Posts in the "Shine Like Stars" Category

How to Live among Non-Christians

by: Jason : Published Jan 24, 2022 12:06pm CST
Sunday Sermon Series Shine Like Stars

1 Peter 2:9-17


Peter wrote this during a time when Christians were beginning to be persecuted. The emperor at the time was probably Nero, who blamed the Christians for some awful things he did. 


If we are to shine like stars we must understand who we are (2:9).


  1. We are a chosen people…. God has chosen us. We’re not just a group of random people who believe the same thing. We were actually chosen by God. 

  2. We are a royal priesthood…. In the Old Testament, the priests were the go-between for the people and God. In the New Testament, that distinction is gone. Rather than having special priests who can pray to God, every believer is part of the priesthood and has a direct line to God. This is a big difference between baptists (as well as other Protestants) and Catholicism. 

  3. We are a holy nation…. Alright, if we're going to have direct access to God, we better be holy. It’s usually not good when someone or something sinful and unholy enters God’s presence. 

  4. We are God’s special possession…. We belong to God. He takes care of us and loves us. When we have something we consider a special possession, we take care of it. Or when we have friends we consider special to us, we take care of them. How much more would God care for those He considers special! 


If we are to shine like stars, we must declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (2:9-10).... We should proclaim the mighty acts of God. We should desire to tell others what God has done for us. 


If we are to shine like stars, we must live in a way that brings glory to God (2:11-17).


  1. Abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul (2:11).... We are citizens of Heaven, which makes us foreigners on Earth. We must be different, but the sinful nature still exists within us and we will battle with it everyday. We should fight to abstain from the desires it gives us. 

  2. Live such honorable lives among non-Christians that their slander is silenced and that some will believe (2:12).... This verse tells us that Christians will be misrepresented by society. In Peter's time, they were accused of being cannibals because of what they said when taking the Lord's Supper and atheists because they worshiped no idols. However, if we live good lives and produce good works, some will see the truth and join the Christian priesthood. 

  3. Submit, for the Lord’s sake, to every human authority (2:13-17).... This was important to Peter. When we become Christians, we submit to God. Peter says we should also submit to human authorities. Why? It gives a good impression to others and also recognizes that God is the Supreme authority who gave these humans authority. Does that mean we always obey human authority? In Acts 5:27-29 we see an example where Peter and others don't submit. Why? Because the order they were given went directly against God's will. That is when we can disobey authority. Even if we don't like who's in charge or think the person in charge is evil and has an evil agenda, we should submit to their authority. The only time we don't submit is when their order directly prevents us from doing God's will. 


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Jamesinome
Aug 17, 2022 . 10:31pm 		Pregnant state info is everywhere. At your current first prenatal visit, your health practitioner will likely supply you with armfuls of pamphlets that cover every analyze and trimester.

Despite all this particular information, here are 10 common surprises in which pregnancy can get.

The Nesting Reaction

Many expectant women feel the nesting intuition, a powerful urge to prepare their home for the baby by simply cleaning and beautifying.

As your own personal due date draws closer, many times yourself cleaning cupboards or cleansing walls - things you in no way might have imagined doing in your ninth month of pregnancy! This desire to prepare your home could be useful - you'll have got a smaller amount of to-do items after the particular birth. Although be careful not really to overdo it.

Problems Along with Attention

In the first trimester, tiredness along with morning sickness could make many women really feel used out and mentally fuzzy. Nevertheless even well-rested pregnant women might have difficulties concentrating and time periods of forgetfulness.

Thinking about often the baby plays a role, seeing that complete hormonal changes. Everything - such as work, bills, and doctor meetings - may seem fewer important compared to the baby and the actual coming birth. Producing lists can help you remember dates as well as appointments.

Mood Swings

Premenstrual symptoms and also pregnancy are alike throughout many ways. Your personal breasts swell and become tender, your personal hormones go up and down, and also you may feel moody. In the event that you have PMS, you're probably to have more intense disposition swings during pregnancy. They can make you get from currently being happy one minute to feeling like crying the next.

Changes in mood are very common during being pregnant. They tend to take place more within the first trimester as well as toward the end of the next trimester.

Many pregnant women get depression during pregnancy. If you possess symptoms such as sleep troubles, within eating habits, and spirits swings for more time than 3 weeks, talk to your well being care provider.

Bra Size

A increase in breast size is actually one of the very first indications of pregnancy. Breast growth inside the first trimester is due to be able to higher levels of the hormones estrogen and also progesterone. That growth in the first trimester might not be typically the end, sometimes - your chests can continue to raise in the course of your pregnancy!

Your bra measurement also can be affected by simply your ribcage. When you're pregnant, your current lung capacity boosts so you actually can take in extra air, which could lead to a even bigger chest size. You may need to replace your personal bras several times during your pregnancy.

Skin Changes

Do your friends declare you have that pregnancy glow? It can one of many outcomes that can come from de adn changes and your skin extending.

Women that are pregnant have increased blood volume level to offer extra blood flow to be able to the uterus as well as other organs, specifically the kidneys. More suitable volume brings more blood into the vessels as well as increases oil sweat gland secretion.

Several women develop brownish or becomes yellowish patches called chloasma, or the actual "mask of pregnancy, inch with their faces. And some can notice a dark line in the midline of the decrease abdomen, known as the particular fila nigra (or linea negra). That they can also have hyperpigmentation (darkening on the skin) of the nipples, external genitalia, and anal spot. That's mainly because pregnancy hormones result in the body for making more color.

This increased pigment might certainly not be even, so the darkened body may appear as splotches of coloring. Chloasma can't end up being prevented, but donning sunscreen in addition to avoiding UV light can decrease its effects.

Acne is common while in pregnancy because the skin's sebaceous glands make more oil. Along with moles or freckles that anyone had before pregnancy may obtain bigger and richer. Most regarding these skin changes should head out aside after you give birth and labor.

Many expectant women also get heat rash, caused by moisture along with sweating. In general, pregnancy nearly always an itchy time for a woman. Skin extending over the stomach may cause itchiness and flaking. Your doctor can recommend ointments to help soothe dry or itchy epidermis.

Hair and Nails

Many women possess changes in locks texture and progress during being pregnant. Hormones can make your tresses grow faster and fall out and about less. Nevertheless hair changes commonly aren't long lasting. Many women get rid of some hair within the postpartum interval or after they stop breastfeeding your baby.

Some women find that they will grow hair in unwanted sites, such as on the face or belly or around the hard nips. Changes in hair structure can easily make hair drier or oilier. Some women even find their hair changing color.

Nails, like tresses, can change during pregnancy. Additional hormones might make them grow quicker and become better. Some women of all ages, though, find that their particular fingernails or toenails split and break easier while in pregnancy. Like the changes inside hair, nail bed changes aren't everlasting. If your nails split as well as tear more easily giving up cigarettes expecting a baby, keep them trimmed and prevent the chemicals in nail polish as well as fingernail polish remover.

Shoe Dimensions

Even when you can't fit into any kind of of your pre-pregnancy outfits, you actually still have your shoes, correct? Maybe - but maybe not necessarily. Extra water in their pregnant bodies mean that lots of women have swollen feet and need to wear a larger shoe size. Donning slip-on shoes in a more substantial size is usually more comfortable, especially in the summer months.

Joint Ability to move

During pregnancy, your human body makes the hormone relaxin, that is believed to help get ready typically the pubic area and often the cervix for any birth. Relaxin loosens the structures in your human body, making you less stable plus more at risk for injury. Is actually easy to overstretch or strain yourself, especially sore joints in your current pelvis, lower back, and knees. When exercising or lifting materials, go slowly and avoid sudden, jerking motions.

Varicose Veins, Piles, and Congestion

Varicose veins, typically found in typically the legs and also genital area, happen when blood vessels pools in undesireable veins enlarged by means of pregnancy hormones. Varicose veins generally go away after maternity. To help help prevent them: avoid standing or sitting for long cycles, wear loose-fitting clothing, wear assistance garden hose, raise your feet if you sit.

Hemroids - varicose veins in the butt - are common during pregnancy seeing that well. Your personal blood volume features increased and your uterus sets pressure on your pelvis. Therefore the veins in your rectum could add volume to into grape-like clusters. Hemorrhoids is often very painful, and can hemorrhage, itch, or even sting, especially in the course of or after the bowel mobility (BM).

Constipation is also a common maternity woe. It happens since being pregnant hormones slow the driving regarding food through the gastrointestinal region. During the later stages of maternity, your uterus may generate next to your large intestine, producing it hard for you for you to have a BM. And congestion can contribute to hemorrhoids simply because forcing to go may enhance the blood vessels of the rear end.

The best way to package with dyschezia and hemorrhoids is actually to prevent these people. Eating any fiber-rich diet, sipping plenty of liquids daily, and performing exercises often can help keep BMs typical. Stool softeners (not laxatives) may also be helpful. If you do have hemorrhoid flare-ups, talk to your physician with regards to a cream or ointment that will shrink them.

Things That Are available Out of Your entire body During Crews

So you've survived the feelings swings and the hemorrhoids, and you think your surprises are over. But the day you offer birth will probably hold the largest surprises of all.

In pregnancy, substance surrounds your baby in often the amniotic sac. This sac fractures (or "ruptures") at the start off of or throughout labor - a moment usually termed as your personal water breaking. For most ladies in labor, contractions start prior to their water breaks. Sometimes a doctor has to rupture the amniotic longchamps (if the cervix is actually already dilated).

How much normal water can you expect? For a full-term baby, there are about 2 to 3 cups of amniotic fluid. Many ladies may feel an powerful urge to be able to pee that potential buyers to a gush connected with water when their water concessions. Other individuals may only feel a trickling down their leg because typically the little one's head acts like some sort of stopper to prevent most of the fluid from leaking away.

Amniotic fluid is generally sweet-smelling and also pale or colorless. It's substituted by your body every several several hours, so don't be astonished if you continue to leak liquid, about a cup 1 hour, until delivery.

Other, unexpected items may well come out of your entire body during work. Some women include nausea in addition to vomiting. Others have got diarrhea ahead of or during labor, and moving gas is also common. During the driving phase of labor, you may drop control of your bladder as well as degestion.

A birth plan can certainly help talk your wishes to help your health care providers about precisely how to handle these and various other aspects of crews and supply.

Lots of surprises have been in retail store for you when you're expectant - but possibly none sweeter when compared with the method you'll feel when your baby is in your current arms!


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Walk in the Light

by: Jason : Published Jan 19, 2022 3:53pm CST
Sunday Sermon Series Shine Like Stars

If You Walk in the Light, You Will Love Others 1 John 1:5-9; 2:9-11


John is confronting false teachers who say they are “enlightened” and that they know God, but they are still living in moral darkness.


John says that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1:5-6).


“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in darkness. Anyone who loves their brother or sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble” (2:9-10).


… John wrote this letter to deal with false teachers. Some people were giving false teachings. These people claimed to know God either intellectually or emotionally. John says that knowing God is more than either of those. It's more than knowing He exists, more than just feeling His presence. It also results in a moral change. We should desire to follow His instructions and to have the same morals as God. But none of us are perfect. Even those of us who were saved many years ago still aren't perfect, so we still need to confess our sins to God. When we keep our sins hidden, the darkness grows. Unaddressed sin leads to darkness. Confessing it to God shines a light on the shadows caused by sin. So, in order to walk in the light, we must continually confess to God and keep His commandments. We must love others as He loves us. 


If we are to shine like stars, we must love one another in the church (John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7).


Four principles to help us love others beyond our church:


  1. Understand that love does not equal approval. It’s OK to do good things for bad people. (Matthew 5:43-46).... Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. God sends the sun to shine on everyone, righteous or evil, just or unjust. 

  2. Try to see the person behind the label…. We tend to label people. It's not a good way to go through life, but it is something we do. We should look beyond those labels and see the people begin them, connect with those people on a personal level instead of relying on the labels. 

  3. Love is best expressed in tangible action…. God loves us, but He didn't just yell down from Heaven, "I love you!" He sent His son to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven. How can we show love to others in tangible, concrete ways? We serve in ministries. We help others. We hand out food to the hungry. 

  4. The greatest love is sacrificial (John 15:12-13).... Going back to Jesus, we see that sacrificial love is the greatest love of all. If Jesus can sacrifice His life for us, we can sacrifice our time and money for others. 


Live As Children of Light

by: Jason : Published Jan 12, 2022 4:39pm CST
Sunday Sermon Series Shine Like Stars


Ephesians 5:3-14


We were once darkness, but now we are light in the Lord. We must live (walk) as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). We must have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness (5:11). We must be distinctive and different, like stars shining in a dark sky…. Even those of us who were saved as children and never really had a "dark" time where our behavior was really destructive and full of sin, we were darkness too. That's why we shouldn't look down on people who do struggle with the darkness. Instead we should be light to them and shine the light of Jesus. This will make us stand out. Some of us don't like to stand out, but in order to be light, we must. 


What are specific areas where Christians must be different from our culture? In regard to our actions, there must not be a hint of sexual immorality or impurity or greed (5:3).... Sexual immorality and impurity cover any kind of sin that involves sex. That includes everything from premarital sax to adultery to homosexuality to pornography. Now, many people believe that it is good to live together before marriage to test compatibility, but we are told there should be no hint of that. Attitudes about pornography are also becoming loose. Many people of the newer generations think viewing pornography is ok and normal. The problem with that is that viewing pornography often leads to viewing people differently. It objectifies sex and the people involved. It affects how we treat each other. We are told not to have a hint of that in our lives. We are told to stand out. Why is greed included in this list? Because all three words share a process of sin that involves an appetite. They lead us to think that if we could have more of it, we would be happy. 


In regard to our conversation, there must be no obscenity or foolish talk or coarse jokes (5:4).... We are told to not join in the crude words and jokes that are rampant in the world. We should stand out because we use more wholesome and pure language that encourages and shines the light of Christ. 


You can be sure of this: no such person has any inheritance in the Kingdom of God (5:5).... This doesn't mean that if you have ever committed any of the sins mentioned here that you can't be saved. Rather, it means that if these sins define a pattern in your life, you are likely still in the darkness. 


Let no one deceive you with empty words (5:6).... There are denominations and churches that have tried to widen the path and the gate to Heaven by saying these things are ok. They are wrong to do this. Only God can define the path and gate to salvation and Heaven. He has not widened it. There is no evidence of it widening in the Bible. The path is narrow and the gate is small. We can't let people convince us of anything that contradicts what we see in God's Word.

Shine Like Stars

by: Jason : Published Jan 5, 2022 4:52pm CST
Sunday Sermon Series Shine Like Stars

This is the start of a five week series. This series will look at five places in the Bible where it gives a contrast between light and dark. We start with what is very much a theme verse for this series. 


Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life (Philippians 2:14-16a).


Paul uses two words to describe the moral and spiritual darkness of our world:  


  1. Our world is warped…. The Greek word here also means twisted. God gives us good things and we like to twist them into something God never intended. 

  2. Our world is crooked…. This is basically a synonym for warped or twisted. It emphasizes that humanity takes the good gifts of God and perverts them. 


We must shine like stars in the darkness:


This means we do not retreat from the darkness. We live in the midst of darkness…. Stars shine brightest the darker it is. It's important for us to not hide from the darkness, but to illuminate it and spread the light. 


This means we do not just criticize darkness. We show the way in the darkness…. It's too easy for many of us to just see the evil in the world or bad things going on and just criticize it, condemn it, harp on it without showing people a better way with love. Instead of just pointing out the things that are wrong, we should also lovingly show the right way. We should reach out to those in need. Feed the hungry. Clothe the poor. Help clean up after disasters. 


We shine like stars when there is nothing in our lives to cause people to criticize Christianity:


  1. Be blameless….. Nobody is perfect or without sin, but people can be blameless or above reproach. We should keep things that would prevent others from coming to Christ out of our lives. 

  2. Be pure… This applies to inner motives and character. It's important to have proper motives and good character. 

  3. Be without fault…. This doesn't mean perfect. It refers to the old animal sacrifices where they were supposed to give animals that didn't have any obvious defects. Don't have any obvious faults and flaws. 


Can you think of anything you need to change in your life to be those things? Here are two specific things we can do to shine like stars:


  1. Do everything without grumbling…. Grumbles do not tend to attract people or give good examples of the life of a Christian. It helps to avoid grumbling, especially when you are trying to be a witness of Christ, which should be our default and constant goal. 

  2. Do everything without arguing…. It's important to stick to our convictions, but sometimes arguing is not the way to win someone over to Christ. It's possible to win an argument and lose the person. We must be careful to remain respectful and compassionate. 


Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't say this series title brought a certain classic NewsBoys song to mind.