Pray Without Ceasing - 3/29/09pm

I Thessalonians 5:17

Manner of Prayer
Luke 18:9-14 -An attitude of humility
Colossians 4:2 -An attitude of thanksgiving
Philippians 1:1-3 -Prayer with joy
James 5:13-18 -Prayer in suffering, joy, sickness. Effectiveness of prayer

Audience of Prayer
Matthew 6:5-13 -Pray to the Father
II Corinthians 13:7 -Pray to God

Types of Prayer

Prayer of Praise
Hebrews 13:15 -Praise to God, the fruit of our lips
Psalm 150:1-6 -A psalm of praise

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Philippians 4:6-7 -Pray with thanksgiving
Psalm 100:1-5 -A psalm of thanksgiving

Prayer of Request and Petition
Matthew 7:7-12 -Ask and it shall be given to you
Psalm 70:1-5 -A psalm asking for relief

Prayer for Forgiveness
Acts 8:14-24 -Simon the Sorcerer told to pray for forgiveness
Psalm 51:1-19 -A psalm of repentance and forgiveness

**This sermon is arranged so that a prayer of each type named here may be given after reading the appropriate passages. Not as a way of teaching prayer as much as a way of putting immediately into practice what we have just studied.**

Give Us a King! - 3/29/09am

I Samuel 8:1-5 -The people ask for a king
I Samuel 8:6-9 -Samuel and God are displeased
I Samuel 8:10-18 -The people are warned what a king will do
I Samuel 8:19-21 -The people refuse to listen
I Samuel 9:1-14 -Saul, looking for donkeys, seeks Samuel
I Samuel 9:15-10:1 -Saul’s humility, anointment as king
I Samuel 13:1-15 -Two years later, Saul is rejected for disobedience
We see Saul, a humble, handsome man, selected to be king over a disobedient people. And the people are happy about it. Yet within two years of Israel following Saul, Saul had sinned to the point that the kingdom was taken from his family by the Lord.

Spiritually, we do the same if we follow a man, instead of Christ. Even if that person teaches Christ and His gospel accurately and properly, we must not be focused on the teacher, but rather on the Word of God.
Matthew 23:6-12 -Be not called rabbi, father, or teacher
Galatians 2:20 -Not I who live, but Christ living in me

No man is our king. God is. We should not follow after men, but after God, and what He says. We should follow after the King.
John 18:33-37 -Jesus is a king and bears witness of the truth
I Timothy 6:13-16 -Jesus Christ, our sovereign, King of kings

Who Did God Choose? - 3/22/09pm

Judges 3:7-11 -Othniel, Caleb’s younger brother
Judges 3:12-25 -Ehud, a left handed man
Judges 3:31 -Shamgar, wielder of an ox-goad
Judges 4:1-10, 17-22 -Deborah and Jael, women
Judges 6:11-16 -Gideon, of weak clan and least of the house
Judges 10:1-2 -Tola, in the hill country of Ephraim
Judges 10:3-5 -Jair, a rich father of rulers
Judges 11:1-6 -Jephthah, son of a harlot
Judges 12:8-10 -Ibzan, of Bethlehem
Judges 12:11-12 -Elon, of Zebulon
Judges 12:13-15 -Abdon, of Pirathon in the hill country of Ephraim
Judges 13:1-12 -Samson, of barren parents
When we look through the judges in the book of Judges, we rarely see those of high social standing and wealth being chosen by the Lord for His purposes. Instead, we mostly see the humble of society. Those without any individual claim to power, wealth, or fame. And course, we have an ultimate example of this in Christ.
Philippians 2:5-11 -Christ’s humility in coming to earth and dying
John 1:43-49 -Can anything good come from Nazareth?
Matthew 2:1-6 -Born in Bethlehem

Indeed, when we think of those who answer the call to follow Christ, are we not mostly of lowly and humble backgrounds and occupations? We are not limited by “smallness.” We can still, each and every one of us, regardless of social status, regardless of wealth, do well in serving the Lord!
Matthew 19:24 -A camel through the eye of a needle
James 2:1-10 -God has chosen the poor of this world
I Corinthians 1:18-29 -God has chosen the foolish things of the world

Walking with God - 3/22/09am

Genesis 5:22-24 -Enoch walked with God and was no more
Enoch walked with God, and was rewarded. We too must follow this example and walk with God. In the scriptures, there are several “walks” that are described that help us break down what this involves.

Romans 6:1-7 -Walk in newness of life
Walking in newness of life involves putting away the sins of the past, being baptized in order to have forgiveness of those sins, and living in such a way as to be new, and not the same.

Romans 8:1-11 -Walk in the spirit, not in the flesh
Galatians 5:16-26 -Walk in the spirit, not in the flesh
To walk in the spirit is to live according to those things which are spiritual. To have our life led and guided by such things. For our concerns to be of God, and not of this world.

II Corinthians 5:7 -Walk by faith, not by sight
Romans 4:9-12 -Walk according to Abraham’s faith
Our faith must be a bedrock of how we live. We must not live based on physical things, but looking past that, remembering the Lord and our faith in Him, and obey.

Ephesians 4:1-3 -Walk worthy of the calling
Colossians 1:9-14 -Walk worthy of the Lord
I Thessalonians 2:10-12 -Walk worthy of God
We must strive to be worthy of Christ. This is difficult to do, but it is something we must strive towards. Not doing the minimum we think we can to get buy, but to strive to be worthy of the blessings God has offered us.

Ephesians 5:1-2 -Walk in love, as Christ showed us
Love is action. We must live in love, putting others ahead of ourselves, towards our families, our neighbors, our enemies, and most importantly, our God.

Ephesians 5:8-14 -Walk as children of light
I John 1:5-7 -Walk in the light
We must live in such a way that we reflect the light which is Christ, that others may see it. We must live according to godliness, behaving in such a way that we need not be ashamed.

Ephesians 5:15-17 -Walk circumspectly, redeeming the time
Colossians 4:5-6 -Walk in wisdom, redeeming the time
We must live wisely. Wisdom it not a “nice” thing to have. It is a necessary thing to have. We must exercise godly wisdom. And we must redeem the time. It does not belong to us, but to God. It is up to us to use it effectively and wisely.

Philippians 3:12-21 -Walk as pressing ahead to the goal of the upward call of Christ
Pressing ahead involves effort, diligence, and determination. Living for Christ is not something we do lightly or halfheartedly. Rather, we must put in constant, deliberate effort.

I Thessalonians 4:1-2 -Walk, and to please God
When we live, in those things we do, we must desire to please God. And we must live in such a way that God will be pleased. We do not live so that “I” will be happy, so much as we live so that God will be happy.

I Thessalonians 4:9-12 -Walk properly towards those who are outside
We must treat those outside the church with respect, dignity, and love. We must not tolerate sin, but we should be patient with the sinner. We should have the same mindset of Christ, who came to seek the lost and who is patient, wanting all to come to repentance.

I John 1:4-6 -Walk according to His commandments
Ephesians 2:8-10 -Walk in good works
Our lives must be filled with obedient works. It is not enough to have a mental or emotional attachment to the Lord. We must truly understand what it means to refer to Him as our King, our Lord, and our God. And in so doing, we must obey if we wish to walk with God.

III John 2-4 -Walk in truth
Jesus is the truth. His words are the truth. We must abide by such.

Colossians 2:6-7 -Walk in Christ
I John 2:3-6 -Walk as He walked
All of these things can be summed up in these passages. To walk as Christ walked. To strive to life a Christ-like life. If we do so, we walk with God.

What Do We Study? - 3/15/09pm

Note: The point of this sermon is not to say that there are things in scripture that we shouldn't study. But rather that we should understand why we study these things.

If you walk into just about any bookstore and go to the religion section, it seems like about half the books on the shelves will have one of these terms on the front cover. People seem to be obsessed with these things. Yet how much time does the Bible spend talking about these matters, regarding what actual events will take place? Very little.
I Thessalonians 4:13-17 -Dead in Christ rise first, then the living
I Thessalonians 5:1-5 -Comes as thief in the night
II Timothy 3:1-9 -People in the last days
II Peter 3:1-13 -Destruction of earth by fire
Revelation 20:11-15 -Judgment by works
While this is hardly every passage dealing with these things, it’s the most prominent passages referred to. Many passages that people turn to regarding the end of the world have nothing to do with the end of the world. But each of these that we just read just sort of…ends, don’t they? Let us go back and read the conclusions of these passages:
I Thessalonians 4:18 -Therefore comfort one another
I Thessalonians 5:6-11 -Therefore let us watch and be sober
II Timothy 3:10-17 -But you, continue in the truth
II Peter 3:14-18 -Therefore, be diligent
Revelation 21-22 -Eternity with Christ
We see that the emphasis in these passages is not the end of the world itself, but to provide some background for why we must follow Christ. It’s there to help get to the point. Indeed, we see the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment listed as things that should be basics:
Hebrews 5:12-6:3 -The elementary principles of Christ
I Corinthians 3:1-4 -Corinthians not ready for meat

We need to always remember that studying the Bible is not simply a mental exercise. Our study has a practical purpose:
II Timothy 3:16-17 -All scripture is profitable:

Doctrine
I Timothy 6:3-5 -The doctrine of the Lord Jesus
Reproof
Titus 2:1-15 -These things exhort and reprove
Correction
Proverbs 3:11-12 -Whom the Lord loves, He corrects
Instruction in Righteousness
I Corinthians 10:1-13 -These were written for our instruction

As For Me and For My House - 3/15/09am

Joshua 24:14-15 -As for me and for my house
This is one of the more famous passages in scripture, and the most quoted passage from the book of Joshua. I’m sure we have all referred to it at different points in time. Let us take a few moments, however, to actually understand what Joshua is declaring at this time.

Leadership
Joshua’s statement was one of leadership. He had made the decision not only for himself, but for his family and household that they would serve the Lord. As we see in other places in the Bible, it is the duty of the husband and father to provide leadership, especially spiritual leadership.
Ephesians 5:22-6:3 -Roles of fathers, mothers, and children
Colossians 3:18-21 -Roles of fathers, mothers, and children
I Peter 3:1-7 -Husbands and wives

A Godly House
A house which follows the Lord. It’s a great thought, isn’t it? For us to have this today, not only must the husband and wife both be godly, but they must raise up their children to be godly as well.
Proverbs 22:6 -Train up a child in the way he should go
Deuteronomy 4:9 -Teach your children
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 -Teach your children
Ephesians 4:4 -Bring up children in the Lord

Serving the Lord
When you serve someone, you do as they say. More than that, a good servant seeks to go beyond the minimum and be pleasing to his master. We must truly serve the Lord: doing what He wills, as well as we can, as much as we can.
Ephesians 4:11-13 -Works of service
Ephesians 6:7-8 -Serve wholeheartedly, as to the Lord
Romans 12:9-13 -Serving zealously

It’s not too late to repent
Joshua had spent the preceding 13 verses, Joshua had listed the history of Israel. As we all know, Israel turned aside from the Lord pretty regularly during that history. Nonetheless, they are being told that they can still put away their sins and choose to follow the Lord.
I Corinthians 6:9-11 -And such were some of you
Hebrews 3:7-19 -Today, so long as it is called today
John 7:14-18 -Those who choose to do the Lord’s will

Regardless of others
Joshua’s decision was made to follow the Lord, regardless of what others around him decided to do. We too must make this decision. Regardless of what friends, neighbors, coworkers, or family decides, we must make up our mind to serve the Lord
John 21:20-23 -What about him?
Acts 5:17-32 -We must obey God rather than men
Galatians 2:11-13 -Peter’s negative example

Tradition - 3/8/09am

The Good - Created by God, made binding by God
These are the traditions as passed on by the Lord through the apostles and the scriptures.
II Thessalonians 2:13-15 -The gospel, taught by epistle and word
II Corinthians 10:7-11 -Such as Paul was in letters, he was in person
II Thessalonians 3:6-12 -Manner of living taught by Christ and apostles
I Thessalonians 4:1-8 -Apostles taught the Lord’s commands, to be followed
I Corinthians 11:23 -Paul received instruction from the Lord
Matthew 28:18-20 -Apostles to teach what Christ had taught them

The Indifferent - Created by man, not made binding
These are things that we do out of tradition, simply because it makes things easier to do it the same way each time. They are things that are within what we are to do, that help us carry out the Lord’s traditions, yet we do not force other people, or expect congregations, to do things exactly the same way.
Order of Services
(How many songs, prayers, etc. In what order they’re done)
Meeting Times
(When? How many times on Sunday? Midweek studies?)
Seating
(Where we each tend to sit, pews, facing forward, sitting at the very front)
Peripherals
(song books vs. overhead vs. call and repeat, etc.)
I Corinthians 14:40 -Decently and in order
Romans 14:1-13 -Disputable things: matters of judgment
I Peter 2:13-17 -Do not misuse liberty

The Bad - Created by man, made binding by man
Man has created numerous traditions. And while that is not necessarily wrong, what is wrong is when we make these traditions binding on others and expect others to keep them. When man’s traditions are made equal to, or greater than, God’s tradition, we have sinned greatly.
Matthew 15:1-13 -Jews replaced God’s commandments with man’s
Galatians 1:13-17 -Jewish traditions, in which Paul persecuted church
Colossians 2:8-10 -Cheated by men according to man’s traditions
Titus 1:10-16 -Don’t heed fables and commandments of men
I Peter 1:13-21 -Aimless conduct received by tradition

The Bad - Created by God, made binding by God, done by rote
God has given us things to do. And perhaps we follow them. But if we do it only by habit and rote, we are holding to a sinful tradition. Following the Lord must be more than empty repetition and habit.
Isaiah 29:13-14 -Reverence for God is tradition learned by rote
Isaiah 1:11-20 -Israel’s obedience is just habit, and without meaning

Deuteronomy: Repetition in the Bible - 3/8/09pm

Deuteronomy - “Second Law” or “Repeated Law”
This week’s reading was the latter half of Deuteronomy. And if you’ve been keeping up with the reading, it probably seemed very familiar to you. Deuteronomy is essentially a repetition of the law of Moses.
Deuteronomy 16:1-8 -The Passover
Leviticus 23:4-8 -The Passover
Exodus 12:14-20 -The Passover

Sometime we need repetition, don’t we? Sometime we forget after the first time we were told. Sometimes we do our best to forget what we were told. Looking at the Israelites, it’s clear that they were the same way.

In Serving God
Acts 20:17 -Lord’s Supper, first day of the week

Foreknowledge and Example
Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 -What has been will be again
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 -A time for every purpose
I Corinthians 10:1-13 -Example of what was done, so we don’t repeat

Reinforcement
Galatians 1:6-9 -I say again, anyone who preaches another gospel…
Philippians 3:17-21 -Now I say again, many live as enemies of the cross
Philippians 4:4 -Rejoice, I say again, rejoice!

Acts 2:38 -Repent and be baptized
Acts 22:16 -Arise and be baptized
Matthew 28:18-20 -Make disciples, baptizing them

James 2:14-17, 26 -Faith without works is dead

John 1:1-5, 14-15 -The Word was God
John 8:48-59 -Before Abraham was, I AM

Reassurance
Judges 3:7-11 -God provides deliverance upon repentance
Judges 3:12-15, 30 -God provides deliverance upon repentance
Judges 6:1-6, 28 -God sends deliverance upon repentance
II Peter 3:9 -The Lord wants all to come to repentance