Posts with the category “more-to-the-sermon”

Psalm 27:4One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.Thought:David reached a powerful conclusion about life in Psalm 23:1. Instead of chasing many things, he fixed his heart on one thing. His deepest desire was not a throne, a victory, or a possession....  Read More

Philippians 4:11Not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.Thought:David’s words from Psalm 23:1, “I shall not want” do not mean that he never felt desire or faced hardship. David knew seasons of fear, loss, betrayal, and even the consequences of his own sin. Yet he could say he was not in want because his contentment did not depend on...  Read More

Psalm 23:1The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want.Thought:David does not merely say the LORD is a shepherd. He does not only call Him the shepherd. He says the LORD is my shepherd. This is the language of a personal relationship, not just religious knowledge. Many people know facts about God, can quote verses, and can explain doctrines, but they do not truly know Him as their own Shepherd. A shep...  Read More

Psalm 23:1The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want.Thoughts:Before David calls God his Shepherd, he calls Him LORD. This name speaks of the eternal, self existent God who revealed Himself to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM.” God is not dependent on anyone or anything. His faithfulness, power, and wisdom do not change with circumstances. This means that our confidence in God does not rest on what we see a...  Read More

Luke 12:15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.Thought:Our culture constantly tells us that the next purchase, the next promotion, or the next accomplishment will finally make us happy. Yet Jesus clearly teaches that life is not measured by how much we own or how much we achieve. When we buil...  Read More

John 17:20-21Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.Thought:Jesus looked beyond the first disciples and prayed for all who would believe through their word. That includes every believer today. His pr...  Read More

John 17:17Sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth.Thought:The biblical response to the world is not isolation or imitation but insulation. To be insulated is to be surrounded and strengthened by the truth of God so that we can live in a sinful world without being shaped by it. Daniel in Babylon and Joseph in Egypt are powerful examples. They served in pagan cultures with excellence yet r...  Read More

1 John 2:15Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.Thought:If isolation is a fearful response, imitation is a foolish one. Lot, Samson, Solomon, and Demas all remind us that loving the world never ends well. They lived close to sin and eventually allowed sin to live in them. At first they only moved toward compromi...  Read More

John 17:18As thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world.Thought:Some believers respond to the world with fear by pulling away from people and hiding from culture. Like Jonah fleeing from Nineveh, they want distance from those they see as wicked. While the desire to remain pure is good, isolation forgets God’s purpose. The Gospel was never meant to be protected be...  Read More

John 17:15-16I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.Thought:Jesus did not ask the Father to remove His disciples from the world. Instead, He prayed that they would be protected from evil while remaining in it. This reveals that our calling is not to escape the world but to li...  Read More

John 17:20–23Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may b...  Read More

John 17:18–19As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.Thought:Jesus said, “for their sakes I sanctify myself.” This does not mean that Jesus needed to be cleansed from sin, because He was holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners. But, it means He willingly set Him...  Read More

John 17:16–18They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.Thought:Jesus prayed that His people would be sanctified through the truth of God’s Word. Sanctification is not simply self improvement, better habits, or moral discipline. It is the holy work of...  Read More

John 17:14–15I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.Thought:Jesus reminds us that His people are marked by His Word. He said, “I have given them thy word,” and that Word separates the believer from the spiri...  Read More

John 17:13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.Thought:Jesus spoke these words as He prayed to the Father before going to the cross. He knew His disciples would remain in a troubled world, but He did not pray that they would merely survive it. He prayed that His joy would be fulfilled in them. This joy was not rooted in ...  Read More

John 9:25He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.  John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.Thought:  At the beginning of the story the man is a blind beggar. Everyone knows him only by his need. By the end of the story, he sees, believes, and worships Jesus as Lord. His physical healing was not the...  Read More

John 9:6-7  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.Thought:  Jesus did not only talk about the man's condition. He moved toward him. He touched him at the very place of his brokenness. He made clay,...  Read More

John 9:5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.Thought:  The blind man could not see the sun. But the people around him could not see the Son. The neighbors and the Pharisees had eyes that worked, but their hearts were still in darkness. They examined the miracle, they argued about it, and they rejected Jesus who did it.  This shows us a deep truth. Physical sight is not the s...  Read More

John 9:2-3  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.Thought:  The disciples saw the blind man and turned him into a question. They wanted to know whose fault it was. Was it his sin or his parents sin. They wante...  Read More

John 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.Thought:  Jesus did not just see a blind man. He saw a person. Everyone else saw his problem. They saw his need and his weakness. They knew him only as the blind beggar. His condition had become his identity.  We often do the same thing. We look at people and see what is wrong with them. We see their addiction, their sic...  Read More

Hebrews 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.  Thought:  Our minds can keep replaying sins that God has already forgiven. Memories come back and old failures rise up like shadows in a dark room. We may know in our heads that God forgives, but our hearts still feel dirty and unworthy.  God’s forgiveness is beyond our reco...  Read More

1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  Thought:  When we walk in the light, we do not pretend we are perfect. We are just not hiding anymore. We step into God’s holy presence and let His light show the truth about us.  If God only shined light on our sin, we would be crus...  Read More

1 John 1:3  That ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  Thought:  The word fellowship in the Bible means sharing, partnership, and close relationship. It is hard to imagine that the holy God who is light would want close fellowship with people who have sinned against Him. But that is exactly what He offers us through Jesus Ch...  Read More

1 John 1:6  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.  Thought:  Fellowship means sharing life together. God invites us to share life with Him. This is more than going to church, more than trying to be good, and more than saying we believe in God. It is a real relationship where God is close and we learn to live with Him and for Him.  John teac...  Read More

1 John 1:5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  Thought:  God is not just a giver of light. He is light. That means everything about Him is pure, true, and holy. There is no mixture in Him, no hidden sin or shadow.  We often think what we see with our eyes is all there is. But even in nature there is more ...  Read More

Romans 12:6-8Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith or ministry let us wait on our ministering or he that teacheth on teaching or he that exhorteth on exhortation he that giveth let him do it with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence he that sheweth mercy with cheerfulness.Thought:God has not ...  Read More

Romans 12:3For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.Thought:In a cell the nucleus is the command center. It holds the instructions that tell the cell how to grow, how to function, and how to respond. If the instructions in the...  Read More

Romans 12:6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.Thought:In a cell the mitochondria are called the power house. They provide energy so the cell can do what it was created to do. Without that power the clearest instructions would be useless because there would be no strength to carry them out.In t...  Read More

Romans 12:4-5For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office so we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another.Thought:God did not save us to live alone. In Christ we are joined together like parts of one body. No member is meant to be isolated and no member is meant to live in competition with another. Just as every cell and organ in the...  Read More

Romans 12:3For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Thought:In the body of Christ, pride works like cancer in a human body. A cancer cell was once a normal, healthy cell, but something changed inside it. It began to live for ...  Read More

Hebrews 13:5…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.Thought:Many believers secretly live as if their relationship with Jesus is like pulling petals off a flower. “He loves me, He loves me not.” A hard day comes, and they think, “Maybe He does not love me.” A prayer seems unanswered, and they wonder, “Maybe He has left me.” A painful trial appears, and they fear, “Maybe I am on...  Read More

John 14:23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.Thought:Here Jesus speaks about something even deeper than a passing visit. He speaks about an “abode,” a home. If a person loves Him and keeps His words, Jesus says that He and the Father will come and make their home with that pe...  Read More

John 14:21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.Thought:Jesus made something very clear. True love for Him is not just a feeling or a nice word. It shows up in obedience. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.”We do not earn t...  Read More

John 14:19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.Thought:Jesus told His disciples that soon the world would no longer see Him. He was going to the cross, then to the grave, and then He would rise again and return to the Father. To most people, it would look like Jesus was gone. But He said something very special to His followers. “But ...  Read More

John 14:18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.Thought:Jesus knew His disciples were afraid. They had heard that He was going away, and their hearts were troubled. They were thinking, “What will happen to us if He is gone?” Into that fear, Jesus spoke a clear promise. He said He would not leave them “comfortless.” The word here means “orphans.”An orphan in Bible times was someone w...  Read More

Matthew 6:21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.Thought:Jesus tells us that our heart always follows our treasure. Whatever we value most will claim our love and loyalty. One simple test of discipleship is what we do with our money and possessions. If we cling tightly to them, they reveal where our heart truly rests.The Bible teaches how dangerous it is to love luxury more th...  Read More

Luke 14:28For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it.Thought:Jesus tells us that a wise builder sits down and counts the cost before starting a tower. A wise king thinks carefully before going to war. In the same way, Jesus wants us to understand that following Him is not a quick emotional choice. It is a ser...  Read More

Luke 14:27And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.Thought:When Jesus spoke of bearing a cross, the people knew exactly what He meant. The cross was a tool of death. It was a picture of shame, pain, and public rejection. Jesus was not talking about small personal annoyances. He was calling His followers to be ready to die, even physically, for His name sake.T...  Read More

Luke 14:33So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.Thought:From Sunday's sermon, we learned that the Sir John Franklin expedition carried the comforts of England into the frozen Arctic. They brought silver dishes, fine clothing, and other nice but useless things instead of what they really needed for survival. They tried to keep their old wo...  Read More

Luke 14:26If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.Thought:Jesus is not telling us to sinfully hate our family. The Bible clearly calls us to love and care for them. Instead, Jesus is using a strong word to show how great our love for Him must be. Our love for Christ should be...  Read More