LBC Sermons & Messages

Paul understood this concept because he had to come face to face with it in his own journeys. Paul wrote most of the verses we discussed and his life in Christ is what gives it power. He not only encouraged those around him to do it with words but also with his life.

I am sure that Paul could have fought back against the powers that were. Paul was a brilliant man and well trained in law as he was part of the Sanhedrin. However, Paul knew that our weapon of godliness was mighty to the pulling down of strong holds and he probably had to remind himself of this truth often.

I am also sure that Paul had times of doubt for he was human. When he was left for dead after being stoned, when he was severely beaten, when he was ship wrecked, when he finally came face to face with being martyred Paul probably had a thought of doubt. However, the truth in which he placed his faith matched the truth by which he lived his life and gave him victory in ways that we may never truly comprehend till glory.

So, will you awake or remain asleep? The choice is yours and mine. Thomas Paine said, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Times have not grown better and man is growing worse. So, these are more than ever the times that try men’s souls. You and I as Christians are the front line of defense and we need to awake. We need to teach those around us. We need to live the truth for all to see. Let us awake today and give God glory.

When I think of casting off the old man, the ways of wickedness I think of Paul. Acts 9 gives us a glimpse of what it means to cast off something. Paul was persecuting the church, God’s people. He thought he was doing the work of God but he had religion and no relationship.

He was on the road to Damascus and he had an encounter with God. His eyes were blinded by religion in the past but now after his encounter with God, his eyes were literally blinded. He could not see because his eyes had a covering on them. He had to go to Ananias so the scales would come off.

We, like Paul, are blinded with scales on our eyes. When we meet Christ, the scales are removed and we can now see. However, many times we choose to put the scales back on and we become blinded once again. When we choose to work through the flesh or not cast off the works of the flesh and darkness, it is like looking with scales on our eyes.

Sometime, these scales get in the way when we are even serving God. David comes to mind when He is returning the Arc of the Covenant back to Israel. He was doing a good work but in the wrong manner and mode. He knew the law and if he did not, he should have found out. But instead, he was zealous but blinded and tried to serve in the flesh. God wants us to serve but He wants us to serve according to His design not ours. This mistake of David’s cost Uzzah his life, II Sam. 6. Most of the times, our blindness cost and it affects those around us.

It is our choice to be blinded by scales or to see clearly. God gives the power to remove the scales and to keep them off. We simply must obey. So, this week, let us mortify the deeds of the flesh and serve our Maker with gladness.

When you think of a wake up call, what Biblical accounts come to mind? Any scriptures come to mind? I Chor. 11 comes to my mind. Here we have David as king and the people are rallying around him because he is the Lord’s man. David has set up the city and a few mighty men have come around him.

Notice that in verse 10, the mighty men strengthened themselves as a group. We cannot do it alone. Life is hard and trials and temptations come our way. One can draw strength from a personal walk with God and by spending time in His Word, but God has designed us to strengthen each other. When we get together, we gain courage. Therefore, one who chooses to stay out of church chooses to become weaker.

Read down to verse 12 and 13 and you find Eleazar and David fighting together to save a barley field. Barley in that day was basically worthless. The rest of Israel fled from the presence of the Philistines and left these two men alone. They knew the job that God had for them and they were going to complete it no matter what the odds were.

When we are obedient to God sometimes we stand alone. If we are being obedient, than it really does not matter what everyone else is doing. We are not accountable for them but we better make sure that God is first in our lives. When we are obedient to God, He’s always victorious in ways that we could never think or imagine. So, let’s wake up and do what’s right.

To continue on Joseph, we also see that he was rejoicing in hope. When circumstances go wrong, we tend to always think the worst which in turn affects our attitude. Joseph, who had reason to be depressed and complain, did just the opposite. Gen. 45:1-8 shows us Joseph’s heart. His heart was fixed on God and it came through allowing him to rejoice even in his situation. He told his brothers that what they meant for harm, God meant for good. Rom. 8:28 comes to mind and tells us that all things, not just some, work together for good. Now if you ask Joseph if it was for his immediate good, I am sure he would laugh at you. We think just because the immediate good might not be reached that God some how made a mistake. We also think that if there is pain that it is bad. Joseph went through pain both physical and emotional but in the end, he was closer to God and the good was reached.

You also see the patience of Joseph in time of great tribulation. This patience was so evident because Joseph had plenty of tribulation to complain about. Once again, not one time is it recorded that Joseph ever charged God foolishly. I am sure that being thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, lied about and thrown into prison were not at all in his grand plan for life. However, Joseph kept his eyes on the Lord, remained calm and he endeavored to persevere.

Sandwiched in between our response to persecution are a couple of jewels. Once again, these are built upon the idea that we have the proper mind set. However, Paul reminds us that we are to be of one mind and that mind is the mind of Christ. Not our wisdom but the wisdom of the scriptures.

Then Paul tells us not to pay back evil with evil. This goes against our human nature. We love to recompense evil for evil because we think it is a form of justice. However, Paul goes on to say that God will repay. He will avenge His children. He is perfectly just. So, why would we want to try to deal out justice? Instead, we are to simply serve our great Father and let Him deal out justice.

In the midst of all of this, Paul tells us to live at peace with all men if it is possible. We cannot control what others do, say or think but we can control how we conduct ourselves, what we say and what we think. Therefore, we should do all that we can to live peaceably with those around us.

This does not mean that we are to just roll over and let people abuse us. We still have a duty to stand relentlessly for the truth. The other side is to let God take care of the rest. This is the toughest part for me because I want so much for others to see the truth and change accordingly. We are not the Holy Spirit and we could never do His job. So, we need to do what God calls us to do and never quench the Spirit who knows when and how.

Verse 13 of Romans chapter 12 tells us to distribute to the necessity of the saints and to be given to hospitality. They are closely tied together but different. Let us look at the distributing to the saints.

Once again, these are not suggestions but commands. We are commanded to distribute to the necessity of the saints. Notice the word necessity. When we think of giving we usually think of money but this is not always the necessity of the saints. Sometimes it is love, truth, an open ear, prayer, time, or something else that money cannot buy.

Also, notice that we are to distribute to others which carries with it the idea that we are given by God to give away. We are funnels that God desire to use to distribute His blessings to His children. We need not get big headed thinking that we are something because we have much but rather we are blessed to give more away. To whom much is given, much is expected. The more we have, the more we worked for but no matter how you look at it, it is all God’s and it is He who gave it to us.

Now, this brings up the question, how much do I give because I only have so much? First let us remember that we are all in this together. It does not fall on the shoulders of one to be the funnel but all. Also, in context, we are to give to the saints. We can bless this world, but we first need to make sure the needs of the church are being met. This is not selfish but rather for health reasons. The healthier we are, the more we can reach out to the lost and dying world. So, let us selflessly bless each other serving the L

How does God show us true love? First, He paid for us. Once again, this is the base of true love. It is hard to die for someone, but it is even harder to live for them on a continual basis. Christ not only died for us, John 3:16 but he took the full wrath of the Father for us as we could not, John 3:36. On the cross, Christ said, “it is finished.” This was because the full price had been paid for our salvation. The wrath of a Holy Father was satisfied.

Secondly, Christ, God the Son, is our propitiation or offering, I John 4:9-10. We now are made pleasing to the Father. When God looks at us, he sees the blood of Christ. Without the blood of our blessed Savior, we would never be pleasing to God. We can now boldly enter into the presence of God through the blood.

God the Spirit also makes intercession for us, Rom. 8:26, 27. God loves us so much that the Spirit searches out our hearts and brings our petitions to God even when we cannot put it into words. I do not think it is a stretch to even say that He takes our requests to God even before we know we have the requests. Heb. 7:22-f.f. tells us that He is the perfect high priest making continual intercession for us with the Father.

Christ now lives Amen! Because He rose from the dead, we now have victory over death and the grave, I Cor. 15:54-57. We now do not have to be afraid of death for it has been defeated. We can now live our lives truly without fear for the One who so love us.

So, will we? Will we love God in return or will we love ourselves. I think many would die for Christ, but God wants us to live for Him. To live for Him, we must die to self, Luke 9:23, and take the cross of Christ. Let’s turn this world upside down with the Love of God.

Romans 12:9-13

This afternoon I would like to look at the next attitude of collaboration, which is servitude, serving the Lord. This is on the heels of passion so we are to passionately serve God. What do you serve passionately? Joshua served the Lord passionately, Joshua 24:15.

There are so many things in our lives that battle for our attention and for our passions. It is easy to be sidetracked and that is what Satan tries to do, Gal. 4:8-11. A distracted Christian posses no threat to evil. To serve God passionately, we need focus. So, what can we do to be focused?

I think one thing we can do is make sure we are spending time in the Word on a regular and continual basis. Reading and digesting the Word is a skill and like any other, it grows greater with work and repetition. As our knowledge of Scripture grows, our understanding will grow proportionately. We also get ourselves into the habit of making time for the Word. However, as other skills, the less we use it, the more dull we become.

I also think church is very important to service. Now this might sound a little redundant but many people think church is something we do and church, the body of Christ, is not something we do but something we serve. When we serve the body, we serve God. To serve, one must be there and must be involved. So, how is our service to God today and what are we going to de about it?

This afternoon we will look at two phrases in the middle of verse 10, brotherly kindness and fellowship. The first is brotherly love, Philadelphia. How is this different than preferring one another over ourselves? When we have compassion and we prefer one another, it has to do more with the reason and the command of love. When we have brotherly love with compassion, it has to do with our attitude. We are to be kind as well as compassionate. It is one thing to put others first but it is another thing to do it with the right attitude. Remember, obedience is not just doing what we are asked to do, but doing it with the right attitude.

Then we move on to fellowship. This word does carry with it the idea of being in a ship together. However, it means a little more than that. It means participating and contributing to each other.

With this in mind, how does this affect our fellowship with God? God wants to fellowship with us and participate with and contribute to us. He wants to be active in our lives and He wants us to be active in His life.

This also should affect our fellowship with each other. We are not to merely see each other on Sunday and then go home, we are to participate and contribute to each other. Early in the New Testament, they went from house to house eating and contributing to each other daily in the Word. So, will you and I have brotherly love and fellowship this week, or will we put ourselves first?

This morning we talked about walking in the Light personally. We cannot walk as a church if we are not walking personally. Once we get walking in the Light personally, we will be able to walk in the Light corporately.

God has also blessed this church with people who have a willing spirit. When there is a job to do, many jump in. The misconnect comes when there is no direction or knowledge on what to do next which falls
on the shoulders of leadership.

There are a few things that we need to work on this year. First, is in the area of witnessing and this is probably true of most churches in America. This however, is a personal responsibility more than it is a corporate responsibility.

Next, is our interpersonal relationships with each other. We have no problem loving on people and visitors, but we tend to get busy when dealing with each other. I think one simple thing we can do to help resolve this problem is a prayer chain. This will keep us in touch and praying for each other.

Thirdly, we need to visit each other more often. I realize that visitation might bring up some not so good feelings, but the fact of the matter is, a visit means much more than a call or an email. We need to be calling, in person, on each other especially those who are going through hardships.

Lastly, we discussed the idea of missions. God has blessed us with a giving attitude. However, I feel we can do more in the area of missions. God seems to really reach down and bless the missions minded churches. We will be looking into faith promise in the near future and praying about what God wants us to do next in missions.