New Testament Worship Service
Psalms 42:1, Hebrews 10:24-25, & John 4:23-24 The Church has a social function, but it must not become a social club. The church is primarily a fellowship of baptized believers and the center of that fellowship, is Christ. When true worship goes, a Church becomes self-centered and unconcerened about the welfare of God’s house and God’s message. I: Man Must Worship. 1. There is a spiritual vacuum when we do not worship. 2. Adam and Eve were taught. 3. Cain refused God’s way. 4. Noah built an altar. 5. Abraham built an altar. 6. Moses was given instructions as to how to worship. II: The Nature of Worship: 1. Private and public. People that do not worship in private are not apt to worship in public. 2. Worship cannot replace work. One cannot...
A Glorious Church
Acts 2:1-6, Eph. 5:20-27 I: Glorious in its Beginning. 1. Built upon the solid rock Christ Jesus. 2. It began as a beacon light in a dark and confused world. 3. Christ chose the workers to launch the church on its early journey. 4. He paid the full price for the men and women that would make up the church. II: Glorious in the Power of Pentecost: 1. The masses of people were shaken from their sleep of death. 2. The sluggard was stirred and the careless took heed. 3. The crowds came to see the marvels of a church filled with power. 4. The church generated enough force to stop the drift of the passing multitude. A revival broke out when the church was filled with power. III: Glorious in Conquest: Like A Mighty Army Moves the Church of God. 1. They went everywhere...
The Churches Response To Change
1. Churches are central to God’s plan for redemption. God’s plan for the church has not changed, nor will it change. 2. Conditions under within the Church must work are changing. I: Certainty of Change: 1. Not everything changes. 2. Man’s nature never changes, except by the grace of God. 3. Man dies and that does not change. 4. Man must meet God and give an account of things done in the flesh. 5. Change alters the less important. Seldom does change alter the basic human needs. II: Church Changes In Structure: 1. The gospel message does not change, but our method of presentation must keep up with change. a. Here we are to often hampered with tradition. b. We have always done it this way. 2. A church must be true to its basic nature, but that...
The Boat
I owned a little boat a while ago, And sailed the morning sea without a fear, And whither any breeze might fairly blow. I steered my little craft afar or near. Mine was the boat, And mine the air, And mine the sea, Nor mine a care. My boat became my place of mighty toil, I sailed at evening to the fishing ground, Which my all conquering work had found. Mine was the boat, And mine the net, And mine the skill, And power to get. One day there came along that silent shore, While I my net was casting in the sea, A Man who spoke as never man before. I followed Him; new life began in me. Mine was the boat, But His the voice, And His the call, Yet mine the choice. Ah! ’twas a fearful night out on the lake, And all my skill availed not, at the helm, Till Him asleep...
Eternal Embezilment
His claim up on your life. Isaiah 14:12-16, 53:6 The child clutches the new toy and cries at the top of his lungs, “You can’t have it, it’s mine!” A grown-up says a little more calmly, “My life is my own and I live it to suit myself.” Like the rich fool, we can only see that which revolves around our little world. I: Sin Is A Refusal To Accept God’s Will. 1. One may be careful to give God the tithe and then dishonor God in the way the other nine out of ten are used. 2. One may play god by passing the churches total obligations with the tithe. 3. The sinner may refuse God’s way of life and built standards of his own. 4. “If I give and have not love.” 5. “What hast thou that didst not receive?”...
Weat And Tears In The Churches
Revelations 2:4, Matthew 13:24-30 The seven churches of Asia represents the churches of all the church age. As Christ judges these churches, they were a mixed society of good and evil. Six out of Seven he severely condemned, one out of seven he finds no fault, one he finds nothing right. Some churches had lost their first love, some were false in their professions. We find that among the finest of Christians, there are those who love and act like the world. I: The First Churches Had Real Opportunities. 1. The leaders had been with Jesus. 2. The mighty acts of the Son of God, was fresh in their minds. 3. He preached a first-hand experience. 4. These men were well prepared to get a church on the right road! 5. But even these churches were beset with problems of...
Standards of Good News
John 3:16, John 1 4:7-12 Books have known to start wars (Uncle Tom’s Cabin). A few written words may mean peace or trouble (Declaration of Independence). “Take a long look child.” I: “For God So Loved.” 1. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3. 2. The love of man: a. Love those that love them. b. A love for country and liberty. c. Love for their loved ones (King of England). 3. The greatest lover: a. Everlasting love. b. Love stronger than death. c. Love that loves the unlovely. d. Love that triumphs in face of hatred. II: He Loved the Whole World! 1. Every man that hears the invitation welcome. 2. “Why will ye die?” 3. “No pleasure in the death of the wicked.” Ezekiel 18:32....
God’s Financial Plan for the Church
Malachi 3:8-17 “The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Host.” Haggai 2:8. “For all the earth is mine.” Exodus 19:5. “The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof: The world and they that dwell therein.” Psalms 24:1. God owns all, man merely possesses it. I: The Law of the Tithe Is As Old As the Human Race. 1. The tithe recognizes that God owns everything. 2. The tithe is God’s rent and man is the renter. 3. Abraham was a tither. 4. Jacob made a pledge to God that he would pay the tithe. 5. “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increases of the seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.” Deut. 14:22. 6. God closed the windows of heaven when Israel robbed him of the tithe. Malachi 3:8-17....
Concerning The Collection
Cor. 1 16:1-4, 9:1-16 Paul was concerned about the collection and he wanted the church at Corinth to be concerned also. This was one of their greatest failures and it was the only thing Paul owed and gave an apology for. I: We Ought to be Concerned About the Collection. 1. The Collection keeps the building open, turns on lights, heats or cools, hires a janitor or office help, furnishes equipment, piano, organ, and needy, marry the living, bury the dead and description. a. Preaches the gospel around the world and is a spiritual gauge of our love and devotion to the Master. b. It is the Bugle call of loyalty. Santa monied High School Bugles. 2. Pastors ought to be concerned. a. Strong financial program is essential to the solving of a multitude of spiritual...
The Doom of A Fruitless Vine
Isaiah 5:, Matthew 21:18-21, & John 15: I: The Opportunities of this Vineyard: 1. “A very fruitful hill.” 2. “He fences it,” protection. 3. “And gathered out the stones.” 4. “Planted it with the choicest vine.” 5. “Built a tower in the midst of it.” 6. “Made a wine press therein.” 7. What more could He have done? How near does our life compare with this vineyard? II: “He Looked That It Should Bring Forth Grapes.” 1. He had every right to accept fruit. 2. He expected good fruit and not wild bitter grapes. 3. Where grace does not work, corruption will. 4. How much like the vineyard, when we produce grapes of melice, envy, unfairness, contentious, cursings, malice, envy,...
Dedicated Hands
Psalms 18:20-24, Romans 6:12 I: The Hands and Their Language: 1. The crossed fingers. 2. The extended hand of friendship. 3. The accusing finger. 4. The helpless turning of the palm. 5. The folded hands of prayer. 6. The thumbs down hands. 7. The hands raised to invoke the blessing of God. 8. The clinched fist or the spread fingers of greed. II: Hands that Curse: 1. Like the hands of the sons of Eli. 2. Hands of those that shed innocent blood. 3. Bloody hands of Pilot. 4. Greedy hands of Judas. 5. Lying hands of Ananias & Sapphirs. 6. The hands that withhold to their own hurt. 7. Hands that lay idle while there is work to do. 8. Hands that hold the brake while others pull. III: Hands that Bless: 1. Like the hands of Abraham. 2. The hands of Moses. 3. The...
Tithe In the Old Testament
Leviticus 27:30-34, Malachi 3:7-18 I: This is the Sore Sport in Stewardship. 1. If a man is right on this question, he is usually faithful in all his stewardship. 2. What is money? Metal, silver, gold, copper. 3. It is a medium of exchange. 4. It is a standard of value. 5. Money is coined personality, it represents a certain amount of my time & talent. 6. “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Timothy 1 6:10. II: The Tithe Keeps A Proper Attitude as to Who Owns This Old World. 1. An ancient custom of Pagan people. Egypt, Babylon, Cyrus, Clay tablets found in Assyria and Egypt tell of tithing, 3800 yrs. before Christ. 2. The Patriarchs: a. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek (why)? b. Jacob vowed to tithe when he felt lonely and in peril....