THE CROSS
“What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short.
First Corinthians 7:29-31
Intr.:
From now on
1. those who have wives should live as if they had none;
2. those who mourn, as if they did not;
3. those who are happy, as if they were not;
4. those who buy something, as if it was not theirs to keep;
5. those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.
End:
For this world in its present form is passing away.”
“The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.” – C. H. Spurgeon
Psalm 29:11
A quote and a verse from the Bible.
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have,”
I saw written on the board standing in front of a shop here in town, where you buy coffee through the window on the same day when I found the Bible verse
“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace,”
in our local paper, The Northland Age.
The quote is by Bob Marley and the verse from the Bible comes from Psalm 29. It is the last verse of the Psalm.
“YOU NEVER …”
Mother’s Day – Sunday 10th May 2015
“Make her day special,” says THE WAREHOUSE mailer.
Mother’s Day
How have almost all great men been made great? What is the answer? They have been made great by a godly mother.
What a tremendous asset a godly mother is. Wonderful gifts from the Lord are good mothers. Good mothers become great blessings to their husbands. Good mothers become great blessings to their families. What does it say in Proverbs 31:10? There we read: “A wife of noble character, who can find it? she is worth more than rubies.” And in Proverbs 31:12 it says: “She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”
There are many notable women in the Bible. A profitable study is the study of the characteristics of the notable women. One of them is Hannah. She is the ideal mother and we find her story is First Samuel 1:20 and First Samuel 2:19. The husband of Hannah was Elkanah and she was the mother of Samuel.
AND HERE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HANNAH
We want to notice:
1. her Prayerfulness: First Samuel 1:10,11 Please read her prayer in verse 11.
2. her Self-denial: First Samuel 1:27,28 Read what she says to Eli.
3. her Thankfulness: First Samuel 2:1-10 Her prayer again!
4. her Industry and Maternal love: First Samuel 2:19 She supplied Samuel with clothing.
Wives and mothers do not need only a bit of appreciation and praise occasionally, on Mother’s Day, but a lot of appreciation and praise all 365 days of the year. Again a verse from Proverbs. In Proverbs 31:28 we are told: “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'”
“MOTHER’S DAY”
“Spurgeon used to say, and I am increasingly convinced of the rightness of his dictum, that the ultimate way to test whether a man is truly preaching the gospel or not, is to notice the emphasis which he places on ‘the blood’. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
At the beach
There are relatives and there are true relatives. “What do you mean by that?” I hear you already asking.
The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking to a crowd, when his mother Mary and his brothers came to see him. We find the names of the Lord’s brothers in the gospel and here are the names: James, Joseph (Joses) Simon and Judas. James became a distinguished church leader. He wrote also a letter and we find the letter in the Bible (James). The Lord Jesus Christ had also sisters.
When the Lord Jesus Christ was told that they desired to talk to him, he asked: “‘WHO IS MY MOTHER?'” “‘WHO ARE MY BROTHERS?'”
Then he pointed to his followers and said, “‘Here are my mother and my brothers.'”
Who is a brother of the Lord Jesus Christ? Who is a sister? Who is a mother of the Lord?
Whoever is does the will of the heavenly Father, is the answer. People who fear the Lord are the true relatives.”
And what a blessing it is to have relatives who are true relatives!
“The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.” – Chinese proverb
“Conversations that count DAY”
“Start a conversation at the kitchen table,” it says on one card under the picture. “Start a conversation while camping,” I read on another card under the picture. On the back of both cards I am told about the “Conversations that count DAY”.
“Advance care planning” is also explained and I am told that it “is a process of thinking, talking and planning for future and end-of-life care.”
Although we know (Do we know?) that it is important to think about the end of our life, about dying and death, most of us find it difficult to talk about the matter.
Why do we find it difficult to talk about death? Because we do not know the remedy. Where do we find the one true remedy? It is found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are two kinds of death, spiritual death and physical death. Both of them come from the Garden of Eden.
How is spiritual death cured? By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me close with START CONVERSATIONS THAT COUNT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.