Grace Baptist Church Sermons
Web Site: Grace Baptist Church
Total Sermons: 44
Find out how to link to Grace Baptist Church's sermons from your website or blog
Helping Others
The church is a group of people who are learning more about Christ together so that they can follow Christ together. In any church, there are people at various stages of their Christian faith. Some know more than others. Others are easily confused. This latter group of people is in great danger because their faith could be easily shaken. Today, in our last teaching from the book of Jude, we see that the more mature believers have a responsibility to the less mature believers to help them avoid the danger of false teaching in the church. The church body has to keep an eye out for those who are struggling in their faith, who are starting to believe false ideas about what it means to be a Christian. Today, we see a call for all believers not only to guard themselves, but also to watch out for others. Think about your own spiritual growth today, and ask yourself if you are growing closer to God and helping others to grow closer to God as well.
0 Amens
What to Look For - 3
There is no shortage of people who claim to have a word from God. But are they telling the truth? Do they really have a word from God? What are they really like? What will happen to those who claim to have a word from God when they do not? The problem with false teachers is that they usually don’t look like false teachers and they usually don’t sound like false teachers. Instead, they sound good and look good, and win people to their cause. But along with it comes death and destruction by false beliefs. Over the past two weeks, we have already seen that false teachers deny the reality of sin and judgment, reject God’s authority, and follow after bad examples. This morning, in our last teaching on “What to Look For,” we consider the last three characteristics of false teachers as given by Jude. Hopefully, these words from God in the letter of Jude will help to sharpen our discernment so that we can know who to listen to and who to reject in order to protect the church from false teaching.
0 Amens
What to Look For - 1
Games of hiding are among the most popular games known to mankind, from the child’s “Hide-and-Seek” or “What’s Different In These Two Pictures?” to mystery novels or movies where the perpetrator of a crime is hidden until the final moments. People love a good game of “who-dun-it.” But it’s not nearly so fun when it’s dangerous, when there’s a criminal on the loose and you are suppose to be on the watch for him, or when there’s potential health problems and you are not quite sure what to look for. When it comes to leadership in the church, it is past the danger of health problems, and far past the intrigue of murder mysteries. It is spiritually deadly. Because of it’s deadly seriousness, we need to know what to look for in teachers, so that we know who to listen to. Today in our teaching from the book of Jude, we look at the characteristics of false teachers so that we can learn what to look for.
0 Amens
It's Worth Defending
The good news that Jesus died for sin and offers eternal life to all who will believe is the greatest topic of conversation in all the world. It is simple enough for the simplest mind to understand, but it is complex enough that the most intelligent person will never fully understand it. The salvation that we have in Christ is a conversation worth having with anyone anywhere anytime. Unfortunately, there are many who do not share our salvation yet want to corrupt the good news about Jesus. They claim the name of Jesus. They do religious things. But they are enemies of the faith. Today, in our teaching from the book of Jude, we see the beginning of Jude’s description of the enemies of the Christian faith. Jude calls on us as Christians to defend Christianity against its enemies, even when those enemies pretend to be one of us. Because the Christian faith is God’s truth, we must be ready and willing to defend it against attack.
0 Amens
It's Never Too Late
The years of time roll by quickly. It seems like the years that were unending when we were in elementary school are barely noticeable in later life. Before you know it, years have passed by. No doubt we all look back at years and remember things we promised to do, commitments we made, and wonder what happened. We meant to do it. We just never actually did it. It leaves us with regrets. Today we begin the study of the writings of a man who started later in life. But along the way, he learned what was important, and who was important. And now he writes to us to remind us to guard the good news about Jesus—that he lived and died to give us hope. He teaches us to watch out for those who do live to tell others about that hope. There are many things in this world that want to rob us of the joy of our salvation in Christ. Jude warns us to be careful. He reminds us that it’s never too late to start because God is always at work.
0 Amens
Protect Us from Temptation and Evil
We live in a dangerous world. But it is attractive danger. It is danger that doesn’t look like danger. It looks like pleasure and satisfaction, like good times. But the end of it is deadly. What are we talking about? We are talking about the fact that we live in a world of temptation and evil. Yet many people do not recognize the danger that surrounds us. We have gotten used to living in a world of destruction and death. We are used to in our own lives. As a result we rarely think of it as something to pray about. In this last teaching on prayer, we look today at Jesus’ instructions to pray for protection. In a world of danger, our protection comes from God himself who rules over all things, including Satan and evil. In the protection of God, there is nothing that can harm us. If we remove ourselves from the protection of God, there is great danger. Today, we learn about praying for God’s protection from temptation and evil in the world around us.
0 Amens
Forgive Us as We Forgive Others
One of the greatest gifts that God has given to us is the gift of forgiveness. In forgiveness, God releases us from the debt that our sinful actions created. God no longer insists that we pay for our sin. He has instead charged our sins to another—to his son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sin. Forgiveness is an important part of prayer. Through the forgiveness of God, the barriers of sin and self-will that caused us to sin are removed, and we are given freedom and a restored relationship. In addition, by forgiving us, God is teaching us how to live with others who have hurt us. He teaches us to forgive them just like he has forgiven us. Today, in learning to pray from Jesus, we talk about the need for forgiveness and the role that it has in our prayers. Jesus has some strong words about forgiveness. They are as encouraging as they are unsettling. Listen today to learn about praying for forgiveness from God.
0 Amens
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
Jesus teaches us to pray as a sign of our recognition that we are not self-sufficient. The things that we have ultimately come from God as blessings to us to provide for us during our life on this earth. The sooner we realize our dependence on God, the sooner we turn to God in prayer for his provision. When we pray for God to give us our daily bread, we are honoring God as the source of all things and we are trusting his provision as we follow his word.
0 Amens
Your Kingdom Come Your Will Be Done
Everyone wants to be a king, at least in their own lives. This desire to rule ourselves and rule others has been mankind’s biggest problem throughout human history. The landscape of history is littered with would be kings who sacrificed everything—even their lives—for the power that comes with being king. God tells us that he too has a plan for a king. One day, God’s king will come and will destroy all his enemies and carry out a rule of righteous judgment. In this kingdom, there will be no more corruption, politicians, fund raising, or scandals. Jesus, the perfect king, will reign perfectly. As followers of Christ, we should pray for his soon return, that all the world may be brought under his righteous rule in submission to him. Today, in our teaching on prayer, we look at Jesus’ command to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
0 Amens
Hallowed Be Your Name
The name of God is familiar to almost everyone. In fact, it may be one of the most commonly used words in the English language. It has become sort of verbal punctuation mark for everything from surprise to disgust, from joy to anger. Most of the time, people probably do not even think about what they are saying, or what other people are saying. But should the name of God be used so frequently and so lightly? Is God worthy of more than that? Can we use God’s name in one minute to express anger, and the next to ask him for help? Jesus addressed God’s name in his model prayer by saying “Hallowed by your name.” While “hallowed” is a word we do not use much, the idea is certainly one that we understand because it simply means to pray respectfully, understanding the God whose name we are calling on. As we continue our teaching on the subject of prayer from the mouth of Jesus himself, this morning we focus on the name of the Lord, and how the Lord’s name should be used in prayer.
0 Amens