Word Keeper

This week we come to the conclusion of the Get Serious About Following  Jesus!

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Sing the Mighty Power – Our adult choir did an awesome job with this song, they always do awesome when they sing each week. … Couldn’t find the version our choir sang.

El Shaddai – Do I really need to comment on this one? It’s awesome!

Who’ll Witness for my Lord – The lady sang this a capella! She did good. … And the song is good. … I just don’t really like the high pitch

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Matthew 18:1-9

v.1 – The disciples are off track. They’re concerned about who, among them, will be the greatest in Heaven, but they should be trying to maxamize the Kingdom of Heaven.

v.2 – Jesus always had children around Him and there’s a reason as to why. …

v.3-4 – … We must be like children, being dependent upon our Father, in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven! … We must humble ourselves, which is extremely difficult for many people today.

v.5-6 – Children are obviously important to Jesus and should be important to us as well. … The phrase “little ones” not refers to the children, but aslo to the Christians. He says it is better to have a physical death than it is to cause a “little one” to sin! Wow! … What was that phrase Pual used in Romans 14? don’t make your brother stumble!

Now we come to an extremely radical statement in verses 7-9. Jesus says to remove whatever part of your body that makes you sin! Wow! But not litteraly. … Jesus is saying that you must take drastic action to remove sources of temptation in your life. Yes, radical action may be required. And radical action is necessary when the steaks are high. … Let’s apply this to life… Let’s say you are in a relationship on the border of being adulterous, or maybe it’s just lust. You need to take some action to avoid this becoming reality! Stop going to the places where you might see that person….Let’s say you have a problem with Internet Pornography. Maybe you need to the same thing the guy on Fireproof did, hit the computer with a baseball bat a few times and throw it away. That’s not necessary in all situations, but it would work! You might be able to just set limits on when you use the computer or have someone install a filter on the computer….King David even had lust issues. He went on his roof and saw Bathsheba. His roof was higher than everyone elses so he could see everyone that was going on. What should have King David done? He should’ve realized his sin and not gone back on the roof! But we all make mistakes.

Alcohol … 31% of car wrecks involve alcohol. Dante Stallworth can play football amazingly well. But he made a mistake recently. He got drunk and started driving. Then he hit a man with his car. Now he’s been suspended from the NFL one year without pay, must complete 1,000 hours of community service, and has had his Florida driving license taken away for the rest of his life. … Many people will claim it’s ok to drink because they drank wine in the Bible. There’s a big difference in today’s alcohol and Biblical wine. The Biblical wine was approximately 3 parts water to 1 part alcohol. There’s also a big difference in the cultures. They walked wherever they were going. We drive 70mph….

We also said the stakes are high. You would walk across a telephone pole easily if it was laying on the ground. But let’s raise it 100 feet above the ground. Now what do you do? You probably stsy on the ground where you’re safe.

Again, radical action is required. That action is following Jesus, but first you must change how you live if you are to truly follow Jesus.

Jason Sunday Sermon, religion

The last few weeks there have been some major changes with Word Keeper! All for the good.

We’re on a new server now! .,.. The URLs are more friendly. … The forum got a major upgrade! Please join the forum!

Also, even though this news is a few months old, we have a Facebook fan page! And a MySpace group! And don’t forget about our Twitter account!

And this is blog post #100 Woohoo!

Jason News

Daffodilly Music, Video

The Get Serious About Following Jesus! continues this week as our youth minister preaches while the pastor is out of town. … He did a great job.

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Your Majesty (I Worship You) – Great song.

He’d Still Been God – Good song, but I believe He did have to do one miracle to be God … not sin.

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Luke 9:23-24, 57-62

Usually, if someone wants to keep something safe, they hide it from people who might lose it or tear it up. We don’t always trust people with our possessions, much less our lives. … But Jesus says that to have a life, we must trust Him with our lives. We must give our lives to Him. (v. 24)

Why, in verse 24, did Jesus say,

whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it

? … Well, commitment to Jesus starts with our desires. (v. 23;  Matthew 6:21) … We try to save our lives on our own, but we can’t. … Let’s say you have a really nice car and it breaks down and you have no comprehensive knowledge of how to fix it. Do you try to fix it yourself or call a mechanic? I hope you call you a mechanic. Or maybe you somehow just received a million dollars and you have no idea of how to invest. Are you going to try investing on your own or call someone who knows more about investing? Probably call the other person. … Now let’s look at our lives. We’ve messed up big-time. We’ve sinned countless times. Our lives have broken down, but they’re worth more than anything else on Earth. We’re worth so much that two beings will do just about anything in order to have us in their camp.  One of them tells us to try to fix everything ourselves. The Other tells us He’ll fix it for us. We have no clue of how to fix it on our own. What should we do? We SHOULD let Him fix and maintain our lives, but we’re often too prideful for that and try it ourselves until we finally realize we can’t. … Let Jesus have your life.

Following Jesus involves self-denial and total surrender of our lives. (v. 23) … You know the song Trust and Obey …

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

…
In verse 62 Jesus said,

No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.

Why? Because we’re gonna have to leave some stuff behind when we follow Jesus. … Our youth pastor told us that he had this friend during his time at the seminary that used to be a lawyer. This lawyer and his family gave up a comfortable life for Christ. They were living in the cheapest rooms near campus. But this lawyer and was dedicated to following Christ and said that he’d rather be there, at seminary and serving God, as opposed to anywhere else. … Wow. … We see in verses 57-62 that we might have to leave behind comfort, reorder our priorities so that Christ is first, and maybe even leave our families. … Are you willing to do what it takes?

Jason Sunday Sermon, religion

So turn around you’re not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It’s not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who’s strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you’ll see through the eyes of a little girl

Daffodilly Music, Video

Week three of our Get Serious About Following Jesus! series as we continue to look at radical Christianity in everyday life…

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Stand up and Give Him the Praise – I love this song!

There are no Orphans of God! – awesome!!! … and here’s a ballet routine to it.

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Luke 6:27-36

Are we really forbidden to defend oursleves? Should we really give anything to everyone who asks us for someting?

Francis of Assisi and the Mennonites beilieve this passage in a litteral sense. … Meaning we can’t defend ourselves at all and if someone asks to have your kid to keep, you must give the kid to that person.

The Roman Catholic Church only applies it to the clergy

Martin Luther broke it into two sectors.

Schofield Referance Bible says it’s for the future.

Gerhard Kittel claims it to be unatainable.

Wilhelm Hermann believes it’s a matter of the hesrt, an attitude.

The pastor at our church. . . . He believes that yes, it is unatainable. And yes, it is a matter of the heart. But he also believes that this message is meant to mean more (as do I). … Jeus is using shocking language to shock us into radical Christianity!

Jesus is telling us to the opposite of human nature. Human nature is retalliation and vengance. Human nature is sin! … It’s Jesus telling us, in His own radical way, that we must be different from the world.

This does not neccesarily mean that we cannot or should not defend ourselves. There are times when we have to. … Nor does this mean that we should litteraly give whatever anybody asks for to them.

How can you love your enemies in everyday life?

1. Do not retaliate. … Break the cycle of evil! Vengance is in God’s hand and He will pour it out when the time is right.
2. Pray for them. … This might be the biggest thing you can do for your enemy. You might not like the person at all, but you don’t have to like them to love them. Praying for someone, especially an enemy, is a great act of love. Love is not a feeling. “Like” and “hate” are feelings. … Don’t let your feelings dictate your prsayers.
3. Do good to them. … For me this is somewhat difficult to do with a sincere heart, but I’m learning. … Do some sort of tangible action that will show this person how different you really are. … Don’t just do it to tease them, but do it fully and with a sincere heart.

avril chickidee Sunday Sermon, religion

Daffodilly Music, Uncategorized, Video

Continuing the series: Get Serious About Following Jesus!

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Glory to His Name – Awesome!

One Drop of Blood – Amazing song!

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Luke 14:25-33

The three biggest challenges for Christianity:

3. Popular trends

2. Other religions

1. Lack of committment from people who claim to be Christians

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Following Jesus involves total surrender yo Him.

Last we learned that we must submit our money to Him. … This we learn that we must submit our relationships to Him.

…

Now Jesus is at the height of His popularity in this passage just three months before He goes to the cross.

Jesus said we should “hate our family.” (v. 26) … What?! Why?! … Yeah, shocking, radical statement from Christ who encourages good family relationships. … Jesus isn’t saying we should literally hate our family. … Look at Matthew 10:37. … It’s just another phrase that Jesus uses to say, “I should be first in your life.” Our relationship with Christ needs to be above all other relationships we have, one might say it needs to be radically above all other relationships. … And if it is, then usually our other relationships will improve

However, there may be a few relationships that will get worse (Luke 12:52-53). … Example: if a Muslim converts to Christianity, he is kicked out of his family. … Maybe it’s not that radical of a situation for others who have families that aren’t Christian, but I imagine it can still be pretty bad.

Some families are kid-centered or money-centered or marriage-centered. Kids, money, and marriage are all blessings from God, but we need to be sure that we don’t start worshiping the blessings instead of the One who does the blessing. The ideal family is Christ-centered. That doesn’t mean they ignore everything else, just that Christ is the most critical part of the family. Focus on Christ then your family then your job.

…

Is it easy or hard to follow Jesus? … Matthew 11:30 says it’s easy. … Luke 18:24 says it’s hard. … It’s both because Christianity is a free gift that means total surrender to Jesus. … It’s easy to accept a gift. But there is no neutral zone, either you’re all in for Christ or all in for Satan.

Jason Sunday Sermon, religion

Daffodilly Music, Video

This is even later than usual… I’ll get back on schedule this week.

And this is the start of a new series call Getting Serious About Christianity.

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It’s Not in Vain

In Jesus Name We Press On

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Luke 18:18-30

So, a rich, young ruler came to Jesus and asks how to get inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him he needs to sell everything he has and give to the poor, then to follow Him. … Why? … Perhaps the young ruler was worshipping his money either consciously or unconsciously. Or maybe this was a metaphor. … Being a Christian means receiving salvation and giving your life to Christ. We often use the ABC‘s to explain how to become a Christian. Admit you are a sinner. Believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Committ your life to Christ. Let’s look at the C. To committ your life to Christ means to surrender everything you have to Him. We have to put everything under Christ.

…

Jesus also said that it is hard for a rich man to enter Heaven. … Harder than it is for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. Wow. … Why? … Well, I imagine it would hurt the camel pretty awfully to go through that tiny whole. Also, I imagine it would a rich man to sell and give everything he has earned on this Earth for something untangible and in a place he can’t see.

… A cellphone rang during the service here. I found it ironic.

How do we apply these radical statements to our everyday lives? … To follow Christ means to surrender your life to Christ . . . no matter what. … We all start off on the same track. We all start off on wide track heading towards wide gate. We need to shift tracks. … You know the places where trains change tracks? Well, the engineer of the train cannot control the track shifts. That requires somebody else. But the engineer knows what route he needs to take. He also has a radio in there and can talk to the man controlling the tracks. … I see life as being similar. We’re chugging along in our trains and we come to these track shift (life changing) oppurtunities. All we have to do is pick up that radio and ask man in control (pray) to let us change tracks. … Some people may make fun of us for going this way, but we must persist and continue on that narrow track. We must put everything in our lives under Christ’s Lordship.

…

Check this out. A guy named Dave is living with less than 100 items in his possesion. The first three items on his list are Bibles. And fourth is his wedding ring.

Jason Sunday Sermon, religion