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The Gift of Faithfulness

Series:  The Perfect Gift 12/18/11 How should we respond to the One who has given so much for us, and to us?  Today as we look at the life of a woman who welcomed Jesus to this earth 2000 years ago, her response reveals to us the perfect gift to give Jesus.  Her name is Anna. If there is one word that could describe Anna’s life, it is the word faithful.  From her life, we discover that the perfect gift to give Jesus, is the Gift of Faithfulness.  It is easy to be dedicated at doing something for a short time, it is easy to be excited at the beginning of thing, but it takes great devotion to stay committed and fervent over the long haul - that’s faithfulness. Will you give to Jesus the gift of faithfulness - faithfulness in integrity, faithfulness in ministry, and faithfulness in spirituality?

The Gift of Obedience

Series:  The Perfect Gift 12/11/11 When Joseph first heard the news of Mary’s pregnancy, he struggled with the decision of what to do.  As a righteous man, he must have prayed for God’s guidance, because he wanted to do the right thing.  In his mind, he came to the conclusion that he would quietly divorce her.  He would show her mercy. However, God had other plans, and that night Joseph received his own angelic appearance in a dream, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Now Joseph has another decision to make: will he obey God or will he follow his own decision. The gift that Joseph gave that first Christmas is the gift of obedience. It is the gift that God desires from each of us. Joseph obeyed in taking Mary as his wife. Joseph obeyed in naming the child Jesus. Joseph later obeyed another angelic visitation in taking his family to Egypt for the safety of the child (Mt 2:13). Joseph obeyed in raising Jesus as his son every day. As we look at the story of Joseph, it teaches us several vital truths of the obedience that God desires from us.

The Gift of Our Life

Series:  The Perfect Gift 12/3/11 The Christmas season is here, and everyone is making their list and checking it twice, racking their minds and running from store to store in pursuit of the perfect gift for each person.  Gift giving and Christmas have become synonymous, and it should be no surprise, as the practice of Christmas gift giving actually started 2000 years ago. The first Christmas gift ever, was given by God himself. The Scripture says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16). The question that I want us to ask this morning is: after He has given us so much, what do we give Him in return. What is our gift to Him?  What is the gift that He would desire from us?  What is the gift that would most please Him? In this Christmas series, we are going to be looking at the story of several people in Scripture and the gifts that they gave to Jesus at His birth. Today we are going to look at the story of Mary, a woman who offered to Jesus the gift of Her life.

Living a Life God Prospers

Series: A Prosperous Life 11/27/11 God made repeated promises to prosper his people.  However, we often want to claim God’s promises with no regard for how we are living, or if we are living in obedience to His will.  The fact is that God’s promises are conditional. There is an “If...then” formula to every promise of God: ”if you will do this, then I will bless you and I will prosper you....”  The “if” generally involves not just a momentary act of obedience, but a lifestyle that obeys and pleases God. Today, as we consider this passage, it teaches us 3 essentials of living a life that God prospers.

Prospering in Desparate Times

11/20/11 Series:  A Prosperous Life God promises prosperity to His people, but with every promise there is a condition.  These verses reveal the conditions: God prospers those who are serving Him in careful obedience to all that He has commanded.  That’s not perfection, but it is a delighting in His law, a desire to obey and please Him.  If we are doing that, we can claim His promises of prosperity, realizing as we see in 3 John 2 and elsewhere prosperity is not merely financial.  God’s desire for His people is to prosper in every area of life: spiritually, physically, emotionally and financially.  The word prosper means to excel in all areas of life, to advance, to make progress.  It means to thrive, succeed, or do well. In Hebrew it literally means "to have a pleasant fulfilling journey.” God will is for us to prosper no matter how tough the times may be, as we see how God blessed his people through Joseph even when the region was experiencing one of the most dire economic crises of the time. I pray that as we study this principle of Scripture, it will encourage our faith in an unshakable God, and call us to a deeper obedience to God’s unshakable Word.

Zealous For God and His Work

Series:  Totally Committed 111/06/11 Paul tells us in Titus 2:14 - we should be “zealous of good works.”  To be zealous describes one of the strongest emotions.  Zeal is an intense emotion which compels to actions.  When you are zealous for something, it manifests in energetic, and unwavering pursuit or devotion to a cause.  That is why some versions translate this word “zelotes” as “fully committed.”  We are to be fervently pursuing or fully committed to good works. The example of Jesus teaches us what it means to be zealous of good works.  He shows us what that looks like.  He demonstrates that it means we must preach zealously, pray zealously and give zealously.

The Lessons of Grace

Series:  Totally Committed 10/30/11 Grace is the agent of our salvation, and is the means by which every blessing of God is made available to us. Grace is the free gift of God, unearned and undeserved.    But grace is also often abused and misunderstood.  It is taken by some as a free pass to coast into heaven, a license to live as we please.  Grace is not only the agent of our salvation, it is also our teacher to provide instruction for life.  Grace not only redeems us from what we have done, but it teaches us what to do.  It teaches us to live a life that is fully committed, zealous for Christ and His purpose.  Today, as we consider this passage of Scripture, we learn 4 very significant lessons about grace.

Prosperity is a Choice

Series:  A Prosperous Life 10/16/11 It is sad that many of the promises of the Word of God might appear to be unfulfilled when claimed. Why is that? Is it that God has changed His mind? Or is it that God is unable to do what He promised?  No! God does not change His mind, nor is He unable to do what He has promised, but the promises are sometimes claimed by people who do not understand that there is a Divine principle involved. God always outlines conditions that must be met.  Those conditions relate to our relationship with Him, and our obedience to His Word.  These conditions must be put into action to release the promised blessing. Deut. 30:15-20  tells us that prosperity is a choice.  So today, we want to look at the choice to prosper, so that we can understand how to release God’s promises in our lives.

God's Plan of Prosperity

Series:  A Prosperous Life 10/9/11 Sometimes we look at our lives, and question, if God’s will is for me to prosper, how come my life doesn’t seem very prosperous right now?  Have you been there? Things may not be going according to our plan, but God’s got a plan, and the ultimate goal of God’s plan is to prosper us and not to harm us to give us a future and a hope. So what are God’s plans for us?  Today we are going to look at that very issue. We want to understand God’s plan of prosperity for us, and see what it involves.

God's Covenant With His People

Series:  A Prosperous Life 10/2/11 The God of the universe, our Sovereign King, has chosen us as His people, and when we accept His covenant, all of His resources become ours.  Now in Deut 4-27 God spells out the terms of the covenant.  He sets forth what he requires of His people, if they are to live in covenant relationship with Him.  In ch. 28 he outlines the blessings and curses that come as a result of accepting or rejecting His covenant.  In Deut. 28-God basically says:  If you accept my covenant, if you obey the terms, this is what I will do for you!!!  God’s covenant reveals His will and intent for His people.  The word covenant is also translated as “will.” And as we study the covenant He made with His people, we understand more clearly God’s will or intention toward those who are in covenant relationship with Him, including ourselves, who have been brought into covenant relationship trough faith in Christ.