Sermons from a Burning Heart: “A Matter of Great Concern”
August 11, 2008
(This is the introduction to my message on August 10, 2008, A.M. To listen to this message, click here or you can go to “Sermon Downloads” page at www.gracenv.com)
A Matter of Great Concern
2 Timothy 4:1-4
This morning I want to address what I believe is a serious matter that has come up and should cause great concern to our church family. What I am going to speak about will not be an easy matter to deal with but it must be dealt with.
I have entitled this message “A Matter of Great Concern.” See: Text
As a preacher of the Gospel and a pastor of this church I am admonished by God’s Word to “Preach the word.” That is the preacher’s main responsibility and nothing should take its place!
“Be instant in season, out of season.” When it is convenient or not! When it is favorable or not! Whether men like it or not!
Preaching must have three elements: 1) those in error he must reprove – means “to admonish, to convince, to correct, to tell a fault.” 2) those who were sinning he must rebuke – means “to charge, to reprimand, a severe or formal reproof.” 3) those doing well he must exhort – means “to encourage, to comfort.”
The preacher must do all of this with “all longsuffering (great patience) and doctrine ( sound instruction from God’s Word)” (2 Timothy 4:2-3). What was the reason for this charge? See: v. 3-4.
I could have dealt with this matter in three different ways: 1) I could have just ignored the matter, however, knowing that one day I will give an account for my ministry here, I could not do that; 2) I could have gone to each of you and asked if you knew anything about the matter, which of course I could not do, or; 3) I could deal with it anonymously.
Last Sunday a note was placed in the offering box without a signature. Because it was placed in a public offering box and because it is anonymous I am going to deal with it publicly and anonymously.
I want to give you a word of caution. Please do not begin to look around and try to rationalize who could have written this note. I don’t know and you don’t need to know. Only God and the individual who wrote it know.
Had the note been signed we would have dealt with the individual privately and would have tried to resolve their concerns with counsel and prayer and I would not be speaking to you this morning about this subject.
May I first remind you that this box is not a comment or complaint box. It is not for you to place your grievances or suggestions in. It is a place in which to put your offerings as an expression of your love for the Lord to be used in the ministry of this local church.
If you have a comment or complaint or grievance or suggestion to make there is a proper and biblical way to do it.
1. If you have a complaint or grievance to make please be Christian enough to come to one of the pastors and share what is on your heart. You don’t need to sneak around and leave a note for someone to find. Please do not put it in the offering box where those who count the offerings can see it. If your complaint or grievance is against the leadership of this church, please don’t air them for others to see!
Or if you feel you must write it out then please be courteous enough to sign it, place it in an envelope and give it to the pastors or leave it on the pulpit or the back table.
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother” (Matthew 18:15).
2. If you have a comment or suggestion, again see one of the pastors or write it out and give it to us. This note was not a comment but rather a complaint. Let me read it and you will understand.
There are some serious accusations written in this note and I am going to address each one.
A Steward of the Treasury
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Sermons From A Burning Heart: “What The Bible Teaches About Baptism”
August 6, 2008
(This is the introduction to my message on July 27, 2008, A.M. To listen to this message, click here or you can go to “Sermon Downloads” page at www.gracenv.com)
“What The Bible Teaches About Baptism”
Matthew 28:16-20
If there is anything that has caused more division; more discord; more damage; more confusion; more misunderstanding; more false teaching and even more death in Christendom, it would be the two ordinances Jesus gave to His church – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper!
Because there is so much confusion and false teaching concerning the ordinance of baptism and because there are some in our church family who are awaiting baptism, I want us to see what the Bible teaches about baptism. Pastor Mark dealt with the Lord’s Supper during the adult Bible study.
If you have never been scripturally baptized, or were baptized or sprinkled as a child, or you are not sure whether your baptism is scriptural, then I hope this message will help and encourage you.
There are those who teach that baptism is essential to be saved, that baptism washes away our sins and that a person’s salvation depends upon faith plus baptism. This teaching is known as baptismal regeneration. There are some who teach that one must be baptized as an infant. This is known as pedobaptism. And, there are some who teach that baptism is not important at all.
WHO IS RIGHT? As in all matters of doctrine and faith, we must look to our rule of faith and practice – the Word of God! Only the Bible has the answers which will clarify all the confusion and false teaching which abounds today.
For baptism to be scriptural and valid in the eyes of God, it is absolutely necessary that baptism must meet these biblical criteria:
A Steward of the Treasury
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Sermons From A Burning Heart: “Knowing God”
August 6, 2008
(This is the introduction to my message on July 20, 2008, P.M. To listen to this message, click here or you can go to “Sermon Downloads” page at www.gracenv.com)
“Knowing God”
Philippians 3:10-11
I want to begin by asking you a question. Listen carefully. How many of you “know” the Queen of England? How many of you “know” President Bush? How many of you “know” Jim Gibbons the governor of Nevada?
I don’t mean do you have knowledge of the Queen or the President or the Governor but do you KNOW them?
Now let me ask how many of you “KNOW” God?
The word “know” means: to be acquainted or familiar with. The Greek word Paul uses in v. 10 is “ginosko” and it has a stronger meaning: “it indicates a relationship between the person ‘knowing’ and the object known; in this respect, what is ‘known’ is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship.”
Let me ask again in a different way - are you acquainted with God? Do you have a relationship with Him? Is He of value or importance to you?
Do you ever hunger and thirst for God? Is there a longing in your heart to know Him more intimately?
Throughout the Bible you will find those who wanted to know God and had a thirst for Him. For example:
Moses – although he knew God, he wanted to know Him better – “..show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight” (Ex. 33:13).
David – “As the hart (a male deer) panteth (to long for) after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2). See also: Psalm 63:1; 143:6
Paul – Text
Isn’t it true that when you love someone you will want to know all about that person and that you will do whatever it takes to build a relationship? When I first met Melody I would call her, go see her, spend time with her. I wanted to be near her because I loved her and wanted to know her and build a relationship. After 41 years we are still building that relationship!
Isn’t that the way it should be with the Lord Jesus Christ?
When we sing, “Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,” it doesn’t mean to be drawn nearer physically. We cannot get any nearer than we are because He dwells within us! However, we can draw nearer in our relationship and fellowship with Him!
It takes time to get to really know someone and sometimes it requires sacrifice. The Apostle Paul had sacrificed everything to know the Lord Jesus Christ fully and intimately. Notice what he says in vs. 8-9.
The knowledge Paul sought after was not just head knowledge of facts and stories about the Lord. Many people know about Him but do not really know Him. In this passage he desires to know Christ in a fourfold way:
A Steward of the Treasury
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Sermons From A Burning Heart: “Let’s Bless America!”
July 28, 2008
(This is the introduction to my message on July 6, 2008, A.M. To listen to this message, click here or you can go to “Sermon Downloads” page at www.gracenv.com)
“Let’s Bless America!”
I Timothy 2:1-6
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalms 33:12).
God has blessed America more than any nation on earth! However, as a nation, America cannot ask God to continue to bless us when we continue to defy His law and offer of salvation through His precious Son, Jesus Christ!
During our prayer meeting this past Wednesday evening one of our men prayed, “Father, I cannot ask you to bless America because of our sin!” The more I thought about that the more I agree with him!
America’s problem is that her god is not the LORD of Heaven but the gods of this world!
“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isaiah 1:4).
Unless America repents of its sin this is the future of our nation:
“For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah 60:12).
America is a unique country and like no other place on earth. However, America is a paradox!
- The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
- We spend more, but have less. We buy more, but enjoy less.
- We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
- We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
- We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
- We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
- We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
- We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years!
- We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
- We’ve done larger things, but not better things.
- We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
- We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
- We write more, but learn less.
- We plan more, but accomplish less.
- We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait.
- We build more computers to hold more information, but we communicate less and less.
Even though there are a lot of negative things about our nation I still believe that America is the greatest country in the world!
In spite of all its problems millions of people around the world yearn to come to the United States of America. We are blessed to live in this land of the free and opportunity!
We keep asking God to bless America. He already has. Now it’s our turn to bless America!
We can do many good things. We can be good citizens, vote, be patriotic, salute the flag, sing the national anthem, show courtesy to all people, obey and respect the laws, pay our taxes, and pray for our leaders!
But, that is not enough. From our text there are at least three things Christians can do to bless America:
A Steward of the Treasury
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Choice Gleanings: “Salty Christians”
July 28, 2008
“Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13)
The metaphor of salt for a Christian involves being, rather than doing. One may do salt-type evangelism, and this is commendable. However, we are to be salt as we shop or work or bank or even cut the lawn.
Good salt just naturally preserves corruption, creates thirst, seasons food, cleanses wounds, and maintains balance.
All these things should be true of us and in sum total, our manner of life should “create thirst” in those without Christ. We should live our lives in such a way that people will want what we have, or better yet, want Who we are!
We should generate a desire in people’s hearts for something better. There is a thirsty world out there, and we need to woo them to the Living water–Jesus Christ!
Choice Gleanings Devotional Calendar
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