Love God, Love Others

Pastor Q’s message last Sunday was to love God and to love others. These are my sermon notes, and I hope that you enjoy the sermon as much as I did.

Bible Verses Used

Colossians 3: 12~17

Matthew 7: 1~5

Luke 6: 27~38

Romans 2: 1

James 4: 11~12

Romans 14: 10

We need to put our roots down deep in God. There are surface roots, but if there’s no rain, the plant will wither and die. The first time a storm comes along, you are in deep yoghurt. Put your roots down deep. God looks at our ♥♥♥ ~ you can’t do without God’s love.

Let love guide your life; then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony. We are the church. There are many people who have their “church persona” and the “rest of their life persona”. We need to have the same persona throughout the whole week.

Jesus commandments are:~

• Love God.
• Love others.

You can’t be a God~lover and not love others. The human tendency is to stand on the sidelines and not to pitch. We are not to judge others, for with the measure with which we judge others is the measure with which we will be judged. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Who are you to judge your neighbour? When you criticise someone else, you are going where you are never meant to go. How many times have I sat in judgement? If a person’s drowning, they will push you under in order to save themselves. There is no excuse for pushing someone down in order to elevate yourself.

We are to pray for our enemies. Criticism is the major instrument that Satan uses to destroy the church. Peace, harmony and unity are what God wants within our church today. Unless your roots are down deep, it is easy to go Satan’s way. There is a narrow way or a broad way ~ the broad way is the easiest way.

Gossiping is passing on information when you are not a part of the problem or a part of the solution. People who will gossip to you will also gossip about you. People who gossip cannot be trusted with your confidences. The greatest wounds come from other sheep, not from the wolves. Gossip is not meant to be a part of our lives. When people gossip, they are destroying harmony and unity within the church. If they are gossiping, confront them with this. We each have talents and abilities, and the church needs each one of us. God blesses churches that are united. God is looking for a church that will build and strengthen believers.

People are looking for acceptance and love when they come to our church, a church where every person can be:~

• Accepted
• Loved
• Valued

Leaders and pastors are not perfect, but they need your support and prayers to build the church that God wants. We want God to be welcome to walk into our church, and we need to work together.

No matter what comes, we shall stand and we shall build the church that God wants.

The Christian and Economic Security vs. The Unsaved and Economic Security

This is the final essay for Christian Growth PACE 138, and I’m very happy with my son’s ideals, his essay writing and logical thinking skills.

There are lots of differences between the Christian and economic security vs. the unsaved and economic security. The unsaved person will have a totally different view of money vs. the Christian, who trusts on God and asks for God’s guiding on any major economic decision; sometimes maybe even in the minor decisions, too. A Christian will have an eternal view, where as the unsaved person will be solely focusing on providing for his time on earth. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” and that is the major difference in the views of Christians and the unsaved on the subject of economics. Christians will not lay “up for [themselves] treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But [they will] lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” *

Christians will view economic security with a godly perspective. They will prayerfully lay up money for the future, but with an eternal perspective. They won’t just hoard money for the sake of it. They will seek God’s face in all matters of economic security. Christians will trust God for the means to survive in their later years, whether it is by them saving money or whether it is by the grace of God that they are living. Christians will not be devastated if some catastrophe happened and they were no longer economically secure. They will view it as God’s way of bringing them closer to Him. After all, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

The unsaved will view economic security from a worldly viewpoint that is influenced by Satan so as to keep as much money from doing good in this world. Satan will influence the unsaved to hoard their money. He loves to see people who are rolling in cash, and yet not giving it worthy causes. He hates to see good being done in this world, whether it is a Christian organization or not. Satan is the “father of lies”, so he likes to give people a false sense of economic security but encouraging them to lay up for themselves “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.” Economic security in the earthly sense really isn’t economic security. All that has to happen is for the stock market to crash, the bank to go bankrupt, or some other catastrophe and you are no longer economically secure.

As you can see, Christians will view economical security differently to unsaved people. They will view in light of the temporary, whereas Christians will view it in light of an eternity spent with God, where they will be “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Revelation 20:12). True economic security is found only in trusting totally upon God.

*Slight changes made, but they don’t affect the meaning of the verse.

How Scripture Memorization Can Be Important to the Christian

This is another of my son’s essays for Christian Growth, and it is on a subject that we hold very dear to our hearts, as Scripture memorization is so important in our everyday lives. In some countries it is illegal to own a Bible, so the only way to have God’s Word near to you is to hide it in your heart.

Scripture memorization is extremely important to the Christian. It helps him to withstand the attacks of the Wicked One. Scripture memorization will help the Christian to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1 Peter 3:15). Scripture memorization should be an integral part of every Christian’s spiritual walk with God. Scripture mentions the memorization of God’s Word in many places, especially in Psalm 119. How fitting it is that the longest chapter of the Bible contains so many references to memorizing God’s Word as well as many indirect references to it.

Scripture memorization is one of the most effective ways of blocking Satan’s attacks. Why wait until Satan attacks to try and counter attack and find your armour? Isn’t it better to have your armour on before the battle, than to walk out onto the battlefield, start the battle, and then discover that you forgot to bring your armour with you? Oh, how true are the words of the Psalmist David when he said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11). Hiding God’s Word in your heart will help you to overcome Satan time and time again. Here are just some of the verses in Psalm 119 discussing Scripture memorization: Psalm 119: 9, 11, 16, 17, 38, 50, 82, 101, 105, 162 and 172. There are many more in that one chapter that deal less directly with the issues. Some of those may not deal with the benefits of Scripture memorization, but with the results of not memorizing the words of our Mighty Lord. We should always seek to memorize more of God’s holy, inspired Word.

If someone asks you the “reason of the hope that is in you” if you have memorized God’s Word, then you will be able to give them an answer direct from God’s Word. God’s Word has the power to change people’s lives. “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;” (Romans 10:8). Praise God if His Word is found in our mouths and our hearts, and not just in our heads. His Word is of no value if it is only in our heads and in our hearts, It only has the power to change our lives if it is our hearts and committed there through prayer and the Holy Spirit.

No matter if you memorize a passage a week, or a larger passage a month, pray that God will commit that passage to your memory for life. One day you may need those passages that you memorize, so don’t just let them be forgotten in the busyness of life. If you have never memorized God’s Word before, or if you have trouble memorizing His Word, pray to Him that He will help you to “hide His Word in your heart.” He can help you to overcome any problem that you are facing right now – don’t be afraid to ask Him, and to ask Him for a double portion of His Spirit to help you overcome.

Bible Reading Plan for 2010

Today I was reading my blogging friends posts through Google Reader when I noticed Richele’s post about reading the Bible through in a year, so this started me thinking, and I have decided to adopt the “Read the Bible Through Chronologically in a Year” programme from The One Year Bible Online. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a very long time. We have completed this plan as a family, but I really want to do this again.

Isn’t it wonderful how blogging friends can encourage and support us in our walk with God? Thank you, Richele for your encouraging post, and may the Lord bless your Bible reading plan, too.

I am praying that God will help keep me on track with my Bible reading, and that He will open my ♥ and my mind to His Word. What about you – what are you doing for Bible study during 2010?

According to Ussher

Abbreviations Used in Ussher’s:~

• AM – Years of the world from Creation
• JP – Julian Year starting at January 1, 4713BC

After the year denoted by AM, one of four letters may be affixed

• a – autumn
• b – winter
• c – spring
• d – summer

4000a AM, 4709 JP, 5 BC

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the most blessed virgin Mary at Bethlehem in the fullness of time. Matthew 1:25; 2: 1,5 Gal. 4:4 Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. Luke 2:7

The birth of our Saviour was revealed by an angel of the Lord to shepherds who were waching their flocks by night in the neighbouring fields. They heard the words of a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill to men“. The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. They told everyone what they had heard concerning the child and came back praising and glorifying God. Luke 2: 8-20

4000b AM, 4710 JP, 4 BC

The child was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth and was given the name Jesus, as had been foretold by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:21

The wise men from the east were guided by a star and came to Herod at Jerusalem. When they were told that the birthplace of Christ was in Bethlehem of Judea, they went there and entered the house which was shown to them by the star that stood over it. They found the little child with his mother, Mary. They fell down and worshipped him and gave him their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were warned by God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, and so they departed into their own country by another way. Matthew 2: 1-12

On the fortieth day after her delivery, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to the temple, to present the child to the Lord according to the law of the firstborn. She offered a pair of turtle doves for herself, or two young pigeons, for she could not afford to offer a lamb. This was according to the Levitical law. Luke 2: 22-24, 27; Leviticus 12: 2-4, 6, 8

According to Ussher’s, when the wise men presented their gifts to the infant Jesus, Jesus was between eight and forty days old; Jesus was born in the autumn.

The Annals of the World, James Ussher, 6059-6063
James Ussher’s Classic Survey of World History