Total Sermons: 201
Total Amens: 1
The Lord is My Shepherd Part 3
King David continues to teach us about how God loves us by using the illustration of a shepherd taking care of his flock of sheep. Shepherds had to prepare fields to remove poisonous plants and they would anoint the sheep with oil to ward of harmful insects. God looks after us in a similar way as He provides for our needs and watches over us. It is amazing to know that the God who rules over the whole universe cares for insignificant creatures like us. We should celebrate this care and then love other people with the same kind of care that God has shown to us.
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The Lord is My Shepherd Part 2
Sheep are powerless to fend off predators so a good shepherd must be skilled in fighting so that he can protect his flock from harm. The Bible teaches us that God is the shepherd of those who believe in Him, so they have the most powerful being in the universe as their protector, and the wisest being in the universe as their guide. This does not mean that God will never lead His children into difficult circumstances or make their life easy and comfortable, but instead it means that when we go through circumstances as dark as death itself that He is right there beside us to protect us and guide us through them, and this should be a source of tremendous comfort and hope in the midst of trying times.
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The Lord is My Shepherd
Sheep are famous for being stupid, helpless, and timid animals. They need a shepherd to lead them to food, water, and rest, to track down the lost sheep, to protect them from predators and give them a sense of safety. The Bible compares us to sheep and it not a compliment. We too can be panicky, wayward, and incapable of taking care of ourselves. The great news is that the almighty God who created the universe cares deeply about each one of us, and if we put our trust in Him He will be our shepherd, providing for our needs, protecting us, and guiding us through even the darkest of circumstances.
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The Lord is My Rock and My Fortress
We like to think of ourselves as self-reliant and capable of protecting ourselves. We arrange our careers, finances, relationships, and technology to this end, but eventually we get to a place where all of the money, status, medicine, and relationships cannot save us and the condition of our life is out of our hands. David wrote Psalm 18 after God brought him through a life and death situation where he was entirely dependent on God’s protection. David called out to God for help and God saved him, so David wrote this song to honor the Lord, his rock and fortress.
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God's Word Creates
Most of the poetry written three thousand years ago is never given a second thought in our day, but the Psalms remain relevant because they were inspired by God and are therefore able to help us understand who God is and how to walk with Him, and the vivid language and rhythmic writing help convey the same timeless truths to us that they brought to their original audience. Psalm 1 is a poetic reminder that God’s Word is a creative force, not a restrictive force, and is given to us to nourish our spiritual growth as we grow closer to God.
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Defining True Worship
Worship is often defined as a type of music sung as a part of church services but this is only a small part of what worship really is. Worship is giving praise, honor, and devotion to something or someone. This makes us all worshipers because we can’t help but give ourselves up and worship something; the only question is what will be the object of our worship. The apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans of all of the mercy and love that God has extended to us through His Son Jesus Christ, and because of this it is fitting for us respond to His mercy in worship, not merely with our singing once a week, but with our whole lives throughout the week as do everything with the goal that God’s greatness would be displayed by the way that we treat people and the decisions that we make.
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Repenting and Following God
After Jonah is spit back up on the beach by the fish God sent to rescue him, God again tells Jonah to go preach to the Ninevites. This time Jonah obeys, and after Jonah proclaims God’s impending judgment all of the Ninevites from the king on down repent of their evil ways and hope for mercy from God. God relents from destroying Nineveh because mercy and compassion are a part of His very nature. Jonah understood this, and his anger at the prospect of the Ninevites avoiding judgment and receiving grace is what led him to run away to Tarshish in the first place. God sent a vine and then a worm and a scorching wind to expose Jonah’s sinful heart and reveal his self-righteousness and how he loves his own comfort more than other people. We are just like Jonah in that we often think we deserve God’s kindness more than other people and we love our own comfort more than our calling to be like Jonah and be ambassador’s of God’s grace to warn people of their impending judgment and urge them to repent and turn to Jesus Christ.
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Running from God as Fast as I Can
God has a plan to bring repentance to the citizens of Nineveh, and has tells the prophet Jonah to go there and warn them that God is going to judge the city soon. Jonah wants nothing to do with God’s plan so he boards a ship headed in the opposite direction to run away. There’s nowhere that you can get away from God and He sends a violent storm against the ship. The sailors throw Jonah overboard to try to quell God’s anger and the storm. God has mercy on Jonah and sends a large fish to swallow Jonah to keep him from drowning, and then miraculously keeps him alive for three days inside the fish. While in the fish Jonah repents of his running from God and gives God glory for saving him. In our own ways we all foolishly run from God and run instead to our own hobbies, addictions, careers, and distractions, and we all need to examine our own lives to see how we run from God and then repent of our sin and turn back to Him.
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Trusting Jesus and Elders During Difficult Times
People often aspire to positions of leadership because it can bring them fame, power, and comfort, and those who seek power for such reasons will often use the people they lead to achieve these goals. The Apostle Peter speaks to the leaders of the churches and reminds them that they are not to act like this but instead they should lovingly care for the people entrusted to their care, leading by example and not by being domineering, shepherding their flock in the example of their Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. The rest of the people in the church should humbly accept the authority of their pastors, knowing that God has appointed their leaders to help guide them and care for them.
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Trusting Jesus During Difficult Times
We spend a lot of time, money and effort to try to make our lives more comfortable and avoid suffering. When suffering does come into our lives we often complain and wonder why God didn’t do something to prevent it. The Apostle Peter wrote to a group of Christians who were undergoing persecution because they followed Jesus and he told them that they shouldn’t be surprised by times of suffering but instead understand that Jesus suffered on our behalf while He was here and we should endure suffering for His sake with the same attitude that He had. We should be willing to share the Gospel with people regardless of how they will treat us afterward, knowing that we are blessed when we are mocked for our faith.
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