“This is my comfort in my affliction: for Thy word hath quickened me.” – Psa. 119:50
God’s word will resuscitate you, bring you back from the dead, and revive you.
Tag Archives: Sermon
Holy Week: Thursday – Passover and Last Supper
“Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’” – Luke 22:15-16
Holy Week: Thursday – Passover and Last Supper
Today in history, Jesus (the actual Passover Lamb), participates in the Passover. He washes the disciples’ feet, institutes the Lord’s Supper, has the Upper Room Discourse, prays in the garden, and is betrayed (both by Judas and later Peter) and is arrested.
What a tragic day for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
As you pray this morning, remember our Messiah’s final earthly days. They were full of humility (both to His Father’s will and also to His disciples) and compassion.
Thursday’s events are recorded in Matthew 26:17–75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-62, and John 13:1-38.
Exiled at Home: COVID-19 Quarantine
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” – 1 Pet. 1:1-2
Look, I know this is weird. We are all feeling it. The last place we want to be on Sunday is at home. We love Christ’s bride. We love our church. But the church is more than a building; it’s the people.
Right now we are “exiled,” as it were. During this time, I stand with Peter and pray grace to you and peace be multiplied!
Yours in Christ,
– Pastor Patrick
Soli Deo Gloria!
Be Wise In What Is Good, And Simple Concerning Evil
“For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.” – Rom. 16:19
Be wise in what is good; know that well, live it and teach it.
Be simple concerning evil; keep from it, expose it, and do not learn it.
Love good, hate evil. Do not contaminate yourself with wickedness – this is true liberty. This is real freedom.
Imagine a society that held to these two short, simple mandates. Imagine what that might look like.
All Godly Will Suffer
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” – 2 Tim. 3:12
This is not an isolated concept found in just one verse.
Also note: Rom. 8:16-18; Eph. 5:11-12; Phil. 1:29; 2 Thes. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:3; Heb. 13:12-13; 1 Peter 2:19-21; 1 John 3:13; 1 John 3:16-18; Rev. 2:10
Francis Chan’s Rope Illustration
The best 17 mins you’ll spend today:
Francis Chan’s Rope Illustration
Keep It Simple
I like things simple. Simple life. Simple truth:
- light/dark
- truth/lie
- freedom/bondage.
“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, Than great treasure with trouble.” – Prov. 15:16
KISS: Keep It Simple, Silly.
Read John.
True Love For God
“True love for God must be in the heart–or else there is no grace there whatever. If a man does not love God, then he is not a renewed man. Love for God is a mark which is always set upon Christ’s sheep, and never set upon any others.
I have no right, therefore, to believe that I am a regenerated person–unless my heart truly and sincerely loves God. If I have been regenerated, I will not be perfect, but this one thing I can say: “Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You!” When by believing we receive the privilege to become sons of God–we also receive the nature of sons, and with filial love we cry, “Abba, Father!”
There is no exception to this rule! If a man does not sincerely love God–then he is not born of God. As the sun must give forth its light–so must a soul that has been created anew by divine grace, display its nature by earnest affection toward God. You are not born again, unless you love God. Sincere love to God is indispensable!”
– Charles Spurgeon
“If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed!” – 1 Cor. 16:22
Romans 3:21-26
Martin Luther called it the heart of the Bible. Spurgeon called it the soul, head, foundation, and cornerstone of the Gospel. To miss it is to miss the central idea of God’s Word.
Romans 3:21-26
Up to now (Romans 1-3:20), Paul has shown the overwhelming evidence in God’s court that Man is hopelessly guilty.
This is the verdict of Man.
“Is the wound forever incurable? No; blessed be God, there is way laid open for us!” – Matthew Henry
“BUT NOW!”
This is the scene in the movie; the sudden turn/twist: the last minute intervention; riding into the wedding or execution.
Something unexpected happens that changes everything.
The Righteousness of God comes…
“21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His G.R.A.C.E. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
The Verdict is overruled = NOT GUILTY
1. Apart from the Law = you can’t be good enough/keep laws/rituals (emphatic position)
2. Justified by His Grace = “made right/innocent” before God by His grace. Scandalous!
3. Through faith in Jesus for all who believe = Too good to be true? Trust in Jesus. It really happened, he died for me! It is finished/done!
This is the BOMB dropped; the ripple effect – the event that changed everything
This is where “Mercy & truth have met together; Righteousness & peace have kissed.” (Psa. 85:10) It’s all because of Jesus on the Cross!
This is our God!
One Solitary Life
“A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man, the tide of popular feeling turns against him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed to a cross between two thieves, and when dead is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend.
Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead. Today we look back across nineteen hundred years [now twenty!] and ask, What kind of trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life.”
– Dr. James Allan Francis, “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”).
Commit to the Lord here and now.
Ref: https://www.anointedlinks.com/one_solitary_life_original.html
