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Responding To A Consuming Fire

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My sermon from 9/2/12AM entitled Consuming Fire from Hebrews 12:25-29 is online.  The sermon showed how we respond to a revelation of an awesome God (His being a consuming fire).  Specifically, we need listening ears (25-27) and worshipping lives (28-29) to respond rightly to Him.  I hope the sermon was encouraging and if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, check it out.  Enjoy this Labor Day Weekend.

Weekend Recap – Committed to Completion

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As I wrote over the weekend, yesterday, 8/19/12AM, my sermon was on Committed To Completing the Race from Hebrews 12:12-17.  My opening illustration was from the ’92 Olympics and video of that can be found from Friday’s post.  God’s marked out a race for all of us.  This passage really encouraged us to demonstrate our commitment to complete the race by a Godly striving for peace and holiness in community and by a zealous fighting against all the things that would detract us from Gospel allegiances.  I hope it proved helpful for you.  And, I hope you had a great day of worship with other believers.  Have a great week.

Weekend Recap – Consider Jesus

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My 7/8/12AM sermon from Hebrews 12:3-4 was entitled Consider Jesus.  In this sermon, we were built and further equipped in running our race of endurance by considering Jesus and His suffering.  One part of this was encouragement: so that we don’t grow weary or fainthearted.  And, the other part involved focusing us in our present circumstances, helping us keep our circumstances in perspective.  Today, if you’re weary, fainthearted or just stumbling in running the race of endurance, consider Jesus and find hope for your perseverance.

Weekend Recap – Marathon

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My 7/1/12AM sermon from Hebrews 12:1-2 entitled The Race of Endurance is now online.  While there are many directions one could go in this rich passage, I tried to woodenly stick with the main idea which is running the race (of the Christian life) with endurance.  I saw the text unfold three helps for running that race of endurance more effectively.

We run in Christian community.  The cloud of witnesses surrounding us aren’t there watching us run as mere spectators.  They are there to provide a clear witness through their lives that running with perseverance is worth it in light of who God is.

We are also to run unconstrained.  We let go of whatever would hinder our enduring.  Certainly sin can keep us from running well since it clings closely and hinders our stride.  But there are other weights and burdens that can keep us from running the race with endurance as well.

Finally, and most important, we run focused on Christ.  He’s the aim.  He’s made the race even possible for dead ones like you and me.  He’s trailblazed this race before, running His own race to the cross with joy, treating all the shame as a small thing compared to honoring His Father.  His ruling at God’s right hand now, makes this race all the more thrilling.

You might need to get your head in the game and run.  But today, be encouraged and equipped in God’s Word: He’s given you all that you need for life and godliness, all you need to run well.

Weekend Recap – New Covenant & Faith

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My 6/24/12AM sermon from Hebrews 11:39-40 entitled Faith and The New Covenant is now online.  There’s lots of excuses made as to why one can’t live a life of faith, but, Biblically speaking, we have every reason in the world to aggressively pursue it.  Simply put, because of the new covenant blessings that are ours in Christ, faith should be the natural way we relate to God.  In this closing passage to Hebrews 11, I try to make the case that we should live by faith because that it is a path, a way of life, that is blessed by God.  Further, it’s how righteous people live.  There’s no other way.

I hope you enjoyed a great Lord’s Day.

Weekend Recap – Faith & God’s People

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My 6/10/12 sermon entitled Faith Developed in God’s People from Hebrews 11:29-31 is now online.  The sermon sought to show how God seemed to work faith in His people in this passage.  Specifically, we saw faith trust God’s Word of deliverance as the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea.  We saw faith cling to God’s promises in the midst of tough circumstances as they marched around Jericho 7 times and saw it fall.  And faith obeyed, as Rahab evidenced her faith in obedience to God’s call for her salvation.

There are many rich applications for our lives from this.  For instance, we all face tough times and this passage shows how to unrelentingly hold to God through those.  I hope you found it encouraging.  Have a blessed week.

Weekend Recap – Faith’s Actions/Moses

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My 6/3/12AM sermon entitled Faith’s Actions from Hebrews 11:23-28 is online.  This sermon looked at the recap of Moses’ life in the book of Hebrews and helped us see how his faith related to action (informed by the Gospel, of course).  One big thing I was driving at in the sermon was how many of us think that faith doesn’t require action, which is good if we’re talking about entering into a relationship with God.  However, long term sanctification and growth occurs out of faith-filled action, evidencing what we really believe.  In this sermon, I was driving at how being saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone produces a faith that is not alone, but filled with God-glorifying, Gospel-provoked action.

I hope it benefitted you and you had an enjoyable Lord’s Day standing in awe of God and His amazing mercy towards you.

Weekend Recap – Finite, Focused Faith

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My sermon from 5/27/12AM is online.  It was entitled Faith for the Finite and Focused from Hebrews 11:20-22.  It looked at Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and helped us see how they exhibited faith at the end of their lives in blessing their children.  So, faith was exhibited by finite men, who were given a window of time to honor God, but were frail and dying.  And, their faith was focused on future, unseen, promised realities from God Himself.  That’s the forward focus.

The main application I have for my own life is to realize that I want this short life God has given me to count as a life of faith.  Today, will you pray for me in this regard and look at your own life, seeing if you’re building your “house” on the rock of who God is or on the sand of this world.

Have a great week.

Weekend Recap – Faith’s Homeland

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My 5/13/12AM (Mother’s Day) sermon from Hebrews 11:13-16 is now online.  It was entitled Faith’s Homeland and dealt with faith and the future.  Specifically, faith prepares for the future by persevering in the present.  Part of this perseverance means we confess that we are strangers and exiles here.  Why?  Because faith seeks a homeland, specifically, a heavenly one.  So, we persevere in the present with our eye on eternity.  This has all kinds of applications for mothers, daughters, women, men, sons and fathers, as well as anyone else.  We shrink our lives to the here and now and put that in an ultimate category.  But, in Christ, we have reason to hope for the future.  Faith’s homeland is eternity with Christ in heaven.  Let’s live this week in light of this.

Weekend Recap – Trusting God In The Impossible…

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My sermon from 5/6/12AM is online.  The sermon was entitled Faith Trusts God In The Impossible from Hebrews 11:11-12.  The sermon unpacked the second big foundational, formational event of Abraham’s life (last week’s being the call to move to a land God would show him and this week focused on the barrenness of Sarah and God’s promise of offspring).  God overcame an impossible situation (as we humans see it at least) to keep His promise to Abraham.  Both Abraham and Sarah believed God in the midst of this and, as Romans 4:19-22 points out, it was credited to them as righteousness.  The righteous truly live by faith.

I hope people who heard this message found their faith inspired to trust God in the midst of their impossible situations of life.  Let’s be characterized by having faith in God.