The Résumé of a Real Christian

1Before Paul became a Christian, he was full of energy for the wrong thing, but once he was tamed and changed by Jesus Christ, he used his energy for the right cause. Three ways Paul was changed by Jesus.

The Good News About Jesus

2If you owned a bookstore and everything in it was classified as fiction or nonfiction, where would you put the Bible, in fiction or nonfiction? That is a fundamental decision everybody must make.

What’s in the Heart of a Believer?

3Some of the greatest things ever accomplished in this world have simply been accomplished because people refused to quit. A big oak tree is nothing more than an acorn that refused to give ground. It just hung on. There’s great value in persistence.

Not Ashamed!

4Some people think they are going to go to heaven by doing good deeds or acting righteously. The very best thing I have ever done in my flesh compared to God’s holiness and purity, looks like dirty, filthy, stinking rags before God.

No Excuse!

5What is the eternal destiny of a person born, raised and dying in a place where they never once had access to a Bible or heard about God? Is God going to excuse them? Is God going to excuse those people who never had access to the Bible?

Homosexuality: Lifestyle or Deathstyle?

6I’m going to say something that may shock you out of your socks: Jesus had to deal with homosexual temptation. How I can say that? It’s simple. Jesus dealt with EVERY kind of temptation.

The Slippery Slope of Sin

7If you entertain thoughts about entering into a sexual relationship with a person and you begin to fantasize it and visualize it, then you can step over the line and you can commit adultery in your heart and it all began with a tempting thought.

The Law Written on Your Heart

8Man’s judgment is blind. We all have blind spots in our character others may see, but we can’t. God’s judgment is perfect. He has no flaws, no character deficiencies, so His judgment is perfect because His character is perfect.

The False Security of Religion

9Who are you trying to please? Are you into a religion or are you into a relationship?

Objection Overruled!

10The question the writer of Hebrews asks is the question all of us ought to consider: How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? The Bottom Line: God is holy, and he must punish sin.

Look in the Mirror

11You and I struggle with guilt, because we’re guilty. The sooner you and I admit we are sinners by nature and by choice, and we are guilty, the sooner we can move on to receive the forgiveness of God. A reflection of our guilt in four areas.

God of Grace and God of Glory

12Have you ever been in a relationship with someone and it seemed like you could not please them? That’s somewhat true of God, because if you try on the basis of your own behavior to earn God’s approval or his glory, you’ll miss the target every time.

Faith 101

13When someone directs us to do something, before we take the first step, most of us want to know all the details. Abraham didn’t ask; he just kept on moving by faith until he came to this land that was going to one day be Israel.

A Credit Line of Righteousness

14The difference between when Jesus died and the death of every martyr or every hero who ever died is this: Those people died and they are still dead. The thing about Jesus Christ is he died, he was buried, and he came back after three days.

A Foretaste of Glory Divine

15God says, “Upon the fabric of human suffering, I have superimposed my Biblical pattern, and if you will understand what I am trying to do, the result will be something beautiful if you just don’t mess it up.”

The Blessed Benefits of God’s Love

16The secret to living the Christian life is not trying to imitate Jesus. The secret to the Christian life is allowing Jesus simply to control every part of your life so his character is just displayed.

Don’t Waste Your Sorrows

17One reason God allows suffering is so we will depend on him. Suffering shows us the value of God’s grace. Sometimes we think grace was just something way back yonder when we got saved. But we forget that God’s grace is active right now, present tense.

A Tale of Four Kings

18Do you remember what happened to Adam when he sinned? He died immediately in his spirit, he died gradually in his soul, and he died ultimately in his body. But salvation reverses it.

Many People in One Grave

19This passage addresses Christians who have been born again and describes what has happened to us. This is not about things that ought to happen to you nor are they things you ought to try to do. These are true realities in your life if you are born again.

Wanted: Dead and Alive

20A problem for a lot of people who name the name of Jesus as Christians is there hasn’t been a lot of growth in their Christian life. A lot of Christians don’t grow much beyond that point of conversion. There is no growth in grace, as the Bible calls it.

Free at Last!

21The apostle Paul uses the issue of slavery to simply illustrate and demonstrate how sometimes people can be in bondage to sin, and then how we need to be in servitude to God.

Life’s Greatest Choice

22What is eternal life? Most would say, “Living forever.” The only thing wrong with that is some are so miserable right now that the idea of existing forever is eternal misery. What is eternal life? It is knowing God; it is knowing Jesus Christ.

When a Second Marriage is Better

23What’s the difference between living under law and living released from law in a relationship with Jesus? I obey the law of God not because I’m afraid, but because I love Jesus. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Have You Reached the Age of Accountability?

24The Bible teaches we are sinners by nature from when we are born, but we also become sinners by choice when we choose to break the rules and that’s when we are held accountable.

Correcting Your “I” Problem

25After 22 years of being a believer knowing Jesus Christ, Paul was still a maturing Christian. He said, “I still have to deal with and confront sin.”

The Joy of the Spirit-Filled Life

26Romans 8 is all about how to live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. How as spirit-filled Christians we can make four wonderful affirmations.

Mindset = Lifestyle

27Most people really want to try and please God. But if they don’t have faith it is a frustrating experience, because most people think the way you please God is by ceasing to do bad and getting it all together. But we don’t have the power to do that.

All in the Family

28Have you ever stopped and thought, “Why me? Why did God choose me to be his child?” It just pleased God to do so. It gave God pleasure to choose you to be his child. And when God does something he does it so he derives personal pleasure from it.

Hang on to Hope

29The Apostle Paul said if you take all of the suffering you’ve ever endured in this life, it is like a drop in the bucket compared to a vast, deep ocean of glory that’s going to come. Paul gave us three examples of why we ought to have hope.

The Groanings of the Spirit

30Where is the Lord Jesus right now? He is actually here in the person of the Spirit. He is interceding for me. He is interceding for you. The Bible says there is one mediator between God and man. Isn’t it good to know Jesus is praying for you?

God’s Infallible Guarantee

31Have you ever bought a product and received a guarantee or a warranty that says if anything goes wrong with it, you get your money back? Romans 8:28 is “God’s Infallible Guarantee!”

God’s Incredible Plan

32God is interested in making a whole family of people like Jesus. That is our destiny our destination and God has already predetermined to make us that way. So that’s God’s purpose. He chose us and then he changes us.

God’s Inescapable Love

33The Bible says we have enemies in this world. It is the world, the flesh and the devil. We have enemies, but who’s afraid of the big, bad world? The Bible talks about how our flesh needs to stay crucified.

Are You Concerned About Your Friends Without Christ?

34Those people out there without Christ are not going to break down the doors of this church to get here and learn about Jesus. We cannot be complacent until someone has shared with them like somebody shared with us.

God’s Freedom of Choice

35Have you ever thought about how through the centuries God has preserved the Jewish people and they have maintained their identity even though they have been scattered all over the planet Earth? Why? Because God preserved them.

Stumbling Over God’s Stepping Stone

36God’s wrath has been revealed throughout history. It is being revealed right now. Why does God show us some demonstrations of his wrath in history? To warn us. To teach us that one day God is going to judge sin.

Religious–But Lost!

37What’s wrong with being religious? Nothing, as long as it does not become a substitute for knowing Jesus Christ.

Saving Faith: A Matter of the Heart

38Calling on the Lord has never saved anybody, but calling on the name of the Lord, always saves. How can you do that? How can you have that kind of faith? I’ve noticed there are at least three different types of faith I think everybody possesses.

Do You Need a Faith-Lift?

39If I could ask you what you believe about salvation, you may not have a clear answer. But in Romans 10, we have the clearest explanation of what salvation is. A discussion about the two keystone ideas about salvation, the grace of God and our faith.

From Rejection to Reconciliation

40God has not rejected his people, the Jews. Today the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and Christianity is embraced more by Gentiles (that’s who we are) than Jewish people, yet the Bible still says God is not through with the nation of Israel.

A Branch Can Never Boast

41A tree’s fruit reveals outwardly the inner nature of that tree. The same is true in the Christian life. When there is fruit in your life what you are expressing outwardly is the inner character and nature of Jesus Christ.

Our God is an Awesome God

42You can’t separate your body and your soul and your spirit. God knows if you give your body to Him, the soul and the spirit is going to be given to Him.

Your Supreme Act of Worship

43Just as a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly, and just as a tadpole metamorphoses into a frog, God wants metamorphose each of us into a different kind of person who thinks differently and acts differently. Our job is to repent.

How Beautiful is the Body of Christ

44You are not one in one million. You are one in 6-and-a-half billion. There is nobody else like you on the face of the planet, and there is nobody else like you in this body. You are a unique member of the body of Christ.

Unwrap Your Spiritual Gifts

45One source of frustration in the church is that people are trying to do the wrong ministry, play the wrong instrument. That is tragic. But do you know what is even worse than that is having your instrument, but refusing to play it.

The Greatest of These is Love

46America is adrift without a moral standard, a moral anchor, and until we get back to the word of God, we’re going to get further and further away from God’s standard.

Stop Enduring Life and Start Enjoying It

47In life trouble is inevitable, but misery is optional. Think about that. You have a choice about whether you are going to be miserable about the problems in your life, and the way you deal with it determines whether you are miserable or not.

Five Laws for Healthy Relationships

48One of the main differences between a person who is a Christian and one who is not is how we relate to other people, especially to other people who don’t like us, especially to people who mistreat us.

How to Deal with Mean People

49Sometimes when your enemies treat you wrong, you try to get revenge. You would hurt those people who have hurt you. It may be that Jesus tells you to put your sword away. Some of you just need to put it in the scabbard, because God is going repay evil.

How to be a Christian Citizen

50God has drawn a moral standard, a line. “That’s my boundary. That’s my spiritual fault line. You better move your life to get in line with it.” And too many Americans are saying, “No, I want to move God’s line and change God’s standard to fit my life.”

The Debt of Love I Owe

51What does the Bible say about debt? The Bible says you should never carry any more debt than you can successfully pay for. We live in such a materialistic culture it causes people to borrow money they can’t repay.

Wake Up and Get Dressed!

52Sometimes people are so content they get into a spiritual rut where nothing ever changes. Part of the problem is with us preachers. There is so much Sermonic Sominex dispensed in churches today, it lulls people to sleep.

Hey! A Christian Can’t Do THAT!

53There are things we face in life that do not fall neatly into the right or wrong categories. There are some things we’re faced with, some areas of conduct that the Bible really doesn’t address. That’s what Paul is addressing.

Love is Better Than Liberty

54A tightrope is a picture of Christian liberty with legalism on one side and unrestrained license on the other. But somewhere in between the two is the beautiful tightrope of balance, and the balance bar for a Christian is love.

The N.T. Condensed Version of the Gospel

55Every word in the Bible is important. So you can’t condense the Bible down, but what I’m talking about to today is condensing the essence of the gospel, the kingdom of God, down into one verse.

The Beauty of Unity

56When a lost person comes in the doors of this church, they sit down and they look around and see a thousand Christians in here singing praises to God. That has an impact on them because with one heart and one voice, we are glorifying God together.

A Church with an Open Door

57We’re all so different. We come from different backgrounds, different convictions. But when we all love each other and open arms to all kinds of people, that’s when the beauty of unity is seen. And God wants that here.

The State of the Church Address

58As I talk about our church today, I feel like a physician who is examining a very healthy person. When a physician conducts a physical examination, a person can be very healthy, but they never say you’re perfect. They may say, you’re doing great, but you probably need to drop your cholesterol a couple of points or lose a few pounds or exercise a bit more. They always have some words to encourage them to be healthier.

Preaching Where Christ is Not Known

59To many, Christianity is such a personal thing; they don’t want to share it. They have a ticket to heaven and don’t really care whether anybody else goes to heaven or not. We’re using first aid on ourselves, when there are hurting people all around us.

Blessings are to be Shared–Not Stored

60The Christian life is not a playground. Life is tough. It’s a struggle, even for the best of Christians, even for the strongest Christians. That’s why you need to share your burdens with one another.

The Power of Positive Encouraging

61Learn how to cherish your spiritual family. Remarks from the Apostle Paul about his love and compassion for the Christians in Rome.

To God Be the Glory!

62God is bigger than any person’s ability to even imagine God, and if you think you have condensed God down to some little thought in your mind and you’ve got him figured out where he’s convenient to you and for you, you’ve committed idolatry.