It is all coming together...

     Health-wise I am feeling good.  Actually a couple of days ago, while working at our cleaning job, I actually forgot what had been done to me throughout the last year.  Even if it was just for a moment, it was good to feel normal again.  I still am stiff when I get up and it takes a little to get me going but once in motion I have nothing to complain.  God is continuing to heal my body.


     I am continuing through Paul Tripp's book "What Did You Expect??"  Under the chapter called "Pulling Weeds" Paul gives us some big weeds that need to be pulled out of any garden or out of any marriage.  How about selfishness, busyness, inattention, self-righteousness, fear, and laziness.  So many times we focus on the biggies like finances and feelings and not dig deeper to look at yourself and not the other person.  Here are some more great quotes.


"It is not enough to identify the weeds in your relationship that need to go; you must also think about what God is calling you to put in their place."

"The problem in our marriages is not first that we don't love one another enough; no, the problem is that we don't love God enough, and because we don't love God enough, we don't love one another as we should."

"Again, what this means is that you don't fix a marriage first horizontally; you fix it vertically."

     Sermon-wise it has been a good week.  We have been introduced to John the Baptist who each of us have if you are a Christian.  Someone told you about Jesus.  We have been introduced to the adult Jesus who each of us have if you are a Christian.  Your salvation is directly because of Him and only because of Him.  This Sunday we will be introduced to Satan and his tactics.  Not only does Matthew give us the timeline of Jesus' life but it also relates to our spiritual lives.  When you take that step into Jesus' arms and also receive the baptism of Him that includes the Holy Spirit, Satan (the enemy) will be soon on your doorstep.  His number 1 way of approaching you will be through doubt of what you just did.  He presented it to Eve as "Did God say..." and to Jesus as "If You are...".  Many sermons have been given on this passage so I hope to give another angle to these temptations that are common to man.  Be prepared; turn off the voice; keep your eyes on the cross will be my major points.

Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life - Spurgeon

     I heard this phrase today along with another that if you connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life, it will end up effecting all of your life.  This came up in my study of the book of James and specifically the verses dealing with not just being a hearer of the Word but also be a doer of the Word.  It is all about application.  I can't look at preaching the Word without giving steps of applying the Word.  It really is an incomplete sermon if I don't.      Many times I think it has to be big and many points and given cute aliteration that makes it snappy and I think easy to remember and fun to write down.  Reality is, if I would make it a bit of Scripture connected to a bit of life and just that it would probably accomplish much more.  How much time I spend on the opening statement and lame joke and research and introductions and how many points and the closing statement and so little time on connecting the bit of Scripture to the bit of life.      So I guess I ha
Read more

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlier in  Ga
Read more

Sermon prep and maybe a video...

     James 4 has brought up some interesting study.  First, "the quarrels and fights among you."  Those are usually worse than you think even though we try to minimize them.  The source is simpler than you think because it is coming from within you.  The solution is easier than you think because the solution that James gives is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Any sincere resolution is specific and brief.  Beware of lengthy resolutions that usually include explaining it away or excusing some of the behavior.      As I have seen before, the words are a sign of the heart.  I read this week that if we have a critical heart we usually start by speaking evil of another to ourselves.  Then we progress to speaking evil of another to that person with a running tally in our heads of all their wrongs.  Finally, we speak evil of another to others and broadcast in a way that we are thinking that we are helping.  Giving judgment is always easier than giving mercy.  I
Read more