General Topics
CRITICAL CONCERNS FOR PASTORAL MINISTRIES = (PART TWO)
In this statement, the impure and selfish motives of the false teachers clearly surface, which demonstrates their failure in love for others. Literally, the text says, “desiring to be teachers of the law…” “Desiring” is an adverbial participle (thelontes from thelo„, “to wish for, desire, want”) that is dependent on and modifies the main verb, “turned away.” It points us to a false objective or goal that had caused them to turn aside . . .
CRITICAL CONCERNS FOR PASTORAL MINISTRIES = (PART ONE)
Life is obviously filled with critical concerns and no place is this more evident than in the pastoral responsibilities God has entrusted to the leadership of the church. Because of the work of the adversary, these concerns have existed from the very early days of the church, but in view of Paul’s warnings in 2 Timothy verse 3 regarding the increase of apostasy in the last days and what we are seeing today in the church,
LIVING AS A SET-APART, SPIRIT-LED SENIOR
On one hand, there is the senior saint who glows with life, even though weak, disabled or struggling physically; on the other hand, there is the believer who faces each “senior challenge” with a scowl or complaint. The difference might be perspective and vision. We can either choose to live for ourselves in our senior years, thinking we are entitled to relax our standards; or we can choose to answer God’s every-season calling, enabled by the Holy
MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY - BEING HEALED BY THE WORD = (PART THREE)
Jesus is not looking at what you have become, but what you will be. He has a vision of you in His mind that you can still fulfill. That person is divinely healed with His word and without scars. God wants to use the apparent negatives of your past as the components for a future of total wholeness and strength. The realm of impossibility is the place of opportunity with God. In that place in His presence, with Him, you will receive Divine Healing
MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY - BEING HEALED BY THE WORD = (PART TWO)
Medicine and doctors at two hospitals ceased to give me relief and predicted that I would die within three weeks. I opted for self-discharge, went to my home, and was in despair until I discovered practical Christianity, I affirmed my beliefs, and I was healed without surgical scars. From the revelation received I did most of the healing myself through prayers and faith – un-wavering faith - I wanted the understanding of this discovery for future
MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY - BEING HEALED BY THE WORD = (PART ONE)
This testimonial lecture teaches how to overcome emotional problems, as well as physical ones, and how to receive divine healing. It also teaches how to renew the carnal mind and walk in the spirit of life, thereby: - Discovering the path to personal wholeness; - Renewing your hopes and dreams;- Finding peace during life’s storm. - Experience a life of freedom and joy; - Overcoming depression, anger, .....
Authority to the Transference of Wealth and the Key to Submission and Obedience.
While neither freedom nor prosperity is the rights of the poor, life is the right of all. The righteous cannot overlook the dire needs of those who are dying in our world since we as a nation have more than sufficient means to preserve life. And if there is a right to physical life, how much more should we be concerned about the right to hear the good news of the offer of spiritual life. Unconditional Surrender; Unreserved Submission Obedience
THE FALL OF MAN IN GOD'S PERFECT PLAN
Few could deny that something seems desperately wrong with the world in which we live. Not so long ago the ‘911’ bombing by Terrorists of the New York twin towers, also recently in London and other European cities. Rampant crime, cruelty, corruption, and injustice exist side by side. Pollution, nuclear waste, disintegration of the ozone layer, hurricanes, storms, acid rain, and host of other maladies are bringing earth to the brink of disaster.
JACOB THE PATRIARCH WHO BEGINS TO WALK WITH GOD AT 130
Many Christians, like Jacob, spend the vast majority of their lives, as the song describes it, “Workin’ like the Devil, Servin’ the Lord.†Foolishly, they think that God’s blessing is obtained as we struggle to get ahead, even at the expense of others and of biblical standards of conduct. Perhaps your life, like Jacob’s, has been largely a disaster. It is not too late. Life for Jacob began at 130. Life for you can begin right now , , ,
A MINISTRY OF THE BELOVED
Maybe it is the anxiety and spiritual confusion of our time, or maybe it is the graced evolution of our field. Whatever the reason, more and more youth ministers are heading to forums and programs organised by major seminaries to ask the hard questions about their work: How do we contend with the saturation bombing of youth culture by digital media that promote the world of cool and the false gods of consumerism?
GOD'S PLAN FOR MAN AND THE PLACE OF BLESSING
God has chosen to identify Himself in the Bible with a certain part of the world, with a special piece of land. We may legitimately call this place “God’s country.†In this lesson we will seek to learn about the place where God has promised to bless men, God’s plan for creation is first unveiled in the Bible as a promise. God’s promise quickly begins to reveal a program as the Scriptures unfold God’s purpose for creation and His provisions
DEALING WITH DOUBTS (John 20:1-31)
The sources of my struggles with doubt vary. Sometimes it stems from wrestling with certain troublesome theological issues. At other times the problem of unanswered prayer has tripped me up. And I have had to face doubts related to the age-old problem of suffering, especially when it hits home with people I know and love: Why would a good and all-powerful God allow His servants, who are already too few, to be struck down in the prime of life. . .
HOPE FOR ALL WHO HAVE FAILED GOD
If you have never failed God, this message is not for you. But if you have ever promised God something, but not done it; if you have ever resolved to overcome some besetting sin, only to blow it repeatedly; if you are plagued with guilt over sins that have defeated you; then, today I offer you genuine hope from God. Since Adam’s first sin, the automatic human reflex to failure has been to try to hide from God. It is irrational; it is impossible;
FIVE WAYS TO GROW YOUR CONGREGATION
In order for your church to grow, people must feel grateful for what you are doing for them. Every pastor/leader has a few good thoughts about increasing the attendance of their church on a given Sunday or about growing the overall attendance of their church. If you happen to lack for ideas, in the book of Acts we investigate what caused such tremendous growth amongst the first century church.
CHOOSE LIFE, NOT DEATH - A CHILD'S HEALING
Proverbs 18:21 teaches "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." In other words, what we speak has power to cause death or life. One of the ways that we choose life and not death is by the words we choose to speak. Everything in the world operates by the words we speak. A person's feelings and emotions can dramatically change because of the words..
LITTLE FAITH, GREAT FAITH, PARTICIPATING FAITH
The first thing we shall look at is the times when Jesus says people had little or inadequate faith. Jesus never said to any sick person "You remain sick because you lack faith." When the disciples fail to heal the epileptic boy…He blames the disciples and not the boy. It was the failure of the disciples’ faith not the lack of the sick person's faith that worried Jesus.
TECHNIQUES FOR ABUNDANT LIVING
AIM2040 Teaching is a study of religion as a science of living. It is an interpretation of the teachings of Jesus Christ with prime emphasis on practice. Our apostolic teaching is a technique in realizing the abundant life. It consists of thoughts to think, words to speak, positive and creative things to do. These techniques for abundant living are not simply to read, but to affirm and decree ...
A BRIEF RECIPE FOR DIVINE HEALING (A Personal Testimony)
Divine healing is a special healing. The only kind of healing that can come from The Master’s touch. His healing hand goes into the depths of our souls; a favourable healing. Nobody does it like God can! We want an answer, but God gives us a solution. I told the devil that not only was my healing already paid for, but so was my peace of mind, for Christ’s chastisement already bought my healing...
THE EPISTLES OF THESSALONICANS - Author The Apostle Paul.
1 Thessalonians is either the first or second oldest book in the New Testament,it is the first of two canonical letters written to the church at Thessalonica. THE PURPOSE: To communicate thanksgiving, exhortation, and instruction to new believers in the midst of persecution. The intended result, then, is that the saints at Thessalonica might excel still more and be blameless at Christ's coming.
A MODEL MINISTRY (A Study of 2 Thessalonians)
What makes a model ministry? How can we be the church that God wants us to be? We have four strategies: learn the Word, live the life, love the body, and lead the world. We believe these four strategies are what God has called us to fulfill,these strategies are addressed rather nicely in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Paul tells us that this can happen when we serve Christ with pure and parental hearts.
WORK AND WAIT (A Study of 1 Thessalonians)
We discover that even godly and competent leaders need encouragement. Even though many leaders look confident and secure on the outside, on the inside they can be discouraged and insecure. God’s leaders are constantly under attack from Satan and need to be encouraged. More importantly, Apostle Paul seems to be affirming team leadership as the basic New Testament pattern. Paul was a team player.
XMAS DAY COMMUNION SERVICE - "He Will Be Called Immanuel"
Christmas can be a lonely time if you have lost your job, your family or your sense of hope. And the joy of others can be a painful reminder of what you have lost. But you are not alone. You may feel lonely, but you are not alone. - God is with you. He really is! Believe that, and you will have a blessed Christmas. For He will be called Immanuel...God is with us!
XMAS DAY SERMON - "God Sent His Servant To Bless You"
God said to his Son in heaven: "The time is fulfilled; I have promised blessing; now is the time to make good on my promise; you will be my emissary of blessing; I want blessing to come to the world; I have so much to give; go now and bless my people, bless them; indeed bless all the families of the earth through them, bless them, bless them."
HOW TO HANDLE A SCANDAL IN THE CHURCH
The apostle Paul is not a medical doctor, he understands the need to remove spiritual cancer. Paul believes sin is a cancer that infects the church. So he urges us to purge the church of sin for the church stands or falls together. Paul will show you a patient's chart that reveals the disease he is suffering from and the prescribed cure.
CHRISTMAS - "The Triumphant Light"
It's Christmas! May the peace of Christ be yours on this day!Jesus was born into the world not to be used one day each year as an escape from reality. He was born into the world to give us the quiet assurance we need to set our sights on the Kingdom of Love -- every day of our lives. Live with a life of faith, hope, light, respect and Love. Bring Joy to the world...Shalom!
TITHING - I SEEK NOT WHAT IS YOURS, BUT YOU
I seek not what is yours but you! What a great sentence. That is the flag waving over this sermon. It is the preface, heart, and conclusion. I seek not what is yours, but you. I seek to build up a church of which it can never be said; "They honour me with their tithes, but their heart is far from me" (Matthew 15:8).Of whom it will never be said, "Woe to you,..Matthew 23:2
TAKE COURAGE: YOU BUILD MORE THAN YOU SEE
I think anybody who has ever undertaken a work for the cause of Christ has felt a kind of discouragement: the sense that you work and work and the product seems so paltry the fruit is so minimal. you look back in history or across town and see the grand achievement of others, and your temple building seems so trivial and are tempted to quit and drop your dreams or visions.
WATCH OUT FOR THOSE WHO LEAD YOU AWAY FROM THE TRUTH
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. Isolating false teachers-avoiding them-is Paul's strategy for preserving unity
LOVE ONE ANOTHER WITH BROTHERLY AFFECTION
Our focus is on the two exhortations in verse 10. "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour." These are addressed to the church. The "one another" is not everybody, but fellow believers in the church. This does not mean you cannot have affection for an unbeliever. You surely can. And you should honour unbelievers (1-Peter 2:7).
BETTER NEVER TO HAVE KNOWN THE WAY
2 Peter 2 gives a very bleak portrayal of the false teachers in the churches who do not avail themselves of God's power and give themselves over to sexual indulgence in the name of Christian freedom. They deny the Master who bought them, by promoting sexual license. These false teachers and those enticed by them will in the end experience condemnation and destruction.
DESTRUCTION IS NOT SLEEPING
The church is not immune to false teachers and advocating sexual immorality is a heresy. The practice and propagation of sexual activity outside marriage is a denial of the Master who bought us, because he died for us to free us from the domination of sexual passion. We should glorify him in our bodies by submitting to his pattern of sexual fulfillment.
DISCOVERING SPIRITUAL POWER POINTS
In our pursuit of life, it is sometimes easy to forget what the goal is. We pursue families that relate to each other intimately and schedules that run like clockwork; we look for success in business and try to create a nest-egg for retirement; we aim to live peaceably with each other as deadlines, traffic, crime, poverty, and health issues buzz around our heads.
DOCTRINE ON REPENTANCE
A person can become confused these days about how to be saved. Some preachers seem to indicate that nothing else is necessary other than saying a prayer. They seem to indicate this by saying nothing about one thing that is an absolute necessity for salvation. That absolute is "repentance."
PROFILE OF THE PASTOR
WHO, more than the Minister, touches people in their most solemn and sacred moments? Whether he or she is asked to dedicate a baby, church, or building, unite young adults in marriage, counsel a hurting father or mother or bury an aged saint, the pastor has the holy privilege of ministering the grace of Christ Jesus to those he or she lives among.
WHEN A PASTOR OR CHRISTIAN LEADER FALLS
One of the saddest things I deal with is the destruction caused when the Pastor of a church or Christian Leader falls. Sadly, the destruction does not stop with the lives of the Pastor or Christian Leader, their family, the person they sinned with (in the case of adultery) and that person's family. Like all sin, there is an incredible ripple effect and when a Pastor falls.
CLOSING THE DOOR TO DECEPTION
This is a glorious time to be alive in the Kingdom of God in the earth. While God is pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh, the gifts of the Spirit will be in full operation. Satan has a parallel plan by way of his signs and lying wonders to deceive the nations of the earth into serving him. These plans are demonic and are counterfeit works of the Holy Spirit.
I WILL NOT BE ENSLAVED BY ANYTHING
Persistent yielding to the inordinate desires of the body against the voice of conscience is a life of misery! But to turn and do the opposite: to avail yourself of the law of the Spirit of life within, and to feel yourself bearing the fruit of self-control, and to pommel the rebel body into submission until it is no longer a master but a servant -- this is victory!
NOT ALL WHO THINK THEY ARE PREPARED REALLY ARE
Satan delights in our anxiety and fear. Although we may intellectually accept the premise that no one merits God's grace, Satan knows how to use our emotions to cause us to feel outside of the reach of God's mercy. His accusations are often vague, indefinite, and persistent. They throb like a spiritual migraine. They torment us even after we have acknowledged known wrongs
Devote Yourselves To Prayer
It is God's will that we pray to him. Sometimes we struggle to know the will of God for our lives. But there are some things that you do not have to struggle to know. One of them is that God's will is that you pray to him. The text says, "Devote yourselves to prayer." God wills for you to pray to him.
How to Receive the Word of Man as the Word of God
I will make three observations about this. 1) The apostolic word is the word of God. 2) When it comes to us objectively, we should accept it subjectively in the right way. 3) The way to do that in 2009 is to embrace it as precious, pleasant, and practical, which means, in practice (five M’s): to memorize it, meditate on it, make music with it, minister with it, and mind it
The Word Became Flesh
After the disobedient act of Adam and Eve, our merciful Heavenly Father furnished a remedy for man's sinful condition. God placed that remedy in His Son, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead--the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to the earth in human form.
HAPPY IN HOPE, PATIENT IN PAIN, CONSTANT IN PRAYER
This chapter is all written to help us all for the sake of loving each other and loving our enemies as we ought. In this way Christ -the ground and goal of it all- becomes more visible and more real and more convincing in the world. So how do all these things relate to each other: love, joy, hope, endurance (or patience), tribulation, and constancy in prayer?
WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?
Before you read this, the question has to be asked: Do you want the truth or not? It is quite common for a person, when asked what faith they are, to reply, "I am a Christian." They say this because they go to a church that preaches about Jesus Christ and at least something from the Bible. They have no idea what it means to be a real born-again Christian.
THE MOUTH OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A FOUNTAIN OF LIFE
God cares about your mouth. God cares about your lips and your tongue. He cares about what goes in, but he cares a lot more about what comes out (Matthew 15:11). So I think what God means to do through this message is to help you become the kind of person whose mouth will freely, refreshingly bring forth more and more life for other people.
THAT THOU MAYEST PROSPER
When the apostle wrote this wonderful promise of God to the church, He was outlining God's desire, and will, and expectation for all His children. This has been God's good will for man since the days of the Garden of Eden. God wants the prosperity of man. To prosper is to walk in honour, dignity and excellence in the presence of God.
CHRISTMAS DAY SERMON - The Child To Be Born Will Be Called Holy
There is the most fundamental fact about Christmas and about the incarnation. It starts with God. It comes from God. An angel was sent from God. Christmas has no biblical meaning without God. Christmas is about the Creator of the universe, who is not himself part of the universe, moving himself, in the person of his Son, into the universe that he made.
RECONCILIATION AND REPENTANCE - YEAR 2009
One of the things that is hard for a nation or a society to do is to come to grips with the evils it has done. It tries to make excuses, saying 'it was the best choice we had at the time' or 'we didn't know better', or 'we did what we were told', or 'that was our ancestors, not us'. The Bible says that there's a tie-in between what we know and what we are responsible for
GOODBYE 2008 - WELCOME 2009
As the New Year approaches and we begin to consider resolutions to improve our lives this coming year let us consider our walk with Christ. For without our spirit life in order, we will be declaring the same old resolutions in 2008 and beyond. Some people stay up until midnight to welcome the New Year. Others stay up to make sure the old year leaves!
Discovering God's Will
God understands our need to make intelligent decisions about very practical concerns. He wants us to keep the big picture in mind and concentrate on our relationship with Him, but He is a God of the details as well. He told Abraham where to move. He will help you know if you should be in Trinidad or Barbados or London. He gave Moses a new job...
The Distinctives of Christian Maturity and Leadership
Before actually considering the qualities that should characterise mature Christian and Christian leadership, it would be well to consider its uniqueness. Its hoped that in doing so it will focus us on the supernatural element involved and how Christian maturity and leadership is to find its source in a personal relationship with the living Christ.
Ye Are The Branches [DVD AVAILABLE NOW]
Many are called to become leaders, assisting others in their spiritual journey. Spiritual leaders - clergy or lay, seek to meet the needs of people in their own congregations or communities of faith. But spiritual leaders have unique and often overlooked needs of their own. Who cares for the shepherds in the midst of their shepherding?
The Need For A Divine Change
Multitudes are without God, without Christ, without hope in the world. That is the way Paul speaks of them. That distinction is there throughout the Bible - not just here - but here the Holy Spirit directs the apostle to focus on this distinction. Those who are in the flesh: that is who are unregenerate, who are not born of God, who not in Christ.
Building Our Lives On The Bible
We are a people of the Book. We know God through the Book. We meet Christ in the Book. We see the cross in the Book. Our faith and love are kindled by the glorious truths of the Book. We have tasted the divine majesty of the Word and are persuaded that the Book is God's inspired and infallible written revelation. What the Book teaches matters.
Consider Each Other How to Stir Up Love
What Are You Doing With Your Life?
When you get up in the morning and you face a day, what do you say to yourself about your hopes for the day? When you look from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, what do you want to happen because you have lived? What difference do you want your life to make?
The Renewed Mind And How To Have It
We are perfectly useless as Christ-exalting Christians if all we do is conform to the world around us. And the key to not wasting our lives with this kind of success and prosperity, Paul says, it being transformed. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed."
Confession Of The Mouth
In confessing God's Word, we must not pick out only the Scriptures we desire, but also the ones the Lord desires for us. He certainly desires to bless us, but He also desires to cleanse us. We must be as enthusiastic in our confessions to be cleansed from all that would offend the Lord as we are in confessing the physical blessings He has promised.
The Bitter Before The Sweet.
The people of God in this present life must go through many trials and many sorrows. It does seem a strange thing that very often the people of God have more tears and afflictions than the people of the world. After all the Bible makes it clear that there are two sorts of men: there are those who are godly and there are those who are godless.
The Times Of Ignorance Has Come
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.I have faith in that my relocating to my homeland is with this primary divine directive.
The Offering - Magnifying God with Money
Money and things are a big part of life, and therefore God intends them to be a big part of worship - since all of life is to be worship. So the way you worship with your money and your possessions is to get them and use them and lose them in a way that shows how much you treasure God - not money. That's what this text is about.
How to Argue with God
As a petitioner coming into court does not come there without thought to state his case on the spur of the moment, but enters into the audience chamber with his suit well prepared, having also learned how he ought to behave himself in the presence of the great one to whom he is appealing, so it is well to approach the seat of the King of Kings
A Prayer That Brought the Holy Spirit Down
Parallels with Pentecost --
Notice the parallels here (Acts 4:23-31) with what happened at Pentecost. Here they had just prayed. There (Acts 1:14) they had been praying. Here it says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." In Acts 2:4 it says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." (Exactly the same verb.)
How to Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit
The two questions I want to try to answer today are: 1) What does it mean to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? and: 2) How do we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Our focus will be on the book of Acts and on Luke's intention as he wrote it.
Jesus Still Turns Things Around
Jesus Christ is not dead and He is not distant and He is not silent and He is not weak and He is not uninterested in the world and the progress of His mission and in your life. He is alive and what He began to do in His earthly life He is continuing to do. He is full of surprises for churches and for nations and for families, and for individuals.
God Seeks People to Worship Him in Spirit and Truth
If people are spiritually asleep you have to shock them, startle them, and scandalise them, if you want them to hear what you say. Jesus was especially good at this. When he wants to teach us something about worship he uses a whore.