Your Sermon

Your sermon
Jesus said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
If you claim to be a Christian. A follower of Christ Jesus are you doing this?
If you claim to be a Christian you are whether you like it or not representing Christ Jesus in your words and deeds.
Francis of Assisi rightly said,

"The deeds you do 

may be 

the only sermon some persons will hear today" 

                                                            Francis of Assisi.

So what is your sermon saying to the people around you?
Are you showing the love of Christ to those around you no matter who they are?
Do you correctly represent Christ to those around you?
Are you evangelizing and telling people about what should be the most important thing in  your life?
Are you dealing honourably and faithfully with those around you?
The Talmud while not a Christian book tells this story that I can see happening. It states,
“When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?”  Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual?  “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”The Talmud.
On the day you stand before God, if he were to ask you that question, “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?” What will you say?
Will God say your sermon truly reflected His unconditional love to all you came in contact with?
Please think about it.  

Because

Because

Because...

“...He (God) first loved us.”

       1 John 4:19

I will...love God

Because...

“...God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 

that whoever believes in Him should not perish 

but have everlasting life.”  

John 3:16

I will...have faith in Christ, faith in God

Because...

Jesus when asked, 

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 

   Jesus replied: 

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  

                This is the first and greatest commandment.  

             And the second is like it: 

        ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  

      All the Law and the Prophets 

hang on these two commandments.” 

       Matthew 22:36-40

I will...love my God and my neighbour.

Because...

Jesus said,“You have heard that it was said, 

‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  

But I tell you: Love your enemies 

and pray for those who persecute you,” 

Matthew 5:43,44

I will...love my enemies and pray for my persecutors.

Because...

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, 

it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

   Love never fails....

 And now these three remain: 

faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest  of these is love.”  

1Corinthians 13:4-8a,13

I will...I will love unconditionally.

                   Dear Reader
                   Will you do the same?
                                       Please think about it.

Faith

Faith

“A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” 

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, 

because the breath of the LORD blows on them. 

Surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, 

but the word of our God stands forever.” 

                                                                    Isaiah 40:6-8.

There is one thing we all know. We will not get out of this life alive. I however do not believe life ends in death. I believe human beings are eternal beings. Beings created by God to have fellowship with Him.
For me if there is no life after death. If this life is all we have it’s a waste of time. The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:10,11.
Someone one once said to me,

“life’s a game and he who has all the toys in the end wins”

Nothing could be further from the truth for at the end of this life you can take nothing with you. All you have accumulated in this life will be divided up and given to others.
The only thing you take with you to the next life is your faith in God.
The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
The writer of Hebrews tells us,

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

                                                         Hebrews 11:6.

The apostle Paul writes,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.
I as a Christian believe God has made things as simple as possible for individuals to get to heaven. God has even gone as far as to enter into the world he created in the form of His one and Only Son Jesus Christ.
The apostle John referring to Jesus as “the Word” said,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-4,14.
John also making it clear,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13 
As I said the key to eternal life with God is faith. The writer of Hebrews telling us,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and 

certain of what we do not see.” 

                                       Hebrews 11:1.

Do you believe in God?
Please think carefully about it.

Sin and Forgiveness

Sin and Forgiveness
The Apostle John writes,
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 1:5 - 2:2.
Here the apostle John talks about sin. Wrong doing.  Sin is falling short of God’s ideal for our lives. If we walk in sin we are walking in darkness. Darkness covers our sins at least from those around us. It does not however cover them from God.
In order to have fellowship with God we need to confess our sins. In the old Testament people would go to the temple in Jerusalem and sacrifice an animal to cover their sins. It was a practice they had to do regularly.
Jesus however came into the world as the final sacrifice. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross cleanses us from sin. John telling us.
“He (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
John states clearly,
“...the blood of Jesus, His (God’s) Son, purifies us from all sin.”
John emphasizes,
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
We are all human. We all sin. We all fall short of God’s ideal for our lives. As soon as we realize we have sinned it is important that we confess that sin to God in prayer and as John states,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Are you willing to believe Jesus is the Son of God and accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for your sins?
Are you willing to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
The apostle John telling us,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13.
Please think about it.