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It's week two of our series on the 10 Commandments! This week we will be discussing, YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN. Monday: God shared His name with us through Moses at the burning bush and through the Incarnation. Why is this such a HUGE deal? Tuesday: Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, allows us to obey the 2nd Commandment. What is Fear of the Lord and how is it NOT contrary to love? Wednesday: On the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, we discuss the power of our words and how we need to strive to never commit blasphemy or make a casual promise in Jesus's Name. Thursday: On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross we explore the power of Jesus's name, which in itself is a powerful prayer. Friday: Finally, what about our names as Christians, people who have been Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We are excited to announce the launch of our Eucharistic Revival Study for Families: Encountering the Heart of Jesus! This is a powerful study for the Whole Family! Books are on sale now. Check out the Catholic Sprouts Podcast ARCHIVES! https://catholicsprouts.com/podcast-archives/ Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/ Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com
It's week two of our series on the 10 Commandments! This week we will be discussing, YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN. Monday: God shared His name with us through Moses at the burning bush and through the Incarnation. Why is this such a HUGE deal? Tuesday: Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, allows us to obey the 2nd Commandment. What is Fear of the Lord and how is it NOT contrary to love? Wednesday: On the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, we discuss the power of our words and how we need to strive to never commit blasphemy or make a casual promise in Jesus's Name. Thursday: On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross we explore the power of Jesus's name, which in itself is a powerful prayer. Friday: Finally, what about our names as Christians, people who have been Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We are excited to announce the launch of our Eucharistic Revival Study for Families: Encountering the Heart of Jesus! This is a powerful study for the Whole Family! Books are on sale now. Check out the Catholic Sprouts Podcast ARCHIVES! https://catholicsprouts.com/podcast-archives/ Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/ Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com
It's week two of our series on the 10 Commandments! This week we will be discussing, YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN. Monday: God shared His name with us through Moses at the burning bush and through the Incarnation. Why is this such a HUGE deal? Tuesday: Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, allows us to obey the 2nd Commandment. What is Fear of the Lord and how is it NOT contrary to love? Wednesday: On the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, we discuss the power of our words and how we need to strive to never commit blasphemy or make a casual promise in Jesus's Name. Thursday: On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross we explore the power of Jesus's name, which in itself is a powerful prayer. Friday: Finally, what about our names as Christians, people who have been Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We are excited to announce the launch of our Eucharistic Revival Study for Families: Encountering the Heart of Jesus! This is a powerful study for the Whole Family! Books are on sale now. Check out the Catholic Sprouts Podcast ARCHIVES! https://catholicsprouts.com/podcast-archives/ Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/ Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com
It's week two of our series on the 10 Commandments! This week we will be discussing, YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN. Monday: God shared His name with us through Moses at the burning bush and through the Incarnation. Why is this such a HUGE deal? Tuesday: Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, allows us to obey the 2nd Commandment. What is Fear of the Lord and how is it NOT contrary to love? Wednesday: On the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, we discuss the power of our words and how we need to strive to never commit blasphemy or make a casual promise in Jesus's Name.Thursday: On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross we explore the power of Jesus's name, which in itself is a powerful prayer. Friday: Finally, what about our names as Christians, people who have been Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We are excited to announce the launch of our Eucharistic Revival Study for Families: Encountering the Heart of Jesus! This is a powerful study for the Whole Family! Books are on sale now. Check out the Catholic Sprouts Podcast ARCHIVES! https://catholicsprouts.com/podcast-archives/ Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/ Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com
It's week two of our series on the 10 Commandments! This week we will be discussing, YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN. Monday: God shared His name with us through Moses at the burning bush and through the Incarnation. Why is this such a HUGE deal? Tuesday: Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, allows us to obey the 2nd Commandment. What is Fear of the Lord and how is it NOT contrary to love? Wednesday: On the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, we discuss the power of our words and how we need to strive to never commit blasphemy or make a casual promise in Jesus's Name. Thursday: On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross we explore the power of Jesus's name, which in itself is a powerful prayer. Friday: Finally, what about our names as Christians, people who have been Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We are excited to announce the launch of our Eucharistic Revival Study for Families: Encountering the Heart of Jesus! This is a powerful study for the Whole Family! Books are on sale now. Check out the Catholic Sprouts Podcast ARCHIVES! https://catholicsprouts.com/podcast-archives/ Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/ Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com
The Bible stresses repeatedly the power and greatness of Jesus's name. But why does it emphasize his name, and not just his person?
The Bible stresses repeatedly the power and greatness of Jesus's name. But why does it emphasize his name, and not just his person?This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3279340/advertisement
Choose God's Seal today in Jesus's Name and avoid satan's mark, amen. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vashti-g/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vashti-g/support
What makes for dangerous times and dangerous people-- 2Timothy 3-1-5 looks forward to the second serial reading of in morning public worship on the coming Lord's Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the great danger of the last days is the danger of Jesus's Name on our lips without Jesus's life or power in our heart.
FROM THE AMERICANUCK RADIO ARCHIVES:"Water & Fire, The Purpose of Baptism in Jesus's Name"Original airdate: July 5, 2022
Peter and John were arrested for teaching about Jesus --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alex-nguyen99/support
Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Several years ago I ordered a print of a painting to hang in my office. When I was considering that, I had some qualms. It wasn't the usual kind of painting that hangs in pastors' offices. The painting depicts the final judgment. In the middle of the painting there is a grave yard. It shows the resurrection from the dead, so the people are stepping out of their graves. Then they are being separated to the right and to the left. The angels are guiding the people on the right. Demons are prodding and grabbing and dragging people on the left. The people on the right get clothed with white robes to enter into the light that radiates from Jesus. The people on the left tumble down into the chaos and the flames of hell. This painting hangs immediately in front of my desk. When I look up from my computer this rather large print is what I see. I got this painting for me, for my benefit, but I was a little concerned about what people might think when they visit my office. What can be offensive to people is that this picture is saying, “This is how it is, and this is how it will be.” All people, and every individual, either goes to the right or to the left. Each individual either goes to heaven or to hell. The natural question is “what about me?” “Which way will I go?” And “what about those I love?” This painting brings to the fore something that most people don't think about—at least not seriously. When someone is dying or when someone has died the automatic answer for their ultimate destination is heaven. It's always heaven. If in doubt, they're in heaven. If I chopped off the left side of that painting, that would maybe be more in accord with the way people think. Of course, the way that we think is one thing, the truth is another. I, in fact, noticed yet another detail about this painting that I've looked at for years while I was working on this sermon: there are more people who are being driven into hell than there are people who are being escorted into heaven. This is in accord with Jesus's words. There will be more who take the broad and easy way into hell rather than the hard and narrow way that leads into heaven. I don't enjoy thinking about people possibly going to hell any more than anybody else does. Frankly, it frightens me and horrifies me—especially when I think of specific people. I see the reason why people say that hell doesn't exist or that it's practically impossible to end up there. If that's the case, we don't have to worry about anything. We can all live our lives however we want—to hell with God's commandments. You do what you want, what you think is good enough. Then, at the end of it all, we can have a nice celebration of life service. And, to be sure, nobody's the wiser. You can't tell the difference. When an unbeliever dies the corpse looks just the same as a believer's corpse. We don't see demon's pulling on it, dragging it into hell against the person's will. The slight smile that the undertaker puts on it is the same as everybody else's. If their corpse is smiling just like everybody else's, then why not live how you want? Why not follow your thoughts? They're probably wiser than that dusty old Bible's thoughts anyway—lots of smart people say that the Bible is hopelessly outdated. These arguments, evidently, are extremely persuasive. Very few worry about going to hell themselves even though they live in rebellion against God. They habitually, purposely live against God's commandments. Even very few Christians can stand the thought of loved ones going to hell. Even very few pastors can bear the scorn and the hatred if they refuse to give an honorable funeral, full of sweet nothings, for someone who did not live as a Christian. So, of course, our congregations do not have the strength to discipline or eventually remove those who are living unrepentantly, and, therefore, are living in such a way where they are preparing themselves for hell. It is very common for Christians to complain about the decline of the church. All the congregations are getting smaller. Shame on the younger generations. Tsk. tsk. tsk. They should come back to church after they've sowed their wild oats just like we used to do. We sowed our wild oats, but then we settled down with the kids. But maybe the younger generations are just more honest and clear-headed. Why should they participate in an organization that acts like it doesn't believe in heaven and hell? What purpose does Jesus serve if we can just ignore the possibility of hell, wish it out of existence, and thereby no longer fear it? What kind of Savior would that be? Jesus saves us from something that we never needed to fear in the first place? Grandpa Jones, that old blasphemer, had just as nice of a smile and just as honorable of a funeral as anybody who is faithful, who suffered, who fought, and barely held on. Actions speak louder than words. Giving funerals for everyone and anyone powerfully teaches that the church doesn't care about what is true and not true. The church only cares about being polite. The truth is that the church is supposed to teach us to fight against our sinful flesh. If we stumble and fall, may we be forgiven and lifted up, but then we fight some more. The assumption of forgiveness, the assumption of going to heaven—this has to be one of the manifestations of the anti-christ. The assumption that you're forgiven no matter what, you're going to heaven no matter what—anybody with half a brain draws the conclusion that repentance, faithfulness, sacrificing, suffering, bearing the cross—all these things are stupid, because they are totally worthless. Live as selfishly as you want, of, if you're a little wiser, as selfishly as you can get away with—that's how you play the game. It might seem that the assumption of everybody going to heaven is tolerant and loving, but underneath it is the promotion of evil, the encouragement not to fear God. We have a difficult challenge before us as a Christian people and as a congregation. We must be willing to be different. We must renounce this assuming that everybody is going to heaven regardless of their lives, regardless of whether they have made use of the means of grace. We must begin being serious with one another when we have fallen into sin. Unrepentant sin is what brings people to hell. We must help one another. Is this fun? No. Is it helpful? Absolutely! Imagine someone who has gotten an infection in their leg. It's swollen, nasty and full of pus so that it gives off an awful smell. To clean it out will hurt like the dickens for the patient. It will be very unpleasant for the doctor too. But what's the alternative? Just let it go? Hope for the best? That's what we've been doing for a long time as congregations. We haven't cared enough to get our hands dirty in the muck and the pus. We don't help people who need help. The goal, it seems, is to get them just to come on Sunday mornings and give their offering. That will keep the lights on for another year. Is it any wonder, then, that God has punished our land, emptying our churches? What purpose can these churches serve if they will not lift a finger to help in the very thing that God cares about most? What does God care about most? There's no mystery about that. All four of the Gospels are emphatic about it. After Jesus rose from the dead he gave his Christians what they were to be about. Repentance and forgiveness in Jesus's Name is to be preached to all people, because Jesus is the Savior of sinners from the hell that they deserve. Repent and be baptized. Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, whoever does not believe will be condemned. Whosoever's sins we forgive, they are forgiven them. Whosoever's sins we retain, they are retained. By essentially, practically, denying the possibility of anybody going to hell, we've lost the reason for our existence. Why repent or be forgiven? There's no need to clean out wounds, bandage people up, and return them to health, because supposedly they will survive regardless. Think again of that patient I made up. Let's say that we all pretend it's impossible for such a patient to die. Why, then, would the doctor go to the trouble of cleaning it out when it's all messy, nasty and smelly? The patient would be happy too, because cleaning it out hurts like the dickens. Of course the patient still has the infection, nasty as ever, but everybody just lives and let's live. So also our people and we ourselves have horrible spiritual infections. Here's a list from Paul's letter to the Romans, and see if it doesn't fit perfectly: We are full of all unrighteousness, having sex with all sorts of things that are not our spouse, having no qualms, never satisfied with what we have but always wanting more, mean, full of envy, murder, unable to get along with others, dishonest, ornery, gossiping, condemning, haters of God, proud, haughty, boastful, inventing ways to be evil, disobedient to parents, devoid of understanding, untrustworthy, unaffectionate, unmerciful. All of these infections make the patient miserable, but they go unaddressed. The infections get worse and worse. Maybe we hope that they'll heal themselves, but there is only one physician who can heal these infections, and that's Jesus. The way that Jesus works as the physician is by means of Christians who are believing enough to speak his word. May we be such Christians in this congregation! Christians help others as they themselves have been helped. Christians comfort others in their afflictions the way that they themselves have been comforted. We have been given God's commandments to diagnose our spiritual maladies. We have been given the forgiveness of sins as the remedy. We have been given the new birth in baptism. We have been given the body and blood of Jesus to eat and to drink the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our faith, and for the fervency of our love. These work the cure. These forgive sins now and going forward. At the end, at the resurrection from the dead, there is the promise of complete and total healing. That complete spiritual healing will be tremendous and beyond anything that we can imagine. We all were born into this world diseased. We all have our latent pockets of spiritual infection. That is why Jesus says that no flesh can see the kingdom of God. We must be born again by the water and the Spirit to see the kingdom of God. Even whatever spiritual healing God works on us Christians in this life is going to be incomplete. God helps us, but we will continue to have our flesh, and so we will stumble, fall, and may God lift us back up again so that we may fight yet another day. But with heaven and with the resurrection from the dead it is finished. Our sinful flesh dies. The resurrected flesh will not have sin in it. Since we have never experienced anything like it in this life, we will experience it for the first time in the life to come. Popular notions of the life to come do not really have any healing that goes with it. Sure, aches and pains get taken away, but heaven is supposedly for doing hobbies, a better version of this life. As it turns out, then, in a way, with the painting that I began with, it's not just hell that gets chopped off. The true heaven gets chopped off too. No spiritual healing is even on the radar. Heaven is just a lame continuation of this life without any spiritual transformation. But things cannot keep going on like they have been. Good things must get better and bad things must get worse. We now live in the time of grace when good and bad are all mixed together. The goal we should have for ourselves is to sort out the good from the bad. The good is not sin or deceitful desires. The good comes from God. The bad is the infections. We need to be students, disciples, to learn what is good and what is bad. We need to learn to love the good and hate the bad. It is by loving God and what is good that we fight the fight of faith. It is by faith in Jesus that we may look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
From Sorrow To Joy Home 2022 September 17 From Sorrow To Joy  CHRISTIAN LIFE, DEVOTIONAL, JOY From Sorrow To Joy Text: John 16:20 KJV Further Reading: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. JOHN 16:20 KJV MESSAGE The joy in the hearts of many has ceased and their dance turned into mourning, but the word of the Lord to you today is that all those things that have caused you sorrow for years will be taken away in Jesus's Name. Instead of sorrow, you will begin to experience joy again. It does not matter how hopeless or discouraging your situation may look, God's promise to you is that your situation will be turned around for good. The word of God says in Isaiah 61:3 that Christ came To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3 NKJV
I Can Come Boldly Into The Throne Of Grace
Kia Ora Inspire whānau! In this week's Episodes we are continuing on with our theme By Faith with Ps Don McDonell sharing his message 'Are We Actually Like Them'. We pray this message will touch your heart and inspire you personally in Jesus's Name we pray Amen! We appreciate your time listening to our Podcast. If you did find this message inspiring, and you'd like to listen and/or watch more of our content or simply, want to get connected to Inspire Church Albany! We would love to encourage you to 'Click' on the links below. Thank You! --- Web: https://www.inspirechurchnz.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspireChurchAlbany Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspirealbany/ Spotify: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanySpotify Apple Store: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanyApple Google Play: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanyAndroid Check out our Inspire Singapore Family on YouTube: https://bit.ly/InspireSingaporeYT
Kia Ora Inspire whānau! This week's Episodes we are continuing on with our theme By Faith with Ps Julia McDonell sharing her message 'The Unstoppable Prayer'. We pray this message will touch your heart and inspire you personally in Jesus's Name we pray Amen! We appreciate your time listening to our Podcast. If you did find this message inspiring, and you'd like to listen and/or watch more of our content or simply, get connected to Inspire Church Albany! We encourage you to 'Click' on the links below. Thank you! --- Web: https://www.inspirechurchnz.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspireChurchAlbany Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspirealbany/ Spotify: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanySpotify Apple Store: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanyApple Google Play: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanyAndroid Check out our Inspire Singapore Family on YouTube: https://bit.ly/InspireSingaporeYT
Kia Ora Inspire whānau! This Episodes we are continuing on with our theme By Faith with Ps Jesse Kelly sharing his message 'Praise Prepares the Way'. We pray this message will touch your heart and inspire you personally in Jesus's Name we pray Amen! We appreciate you listening to our Podcast. If you did find this message inspiring, and you'd like to listen and/or watch more of our content or simply get connected to Inspire Church Albany! We encourage you to 'Click' on the links below. Thank you! --- Web: https://www.inspirechurchnz.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspireChurchAlbany Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspirealbany/ Spotify: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanySpotify Apple Store: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanyApple Google Play: https://bit.ly/InspireAlbanyAndroid Check out our Inspire Singapore Family on YouTube: https://bit.ly/InspireSingaporeYT
Audio recordingManuscript:Faith is expecting something, hoping in something, relying on something. It is not just the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who is believed in. We have faith in all kinds of things. We have faith in our car, for example, that it will work. We have the expectation that when we go out to the car we will be able to get in it, turn it on, and go where we want. But sometimes our expectations turn out to be wrong. We come outside and see that there's a flat tire. We turn the key and it doesn't turn on. It is nice when what we believe in turns out to be reliable. It is painful when what we believe in fails us. Cars are just one example. The fact is that we believe in so many things. If we were to conduct a poll, I suspect that most people would say that the last several years have not been too nice. Why is that? Is it because COVID has killed so many of our family and friends? I don't think that's the true source of our pain. What hurts is that the stuff we used to believe in hasn't been working. We used to believe in the news. Now there's this camp's news and that camp's news, and the news sources say totally different things. We used to believe that we could get along with each other. But one person believes that this and that is true, while another person believes that those very same things are literally lies or conspiracy theories. It's like the tower of Babel all over again. We can't understand someone from a different camp. We don't want to work together. We are being driven apart. Our faith in the reasonability of one another has been broken. Other things are failing too. We used to believe that we could afford to buy gas. We used to believe that the grocery stores would always be fully stocked. We used to believe that our elections would always be fair and free. It is painful, and perhaps frightening, when the things that we used to believe were so reliable that you could set your watch by them are going wonky. It is as though the sun, the moon, and the stars are no longer following their normal courses. People are about to be fainting in fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the earth. Although it is painful to have our faith shattered in the things that we used to believe in, it certainly need not be the worst thing that could ever happen to us. Folks can use this loss of confidence for their eternal good if they quit believing in the things of this world and come to believe in the one true God, but not everybody is going to do that. The break-down of things that we believe in can serve as a wake-up call. It can serve as a call to repentance. But it is certainly possible for people to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. Although it is painful and disheartening and inconvenient and scary to have the things that we believe in break, this is by no means the worst of God's wrath. The Bible is full of examples of God sending painful, disturbing things even on his own people. These things can serve to turn people away from believing in created things toward the Creator. That is not bad. That is good. The worst of God's wrath is when he gives us what we want. What we want is to push the snooze button. What we want is for everything we believe in always to work. But all this other stuff that we believe in is not God. All this other stuff dies and decays and disintegrates. Even we ourselves—it feels good to believe in ourselves—but what is to become of us? We get old. The time we have on this earth grows shorter and shorter. All it takes is one disease or another and we are gone. In the very midst of life snares of death surround us. Nobody wants to believe that. The faith we have in ourselves and in other created things has to be broken against our will. That is always painful. So it is always tempting to turn away from the harsh reality, to take a narcotic and slip off back to sleep. But there is another option available to those whom the Lord God reveals himself. Those who are blessed to hear the good news, the Gospel, know the only true God. Not only do they know who the true God is, but they also know the will of this true God. It is God's will to redeem us poor, mortal sinners by Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead. It is the will of this true God that all be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. We are redeemed from death and we will live in the new heavens and the new earth, the heavenly Jerusalem, that was described in our second reading. We are to see God. Everything else falters and fails. The one true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, will not let down the one who trusts in him. Eternal rest and perpetual light is what is given to the faithful departed. Knowing the true God, his revealed will, and the end-point that is in store for those who believe in him is important for understanding what Jesus says about prayer in our Gospel reading. If we place our hopes and dreams in earthly things, then we will hear his words one way. If we learn to look for the things of the life to come, then we will start to hear them another way. What we are hoping for matters. Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “Whatever you ask the Father in my Name he will give it to you… Ask and receive that you joy may be complete.” As soon as we hear that many things can come to mind. Immediately we probably believe that it can't be true. I'll prove it. I'll ask the Father to turn stones to bread, tacking on the magic words, “in Jesus's Name.” When the stones don't turn to bread we can all see that this doesn't work. Immediately we are prone to put the Lord our God to the test. Interestingly the kinds of things that come to mind when we hear that anything we ask for in Jesus's Name will be given to us is the kinds of things that we hear about in fairy tales or comic book heroes. We think this is like the genie from the lamp. Rub the lamp, make your request, and voila. Or we might think of superheroes with super-human abilities. We can zap this or that. We can change this or that. It's easy to think of Jesus's Name as being magical. Just say, “Abracadabra,” and let your will be done. But perhaps you remember that Jesus resisted the devil's temptations in the wilderness to engage in magic. The devil said to Jesus, “You're hungry. If you are the Son of God command these stones to become bread.” But Jesus said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The devil took Jesus to the top of the temple and said, “Throw yourself down, for it is written that he will command the angels to prevent you from striking your foot against a stone.” But Jesus said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” The devil took him to a place where Jesus could see all the kingdoms with all their wealth and power. “Just bow down and worship me and they shall all be yours.” Jesus said, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'” When we hear that the Father will give us whatever we should ask in Jesus's Name we very quickly and easily slip into wanting to perform magic. It's in our bones. We believe that we know what is good and what is evil. What is good is whatever I desire. What is evil is whatever is against my will. So gimme what I want, and let whatever I don't want be gone! The way that the devil tempted Adam and Eve was by telling them that God was holding out on them. God didn't want them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because then they would be like God. If only they would take in hand the magical power offered in the fruit, then their joy would be complete. Then all things would be subject to their will. Ever since then we have been infected with the desire to practice magic. Ever since then, by nature, we have no desire to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. By nature we have wanted to make a paradise for ourselves by discovering and manipulating the things of this world. We want to believe in the things of this world. We want them all to work for us and to work like clock-work. When we hear Jesus say that whatever we ask in his Name the Father will give us, it is very easy to want to test that out by asking for things that would restore our faith in the broken things of this world. We want to be gods. We want to bend everything to our own will. We want to zip and zap, harnessing the power of prayer, and putting it to work for us. It is not God's will, however, that we should replace him as God. It is not God's will that we should believe in ourselves, or in our spiritual powers, or in our faith, or in the power of our praying. Those are idols. How could God want us to believe in created things—impotent, rusting, and rotting idols—even very spiritual looking idols such my power of praying? We are to believe in him and his good and gracious will. To pray in Jesus's Name means that we are praying according to what Jesus has done and accomplished. Jesus did not die and rise and ascend into heaven in order to alienate us from God, in order to make us not believe in him, but to believe in ourselves instead. He did not do what he did to restore our faith in the things and the experiences of this world. Jesus did what he did to show us God's will, that we should believe that God is for us, that we should believe that there is a place that is prepared for us with many rooms, and that Jesus will come to us to bring us there. By nature we believe that it would be quite something if, by the power of our prayer, we could, without fail, remove someone's illness or move a mountain into the sea. There are much greater things than these. Much greater things have already been given to you. It is much greater to be raised together with Jesus. It is much greater that we have been justified so that the Law, which otherwise cries out for justice to be done against us, is silenced. You have Christ's own righteousness. Paul says of the heaven that is to come that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. In Jesus's Name these greater things are yours. So we must not let magical thinking deceive us or mislead us into false belief or despair concerning Jesus's words. Jesus really means it when he says that whatever we ask in Jesus's Name the Father will give us. We are not thereby turned into gods or superheroes. We have already been made children of God. We have conquered death and every sadness. Neither death nor sadness can forever maintain their grip on us. We have an incredible future in store for us in this life as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, and in the life to come when we will be completely holy. Asking God to forgive you for but one sin is of greater and more eternal consequences than possessing the entire earth with all its kingdoms. Although that is so great a thing, you know full well that God hears you and grants your prayer when you pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It seems to be standard operating procedure for the devil to tempt us with what is lesser so that we give up on what is greater and better. The knowledge he promised to Adam and Eve was much less and turned out to be a lie compared to what they had prior to that. Often the devil tempts us to reach out and grab what has not been given to us. Ill-gotten gains in terms of money or sex are supposed to make our joy complete. The truth is that God has better things laid up for those who live according to his will—even in these areas of life that prove to otherwise be so tempting to us. God will purify and fulfill whatever kernel of good there be in the lusts that harass us, so the devil is lying when he says that obeying him is the only way to be happy. When it comes to prayer we are misled to believe that what is truly great is manipulating the things of this world. What is greater, however, by far, is the eternal rest and perpetual light enjoyed by the faithful departed. Jesus means what he says. Believe him. Believe in the Father. Do not believe in yourself or your own magical powers. Ask the Father in Jesus's Name and he will give it to you—the things that are good for you in this life and for the life that is to come.
Audio recordingSermon manuscript:It is very common for Christians to conceive of their Christianity merely as a way to avert disaster. The key word for why this is not a correct view is that word “merely.” The statement is true without the “merely.” Christianity is, in fact, the onlyway to avert disaster. Disaster is the devil, death, evil, and hell. There is no way to overcome these things except through Christ who is given to those who believe the Gospel. So what is the problem, then, if we have that word “merely” in there? What's wrong with saying that Christianity is merely a way to avert disaster? The answer is that it betrays an entirely wrong attitude and focus. The mind and the heart remain firmly fixed on the things of the flesh. God's ways, God's commandments, what pleases God, is not what is front and center. The desire is to get around God—not having to obey him, or, perhaps, minimally obeying him—in order to forestall disaster. The focus, the loving attitude is towards the things of this earthly life. A Christian can end up having the very same goals for life as an unbeliever. The goals might be merely to enjoy creature comforts, to make a name for one's self, to have a painless death, and so on. Perhaps we could sum this all up as a desire to maximize our pleasure and minimize any suffering. That is where Jesus can fit in and do his part. Jesus is just kind of an insurance policy that things won't go south after you die. He is merely a way to avoid disaster. With this mindset it is not possible to give up anything of this life unless it is pried out of our cold, dead hands, so to speak. Jesus's requirement that we take up his cross is either ignored, or one goes in search of the lightest, most comfortable cross one can find. We want full coverage, but for the cheapest premium possible. Then we can invest our time, talents, and treasures in the things that we actually love instead of God whom we merely fear. This mentality is always going to produce a cheap, hap-hazard, pathetic, and infertile Christianity. More robust examples of Christianity won't make sense to those who live in weak times. The exploits of the apostles, such as we heard in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, is going to seem very far away from us indeed. In our first reading today you see Christians who are eager to live their new life in Jesus, which operates by different rules. Just before our reading something very dramatic happened—something that you would think would discourage people from becoming Christians. A husband and wife, named Ananias and Sapphira, sold some property in order to make an offering. Nobody forced them to sell this property or to make this offering. However, when they made the offering, they pretended that they were giving the full proceeds from the sale when in actual fact they had kept back a portion for themselves. Peter asked them why they had lied to the Holy Spirit. Then God killed them. They were buried side by side for giving an offering. This deeply impressed upon the people at that time that membership in Christ's church is no laughing matter. The Jerusalem congregation amazingly was not ashamed, fearing that they had gotten wrapped up in some kind of cult. Instead they feared God. This incident also kept people away who were merely shopping for insurance. This premium for this policy was way too steep. Only those who were daring enough to want to meet God retained any interest. And so in the wake of this incident the life of the Christian congregation had never been more vigorous. People were being baptized. The faithful wanted to learn, to worship, to pray. The blessings of Pentecost were very evident among them. Something that we think would be very, very bad for evangelism—namely, the death of a couple of their members—only served to heighten their piety and to keep the luke-warm away. The vigor of this Christian congregation did not go unnoticed. The Christians kept testifying to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the Christ who would save his people. The same people who nailed Jesus to the cross because he said that he is Christ were now hearing about his disciples saying the same thing. Here they had thought that they had solved that problem—they killed the leader and figured that the disciples would be too intimidated to carry on—but the Holy Spirit had other plans. Instead of just one man preaching, Jesus, now there were dozens of preachers preaching salvation in Jesus's Name. They had to be dealt with. So, again, they try to decapitate the movement. They arrest the apostles. Now let's think about what's going on here. In a sense the apostles weren't doing anything wrong, and yet, in another sense, they were inflicting the most serious of injuries. The apostles weren't harming anyone's body. They weren't taking other people's property. (In fact, they were giving away and sharing what they had.) But on the other hand, they were assaulting people where people cannot stand being assaulted. They were attacking people's religion. We must understand how serious this is. Everyone has a religion because everyone believes in something. Everyone has a god, or, more likely, many gods. Everybody has his or her own beliefs about what will make a person happy, that is to say, blessed. Everybody has his or her own ideas of what makes a person cursed. We are not accustomed to talking in terms of “blessed” or “cursed” because we have been thoroughly taught that the only religions that exist are formal religions. If you aren't Christian or Muslim or Hindu, etc., then you are someone who doesn't have a religion. This, however, is not true. Everyone believes in stuff. Everyone believes that certain things will make them happy or blessed. Everybody has things that they fear. These things that people put their fear, love, and trust in are those people's gods. When you start attacking the things that provide meaning in in people's lives, what people believe in, what they worship, what they sacrifice for—and when these attacks hit home—you are going to get an exceedingly strong reaction. Some might turn away from their worthless gods that have no power to save them from death and rottenness. Some will get exceedingly angry that these things they have held so dear are pointed out as being impotent and that only the Lord is God. He alone can truly save. When we think about what is going on with these early Christians we must understand that they were not just handing out candy and “Jesus loves you” stickers. They weren't selling insurance policies. They were going for the jugular, spiritually speaking, so that those who heard them might die to themselves and their worthless, stupid idols, and be raised incorruptible in Jesus. So, again, the apostles weren't harming anybody. And yet, in another sense, they were inflicting the worst wounds as they were tearing people away from their idols. This activity is why the prophets were put to death in the Old Testament. This is the most common reason for Christians to be put to death in the New Testament. It was for the witness to Jesus that John was exiled to the island of Patmos. It was for the witness to Jesus that the apostles were put in prison in Jerusalem. But then, as we heard, the most extraordinary thing happened. During the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison. He told the apostles to go preach in the temple. The apostles gladly obeyed. I'd like to you notice how daring and unusual this is. If the apostles were like us, if they were only interested in maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, then the last thing they would do would be to comply with the angel's instructions. Maybe they would make a break for it after the doors were opened for them. They could flee to where they assumed they would be safe. Or they could have stayed in prison. The Jewish authorities are already so angry with them that they have thrown them into prison. A Sanhedrin had been called—the very same kind of Sanhedrin that had sentenced Jesus to death in the middle of the night not long before this. Maybe if the apostles would show themselves to be obedient, to be easily cowed, and if they would tone down the rhetoric a little bit, they could be released after just a slap on the wrist. The sure-fire way to make these angry, dangerous people even angrier is to go to the most public place in Jerusalem and carry on with what got them thrown into prison in the first place. Love and joy and peace is what prompted the apostles to do what they did. The Holy Spirit gave them their boldness. They are lively. They are making in-roads. Like a soldier they are on the move. They are not playing it safe. They are not selling some pre-packaged spiritual product that is supposed to occupy some little piece of the people's lives who would believe their message, while the rest of their lives can remain untouched. No. The work of Jesus is victorious and vigorous. It is like leaven. If leaven is added to just one little part of a lump of dough it is going to work its way through the whole thing. So also Jesus's victory over sin, death, and the devil is going to work its way through our whole life. All the parts of our life are to be infused with divine love. The great guide in this endeavor is the 10 commandments, which require of us love towards God and love towards our neighbor. The work that Jesus has done is such that it overturns the old order. He has given us a new life. There is an adventure in store for us where we can be daring and loving—not playing it safe, not being a coward—but going on the offense against God's enemies. Realize, of course, that when you go on offense, you are going to stir up some trouble. We all get awfully comfortable with the evil in our life. We don't want it taken away from us. When the boat gets rocked, we want things to go back to what is normal and comfortable. Folks can get violent with this resistance to change. To the kingdom of God's action there is going to be a reaction. This is why the apostles were put in prison again and again. As we live our life as Christians we must be prepared with appropriate expectations. If we are expecting that we are going to be loved and thanked and praised for attacking what is evil, then we better have a second thought coming. But we must understand this for what it is. It is not bad. To suffer for doing good is not a bad thing. It is a good thing. It is following the lead of our master Jesus. It is taking up our cross and following him. So don't be scared off by that. Realize, also, that you will be attacked by fear and dread. The apostles experienced the same thing. Paul plainly tells us that he did his work in weakness. He did it with fear and trembling. God likes to do his work through imperfect and weak vessels. Therefore you must not think that since you feel inadequate or frightened to attack evil in your own life or in the lives of the people you love, that this means it's something you should not do. You need to wait until you are stronger. As the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is made perfect in weakness.” The easiest thing in the world is to do nothing. But then the kingdom of God is also inactive in us. During this season of Easter, and Christ's ascension, and Pentecost we must grasp that Christ's kingdom is a living and active thing. Christianity is not merely a way to avert disaster. Christianity is a new life fighting against the forces of death. You are privileged to take your place in that fight according to the opportunities that God puts into your life. This is how Jesus reigns and rules in his spiritual kingdom.
The Lord emboldens His servants to speak in Jesus's Name by God's prophecies and promises, God's purpose and plan, and God's powerful providence.
How does God answer the apostolic church's request for boldness- Pastor leads his family in today's -Hopewell -Home- passage. Acts 4-23-31 prepares us for the morning sermon on the coming Lord's Day. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that some of what God uses to embolden His people to speak in Jesus's Name are- God's prophecies and promises, God's purpose and plan, God's providential power, and God's hearing and answering prayer.
Jesus's name (brand) is above every other name, so don't go trusting in some cheap alternative!
What does Peter have to offer at the temple gate- Pastor leads his family in today's -Hopewell -Home- passage. Acts 3 prepares us for the morning sermon on the coming Lord's Day. In these twenty-six verses, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our greatest crippling -sinfulness- can be cured by the strength and soundness that is in Jesus's Name not only to give us repentance, conversion, and forgiveness, but that turning from our iniquities which is necessary for living according to all that Christ has commanded.
It is Saturday morning, 8th January, the year 2022, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.“Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.”Luke 23:8Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is the most popular man that has ever lived on Planet Earth... You and I, my dear friend, have an obligation to tell this dying world about Him.Many years ago, with our little children's home (That closed many years ago) just across the road, we had a little boy and his name was Thoko. He was about five or six years old, we weren't sure because we got him when he was just a baby and he had been ravaged by some terminal disease. His little body looked like he was only about 2 or 3 years old.My dear wife Jill used to read him Bible stories, his favourites were always about Heaven and what it was going to be like when he went home. I used to take my horse Snowy over to the children's home often and I used to give little Thoko rides. He would sit just in front of me on the saddle with his little emaciated body. Towards the end, he was so thin that we would have to put a pillow on the saddle for him to sit on because the jolting made him so sore. One day he told me that his friend, Jesus, was going to come on His big white horse and take him home to Heaven. Shortly afterwards, that is exactly what happened. Jesus came and took Thoko home. I want to ask you today, do you know Him as Thoko does - Is He real to you? Herod was so excited when he knew that he was going to meet with the Son of God. I want to close and I want to introduce you to Him, if you have never met Him before. Maybe, just like Thoko knew Him - personally.If you would like to, please just pray this little prayer after me:Lord Jesus,I have read about You in books,I have seen You depicted in movies,I have heard people talk about You,I have seen people sing hymns to You but I have never personally met You.Today I want to meet You as a Friend, just like You were a Friend to little Thoko.I ask You to come into my life.I repent of my sin and Lord, I look forward to very soon shaking You by the hand when You come to fetch us, all of us, on that snow-white steed riding on those clouds.I ask this in Jesus's Name.AmenGod bless you and have a wonderful day. Tell somebody about your newly-found Friend today.Goodbye.
When asking in Jesus's name we have a world that mixes that with manifestations. This is of couse the WORST thing you can attach to God. Good news is, asking in Jesus's name isnt the problem when you send your petitions to God... The missing ingredients are! Take a listen, Love youErick
We all have pasts and things we have done that we are not proud of, but once we come to God and lay down our lives naked before him he will restore us in our everyday lives… he's not against you he loves you and wants you to come forward-Amen God Bless Y'all
“…bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Colossians 3:13It's not easy but for Jesus' sake, we must do it... Also for our freedom and peace of mind, we must forgive one another. Remember to forgive is to forget. You cannot forgive someone today and then two days later say: “Remember that thing that you did against me?” We cannot afford to carry the burden of unforgiveness around for the rest of our lives. It is too heavy and it will eventually destroy us. We say: “Ja, but that's not fair.”Maybe so but is it fair that the Son of God, who was totally pure and without sin, had to die a criminals death on a cross for something that He never did? You see, un-forgiveness turns, eventually to bitterness, to hatred, which eventually if not dealt with severely, will actually kill you.If we go to Acts 7:60 we see that Stephen, the first martyr in the New Testament, when he was being stoned for nothing, said in a loud voice,“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” - That is forgiveness! Then of course the best example of all was our blessed Lord Jesus Christ... in Luke 23:34 when He said:“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”You and I need to forgive. You know, often Jesus would say to a sick person, “Your sins are forgiven, be healed.” You see, unforgiveness can make you very sick, it can eventually kill you. I want to say to you this Sunday - Please forgive that person. You say to me, “I can't. He was unfaithful to me, he committed adultery!” or, “That partner stole my money,” or even something worse. You need to leave them in God's hands so that you can get up and carry on with your life.Now, I want to do something I haven't done before. I want to lead you in a simple prayer of forgiveness - Please pray this prayer after me, for the Lord's sake and your sake. And I want you to name that person when we pray this prayer. Let us pray together:Dear Lord Jesus, I don't feel like it... I am angry, I am disappointed, I am hurt but today I choose to forgive (name that person or those people) in Jesus's Name.I forgive them and Lord, I close the door - say it! I throw it into that pool and I put up a big sign there, “No fishing.”And Lord, I am carrying on with my life today.In Jesus Name. Amen.”God bless you and have a wonderful Sunday.Goodbye.
Today's Spirited Daily Star Devotion audio podcast dubbed - PURSUE, OVERTAKE, RECOVER ALL is by Pastor Mike S. Banda of Glorious Trinity Synagogues (G.T.S) in Accra, Ghana. God is asking everyone to pursue after their enemies, their works, overtake them and recovery everything that was killed, stolen or destroyed. Dont give up yet nor loose hope but encourage yourself in God as you pursue, overtake and recover all. In Christ, there are always victories, hope, advancement , miracles, testimonies, riches, blessings breakthroughs, healings, power, glories etc, so please pursue, overtake and recover all in Jesus's Name. Please listen to today's power packed Daily Star Devotion Podcast for more insight, revelations, spiritual keys and blessing. SHALOM.
After a beautiful morning of baptisms and worship, Mike, Kristi, & Ana shared a bit of what God had put on their hearts as they were being led by the Spirit. This recording includes the end of the service where the three of them got up to share. We pray the recording blesses you in Jesus's Name.
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God lights up my darkness
This episode looks at Psalm 4:3, “But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.” God has set apart a people for himself, and those he has called he will also make holy. God hears us when we pray because he has saved us and made us new. We can pray to God in Jesus's name because of faith in him, being washed in his blood and raised to new life and holiness in his resurrection.
Pastors Ian & Daad Taylor The Lord's Ministry House App:TLMHCA www.tlmh.ca
The Bible stresses repeatedly the power and greatness of Jesus's name. But why does it emphasize his name, and not just his person?
Listen and find out how a Christian can use the authority in Jesus's Name.
Listen and find out how a Christian can use the authority in Jesus's Name.
Listen to learn more...