God’s Christmas Gift
John 3:16 I: If I had the Money to Give, What I Would Like to Give. 1. If I could meet all the financial needs of family and friends. 2. If I could give material gifts without limit. 3. If I could feed all the hungry world. 4. If I had a Medical Clinic to heal all the lame, fault, and blind. 5. If I could restore all the Human Race to perfect health. What Joy! But I don’t have. II: If I had the Power. 1. Calm the storm that tossed lives. 2. Bring peace to every troubled heart. 3. Believe the fears of death and life. 4. Reunite every broken home. 5. Bring peace to every battle field. 6. Beat every sword into plow shares. 7. Assure every man a way to heaven. WHAT A GIFT! And I can through Christ. III: “God Gave.” 1. His gift was not fancy wrapped....
Where is Your Faith?
Heb. 12:1-2, Luke 8:14-21 I: A Great “Cloud of Witnesses.” 1. The entire 11th Chapter tells of men and women of faith. 2. Thru faith subdues Kingdoms. 3. Obtained promises and stopped the mouths of lions. 4. Waxed violence in fight. 5. Received their dead to life. 6. Tortured, stoned, mocked, sawn asunder, slain with the sword, afflicted and tormented. 7. These set the pace and proved the race worth running. II: America has so Much to Remember. 1. America was opened up by men and women of faith. 2. Winter of 1621: Mayflower Pilgrims, 100 reduced to 50. Spring of 1623, Elder Brester gave thanks that they were “allowed to suck of the abundance of the seas and treasures of the sand, (boiled clams, their only food).” 3. When our freedom as...
Thankfulness
The 1st harvest in Plymouth, Colony 1621, in gratitude for rain after drought, 1623, for supplies of sorely need food received by ship. 1632 became an annual observance. President Washington set a day of Thanksgiving 1789. President Lincoln sat the last Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving. Palms 100:1-5, Deut. 5:12-15, 8:10-14, 15:1-3, Romans 1, Lev. 25:8-16 I: God Set Reminders before Israel. 1. There was the morning and evening lamb every day, the Sabbath every week, the New Moon every month, the Passover every year, the Release every 7th year, the Jubilee every 50 years. 2. The Sabbath was a day of rest and worship. 3. The Release year was a year of rest for land and people, also a year to release the Debtor. a. God tripled the crops on the...
Lord of Our Home
What would happen to our Church, our homes, and our private lives if for 1 month we would do our best to make Christ, Lord of our homes? If we would ask earnest, the question “What would Jesus have us do?” Deut. 6:6-12, Prov. 22:1-6 I: What is the Most Important Task of Our Home? 1. Riches nor possessions can claim that place. 2. Prestige nor popularity. 3. Conformity to standards about us (Lots’ Family). 4. “A good name is better than riches.” 5. “Loving favor.” Better than silver and Gold. 6. “Humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” II: Religion in the Home. 1. One who neglects Private Prayer will never lift others to the gates of Heaven in Public Prayer. 2. The one who ought...
The Christian Home
Prov. 31:10-31, Deut. 6:6-7 I: The Family is the Basic Unit of Society. 1. The home was established before the State or the Church. 2. The Solitary or quiet place to meet God was set in the home. Psalm 60:6. 3. As the Home goes, so goes the Nation or the Church. 4. The Hand that rocks the Cradle… II: The Greatest Lessons of Life Ought to be Taught in the Home. 1. In the home we learn to relate to others. 2. In the home we develop a sense of belonging. 3. In the home we learn to communicate with others. To communicate well is to live well. 4. In the home we learn that we need others and they need us. 5. A sense of security in times of trouble are taught in the home. 6. The finest fellowship the world has known is found in the home. III: “Success...
“Offer unto God Thanksgiving.”
Pilgrims 1621, Washington, Thursday Nov. 20, 1787. Abraham Lincoln the last Thursday in Nob. 1863: Thanksgiving didn’t start with the Pilgrims nor is it a new thing for men to be thankful. The time of harvest was a time of Thanksgiving in Ancient times. We have much to be thankful for. Psalm 148:1-14 I: The Heavens Give Thanks to God. Job 38:1-28 1. “The Heavens declared the glory of God.” 2. He laid the foundation of the world. 3. The Heavens are his hand work. 4. He set doors and boundaries for the sea and wrapped it in thick clouds. 5. He commands the morning and evening. 6. He divides the water course and makes way for the lightening. “Lightening shocks average 30,000 times a day, 1 single flash a mile long travels over 2 million...
America the Beautiful
2 dates to consider. Rom. 13:1-8, Gal. 5:13-15, Matt. 22:15-22 I: The World is Full of Ugly things. 1. Great numbers are living under Police State. 2. No freedom to move about in search of a better way of life. 3. Our life time has brought Wars, Famine, and Slavery. 4. No Wars have been uglier. 5. Our own nation is divided by the longest war of our history. 6. The by-products effect all of us. Our own Cisterns are dry!!! II: National Security and Personal Integrity. 1. Two World Wars left us to little pieces. “The problem of War basically is Theological and involves a Spiritual Recrudescence and improvement of human character. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” Gen. McArther, 1945. 2. When personal integrity decays the...
Songs in the Night
If Christians would learn to be content with God in times of adversity, other people would be moved to investigate their beliefs. Songs in the night carry more conviction and appeal to the lost than grumbling ever dared to dream about. It is the human thing to grumble, but the divine to rejoice. I: Grumbling Never Pleases God: 1. The book of Deut. could be named the book of grumbling. 2. Israel only sang when the sun was at its brightest. 3. Grumbling comes from a heart that is diseased with a. Unbelief b. Loss of joy of salvation c. Discouragement. d. Ingratitude. 4. “The Optimist may be wrong as often as the Pessimist, but he is happier.” II: Paul and Silas Sang at midnight. 1. They had much to complain about. 2. Their present pain and sorrow was...
A Godly Mother
In this hour what do we need? Prov. 31:10-31 “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” Psa. 128:1-3 “The crowning purpose of the home was to make it the training ground for children who were to be a blessing to all the Earth.” W.P Crouch I: “Who can Find a Virtuous Woman?” 1. Search for her. (We marry those we date). 2. She possesses qualities of character, morality, mentality, and spirituality. 3. Her price is far above rubies. All wealth cannot be measured by this world’s standards. 4. Her husband can safely trust her. 5. “She will do him good.” II: Her Industry, his surest Wealth. 1. She eats not the bread of idleness....
Jesus Wept
Jesus most probably spent the night with the beloved family of Bethany. Luke 19:29-44 I: The King Rides a Colt. 1. He was borrowed. as foretold in Psalm 50:10 2. Entered not with the pomp and power of the kings of earth. 3. The passover crowds were waiting for him to take the road to Jerusalem. 4. He traveled over the rugged road of Mt. Olives. 5. Palm branches and coats were spread in the path. II: “He Beheld the City.” 1. The great city of Prophets and Priests. 2. The beloved city of David and Solomon. 3. The city that was under the Roman boot. 4. Torn with strife, looking for a Messiah. 5. The city that killed the Prophets and stoned the Messengers. 6. Ruled by religious leaders with closed minds. “How often...
What did Jesus Wear?
The resurrection loses its power if we fail to see the cross. In the light of the cross the resurrection makes more real the promises of God. I: Clothes May Not Make the Man, but they do affect him. 1. Adam and Eve tried leaves, but God gave skins. 2. Joseph had a coat of many colors that made his brothers jealous. 3. John the Baptist was clothed in Camel’s hair. 4. Paul the Apostle urged that the old coat at Troas be brought to him before winter. II: What did Jesus Wear the Easter Week Long Ago? 1. He wore a towel in the upper room. While others were puffed up he was humble. While others refused to serve he took a servants place. Their hearts were melted when they saw the towel. 2. On his brow was drops of sweat like blood. A burdened heart. A surrendered...
The House You Live in
There are many types of houses in the world, but it takes a heap of living to make a home. I: It Takes More than a Building to Make a Church. 1. What is lip service if the body fails to back it up? 2. Not every one that sayeth unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. “But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” 3. “Every tree is known by his own fruit.” II: The Man that Hears and does the Will of the Lord is like A Man that Built A House. 1. The foundation “And digged deep.” a. It took time, talent, labor, and money. b. Sometimes the foundation is quite deep (200 ft. is not too much). c. This man’s house stood against the raging storm. III: The Man that Hears but does Nothing. 1. He...
