The Church Tag

July 6, 2014

We Are Family

Knowing Jesus isn’t the same thing as knowing facts about Jesus. I know facts about Abraham Lincoln, but I don’t know Abraham Lincoln. I know facts about Dwight D. Eisenhower, and I can say, “I like Ike.” But I never had the privilege of meeting President Eisenhower. But I met Jesus when I was nine years old and he’s more real to me than the carpet on this floor. He’s more real to me than the wood, concrete, and steel in this building. Because one day, all this will be gone, but Jesus will still be large and in charge.

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February 13, 2011

Where Does God Live Today?

In the Old Testament, God had a temple for his people, and in the New Testament, God has a people for His temple! He lives in the hearts of His people. God lives here in our midst when we gather to worship and serve Him.

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October 3, 2010

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

This spiritual building Jesus is constructing isn’t made up of bricks that are all the same size and appearance. It’s more like a stone wall of all different shapes and sizes. God loves variety. If you don’t believe it, just look around. Unless you’re a twin, nobody else looks like you. But like the stones in a wall, we are joined together through the mortar of the Holy Spirit. The stonemason carefully chooses each stone to fit with the others. That’s exactly what God does with us.

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June 6, 2010

Little is Much When God is in it

Imagine boulders represent burdens. Sometimes we all experience the occasional heavy boulders of pain and grief: the death of a loved one; a divorce; the loss of a job. You carry your own backpack, but if a boulder rolls over onto one of your fellow hikers, you’re going to jump in and help take the load of that burden off them; you’re going to bear their burden. As you do that, you fulfill the law of Christ. The law of Christ is the law of Love. You are to love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with age; there are plenty of adult Christians who still cannot feed themselves.

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May 27, 2007

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

In our fallen, sinful, self-centered condition, we can’t get along with others. But those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ live by a different standard. The only way we can get along with others is through the supernatural power of Jesus Christ. Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you automatically get along with everyone else in the church. There were conflicts in the church 2,000 years ago and there are still conflicts between Christians today.

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May 21, 2006

What Happens N-Side a Jesus Church?

We live in an age of marvelous electronic connection, but it has only created miserable personal isolation. Today a person can sit in front of a computer monitor and feel like they have friends all over the world. There are dozens of websites facilitating social networking. To me, this trend demonstrates how hungry people are for genuine relationships. A Jesus church is a place where all different kinds of people can be united in love. A church is not a showcase for shiny saints, we are a hospital for sick sinners. We are to be a safe harbor for those whose lives have been shipwrecked.

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October 10, 1999

The Beauty of Unity

Almost every day, I sing praises to the Lord, but I come together with you on Sunday. With one voice, we sing praises to the Lord. That promotes and enhances the unity of our church. When 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. I want to tell you, that has an impact on them because with one heart and one voice, we are glorifying God together.

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June 13, 1999

How Beautiful is the Body of Christ

Have you ever heard somebody say about another individual, “When God made that person He broke the mold?” That is literally true of everybody in this room. There was one mold for you and nobody else is in that mold. My friend, you 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.

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May 7, 1995

A True Charismatic Church

“Charismatic” is a good Bible word, but because some people have used it for something else, we have lost the true Bible meaning of the word. It is a word Paul uses most often for a spiritual gift.

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April 30, 1995

The Seven Pillars of Biblical Christianity

I know some people who believe the truth right down the line. They are so orthodox, but they are like a gun barrel: They are as straight theologically as they can be, but they are just as cold and empty. You can believe correctly and still be mean as a snake. That’s wrong. On the other hand if you are totally Christian in your activities and in your behavior if you love people and you are kind and forgiving, but you believe the wrong thing, then you will be spiritually handicapped as well.

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April 2, 1995

The Yahweh Construction Company

The secret of the Christian life is opening the door of your heart from the inside and just like a person walking into a building say, “Lord Jesus Come and live inside of me. It’s not you trying to live the Christian life it’s not you doing something for God; its Jesus coming to live in you and Jesus doing things through you. It’s Jesus loving people through you. It’s Jesus forgiving people through you. It is Jesus drawing lost people to himself through you. He never wanted you to imitate him; he just wanted you to contain him and to release him. That’s what it means to be a Christian. I’m afraid so many Christians are going to stand before God on Judgment Day and are going to be disqualified because they did not understand that simple little truth that the Christian life is Christ in you.

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