Love is everywhere in our culture. We hear about it in our songs, we see it in our movies, it’s the pursuit of many TV shows, and we use the word love about many things. In the end, our society is still hungering for love. Have you ever heard someone say the phrase, “there has to be more than this”? I have heard people say this and other similar terms and it reminds me of their need for Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we have the privilege of knowing God’s love and His ultimate expression of His love, sending Christ to rescue us and bring us into His kingdom (Col. 1:13).
As children of God, adopted through Christ, we can know and experience that:
Even in saying all of this, though, I am concerned that we often miss out on God’s love. One of the questions I asked myself as I was preparing to preach about God’s love is, “Why don’t we experience God’s love?” I have come to think that one of the major reasons we don’t experience God’s love is that we aren’t convinced of His love. We fear that something will somehow interfere with His love towards us. These things then eat away at our relationship with God. What are we to do in response to this? We become convinced or persuaded, as Paul was, of God’s love as we see in Rom. 8:38. How are we to be convinced of this? We need to look at the cross (Rom. 5:8) knowing that this was God’s demonstration of His love for us: Christ dying for us, as sinners. And, we need to remind ourselves of His love, call it to mind, and even say it to ourselves as Jeremiah modeled in Lam. 3:20-24, that we are not consumed because of His great love for us. Friends, life will bring many things our way, we need to hold on to Him and His love throughout our entire journey with Him. Blessings for the Journey, Pastor Andy P.S. This is Pastor Kyle and Pastor Andy reminding you that God loves you! Questions for reflection and application:
“Being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,
for all endurance and patience with joy.” Col. 1:11, ESV The Apostle Paul speaks frequently about God’s power. He tells us the Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16). He tells us the cross of Christ is foolishness to those who don’t believe but to those who do, it’s the power of God (1 Cor. 1: 18). Paul wanted to know the power of the Resurrection of Christ (Phil. 3:10) and Paul longed for the day that Jesus will transform our bodies to become like His, by His power (Phil. 3:21). There’s one other thing that Paul often did when he spoke on God’s power: he prayed for it for others. For example, in the Scripture above, Paul prays that the Colossian believers would be strengthened. How did he pray they would be strengthened? He asked that they would receive all power and this power would come from God’s might. In short, he is asking God, in His power, to strengthen the Colossian believers to go the distance, that they might have endurance to walk the long road of faith. It takes real strength and stamina to run a long distance course. Here, Paul sounds like the prophet Isaiah who reminds us that even youths will grow weary and tired but those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength (Is. 40:30-31). This is a wonderful thing to pray for another believer. We can pray His strength for them, that His power enables them to walk confidently in uncertain times, and that they rely on His strength in times of illness, difficulty, or confusion. His strength is appropriate to pray for each and every believer, regardless of their situation, because we all need His power to live this Christian life. Let’s Seek Him in His Power this week, Pastor Andy
Questions for reflection and application:
There is a wonderful thing we will find when we acknowledge and trust God’s sovereignty. We will be able to find rest in Him and that His peace will be ours. Rest will be possible because He’s the ultimate authority in the all the universe. He’s got plans and purposes specifically for our lives. This is in direct contrast to the lie of the devil that life has no purpose and that all is meaningless. Peace will be ours because the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7).
The peace of God is supernatural and unexplainable but is also a very real and experiential thing. While His peace is a gift and blessing He gives to His children, His peace is rooted in His Sovereignty in that: He works all things according to His will, Nothing will thwart His will, He has settled everything in the work of His Son on the cross, He’s in control, He’s in charge, and nothing will unseat Him. Phew, how’s that for Sovereignty? And, as Ashley reminded us when she gave the benediction on Sunday, our Father is Holy, Eternal, He’s our Unchanging Rock who is Sovereign. May we rest in Him today and everyday! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, Pastor Andy Questions:
Trust in the Lord forever; because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!
Is. 26:4, CSB Rocks are everywhere. We don’t like them in our shoes but we’ll listen to a rock concert (depending on the band) and we’ll watch movies that have the actor, The Rock. But as Christians, we have placed our trust in the actual Rock, Jesus Christ. He’s the One we build our lives on and He’s the only One worthy of such trust from us. How is He worthy? Why can we depend on Him? We can do exactly that because He is eternal and unchanging, just like His Father. That’s why Isaiah could tell God’s people long ago in Old Testament times to trust in the Lord forever. This makes Him our Rock. David knew this and loved Him for it. In fact, David placed his entire trust in the Lord and based his life on knowing, loving and following God, his Rock. Admittedly, David made significant mistakes. And, yet, God in His kindness forgave David upon his repentance. God extends that same offer of kindness and mercy to us in His Son, Jesus. We can confidently receive His offer and His love because we know that He’ll always love us and He will never change. So, we too can place our entire trust in the Lord, and base our lives on knowing, loving, and following Him. Now that’s something we need to ponder deeply and regularly! Thankful He’s the everlasting Rock, Pastor Andy Questions:
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3 God’s holiness deserves to be proclaimed! The seraphim in this passage rightly declare this truth about God. He is so holy that even now in Heaven, His holiness is being praised and proclaimed by the four creatures surrounding His throne and the elders falling down to worship Him (Rev. 4:8-11). I know I have made this point ad infinitum but there is no passive reaction to a direct revelation of God’s holiness! As we saw on Sunday, Isaiah had a total system melt down when he saw God’s holiness. Peter tells Jesus to go away because he is so struck by his own sinfulness in the presence of Jesus (Luke 5:8). John, the Beloved disciple, falls down as though dead when he receives the vision of the Resurrected Jesus (Rev. 1:17). God's holiness, His purity, and His righteousness are so perfectly pure that we can’t stand (literally) in His Presence. His holiness demands our honoring and worshipping Him. In His holiness, God also calls us to be holy. “You shall be holy, for I am holy (1 Peter. 1:16).” Isn’t it interesting that the same man, Peter, who told the Lord to depart from him because of his inherent sinfulness is now the same one writing to the exiles scattered all over to be holy?! What changed? Jesus changed him. In His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated sin and death. Upon His ascension, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell His followers (Acts. 2). It was through the forgiveness of his sins, the cleansing of his unrighteousness, the receiving of the Lord within his heart and being both sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit, that Peter could pen those words. Now the call falls to each of us who believes in the name of Jesus to be holy. This is only possible through the enabling presence of the Holy Spirit, just as it was for Peter. God has not left us alone to attain or decipher some type of holiness code but He Himself dwells within us and empowers us to live the life to which He calls us. Thus we see the Christmastime proclamation "He is Emmanuel-God with us" is not simply a comforting holiday thought but an inner reality for believers. Let’s praise Him for His holiness today! New Year’s Blessings to you, Pastor Andy Questions for reflection and application:
Sin and God's Presence
Why is it important to preach on sin and examine our own lives regarding sin? Sin keeps us from living our best life in regards to walking with God and being imitators of Christ. SIN DESTROYS!! As I said Sunday, it is not about just changing our behaviors - it is about letting Christ change our hearts. How do we let God into our lives so we can truly be changed?
God loves you and desires to be with you and have a relationship with you. Yet, He will not force a relationship. He will knock and wait for you to open the door. So many of us are letting God on our front porch - or maybe even into the living room - but that's it. We will not allow Him into the basement (of our past hurt) the attic (of our thoughts) and the closets (of our selfish choices). God isn't okay with that. He desires to be loved by ALL of you. Let God into your past, present and future and let Him help you be the imitator / Child of God you were created to be. Have questions? We are here to help. Blessings, Pastor Kyle
STAND BY ME
But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. 2 Tim. 4:17 Anybody else have “Stand By Me” lyrics running through your minds today? Why is it that Pastor Kyle and I think in song when it comes to our sermons? Maybe that’s what you get when you put two former band kids together as the pastors at NewLife!? Or, perhaps it’s that songs narrate the circumstances we all face in life. And, even better, Scripture speaks to those circumstances from God’s perspective. Thankfully, when we face life: the good and hard and the everyday to the highs and lows, Jesus is with us. He promised that He is with us to the end of the age in Matt. 28:20b. We looked at it on Sunday but you can read it again for yourself, as much as you need, as often as you need. We looked at how He kept His promise to the disciples and we shared with one another how He’s kept His promise to us. And He’s still keeping that promise, even now. He comes and stands with us in the trials of life. Paul testified to this in 2 Tim. 4:16-17, when no one stood with him at his trial. But the Lord came and stood with Him. That’s what Jesus does. That’s Who Jesus is. Take a minute to wait and rest in Him (Ps. 27:14). Oh, Lord, we thank You that You stand by us! Blessings as we stand together with Him, Pastor Andy Questions:
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