Sermons About Authentic
Authentic Christianity: Into The Future
I know the word "authentic” is in danger of being overused but I like it. Authentic means real or genuine but in today's culture it also implies sincere, not hypocritical. So authentic Christianity suggests a faith that is genuine in the sense that it is the kind of Christianity actually found in Scripture, but also the idea of people that are authentic in that they are sincere and honest.
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A Seal And Sign Of Healing Grace
There is no question that baptism has been an important part of Christian faith from the earliest days of the Christian church. The book of Acts tells us that the Christian church was birthed in a baptism. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured down on the church to empower the Christians for life and ministry. Now we might think, “If the reality of the Holy Spirit has been given why go on baptizing with water? ” What happens then throughout Acts is that whenever someone or some group of people believe in Jesus they are baptized with water because baptism is an outward, visible symbol of an invisible and spiritual reality.
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Strength Training
It is one thing to grow and it is another thing to grow strong. It is one thing for a movement to expand. It is another thing for it to endure. When we look at Acts 14 the issue is not just how the church expanded but how it endured. How it grew strong in a hostile culture. That's important because the principles revealed in these verses are relevant not only to Christian faith as a movement but to each individual in it.
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When Being Good Isn't Good Enough
When the Bible talks about salvation, it means that God Himself comes into your life and connects with you and commits to you and promises you that every little thing is going to be all right and nothing will every separate you from Him. It means he forgets every fault, washes away every stain, tells you he loves you, promises that he is going to put right everything that is out of joint and promises that you are going to enjoy the awesome perfection of his eternal kingdom forever and ever.
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The Hand And Heart Of God
If you believe that God is at work in the world and in our lives it changes the way you look at life and at yourself. It doesn't mean that every difficulty is going to be overcome through a miracle. But it does mean that God is not only real but involved with us, hearing our prayers, and that means that there is hope in every situation and it is the assurance that our lives have meaning because we are part of a larger story.
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The Call For Authentic Servanthood
There is a big difference between the idea of a perfect church and the reality of it, between the idea of authentic servant hood and the reality of it. It’s easy for a church of authentic Christians to become selfish, ingrown and distracted from its purpose, so we need to guard against this problem by integrating Biblical principles into the practice of Christ-like servanthood.
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Unbelief: Its True Nature
One thing we see clearly in Acts is that authentic Christianity is not a plant that only grows and thrives under perfectly favorable conditions. In Acts you have the story of the followers of Jesus, thriving and growing under very adverse circumstances. One thing the church has always had to battle is unbelief. The unbelief the Christians encountered in Acts was not a passive unbelief but an antagonistic unbelief.
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The Mysteries Of Authentic Faith
Authentic Christianity has to learn to live with the mysteries and uncertainties in life. Sometimes in the midst of these mysteries it is hard to see the point. There are two things that the book of Acts seems to make perfectly clear... 1. The ways of God are sometimes mysteriously unpredictable, and 2. Authentic Christianity means rejoicing in God in spite of the mysteries of faith.
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Getting To The Heart Of Hypocrisy
The word hypocrisy actually means "play-acting". We all are vulnerable to this. But what is the sin beneath hypocrisy? The answer is "dishonesty". One of the biggest accusations against Christians is that they are hypocrites. And of course that is correct. We are hypocrites. However, it is seldom pointed out that this is why we are Christians in the first place. We need Christ as our Savior. Without Christ we are all condemned to an inconsistency between word and deed. Christ is the only one who lived a perfect and consistent life.
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Crucial Commitments For Authentic Christians
Many people today have mixed feelings and a lot of questions about the church. How important does the church have to be to a follower of Christ? What are the most important things that the church is supposed to do? How committed should I be to the church? The passage that we've come to in Acts 2 helps us with these questions.
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The Roots Of Authentic Christianity
We need to understand the gift of the Holy Spirit is an important part of the gift of redemption. The gospel is not that you have to save yourself by trying to be good enough to earn God's love. It is not that! It is that God, in love, sent his Son, to pay for our sins through His death on the cross. Jesus promised that if we come to him, admit that we need him and trust in him as our Savior he will redeem us by his grace. He also made it clear that what he gives us when we turn to Him is not only forgiveness but Himself to live in us. When you believe in Him He comes in to guide, empower and change you from within. His resurrection and ascension are the proof that He is alive and he will not only forgive our sins but live in us by His Holy Spirit if we trust in Him.
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Faith that Finishes Strong
Spiritual Growth can be hard to measure. Sometimes, it feels like we aren't making any progress at all. Join us as we explore how taking one step of faith after another eventually leads us toward maturity.
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The Problem with Settling for Less than God's Best
When we leave God out of our days, we try to bear more weight that we can handle. We may begin by making minor compromises, but eventually we are headed for a collapse. Listen as we explore a better plan to design our days with God as a part of our lives.
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The Mysterious Comfort of a God Who Fights Against Us
This sermon unpacks one of the strangest stories of the Bible: Jacob's wrestling with God. Join us as we explore the mystery of confronting the Terrible-Beautiful God. God sometimes comes as an adversary, but broken and sinful people who surrender to Him find new life and blessing. As C. S. Lewis once portrayed Him: "He's good, but not safe."
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What to Do When You Face Mission:Impossible
When life feels like "Mission:Impossible," it's time to call for outside help. With God on our side, we can walk through life's challenges rather than running away from them. In this sermon, we explore Jacob's prayer for God's help as he faced the seemingly impossible reunion with his brother Esau.
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Grace + Truth + Time = Life Change
We all want to change. Oprah wants you to change. Dr. Phil wants you to change. The bookstores offer us 365 Daily Secrets to Change. Your spouse wants you to change. Your kids want you to change. You want to change. We want to change our clothes, our hair, our waistsize, our breath, our love life, our cholesterol, our carpet, our car, and our iPod version. We also want to change our tempers, our greed, our laziness, our giving, our attitudes, our service, our selfishness, our habits, our sanctification, our worship, our faithfulness, our devotion, our love. So, how do you change? The answer: GRACE + TRUTH + TIME = LIFE CHANGE
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Growing through Hardship
Every life has hardship. Some hardships we bring on ourselves. Some are simply a result of life in a fallen world. Some are caused by those around us. How should we respond when hardship comes? We continue our series with this sometimes humorous look the ups and downs in the life of Jacob.
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A Faith that Overcomes Fear
The challenges of life have a way of bringing to the surface our fears, insecurities, concerns, anxieties, uncertainties. What if we didn’t have to live in slavery to our fears? What if our faith could overcome our fears no matter what comes our way? If that kind of faith exists at all, we will find out about it in the Scripture, so let’s continue to learn from the life of Jacob and see if we can find some help.
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Seeing Beyond the Moment
When we face important decisions, we often get fixated on momentary satisfaction or pleasure and miss out on God's best. Looking at the lives of Jacob and Esau, we see that our way often seems best at the time but rarely brings lasting satisfaction. If we are going to thrive in our spiritual journey, we must start by acknowledging that God’s way is better than our way.
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Authentic: Be The Real Deal
Making Straight A's in Life: The current series of messages in the weekly meeting held at the ZOE House in Wildwood, MO.
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InVision: Authentic Community
This is the second sermon in the InVision series which will be about the vision of TCOTA.
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Roots
350 degrees, 4 turns, 16 minutes = medium well steak hot off the barbeque. Give me a nice hunk of beef or chiicken, a good barbeque, the right spices and I am laughing. I know how to barbeque. I know what to expect when the conditions are right and I know the quality of food that is produced - delicious. For fear that I am setting myself up for failure the next time you are over for a bite to eat, work with me on this illustration. Rick Warren in his book "Purpose Driven Life" says "God is not just the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God's word, not the world's wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation or inspirational stories." To me, that statement describes perfectly, Transformissional Living. Being established on a foundation that gives you the confidence to live the life God has called you to. Authentic, passionate and fun. It should be a life that comes as naturally as what you know you can do well, like cooking steaks. Key Passage: Colossians 1:9b-10
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Rooftop
Jesus shows Himself on the rooftop of our lives. Beyond Us community grows in the hearts of people who want to get their friend to Jesus, no matter what the cost.
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Authentic Worship
What is authentic worship? Is it a solemn, quiet reflection? Is it loud, exuberant dancing? Is it a certain kind of song, prayer, sound, etc? In this passage, we see Peter and John come to gather with the church for one reason: to seek God together. Authentic worship happens when the church is pursues Jesus together in all of life.
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Called To Be An Authentic Christian
Jesus did not come to change our circumstances...He came to change us. When our circumstances are not to our liking, how do we react? Are we authentic in our Christianity or do we forget on Monday what we professed on Sunday?
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