This morning I am interrupting my series in 1 Thessalonians to preach two sermons on the subject of Christian giving. […]
Text: 1 Chronicles 28-29Peace never just happens. Someone has to go out of his way to make peace. That is why Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”—not the peace-wishers or the peace-hopers. In a world torn by strife and fueled by hatred, we need Christians who will step into the breach as true peacemakers.
Text: Genesis 21:22-34God will be no one’s debtor. You’ll never regret anything you give up for Jesus. Not in this life or in the life to come. But the saddest people in the all the world are those who cling stubbornly to what they have because they dare not give it up for God.
Text: Genesis 21:1-21Are there hidden areas of your life where you have harbored sin in your heart? Have you coddled sinful tendencies and made excuses for sinful habits when instead you should by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh? If we are not ruthless with ourselves, we stand in danger of doing exactly what Abraham did.
Text: Genesis 20Sodom still lives today—not just outside but on the inside. There’s more than a little Lot in each of us. What he did we can all too easily do ourselves. We can follow Abraham or we can go the way of Lot. If we forget his story, we will almost certainly repeat his mistakes.
Text: Genesis 19When the famine comes, remember that God has not abandoned you. He sends the famines of life in order to see if you will trust him even in the most difficult moments. We should say, “Here is another opportunity for me to trust God. I wonder what wonderful things he is going to do for me this time.” It’s not easy to say that. Sometimes it takes more grace to stay in the Promised Land than it does to get there in the first place.
Text: Genesis 12:10-20God’s word will make you pure and holy. But water can’t make you clean until you get in the bathtub. In the same way the word of God can purify your heart but you’ve got to take a bath daily in the water of the word. Blessed are the pure in heart … for they shall see God.
Text: Matthew 5:8So many of us have filled our hearts with the junk food of the world. No wonder we are so unhappy. No wonder we jump from one job to another and from relationship to another. We have full stomachs and empty hearts! Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? If you are, you can be filled. This is the promise of God to hungry hearts and thirsty souls.
Text: Matthew 5:6“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” This is one of the strangest statements in the Bible. It is a paradox and a mystery. “Blessed are those who mourn,” said Jesus. Happy are the sad! What do these strange words mean? Who are the mourners, why are they sad, and how are they comforted?
Text: Matthew 5:4Some of us have worked all week for the approval of men and we still don’t have it. And when we get it, we can’t keep it. When will we ever learn that nothing in this world can ever fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts. Only you can satisfy. Empty us, O Lord, so that you can fill us with yourself. Wean us from the things of the world so that your smile will be the only thing that matters. Build the character of the kingdom in us so that you can call us Blessed and we may hear the applause of heaven.
Text: Matthew 5:1-3