Church 12/29/2024
Offertory scripture:
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Proverbs 22:9
He who has a generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
Sermon message:
“Today is the yesterday that you thought about tomorrow.”
In other words, what we do today will affect tomorrow.
Thesis: Don’t allow your yesterdays ruin your tomorrows.
Philippians 3:13-14
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Today is last communion Sunday in 2024.
1 Corinthians 11:23-25
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
We can remember what Jesus did for us and it can allow us to forget the things of the past.
1 Corinthians 11:27-28
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Communion does not save you. Receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior does.
Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Similarly, water baptism doesn’t save you.
But doing both are a good things. Pictures of outward demonstration of confession of our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Things to lay down—five things:
Thing #1: leave all your guilt.
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
If you receive Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, His blood has covered.
If you do feel something on your heart that God is prompting you to do something about, confess it. If you mess up, fess up, and get up.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thing #2: leave all your grudges.
Grudge is a persistent feeling of ill will toward someone. Something that continues to plague you.
Grudge relates to how someone might try to get revenge against someone.
Ultimately the offender is the devil, not the person.
Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Jesus forgave His enemies.
Luke 23:34A
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Thing #3: leave all bitterness.
Bitterness is anger, disappointment, that has lingered.
Difference between bitterness and grudges is that bitterness is that it doesn’t seek revenge.
Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
2 Corinthians 9:7
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Thing #4: leave all your burdens.
Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 5:7
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Thing #5: leave all unbelief.
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Mark 11:22
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Mark 9:23
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Note after sharing the sermon: For the sake of spiritual and emotional purity, I will keep this brief. This sermon was very, very difficult to take in. (And this is one of those times I'm being nice when I say this.) On the drive home, I shared my real thoughts and reactions with my wife - we've had a habit of occasionally sharing our thoughts and reactions to church that day, and we've each had our share of sermons that were difficult for either of us. On this day it was my turn. We had had communion at the end of the service that day, and so the sermon was set up accordingly. Before taking communion, I did somehow manage to tell Jesus He had permission to work on this area of my heart. But that's as far as I was able to take it.
In 2019, the last time I went through an extended series of difficulty on all levels, I refrained from taking communion for months (and this was at a church that did communion weekly!). I refrained because I understood the importance of taking 1 Corinthians 11:28 seriously, and I believe I -- rightly -- deemed myself unworthy of taking communion at the time.
This time around, even though I was designated to play background music during communion time (which I did), someone gave me a bread and cup after the service and I had no choice but to take and eat/drink right then and there. Hence what little I was able to do.
Then came the next day's devotional, centered on the verse below (more on this in tomorrow's post):
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5, NKJV
No comments:
Post a Comment