2010-03-13 - To Live is Christ - No One Else Like Him Those with with the greatest impact are not the ones you expect Romans centurion - Matthew 8:5-10 Canaanite woman - Matthew 15:21-28 Timothy struggled with illness and fear made quite an impression on Paul
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2010-03-17 - To Live is Christ - Considered Rubbish Not only did Paul give up his religious past and performance, he gladly counted everything else a loss too He would give up any claim of such things so he could gain justification by grace He considered them rubbish - Philippians 3:8-9 skubala = human waste or dung (KJV) He was saying the same thing as Isaiah - all righteousness acts are like filthy rags - Isaiah 64:6 The good we do is not rubbish but it is if those works are seen as the source and trusted in Our obedience, which is imperfect, does not make us right with God Christ's righteousness saves by faith The message of the cross calls us to sacrifice everything to Christ, who sacrificed everything for us Without his sacrifice, our sacrifice would be worthless to God and to man |
2010-05-04 - The Amazements (part 1) Preached by Richard Dixion on 1997-09-09 The people were amazed by Jesus Mark 1:22, 27
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2010-05-10 - World Hates Jesus (part 2) Ephesians 5:1-13
John 6:60-71
Matthew 10:34-38
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2010-05-19 - Desire's Journey - An Invitation to Desire Christianity is not an invitation to become a moral person or a program to get us into a reforming society Christianity begins with an invitation to desire What does Jesus choose to talk about with the women at the well? All you who are thirsty, come to the waters - Isaiah 55:1-2 No wonder Jesus was feared. He came along and started appealing to desire To the lost - Jesus spoke of finding your way Again and again Jesus took them back to their desires What is it that you want? - Would have fallen on deaf ear if his message was unrelateable |
2010-05-20 - Desire's Journey - Life to the Fullest I have come so you may have life to the full - John 10:10 Not: "I have come to exhaust you with long list of demands" Not only is eternal life duration but quality In him was life and that life was the light of men - John 1:4 People who aren't very good with keeping with a program are very aware of their soul's deep thirst for Jesus' message They tear off roofs The trample each other to get closer to him Have you seen anyone acting like this in order to join a church committee or to hear a sermon about a set of rules to follow? People act like this when it is a matter of life and death When life is at stake, human desire goes into desperation mode Pharisees missed the boat on this one Hearts were hardened by the very law they claimed would bring them life They killed their souls' thirst with duty and knowledge |
2010-08-02 - Desire's Journey - Keeping Heart (part 3) Not all the truths help us descend with the mind into the heart We have dissected God, man, and gospel thousands of times - all facts It is not that these insights aren't true, but knowing facts will not help feel closer to God How do you get to know a person? Through stories We should stop approaching the Bible looking just for tips and techniques We are bombarded by thousands of messages each day, every on of them urgent Must reduce the constant noise - turn off the TV Even the news is a problem because of its artificial importance Every night there is an urgent story (to sell more news) but nothing is |
2010-08-04 - Waking Dead - Arm Yourselves (part 1) What are God's intentions toward me? What is it I've come to believe? Heard that God cares and has some glowing promises given to us in Scripture The glory of God is man fully alive Jesus says he came to give life I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full - John 10:10 Whoever believes in me - streams of living water will flow from within him - John 7:38 Life is all over the scriptures: You have made known to me the path of life - Psalms 16:11 In him was life and that life was the light of men - John 1:4 Come to me to have life - John 5:40 Tell the people the full message of this new life - Acts 5:20 |
2010-08-19 - Waking Dead - Restored The deepest and most wonderful of all mythic truths reveiled in the Beauty and the Beast The transformation: a creature that no one could bear the sight of is transformed into a handsome prince
It is the secret of Christianity You must be born again - John 3:7 Not about keeping laws or rules Counts whether we have really have been changed into new and different people - Galatians 6:15 Is this not the message of the gospel?
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2010-11-16 - Contagious Christian - Making the Message Clear (part I) Before you can bring the message to others, need to make sure we clearly understand we understand the message ourselves Making the message clear will need us to be able to illustrate it for those we talk to God Three aspects of God we need to look at:
God made us without sin but we abused our freedom and became evil Sin requires God to pronounce upon us the death penalty - both physical and spiritual This is separation from God via hell We are helpless to change this Christ God had the power and authority to devise a plan for our salvation Christ died and suffered the death penalty debt for us and
You don't deserve it, we didn't pay for it, we can not earn it He paid a debt He did not owe I owned a debt I could not pay |
2010-11-30 - Mission - Repentance Both Luke 24 and 2 - message of repentance and forgiveness is mentioned in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus The message to Preach 1. Repentance God wants the cross to reveal how disgraceful and disgusting sin is To motivate us to radical and rapid change Is there an example of repentance in the Bible that is not radical and rapid? Repentance is the first and foremost call to change to change our mind (metanoia) Paul preached they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance with their deeds - Acts 26:20 You can only change your action for a period of time without ever really changing your mind Change your mind, you will change your action rapidly and radically Baptism happened rapidly and radically because his heart was ready to change - Acts 8 Would we have have baptized the Ethiopian the same day? What did Philip see? Unmistakable signs of godly sorrow As soon as someone has repented, he is ready for baptism |
2010-12-01 - Mission - Forgiveness The message to Preach 2. Forgiveness of sins Without this, there would be nothing else God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us - Romans 5:8 We first need to clearly teach people why forgiveness is possible Happens only in the name of Jesus It is only because God loves us and not because of anything we have done or will do We must also make it clear that is when one is baptized in the name of Jesus that one is saved - Acts 2:38 As we preach, we must be careful, but not cautious Be sensitive but not sentimental We must preach the cross so powerfully that it cuts No one will ever repent until they are brought to Godly sorrow - 2 Corinthians 7 |
2010-12-02 - Mission - Taking Up the Cross Two questions to ask ourselves: Is the power of the cross producing real changes in my life? Are lost souls being radically converted as I preach? The message of the cross will seem foolish to those we are teaching if they do not see the daily demonstration of its power for us who are being saved Christians described in Romans 6
Our days are composed of countless choices and decisions Each step that Jesus took towards the cross he took willingly It takes 1000s of bricks to build a house, it takes 1000s of righteous choices to build a Christ-like character Our hearts - lost world needs to know how we feel towards our Father Our conversation - we should never get tired of telling our conversation story Our example - Our daily temptations and victories should be only shared |
2010-12-03 - Mission - First the Kingdom No one is ready to follow Jesus who is not ready to put the kingdom of God first above everything else in his life Take away the radicalness of the message and you take away the power of the message Compromise it and you have religion but not the church of Jesus Christ Every kingdom has a king God is the king of kings and the lord of lords - 2 Timothy 6:15 Jesus is known as both Lord and Christ, King and Savior - Acts 2:38 We are the servants, subjects, and even slaves of God - Romans 6:22 The centurion understood this authority - Luke 7:8 You will be given all the things you need when you seek first the kingdom - Matthew 6:33 Can you powerfully proclaim this message to others because it is so clearly your conviction? - Colossians 3:1-2 When making decisions, ask what is best for the kingdom. |
2010-12-10 - Mission - With You Always One of the last things Jesus said to assure his disciples, I am with you always - Matthew 28:20 Same message given to those who were:
Do you want to share because you will asked about it or because He will be with you? If we could truely grasp the significance of Jesus being with you - radically change the face of evangelism We are commanded to preach whether we want to or not - 1 Corinthians 9:17 Jesus reminded Paul that He was with him and that is all Paul needed When we find ourselves timid, we need to remind ourselves who is with us |
2010-12-20 - Worlds Wisdom vs Gods Wisdom (part II) Before we go on: What is the “world’s wisdom”?
Matthew 16:24-26
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2010-12-29 - Baptism into Christ (part I) 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Acts 2:36-41
Romans 6:1-4
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2010-12-31 - Baptism into Christ (part III) Sinner’s Prayer? 1 Peter 3:21
Acts 22:7-16
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2011-09-02 - Fearing God - Requirements for growth (part II) Another way we can grow in our fear of God is reading through the Bible When a new king takes the throne - Deuteronomy 17:18-19
85,000 men killed without a shot fired - 2 Kings 19:35 And learn of his unfailing love and faithfulness Psalms alone contains 25 references to the Lord's unfailing love The NT has the message of mercy from God via Jesus God made him who had no sin, be sin, so we would become righteous before God - 2 Corinthians 5:21 |
2011-09-17 - Proverbs on Purity (part II) #3. Cling to what is Good Proverbs 7:1-5 - God's word will lead us to purity of mind There’s a saying, “Garbage in Garbage out”
#4. Avoid the temptation Proverbs 4:14-15 - Don't take the path of evil people. Don't live the way sinners do. Proverbs 4:25-27 - Don't turn to the right or left. One way to not give in to lust is to avoid it or flee from it. James 4:7 - Resist the devil, and he will flee from you Avoid the places that are tempting to you (wild parties, lustful parts of the city, TV shows)
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2011-12-19 - Day 16 - Saved to Save 1 Peter 2:9-10
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2012-11-07 - Message of the Arrows (part I) There are two things that pierce the human heart: beauty and affliction David describes the enemies ways as arrows - Psalms 91:3-5 We have many arrows that fly in during our life:
What will we do with the Arrows we have known? The message of the Arrows is always the same: Kill your heart How did the Arrows come to you? Deciding not to be affected can not done - the heart can not be managed though a x number step process |
2012-11-14 - Message of the Arrows (part II) Becoming a Christian does not necessarily solve the dilemma of the arrows A continued blindness of the arrows can cause loneliness, emptiness, and longing for something not defined Without God, life becomes a series of happenings and circumstances we are unable to control Instead of a love for God, your life begins to feel like a series of repetitive behaviors - "Believe and Behave Accordingly" Our outer stories become a theater of the should and the inner the story of needs Romance invites trust and the arrows intimidate us into self-reliance The deepest question we ever is related our heart's greatest needs and answers that life us: Who am I? Romance answers someone special and good heart - life will flourish when we give it away Arrows tell us we are a dime a dozen, worthless and dark - arrange for what little we have left Instead of dealing with the Arrows, we silence the longing Which is the truer message? If we hang on to Romance, what do we do with the wounds? If we deny or minimize the wounds, we are deny a part of our heart |
2015-03-22 - Show Compassion Jesus: He sent them out to tell everyone about the kigdom of God and to heal the sick - Luke 9:1-2 He didn't just want them to just show people the good news of salvation but also to tell them about it as well Jesus was the example of the One who struck a perfect balance between good works and effective words He spoke the message that fueled his acts of compassion That same message - people need today to both see and hear! What compassion or help do people around you need the most? What good news do they need to hear? |
2015-04-11 - Are You Reliable? Go to the temple on the next day of fasting and read the messages from the Lord - Jeremiah 36:6 People value dependability:
Baruch earned a reputation for being reliable:
Baruch was completely reliable for his friend Jeremiah and for God How reliable are you? |
2015-04-16 - Godly Enthusiasm It is not by force nor strength but by my Spirit, says the Lord - Zechariah 4:6 Zerubbabel oversaw the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple Over a period of 16 years, the people's enthusiasm for the project waned, leaving it unfinished Zerubbabel felt a deep sense of discouragement over the stalled work Zechariah came with a vital message - Don't depend on your own strength. depend on God and his ability to empower you for the task Zerubbabel's faith was renewed - He had a renewed sense of enthusiasm, united the people, and got back to work No worthy project is about human force or strength, it must be about his mighty Spirit Do you think that you or someone else has the key to success? Do you genuinely believe that God's Spirit holds the key to your success? |
2015-05-11 - Shining Lamp Full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God - Acts 7:55 Nothing prompts change likea man's courage in the face of potential personal loss. Stephen had that kind of courage. Religous leaders hoped persecuting Christians would put a stop to this new religious movement, exactly the opposite happened Stephen willingly died for what he believed in and he contributed greatly to the spread of the gospel message At the scene of Stephen's murder stood a young Pharisee named Saul - the same Saul God miraculously converted Stephen's courage and faith in the face of death apparently made a lasting impression Pauls bold preaching would change the world forever - Acts 22:19-20 Lamps do not talk, but they do shine. Is your lamp shining today? |
2015-05-21 - Opportunities to Speak You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak - 2 Chronicles 12:5 The Bible includes many examples of God sending men to free his people from their sin and rebellion Shemaiah to a message of freedom to his people - All that was required was for them to turn to God It was difficult message for Shemaiah to give such a message to his home country of Judah Shemaiah's willingness to speak God's message made a difference:
When you have the courage to give a difficult message to hear, you can make a difference in your world |
2015-05-24 - Defend Whats Right Listen carefully to these decrees and regulations, obey them so that you may live - Deuteronomy 4:1 Each of us naturally tends to think we have the right to adopt our our set of morals, standards, and spirituality Beleivers in Christ must reject such a belief Moses delivered an uncompromising message of strict obedience of God with no tolerance for sin He understood the importance of setting righteous standards for the people Moses faithfully walked this (not sinless) despite being labeled as:
Do you have the courage to risk anger, resentment, oppositon, or insults to follow God? God does not ask for perfection but a spirit-empowered obedience |
2015-05-29 - Opportunity Knocks Jesus sat wearily beside the well; soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water - John 4:6-7 Jesus understood the importance of making the best use of every opportunity to preach and teach his message He was ready for the opportunity to share his message with the people of Samaria via the woman he jusr meet Jesus' words made a lasting impression on the woman, her neighbors - John 4:39 They were stunned that she meet the Messiah Life will present you with opportunities to serve God through serving others |
2015-06-23 - Procrastination Go away for now; When it is more convenient, I'll call for you again - Acts 24:25 Procrastination is a great enemy of accomplishment It prevents you from being all that God wants you to be Felix had an opportunity to repsond to the message of salvation but he allowed his fears to drive him away from Christ instead of toward him Tragically, the "more convenient" time never came |
2015-06-28 - Making a Lasting Impression King Darius sent a message - everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before thr God of Daniel - Daniel 6:25-26 How you live and how you demonstrate your faith can make a big impression Opponents of Daniel duped Darius into sending the prophet into a den of lions King Dairus wanted to see the power of Daniel's God put on display - that is exactly what happened Daniel came out without a scratch - it was a miracle and Darius praise the name of Daniel's God Our world is filled with men like Darius who see to see God power demonstrated in our lives |
2015-06-30 - Risk Assessment Many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers - Acts 9:13-14 God had geiven Ananias an assignmen that mad him very uncomfortable Saul's sole purpose in coming to Damascus had been to persecute him and the other believers Ananias remined God of the terrible things Saul had done but God did not relent He intended for Saul to take his message of salvation to both Gentiles and Jews - Acts 9:15 Ananias weighed the risks and knew that the benefits of obedience far outwieghted anything he feared Because he obeyed, he was able to play a supporting role in God's plan to spread the gospel throughout the world |
2015-07-30 - Assurance Are you the Messiah we've been expecting? - Matthew 11:3 John the Baptist was courageous man of faith who saw Jesus up close
John sat in a prison cell and began to doubt Jesus' identity Jesus sent back a message of reassurance John did not wallow in doubt, he went to the source to find assurance Where do you turn when you suffer moments of doubt? |
2015-08-09 - Just Like You Whay are you doing this? We are merely human beings - just like you! - Acts 14:15 Paul and his missionary companion Barnabas demonstrated an attitude of humility and tolerance as they faced sin in the city of Lystra When they healed a cripped man, Paul and Barnabas watched in horror as the people began to worship them They did respond to the people in anger or disgust - rather they continued to love these sinners them even though they hated the sin Paul and Barnabas sent a message that they were no better than anyone else - all of them together were sinners saved by God's grace What kind of message are you sending to those around you? |
2015-08-11 - The Spin Amos is hatching a plot against you right - Amos 7:10 In an attempt to quiet Amos and his message, Amaziah accused him of treason against Israel Amzaiah had put his own spin on Amos' words about the death of Jeroboam and Zechariah Some will always attempt to spin the words and actions of godly people and their unpopular message Amos knew he was preaching an unpopular message and Amaziah would go to great lengths to stop him |
2015-08-21 - Credentials I'm not a professional prophet but the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, 'Go and prophesy to my people in Israel' - Amos 7:14-15 Willingness may not impress some personnel managers but it is exactly God looks for in a servant Amos was a humble shepherd who also tended a grove of sycamore-fig trees He had something God values about professional credentials - willingness to follow and obey God gave him a message to preach and he preached it with enthusiasm Most people believe that they need training credentials to minister to others God cares most about your willingness to faithfully serve him |
2015-08-26 - Right Reasons May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God's gift can be bought - Acts 8:20 Intense self-examination is needed to know if we are doing things for the right reasons Simon the Sorcerer had a big problem with inappropriate motivation:
He had some very real power - people called him "the Great One - the Power of God" - Acts 8:10 Simon approached Peter and offered him money in exchange for the power to lay hands on people and give them the Holy Spirit He appeared to want God's power to make a profit Peter scolded him for believing money had anything to do with God power
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2015-09-07 - Breaking Barriers We are akk here waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you - Acts 10:33 People tend to honor those who first do something of note Roman military officer Cornelius broke a few barriers of his own when place his faith in Jesus When Peter visited Cornelius, the apostle explained everything to him and he accepted his words They saw that God intended salvation through Jesus for the Jews and Gentiles - Acts 10:44-45 Jesus' death and resurrection broken down the long standing barrier between God and man and between the Jews and Gentiles |
2015-09-12 - Get Into Action We decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there - Acts 16:10 In Acts 16, Luke's language changed from third person to first person as he took an active part of the ministry We decided to leave for Macedonia at once - Acts 16:11 Luke was not content to just sit back and observe other people's experiences of faith He became an integal part:
Christian growthis throwing yourself into the work of the KIngdom |
2015-09-13 - Alert and Ready Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him - Acts 23:17 Bible counsels us to alert and ready to move when God gives us a message of blessing, teching, or warning Paul's nephew saved his life because he remained alert and ready to act on what he knew Paul was chosen to speak his message of salvation to "the Gentiles and to kings" - Acts 9:!5 As Paul waited in jail for his opportunity to speak to Caesar, his nephew alerted him and his guards of a plot against his life When you remain alert and step out in faith at the opportune time, the Lord can use you to alter the course of history |
2015-09-20 - Feeling Alone I had no idea that they were planning to kill me - Jeremiah 11:18 Jeremiah was alone and the only one living a godly life He had an unpleasant message of God's judgement upon their stubborn unfaithfulness - they did not recieve the message well He grieved for their plans to kill him and maybe more so that no one listened to the message Jeremiah had days he wanted to give up - Jeremiah 20:8-9 Every time he felt that way, he place his eyes on the One who promised to never abandon him - Jeremiah 1:8 |
2015-09-28 - Right Prophets These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak - Jeremiah 14:14 During the prophet Jeremiah's ministry, "prophets of God" contradicted Jeremiah's warning about coming divine judgement. They insisted that everything was all right and God had not really given Jeremiah a message of wrath The people did not want to hear the truth choosing comfort over conviction We have plent of false prophets with comforting thoughts today with some even having good intentions The real question is wheather or not their words match up with God's word |
2015-10-26 - Message Make the Man While I was with you I would forget everything expcet Jesus Christ - 1 Corinthians 2:2 People who encoutered Paul understood what was most important to him: Christ sin-defeating death and grave-defeating life He spent most of his life observing the Jewish laws and traditions but now everything was about Christ Paul made it a point to forget everything else besides Christ:
Paul had more education and experiences more than anyone but chose to focus on one simple message of faith and love Does your life convey the simple message that Jesus loves them? |
2015-11-06 - Thriving Through Adversity Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see tje miraculous signs he did - Acts 8:5-8 Philip was among the first generation believers who fled the city to the other area because of persecution He didn't hide out but preached the gospel wherever he went Philip create a stir in Samaria when people eagerly listened to his message and watched in amazement as people were healed He did not focus on his own preservation but the needs of other people No one enjoys hardship and persecution but we can not let them quash our spirits We serve a God who enables us to thrive even in adversity |
2015-11-13 - First Things First When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai the people feared the Lord- Haggai 1:12 Setting priorities is a key to doing anything well Haggai believed strongly in setting the right priorities and enourging others to do the same The people of Jerusalem had a problem with priorities They had settled nicely into their homes with the Temple was left unfinished after 16 years Why are living in luxurious houses while God's house lies in ruins? - Haggai 1:4 The people of Jerusalem hadn't finished the Temple because it wasn't at the top of their to-do list Haggai preached the right message at the right time Their sense of priorities got straighten out and they got busy Do you give to a ministry that God has put on your heart? If not, it is time to rearrange your priorities |
2015-11-28 - More Than Changed They did not believe he had truely become a believer - Acts 9:26 After his conversion, Saul endured skepticism from the early Christians Saul's encounter with Jesus changed the direction of his life but some who hear his message could not believer their ears Wasn't this the same Saul who violently persecuted Christians? Yes and No Saul was transformed - Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person - 2 Corinthians 5:17 In an instant, Saul transformed from a hateful, enemy of Jesus to his most vocal follower |
2015-12-02 - Support I am the one who needs to be baptized by you - Matthew 3:14 The most famous best supporting actor in the New Testament is John the Baptist Men in the Old Testament said he would prepare the way for the Messiah's coming John preached the message of God had given him and welcomes the star of the show, Jesus Christ John repeated had to set the record straight about his own identity He demonstrated further humility when Jesus approached him to be baptized John initally protested that he not Jesus should be baptized but he obeyed Jesus request What if God asked you to play a similar role to a colleage at work or church leader? |
2015-12-30 - Not About Me I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen - 2 Timothy 2:9-10 Paul freely chose to suffer for Christ Despite opponents he faces, pain and suffering, he gladly continued to speak the name of Jesus Was he a masochist? No, he did not enjoy the pain but tried to move on where ever he could - Acts 26:29 Paul enjoyed anything that would help to get the gospel message preached to those who needed to hear it Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution - 2 Timothy 3:12 |
2020-01-20 - Trust - A matter of perpective "Trust in God" can seem easy at times but when trouble hits, justice seems dead and love seems to vanish, many are appalled nature's "heartlessness" and "indifference" Jesus saw these same situations as evidences of God's love, his long-suffering patience, and willing to allow the lost to find him Countless people trusted God only to discover when evil fotune came, that trust was not as strong enough to stand the shock Trust shapes perpective Many things can blot out our trust in God:
Jesus had all of the dark experiences it is possible to have He has a message to commicate that would drive away gloom and woe the world to him Jesus trust was unbroken despite many rejections and even his own men forsaking him His death appeared to be a heart-breaking failure, but rather a victorious outcome for us |