Sundays bible message


GLORY BE TO OUR LORD GOD AND SAVIOUR.

These verses from Isaiah 7 and 8 from last Sundays sermon.
Chapter 7
10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11 "Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."
12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!"
13 Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.
Chapter 9
2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian.
5 For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

1 Corinthians 13 Love Is Indispensable.  To know love is to define it. The below verses describes love like no other.  Many, if not all of our sermons revolve around how Jesus loves us and the love we have for Him. Jesus in His love came in order for His children to be saved from sin knowing He was to be crucified horribly. I have read other sources concerning how they define love. Some have broken love into 3 parts. One being brotherly love, unconditional love and sexual love. As I have read through scripture, I in my most humble opinion, have come to a conclusion there is only one definition of love and that is what is defined below.  If one starts to define love into types, for me it divides and confuses how love is defined in 1 Corinthisans 13. Jesus sacrified His life because He walked in love did He not. Love never fails scripture tells us, therefore we can say with absolute that Jesus never failed us. We love Him because of His kindness, His patience, His truth and it is His love that we choose to follow and have faith in Him. Anything else is not love.

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Sex sets itself apart from love. 

Sex could be a sexual union, sexual merger, sexual blending when coming together in a loving or love filled relation within marriage. Love is the good part of you as described above. The love relationship is sharing that goodness or love to one another. Each bearing good fruit. A love relationship does not survive if it does not live in love. It is not dependent on sex nor does the verses in 1Corinthians13 include the word sex in it. It was not important then and is not important now. This sexual revolution going on heavily since the 60’s has, in my most humble opinion, has been extremely harmful to the family unit. By linking sex with love, you therefore can unconsciously believe sex places a higher priority that it should in your relationship. God did not create us to be sexual deviants, by which I mean to misuse the intended purpose of sensual desires between His creations of man and women. Which takes us to Genesis 1:26-28:

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
 And with this I go to Romans 1:20-32: 
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

God’s love. This is why Jesus is love. This is taken from Luke 7:18-23 John the Baptist sends disciples to Jesus and asks the question are you the Coming one:

18 Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.
19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
20 When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?' "
21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.
22 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."

 And His love represents wholly the meaning of love as written in 1Corinthians 13. As you read those verses, it descibes love very well does it not? Our pastor loves to use agape love which is described as noble and unconditional love. However, I will challenge that Jesus life defined love by the way He lived. He lived one way and loved one way. You can actually feel the kindness, the hope He gave, the patience He had, the truth He shared and the fact that He has persevered to this very day. This is love just as Jesus showed us. This is why we should all walk in the faith, trust and love of Jesus. In other words, be Christ-like minded people.

And I will leave you with this from Matthew 22:

32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'


Kelly Anne's Story

Kelly Anne goes from the darkness into the light. Web address for Youth for Christ is http://www.kalamazooyfc.org

Not long ago our church donated to a very delightful young woman so she was able to do a Youth for Christ camp internship. Note with this article, I took some hastily put together notes and I may have left out some things, however, what I want to emphasize is the transformation this young woman went through. I would also like to mention is the fact that our children and young men and women are being misled and confused by many of our institutions that have taken God out of the picture and replaced our Lord and Savior with the New Age Movement. With my research of the New Age Movement, I will share some key points.

First, a collection of thought systems. New Age is a compilation of metaphysical, Eastern-influenced thought systems. These thought systems unite theology, nature, and philosophy. This movement comprises countless "theologies" that often center on religious tolerance and moral diversity. The main phrases (or "isms") that reveal the focal point of New Age thought are "feel-goodism" (do whatever feels good, as long as you are not hurting someone else), "moral relativism" (situational ethics), and "pluralism" (universal tolerance). Humans are considered to be divine/godlike, as co-creators, and as the ultimate hope for the future of the world. Although New Age is generally tolerant of almost any world religion or philosophy, it is opposed to the "narrow-mindedness" of Christianity that teaches Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal salvation.

Two, The Doctrine of Evolutionary Godhood. The principles of evolution are constantly moving mankind toward god-consciousness, where man and reality connect in unified enlightenment. The "fittest" already understand this reality, while the "unfit" (such as Christians and other proponents of dogmatic worldviews) act as a hindrance to evolutionary forces. Many New Age practices are designed to accelerate the evolutionary push into the spiritual realms. New Age teaches that we are basically good and inherently divine, and ultimately, we can create our own reality. 

Three, The Doctrine of Global Unity. There are three parts to this.

  1. Man Unified with Man. This principle is that we will all realize our proper divine relationship with one another. With economic unity, we can achieve political unity (a single world government) and spiritual unity (a one world religion).
  2. Man Unified With Nature. This principle is that god is everything, and everything is god. New Age movement refer to the union of earth and nature.
  3. Man Unified With God. The ultimate goal in life is to fully realize our own divine goodness. The New Age god is impersonal and omnipresent. He (it) has not revealed himself (itself) to mankind, and therefore, mankind is not accountable to any notions of moral law or absolute truth. There is no objective morality in the New Age philosophy. We should have tolerance for all systems of truth, meaning and purpose. We should create a world of pure relativism/doctrine, where morality and religion are strictly relative/comparative to each person's individual notion of reality/truth itself.

Is it any wonder our children our confused and feel lost and unhappy. If God was allowed as a study to compete with evolution side by side, God would be seen in a very different light. The light of truth always stands out if the truth means anything at all to you. I like Romans 1 for this.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/

 Let us go back to Kelly Anne’s transformational story. She started her presentation out by admitting just last year she was in a very dark place where school was her idol. I can only imagine what she was going through. Then a day came when she cried out to God for help to fill her heart and that He did. Then God sent her an opportunity to be a camp intern for an upcoming mission trip for Youth for Christ. God, in all His glory put together everything she needed to make this trip a reality. And, was this mission trip a success; you bet it was.

The first person she met was a blessing and her spiritual leader. It only got better from there. Because mental health has become one of the most talked about issues since covid, for the first time had a specialized counselor available at the camp. In addition, the leadership made sure the activities created laughter and happiness like line dancing. Games like tug of war and crud wars (food fights) were designed to bring these young people the feeling of togetherness, the working together as a team with God leading the way. New arrivals to the camp were given the royal treatment with a massive welcoming as they poured from the bus. No Youth for Christ camp is without music and worship time. It was an intense time but one well received.

The light of love was a constant surrounding these kids. There were small groups and support teams making sure a connection was made during the children’s stay at the camp. But the one thing that stood out to me the most was Kelly Anne’s description of story-time that included skits. My take was this was the key at connecting with the kids. As it turns out, the story tellers were actually telling their own stories. This aided in showing the kids that they were not alone and had many of the same feelings.

Not only did Kelly Anne’s life change and her faith in God, but through this camp she got to see the many transformations of others. One of the ways she experienced seeing these lives change was through what was called the quiet time of prayer. Each one went to a place alone to quietly pray, then after a time anyone could shout out whether or not they wanted to be saved. Did everyone shout out I want to be saved; I would say probably not. However, just one saved is a blessing with the hope of many more to come. Thank you Kelly Anne for sharing. Your passion and new faith was deeply felt.

We have to remember my friends in Christ, there are two forces at play and that is good and evil. There is no in-between. You have the choice to follow God or Satan which leads to either heaven or hell. Go back to Romans 1 and read again if need be.

We had the joy of a baptism a many Sunday's ago of a sweet young girl under 10. She had been asking a long time to be baptised and after long talks with her and lots of prayer it came to fruitation. You could see the happiness it brought her and her family and her church family. She has now proclaimed her faith in Jesus Christ. But I would say baptism is a stepping stone in her walk with Jesus. This is where church family is most important in keeping the word alive within her all her life and not lose her to the world that is hostile to God. And if she should become lost it is on us to bring her back to the Father of Lights. Go to weekly verses for other thoughts and scripture.


And that is the bottom line!