Good Morning My Beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!
We would to welcome our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world, we are so glad to have you with us today.
So many Christians are confused about what their purpose really is. Some believe its to get married, buy a house and raise a family. Others believe that it is their job or career. Many find their value in their ability to acquire many possessions and wealth. For some, theirs is measured by how their kids turn out. While, all of
those may be good things, and they can certainly find place in God’s purpose for your
life, they are however, not the purpose for your being here. They are not what
God wants to accomplish in and through you. If your job was your purpose on earth,
what happens if you lose your job either through getting fired, retirement, or through some accident which prevents you from doing your
job anymore? If the accumulation of possessions is your purpose in life,
what happens when a flood comes along and washes all of your
possessions away?
If raising children is your purpose in life, what happens when they
don’t turn out the way that you planned, or what happens when you can’t
bear children, or what happens when you lose a child?
Beloved, not one of those are
your purpose in being here. If your purpose for existence is built on
anything that you can lose, then you are on very dangerous ground. As
soon as you lose that one thing that is most significant for the meaning
in your life, you might as well just give up on life and end it all. Unfortunately, that is exactly what a lot of people do.
God’s Word tells us of at
least three parts to God’s purpose for us while we are here. And none of
these are things that you can lose. They are salvation, growth and glory to God.
Salvation: "God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.."
Growth: "desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby."
Glory of God: "…whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
If you will recall our last message, Paul was praying for "knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding." What is that about? For example, there are a lot of activities and organizations that I
could become involved with. However, I need discernment to see which things would most aid in my growth as a Christian and
my ability to bring glory to God. I need the ability to discern the
will of God through His Word and through the leading of His Spirit. It
is possible – in fact, I believe that it happens all the time – that
people who have met that first portion of God’s purpose for their lives,
salvation, get so busy with stuff in their lives and include so many
activities in their lives that they no longer have room for God’s best
for them. They don’t have room for those things that will help them to
grow, and they don’t have time to do the things or develop the skills
that will most bring glory to God. So pray for people that they will
know the purpose of God for their lives.
We were created to bring glory to God. I'm not sure that the modern church understands that. I'm not sure they "get it." In this generation of "me first" culture, church has been transformed into a what can God do for me theology. We want to worship God "our way." What make "me" feel better at the end of the service. I strongly believe that the church has been going through the motions. Playing church.
What is happening to the church?
Why do we even worship Jesus? We worship Jesus because He rescued us from the slavery of sin.
I am genuinely concerned that in today's churches, we no longer believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world. It seems that we believe that Jesus is a means to an end. We believe that Jesus is there to make us better husbands and better fathers. We believe that Jesus is there to make us better wives and better mothers. We believe that Jesus is there to make us better businessmen. We believe that Jesus is there to make us more respected in our community. In fact, we believe that Jesus is there for many things. But we have forgotten the reason for Jesus coming to this earth? Have we lost sight of the reality that He came to seek and save that which was lost.
Let us bow our heads.
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus to earth. Thank You, for delivering us, for rescuing us from darkness and all that that entails. Thank You for the Word You have for us today, awaken us through Your Holy Spirit, remind us of the things we may have forgotten, grant us wisdom and knowledge to understand that which we had ought to know. Help us to worship afresh, to see the truth in a whole new way. Fuel the roaring flames of passion that may have become dimly light embers, stoked by the world, that we would again hunger for Your Word. Lord, create in us a renewed desire to reach those who are yet lost.
In Jesus' name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: Make Me Over!
There are many people today, who have bought into the modern philosophy that man is basically good. Obviously, those
people do not have any children. It wasn't long after my first child, that I learned that we are all sinners.
My second child quickly taught me that some are much bigger sinners than others. And my third child just confirmed all of the above. My forth child however, taught me there a variety of ways in which we sin. That not all sin looks alike, yet it is no less, sin. And I'll just stop there! The point here is, we are all born in sin and
shaped in iniquity. Yet in our imperfection, God loves us so much, that sent His to die in our place, for those of us who will receive Him.
I love the way Paul says it in II Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"
And in I Corinthians 1:4, he says "I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus", this is the overall attitude in which Paul writes his epistles.
As Christians, we are not only to be thankful for our own salvation, but giving thanks for the salvation of others and His work in and through them.
Open with me your Bibles to the first chapter of Colossians, as we continue our study of the rich letter to the Colossians, today we'll be look at verses 13 and 14. I invite you to follow along with me as I read.
"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
I just love that Paul begins by showing the guilt of man. Let's be honest, as Christians today, we don’t like
that, do we? We don’t like to be told, much less shown, that we are sinners. So here, Paul starts with
guilt. Let's look at verse 13. "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son." That’s where we were, in darkness. "And transferred us into the
kingdom of His beloved Son." That’s where we were not. And in verse 14, he says "In whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." We had to be redeemed, we had to be
forgiven from our sins. Why? Because we are sinners! Guilty before
God.
The word "rescued" or "rhuomai," in the Greek, means "to come in and take out by force." It’s like
an action hero, who comes onto the scene, kicks the
door down and walks in, snatches us up, and drags us off, just before the villain kills us. I can’t do that on my own. Neither can you.
You see, we need Jesus, to come in and save the day, or in this case, save our souls. Many years ago, I used to use the illustration that salvation was like someone drowning in the ocean, someone coming along and throwing him a life preserver. Then, one day, God revealed to me, through the Holy Spirit, that that illustration doesn't really apply. He reminded me of Ephesians 2:1-2, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."
Dead men don’t grab life preservers. I did not help God save me. I was
lost and dead in my sins. He called out to me, and I answered. I was guilty before a holy God, a holy and
just God who must punish sin. God has to deal with sin. How does He do
that? "The wages of sin is death." When we die in our sins, we die
eternally separated from God.
Beloved, without Christ, we are in terrible position and until we
come to terms with that and realize that we are unworthy, we do not understand the significance of Christ as Savior
of the world. Jesus did not come to make me better; He came to transform
my life. He gave me a spiritual makeover.
People come to church, all dressed up in their Sunday best. To tell you the truth, I've been to some churches, that are more like a fashion show than a worship service. Now, that doesn't mean God doesn't want us to look our best, but Christians don’t need to be better dressed sinners.
It reminds me of my sons when I'd tell them to change their clothes, to wear something nice, we have to go somewhere. They would come inside from playing, all sweaty and dirty, put on the nice clothes, with their dirty sneakers and proudly exclaim, "We're ready!" I quickly realized that it was my own fault, I apparently had forgotten to mention that they needed to bathe first!
It kind of the same when we come to Christ, we must first be cleansed by the blood of the Savior. We can cover our sinful selves up with a neatly pressed clothes, but underneath it all, we nothing more than filthy sinners.
Church for many today, has become an elite social club. We need to learn how become better
people. We need to learn how to be better Christians. God does not just want
to make us better; He wants to make us new. We do not understand that
Jesus is Savior until we truly understand our guilt. All men are guilty
before God and all men need salvation.
Baptism shows that we have died in our sin, but we are made alive, born again in the Spirit, a new creation through Jesus Christ.
We can’t understand the significance of our sin until we have looked at it in comparison to the glory of Jesus Christ. I have seen some Christians, who act like Jesus died on the cross, just because He had nothing better to do.
In Closing....
If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I would like to encourage you do so today. He will make you over! He will transform your life! And He will give you eternal life.
If you already have a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ, forget who Jesus is. Don’t forget what He done for you! And don't take Jesus for granted.
Jesus Christ is the Savior. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords; and when we see Him we will automatically fall to our knees and worship before Him. The Bible says that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Thanks be to God, for His indescribable gift!
May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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