Christian Sermons from Calvary Chapel Greenmeadow, North Kingstown, RI

As a Christian, Hope is more than wishful thinking. It is confident expectation and its strength is in His faithfulness. If you feel hopeless, you are not in the Word of God, which assures hope of eternal life, dwelling with God, and an inheritance.

If we walk in darkness, we cannot say we have a relationship with the God of light. Thinking we can sin without it affecting our fellowship with God is a lie. But when we walk in the light, we see God. If we are honest about out sin, He will purify us.

We should know the nature of the God we worship. Of His many attribute is light. His light is good and true and holy and might even give us a "son tan." Having a living, breathing, loving relationship with God includes studying who He is.

Koinonia means fellowship, but not just fellowship with each other; it is communion with heaven. Jesus came to make fellowship with God possible. We can now share our lives with Him. How would you rate your fellowship with God? Casual or close?

In First John, we see that the church then faced many of the same problems as the church today. Unlike John, we have not walked physically with Jesus, but we have the same Holy Spirit to help us understand His Holy Word. This is the basis of fellowship.

The first mistake Peter made was to turn away from Jesus to see who was following behind him. We need to just focus on God and do what He calls us to do and let others follow their own calling. God uses very different types of people for His glory.

Do you love Jesus more than all other things? Are you being fed by the word and feeding others by it? Jesus wants to be active in our lives and He calls us to be eager to serve Him. There is a cost to following Him and we must be prepared to pay it.

When we recognize that Jesus is the one speaking to us, we need to jump in and take action, as Peter did. Knowing that Jesus has gone before us and will take care of us makes that jump easier. Meeting with Him in fellowship is what true life is about.

To be true followers we need to listen to His voice, seek His guidance in the choices we make, wait for His direction, and obey His commands. It is not by our power or might that we accomplish anything. We want Jesus to show us the way.

At least thirty-five miracles are recorded in the gospels, but here we learn that there were many more. Jesus didn't stop then and He is still working today. These are written that we may look to Jesus as the object of our faith and believe in Him.

Do not miss out on fellowship and the teaching of the Word by not showing up. Those who isolate themselves cannot hear correction and those with hard hearts will stubbornly refuse to believe. You must believe with your heart that Jesus is YOUR Lord.

We find peace in His word, in His presence and by gathering with believers. We are to share this peace and the story of how we obtained it with others. Without the forgiveness of sin, the lost cannot experience Christ's peace, so bring Jesus to them.

Perhaps the first words Christ spoke after His resurrection were, "why are you crying?" Mary was brokenhearted, but she had an encounter with Jesus and she talked about it. Can we tell anyone that Jesus is alive and working in our lives?

Are you a true disciple of Jesus, do you spend time with Him, and do you really know Him? If so, would you ever deny it for fear of not fitting-in? He will restore us, but we may weep bitterly. True followers of Christ cannot hide; we will stand out.

Is truth relative, or is it absolute? Does it matter? Where does truth come from? Truth comes from the nature of God himself, is unchanging and important. We are sanctified by His Word, which is truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Jesus.

Jesus is King over all, but is He the King of your life? Proclaiming to be the King of Kings was the reason for His crucifixion. What then shall we do with Jesus? Praise Him, for we used to dwell in darkness, but He has led us into His kingdom of light!

Temptation is a universal human experience but God is not even remotely responsible for it. Sin begins with a feeling of desire, followed by rationalization (deception), a plan to make it happen (design), and disobedience. Don't blame God for your sin.

Trials bring out information. The trial of Jesus revealed that He claimed to be the messiah. He was found guilty of making the claims, but no evidence showed that He lied. He was sentenced for Blasphemy, but He was guilt of telling the truth.

Did they bind Jesus? Could they? Jesus was bound by His love for us and that is why He was bound. We need to remember that He is the Great I Am and that He has all power and authority and He willingly gave His life for us. Therefor, we follow Him.

When faced with a heavy heart, Jesus isolated himself and prayed; yet He still had a small group of friends to share His burdens with. We too need a few good believing friends and prayer. It may not change our situation, but it will change our hearts.

If Christ was not raised, we would still be dead in our sins. Thankfully, we have eyewitness accounts of the empty tomb and many prophecies that predicted it. He was raised for our justification. A dead savior cannot save, but we have a living Savior.

The fall of man led to the cross, and the very thorns it brought, scarred the head of the savior. While the Romans struck His face, we kneel before it, thankful that He willingly gave up His spirit, and that although it is Friday, Sunday is coming!

We are here at this time in history for a purpose. Primarily, we are to represent Jesus in this world as His ambassadors. Are you praying for your neighbors and coworkers and looking for opportunities to share the gospel? Be a light to them.

As believers, we are sanctified, set apart by God, but do we experience it in our daily lives? Are we continuously being changed, becoming more set apart? The world around us will make this difficult but by reading His Word, this growth is possible.

As Christians, our unity is in the fact that Christ is central in our lives. He gave us His glory that we can be one. The world will know that Jesus loves us by the unity we demonstrate. Therefore, we must unite around the cross or else be divided.