Tag Archives: community

God Is With His People

Last Sunday we started in the Book of Nehemiah. To review, Nehemiah and Ezra were considered one book by Israel and by Judaism. Ezra tells the story of the first return of Israel from exile to Jerusalem. Ezra and Zerubbabel led a team to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, and to introduce Israel to the Law of God once more. After Ezra’s team had been in Jerusalem 12 years or so, some of the exiles returned to the winter palace of the Persian King Artaxerxes, and met the Cupbearer (the Butler) of the King named Nehemiah. These exiles told Nehemiah that the walls of Jerusalem were down, and its gates burned with fire.

So Nehemiah prayed.

If you want to be used of God, you cannot be in bondage. The reason God gave us who are Gentiles the Old Testament is to show us that God can only use a liberated people. When Israel was in bondage to Egypt, God raised up Moses to go to Pharaoh, demanding:… Continue reading

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The Communion of Christ

1 Corinthians 10:14-17 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

When we gather to partake of the Lord’s Table, we do so in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The Lord’s Table is a time for us to examine ourselves, to recommit our lives to walking with our Lord.

We Belong To Jesus And Are Dearly Beloved

The Apostle starts out by calling the Church “dearly beloved”. The Lord’s Table is given to the “dearly beloved” of Jesus Christ. The Scripture tells us how deep the love of Jesus is. We read:… Continue reading

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Loving Hands, Loving Lord

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit had not come on the Church at Samaria as of yet. You who are Bible Scholars know that the Holy Spirit comes on every believer at the moment of salvation. Jesus told Nicodemus:

John 3:3-7 … Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

The Holy Spirit gives life to the believer. The Holy Spirit also indwells the believer. The Apostle told Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:13-14 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy {Spirit} which dwelleth in us.

And told the Church at Rome:

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The Holy Spirit baptizes every believer at the moment of new birth. The Apostle wrote in:… Continue reading

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What’s Your Power Source, Part 3

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter four.

I have a workshop outside my home, one that I love to go and tinker in. I love woodworking. I love taking raw wood, and turning it into attractive and useful things. There’s a pleasure in working with your hands and your mind. Anyway, I have three basic types of tools in my shop.

• I have tools that require no external power source, things like chisels, hammers, screwdrivers, hand crank drills, hand saws, etc. These tools are ME powered. It takes MY energy to drive them, and they stop working when I myself get tired.
• I have tools that are battery operated. I love these things, because they have no power cord to get in my way. They run off of lithium batteries, which store a charge for a long time, and are able to deliver a lot of power to my tools. When the battery dies, that is, runs out of charge, it stops quickly. When this happens I have to put in another battery that is charged, or let this battery charge before I can continue my work.
• I have tools that are power cord operated. Though the cord limits my freedom of movement, the tool will keep on running as long as I have it plugged into the wall AND pay my electric bill.

What does any of this have to do with the Christian way of life? Our God has given us resources to enable us to live in this world, but empowered by His Kingdom. Sometimes we want to live out our lives in our own power. We use our strength, just as I use hand tools in my shop. Sometimes this is effective – but after a while we just run out of energy. The Lord said:… Continue reading

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Laborers Together With God

Matthew 18:2-4 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

No one enters the Kingdom of God full grown.

We humble ourselves as little children, and run into the arms of Jesus. We obediently follow Jesus, knowing that in His footsteps is where safety is. “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21 ESV). We are to stay close to Jesus, as a child might stay close to it’s mother while out in the harsh world. The Christian has a purpose greater than “going to Heaven”. Christians are to grow in their faith, becoming more like Jesus every day…. Continue reading

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The Blessing Of Brokenness

We had a wonderful revival this past week with Brother Brian Arnold. I think his messages – God anointed – gave us a challenge. Here is a man who lost his a leg when he was a child. That loss changed the course of his life. Brian learned to play the piano, and became quite a sensation in Branson, Missouri. Then when life seemed to be on track, and was getting better and better, Brian was hit by a semi truck, fracturing his neck, and paralyzing his left arm. Once more, the course of Brian’s life changed. Praise God for it! Brian hurt his arm before coming to preach our revival – his good arm. The doctor gave him the results of the MRI. Brian has torn his rotator cuff in two places, and tore a tendon! I hear you saying in your mind,

“How tragic this is! Why is the devil attacking Brian!
Why is God allowing this! Hasn’t he gone through enough?

Which brings me to the title of the message today. It’s called simply “The Blessing Of Brokenness”.

Before Brian was ever born, He knew him. Before God ever formed us in our mother’s womb, He knew us. … Continue reading

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Unprofitable Servants

Do you get the picture? The SERVANT (that’s us) has been plowing all day. Now it’s supper time. When we come in from the field, do we tell the MASTER (that’s God), “I’m going to sit down and eat. YOU feed me, then YOU feed Yourself”. Absolutely not! When the servant comes in from the field, that servant FEEDS THE MASTER FIRST, and then sits down to eat. DOES THE MASTER THANK THE SERVANT? Absolutely not!

Illustrate Every month I pay my mortgage. My bank doesn’t thank me for paying my mortgage. I owe the mortgage. I owe what I borrowed back to the bank.

If you are saved by faith in Christ, you have received the greatest of all gifts. You are of the Family of God. You owe God everything. God has given you not only life, but has given His life for you. He has prepared a place for you in Heaven, a glorious place that we neither have earned nor will ever deserve. We fail God daily, and yet, He loves us as His children for Christ’s sake. Jesus said:… Continue reading

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Greater Love – A Communion Message

The late founder of Walmart Stores – Sam Walton – had a net worth of $2.8 billion dollars, and while he walked this earth was reckoned by Forbes Magazine to be the richest man in the entire world. During the October 1987 stock market crash Walton lost $2.6 billion dollars in personal net worth. What did Walton say when asked about the loss? … Continue reading

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The Most Important Connection You’ll Ever Make

I recently read of a man in Los Angeles who nearly got in bad trouble texting. He heard a commotion outside, and walked outside his apartment to see what was happening as he was texting. He nearly ran into a 400 pound black bear. Though he escaped others were not so lucky. People have walked into swimming pools, walked into rivers, and been hit by cars while texting. More than 10,000… Continue reading

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United We Stand

As Israel stood on the border to the Promised Land this second generation was faced with an impossible challenge. They had new leadership. The first generation of Israel had all died in the wilderness for disobeying God. Moses himself had died and been buried in the land of Moab. We don’t know exactly where Moses was buried, for the Scripture says that God … Continue reading

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