Sermons About Justice
Praying With The Psalmists: A Study in the Psalms, Psalm 25
Trust is a hard thing for sinful humanity! But it is the thing that we are called to do, and the thing that will renew our souls. This Psalm (like much of the wisdom literature in the bible) contrasts those who are wicked with those who are righteous. The contrast has little to do with the individual’s character and much to do with whom the individual puts his/hers trust. As one commentator writes, “The essence of the road to righteousness is this; it is a road too difficult to walk without the companionship and friendship of God.â€
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Unfamiliar Passions of God
Gary Haugen, founder and president of International Justice Mission, shares his heart regarding injustice around the world. He gives practical ways that we as the body of Christ can be the answer to that injustice.
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Justice and Eternal Punishment
Even though messages about Hell are often labelled 'offensive' or 'antiquated' or 'irrelevent', God's word is clear about the reality that those without the righteousness of Christ will eternally experience God's justice because of their condition of rebellion against God.
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Justice is Served
Guest preacher, Zach Bayer, shares from Micah 6:8 about Justice, shalom, and weaving the fabric back together.
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Engage in Transformational Missions
In his epistle, James reminds us that obeying the commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself" demands more than simply offering a blessing - faith and action must go hand in hand.
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Love, Mercy, Justice Part 9 - a message on giving
One of the lessons that should be learned from the economic crisis of 2008 is that the line between those in financial need and those that are not is pretty blurry. As home after home are foreclosed on, it is time to be honest with ourselves. Just because a person can afford to live in $300,000 home, does not mean that they are either doing well financially or that they have made good financial decisions. In fact, the person living in a $500 a month apartment struggling to make ends meet might actually be better off financially than many in upscale suburban neighborhoods. The main difference is that the folks in the nice communities get to walk the fine line of financial ruin in nicer accommodations. Unfortunately, it is easy to dismiss folks who file for bankruptcy or are mired in credit card debt because the temptation is to think they are just getting what they deserved. The thought, "If they had made smart decisions with their money, they wouldn't be in this mess," is easy to think. There is a sense of justice in many people's thoughts and speech that says, "Well, that's what you get if you aren't smart with your money." Now, our temptation if we are no where close to losing our house and if we don't have any credit card debt (or if we are even some where in between) is to look down on folks who make poor financial decisions. And I would say if that is the case, we need to be very careful of falling into the sin of self-righteousness. Yes, we need to obey and be fiscally responsible, but God always judges us on the heart behind our obedience. So, even though we are doing fine financially, we need to ask the question, "What is the heart motive?" Are you financially conservative and responsible because you want to be generous towards God and His kingdom or is financial conservatism just the smartest way to live the lifestyle that you want to live and the added bonus is getting to feel spiritually AND financially superior?
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The Great Day of Justice
One day, God's justice will be poured out fully and finally. One that day, all will stand before the judgement seat of Christ, even those covered by His righteousness.
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The IT Factor That Impresses God and Guards Your Rear
The IT Factor That Impresses God and Guards Your Rear Scripture: Isaiah 58; Matthew 25 When we meet, is it present? How can we tell? Do first time attenders experience it ? Can it be programmed into our gatherings? Where can I buy it ? If it doesn’t show …well, why not? WHAT is it anyhow? If any of you see a brother or sister in need and you have material possessions to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. (1John 3:17) Message Bible George Barna’s research poll: 1. Only 14 % of Bible-believing Christians believe that poverty is an issue that the church should address. The complexity of ministering to the poor in today’s culture 1. Who are the poor? 2. Who are the “shake down†artists? (John 6:26) 3. Who are the lazy and irresponsible? (2 Th. 3:10-12) 4. Who will use you and disrespect you? (Matthew 7:6) 5. Who are the ones trapped in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness? Four actions that impress God (Isaiah 58:7, 8) 1. Share your food with the hungry 2. Provide shelter for the poor 3. Supply clothing for those who need it 4. Don’t turn away from helping your relatives You do these and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard! God rewards and indicts the global Church on the basis of its actions to the poor. (Matthew 25:31-46) Reward- “Come you blessed of My Father inherit the kingdom†Indictment- “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire... The sins of omission are the most serious with the outcome of eternal punishment Observations: We will encounter Jesus in the final judgment and one of the determining factors will be our actions toward the poor. Both sides seem unaware of the impact of their behavior Christ identifies with the poor so completely that these deeds of love done to “the least of these†are the same as if done to Him.
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Returning Grace for Evil
We find it relatively easy to be kind and gracious to people who are kind and gracious to us. Jesus is unimpressed by that and said that anyone can do that. He calls us to a tremendously more difficult task: to love our enemies, the very people who have harmed us in the past or threaten to do so in the future. This is so difficult to do because we want justice for those that have hurt us and we want to strike out and weaken those who threaten us to prevent them from hurting us. The reason that Jesus calls us to love our enemies is because He loves His enemies, including you and me and our enemies, and He shows grace and mercy to us who oppose Him. The mission of God’s people in this age is to spread the Gospel of God’s Grace by word and deed throughout the whole earth, and since we have received such amazing undeserved love from God, we should show it towards our enemies as well, because Jesus cares about them like He cares about us.
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Guilt and Grace
Because the perfect justice of God and the perfect grace of God met at the cross of Jesus Christ, we can be declared innocent before God; made right with God and reconciled to Him.
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