Sermons

We can get so entrenched in religion and become so convinced that our own way is right that when God sends something supernatural our way we can't see or understand what He is using to correct us. Whom the Lord loves He chastens so that we may be a partaker of His holiness. If we are often reproved and ignore correction we will deviate from the power and plan of Jesus Christ. God forbid that we get to the point where we think we have arrived and that we settle into thinking there is no more we can do to serve God. God is calling us to open our heart so we can be an extension of His love and forgiveness here on Earth. Can a homeless man on a cardboard box challenge your religion?

The concept of the mission of God is so important. He is on a mission to take His nature, character, and essence and form it into that which is visible. If we limit the mission of God in our own life we’ll short change our own blessing. We are called to be a blessing and bless others. As a whole, as a church, what is our mission? We have to look at the mission of Jesus. He said, "I am about my Father’s business." When others look at the church and ask what we are up to, we want to be able to say we are about our Father’s business.

Have you found the treasure of God yet? Every one of us has the capacity to cause angels to shout. The heart of God hears the one voice amidst all the noise in the world. The treasure is the heart of God for individual people. We must begin to see the value of a soul through the eyes of a loving God. Jesus lights a candle in the earth and that candle is His church filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit in pursuit for that one soul. When we find that one soul the angels begin to rejoice. You can cause the angels to shout when one soul repents.

We are living in a season of end-time lawlessness and rebellion against all that is of God. In these times God will always have a people whose lives are an expression of His kindness. Kindness is not an occasional word or deed; it is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. God Himself comes down with the pen of His character and begins to write the law of kindness in our heart. Our part is to yield our lives as a living sacrifice and agree with God that His ways are right and to yield our heart to the writing of a new law. Will you choose to manifest the kindness of God to a mass of humanity who are rebellious to Him?

The Holy Spirit has called us all to be a part of the gospel community. Community is much more than Bible studies and pot luck dinners; it’s more than just socializing, and more than self-help clubs. Community is a group of people who build their lives around hearing the Word of God, and knowing what the gospel speaks to us (Luke 8:19). True community is only born through the gospel. Without the truth the gospel community is worthless and powerless. Jesus intended it to be where people love one another, live out the truth, and reach out to the lost. Structure is good, small groups are good, but structure alone can kill a church. We need the gospel, or else there is no gospel community. A church must first know the gospel for them to have a gospel community. Without the gospel our fellowship falls short of the glory of God.

Salvation is not just forgiveness; it’s a way out of sin. Sin is a complete loss of the heart of God given to us freely through Jesus Christ. Undealt with sin turns life into death and turns our life into something so much other than what God planned for us. Sin knows no boundaries and drives us farther and harder than where we want to go. How do we turn from sin? We turn from sin when we return to Christ and allow a living, loving God to envelope us and break the power of sin in our lives. In Christ the deepest longings of our heart are satisfied. God is calling you to come home to Him!

We are living in a time in history where there is intensified pain. Most of this pain comes from family issues, broken marriages, the heart break of a wayward child, and betrayals. There is a pathway of pain that God will allow us to go through so that we might be used to bring provision and life to others. If we are to represent Christ in our generation there will be an incredible personal cost. The key through this pain is forgiveness. When we withhold forgiveness from those who have hurt us we begin to starve the work of Christ. The same people who betrayed us will come back to us one day empty hurt and starving. Will you choose to forgive them and allow them to experience the mercy of God?