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Tag: church
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God of Grace
God’s Nature
Some people think God is an angry judge, waiting to strike us down for every little thing we do. Others think He “understands” us, so He forgives everything we do, no matter what it is. The truth, according to the Bible, is that God does expect us to do what is right and worship Him. It’s also true that we all fail to be perfect.
What happens when we do fail? God is always anxious and ready to forgive; we just need to come to Him, confess our sins, and He will wash us “white as snow.”More…
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Investing for the Future
Eternal Investments
Are you only investing for your future on this earth? God has our future just waiting for us. Take the long view – the eternal view.
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Perfect Love for Imperfect People
God is Love
God is love.
If we want to know love, we need to know God. If we want to love others, we need to emulate how God loves us.
Love Demonstrated
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.God showed us His love by Jesus dying on the cross for us. He didn’t have to do that; His love for us drove Him to the cross.
In verse 7, Paul says that some people might die for someone else who is nice and a really good person. If there were someone who always would make fun of you, steal your things, and say horrible things about you and to you, would you die for them? That’s what we have all done when we were living for ourselves, saying and doing things that we never should have done.
God didn’t just say He loved us; He showed us.Love Demonstrated
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.God doesn’t just want to show us His love; He wants us to experience it. Paul is saying here that he wants us to be so grounded in God’s love that we would be able to understand, to comprehend just how huge God’s love is, even though it is more than anyone can understand. Imagine a love that is so great that no one can even understand it, much less live it.
Natural Love
I will love you, if you love me.
I will love you, as long as I find you attractive.
I will love you, as long as you are rich.
I will love you, if you are nice to me.Notice how most natural, human love has conditions. We are willing to love someone if they will do certain things or be a certain way. If they aren’t exactly what we want, we might remove our love. As we just saw, though, that’s not God’s way.
Husbands
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.
Why would a husband be bitter against his wife? It could be that he felt disrespected or unloved. Maybe his wife said or did something because she felt disrespected or unloved.
Many times, couples have marital problems because they misinterpreted what the other person felt or meant to say. It’s impossible to know everything that someone thinks or feels.
We are all influenced by our own experiences, from childhood to the present. How we choose to react or act based on those experiences also has a great influence on us. No one else could possibly know what you are feeling inside – maybe not even you! Of course, God knows.Intentions
So, thinking about this logically, does it make sense for us to be upset with someone else if we don’t understand what they are going through? I’m not talking about blatant things here. There is never an excuse for hitting or abusing someone else. There’s also no excuse for being unfaithful.
In most cases, though, big problems start with small misunderstandings or disagreements that lead to bigger things. How can we avoid most of these issues?Submit Ourselves
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.Notice this instruction. It’s not just for husbands and wives; it’s for all of us. First, we need to lay off alcohol and other drugs, instead filling ourselves with the Holy Spirit. Singing, worshiping, and giving thanks to God helps us put things into perspective.
In verse 21, he combines worshiping God with submitting ourselves to each other. We need to subject ourselves “to one another in the fear of Christ.”
What does that look like?Submit Ourselves
I might think that someone else hurt me in some way; maybe they actually did. Maybe, they even wanted to hurt me. If I choose to love them and submit my own feelings to this relationship, I might be able to avoid things escalating into a major issue.
We submit our own feelings by giving the other person the benefit of the doubt, even if we think they “don’t deserve it.” We also realize that we could be wrong. It’s even possible that the other person is reacting to something that we did, and we might not even realize we hurt them.
This is why God tells us to love others. Notice He doesn’t say to love others if they do certain things or act a certain way. This isn’t the typical “human” kind of love that we saw earlier. Whether someone else is “lovable” or “unlovable”, we need to love them.
Let’s go back to where we started in 1 John, “God is love.”Love One Another
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.John is telling us to love one another, not to love one another if…
He also points out how we can’t fully and truly love others until we know God by living for Him and being born again. If we don’t love, we don’t know God (verse 8).
Then John gets even more direct.Love One Another
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.I have heard people say, “I love God, but I just can’t love that person.” We see here that that’s not scriptural. John even says that person is a liar.
Jesus said that the second greatest command was to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mt.22:39)Love In Action
Love others.
Put your desires behind loving others.
Actively submit yourself in every relationship.
Most problems occur because of misunderstandings.We need to always try to give others the benefit of the doubt, because we probably don’t understand everything that is going on.
Let’s bring this one step further.God’s Plans
11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Bottom line: love others, love God, give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Don’t allow yourself to get angry and bitter.
Choose love – God’s love.More…
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Community
God’s Love
In the beginning, there was God. He has always existed in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is all love – the very definition of love.
1 John 4:7-8 (NASB)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.Because of God’s love that He had for us, even before we existed, He created us. From the very beginning, God knew that it was not good for us to be alone.
Genesis 2:18 (NASB)
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
God created all of the animals and brought them to Adam. I’m sure they were all very friendly, but they still didn’t meet a need that Adam had for true fellowship, so God created Eve.
Genesis 2:20-24 (NASB)
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.We now had the beginning of the first family, and the first community. It seems that God used to walk and commune with Adam and Eve on a regular basis (Gen.3:8-9). This was the perfect world that God had created — Adam and Eve enjoying each other’s company and the world that God had given them, while God fellowshipped with and enjoyed their company.
Fellowship
The word “fellowship” means two or more people talking and sharing with each other. It’s not where one person talks and the other always listens. In a good friendship, both people feel comfortable with the other person, and they both take turns talking, listening, sympathizing, and loving.
God created Adam and Eve in His own image. Because God has always existed in three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and we were created in His image, we have the same desire and even need to be with other people.Genesis 1:26-28 (NASB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”More than just being created in His image, we even have His Spirit.
Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Family
The family is the beginning and foundation of every godly community. It is what God established and what He commanded from the very beginning.
Genesis 1:28 (NASB)
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Today, we see many people attacking the traditional family (husband, wife, children). They might say that the Bible’s definition of a family is old-fashioned and outdated. These arguments are nothing new. We have seen throughout history where people have tried creating other “societies” where they refuse to follow the traditional pattern of marriage. Every culture that has tried this has failed. God created us to live as families. We can even see in every study that has looked at the subject, people in jail are overwhelmingly from a home where the father is not there. We also see increased poverty, teenage pregnancy, and emotional issues.
Keeping a family together takes work. It starts by putting God in the center of it, and teaching/leading your family in His ways.Tribes, Villages, Towns, Cities
We see throughout history that people have formed communities. This way, they can be there to help each other and enjoy the company of each other. Some people prefer smaller towns, and others prefer large cities. We all have a need to be with others in some capacity.
Emotional Hurt
Whenever you have two or more people together, eventually someone will say or do something that will hurt the other person. It might be intentional or unintentional. That’s what usually breaks up marriages. A marriage usually starts with two people deeply in love, willing to commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. Over time, things will happen. People, by our nature, are selfish. We want our own way. When we don’t get it, we get upset. This can cause distrust, jealousy, anger, and pain. This is not just with marriages. Every relationship between two people (friendship, work, etc.) will have these pressures. How can we avoid them? If the relationship is already damaged, how can we fix it?
Forgiveness
Jesus loved us so much, He died on the cross, taking our sins on Himself, so that our sins could be forgiven. This made the way for our relationship with Him to be restored. At the same time, He expects us to be willing to forgive each other.
Matthew 18:23-35 (NASB)
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, Pay back what you owe.
29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, Have patience with me and I will repay you.
30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”What the first slave owed was more than he could have possibly earned in over 10,000 years! By comparison, his fellow slave owed him about five months wages. That is a lot of money, but compared to what he was just forgiven, it was nothing. Jesus was saying that it is the same way with us. God has forgiven us more than we can ever imagine. If we are unwilling to forgive someone else, even if it was an intentional, horrible offense, we are not worthy of Christ’s forgiveness.
As Jesus taught us to pray:Luke 11:4 (NASB)
4 And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. “
Just in case we had any doubts, Jesus laid it out clearly.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NASB)
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.The forgiveness of our own sins is contingent on our forgiveness of others. I have had people try to justify their own unforgiveness — what the other person did was “unforgivable”; what they did hurt me too much; why should I forgive them if they aren’t even sorry?
Romans 5:8 (NASB)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus did not wait for us to make the first move. He died for us first, showing us what true love truly was.
Communities
Think about the communities we form:
- Clubs (Rotary Club, golf club, sports club)
- Bars
- Social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.)
- Churches
Communities can be good or bad. They can either help reinforce good, godly ideals in us, or they can help us justify sinful, evil thoughts and intentions. Remember the definition of fellowship. Both people are sharing and receiving ideas. The people with whom we associate will definitely have an effect on us, and will probably dictate who we become. If you want to be a better person, hang out with better people, read better things, discuss better ideas.
Community of God
In the Old Testament, God chose a family of people — the Israelites — and made a nation out of them. Other people could join them, but they had to become part of that nation, agreeing to abide by the laws that God had established for them.
When Jesus came, He died for everyone, not just the Jewish people. He gave His life for many, not the few. Everyone who comes to Him can find forgiveness of their sins (for more information, click here). You can then become part of the family and body of Christ — the church.Church
The church actually refers to the people of God, not a particular building or religion. After Jesus was raised from the dead and people started believing in Him and following Him, look what the early believers were doing.
Acts 2:46-47 (NASB)
46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.This was the natural outpouring of the incredible experience they all just had. When something good happens to you, you want to share it with others. That’s what they were doing. As time went on, the people who did not want to repent of their sins started to persecute them. Since they had already been meeting together and sharing with each other, they could now lean on each other and strengthen each other. People who try to stand alone have a much harder time.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NASB)
12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Meeting Together
The early church people went through a lot of persecution, including being thrown in prison, having all of their possessions taken, and even being killed. Non-Christians might not hire them. They might not even sell them food or buy things from them. By meeting with other Christians, people in their community knew that they were Christians. To avoid persecution, some people stopped meeting together. The writer of Hebrews warned of the danger of that practice.
Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB)
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.God intended for the church to be a place where people could encourage each other to live godly lives, even while being persecuted by others. This is also what marriages and families are supposed to be — places of encouragement.
We see the same thing happening today. Many people have been hurt by what someone else said or did. They will let this experience leave them thinking that’s just the way that churches are. Unfortunately, that’s just the way that people are, not just people in church. As we saw above, this is why we need to freely and openly forgive each other, constantly. What else can we do?Serving
Why do we have problems with other people? Because we all want our own way (even Christians).
James 4:1 (NASB)
1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
How do we overcome this? By humbling ourselves like Jesus did and putting the interests of others before our own interests.
Philippians 2:3-4 (NASB)
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.If everyone did this, we would have no conflict in our churches. We would have no conflict at work. We would have no wars.
The place to start, as always, is with ourselves. It’s been said that if you want a friend, be a friend.Luke 6:31 (NASB)
31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
This is what we call the golden rule. If we want to be treated nicely, treat others nicely, even if they don’t treat you the same.
Notice, also, that Jesus here is assuming that we will be in a community, not shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world.God has called us to be a godly community, encouraging each other, putting our own interests last, and being an example to the rest of the world. Don’t let anything steal your joy and fellowship. The church, like a good marriage, is not perfect, but it is worth fighting for.
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The Value of Your Salvation
Something Precious
Have you ever saved up for something a long time, waiting until you finally had enough money to buy it? Maybe it was a new bike or a new car (or new to you). You might have even parked it away from everyone else, just so it wouldn’t get scratched. It didn’t matter that you had to walk further. This was something that you wanted to keep nice for a long time, because it was important to you.
It’s been said that we spend our time and our money on what is important to us. Think about your life. What do you value most in your life?Cost
If I build a piece of furniture, it might mean a lot to me. I might have spent many hours designing it, choosing and buying the lumber, cutting everything precisely, assembling it, staining it, then sanding and sealing it. To me, this is worth a lot, because it cost me a lot.
If I buy two pieces of lumber, then take five minutes to cut them and make a bench out of them, it cost me very little, so I might not consider it worth much.Value
It’s also been said that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. No matter how much I value my piece of furniture, if no one wants to buy it, it is worthless to them.
If, on the other hand, people see it and fall in love with it, they might start bidding and outbidding each other, just so they can have that piece of furniture. Now, this same piece of furniture just became more valuable, because they consider it valuable.Cost of Salvation
Galatians 3:13 (NASB)
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us or it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”
When this scripture says that Christ “redeemed us”, it means that He paid a price for us. He also became a curse for us, because we were cursed.
Romans 5:8 (NASB)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus willingly gave His life for us, even though we were sinners, because of His great love.
Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.Jesus humbled Himself so much that He submitted Himself to God the Father, then He “emptied Himself” and became a man – not just a man, but a servant of men. He then submitted Himself to becoming a curse and the subject of public humiliation.
For Jesus, this was the highest cost possible.
Jesus told His disciples, the day before His crucifixion:
John 15:13 (NASB)
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
No Value of Salvation
John 1:10-11 (NASB)
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.Even though Jesus created the whole universe, including every person, many people rejected Him, and they still are rejecting Him today. They don’t understand what is available to them if they would only come to Him in repentance.
To them, the value of their salvation is zero – worthless.
High Value of Salvation
Hebrews 11:35-38 (NASB)
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;
36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.I have read stories of Christians refusing to turn away from Jesus, then being killed (martyred) for that decision. Some were killed by lions in the Roman Colosseum. Others were burned to death. Even today, there are many Christians who are being killed because of their faith.
I have also heard stories of Christians in other countries getting up very early and walking for hours every Sunday, just so they can meet and worship with other Christians. Some even start their weekly journey the night before. After their church service, they make the trip back home.To these Christians, the value of their salvation is very high – even priceless.
Your Valuation of Salvation
Acts 2:42, 43, 46 (NASB)
42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,The early believers spent as much time together as they could. They were hungry and thirsty for more of God.
Acts 16:22-26 (NASB)
22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone s chains were unfastened.Because some people did not like what Paul and Silas were preaching, they had them beaten and thrown in prison. Instead of complaining to each other and to God, they were rejoicing with songs of praise to God. God responded to their faith with an incredible miracle that caused the salvation of the jailer and his family, along with many others who heard of this story.
Today
It’s easy to get discouraged when difficult things happen or it looks like no one else cares. Sometimes, it can be hard, painful, or costly to worship the Lord. Do you think it’s just too hard?
What value do you place on meeting with other Christians?
What value do you place on your relationship with Jesus?
Are you willing to sacrifice everything just to remain faithful to Him?More
We would love to speak with you or have you worship the Lord with us. Please let us know how we can serve you.
