Sermon Notes from Sunday, August 28, 2011

This past Sunday I concluded the sermon series "A Peek at the Kingdom" using the parables of Matthew 13 as our main text. The one truth that I learned from this study was Jesus was teaching in Matthew 13 what the kingdom would be like between "now and then." Now - the kingdom is here through the indwelling Jesus; then - the futuristic aspect of the coming of the King and His kingdom.

The last message in this series is "Between Now and Then." How do we live in the interim period? You can see the notes here.

Galatians Bible Study Notes August 24, 2011

I have started teaching through the book of Galatians on Wednesday nights. This past Wednesday night (8-24-11) was the second night. The Bible study is "The Man and the Message" from Galatians 1:1-10. Notes are here.

Never Too Old To Honor Your Parents

by James MacDonald

If we take the Bible seriously (you do, right?), then we know that finding a way to honor our parents, no matter who they have been, no matter what they have done, is a very significant action. I’m serious. The Bible is filled with stories of people who honored their parents and succeeded and of those who did not honor their parents and failed. If you’re alive, you’ve got parents (even if they are no longer living)—and God’s command is to honor them (see Exodus 20:12).

Now you may think, “If this guy thinks for a moment that I’m going to honor my old man, he has got another thing coming!” Well, let me try to get by your resistance. Honoring our parents does not mean several things.

First, honoring our parents does not mean to go back groveling and seeking their approval (again). Children need to get freed from my-parents’-approval bondage.

Secondly, it does not mean to make yourself vulnerable to their hurtful behavior. Sometimes appropriate boundaries between children and abusive parents are necessary. But the need for that boundary does not free us from the obligation of honoring our parents.

Thirdly, honoring our parents does not mean ignoring or denying the past.

Here is what honoring does mean. It means choosing to place great value upon our relationship with them. It means not kidding myself into thinking that my parents don’t matter to me. It involves taking the initiative to improve the relationship whatever its current condition. And it means recognizing what they have done right. You say, “They haven’t done a lot right.” They have done something right, even if it’s little more than giving you life (that’s big). So, express that recognition. Acknowledge the sacrifices that they have made for you. Honoring includes seeing them as Christ does, with compassion and mercy. It means forgiving them as Christ has forgiven you.

The apostle Paul was right: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11). Tragically, some grownups continue to act like children towards their own parents. When you become an adult, it’s time to stop playing the child role. It’s time to stop going, “He has to say it first. They have to initiate. They’re the ones–.” That has to stop! It’s time to honor your parents. If you are an adult, I-T I-S T-I-M-E! Take the first step. Take responsibility for your relationship with your parents as part of your relationship with God.

Honor our parents because God said so—no matter what age you are. Because His ways lead to freedom. Because words spoken at their funeral always seem way too late.

Some of you may wish you had gotten this message ten years ago. You’ve stood by a casket with a eulogy in hand and desperately wished the person for whom the words were written would wake up and hear them. But they won’t. That opportunity is gone. So do it now. Be the adult. Write or say the words of honor to your parents that you hope your own kids will express to you. God will bless your obedience.

Sermon Notes from Sunday, August 21, 2011

I preached yesterday the tenth message in the series "A Peek at the Kingdom" from Matthew 13. This message was on the Parable of the Dragnet "The Kingdom Will Have a Separation." Here are the notes.

Galatians Bible Study Notes August 17, 2011

I have started teaching through the book of Galatians on Wednesday nights. The first night was "Introduction to Galatians." Notes are here.

40 Years of Preaching

40 years ago I preached my first message at Second Baptist Church, Boaz, AL. I used Revelation 19:10 "I feel at His feet to worship Him" as my text.

40 years later, I am amazed at how much joy serving the Lord as a preacher/pastor has been. More than I anticipated and deserved.

Thanks to Mom, Dad, my family, precious men of God like Bro. Garmon, Bro. Harold Brown, Second Baptist and Bethsaida Baptist Churches- all who helped me. God has been good.

Marriage: A Mindfield Worth Walking In

My friend, Tyler Smith, has written a very good article "Marriage: A Minefield Worth Walking In."

He has two videos inserted into the blog that is also worth seeing. Click here to read.

Living in God's Amazing Grace

by Tim Childers (Pastor, First Baptist Church, Sylacauga, AL and my friend)

God's GRACE is an important to me!! In 1999 I started God revealed the truth about grace, acceptance and forgiveness that is mine through Christ, and my identity and inheritance in the Kingdom of God. I’ll never forget the day God revealed the truth to me. The whole front of my shirt was wet from my own tears of joy! I called Debbie and told her that God had shown me something that I had never heard preached from a pulpit. I also told her that if I determine that it’s the truth, I will spend the rest of my life teaching others about what God was teaching me! Good news folks! It was and is and always will be the truth!
This blog is one of the resources God has given me to share HIS message and MY story! It is a constant theme in my preaching/teaching. As I said, I will spend the rest of my life telling anyone who will listen about the grace of God!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE IN THE GRACE OF GOD?

The following statements reflect what it means to live in God's grace. There is great power that results from exchanging your life for the life of Christ in and through you!!

 It means serving God because He has fully and permanently accepted us through Jesus Christ, not because we want to gain His acceptance or become more pleasing to Him through our works.

 It means motivating Christians to live out of love and thankfulness, rather than guilt and duty.

 It means believing firmly in Biblical absolutes and trusting in the life of Christ within to enable us to live by those absolutes, but rejecting attempts to legislate the Christian life through human rules.

 It means unconditionally accepting people at their current level of spiritual growth and development without condoning their sin, just as God does, then encouraging them to grow in an atmosphere of grace.

 It means creating an environment of honesty and transparency that models God's love and acceptance; not ignoring or approving a person's sin, but loving people in spite of their sin with a goal of bringing them to truth about it.

 It means placing the primary emphasis of the Christian life on inner motivations rather than outward behaviors, believing that when inner motivations are right, the right outward behavior will follow.

 It means refusing to deny or minimize the pain that comes into our lives because of our own sins and failures or the sins and failures of others; rather, it means viewing pain as a means of bringing us to an experience of God's grace and life.

 It means following the relational style of Jesus, who accepted and forgave sinful, lost people, even though they may have failed miserably, then through truth and love led them to a better life in Him.

 It means interpreting the Biblical commands as describing a mode of life befitting someone who has already been accepted by God, not as laws that bring us more merit with God.

 It means resting IN the life of Christ and operating from our new identity in Him, not in our own strength, but His.

I am constantly amazed at God’s grace in my life. There is nothing I can do to earn it, I do not deserve it but God gives it to me anyway!! What a great God we serve!

Sermon Notes from Sunday, July 31, 2011

On May 29, I began a new series of messages on the Kingdom of God as seen in Matthew 13. I'm calling it a "Peek at the Kingdom." The theme of the Kingdom has been a study for a long time, but I am wanting to see it through the lens of Matthew 13.

The notes of the sermon from this past Sunday can be seen by clicking here. This is the message on the parables of the Treasure and Pearl. "The Kingdom of Heaven is Precious and Valuable."