such a precious promise! We can know immediately that we’ll be with God infinitely. All we have to do is acknowledge Jesus. Recognize that you are a sinner in need of saving, and the only One who can save you is the Lamb of God. Once we accept that gift, we need to tell others about God’s promise! Let’s live in the love of our Holy Father.

Jesus, the Son of God, faced more stress than we could ever comprehend. As the cross loomed before Him, He was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” What would have happened if Jesus had avoided the cross? May we never take for granted the amazing sacrifice made on our behalf. What great love He showed!

We don’t know ourselves that well. We sure think we do—we can think highly of ourselves and judgmentally of others. But when we see how strong and holy God is, we realize how weak and woeful we are. Take a step back today and ask God to reveal Himself—it’s humbling!

We can easily get so caught up in our views of pastors and leaders that we lose sight of Jesus. People will fail us and hurt us. But God never will. Even when we fail or get hurt by people in church, Jesus never changes. Today can be the day we start over in our relationships with Him and restore our faith!

We all have times when we don’t quite feel right spiritually. Even pastors get discouraged and need prayer. What we need is something from heaven. Only those things from God above will fulfill us. Let's pray for a fresh fire in our spirits and trust that the Lord will comfort and anoint us.

If it wasn't for Jesus going to the cross, where would we be? When we think of that, it gives our hearts a song! God gave us the gift of music so our souls could express our praise in a fitting way. Even if we don’t have fantastic voices, let’s sing and worship the Lord today.

During the sacred act of communion, we do not literally partake in the flesh and blood of Jesus. Communion is symbolic. It's important, though, because it reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice. Because of what He gave, we are free and forgiven! God does not remember our sins!

Drifting away from God is so easy yet so dangerous. How do we know when we’re drifting? When we neglect the Word of God, lose our dependance on the Lord, and cease communion, we drift! If we’re too busy for God, then we are too busy. He should always be our first priority. By the grace of God, let’s be intentional about not drifting spiritually.

Why was Jesus betrayed by someone close to Him? Jesus knew that Judas would be the one to betray Him. Yet He chose Judas anyway. This exchange reveals to us how each of us is totally responsible for our own actions. God knows everything and set everything in motion—but He gave us free will. Let’s use that to serve and follow Him today rather than go our own way.

In one biblical account, Jesus told His disciples the where, when, and who of what was about to happen. How could He have known all that beforehand? Because He was God in the flesh. God knows every detail of our lives. When we keep this in mind, it becomes easier to rest in His knowledge and be led by the Spirit, wherever that may take us.

Swimmers at the beach must always be wary of the undertow. If they don’t stay close to the shore and pay attention to where they are, they can get swept away! The same is true for our daily spiritual lives. If we don’t stay close to Jesus, we can be pulled away into the world. As long as we draw near to God, nothing can snatch us from Him. Let’s stay close to Jesus every day.

How often do we hear that “everything happens for a reason”? Well, according to Scripture, that’s true! God has this wonderful way of taking things that are negative in our lives and working them out. No matter how much we think we’ve missed the mark or failed God, His grace is more. The love of God is unchanging. May we never forget that He works all things for good.

The Bible doesn't tell us to be busybodies. Unless someone is asking for guidance, we should mind our own business and do what we can for the Lord. God isn’t calling us to climb the Andes Mountains or monitor the actions of everyone in the church. All He's asking us to do is what we can.

To really serve the Lord the right way, we have to not care about ourselves. We must be totally taken up with Jesus. We can certainly learn a lot from those believers who were willing to die for their faith. May we be like them and like Paul and say, “If I live, I live to the Lord. If I die, I die for the Lord. Either way, it's Jesus all the way.”