Brooklyn Tabernacle - Audio Sermons Feed

Nobody thinks that five cents is greater than five hundred dollars—except God! To Him, what matters most is the sacrifice and honor. Anything we do for the Lord that costs us something is honorable and pleasing to Him. Jesus sacrificed His life for us—surely we can give to Him our tithes and offerings, knowing all the while that He blesses those who trust in Him.

The Lord loves a cheerful giver. But fewer than 5 percent of Christians tithe! The love of money is the root of all kinds of problems. We can’t take money with us to heaven. We should give with joyful hearts, letting others see our love for and trust in God.

One look on social media shows us the lives of millionaires, the latest trends—even the next big evangelical product. The problem is, it’s all fake! Jesus tells us to watch out for hypocrites and legalists. If we claim to be believers, then we must be sincere and keep our eyes on Jesus alone. Let’s block out worldly distractions and just be real.

As Christians, we are called to love everyone. But that's not always so easy! We can put on appearances at church, but when we pray in secret to God, sometimes we tell Him how people rub us the wrong way instead of praying with gratefulness for them. Even in our private prayers, we are to love others—especially our church family.

Whether it’s for a new job, a good diagnosis, or a wayward family member to turn to God, we are all waiting for something. But Jesus Himself is waiting for God to right all the wickedness in the world! And God's going to be right on time. Periods of waiting can be so discouraging, but we can rest in our Father’s goodness while we wait.

The greatest commandment given to Christians is to love God and others. But many of us are guilty of being unloving when someone holds a different belief than we do. People interpret the Bible differently—but differing opinions shouldn't be used as fuel in a hateful fire. We ought to be imitators of God today and love one another.

We love because God first loved us. How amazing! Jesus said that the greatest commandment in the whole Bible is to love the Lord God with everything in us. Then, because of that immense love we have from God, we are called to love our neighbors. Sometimes it’s hard to love others. But we must remember Jesus’ command. It gets easier when we focus on God’s love for us.

Jesus didn’t say that God is the Lord of the dead—He is the God of the living! This is encouraging. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Heaven is a place full of life! When we keep this in mind, we can shift our focus from physical possessions to heavenly life. We should tell others about our living God so they can have eternal life too!

Which is more important: the Word of God or the power of the Holy Spirit? Neither! One is not higher in importance than the other—we are supposed to know and love both. Some churches focus only on one aspect, Word or power, and that kills their spiritual health. We can’t afford to live that way. Let’s know and love both, in Jesus’ name.

Why do we carry loads that God never intended us to carry? We shouldn't worry about anything. Instead, as the apostle Paul wrote, we must pray about everything. When we instill a routine of praying in a place where we are totally alone with God, the Lord meets us there. He takes our burdens. He turns around our situations. Let’s cultivate a private prayer life.

Tax season is approaching! Most of us don’t like paying the government. It was the same in Bible times. Even then, people avoided—and even cheated on!—taxes. Jesus called out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who weren’t honest in their giving to the government or to God. We Christians are to do everything as unto the Lord, so we have to be honest in all of our exchanges.  

If we truly care about people, then we need to tell them the truth. That’s easier said than done, right? It’s hard to confront wrong behavior in others. But with God’s grace, we can speak the truth in love and point the people in our lives toward righteousness. Let’s not simply tell others what they want to hear; let’s tell them the good news of Jesus!

Greed and the love of money can hinder us from seeing how desperately we need a Savior. Life is too precious to be wasted on greed and too short to not trust in Jesus for salvation—it is a vapor. Those of us who are saved, we have to share this good news with our loved ones! Let’s set aside our constant desire to gain more worldly possessions and focus rather on the eternal placement of others.

When a monumental building is being constructed, the most significant part is the cornerstone. Builders won’t pick just any old brick for this spot! Just like this important piece of a physical structure, Jesus should be the cornerstone of our lives. Yet He was rejected like a common rock by the religious teachers of His day! Let’s not make that same mistake—let’s give Jesus glory.

Jesus, God’s only Son, was the sacrifice for our sins. The only way for us to spend eternity in heaven with God is through repentance and faith in Him. Yet every day people reject Jesus. Even as saved Christians, we have to be careful not to turn away from our Savior. We need to live for Him every day and point others to salvation

Remember the phrase “Beware a wolf in sheep’s clothing”? Unfortunately, sometimes so-called spiritual leaders are those wolves. We have to hold anything someone says up to the Bible and find out if that person has an ulterior motive to his or her teaching. May we always be sincere in our sharing of Scripture and wary of false teachers.

When someone goes fishing and catches nothing, he probably won’t revisit the same spot soon. But when the disciples spent hours in the sea without a single bite and Jesus told them to go back into the deep—they caught so much that their boats started to sink! If Jesus says to go deeper, then we must obey. None of us has reached the depths God wants us to be at in our relationships with Him. Let’s...

Instead of meditating on the Bible, many times we try to work up our own faith. It becomes a game of mental positivism—a denial of reality. But there's a gift of real faith that comes from God. Rather than rushing in and trying to believe in ourselves for things, we should spend more time in God’s Word. Faith comes from hearing the Word!

We are called to be the body of Christ—that’s what church means. The church is so much more than just a building. We are members of it in the same way a finger is a member of a body. We must act like we’re part of the same body—the body of Christ—by loving, supporting, and encouraging one another. If you need to feel loved and included today, you can find that in your church body.

Sometimes it’s hard not to be jealous when we see others receiving blessings. But we have to remember that envy destroys others. In fact, the envy of the religious leaders in Jesus' day was the human catalyst for getting Jesus on the cross! Let’s pray that God delivers us from jealousy and envy. May He help us to rejoice in others’ blessings.

Churches should be houses of prayer. Pause and think about that. How much time do our church services give to praying? While there’s nothing wrong with focusing on a theme, the real vision of the church should be talking with and calling out to the Lord in prayer. We need to remember what the church is called to do today.

Most of us have seen or heard about churches and preachers scamming people. What a shame! Jesus literally overturned tables in the temple because He saw people overcharging those who were there to give glory to the Lord. God wants His house to be a place of worship and offering. May we never be a part of taking advantage of others.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people called out "Hosanna!" They were drawing attention to Him. But the Lord was entering their city on a lowly colt. Jesus never showed off or tried to impress; instead, He was humble and meek. Let’s be humble like Jesus today and cry “Hosanna” to His name.

What do you have that the Lord can use? Perhaps you have a talent, a pay increase, or some spare time in your day-to-day life that you can give to God. The greatest joy in life is to be available to the Lord and see Him use us in some way for His honor and glory. It’s not about us, it’s about Him.

God has called us out of a narrow, constricting life in Christ into the wide open spacious life of faith and boldness in 2025.