Do You Have a Heart for Lost People?

Do you have a heart for lost people? Today’s sermon gave me a new understanding of the Jews being God’s chosen people and how the rest of us fit into that picture. We were studying Romans 9 today and Paul addresses whether or not we can trust that God is faithful or not. I always wondered how the Jews could be chosen over other Christians when they turned their backs on Jesus.

According to Matt, our pastor, being unconditionally called to serve God has no bearing on salvation. The Jews were God’s chosen people because out of their line Jesus would be born. That is what they were chosen for. They provided salvation through Jesus Christ. But, they are still expected to follow God’s law. Only a remnant of ethnic Jews will be saved because many of them don’t have faith that God is faithful.

Out of this, I understand that it isn’t God’s fault if someone isn’t saved. We are the only one to blame if we choose to not have faith in Jesus. Paul, in this scripture, feels anguish over his brothers who have taken the wrong road in life. I feel this way all of the time. I feel happy about the faith I have in Jesus as my savior, but I worry about those I know who haven’t chosen this path.

The challenge posed to us this morning was to examine our hearts. Do you have a heart for lost people? It’s all about faith in Jesus! James says, “The prayer of a righteous man avails much.” So, what does that mean? A righteous man is one who puts his faith in Jesus, so that means that my prayers will be fruitful. So, this means that I need to be praying for those people in my life who haven’t found Jesus and don’t have faith in Him. This week we are to pray for lost people. By next Sunday, see if you feel that your prayers have made a difference! Let’s see how many souls we can save this week. You never know when a seed you plant with provide fruit, but every soul saved is important!

“If God is For Us, Who Can Be Against Us?”

“If God is for us, who can be against us”…this is scripture we find in Romans 8:31. We’ve been studying Romans during our Sunday morning services since the beginning of the year. I think this was my favorite part of the book so far. Matt began the sermon this morning relating a story about Pham Hien, a Vietnamese interpreter at the age of 17 for missionaries. He was later put in prison for his actions and spent 4 years there, praying daily to God. His story of the struggle to keep the faith and what kept him going when he was ready to give up struck a chord with me. I was intrigued with this and researched it more by listening to Ravi Zacharias speak on Hien.

No matter what temptations Satan throws at us, God is always there to give us a way out. He gave His only Son so that we could have everlasting life and He’s not going to give up on us easily. There is nothing that can come between us! God wants us to join Him in heaven when our time on Earth is done, but He wants all to be saved. There is still work for us on Earth to reach out to others and share the love of Christ and the gospel. So many in our own community don’t know of the impending doom and what can be done to bring Jesus into their lives.

Thanks for another thought provoking sermon, Matt! Check out the story of Pham Hien and reach out to someone this week that may not know Jesus. They’ll thank you for it some day!

Are You Broken?

Are you broken? I’ve grown up in the church and when I would hear a fire and brimstone sermon, I can remember feeling kind of insulted. I mean, I’m a good person for the most part. I try to do what’s right and to treat others respectfully. I go to church and I love Jesus; have accepted Him as my Savior! In my mind, I make all the arguments that man normally makes.

I mention all of this because our minister has been preaching on the book of Romans. I’ve read the book several times before and will have to admit that I was confused by Paul’s words. Listening to Matt’s sermon this morning, it all started to make sense to me. No matter how good I am, no matter what I do, it’s not worthy of anything without Jesus in my life. But it’s more than just, being a good person. We have to realize much more about what Jesus offers to us and why it’s important to accept the gift and to commit our lives to Him.

I thought back to my baptism in 1975. Was I broken when I had my conversion experience? No, I wouldn’t say that. I know that I had been considering baptism. I was 16, and my aunt and uncle brought the minister and a visiting evangelist to our house. I’m not sure if their visit was to convince me to get baptized, but that’s what happened. You see, I was afraid to take that step on my own. But with their encouragement, I had the support of family and of course now that I had committed verbally, I was expected to go forward on that Friday night.

Could I ever have done that on my own? Oh, I’m sure I would have eventually, but I think it would have taken a while. Do I feel like I was broken at that point in my life? No. I was a sixteen year old with all of the challenges of adolescence in my daily life. But, I wouldn’t say I was the average teenager. I didn’t party with my friends; didn’t smoke or drink. My friends never invited me to come with them to those types of activities. There were several reasons for that: 1) I was an athlete, 2) my friends knew that I didn’t do those types of things, 3) my parents would have killed me! So did Jesus play a role in my lifestyle? Sure, how could he not? I didn’t feel it necessary to be broken to know that I wanted to be baptized. But, I don’t think I was aware of what it meant, totally. There have been times in my life since then that I have felt broken. Guess who was there to pick up the pieces! Yep, it was God. He’s cool like that!

As I have gotten older and had several ministers to play a role in the shaping of my walk with the Lord, I have matured in my understanding. I don’t profess to know it all. Quite the contrary! The older I get, the more I realize I don’t know! Because I have experienced my conversion, I know I can’t relax and be satisfied . There is a constant battle within me between a peace that comes with God’s promises and the battle that I still must fight to overcome sin in my life.

One statement in Matt’s sermon struck a cord within me. “We must know what we’re being saved from!” We must be aware of what God is saving us from – death and an eternity in hell. Instead, God offers us an eternity in heaven. But, for those who don’t realize this, why should they die to sin for God? They live in the here and now. It’s our job, as Christians, to show them the alternative to a sinful life.

Well, that’s my take on the sermon for April 6, 2014 over Romans 7:7-25. What’s yours?

To listen to Matt’s sermons, go to www.milanchurch.com.

 

Hell – The Age to Come

Hell, not something most of us want to spend too much time thinking about. You don’t believe in hell? If you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, then you’d better read what the Bible says about hell! In the 1,870 verses where Jesus talks, 13% of them are about hell. Jesus believes in hell, so why shouldn’t you?

One of the first things we need to explore is who hell was created for. And we find the answer in Matt 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ What does this mean? God didn’t create it for his children, because he wants us all to go to heaven to be with him. Satan and his angels  however, will be punished in the eternal fire.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him , and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matt 25:31-34

Jesus continues the parable and finishes talking about those on his left in Matt 25:46, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I just don’t see how anyone can second guess the words of Jesus. Anyone who goes to hell will go because they choose to not worship God.

What will hell be like? “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Rev 21:8

As Matt, the preacher was delivering this sermon, I found it interesting when he talked about this second death. We can be born twice in this life and die only once or be born once and die twice. The second time we are born is when we are reborn as a committed believer of Jesus Christ. The first death is the fleshly death here on earth, but the second death is a spiritual death that leads non believers to the lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, utter despair and hopelessness.

Many people say that a loving god would not punish so severely if he loves his children. But, he loves them so much that his vengence is righteously dealing with sin. Hell is God’s wrath poured out on those who “practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Rev 22:15

If you believe the Bible, you must believe all of it, including that hell is a real place as the Bible You can’t just believe the parts of the Bible you like and ignore the rest. I choose to believe and I am very sad for those who choose to not believe. They scoff and make fun of those who follow Christ. God gave us all free will and they certainly have every right to live the way they choose, but they do not have the right to impose their ways on others. We can’t impose our beliefs on them either. I think that is the hardest part, to know when to walk away from someone that you are trying to win over for God. It hurts to lose even one to Satan, especially when it is a loved one. But Satan is the great deceiver, and he will take all of the souls that he can.

“The grace of Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” Rev 22:21

This blog is written as a respond to the sermon of Matt Miller, the pastor of the Church of Christ at Milan, IN and is written by Pam Yates. Your comments are welcome and encouraged. Any questions that you have can be directed to Matt, and he would be glad to respond with clarification. This is just my take on his sermon. You may have taken something else away from the lesson. I’d like to hear any additional responses that you may have.

 

Heaven 201

We have so many questions about heaven and many of those are answered by Matt in this sermon. We must be careful not to answer questions about heaven unless the answer is in the Bible. We don’t want to give wrong information by guessing what we think God would say. If you want to know the questions and Matt’s responses, go to the website at www.milanchurch.com and listen to the sermon.

I found this statement interesting: “We don’t go to hell for our sins. We go to hell for not following the gospel.” I guess I never thought of it like that before, but it makes sense when you think about it. Our sins are forgiven if we accept Jesus as our savior and confess our sins. So we are condemned not because we sinned, but because we don’t accept the gift of forgiveness that Jesus offered by taking our place on the cross.

When discussing if we will be married in heaven, I found it reassuring to think that every relationship in heaven will be better than the best marriage relationship on earth. God will provide something infinitely better than sex when we are in heaven, but there will be no sexual relations.

After listening to the last few sermons, I have come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter what heaven is like as long as I am there and God is there. I can’t think of anything that could make it better. To be in the presence of the one who created me, who loves me more than I can even imagine is the ultimate in a place that He has gone to prepare. It doesn’t matter what my place in heaven is, the lowly place in heaven will be better than the highest position on earth. I know that my loved ones who were saved will be there and I will know who they are. My relationships with everyone will be pleasant relationships based on love. It’s hard to compare my life today to what it will be like in heaven, because it will be infinitely better there. I don’t believe that I can actually comprehend how beautiful and peaceful it will be. What ever I can imagine, I think it will be much better than that!

Will you be in Heaven? Have you secured your place? Don’t put it off. When Jesus returns it will be like a thief in the night. Don’t be caught unaware! Accept Jesus as your savior today! He’s coming soon…

 

 

Heaven 101

    Matt continues the sermon series “The Age to Come” with todays sermon entitled Heaven 101. Several myths were discussed at the beginning which are really kind of silly things that people have said through the years about heaven that have no basis in the Bible. The first one, “Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings” or “Every time someone dies, God needed another angel in heaven”. St. Peter won’t be waiting at the pearly gates to admit us either. Where did these beliefs about heaven begin? We get an image of sitting on a cloud playing a harp or singing hymns.

When we think about the way heaven has been portrayed to us, we don’t get very excited because it seems to be a very boring place. That is what Satan wants us to believe. He will take as many people away from God as he can. He is a fallen angel and he’ll take as much of the glory away from God as he can. He wants us to think that heaven is boring so that it won’t be a place we care about going. I can remember when I was a kid, thinking about heaven and what it would be like. I bought into all the people would be nice and there would be no sin or evil. That was great, but I guess I wondered what I would do in heaven. I was very athletic and played on several athletic teams throughout the year. I couldn’t imagine being happy in a place that didn’t have this kind of competition.

We need to look at what the Bible says about heaven instead of believing silly stories that people tell about it. In Rev 21:3, 4 says “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

When I think about getting to spend eternity with my creator, my savior, I get excited! I can’t imagine a greater thing than to see God as a normal way of life! Whatever I can imagine in my mind, I know that heaven is going to be immensely greater! He is going to make everything new. It’ll be the way it was supposed to be before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Will we exist in piece with the animals?  That would be so cool…

In verse 7 and 8 though, we read this…”He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” The first part is okay, I mean, I want to inherit all that God is offering. But when he starts talking about what will happen to the unbelievers and the liars, I know that these are sins that I am guilty of. I don’t want to be thrown into the fiery lake! That’s what I deserve though, isn’t it?

But, wait a minute! Jesus died for my sins and I have accepted him as my savior, right? So there is a way for me to spend eternity in heaven! Jesus said that he was going there to prepare a place for me. If you read on in chapter 21, you’ll read a description of heaven that is beautiful with the most valuable gems and gold as the décor. Not bricks and cement! This is more than anyone can imagine and it will come very soon. I think that’s why every year that I get older, it seems that time passes faster!

What are some questions that you have about heaven? This is your chance to ask Matt to answer them. Post your question in the comment section below. I would love to hear what some of your thoughts have been about heaven when you were younger or even now.

I want to know more, Matt! Next Sunday’s sermon will tell us more about heaven. Come join us and learn about the place Jesus has gone to prepare us a place. If you want to hear past sermons, just go to the website at www.milanchurch.com. There is a link there where you can check out recent sermons and more information about our church.

What is the Mission of the Church?

    What is the mission of the church? Our sermon this morning was about how our church fits into the mission that is put forth to us by God in the scripture. We currently have the church name of the Church of Christ at Milan. We do not follow the doctrine of the Church of Christ, so the church leadership has been discussing changing the name. How do I feel about this?

I grew up in a traditional Church of Christ from the first memory I have of the church until I moved away from home after college. In listening to Matt’s sermon this morning, I was taken back to the teachings of the Church of Christ. We never had any Christmas celebrations when I was a kid. Oh, I suppose we had sermons from time to time about the birth of Jesus, but that was never something that was related to Christmas. We never decorated the church with a tree, candles, flowers, or any type of Christmas decorations. Our church decorates and celebrates the season. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, but it doesn’t make us be a Church of Christ.

As a non-instrumental Church of Christ, we didn’t have instruments of any kind in my childhood church. We have always had a piano and organ at the Church of Christ at Milan, and now we have a praise band with guitars and drums. Again, I have no problem with that. But, when people see Church of Christ on our sign, they don’t expect to find the awesome kind of music that we use to praise God. Why are we denying people this experience? When they see our sign, they assume we are non-instrumental.

I can remember when we first started coming to this church. We came here because my daughter got involved in the youth group here. We had been going to another church in town. She begged us to start coming to church and just meet the people and experience the service before we made judgment. The service was not what I expected. There were some things that were similar like the observance of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday and the practice of men being in leadership positions in the church. I had always had trouble with women in leadership positions, especially, as the pastor of the church. I’m sure that led back to my childhood. I felt very comfortable here and we continued to come here and finally joined the church as members after being here for several years. When a friend that went to our former church found out we were going to the Church of Christ, wanted me to be aware that the Church of Christ had some strange doctrines. She was surprised that we would go to a Church of Christ.

I can remember my uncle telling me that he hoped his friends who were members at other churches would get into heaven, but he was a member at the Church of Christ because he was more sure that their doctrine was right. I don’t  feel like God will only take people of a certain church. We are a church that doesn’t follow any doctrine but that of the Bible. We are all about Jesus Christ as our savior and grace of the Bible, not legalistic doctrine made by man. Decisions for our church are bathed in prayer and based on the Bible.

This sermon was based on 2 Corinthians 5:10-21. Paul talks to the church in Corinth, trying to convince the people that what he is doing is for God, not for man. He wants them to look at his heart and that what he does is for God, not to satisfy what men want. We must also remember this. We must read our Bibles and study the Word to see for ourselves what God is commanding us. Pastors and other leaders in the church can guide us and help us understand, but I don’t think we should ever take their word without looking to the Bible ourselves for confirmation.

That’s my take, anyway. Share your thoughts on this by commenting below.

Trust Jesus Completely

Trust Jesus completely with whatever it is that you pour yourself into. As I listened to the next sermon in the “not a fan” series, and Matt, our pastor, was talking about handing over the reigns to Jesus completely, I thought, “have I”? I think that I have a hard time doing that. I’m the kind of person that likes to be in control of the situation. So, for me to let go completely is hard. This sermon is base on Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus is preaching to the people from the bank and they push him back to the water’s edge. Jesus got into Simon Peter’s boat and asked him to put out into the water a little. The fishermen went about their business of cleaning their nets as he preached. They had been with him and probably figured that what he was preaching wasn’t for them, but he wasn’t happy with the way they were following him.

They weren’t trusting him completely. We see that this is true when Jesus tells Peter to put out in deeper water and put the nets down. They had been fishing all night and had caught nothing, and Peter told Jesus as much. Did he not trust Jesus? I don’t think he realized at that point who Jesus truly was. But because Jesus said so, he let down the nets. That was putting Jesus in charge.

We all have issues in our lives that come into play in our relationship with Jesus. We are sinners by nature and it becomes difficult to put our faith in someone or something other than ourselves, but God created us to worship him from the very beginning. What do we have to gain from giving ourselves completely to trust in Jesus? Well, we are forgiven of our sins completely; Jesus took our place as punishment for our sins. Our prize is everlasting salvation and we get to be about our Father’s business, which is becoming fishers of men. We are to gather the lost together for the harvest, bringing them into the fold. It’s all about the great commission-winning souls for Jesus!

Do I Follow Rules Or Do I Follow Jesus?

My take on today’s sermon: We’ve been going through a series based on the movie “not a fan”. What did I get from this sermon? Well, I know that we get caught up in the rules way too much. The rules set forth in the old testament are hard to forget and we are as bad as the Pharisees sometimes. I love the story that Matt used to illustrate the point this morning, though.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:2-11.

I can only speak for myself, but I know I have been guilty of this before. So I guess I’m really no better than the Pharisees. We get so caught up in the rules that we do forget about the heart. There is nothing we can do to make Jesus love us any more than he already does. But we are told to love one another, not judge each other. When we choose to follow Jesus, we spend time with him in prayer and study his word and reach out to others to share his love. We don’t tear them down because they aren’t living the way that we think they should be living. So my take this week, to put it in a nutshell is: Love others without judging and develop a real relationship with Jesus Christ your savior.

Until next week, love your neighbor!

What Must I Give Up to Follow Jesus?

What can we do to earn a place in heaven? It’s hard sometimes to realize that there is nothing we can do to earn a spot in heaven. It’s a gift from God. He gives it freely to all who meet him to receive it. With that being said, it’s difficult to grasp the fact that no matter how much we do or how much we give, it’s still not good enough.

In the sermon this morning from Luke 18:18-30, our pastor, Matt Miller, shows us that Jesus has been on a teaching frenzy! But it’s about to come to a halt as Jesus challenges the crowd after being asked in verse 18, “A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'” I’m sure the answer he received is not the answer he was looking for. When Jesus told the ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, then follow him, the man became very sad.

What won’t you give up to follow God? I don’t know about you, but it is kind of disheartening when I think about this story. I don’t think of myself as rich in the sense of having lots of money, but I’m comfortable. I have a nice home, food on the table, and a loving family. There’s really nothing that I want for. I have plenty of “stuff”. It makes one wonder what sacrifices must I make for God? He made the ultimate sacrifice for me, but I’m not as strong as he is. I can never deserve a place in heaven. I’m not sure that I grasped this sermon quite the way Matt wanted us to. What am I missing?

The rich man’s question is self serving because he wants to live forever, but the kingdom of God is not about me. All things were created by God for God. I heard these things, Matt. How can I serve God and bring him glory? I try to be a good example to others. I reach out to my students at school and through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, I give students the message that they need to reach out to others. Jesus is our savior and we must accept him. Have faith in the one who can give you eternal life. But, we shouldn’t pursue life for the sake of eternal life. We should pursue Jesus and eternal life will come. This is not an easy message to hear, but I guess having faith that he will provide the things I need is a start. Becoming a follower is not easy, but I think it’s worth it!