9/24/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, the most important part of a person’s life is not what they did but who they were, their character! Today we continue our study looking at the Godly characteristics of the Apostle Paul. Last week we looked at the manner of his life, the measure of his life and the message of his life. Today we will conclude this chapter looking at the ministry of his life, the motto of his life and the mission of his life.
Beloved, how do you measure a man? What really counts? What really matters? Is it BRAINS, BRAWN and BUCKS or is it character? Beloved, Paul was a man of character. Remember this, when you die you will not be remembered for what you did but for who you were. As for me, I only echo what Robert Murray McCheyne said, "What my people need most from me is my personal holiness." Beloved, your family needs you to be a person of character. Your church needs you to be a person of character. The Lord desires that you be a person of character
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9/17/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, how do you measure a man? Now I am not speaking about his height but his life. The world measures a man by brains, or by brawn or by bucks. But how do you measure a man? More importantly, how does God measure a man? Very simply, God measures a man by character, Godly character!
It has been said that reputation is who everyone thinks you are, while character is who you really are. So where do you fall on the character scale. Concerning the Apostle Paul, he would rather die with a conviction than live with a compromise. He lived his life well because he was a man of character. As we study through the last verses of Acts 20 and Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian Elders, we will focus on his character. Today we will look at the manner of his life, the measure of his life and the message of his life. Speaking of character Abraham Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” 9/10/2023 0 Comments Pastor's PenBeloved, there's a reason why the Spirit of God gives us these simple narrative passages. And one of the primary reasons is to illustrate the great doctrinal concepts. We need the epistles, because we need to understand the flow of logic. We need to understand the clear articulation of great theological truth. But we need the book of Acts, because we need to see it fleshed out. We need to see it lived. It isn't enough for us to have information. We need models, don't we? It's isn't enough for us to know something. We have to see it in action. And so in the book of Acts, we see a man by the name of the Apostle Paul, who's in the process of writing his epistles. And while he's writing them, he's living them.
What he taught, he lived. What he called for, he demonstrated. And in this chapter, I see Paul's great love for the church and that's really what's on my heart to speak to you today. To remind myself of my own commitment to demonstrate love to the saints, to remind you, since you have newly affirmed your commitment to this church, to remind you of what it means to love the church. Jesus loved the church enough to offer redemptive sacrifice for the church. Paul loves the church enough to offer sacrificial service to the church. 9/3/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, it was G. Campbell Morgan who said, “The church persecuted has always been the church pure; and, therefore, the church powerful. The church patronized has always been the church in peril, and very often, the church paralyzed.”
As a Christian we should not be surprised that we may be persecuted. Persecution has always brought growth to the Church and to the individual. Concerning persecution I love the promise given to us found in Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Beloved, even in the midst of a riot we can trust that God is in control and that He will guide and protect. God is sovereign to protect His church against the opposition of Satan 8/27/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, God has placed each of us in our own sphere of darkness in order to bring the light of the gospel to those around us. For the Apostle Paul, that sphere of darkness we will study today is the city of Ephesus – a city dominated by satanic and demonic activity; a city known for the temple of Artemis (Diana) and for all of its magical and occult practices. Ephesus was a city where God was going to demonstrate that the power of His Word and of His Works could be victorious in radically changing lives and rescuing people from the bondage of their life of futility.
Thus, today’s message begins and ends with power, God’s power. We begin with the power behind the proclamation of God’s Word, then we proceed to cover the power of God’s kingdom over demonic forces and finally end with the producing of powerful results. All of this brings us to the point of God being glorified. Beloved, the Holy Spirit is power. Ephesians 3:20-21 reads, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (KJV) Beloved, may we rest in God’s power working in our lives today! 8/20/2023 0 Comments Pastor's Pen Beloved, as we close our study on Habakkuk, He moves from burden to blessing, from wonder/worry to worship, from restlessness to rest, from a problem to God’s Person, and from a complaint to consolation, from confusion to confidence!
Beloved, only our great God and Savior can supernaturally turn sighing into singing so we must like Habakkuk take time to wait before Him in prayer and listen to His Word. It is always "worth the wait!" In 1851 an English Missionary, Alan Gardner, was shipwrecked on the bottom tip of South America with many others. They would eventually die of hunger. Alan was the last one to die. The very last thing Alan wrote in his journal was Psalm 34:10, “Young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Alan also wrote, “I am overwhelmed with the sense of the goodness of God!” When do you say, “God is good?” When the fig trees are blossoming, when there’s money, etc. You and I infer the goodness of God from stuff. Alan Gardner and Habakkuk, for that matter, learned that you can know the goodness of God in the midst of starvation and lack. 8/13/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, the Book of Habbakuk tells us how to deal with evil times and maintain joy when everything is going wrong. There are three principles to giving: give sacrificially, joyfully, and graciously. We must recognize that everything is a gift from God, so we’re giving back from his gifts. Habbakuk points to Jesus as the true source of our strength.
Habakkuk is describing an economic disaster! Figs, grapes, olives, and grain were the four ways the land produced fruit so you could eat and produce wealth. Sheep and cattle were where investments were made. This was their portfolio. While there was some currency- the main manner in which money was made and transacted was through the means Habakkuk mentions. Habakkuk is essentially alluding to the principle of first fruits. So, we will initially look at Deuteronomy 26 and then finish in Habakkuk 3:17-19 7/30/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenIn today's passage Jesus is telling His disciples of what's to come to them in their lives, and when it does, to remember His words.
We can be assured His words comforted and encouraged them in times of trouble. Peter gives encouraging words to his fellow believers much in the same way Jesus did in 1 Peter 3:14 "But even if you should suffer for righteous sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled." Beloved let us be encouraged to seek comfort in the words of Jesus in our trials, troubles and persecutions. In His Service, Jimmy 7/23/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, it is hard to wait. We are often told to wait and to be patient but being patient is a hard thing to do. We want what we want, and we want it now. So why wait?
We wait because God has a plan. So as a single person we wait for God’s best. In the midst of our many afflictions, we wait for God’s direction and healing. While we endure times of financial stress and fear we wait for His provision and protection. And as we study Habakkuk, we learn that we must wait by faith, “but the righteous shall live by his faith.” We must learn to trust God and when we do it becomes much easier to wait |