Tag Archives: imitating Christ

Repent, Receive, And Do

Please turn with me in your Bibles to James Chapter One. This morning we talked about the difference between Salvation and Sanctification. Salvation is a place we enter when we repent and turn to Jesus, believing Him to be our Lord and Savior. Giving our broken lives to Him, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit of God to us to begin a lifetime work in our lives.

We repent of being our own god, and turn to God the Son, Jesus Christ.
We receive the Scripture as God’s Word – especially what Jesus decreed.
We reflect in our lives the life of Christ, for we are God’s children.

The “religion” that gets a person into God’s Heaven cannot be divorced from the way of Christ. Jesus taught us the twin pillars of our faith is to love God supremely, and to love others the way that Jesus has loved us (Matthew 22:36-40; John 13:34).

Opening: On July 11, 1656, two Quaker Missionaries Ann Austin and Mary Fisher arrived in Boston Harbor, New England. A Christian denomination called the Puritans ruled Massachusetts, much like the Pharisees ruled Israel in Jesus’ day. The Puritans believed the Quakers to be a cult. Deputy Governor Richard Bellingham boarded the ladies ship, ordered the women to stay on board, and confiscated 100 books the ladies brought with them. The books were burned, the women imprisoned without counsel or the ability… Continue reading

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What’s Your Power Source

So now we come to chapter four. Peter is preaching the Gospel in Solomon’s Porch (Acts 3:11). This is the exact same porch where Jesus told the Pharisees and Priests that He was the Christ (John 10:23), and the “Jews took up stones again to stone {Jesus}” (John 10:31). They could not kill Jesus, as it was not yet His time to be crucified. “Jesus escaped out of their hand” (John 10:39). But they tried to kill Him.

It is on this same porch – Solomon’s Porch – that Peter and John are confronted by (guess who?) the same curmudgeons that Jesus had to meet. The lost world despises the true Jesus, but desperately needs to Gospel!

Acts 4:1-2 And as they {Peter and John} spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

As Peter is preaching… Continue reading

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Live Graciously, Not Grudgingly

God does not want His children to carry grudges. He wants us to love Him, and love others.

When you carry a grudge, it doesn’t take long before the grudge is carry YOU. Believers in God are NEVER to harbor grudges. In the Lord’s Prayer – a prayer I say often, and I’m sure you all know, God tells us to pray:

Matthew 6:11-12 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

We who are blessed of God are to forgive. Recently in our country people have pulled down statues and monuments, attempting to get rid of our checkered past. God does not want us to do that. God wants us to forgive. … Continue reading

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Living With Surety (A Wednesday Devotional)

Death comes to all, and none of us truly know when we will have to “put off this my tabernacle”. Sooner or later it must come. To avoid being frightened of that time – for it should not be frightening to the Child of God – Peter says:

2 Peter 1:10 … brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall

“Give diligence” or make sure you DO this. Make sure, first of all, that you are CALLED of GOD. Every person Jesus has ever saved, He has called. Jesus said:… Continue reading

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Aspire To Inspire

Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk ye in Him

I hate most commercials I see on television. There’s an Aldi’s© commercial that is nauseatingly stupid, and a Smuckers© commercial that should be called schmuck. I like a few of the Progressive© commercials, and the GEICO© commercials, because they are usually humorous. Several years ago a commercial for a SAMSUNG© phone came on that was just beautiful! Listen to these words:

“Nobody ever set their sights on second place. Who aspires to be almost remembered? There’s a reason there are no giant foam fingers that say “We’re number 3″. No one wants to tell an average joke, make an underwhelming entrance, go out with a whimper. No one ever stood in front of a mirror with a hairbrush pretending to be the tambourine player. And there are definitely more kids dressed as Batman, than Robin. We all aspire.”

I’m not sure we all aspire. It’s a good thought… Continue reading

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What Is My Purpose In Christ

One of my favorite Evangelists Billy Graham said:

“Christ is calling Christians today to cleansing, to dedication, to consecration, and to full surrender. It will make the difference between success and failure in our spiritual lives. It will make the difference between being helped and helping others. It will make a difference in our habits, in our prayer life, in our Bible reading, in our giving, in our testimony, and in our church membership. This is the Christian’s hour of decision!”

Christians, we are invited into a glorious and growing relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called into daily intimacy with Jesus. We are not called to be just Sunday morning Christians, but every day followers of Christ. Continue reading

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Our Purpose And Goal

Not too far from our Church on the Nashville Highway is a Church called “A Church With A Purpose”. I’ve seen churches pop up with many different names. We have a Church in town called “Connections”, one that meets in a High School called “The Bridge”. As I was headed to Nashville last week I noticed “The Bridge” has built a large, new facility off of highway 396. Good for them…. Continue reading

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Praying Like Jesus (Part 1)

We believe that our Jesus is God Incarnate, that is God in the flesh. We believe that the Bible teaches that He is not only the Son of God, but that Christ is equal to God His Father. He is the Eternal Word spoken of by John. Continue reading

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