God’s confronts His people’s sin
Commandment IX states: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." –Revelation 21:8
Jesus says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” –John 8:44-47
Jesus tells us that when we lie concerning the truth of God and when we break the ninth commandment, to not bear false witness against our neighbors, we are acting as if the devil is our father.
There many ways in which you may lie:
If you hear the Word of God do not respond to it you are a liar. If you hear a false teacher and do not confront them or correct them you are in fact lying concerning the truth of God.
If you say you did something that you didn’t- you are liar. If you say didn’t do something that you did- you are a liar.
If you gossip about your neighbor- you are a liar. If you slander your neighbor- you are a liar.
If you hate someone- you are a liar and a murder. You are the son of the devil.
If you reject the Son of God, Jesus and his words- you are liar.
God has no room for liars in his kingdom, which means all liars, along with the devil, will be sentenced to the second death. The eternal death in the lake of fire.
This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.
God's people confess their sins
Christians:
-Have I active lied concerning God’s truth?
-Have said something false about someone I know?
-Have I said something untrue about me?
-Have I allowed others to profane God’s truth?
-Have I falsely reported information on my Taxes other paperwork?
Skeptics and Agnostics:
-Have I considered the words and claims of Jesus?
-Do I realize that not making a decision regarding Jesus word’s is rejecting Jesus as a liar?
God graciously forgives His people
"...speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." Ephesains 4
The first way to stop being a liar is to accept and believe the truth. The truth that God wants you to believe now is that if you have confessed your sins in faith seeking the favor of Jesus, All your sins are forgiven!
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Shout for joy to YHWH
God calls His people to worship
Leader: Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and Jesus His only begotten Son!
Leader: Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and Jesus His only begotten Son!
Congregation: And also with you!
Leader: Let us honor the mother’s present today.
Congregation (to the mothers):
The LORD bless you and keep you, the LORD make his face to shine upon and be gracious to you, The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
The LORD bless you and keep you, the LORD make his face to shine upon and be gracious to you, The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
God calls His people to worship
Shout for joy to YHWH, all the earth. Worship YHWH with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs. Know that YHWH is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people!
Psalm 100:1-3
Sunday, April 27, 2008
This, then, is how you should pray:
God calls His people to worship
Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Congregation: And also with you!
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
This, then, is how you should pray:
(Congregation join in)
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is kingdom and the power and the glory forever! Amen."
Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Congregation: And also with you!
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
This, then, is how you should pray:
(Congregation join in)
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is kingdom and the power and the glory forever! Amen."
isn't that hyperbolic
God's people confess their sins
Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. -Deuteronomy 6:1-6
Allow the intensity and weight of the standard and command of God to penetrate your heart. This is not a hyperbolic statement. It really is what God demands and wants from His people.
If it is true that God wants us to Love Him with all our hearts, minds and might. How does that affect the other things in our life?
The entirety of our lives must be radically Christ centered!
This call of God is not difficult to understand. It is plain and it is simple, but it is something that we have fallen short of even attempting to do. So be reminded! And let us like Paul say:
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
This reminds us to confess our sins:
-Is the entirety of my life centered on this: Loving God?
-Is my life truly a radical life that declares I love God?
-Do I truly fear God?
-Do I fear and love man more than God?
-Is my life full of joy unspeakable?
God graciously forgives His people
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
-1 john 4:9
Christ has made you His own! He has demonstrated His love for you in this: that while you are sinners He died for you! His death was for this purpose: that your sins might be forgiven and that you might be reconciled to God!
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. -Deuteronomy 6:1-6
Allow the intensity and weight of the standard and command of God to penetrate your heart. This is not a hyperbolic statement. It really is what God demands and wants from His people.
If it is true that God wants us to Love Him with all our hearts, minds and might. How does that affect the other things in our life?
The entirety of our lives must be radically Christ centered!
This call of God is not difficult to understand. It is plain and it is simple, but it is something that we have fallen short of even attempting to do. So be reminded! And let us like Paul say:
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
This reminds us to confess our sins:
-Is the entirety of my life centered on this: Loving God?
-Is my life truly a radical life that declares I love God?
-Do I truly fear God?
-Do I fear and love man more than God?
-Is my life full of joy unspeakable?
God graciously forgives His people
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
-1 john 4:9
Christ has made you His own! He has demonstrated His love for you in this: that while you are sinners He died for you! His death was for this purpose: that your sins might be forgiven and that you might be reconciled to God!
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Prison Break
God calls His people to Worship - Easter Sunday
Leader: Be encouraged! The Lord is no longer in the death's prison. He has conquered sin and swallowed up death! He is Risen!
Congregation: He is Risen indeed!
Leader: He is Risen!
Congregation: He is Risen indeed!
Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor 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.
Romans 8: 34-39
The Pattern of Death and Resurrection
The Church confesses Her sins
And he [Jesus] said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9: 23-26
Jesus sets the price for any who would choose to follow him. He says the price is to follow him to the cross and die. This seems a heavy price when one is first confronted with it, but He does says to count the cost. However, He gives us the proper weights with which to measure that cost: die willing on God's terms now and He will raise you up on the last day, or struggle for life now and God's long-suffering will eventually come to an end and you will enter eternal death.
Jesus shows us that this is a metaphor concerning your attitude towards Him. Love Jesus, exalt Jesus, boast in Jesus now and He will say to you, "Well done my good and faithful servant!" Deny Jesus in shame now and He will deny you in shame before the Father. This urges us to count the cost and confess our sins:
Christian:
-How am I or am I not boasting Jesus?
-How have I denied Jesus?
-Am I suffering for His name sake? How?
Skeptic/doubter: -Have I counted the cost of following Jesus? Consider that all that is yours is really God's. He has graciously given it to you to use. His desire is that you see and savor Him as a good gift-giver in such a way that you exalt Him above all his good gifts.
God mercifully forgives His people
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was raised- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Romans 8: 31-34
We must not confuse this with a works-based salvation. Jesus first loved us and because of his love and forgiveness we are compelled to love Him and sacrifice for Him. So remember if you have failed or if you have denied him. His forgiveness is for you! If you ran to him this morning or even beat your breast in shame, He says with joy, "Your sins are forgiven! I love you!"
Congregation: THANKS BE TO GOD!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Jesus when lifted up will draw all men to Himself
Good Friday Service
God calls His people to worship
Leader: May you have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and may you be filled with all the fullness of God.
Congregation: And you also!
Hear the words of Jesus: "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
God calls His people to worship
Leader: May you have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and may you be filled with all the fullness of God.
Congregation: And you also!
Hear the words of Jesus: "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
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