On the last Lord's Day, we continued our series on overcoming the sin nature in our lives entitled Proper Conduct For An Excellent People, with an exposition on a wonderful text housed in I Thessalonians 5:22 which says in the ESV abstain from every form of evil, which I entitled Do the Right Thing. I used for an introduction the main controversy found at the end of the film. Spike brought up the argument of two different ideals regarding the violence in the movie's conclusion. One ideal is that violence is never justifiable under any circumstances, and the other ideal was that violence is intelligent when done under the action of self-defense. Many scholars could not agree as to which ideal they would consider to be the correct one, so they basically decided to agree to disagree.
While that may work for movies, that is never tolerated when it comes our conduct as the people of God toward our Father in Heaven. I Thessalonians tells us that we must abstain from every form of evil. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants to sanctify us for his good purpose, which means that he desires to set us apart for his use, but he can't do it while the wickedness of our lives is at the forefront of our desires. Here is the sermon outline:
Thesis: our ability to be set apart for the express purpose of God's exclusive use, hinges totally on our willingness to turn away from our wickedness and do the right thing.
I. Positional Sanctification
-verse 24
II. Practical Sanctification
-verse 24
III. Perfect Sanctification
-verse 24
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Proper Conduct For An Excellent People
This year 2008, the year of new beginnings, the emphasis for our church is "A Spirit of Excellence"...Proclaiming God's Word For His Glory, Protecting The Weak From His Judgment & Preparing the World For His Return. So in this season of excellence, the Lord has led me to deal with our congregation about overcoming the sin problem in our lives, and if we are truly going to live an excellent life for God then we must get rid of our inability to sincerely strive to live a life absent of sin.
So the Lord has led me to begin a short expositional series on overcoming sin entitled Proper Conduct For An Excellent People, and the first in the series is out of that familiar text out of Hebrews 12:1-2 which I called Stay in the Race. The anoynomous Hebrew writer began in verse 1 by saying therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The writer uses athletic imagery when penning this chapter, for he paints a picture that we are inside a great arena with the cloud of witnesses who make up the faith hall of fame in chapter 11, sitting in the stands as spectators watching us as we run this Christian race called life. But in actuality, they are not being witnesses but rather they are bearing witness to the fact they faced adversity in their lives yet they never gave up because they had great faith in Jesus Christ. We can stay in the race because we look to Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Here is the sermon outline:
Title: Stay in the Race
Thesis: our complete trust in the flawless example of Jesus Christ, will release his power in our lives to provide us the endurance and encouragement we need to stay in the race
I. Relinquished His Position
-verse 2...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
II. Rejected His Pain
-despising the shame
III. Reward Was Perfected
-and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God
So the Lord has led me to begin a short expositional series on overcoming sin entitled Proper Conduct For An Excellent People, and the first in the series is out of that familiar text out of Hebrews 12:1-2 which I called Stay in the Race. The anoynomous Hebrew writer began in verse 1 by saying therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The writer uses athletic imagery when penning this chapter, for he paints a picture that we are inside a great arena with the cloud of witnesses who make up the faith hall of fame in chapter 11, sitting in the stands as spectators watching us as we run this Christian race called life. But in actuality, they are not being witnesses but rather they are bearing witness to the fact they faced adversity in their lives yet they never gave up because they had great faith in Jesus Christ. We can stay in the race because we look to Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Here is the sermon outline:
Title: Stay in the Race
Thesis: our complete trust in the flawless example of Jesus Christ, will release his power in our lives to provide us the endurance and encouragement we need to stay in the race
I. Relinquished His Position
-verse 2...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
II. Rejected His Pain
-despising the shame
III. Reward Was Perfected
-and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
God's Return on His Investment
As our church has entered into our season of excellence, the Lord has led me to consider that our church cannot walk into the blessings that the Lord has for us in 2008, until we deal with and remove some issues of our character that has plagued us for many years. So for the next few weeks until we take ownership of our new location, I will be preaching messages that deal with our actions towards God and one another in order to bring us to the level that God desires for us to walk into our destiny.
With that in mind, I was led to deliver an attempt of biblical exposition on Psalms 116:12-17 that I called God's Return on His Investment. This text has been attributed by most biblical scholars to King Hezekiah due to his sickness found compariably in Isaiah 38. For God told the Prophet Isaiah to tell Hezekiah to get his house in order because he will surely die. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays to the Lord and God responded by adding 15 more years to his life. In his joy for the Lord's healing him from his sickness and granting him more time on his life, he pens this great Psalm 116 by telling Judah exactly how he feels about his God in verse 1, he says I love the Lord because he has heard my pleas for mercy. In verse 3 he talks of God's delivering him from his physical death and in verse 8 he talks of God's delivering him from his spiritual death. But in verse 12, he asks a great interrogative that each and every one of us should ask, what shall I render to the Lord for all that he has done for me. And the truth of the matter is that many of us should wonder what shall we give to the Lord for all that he has done in our oves. God is looking for a return on his investment in our lives. Here is the sermon outline...I pray that it will bless you as it has done for the First Mount Zion Church.
Thesis: we must be willing to give God all that we have as a proper response to him giving us all that he has.
I. Prayer of Salvation
-verse 13...I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord
-when we are saved it should inspire us to make a contribution to the Lord
a. contribution of restitution - v. 14...I will pay my vows to the Lord
b. contribution of respect - v. 14...now in the presence of all his people
c. contribution of relief - v.15...precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints
II. Promise of Service
-verse 16...O Lord, I am your servant...I am your servant, the son of your maidservant...you have loosed my bonds
-why would we make this promise of service to the Lord
a. Family - v. 16...I am your servant, the son of your maidservant
b. Freedom - v. 16...you have loosed my bonds
III. Praise of Sacrifice
-verse 17...I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving...and call on the name of the Lord
With that in mind, I was led to deliver an attempt of biblical exposition on Psalms 116:12-17 that I called God's Return on His Investment. This text has been attributed by most biblical scholars to King Hezekiah due to his sickness found compariably in Isaiah 38. For God told the Prophet Isaiah to tell Hezekiah to get his house in order because he will surely die. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays to the Lord and God responded by adding 15 more years to his life. In his joy for the Lord's healing him from his sickness and granting him more time on his life, he pens this great Psalm 116 by telling Judah exactly how he feels about his God in verse 1, he says I love the Lord because he has heard my pleas for mercy. In verse 3 he talks of God's delivering him from his physical death and in verse 8 he talks of God's delivering him from his spiritual death. But in verse 12, he asks a great interrogative that each and every one of us should ask, what shall I render to the Lord for all that he has done for me. And the truth of the matter is that many of us should wonder what shall we give to the Lord for all that he has done in our oves. God is looking for a return on his investment in our lives. Here is the sermon outline...I pray that it will bless you as it has done for the First Mount Zion Church.
Thesis: we must be willing to give God all that we have as a proper response to him giving us all that he has.
I. Prayer of Salvation
-verse 13...I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord
-when we are saved it should inspire us to make a contribution to the Lord
a. contribution of restitution - v. 14...I will pay my vows to the Lord
b. contribution of respect - v. 14...now in the presence of all his people
c. contribution of relief - v.15...precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints
II. Promise of Service
-verse 16...O Lord, I am your servant...I am your servant, the son of your maidservant...you have loosed my bonds
-why would we make this promise of service to the Lord
a. Family - v. 16...I am your servant, the son of your maidservant
b. Freedom - v. 16...you have loosed my bonds
III. Praise of Sacrifice
-verse 17...I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving...and call on the name of the Lord
Thursday, January 17, 2008
When God Opens A Door
We concluded a quick exposition on the life of Joseph entitled the promotions of God with our look at Genesis 41. At this point in our text we discover that Joseph had been locked into prison because Potiphar's wife desired Joseph to lay with her which he promptly refused. She told her husband that he tried to force himself upon her and Potiphar sent Joseph into prison. While he was there, he met the chief cupbearer and baker of the present Pharaoh of Egypt and he interpreted dreams for them. He tells the cupbearer the only payment that I want is for when you get back to the house of Pharaoh, remember me. Chapter 41 begins with the words after two whole years Pharaoh had two dreams that not one of his counselors were able to interpret, but the cupbearer finally remembered Joseph and he was brought to Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. Joseph tells Pharaoh that one of his dreams meant that Egypt will have 7 years of plenty and the other means that Egypt will have 7 years of famine, and he tells Pharaoh that he must put someone responsible over the food so that during the 7 years of plenty, he would store up food so that when the famine comes they will have enough food to hold them through it. Pharaoh says in verse 38, can we find a man like this, in whom has the Spirit of God and he appoints Joseph over his entire house. God looks at what is on the inside of a man to determine whether or not he will open a door of influence in the life of that man. Here is the sermon outline:
Text: Genesis 41:37-43
Thesis: who we are on the inside will determine who God will allow us to be on the outside
I. Great Ascension
-verse 40
II. Great Authority
-verse 41
III. Great Association
-verse 42
IV. Great Admiration
-verse 43
Text: Genesis 41:37-43
Thesis: who we are on the inside will determine who God will allow us to be on the outside
I. Great Ascension
-verse 40
II. Great Authority
-verse 41
III. Great Association
-verse 42
IV. Great Admiration
-verse 43
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Sermon Series on Joseph
Happy New Year! As our church left 2007 behind and looking forward to the joys of 2008, I was really stumped on what to preach for the first sermon of the new year. This was because we are getting ready to relocate our ministry at the end of this month, and I really want to save that message for our initial service in the new building. So I have been interested in doing a study on the life of Joseph for my own private devotion, and I was led to look at a period in Joseph's life that seemed to mirror the life of our church at this present time, in dealing with the thought of benefits of the promotion of God.
But I found out something exciting, when I was doing my work on Genesis 39, I discovered that I could not do an exposition on chapter 39 without telling the rest of the promotion story. So I was led to preach a series entitled When God Promotes. We began this series at Genesis 39 which I tagged the Secret to Success. Here is the sermon outline:
Title: Secret to Success
Text: Genesis 39:1-6
Thesis: Man's ability to succeed in this world is the direct result of the favor that God has on our lives
I. Condition Does Not Determine Your Personality
-verse 1
-slavery does not determine who you are
II. Condition Does Not Determine Your Potential
-verse 4
-slavery does not determine where your destiny is
III. Condition Does Not Determine Your Productivity
-verse 5
-slavery does not determine what you will be able to accomplish
-verses
But I found out something exciting, when I was doing my work on Genesis 39, I discovered that I could not do an exposition on chapter 39 without telling the rest of the promotion story. So I was led to preach a series entitled When God Promotes. We began this series at Genesis 39 which I tagged the Secret to Success. Here is the sermon outline:
Title: Secret to Success
Text: Genesis 39:1-6
Thesis: Man's ability to succeed in this world is the direct result of the favor that God has on our lives
I. Condition Does Not Determine Your Personality
-verse 1
-slavery does not determine who you are
II. Condition Does Not Determine Your Potential
-verse 4
-slavery does not determine where your destiny is
III. Condition Does Not Determine Your Productivity
-verse 5
-slavery does not determine what you will be able to accomplish
-verses
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Watch Night Service 07
On last night we celebrated the Church of Jesus Christ's annual Watch Night Service with a joint worship celebration between the First Mount Zion Baptist Church and the New Hope Baptist Church, where I was honored to be asked to preach the final message of the year for both congregations. My Pastor, Joe A. Carter is presently on sabbatical from the New Hope Church while he is dealing with a bout of stress and anxiety that has actually caused him to miss the last few months of preaching at his church. Words cannot express how honored I felt for him to ask me to be the preacher for the evening when in past years during Watch Night at New Hope, he has brought some of this country's greatest pulpiteers such as: Dr. Joel Gregory, Dr. Eddie McCree and the one and only Dr. C. Eugene Overstreet just to name a few. So for him to ask me to stand on that level of platform when far more experienced and established personalities have been there and are more qualified to "pinch hit" for him, lets me know that the favor of God is great and unfair, but it will work in its own sovereign way.
The Lord led me to deal with an issue that has been plaguing both Pastors and pew all throughout 2007, and that is how do we deal with bad situations. All this year, the church has been dealt one blow after another trying to kill our effectiveness and stifle the growth and development of God's church. But I am grateful that the bible, the complete Word of God, gives us every answer to every question that we face in this life. So the Lord took me to Psalms 46:1-4 and allowed us to take a glimpse of how we are able to handle bad times when they show up in our lives.
This Psalm, though written by an unknown author, deals with a celebration in the Temple because the Lord had just defeated their enemy the Assyrians who attacked Israel following their wicked leader named Sennacherib. This Psalm was sung in the Temple as a celebratory song praising and thanking God for his deliverence in the worst of times. Here is the sermon outline:
Title: Help in Bad Situations
Thesis: our ability to rise above our bad situations rest totally in our complete confidence in a God who can
Transitional Statement: what proof do we have that we serve a God who can
I. God is Our Personal Rescue
-verse 1...God is our refuge and strength
a. We will find our safety with God
-God is our refuge
b. We will find our survival with God
-God is our refuge and strength
II. God is our Powerful Resource
-verse 1...a very present help in trouble
a. he is sufficient
a. he is immediate
III. God is our Permanent Resistance
-verses 2-3...therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea...though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, Selah
a. Though our fears sticken us
-therefore we will not fear
b. Though our foundations shake us
-though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea...though waters roar and be troubled...though mountains shake with swelling
The Lord led me to deal with an issue that has been plaguing both Pastors and pew all throughout 2007, and that is how do we deal with bad situations. All this year, the church has been dealt one blow after another trying to kill our effectiveness and stifle the growth and development of God's church. But I am grateful that the bible, the complete Word of God, gives us every answer to every question that we face in this life. So the Lord took me to Psalms 46:1-4 and allowed us to take a glimpse of how we are able to handle bad times when they show up in our lives.
This Psalm, though written by an unknown author, deals with a celebration in the Temple because the Lord had just defeated their enemy the Assyrians who attacked Israel following their wicked leader named Sennacherib. This Psalm was sung in the Temple as a celebratory song praising and thanking God for his deliverence in the worst of times. Here is the sermon outline:
Title: Help in Bad Situations
Thesis: our ability to rise above our bad situations rest totally in our complete confidence in a God who can
Transitional Statement: what proof do we have that we serve a God who can
I. God is Our Personal Rescue
-verse 1...God is our refuge and strength
a. We will find our safety with God
-God is our refuge
b. We will find our survival with God
-God is our refuge and strength
II. God is our Powerful Resource
-verse 1...a very present help in trouble
a. he is sufficient
a. he is immediate
III. God is our Permanent Resistance
-verses 2-3...therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea...though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, Selah
a. Though our fears sticken us
-therefore we will not fear
b. Though our foundations shake us
-though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea...though waters roar and be troubled...though mountains shake with swelling
Happy New Year
May the Lord bless you...may the Lord keep you...may the Lord make his face to shine upon you...may the Lord be gracious unto you...may the Lord lift his countenance upon you...that is to give you his hand of favor...may the Lord give you peace and may this peace be with you throughout the year 2008.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
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