Revelation 8:3
“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”
One of the areas in the Christian life where many get discourage is in the area of their prayer life. We live in times when we want immediate results, but the prayer life is not a click-and-get computer program. The prayer life will certainly exercise one’s faith in God and stretch that faith so that if you will continue trusting Him it will allow you to be a stronger Christian.
3 John 1:5
“Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;”
The actions of fellow Christian brothers and sisters will be some of the greatest hurts you will experience in the Christian life. Throughout my ministry, it has not been the world that has hurt or attacked me in the greatest way, but it has been those who were closest to me and who I considered my dearest friends. Whether or not we like this, it is part of the Christian life that you will have to expect.
Merry Christmas from Baptist City! Four great sermons for your listening pleasure from the week of 12/20/15 are now up.
- Where Does Backsliding Usually Start?
- Welcome Home, Simon Peter
- The Shepherds
- The Secret to...
.Enjoy!
Luke 2:1 — Luke 2:20 (KJV)
2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
1 Peter 2:1-2
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
Every Christian should desire to grow as a Christian. The purpose of the Word of God is to help the Christian to become “thoroughly furnished” so that they can continue growing. God addressed five things in the verses above that every Christian needs to lay aside so they can continue to grow. That means if they must lay them aside to grow, having these things in ones life will keep them from growing or will stunt their growth. You will never become the Christian you are supposed to be until you lay these things aside.
James 1:8
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Do you remember when you were a child going to the ice cream shop and having to decide which flavor of ice cream to get? It seemed to be such a difficult decision. In front of you were over fifty flavors of ice cream, and they all looked good. Finally, your parents would say to you, “Hurry up and make up your mind.” Making the final choice was hard because you wanted more than one flavor, but you seemed to have difficulty surrendering to the fact that the flavor you chose was the best flavor.
Hebrews 8:12
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
There is no better example of how to build a relationship with sinners than Jesus Christ. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, continually builds relationships with sinners. He is the One Who died for the sins of mankind, yet He still finds it within Himself to build a relationship with us. How does He do it? The verse above shows us that He is merciful and willing to move on and not remember what we have done. This is a great example of building relationships with sinful people!
The 12/20/15 FBC Hammond bulletin is now up at Baptist City.