Sinai was the one for Moses (Exodus 19:20ff). Any journey that includes hand-delivered instructions from the Lord is more than special. Peter, James and John joined very exclusive company in their trip to the top. They saw and heard what no one else ever had (Matthew 17:1-8). Men from antiquity accompanied by a declaration from heaven about their contemporary must have etched a permanent place in their memory.

Jesus took the masses into a unique classroom when He strolled up the mountain to preach His most famous sermon (Matthew 5-7). He turned their world upside down and set disciples on a road that altered history. The concept of what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven took a dramatic turn. The Lord taught. The crowds were wowed. Perceptions were changed (Matt. 7:28-29). It is rare air up on that mountain.

We trudge upward in anticipation. We sense a life-changing event is just around the bend. We may be pushed, led or voluntarily make that upward march. In any case, be careful. Altitude alters attitude. The world looks different. Ambitions are affected. When we arrive, we need to remember that the Lord is not the only one who occupies that ground. The devil knows about that special place, too, with his world full of trinkets to offer (Matthew 4:8-9). He sure has a way of making terrible choices appealing.

Kingdoms, glory, affection and devotion are all at stake up on that mountain. God gave His 10 commandments up on one. He issued the order to listen to His Son over and above anyone else at the summit of another. That very same Son, to Whom we are to give exclusive attention, taught from a similar location. The words of God have been changing reality from the very beginning, and they were given on the mountain. Listen carefully, and remember that there are two voices that echo from the mountaintop. We must be sure that we hear the right one.

Call to Praise Scripture: John 4:21-24

His word on it: Matthew 2:2

Sermon: “Worship Fit For a King”

As He prepared to take on the sins of the world, the Lord spoke of peace. The immediate future could not have been any more turbulent. There would be a disruption in the Godhead unlike any in history. The world would shake. The elements would experience the aftershocks of unbridled evil. Yet, in the face of it all, He offered comforting conversation. He obviously knows something we do not.

What we do know is that He wants His disciples to be at peace within. There is no need to allow external turmoil to disrupt our internal serenity. “Do not let your heart be troubled (John 14:1).” Easy for you to say, but how? Faith. That is the key that unlocks the inner capacity for tranquility. “Believe in God, Believe also in Me.” Remember the one who said it.

Our vision is hazy. Through blurry eyes we look for a worldly concept of peace and miss His. It is not like that (John 14:27). There is a counterfeit that is offered in this realm, but it lacks the substance that His has. He is the source of it, and it is incomprehensible (Philippians 4:7). It will come to us if we will follow His directions (Try Philippians 4:4-9).

We live in troubled times. Wars persist. There is a perpetual stream of depressing news from floods to earthquakes and tornadoes to oil spills. A mother kills her children and a radical blows himself up. If those headlines shock us then we have not been paying attention. “In the world you have tribulation (John 16:33).” He called it 2000 years ago, and we are shocked when it occurs.

Yet, we have never faced what He did. The weight of the world was waiting for His shoulders, and He spoke of peace. Has there ever been a more unpeaceful time? Good and evil were on a collision course ready to intersect at His heart, and He talked of tranquility. Jesus was fully aware that miserable times were ahead for His disciples, but He was conscious of something else, too. For every Friday there is a Sunday. The mourning is temporary. He knew, and we can, too: Beyond every cross there is an empty tomb. And that is permanent.

Call to Praise Scripture: Galatians 5:13-14

His word on it: Galatians 5:6

Sermon: “Grasping Greatness”

There is a conflict within each of us. Flesh or Spirit? Which one will be the overriding principle for our decision making and action taking. It all starts in our mind. We tend to pass the buck. I acted as I did because of circumstances. It is the Eve excuse. That serpent made me do it. The Adam excuse. That woman made me do it. No, the truth is that we choose. Things happen. We react. Either flesh or Spirit will determine how. Each has its own set of outcomes.

Deception always lingers on the edge of our thoughts. Someone (Wonder who?) is always telling us that it is okay to act in unspiritual ways. It is not. There is a harvest that comes with that sowing (Galatians 6:7-8). Seeds of carnality bring a crop of corruption. The Lord rescued us from that, but poor choices will take us right back to it. Spiritual seeds germinate and grow into a harvest of eternal life. It is our choice which we want but not how to achieve it.

The fruit is attractive. The process is grueling. Shrugging off those longings that are prompted by our human side wears us down. Fatigue weakens our resistance to acting on impulse. “Pray,” Jesus said (Mark 14:38). It is a tough war. One side of us is committed and ready. Another is feeble and fumbling. We pick which one will control us. Temptation is everywhere. We sidestep one and run into another. Look for the escape route. God promised that there will always be one (1 Corinthians 10:13), but we have to find it.

We must set our minds to it. A half-hearted commitment will eventually be no commitment. A spiritual journey is filled with continuous self-denial, daily cross-bearing and absolute devotion to re-enacting His way, not ours. It is also filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). A bumper crop of the fruit of the Spirit awaits those who sow spiritual seeds. We cannot have one without the other. How is your harvest?

Call to Praise Scripture: John 13:34-35

His word on it: 1 John 3:18

Sermon: “Aim High”

Minister:
Mike Hinrichs Sunday:
9:00 am – Bible Class
10:00 am – Worship
6:00 pm – Evening Service

Midweek:
7:00 pm – Wednesday
7:00 pm – Thursday (Louisburg)

- A family of God whose desire is to demonstrate and reveal the Lordship of Jesus Christ -

Friday, October 1st – Sunday, October 3rd

Westside: Share the Son

Speakers are:
Friday pm – Robert Goff, Lexington
Saturday pm – Aaron Cozort, Sheffield Drive, Rocky Mount
Sunday am 9:00 am – Lonnie Smith, Winston Salem
Sunday am 10:00 am – Jim Hobbs, Rutherfordton
George Stevenson from Statesville will lead our singing.

Responsibility falls on all of our shoulders to shine for the Lord. Light is a common metaphor for Christian lives, and we cannot look to anyone else to take care of this task. Being a disciple makes us what we need to be to do what we need to do. The purpose of light is to shine, and that is exactly what we will do if we follow in His steps (Matt. 5:14-16). Darkness is merely the absence of light, and we have the joy of filling that vacuum.

We live in the midst of those who have twisted their lives and lost their way (Philippians 2:15). God is being shoved further and further out of the public consciousness, and that is a sure formula for disaster. Ingratitude and disregard for the Lord are among the first steps of a journey into the darkness that eventually consumes and destroys us (Romans 1:21-32). Most of our neighbors are at various places on that road. More than anything, they need for us to shine as never before.

Shining is tough work. Light has its residue (Ephesians 5:9), but it is hard to cling to that which is good when evil seems to be so profitable. Righteousness is portrayed as intolerance and narrow-mindedness. It is much easier just to follow the crowd. A lie stands in the way of every truth that we attempt to share. Goodness, righteousness and truth are rays of light that the darkness resists. We must shine anyway.

“Share the Son” is coming the first three days of October, and we will continue with the same theme. The weekend will be dedicated to “Life in the Light,” and we need everyone’s support to make it all it can be. Please mark your calendars now. It is inevitable that it will be inconvenient for some, but let’s plan around that weekend if we possibly can. A quick getaway can wait a week. The church family needs our support at every service. We have shining to do!

Call to Praise Scripture: John 21:15-17

His word on it: John 14:15

Sermon: “Do You Love Jesus?”

Satan’s first assault was on the truthfulness of God. The serpent sought to undermine the factual nature of the restrictions that had been placed on the first couple. He appealed to her sensual side and sold the lie. His selling point? The consequences of disobedience were misleading. Surely, God did not mean that (Genesis 3:4). That deception is still around and continues to numb our minds to the gravity of sin.

A baby born among the livestock came to remedy that problem. Lies robbed humanity of paradise once, and Jesus came to open up the possibility of reversing that theft. He lived among the sinful and the weak. He confronted the self-righteous and the demon-possessed. He liberated the hostages and humbled the proud. Truth does that. It sets everything on its proper footing, and Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).

Truth is not a welcome commodity in every arena. It seems that it would be embraced by everyone, but it is not. It has met intense opposition ever since the garden. Eve was the first, but certainly not the last, to run into a smooth presentation of a lie. Paul ran into such strong reactions that he wondered out loud if the truth had cost him in the way of human relationships (Galatians 4:16).

Learning facts does not equate to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7). How many people have a head full of Bible knowledge but no relationship with Jesus Christ? They can quote it book, chapter and verse but have never come to Him. That, too, is nothing new (John 5:39-40). Let us strive to know the Word (John1:1) and not simply the words.
Only then will we be truly free.

The battle between truth and lies confronts us everyday. Deception will enslave us, and the truth will liberate us. The devil is behind one, and the Lord is behind the other. The words behind which they stand will lead us directly to them. Listen with discernment. The messages are guiding us to our eternal homes.

Call to Praise Scripture: 1 John 3:1-3

His word on it: Ephesians 1:5

Sermon: “Ultimate Love”

When roads are bumpy (at best) or totally washed away (at worst), you learn to look beyond the moment. Discomfort is simply a way of life. You live with it. Your van grinds to a halt while a family of monkeys convenes in the middle of the road. You will move along whenever they settle their business. They do, and on you go. Traveling in the jungle is different. I-95 is a million miles away. Two hundred miles in six hours is high speed.

Slowly, they are all beginning to advance. Eight years ago there was no electricity or running water in Siparuta, Guyana, one of our mission points. Now, we call home on a cell phone standing by the Correntine River. Later, it will serve as our bath. Tomorrow, one of our Christian sisters will wash our clothes in that same water. She has done that faithfully for years. And we complain about things here. We lose sight of how easy our lives are.

Cruising down the river is a different adventure. We hear sounds that are unfamiliar to our North American ears and we ask. We are told that it is the screeching of baboons. Oh yes, we are not on Lake Gaston, are we? This is the jungle, or as they call it, “the bush.” They are bush men. It is a different culture and unfamiliar surroundings. They eat roti. They speak Dutch or some kind of indecipherable English. It is two weeks of being shoved way out of our comfort zone. Sleep is fitful. Tired. Hot. Hungry. Home never sounded so good.

What a blessing! It is an in-your-face object lesson about our time in this world. We do not belong here. Our citizenship is in heaven. The language here is not like ours. Neither are the values and goals. We feel like misfits, and we should. Another authority has control of this environment but not of us. We march to the beat of a different drummer. He is King of kings and Lord of lords wherever we are; whether it is primitive village in Suriname or Guyana, South America or right here. He is in control. He is our God in every circumstance, and that should make all the difference in the way we live in this world.

Call to Praise Scripture: Ephesians 5:25-27

His word on it: 1 Peter 2:17

Sermon: “The Church We Love”

Jesus came as a result of the love that God has for a sinful world. He offers an alternative to the futility and ruin that our iniquities bring on. We choose to sin. He hand-delivered a different possibility. Deity took on flesh and blood. He became one of us to salvage us. He came looking, not for the perfect but for the lost. He plunged into the cesspool that dragged Him all the way to the cross. It was His choice. He gave Himself (John 10:18). No one took Him. The perfect Son became the perfect sacrifice. He also is the perfect example.

Love is a demanding choice. It is the most noble and Christ-like decision that we could ever make. It calls for tremendous self-discipline to consistently endure the rigors of its high standards. When we assess the qualities that Paul presented in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 we realize how challenging it is. The world has perverted the notion. Many Christians have neglected it. It is simply too difficult. Love sacrifices personal glory for selfless service and sacrifice. Jesus showed us how. He leads. We follow.

The benefits of the love of God are beyond calculation. We could begin now to assemble all of them and never complete the list. We had cut ourselves off from everyone of them, and a way was paved to regain them. It was no small chore. It took nothing less than the pure and holy Son of God hanging on a cross to make it possible. As the blood oozed from His wounds the door was opened for renewal, redemption, reconciliation and restoration of that Father and child relationship. His love did that.

When we ponder the lengths to which His love took Him, His instructions become even more remarkable, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us…(Ephesians 5:1-2a).” He demonstrated it and now says, “You do it.” It is a fine Christian art to put it into practice. Occasionally, we will stumble across someone who is disciple enough to walk in those rare footprints. It is a sight to behold. Is it you?

The Lord takes a more direct shot at His disciples in circumstances that would provoke fear from the bravest of men. Their boat was literally in the eye of the storm. Some of them were veterans of the seas, but this brought fear even to their nautical hearts. The waves covered them and shook their confidence. Jesus? Well, He slept (Matt.8:24). While the others fretted, He took a nap. They panicked, and He scolded them for their lack of faith (vs. 26). Fear exposes the depth of our faith, or lack of it.

Peter was a salty old fisherman. He knew the water as well as anyone, and he knew there was no way to walk on it. Well, that is what he thought until He saw the Lord do it. Then He did it until he sank. An extraordinary request enabled him to get out of the boat and on top of the waves, and suddenly he went under. What happened? It was not the water that just about did him in. It was the doubt of inadequate faith (Matt. 14:31). It will sink us every time.

The struggle of faith really surfaced when the disciples were confronted with the Lord’s expectations about forgiveness. The standard was more than they could have imagined. To experience sin’s slap seven times in a day is one thing. For the offender to be the same person is another. To forgive that repeat offender an equal number of times was more than their wobbly faith could stand up to. Their problem is revealed in their response for more faith (Luke 17:3-5).

Our fault lines are revealed through what worries us. Our upper limits are exposed by what scares us. Drowning in doubt proves that we have a ways to go. Putting into practice the extraordinary principles that characterize a Christian demands more faith than the disciples had. They saw the need to have a greater faith than they possessed. They struggled. It seems logically that we, 2000 years removed from His steps, will too. Trusting the Lord over our senses requires raw faith, an unflinching belief in the invisible (Hebrews 11:1). We strive to build it up, everyday. If we do not have it we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6), and that is never an acceptable option.

It is easily abused and lost. The history of the Israelites bears the scars that come from its neglect. After four centuries of slavery, they should have been more appreciative. Four more decades of wilderness wanderings did not make an impression deep enough to stick for long. Conquest of the Promised Land failed to drive the point home. God did so much for them, and they still forgot life’s most important lesson: Genuine freedom is found only in the Lord.

They repeatedly turned away from their Liberator and to their enslaver. They embraced the very forces that would repeatedly confiscate their freedom. They drifted from tolerance to acceptance to participants. They erased God’s lines and drew their own. Black and white was replaced with a dismal gray that failed to distinguish the holy from the profane. Wrong became right, bad became good, children of God became slaves…again and again and again. When covenantal expectations are rejected the blessings are always lost.

Sin is an enticing tool of a merciless task master whose intentions are deceptive and destructive. The brutality of the evil one is seen in the conflict that occurred on that hill nearly 2000 years ago. Men in the hands of Satan do unimaginable things, such as drive nails through the flesh of the Son of God. They also ignore the offer of freedom that He brought. Sinners would rather sin. It dresses up in attractive clothing and sells a notion of independence. Do not be fooled. It is a masquerade.

None of us is immune from the illusions of Satan. Make no mistake about it, he wants you; body and soul. He is a master of disguise, convincing us that we need to shed the shackles of God. He is a clever salesman, but if we listen carefully we will hear the rattling of chains behind every sales pitch. It is the sound of true freedom being sacrificed on the altar of evil. It was the poor choice that the Israelites made time after time. May our choices be better and wiser lest we forfeit our freedom.

Call to Praise Scripture: Romans 10:12-15

His word on it: Isaiah 6:8

Sermon: “Let Freedom Ring”

He was grieved (Genesis 6:6).  It is hard to conceive that what we do affects Him, but it does.  We might think that He is detached, but we would be wrong.  Disinterested?  Not a chance.  In Noah’s day, the world had corrupted itself beyond imagination.  It filled their thoughts and perverted their ways.  It bore little resemblance to His pristine creation, and it broke His heart.  Wonder how our Father feels today?

Jesus entered what was supposed to be a place of God (Mark 3:1ff).  The people who were allegedly the people of God watched the very real Son of God with suspicion.  It was the day of God.  Would He heal?  They greeted His questioning with a deafening silence.  Ulterior motives occupied their minds.  The Lord looked right through them, and the sight angered Him.  It also grieved Him.  Hard hearts do that.  They have an impact on Deity.  Wonder how our Savior feels today?

What a glorious message is the gospel.  Listening to and believing that message of truth bring about marvelous changes in a sinner’s life.  Among them is the sealing by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) that accompanies baptism into Christ.  In Him we have these extraordinary spiritual blessings, not the least of which is that stamp of authenticity and security with a promise of more to come (Eph. 1:14).  With all that the Holy Spirit does for us, it is no wonder that inappropriate lifestyles among those He has sealed grieve Him (Eph. 4:30).  Wonder how the Spirit feels today?

Scripture demonstrates a Divine reaction to human hearts, thoughts and standards of living.  The Father was grieved in Noah’s day.  So was the Son in His time on earth.  The Holy Spirit expresses such a possibility.  The fact is: We matter very much to the Deity.  People that we care about bring with them the capacity to inflict pain on us at the deepest level.  We call it grief.  We know the feeling.  God does, too. 

Call to Praise Scripture:  1 Corinthians 11:23-26

His word on it:  Acts 20:7

Sermon:  “What are We Doing Here?”

That we should speak carefully and thoughtfully is repeatedly emphasized in Scripture.  Every syllable matters.  Tone matters.  Body language matters.  Communication is critical.  What we say and the way that we say it echoes all the way into heaven.  The ears of the Lord are close to our vocal chords.  He is keenly aware of our sentences before we ever speak them (Psalm 139:4).  Our conversations should always be exactly as they would be if the Lord were standing right along side of us, because He is.  Would we choose our words more cautiously if we could see Him?  Probably. 

We live in a rough and tumble world, and it is reflected in the language.  Crude is common.  Civility is rare.  Speech that was totally unacceptable a decade or two ago has become the norm.  Most of our days will find us immersed in just such an environment, and it is a challenge not to have it rub off on us.  Without vigilant concentration our speech patterns will become closer to those of the evil one and further from that of the Righteous One.  That reflects poorly on us and our Lord.

With words we either tear down or build up.  They have the capacity to do both.  It is our choice which way we will use them.  It is clear what the Lord would have us do.  Do our exchanges encourage or discourage, edify or dismantle?  Every listening ear has a need at that very moment, and every speaking tongue has a means to meet that need (Ephesians 4:29).  It ought to be our ambition to communicate grace in every sentence (Colossians 4:6).

Tongue control is amazingly difficult.  To be such a tiny part of our body it packs an unbelievable punch, and domesticating it demands a maturity that few possess (James 3:2).  God describes it in terms of horses and bits, ships and rudders, sparks and fires when He analyzes the difficult necessity of keeping it under control (James 3:3-6).  Christian behavior tests our commitment and reveals our development.  Nowhere is that more true than in our speech.  We will do well to remember who is always in the audience.
Call to Praise Scripture:  Colossians 3:12-13

His word on it:  Ephesians 4:32

Sermon:  “Love is Kind”

The church has been chosen for the most noble of purposes. We are not simply a collection of people who gather together on Sunday to socialize. We are blood bought disciples with a commitment to live out our new existence. Before there was ever a world, there was a plan (Ephesians 1:4) for the church. The Lord has blessed His body with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3), and it is both privilege and responsibility to conduct ourselves like the blessed people that we are.

We have been adopted into His family. Each Sunday is the greatest of family reunions with brothers and sisters who share our common faith. Ethnicity is irrelevant. History is, too. We come from a wide range of backgrounds to comprise one marvelous collection of kin folks. We bring our hopes and dreams, doubts and fears, ups and downs into the assembly of the forgiven. In the Lord’s Supper, we remember what He has done to make us that way: Guilty but forgiven (Eph. 1:7). Yes, that is who we are.

There is but one body (Eph. 4:4). Not everyone can or will accept that, but no one can change it. This is the business of God, not humans. Christ is the unchallenged head of the church (Eph. 5:23). That is not open for debate, but some do anyway. They set up elaborate earthly organizations and fancy power structures. It does not alter in any way this one simple fact: He has all authority (Matthew 28:18). His church respectfully acknowledges and submits to that. That is who we are.

We come with bended knee and bowed head. He is Lord. He is Savior. We are subservient and dependent. As much as anything, those two ideals form our identity. Lives surrendered to His direction along with a realization that without Him we have no hope. With Him, we have everything. We are reminded of that today, so that we will go through this brand new week with a true sense of identity. Our lives will reflect it, and people will see it. Our lights will shine like never before as we walk worthy of our calling to be His holy family, and we will, unless we forget who we are.

Call to Praise Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10-11

His word on it: 2 Corinthians 6:1

Sermon: “Don’t Waste the Grace”

Love is the goal (1 Timothy 1:5). That sounds simple enough until we delve into the ramifications of what it truly means. It is a self-sacrificing lifestyle that always pursues the higher good. Love drove Jesus to relinquish His place of equality with God, become human, serve and die (Philippians 2:5-8). That is the mindset that we are to adopt. Hardly simple! It calls for intense focus and undiluted devotion.

Love comes from a pure heart. That is the type of loyalty that promises the blessing of seeing God (Matt. 5:8). Everyone has that internal mechanism that motivates their actions and determines their words and deeds. We all act out of some type of commitment. Compromise is impossible (Matt. 6:24). Our master will dictate the terms under which we live. Dual thrones is not an option.

Love demands a good conscience. What a wonderful gift is the conscience. It sounds its alarm within us about right and wrong. We all have that sense of what we should and should not do. The problem comes when our conscience is uninformed or ill-informed. Paul had a clear conscience before God in spite of his misguided persecution of Christians (Acts 23:1). When he had the right standard, his conscience became a good one.

Add sincere faith to the mix, and we have the ingredients that produce biblical love. The word of God offers all of the facts that we need to build healthy faith. Learning and believing it all is a matter for each of us to work out. Our faith will grow in relation to what we know about the Lord. From the days of Timothy to the June 6, 2010; Christians have faced the threat of bogus arguments masquerading as knowledge (1 Timothy 6:20). When we buy into that we drift away from the faith.

God could hardly have made it clearer. Love is way up on the priorities list. It is the goal to which we aspire, and it makes demands on our heart, conscience and faith. Those three must be pure, good and sincere. Divided loyalties will not get it done. A faulty sense of right and wrong will surely fail. A shallow, inconsistent, hypocritical faith will not sustain us to the high calling of love. That is our target. How is our aim?

Call to Praise Scripture: 1 John 4:7-14

His word on it: 1 John 4:16

Sermon: “God’s Incomprehensible Love”

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23).” There is a well deep within each of us from which we draw hopes and dreams, desires and ambitions. They give rise to individual actions which eventually become habits that mold character and determine destinies. There is much at stake when it comes to the matters of the heart. We must guard it carefully.

Jesus knew. Values decide devotion (Matthew 6:21). We will be dedicated and loyal to that which we calculate to be of worth. Whatever we deem to be important will seize our heart and consume our time, effort and emotions. Choices surround us. Everything is not of equal value, so we must decide a list of priorities. Make no mistake about it, we all have that list, and something is number one on it. What is it? That is what has our heart. Choose wisely.

Satan wants your heart. He is putting thoughts and notions into it as he did to Judas (John 13:2). His was a case in which that internal influence led him to betray Jesus. We will do the same when the devil’s desires become ours. Dishonesty fills the thoughts of those who give in to his advances and they leave a wake of destruction wherever they go (John 8:44). Ananias and Sapphira could advise us of the consequences when we relinquish control to him (Acts 5:1-11).

We venture into the exclusive territory of God when we examine our hearts. Purity is demanded if we want to experience His blessings (Matt. 5:8). Divided loyalties will not do. We reach the pinnacle when we love the Lord with all of it (Matt. 22:36-37). Rare is the man or woman who has yielded totally to Him. We will meet very few. But if we do not give Him 100% of our heart, to whom have we given the rest?

The Lord is devoted to His people. He has worked throughout history to carry out His eternal plan. Through enslavement and freedom, migration and settlement, unity and division, strength and weakness, faithfulness and rejection; He has remained true to His purpose of saving mankind. The prophets wrote of it and the nation anticipated it. When the Messiah finally arrived to fulfill it, they missed Him. No, they killed Him.

The uprising has been perpetual. The Lord came on a mission of love and met with rejection, abandonment, denial, betrayal and crucifixion. His personal delivery of grace was greeted with all of the fury that hell could muster. It all seems brutally unfair, and it is. Yet, none of it caught God off guard. In fact, the opposition played right into His hands to accomplish His plan (Acts 2:23). Such is the loyalty of God to His people.

So, Islam has the reputation of being more committed to Allah than Christians do to our God. Their lives reflect more of an influence than ours. How can this be? Do we really squeeze the Lord into an hour or two a week and then go our own way? That is certainly the impression that is being given by someone. In all fairness, many say they are Christians who really are not, and that is doing great damage to the cause of Christ. People making the claim but not living the life leave a faulty notion of what it means to be a Christian. So, what does it mean?

Christians are disciples (Acts 11:26), and Jesus said that disciples continue in His word (John 8:31). It is not a sometime thing or an occasional practice but a continuous, consistent submission to the actions that His word demands. It involves the totality of our lives not just an hour or two a week. It is always applying biblical principles to every human experience. With His commitment to us, how can we offer anything less? Disciples light up the world (Matthew 5:14), and no one in the darkness can miss it or ignore it.

Call to Praise Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-9

His word on it: Hebrews 2:1

Sermon: “Don’t Forget”

He reigns as King forever (1 Timothy 1:17). Everything in this world is temporary. If we can see it, it will not last (2 Corinthians 4:18). The Lord spoke to David in terms of a never ending throne (2 Samuel 7:13) and to Daniel of an everlasting dominion (Daniel 7:13-14). There is no end to what Jesus came to do (Luke 1 32-33). Elections come and go. Power switches hands. First it’s one party then another. Not so in the eternal realm. All authority is safely in one set of hands.

The one in whom all that power resides is never going away. No need for separation anxiety with Him. He, like His Kingship, will go on forever (1 Timothy 1:17). It is hard, perhaps impossible for us to grasp such a notion. Our sense of permanence is subject to the limitations that our transient existence imposes on it. “Permanent press” has distorted our sense of the notion. “Forever” has limited meaning in such a fleeting world. Loved ones die. Homes burn. People go away. God is here for the duration of eternity. We are not accustomed to that.

No one has seen Him (John 1: 18), ever! Jesus put a face on Him, but what people actually saw was that human component. In the Christ, God and man merged into one. The Father is invisible, and it is hard to conceive of that. What do we picture? Worshiping a Spirit challenges us, but that is what we do each Sunday. Perhaps that is the reason for the many images and idols that some people use. We must resist the temptation to reproduce God in our image and according to our thoughts.

There is but one true God (Ephesians 4:6). He sits on the throne of history and always will. Neither he nor His kingdom will ever come to an end. We have not seen Him, but He is there over all, through all and in all. There is no one like Him, not even close. Our minds can not grasp Him and our hands cannot touch Him, but He is as real as the paper that you are holding. And we can add one more fact to the list; He is our Father. That is pretty amazing!

Call to Praise Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

His word on it: Colossians 3:12

Sermon: “The Patience of Love”