Revealing Christ

The Poor you have with you always.  26,500 children every day by poverty related deaths.  Doesn't Jesus care?  Stewardship.  1 John 3:17 "whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

Many people have had prayers met by God, but never returned to say 'Thanks'.  They knew Gods mercy but didn't honor him as God.  Millions of people say grace, but far too many prove they never were thankful for it.

Text is Luke 17:1-6  "Lord, Increase our faith!".  What's the context?  Forgiveness.  What were the last 5 parables about?  Repentance and Forgiveness. No wonder they asked for help.  If the Apostles themselves felt need to pray about this, how much more should we!

Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son, Lost Job.   What are the "True Riches"? These parables are not about money.  It's about forgiveness.  Nothing cost more than that. 

"whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and DOES them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock".  These SAYINGS of Mine… What are they? He just spent three chapters telling us, but men don't like what He just said.  They would rather be blind, angry, confused and full of fear, because they refuse to trust His ways.

Text is Genesis 3:18-19.  Why the Thorns?  This New Years Day sermon is dedicated to the remembrance of Thomas Morales, one of our 'bus kids' whose testimony of faith has glorified God even in his passing at the young age of 21 from Brain Cancer.

Luke 2:12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."  Every text of scripture should cause us to examine our own need for salvation.  The fact that Baby Jesus was wrapped in rags says more than most care to ponder. Isaiah 64:6  

Did Jesus want His disciples to actually sell their coat and buy a real sword?  The answer will surprise you when you find out what it was FOR.  Context brings clarity.  Get your bibles out and follow along on this study and be set free from the fear of man!

Christ guides us into relationship with Him, not for the purpose of judging others, but to love Him and love others.  Gods description of a horse in His word is an edifying look at how He is Lord and Provider of what we are to Him as we go through this life.

Ever feel worthless?  There is a beauty that the Good Shepherd gives to us that the world can't appreciate, it's the beauty of a loving relationship with God.  If we are true seekers of Christ then our hearts will long to be near Him AND His people.

The Song of Songs defines true love in a way the world just doesn't get.  If you truly belong to Christ, you are no longer defined by what the world has to say about you.  If you truly love Jesus, the world shouldn't be guessing whether or not your love is true.  This book is a diamond mine of metaphors about Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him.

A revelation in God's Word should lead to a revelation of God's Word, the person of Christ.  A true work of God begins on the inside, not the outside.  The tabernacle for the Ark was just a tent, as are you.  Is our faith pleasing to the One who dwells on the inside?  That's where the kingdom of God is.  Not on your mountains. Not music, not military, not gov, not in your finances, but in the attr...

What is the best way to implement the Kingdom of God?  Is it possible to force it upon a world that rejects it?  We need to recognize the symptoms of kingdom confusion and we need to be able to discern whether or not we display true Christ-like attributes in our own lives.

The most popular sin in the world and in the supposed church is to badmouth people.  God forbid that we spend more time in criticism of someone, than we do in prayer for that person.  God forgive me for my words!

The book of Song of Songs reveals whether or not we have a true love for Christ.  Our Christian walk is a journey of sanctification, and if you are truly His, it will reflect in your passion for Him, His word, and His people.

This completes the series of sermons on the book of Jonah. Most of us use Gods Word fit our judgement of others while ignoring our own need for mercy.  What is the value of a human soul?  Of a child?  Of a ...cow?  The most bizarre ending to any book of the Bible, I am sure!

This is the 4th message in a series of sermons on the book of Jonah. What was the sin of Nineveh? Violence was at the top of the list.  Are we any better?  Is a harsh message of true repentance legitimate for us to preach today?  Are we 'lukewarm' and don't even know it?

This is the 3rd part in a series of sermons on the book of Jonah.  Here we see that true love warns others, even our enemies, of their impending judgement by God.  No one ever had more success in winning souls than Jonah, not before and not even to this day has anyone ever won an entire city of 120,000.  How did he do it?  He had help from the most unlikely source!

This is the second part in a series of sermons on the book of Jonah.  The words of Jonah echo the words of the Psalmist and the words of Christ.  The darkness that Christ went through on the cross can be more clearly understood by studying Jonah.   "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the...

Of all the prophets Jesus could compare Himself to, why did He choose Jonah?  I can assure you that the story of Jonah was just as unbelievable then as it is now.  How is it possible that a disobedient Prophet could be similar to Christ?  This is the first part in a series of sermons from the book of Jonah that reveals the heart of Christ in many ways.  

Can you buy Jesus?  Mark 10. Did Jesus buy you?  Matthew 13. The plank in our own eye is blocking us from seeing the Kingdom of Christ.  Matthew 7.  We will never succeed in Christ's Kingdom using our own carnal means.  

Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; AS I have loved you".  What's new about that? Can you be a follower of Jesus and not actually 'follow' Him. Does He really expect us to 'obey' His 'commandments'?

The only thing man can do that pleases God is reflect the attributes of Christ.  It seems that we have forgotten what His attributes are.  When Jesus said "You should do as I have done..." what had He just done?  Something you most likely won't.

So often we miss the whole point.  It's not about collecting 'blessings'. Don't mistake God's silence as a sign of His approval on our bad behavior.  The purpose of God isn't to give us land and goats- but to make us more like Christ. It's only the attributes of Christ that impress God, nothing else.

We must be constantly vigilant to set our worldly kingdom desires aside and be willing to submit our will to Christs will.