Sermons

When we think of the victory of the cross we have to remind ourselves that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins and we are forgiven in Christ. At the cross Jesus bore all our grief and sorrows. All guilt and condemnation is lifted because of His blood. At the cross mercy and peace took on a human face. Jesus Christ made a covenant with His Father and His blood brings us everlasting peace.

In the book of Genesis, Abram (or Abraham) has three encounters with his nephew Lot and the city of Sodom. Each time, he engages in a different type of faith. In one encounter he engages in passive faith — turning the situation over to God and trusting Him and His goodness. On another occasion he engages in prayerful faith — interceding with the belief that prayer can move the heart and hand of God. The final type, and often most difficult to engage in, is active faith — when God calls us to take action and be a part of what He is doing.

When God was moving, Moses got out of the way and let God move. Isaiah, the prophets, and John fell on their faces. In the book of Acts the church had to be fluid — willing to change. Our prayer is not to twist God’s arm to do what we want, but rather to submit ourselves to the direction God is moving.

In every single one of us there is a propensity to draw near to Jesus with all of our heart and to pull away at the same time. If it was not for the power of the Holy Spirit it would be impossible to serve God. It is better to take the promises of God and bring them back to Him in prayer than to make vows that we know we could never keep in our own strength. The key is to totally understand that it is not what we can do for Jesus but what He did and continues to do for us. With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible!

Some of the deepest truths God reveals to us are the simplest and most clear. In Luke 10 the lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to live. Jesus’ answer was profound: love God, love others and (an often missed point) if you do these two things you will live life to the fullest. These are not religious obligations, but have to come from our heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us to “keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

When the Holy Spirit begins to fill our heart and mind we are given the ability to understand the truth of God's Word. When God speaks to us and we obey, we will be led into the miraculous. A cry will arise in our heart, "Oh Jesus use this frail vessel and glorify your name through my life." When everyone is planning their strategies there will be a church who will run into their prayer closets and get a word from the Lord for this generation. We do not have to figure it all out. All we need to do is to have a vision of the one who has all the power and authority we will ever need. Our prayer is, "God stretch forth you hand and fill us with boldness to minister your love and power."

Where is God and why does he allow suffering to go on? When you wrestle with this question you can do two things: turn to the Lord or charge God with negligence. David Wilkerson encourages those in a difficult season to hold still for God's care and goodness in the storm.

When God relents from destroying Nineveh, Jonah accuses Him of doing a “great evil.” Jonah sits outside the city to see what will come of it — hoping God might change his mind and rain fire down upon Nineveh. God appoints a plant to provide shade and comfort for Jonah, but the next day God appoints a worm to eat the plant, and then sends a scorching east wind. Like Jonah, we can hang on to a root of bitterness and anger toward God when things don’t go our way. God will often send things into our life that eat away at our comfort, but it is for our good — that we might be purified by God.