Sermon Summary 11-18-07

19 11 2007

Thoughts that Hinder Thankfulness – Luke 17:11-19

I. All receive mercy, but few are thankful.

  • Jesus gives mercy to all, but only 1 acknowledges Him for it.

  • Just because a person receives mercy is no proof Jesus is pleased with them.

  • Jesus is please with those who praise Him, worship Him, and follow Him.

II. Many pray, but few are thankful.

  • Just because a persons prayer is answered is no proof Jesus is pleased with them.

  • Just because a person asks God for healing and it happens is no proof Jesus is pleased with him.

  • Jesus is pleased with those who thank him. Notice the 1 thanked him loudly.

III. An enemy of thankfulness is wrong thinking.

A lack of thankfulness is due to something. There is some reason for it.  The nine that did not return failed to return for some reason.

We are not thankful when…

1. We think we need more than what we have.

  • When we are focused on what we don’t have we cannot focus on what we do have.

2. We think all we have is because of our hard work.

  • The 9 could have went to their families and said, “We are so brilliant, we acted in a way that Jesus gave us what we wanted. Jesus must have really been pleased with us.”

  • Those that think they deserve mercy the most are the least likely to be thankful. Those that know they don’t deserve the mercy of God, are the most thankful.

3. We think what we have was mere chance.

  • “You will not believe what happened to me today.  This man who heals lepers just happened to come by at the time we were standing outside the city and he healed us.”

  • When we attribute the good that happens to use to mere chance it keeps us from being thankful.

4. We think more of the gift than the giver.

  • The 9 could have been so excited they were healed that they began to think of everything they could do now. Be with their family, go to the temple etc. They could have just gotten so carried away with the blessing of being healed that they did not come back. 

  • There are times that we are so excited about the gift God gives us that we do not give thanks to the Giver.

IV. Thinking that cultivates gratitude

1. Think about what you would be without Jesus.

  • You and I would be like the lepers. We would never enter the city of God, but would be condemned to life outside the city. We would be covered in ugly skins sores, so hideous that we hate to look in a mirror. We would hopeless.

2. Think about what Jesus has done for You.

  • Jesus has had mercy on us. He as said, go and though you were stained with the sin of lying, stealing, sexual immorality, taking God’s name in vain, and have failed a bazillion times to put God first, He washed you white as snow. Though your sins be as scarlet, he will wash them white as snow.

 

These are the two main impulses that drive the thoughts of a grateful believer.


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Sermon Summary 10-7-07

8 10 2007

Believe in Jesus – John 4:46-54

3 Steps to Belief

1. He heard about Jesus. v. 47a

  • Everyone who believes in Jesus must hear about Jesus, but not everyone who hears believes. 

  • Rom. 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

2. He also had a desperate circumstance. v. 47b

  • Everyone has a desperate situation when they come to Jesus. Some have a physical desperation, but all come to a spiritual desperation. Much of the time they are combined.

  • The combination of what he had heard from others and the desperate circumstance lead him to come to Jesus. Had he not heard, he would not have known to go to Jesus. Had he not been in this situation, even though he had heard he would not have walked 20 miles to go see Jesus.  The combination of the two things lead him to Jesus.

  • Not everyone who has heard and has desperate circumstances believes in Jesus though, so there must be one more step.

3. He had a personal encounter. v. 48-54

  • This personal encounter lead to a fuller knowledge of Jesus.  This personal encounter lead to a deeper understanding of Jesus power.  Jesus could heal from a distance.  He did not have to go to the boy to heal him.

Faith’s weakness.

  1. Faith is weak when we only goes to Jesus for personal advantage. v. 47

  2. Faith is weak when we don’t understand Jesus’ power. v. 49

  3. When faith is weak, Jesus can make it strong.  It was the personal encounter with Jesus that brought him to faith in Jesus.

Jesus’ work in these steps

1. Jesus is the one faith must be in.

  • Faith that is not in Jesus is no faith at all.

2. Jesus knows what it takes for us to believe. v. 48

  • Matt. 11:21-24 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

3. When someone comes to believe, it is always the work of God.

  • It was a gracious act for Jesus to heal this man son. He could have said, “your faith is too weak.” He could have said, “You only come to me for selfish reasons.”

  • John 6:33 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

  • We know this, but we fail to state it clearly. When we pray for someone to be saved, we are praying for them to believe in Jesus. We are praying for God to save them, because we know that it is ultimately a work of God. That is why we must pray.

Will you believe?

  • You may be at the “point of death” spiritually, but the good news is Jesus can raise up a faith in you. Your situation is desperate. It is even more desperate than you, know but Jesus come change you.


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Sermon Summary 9-30-07

1 10 2007

Are you Satisfied with Jesus?

Are you delighted with Jesus?  Are you happy with Jesus?  Do you have a soul-satisfying relationship with Jesus?

Satisfied people want to tell people about Jesus.

1. The Woman was satisfied with Jesus.

  • The woman at the well was so satisfied with Jesus that she forgot her water jar. v. 28

  • Maybe you need to leave your water jar behind.

    • The water jars are not sinful, but they can keep us from doing the work of God.

    • Some of us are more concerned about our water jars, than sharing Jesus.

    • We need to ask ourselves, “What are my water jars?”  What things am I more concerned about than telling others about Jesus?

  • The woman was so satisfied with Jesus that she went to tell others about Jesus.

    • Even a new Christian wants to tell others about Jesus

    • One of th proofs of being a Christian is that you care about the eternal destination of others.

2. Jesus wanted to share the good news with this women so bad that he went where no Jew dare go.

  • Telling the good news takes time, sacrifice, and Holy Spirit boldness. We say we’re great Christians? We say we want God to be glorified in our life.  Okay, but do we witness?

3. The disciples were distracted. They were missing out on the work of God, because their minds were on other things.

  • Churches today are missing out because they are too distracted.

  • I believe the reason this church went from over a hundred in attendacne years ago to almost nothing was because (like the disciple) people were distracted by other things instead of telling people about Jesus. When Jesus takes back stage to anything else a church will die. The blessing of God on a church can leave in a heart beat, when people become distracted by other non-essential issues.

  • But there is a new day downing. The Spirit of God has begun to stir in our hearts once again. He is raising a church up from the dead. He is doing this by getting our hearts set on Jesus. He is taking away the distractions. And it is time to get on board. Some need to be saved. Some members need to join the mission, others need to become members here.

  • There are souls ready to be saved and the workers need to get working.

Satisfied people want to be with Jesus. V. 40

  • Your need for Jesus is just as deep today as it was the day you became a Christian.

  • The proof that you have Him in you, is that you still want him, long for more of Him, and delight in him.

Satisfied people want to work like Jesus.

  • Jesus’ work was a satisfying work.

  • Jesus’ work was that of addressing the sin problem.

  • Jesus’ work was for faith. V. 39-40

  • Jesus’ work was a work of reconciliation.

Jesus was satisfied with doing the work of God, which lead to a woman having everlasting satisfaction in Him, which lead to a group of people believing and have everlasting satisfaction. Do you have that satisfaction in Jesus?


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