Sermons

Since you did not make yourself, you cannot tell yourself what your purpose is. If we seek out His purposes for us and then walk according to those purposes, then and only then will we find true fulfillment. According to Jesus, the number one reason He came was to reveal the Father - to glorify the Father. Jesus understood that the only way He could glorify (reveal) the Father was to allow the Father to glorify Him. (Jn 17:1) Yet, we have a mindset in the Body of Christ (as a whole) that God is interested in our needs but not in our wants. Jn 15:7-8 speaks differently: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." When we don't ask Him what we desire, we are actually stealing an opportunity for God to be glorified.

As members of the body of Christ, we are all called according to the same purpose (Rom. 8:28), but we are all called to express that purpose somewhat differently. You are fearfully and wonderfully made and God wants your soul to know that well (Ps. 139:14). When we realize the purposes of God for our lives in the general sense, we are invited into a process of exploring with Our Father what the expression of His purposes can look like through us. "God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?" (1 Cor. 12:18-19) Each of us is called to express a slightly different facet of the brilliance of God to the world. Ask the Holy Spirit how He wants to show Himself strong through you. Create space (i.e. prepare) to do something new, and be responsive to His lead. There are territories in the Kingdom of God with your name on them. God has called you according to His purpose. Will you follow Him into your calling?

The event we celebrate on Easter is the most significant event in all of human history! To understand its significance, it helps to view it in light of the Old Testament. In the Old Covenant, animal sacrifices were offered at the temple throughout the year, but on one particular day, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the high priest actually entered the Holiest of Holies to make atonement for ALL of the sins of Israel for the whole year. The nation of Israel waited with great anticipation as the high priest made very specific preparations to enter the Holiest of Holies on their behalf. If he prepared himself correctly, his sacrifice on behalf of all of the people would be accepted by God and the high priest would emerge from the Holiest of Holies causing the nation to celebrate the covering of their sins for that year! Conversely, if the high priest had not been perfectly prepared, he was struck dead in the presence of God - indicating that his sacrifice on behalf of all the people had not been accepted by God. The grave reality of this specific and most important sin offering is seen by the Jewish tradition of tying a rope to the leg of the high priest so that he could be pulled out of the Holiest of Holies were he to not emerge alive. The death of the high priest would indicate that his sacrifice on behalf of the people had not been accepted. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus has become a "high priest over the house of God." When Jesus died, He was placed in the tomb wearing white linen garments like the high priest would have worn on Yom Kippur. Similarly, like some of the high priests, Jesus emerged - alive! As both our high priest and the Lamb of God, Jesus' sacrifice of Himself had been accepted by God . . . and He therefore emerged victorious from the tomb! Romans 4:25 spells it out by saying that Jesus "was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." Jesus was crucified (delivered up) because we had sinned. He was raised from the dead because we had been justified before God! The resurrection of Christ is the PROOF that Jesus' sacrifice had successfully paid for ALL sins for ALL mankind for ALL time! So, just as the people of God in the Old Covenant celebrated with great joy at the emergence of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, all the more God's children can now celebrate every day of every year at the realization that Jesus emerged from the grave after making payment for all of our sins with His very Own blood! His sacrifice for you was accepted by God and you have been declared "JUSTIFIED!" before the Father if you will receive His sacrifice for you by faith!

God created you to know and enjoy Him! "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (Jn 17:3) In God's presence is fullness of joy - and at His right hand are pleasures for evermore! (Ps 16:11) Everything you want is in the presence of God! Allowing God to bless you is key to being pleasing to Him! Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6) He wants to glorify us so that we can glorify Him! "Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isa 60:1) We are blessed in order to be a blessing. His blessing in our lives makes us a blessing in the lives of others and brings glory to Him! You have a purpose. You have a destiny - and it's beyond marvelous in God!

We can choose how we want to live our lives, but our eternity will be determined by how we chose to live our life. It is a beautiful thing to step into the life that God has for us! Glorifying God, being filled with His joy, and loving people is the greatest life any of us can experience. We can do everything for the glory of God. "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) And God is wanting to get behind what we do! John 15:7-8 says “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” God gets glorified when you bear much fruit! When you receive the Father’s provision, your life is blessed and people see it on you - and that brings glory to the Father!

Expectation is looking forward to something that will happen. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…” You have to have something "hoped for" (expected) in order to release your faith! We need to expect all the great and precious promises in God's Word! Expectation is eager, persevering, and patient. Expectation is biblical because God says to expect, He stands by His Word, and Jesus has already paid it all! We often hesitate to hope (expect) because we don't want to be disappointed or assume God doesn't have time "for little ol' me." You're right - God doesn't have time...He exists in eternity! God's promises are available to you and He is wanting us to raise our level of expectation!

Solomon wrote "Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart." (Ecc. 7:2) Not everything goes as planned. Sometimes we experience loss. When we experience loss, we can either run from God, or run to Him. If we choose to run to Him, we will experience the embrace of God, who will draw us closer than we ever knew possible.