Sermons About Bible-church
Facing Temptation with God on Your Side (Luke 4, Psalm 119)
Life is filled with all sorts of landscape. An all terrain faith is equally balanced for the breathtaking view from the mountaintop and the confusing trek though a cold, dark valley. It provides adequate support for walking in rough, rocky stretches and stability for the slippery spots. In this exploration of the Psalms, we will see that no matter where you find yourself in life there is an appropriate faith response to your life situation. Are you ready for the hike?
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Who Are You?
John the Baptist was a man born with a supernatural mission and yet he remained incredibly focused on the task God set before him. What can we learn from his remarkable humility and grace in a culture that often rewards self promotion and punishes sacrifice?
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Putting Sloth To Death
Sloth is perhaps one of the seven deadly sins that is most easily overlooked. It can be defined as one who is sluggish or lazy or one who lacks incentive. Sloth, like any sin, can certainly lead to spiritual death if not covered by the blood of Jesus. It therefore must be mortified in our lives. The book of Proverbs gives us seven characteristics of a slothful person as well as seven consequences of being slothful. Finally, the New Testament scriptures (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15) give us guidance on how - through God's grace, sloth can be put to death by way of seven cures.
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Overcoming Opposition
Acts 4:1-31 tells of the outcome of the miracle by Peter and John when they healed the lame beggar. Peter had shortly before delivered his first sermon (at Pentecost) and when the spreading of the news of Jesus's resurrection, and the miracle carried out by Peter and John became known to the Sadducees, the apostles were taken before the Sanhedrin to account for their preaching of the gospel. However, Jesus had equipped His apostles to expect the persecution they faced. This served as the first persecution that the early church experienced. This account demonstrates that a believer can expect to be persecuted when the gospel is boldy shared with others - when we strive to be faithful to share the gospel. But we should rejoice in knowing that the church is the most amazing and invincible organism ever created by God. In fact, the church has grown as a direct result, and in direct proportion to the amount of persecution brought upon it. Indeed, persecution is all part of God's plan for growing the church.
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Putting Greed To Death
Today's culture tends to be obsessed with material and monetrary posessions. This is manifest in a "never enough" attitude in that no matter how much we have, we never seem to have enough. In biblical terms, this is known as greed, which can be defined as having the desire for more or not being satisfied with what you have. In Luke 12:1-12, Jesus uses the Parable of the Rich Fool to teach His disciples the foolishness of greed. This parable teaches us that greed is a very deadly sin and people have lost their souls over greed. Although riches can be a source of sin and evil, riches can be okay as long as we trust in God instead of our wealth. Verses 22-24 teach us the solution to greed: 1) be rich in faith and 2) be rich in good deeds. It follows that we should pursue godliness as our greatest treasure and always keep in mind that we are merely passing through this world. We can also learn to be content with the basic necessities of life and fear the deceptive nature and destructive results of greed. In summary, to overcome greed in your life, become greedy for God!
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A Lame Man Leaps
In Acts 3:1-26 Luke recounts the first miracle ever performed by Peter and John. - the healing of a lame beggar on their way to worship at the temple. This event, which served as the foundation for Peter's second sermon, tiggered the first persecution of the early church. Peter and John saw not a beggar who needed money, but a man who's body needed to be healed and who's soul needed to be saved. This event was fulfillment of prophesy (Isaiah 35:5-6) and therefore signified that the Jews had indeed crucified their Messiah. Like the beggar, we are all born into this world unable to walk because of the disease of sin. But, like the healed beggar, if we confess our sins and repent of them we can be restored by Jesus Christ. For we were all once spiritual beggars, but have been granted the miracle of salvation, which heals us and causes radical change in us. This should serve as a platform to preach the gospel, just as it did for Peter and John.
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Putting Anger To Death
The renewal of the mind in salvation not only brings about renovation of character, but transformation from the old self to the new. This includes one's tendency toward anger. Anger can be either good (righteous) or bad (sinful), depending on motive and purpose. Anger is righteous when it is unselfish and based on love for God and others, but sinful anger is an outward expression of a deeper ailment: pride or lack of faith in God's sovereignty. However, even righteous anger can turn to bitterness and further sin if allowed to continue. Prolonged anger allows Satan a foothold to destroy relationships, and at worst may become hostile. It can even potentially damage the church. The solution to anger is to put away or put off our sinful thoughts and tendencies and put on (replace them with) the thoughts generated through God's word.
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Lord of the Storm
Our faith is tested when we are in the midst of diffculties of the world. But Jesus Christ is Lord over the storm and as such, He ordains the duration and severity of the storms in our lives. The account of Jesus' calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee demonstrates His unlimited power over the natural world. So, when the storms of life get rough, we ought to reflect on the words of Jesus "I have overcome the world". We therefore should put our faith in the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus over all of the circumstances in our lives. Our faith in Him can sustain us through the storms.
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Putting Gluttony To Death
Gluttony is sometimes referred to as the "acceptable sin" - it is perhaps the most accepted sin in the world and in the church. Gluttony can be defined as eating the wrong things at the wrong times for the wrong reasons. God gave us our bodies for His use and His glory, therefore, our passion should be to glorify Him more than satisfying ourselves. Maintaining this perspective can be a powerful remedy for the temptation to gluttony.
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