Ein reiches Leben durch Dankbarkeit:
IM NORMALEN LEBEN WIRD ES EINEM OFT GAR NICHT BEWUSST, DASS DER MENSCH UEBERHAUPT UNENDLICH MEHR EMPFAENGT, ALS ER GIBT, UND DASS DANKBARKEIT DAS LEBEN ERST REICH MACHT.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Golden Nugget
Genesis 26:28
“They answered, ‘We saw clearly that the Lord was with you;….'”
Notice the word clearly!
What do people see clearly when they have a meeting with us?
SERMON OUTLINE NT Topical (NIV)
First Corinthians 2:2
“For I resolved to know
nothing while I was with
you
except Jesus Christ and
him crucified.”
________________________________
DESTRUCTION AND LIFE
Matthew 7:13,14
That are the Words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us remember that!
Intr.:
Enter through the narrow gate.
****************
A. THE ROAD TO DESTRUCTION
1. For wide is the gate and
2. broad is the road that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.
****************
B. THE ROAD TO LIFE
1. But small is the gate and
2. narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.
******************
End: many / few
SPIRITUAL DROUGHT BEGINS TO HURT – WHEN?
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST?*
IF YOU ARE, YOU MUST BE AWARE OF THE SPIRITUAL DROUGHT, NOT ONLY IN THE WORLD, BUT ALSO IN THE CHURCHES.
SPIRITUAL DROUGHT BEGINS TO HURT.
WHEN?
__________
Body of Christ.
The church is the body of Christ, in Paul’s figur of speech (First Corinthians 12:12-26). Christian believers are members (parts) of the body of Christ. As the head, Christ rules over the body (Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 4:12, 15-16).
20th Century Bible Dictionary
Believe NOW! – Acts 16:31 – WHAT A MESSAGE!
Believe! Acts 16:31
“BEFORE ME EVERY KNEE WILL BOW.”
Isaiah 45:23
Romans 14:11
Philippians 2:10
THE BUCKET LIST*
“It’s made it very hard on my bucket list.”
That was said by a young man who was given a very short time to live. He is dying of cancer – but he is laughing in the face of death. His story is called “Laughing in the face of cancer” in the newspaper.
All of us have a list of things we want to do before we die. This young man called the list his bucket list. There were so many things he wanted to do before he “kicked the bucket”.
He lived longer than expected and he has done things.
Maybe he has even done the overnight fishing trip with his friend to Tutukaka he was looking forward to so much by now. It was one thing on his ultimate to-do list.
But things are up with him. And things are down with him. What comes next? He does not know. The paper says, “But for now he is laughing”.
We must have the things of God on our to-do list. We must have the commandments of God on our to-do list. We are reading about the commandments of God in the Bible, the Word of the Living God. Here is one: Acts 17:30 says: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Read also Second Peter 3:9
When we repent, we know what comes next!
*Is the bucket list coming from Ecclesiastes 12:6, where it is written “…; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,…” ?
Fearing the Word – Ignoring the Word
This morning I read about officials, about the officials of Pharaoh.
Some feared the Word of the Lord and some did not. There were those who hurried to bring their slaves and livestock to a place of shelter. They feared the Word of the Lord. But there were also those who left their slaves and livestock in the field. They ignored the Word of the Lord.
Read the story in Exodus 9:13-35 “The Plague of Hail” (Exodus 9:20)
That was long ago. But it is the same today.
There are people who fear the Word of the Living God. But most of the people ignore the Word of the Living God. There are only two groups. To which group do you belong?
And these are the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Matthew 24:35
“OH, WHY DID YOU NOT COME SOONER?”
In Matthew 28:18-20 the Lord Jesus Christ says:
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'”
I am wondering how many people went, because they read the following:
“But the meeting was drawing to a close; the ‘foreign teacher’ had ceased speaking. Looking round upon the audience with the instinct of one accustomed to lead in such matters, Nyi rose in his place and said with simple directness:
‘I HAVE LONG SOUGHT THE TRUTH, AS DID MY FATHER BEFORE ME, BUT WITHOUT FINDING IT. I HAVE TRAVELLED FAR AND NEAR, BUT HAVE NEVER SEARCHED IT OUT. IN CONFUCIANISM, BUDDHISM, TAOISM, I HAVE FOUND NO REST; BUT I DO FIND REST IN WHAT WE HAVE HEARD TO-NIGHT. HENCEFORTH I AM A BELIEVER IN JESUS.’
He it was who, talking with Mr. Taylor, unexpectedly raised a question the pain of which was not easily forgotten.
‘How long have you had the glad tidings in England?’ he asked all unsuspectingly. The young missionary was ashamed to tell him, and vaguely replied that it was several hundreds of years.
‘What’, exclaimed Nyi in astonishment, ‘several hundreds of years! Is it possible that you have known about Jesus so long, and only now have come to tell us?’
‘My father sought the truth for more than twenty years,’ he continued sadly, ‘and died without finding it. O , WHY DID YOU NOT COME SOONER?'”
(CAN YOU READ THAT WITHOUT TEARS IN YOUR EYES?)
Hudson Taylor in early years
The growth of a soul
Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor
pages 441-443
I read the the above as a young believer and I have never forgotten the words:
“OH,WHY DID YOU NOT COME SOONER?”
I WENT TO THAILAND!