The only way you can move toward spiritual maturity is to constantly get into the Word of God. Listen to it; read it; study it; memorize it; and meditate on it. If you’ve been a believer for more than ten years, and you’re still a baby Christian, I pray that God will give you a sense of holy dissatisfaction.
2016 Christmas program, featuring the Celebration Choir and Orchestra under the direction of Mike Parks.
Here’s the challenge all of us face in the years to come. Will we hold onto our Biblical faith, or will we let go and grab hold of the popular, shifting values of anything-goes-as-long-as-I’m-not-hurting-you morality? Are you willing to grip firmly and to hold onto the truth of the faith we profess? We live in a culture that will try to rip that belief out of your hands and heart, so hold on firmly!
There are several similarities between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus. But while there are similarities, there is no real comparison because Jesus is incomparable. Actually, Moses looked through the prophetic telescope and predicted the coming of Jesus. The greatest difference between Moses and Jesus was that Moses was a man. He was a great man, but he was just a man. Jesus was the one and only God-man. Moses delivered God’s law, but Jesus did something much greater; He demonstrated God’s grace.
Since the cross, the devil has been a toothless lion, but he still tries to make you miserable. Lions aren’t the fastest animals in the jungle, so they have to sneak up on their prey. In the same way, the devil is sneaky in the way he attacks believers. He often disguises himself as an angel of light. Lions roar to paralyze their prey with fear. In the same way, fear is still one of Satan’s greatest tools. He roams and he roars, but he can’t touch you without God’s permission, so don’t fear him.
To say we’re all God’s children is an attractive, tolerant way to speak about people today, but it’s not in the Bible. We are all part of the family of mankind, but we aren’t all part of the family of God. We are all God’s creatures (created by God), and God loves everyone and wants them to be saved, but only those who put their faith in Jesus Christ become His children.
Drifting is something that happens slowly and gradually. But here’s the truth about spiritual drifting: You never drift toward holiness, you drift toward ungodliness. You never drift into faithfulness, you drift toward faithlessness; you never drift toward goodness, you drift toward wickedness.
Many of the popular depictions and figurines of angels are fashioned after the Greek god Cupid. But in the Bible, angels are most often portrayed as men wearing brilliant white garments. Ordinary isn’t the best adjective, because angels are extraordinary, but only two special categories of heavenly beings are described as having wings. In Isaiah 6, the Seraphim are described as having six wings. In Ezekiel 10, Cherubim are described as having four wings. God’s ordinary angels are never described as having wings.
We’re living again in days of moral darkness and moral decay. It’s not the first time in our history that our culture has slipped into moral decline. The impetus for every spiritual awakening is when God’s people got outside the four walls of the church and showed their culture God’s love in practical ways.
We’re living again in days of moral darkness and moral decay. It’s not the first time in our history that our culture has slipped into moral decline. The impetus for every spiritual awakening is when God’s people got outside the four walls of the church and showed their culture God’s love in practical ways.
Falling away from the Lord doesn’t happen overnight. It happens gradually over a period of time. Peter found himself walking with the wrong crowd. Then he stood with them, and then he sat down by the fire with them. If you find yourself walking with the wrong crowd, turn around. Don’t stand, and then for sure, don’t sit down with them. It’s hard to stand up and confess Jesus when you are with people who don’t share your beliefs.
There were two stages to the trial of Jesus, the Jewish trial before Caiaphas and the Roman trial before Pilate. The Jewish trial was actually illegal, because the Jewish Talmud stated, “The members of the court may not alertly and intelligently hear the testimony against the accused during the hours of darkness.” This trial was taking place in the wee hours of the morning, after midnight. As you might imagine, there have been dozens of lawsuits filed before the current Israeli Supreme Court proposing the legal charges against Jesus be dropped on the basis of the trial at night. To this point the Israeli Supreme Court has declined to hear any of those cases.
The night before the cross. Jesus gathered with His Disciples for a night of firsts and lasts. You might say it was last official Passover meal, and at the same time it was the first Lord’s Supper meal. Here we are two thousand years later, part of millions of Christians who still connect with the Lord through the bread and the cup.
Never miss the opportunity to worship. You never know when will be the last chance to worship God. This lesson also applies to showing love and appreciation to people as well. Never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love him or her, because you never know when you’ll have another chance.
In the Old Testament, Israel is symbolized by a fig tree. The fig tree was cut off at the root, but we have lived in a period of time, when the leaves started growing again. When the nation of Israel was destroyed in 70 A.D., the Jewish people were scattered to all the nations of the earth. But in the early 1900s a few brave Jews started returning to the Holy Land.
Some people want to be recognized for their religious acts—and if they don’t get public recognition, they are gone. That’s show-off religion. Jesus had something to say about those who practice show-off religion: They will be punished most severely. The sins of these religious leaders were not the gross sins of the flesh; they were the sins of pride, greed, selfishness, and hostility. These are what may be called “religious sins.”
The members of the church in Jerusalem had such a positive impact on their community; it says they enjoyed the favor of all the people. The word favor means these healthy believers were a blessing to the people around them. Once they came to know Christ, they wanted others to experience the abundant life and joy they were enjoying.
Worship should always be God-centered not person-centered. Our choir and praise team aren’t up here performing to you. They are leading all of us to sing songs of joy to an audience of One. Worship is primarily to express our love and adoration to God. But there is a side-effect of worship: It creates an atmosphere of joy.
We are a nation of hoarders. We keep much more stuff than we need and store it in closets, attics, and garages. And then when those places get full, we store our stuff in self-storage units. God created us to be a channel of his wealth, not a container. God gives to you and He wants you to give it away—and you can’t outgive God.
If you would make that your daily practice, it would change your life. You may be thinking that you’re too busy. John Wesley’s mother, Susana, had 16 children. She used to sit down in the kitchen and pull her apron over her head. All the children knew this meant they must be quiet because their mother was spending time alone with God. Every morning, we need to pull the apron over our heads and block out the distractions of life and commune with God in prayer.
