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Archive for March, 2009

Sunday Sermon … Jesus on Trial

March 29th, 2009
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First of all, let’s state a couple of facts:

  1. The Gospel is a “story” – it involves action, not just words
  2. The Gospel story slows down as it approaches Jesus’ death. I believe this is because we need to really see what was going in His life as he prepared to take our punishment. 

John 18

v. 1-4: Judas betrays Jesus. … But Jesus knew it would happen right then. 

v. 4-8: When Jesus’ words are translated as “I am he” in the NIV, the literal translation (if I understood correctly) is “I am.” The “I am” statement means He is God! …  In Exodus 3:13-14 Moses asked God what His name is. God’s response was “I am.” … When Jesus said, “I am,” they all fell down. Why did they  fall? Were they just shocked that anyone would say that? or did He reveal His Glory for a second when He said it? or some other reason? … Your guess is as good as mine. 

v. 8-9: Jesus protects His disciples. We are also His disciples and are protected by Him. 

v. 10-11: Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Why? … In Matthew 26:34-35, Jesus predicts Peter will deny Him. … Peter’s action here in John 18:10 may be an attempt to not deny Jesus as predicted. 

v. 12-14: The arrest. 

v. 15-17: Peter and another disciple followed Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. Peter had to stay outside, but the other was allowed in. Peter is eventually let in. … Once he is in, he is asked if he is a follower of Jesus. His answser is “no.” 

v. 18-24: Jesus’ trial with the Jewish leaders… They question Jesus… Jesus answers honestly and one of the officials hits him in the face. Jesus asks what He said that was wrong, but all the officials do is send Him to the high priest. 

v. 25-27: Twice more Peter is asked again if he is a disciple of Jesus. His response both times is no. … Then the rooster crows. 

v. 28-32: The Jews take Jesus to Pilate because they are focused on the smaller things like staying “clean” for the passover instead seeing that Jesus is the Messiah! Many times we also concentrate on the small things instead of the big picture. … Pilate’s already gotten in enough trouble dealing with Jews so he wants nothing of this situation but the Jews persist because they can’t legally execute anyone. And all this happened in order to fulfill prophecies. (He would be lifted up!)

v. 33-40: Pilate questions Jesus. … Jesus is a king! His kingdom is not here though, it’s in the Heavens! Everyone who really wants truth will listen to Jesus! … Pilate finds no reason to execute Him and (as the tradition was) offered to let Jesus go free because of passover. However, the Jews wanted Barabbas to be freed instead. 

We are similar to Barabbas. We have been set free because Jesus died! We have sinned. Barabbas was a criminal. Jesus was and is perfect. 

John 1:10-12 sums it all up pretty well. 

religion, Sunday Sermon

Mighty To Save

March 26th, 2009
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Music, Video ,

Sunday Sermon … Building People

March 22nd, 2009
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Taking a one week break from the Gospel of John…

This week our church started a new campaign called “Building People” as we continue to work on our new building which will eventually include a gym, walking track, and everything else that a recreation center would have minus a pool. Why are we doing this?

First let me say this, our pastor has been blessed with the ability and knowledge to be able to relate everything to Scripture.

1 Corinthians 3:9-17

v. 9: We are building a building so we can build people. In our new building we several sunday school classes… Many of the students there are k-3rd grade. There are also 22 2-year olds in their class. This means that we have the opputunity to build all these young people up from young ages. … In Great Britain, the time period in which the crime rate was the lowest was also time in which 75% or so of people attended Sunday School. So let’s get everyone in Sunday School so we can build them up!

v. 10: We must be careful how and what we build.

v. 11: Build on the foundation of Christ. … Any other foundation would likely result in a treehouse. The treehouse may be fun, but it won’t last. This goes for the individual’s life as well as the church as a whole. This is one reason whyour church mission statement is Matthew 28:19-20.

v. 12: Here we see three materials that areexpensive but last and three other materials that are cheap and don’t endure as much.

v. 13: Inspection day! When that day comes, will your house survive the fire?

v. 14: There will be awards for the ones who build a house that survives. The reward is likely more joy.

v. 15: If you only have a foundation then you will survive, but you’ll feel the heat from the fire. … Reminds me of an image that is described in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

v. 16: “You” is plural in this verse. We, the church as a whole, are God’s temple and the Holy Spirit lives in us. (This also applies for individual Christians.)

v. 17: God’s temple is sacred, we are sacred.

How’s your building doing? Will itlast?

religion, Sunday Sermon

New Look!

March 21st, 2009
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Well, how do like the new look?

I may need to change a few things later.

News

Newsboys – In the Hands of God

March 19th, 2009
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Sunday Sermon … Jesus Prays for Us: May We be One

March 16th, 2009
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John 17:20-26

In these verses Jesus prays all Christians; past, present, and future. He prays that we may all be united. … With 250 denominations in the USA alone, it seems almost impossible to unify all Christians. … How do we become one?

V. 20: The prayer is for all Christians of the past, present, and future. … Guess what! Jesus never stops praying for us! 

V. 21: As mentioned before, He is praying that we may all be unified. Part of the process of becoming unified includes going to church. Granted, there are 250 denominations in the U.S. alone with different doctrines, but we can still be unified…..

There may be some turbulence between the denominations and possibly within the denomination or maybe even in the same church building/congregation…

We cannot let these disturbances keep us unifying though. However, some cults claim to be Christian but what they believe to be truth is not necessarily true according to the Bible which we hold as God’s Word and Truth. Truth is equally important to unity (Rev. 2:6)…

The minor differences in belief are ok as long as we believe the basics of salvation. This means that we need unity through diversity such as that of the Trinity (v. 21). Jesus must be the foundation, the rock, of our beliefs about Salvation. 

V. 22: Jesus gives the church His glory so that we may have unity. 

V. 23, 26: We cannot do everything, but here’s three things we can and should do to promote unity. 

  1. Show love to everyone
  2. Do not put down other denominations’ beliefs
  3. Forgive and reconcile

religion, Sunday Sermon

A Small Delay

March 15th, 2009
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Hey guys, sorry, but I’ve been real busy today and just had a few minutes on the laptop…. not enough time to type all these notes for the SS… I will post the Sunday Sermon later tonight. 

And I should thank Daffodilly for posting the Sunday Sermon last week. Thanks Daff. :)

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Twitter should work now!

March 14th, 2009
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I think I finally figured out for WK and it seems to be working now.

For people already following on twitter, you may need to stop following and start following again.

For new followers, go to http://www.twitter.com/word_keeper and “follow”

:)



 

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Geoff Moore – Home Run

March 11th, 2009
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Music, Video ,

Sunday Sermon….. Two Kingdoms

March 9th, 2009
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Two Kingdoms – Romans 5:12 – 21

There are two kingdoms and all of us are living in one of them:
• Adam’s Kingdom
• The Second Adam’s Kingdom (Jesus’ Kingdom)

Through Adam, sin entered the world and with sin came death and after death, condemnation. No one escapes. Through Jesus comes righteousness, through that righteousness comes eternal life. And through Jesus comes abundant life and the hope of Heaven.

To know which kingdom you are living in, ask yourself these questions:

• Am I living by the law?
• Or am I living in grace?

Trying to bring ourselves to holiness and righteousness is never going to work.
Romans 5:20 says the law was added so that trespass would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased. Grace is described as, God’s unmerited favor. Grace gives us the power and desire to do God’s will. We need that grace daily.

David knew this. He was still living under the law, but time and time again he depended on the grace of God for forgiveness. He knew that grace was his only hope of living a life that would please God. In Psalm 51 he asks God to give him a ‘steadfast spirit’.

We should ask God to give us a willingness to serve Him and the power to serve Him well.

• Am I living under God’s judgment?
• Or am I living under God’s mercy?

If you stay in Adam, you’re living under His judgment. Even as believers we can end up living under God’s judgment. We need to be quick to repent, quick to seek His will and quick to ask for His mercy.
(Jonah – brought himself under God’s judgment and then repented and found himself surrounded by God’s mercy.)

• Are you under the reign of death?
• Or are you under the reign of life?

In the kingdom of Adam, self controls your life. In the kingdom of Jesus, you put aside self and give Christ control of your life. Even as believers it is possible for us to end up living as slaves to sin. Jesus offers us abundant life – power, joy, a desire to serve Him and the security of knowing that He is in control. But as much as He wants all of that for us, we have to want it too. Many believers are still living their lives in slavery.
(People of Israel brought themselves under God’s judgment, repented and knew His mercy.)

Don’t let pride keep you in Adam’s kingdom.

religion, Sunday Sermon