From One Degree to Another

Phil Auxier's Blog

Connect

Weekend Recap – Love Perfected

by

My 12/27/15AM sermon, Love Perfected from 1 John 4:17-21, is now online.  Just like we’d expect to be chilled walking outside on a day with a 5 degree wind chill or be satisfied after eating at a buffet, we can expect that when God moves into our lives with His love, things will be affected.  His love perfected in us, means we can expect certain things to characterize our lives.  These are what I tease out of this passage.  Hope it helps you.

Weekend Recap – Christmas in 1 John

by

My 12/20/15AM sermon, Christmas in 1 John, looked at various texts in 1 John.  Many times we can get stuck at Christmas studying the Bible just looking at the familiar stories of the Gospels (Matthew 1 and Luke 1-2).   In recent years, I’ve tried to tease out this theme in the various books of the Bible we’re studying and this was the case yesterday.  Christmas in 1 John could be summarized as the Father sent the Son, the Son came in the flesh, and through Him we get life.  I hope it helps you.

Weekend Recap – Christmas Bursts Expectations

by

My 12/13/15AM devotional from the end of the children’s Christmas program was entitled Christmas Bursts Expectations from 1 Samuel 16:1-13.  I tried to make some connections between Samuel going to find a king in Bethlehem, who ended up being a shepherd out in the field, keeping watch over his flock to the King that was born in Bethlehem and announced to shepherds in Luke 2.  It’s truly amazing to watch God burst our expectations of how we would fix a broken world.  And, He does it in a way that is not only effective but lasting.  So, I hope this thought is encouraging to you.

Weekend Recap – 12/6/15

by

My 12/6/15AM sermon, Abiding: Him and Us from 1 John 4:13-16, sought to expose one thing from the text: how do we know that we abide in God and He abides in us.  And, the answer is pretty simple: God.  Yes, God’s given us His Spirit, which allows us to confess His Son and this is all an overflow of His love.  So, if you’re weary from burning your wheels to impress God, abide in Him.  Be freed from all the burden and rest in what He’s done to give His people assurance.  I hope it blesses you.

Weekend Recap – God Is Love

by

My 11/22/15AM Sermon, God Is Love from 1 John 4:7-12, is now online.  I love how big this truth of God’s love works through the lives of those who are believers.  Here’s one quote I used from Paul Tripp:

“If you ceased to love, you’d be an unpleasant human being but you would cease to be human.  The same cannot be true of God, though.  If He ceased to love, He’d cease to be God, because He IS love.”


Because God is Love, we are compelled to act in very specific and pointed ways.  This sermon tried to tease out some of these and I hope it proves helpful for you.  

Weekend Recap – Test The Spirits

by

My 11/15/15AM sermon, Test The Spirits (with Small Group Questions) from 1 John 4:1-6, is now online.  It’s nearly impossible to question someone’s spirituality in the day and age we live in.  Everyone gets a “whatever works for you” pass.  But, God seems to have some sort of standard.  And, this sermon was my attempt to deal with what this standard is.  I hope it encourages you and helps you live.

Weekend Recap – Bible Intensive and the Dangers of Declension

by

Wrapped up a huge weekend at Crestview.

Before that, though, I was blessed to serve my family on Friday as Meg’s great aunt passed away.  The memorial service was Friday afternoon in Coldwater, KS.  I tried to encourage them with the truth of Jesus being the Resurrection and the Life.  It was a great time remembering lost loved ones with them.

I hustled back to Hutch for a Bible Intensive Retreat with Jim Elliff and Kole Farney.  Our Elders had benefitted from this earlier in the year, so we met as Elders and Deacons with Jim and Kole to think about John 10 together.  It was rich fellowship seeing Jesus is the Door, the Good Shepherd, The Christ, and the Son of God — truths that must be responded to.

Jim graciously filled the pulpit for me on Sunday morning with a sermon out of many passages in Hebrews on the Dangers of Declension.   We included Jim’s handout 5 Resolves for Personal Revival in the bulletin.  I know God used this sermon to call me out of staleness to vibrancy and I’m praying God uses this entire weekend in our body to awaken us to the realities of who He is and what He’s done for us.

Weekend Recap (Part 1) – 11/1/15

by

My 11/1/15AM sermon, Assuring Love from 1 John 3:19-24, is now online.  This sermon helped showcase what God is up to in calling us to love and how this works to build assurance in us.  So, the big aim of John – helping us know that we have eternal life – was tied to the practical aim of 1 John 3 – having our identity in love.  These two purposes were fused in action.  I hope this sermon proves helpful and encouraging to you.

Weekend Recap – Love Out Of Identity

by

My 10/18/15AM sermon, Identity of Love from 1 John 3:10-12, is now online.  This sermon tried to get at where these calls to love come from.  And, rather than merely rushing to practice love, John compels us to examine our identity in Christ before we step in to the practice of love.  It’s more about being before doing.  So, this is my encouragement to examine your heart before you do the “doing” of the Christian life.  I hope it helps you.