This week we’re going to look at the most famous Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 23. It’s true we spend an awful lot of money on relieving stress in our lives. Stress at its core is simply a threat – real or perceived. Whenever your body feels threatened by some emotional, physical, spiritual, mental threat, stress responses take place in your body. Your blood pressure goes up, your pulse quickens, adrenalin shoots into your body and all kinds of other physiological effects. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact that’s pretty good. If you’re standing in the road and a truck comes after you and your stress response says, Get out of the road. You get that extra burst of energy. That’s a good thing....
The further away you get from God, the more your life is troubled. The closer you get to God, the more your life is transformed. Welcome to Fifty Days of Transformation. Today we begin part one as we start looking at seven key areas of your life. Seven key areas you want to make changes in. Our verse which is our theme for this next seven weeks is Romans 12:2. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
It is one thing to talk about the Gospel and Jesus, but it is quite another to live out this truth with our daily actions. The second is far more difficult. By this point in our study, Paul has clearly moved from inside the walls of the church and our lives individually to outside the church and our clear call to take the Gospel to those outside by the way we live. Essentially, our talk needs to match our walk. We do need to remember, however, that the way we live this life: our conduct and our character, does not give us salvation. Instead, the way we live comes from the fact that we ARE saved by the power of the Gospel!
Last Sunday we looked at the WAY we should live our lives. Especially, in the church itself. Now, Paul gives us the why we should live our lives this way so that people may see Christ in us. So, what is it? Why do we need to live our lives from the inside out? What is the motivating factor? We often think the motivator should be complicated, but it is as simple as this: The Gospel.
Our relationships and how we live our lives matter greatly both in and, especially, outside the Church. God’s Biblical Call for the Church is to be Multi-Generational. In this passage, we see this statement played out in Paul’s instructions. Many people would say, "I want a church with just younger people" or "I want a church with just older people", but that is not the church. There is always potential for tension and what is called a generational gap, however the grace of God is big enough to overcome that. We need each other. Having multiple age groups is a part of the discipleship process too. Older, or more mature, believers teaching those who are younger or less mature in their faith. This is missing in many churches today...
This message is the first in our Inside Out series. In this series we will focus on the type of Church we should be on the inside so that we can be the type of Church we should be on the outside. Titus 1 has a lot to tell us about Godly Leaders. What are the characteristics of a godly leader?
When is a person baptized by the Holy Spirit? The Bible says it is at the moment of conversion It is instantaneous, simultaneous. Salvation and being baptized in the Spirit are not separate occurrences If you are not baptized in the Holy Spirit you are not saved. To say a person can be saved, and then later on, baptized in the Spirit, I am saying that person is not saved. Outside of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you cannot be saved.
Today's passage is in Acts at a time when many miracles were happening. People would line up their sick and handicapped along the path Peter was walking in hopes that his shadow would touch them and heal them. The passage can remind us to take a look at our own "shadow of influence."
What is the definition of a testimony? It is the story of how Christ has made a difference in your life. How Jesus has transformed you, how He has made you alive. Despite the personal nature of testimonies, we still have a tendency to rank them. But let me say, it takes the same miracle and the same amount of grace to save a person who accepted Christ at an early age. And there is nothing to be ashamed of because our testimony may not seem exciting.
Has God promised the security net of his hand to keep believers from the eternal fall? Is there eternal security for a Christ Follower? Once a person is saved-born again-can they be assured of their salvation for the rest of their lives, until they reach heaven? In other words, the question we need to wrestle with this morning is another important Baptist doctrine. As Baptist Christians, we don’t have to constantly doubt, wondering, hoping that we are saved and secure…
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