David Jeremiah Sermons 2021 _ " Stay Confident "

eternal they're authoritative yesterday today and forever this book these words this scripture speaks to us authoritatively it explains life but it also gives us strength and comfort to live life perhaps greater than anything we have talked about so far in this long series of messages that will give you confidence in a chaotic time this is that source it is the bible to which we turn when things seem to be upside down in our lives now let me just say to you today men and women that in the history of human experience there is nothing like this book this bible is no ordinary volume it's composed of 66 shorter books written by some 40 different authors over many centuries it's a kind of a multi-century anthology with no earthly reason to explain its perfect unity it is incredible that this book should speak with one voice or that all of its various sections chapters and verses should hold such power over human lives after several millennia there's no explanation for any of this unless it is indeed what it claims to be and that is the eternal word of god ladies and gentlemen i'm convinced that this miraculous book provides an accurate account of history and the only account of the future we need this message this life-changing message as we've never needed it before in these days and when this world is in crisis and up seems down and right seems wrong this book holds the answers that you need you and i should inhabit its pages more fully than we reside in our houses we should consume the truth of this book as surely as we eat the food on our tables when there's no other visible source of confidence we can stay confident in the word of god when you come to the new testament and you begin to understand how this book was passed on to us you meet significant people timothy was a young man for instance with an uphill struggle before him his mentor the apostle paul had left him in ephesus a very difficult place to guide its church and that was not going to be an easy task paul understood the encouragement that his young protege needed sitting in prison shortly before his execution by the romans paul could have used a little encouragement himself but he didn't worry about himself this wise and godly man by this late season of his life wasn't given to self-pity always looking out for others always abounding in the joy of god's work he wrote a letter to young timothy to help him stay focused on the task that he had been given this letter carries an urgency that stands out among all the new testament epistles it is kind of like what jesus must have felt in the upper room paul recognized that time was short and the stakes were high for the kingdom of christ you see ephesus was a cultural melting pot in which people often even believers were becoming more worldly every day and god's inspired word was being trivialized so paul wrote to timothy these words and let me just read them to you from the text second timothy chapter four verses one and two listen to these words i charge you therefore before god and the lord jesus christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be ready in season out of season convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching now the first century when this letter to timothy was written is not very different from our century today like the city of ephesus our culture subjects the word of god to a great deal of scorn paul wrote in this same letter these words time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables we live in an age of ten thousand competing voices do we not all of them tantalizing all of them designed to scratch the itching ears of the directionalist people in our society it seems like every day people invent new religions if paul were writing in our era he might call them ear candy they sound sweet they look good but they have no nutritional value whatsoever listen to the gurus who populate the talk shows and you'll notice that the trendy new religions play to the ego while making almost no demands on obedience or sacrifice pluralism and tolerance are the watchwords of the day but all they create is more turmoil not more peace all the answers people seek are in the word of god where they've awaited us for two thousand years but today the masses would rather have their ears tickled than have their souls renewed and long before paul the prophet amos warned behold he said the days are coming that i will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of the hearing of the words of the lord kind of a strange sort of famine is it not someone has said the problem's not with the corn but with the ears we may well be in the early stages of that famine for generations god's word has been at the center of church preaching i grew up in a home where i went to church every sunday and most of the time every wednesday and it was always about and from the word of god you would not ever think of going to church without your bible today even in the major faith communities questioning scriptural authority is the mainstay popular speakers advocate processing god's word through cultural filters of the day rather than the other way around we once understood that we don't stand in judgment of the bible but the bible stands in judgment of us but many today are airbrushing the word of god and they they make it palatable to those who go in for spirituality that costs nothing except the cover price of a bestseller instead of being conformed to the image of christ we want to conform his image and everything else in scripture to our sad conditions 30 years ago people were saying if it feels good do it today it's more subtle we say if it sounds good believe it when we're trying to figure out how on earth we can live in confidence in this crazy chaotic mixed up world we ought to be running to the bible and not running away from it as many are doing we are like survivors of the titanic the great luxury ship floating helplessly on the tides at that boat's launch even an employee of the white star line boasted not even god himself could sink this ship no matter how modern and luxurious the ship was however you know you've seen the movie it went down and its passengers were left scrambling for scraps of wood to keep them afloat that's kind of a picture of you and me right now our culture of prosperity seem to be an unsinkable vessel but it's in pieces right now though everything else may fail us god's word never will jesus who calmed the storm and walked across the waves is still in control trillion dollar debts and bailouts what are these to one who created every star in the sky he still reigns he still speaks and his word still offers the provision for every need we have in these days so what exactly are these needs paul is going to give us a clue in so many ways the great apostle is telling timothy what the church in ephesus and the church in our own cities needs to hear when the preacher stands up to preach we often hear this passage taught in pastoral seminars or preaching conferences but when i read it this time i i got the impression that maybe it was more for the hearers than it was for the preacher maybe this is what we need to use as our list of things that the people in our churches need to be hearing and the people who listen to us and watch us on on the radio and on television need to be understanding so what do we need when we open this book what do we need when we sit in the pews every sunday pastors what do we need to be offering the people who come to hear us every week first of all we need a sure word from god paul gives timothy five commands in this text look down at your bibles and you will see he says preach be ready convince rebuke exhort preach be ready convince rebuke exhort remember paul is working in a state of urgency and he knows that his ministry is almost complete even though he still has a fire burning within him for new lands and new souls he's pretty confident that his major ministry days are finished in fact over in the fourth chapter of second timothy and verses six and seven he writes these words for i am already being poured out is a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith finally there is laid up for me a crowd of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing you can hear the passion in paul's words in the previous chapter of this letter he has spoken to timothy about truth and the importance of upholding it he has looked forward to a time when religious leaders will be addicted to pleasure rather than to fellowship with the father and now he is saying to timothy timothy what these people need is to hear the word a sure word and he uses the word for preach which means to proclaim with formality and gravity and authority it means to preach as if you believed what you were saying but not only do we need a sure word from god we need a serious word from god he says be ready in season and out of season the word here to be ready means to stand by to be on hand those of us who are charged with the responsibility of teaching god's word need to understand that this is pretty serious business nothing could be sadder than to go and hear somebody open the word of god and preach it with no passion and no conviction do we preach the sure word of god as serious students paul commands timothy to boldly proclaim the message of the gospel people need a serious word from god this book and this message is life and death this provides a defining moment in the lives of those who hear it and for us to preach anything else makes no sense whatsoever and in my estimation it's disobedience to almighty god we have been called as preachers of the word of god we need a sure word from god and we need a serious word from god but we also need a systematic word from god notice in the passage as you look back again to these two verses in second timothy chapter four here we are told certain things we are to do as we preach the word of god and let me just break them down for us first of all our minds need to be convinced by the word the word is here to convince it means to present an argument or a strong appeal it means something like an attorney presenting a brief we're trying to change the mind of the hearer we're not to just stand up and tell stories we're to take the word of god and break it down and create the argument of the scripture and present it in a very confident and convincing way to our listeners for instance here's an illustration of it every easter we come to the story of the resurrection it's not enough just to read the story in the gospels we need to present the facts of the resurrection we need to convince the minds of those who don't believe in the resurrection that this is indeed one of the most fundamental facts of the christian faith this is what it means to preach the word of god convincingly to convince people with our teaching then notice secondly not only do our minds need to be convinced by the word of god our wills need to be convicted by the word of god notice paul's second word is the word rebuke i'm sure that's not your favorite word and honestly as a preacher it's not my favorite word either nobody likes to be rebuked if you've got a sensitive heart you don't like to do the rebuking either but it's a necessary part of life and it means to reprimand it is synonymous to the word convict in a spiritual context it means to speak out against sin where we find it do you know in today's church that's almost an adventure a lot of the guys i know who preached today maybe have started out as students of the word of god preachers of the word of god and then they have moved over into another genre where their idea is that they're to give a positive message every sunday and send people out the door the church feeling good about themselves but ladies and gentlemen that's not the calling of a pastor we understand why pastors might shy away from telling it like it is but truthfully if they would preach the word of god as it is written they would find that the people of god would stand up and applaud them for their honesty and the culture today needs that kind of preaching yes it needs to be done with a spirit of compassion and love we're to speak the truth in love we're to be men who have grace and truth both those things are important but the culture today is pushing gospel preachers clear to the edge so that many of them never ever preach on sin they never call out the issues of the culture that are wrong too many pastors attempt to be user-friendly and they don't give any offense now i need to tell you i don't start out to offend anyone when i preach i don't get up on monday and say let me see if i can find something in the word of god that i can beat the people of god over the head with next week i just don't do that but i have always been a creature that preaches what's next and my friends if you start in this book to teach it and you go through the pages of it there are going to be some places where you're going to run into some stuff that's very difficult very hard on you and then perhaps through your voice can be hard on others the bible is not just a book that is for things but because it's four things it's sometimes against things you've heard me say this before a lot of times god has called me to do two things as your pastor i am not only here to comfort the afflicted but i am also here to afflict the comfortable both of those jobs are important both of them can be done with a smile and both of them obviously need to be done with compassion in his letter to titus paul describes what a true teacher must do titus 1 90 says have a good grip on the message knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it and paul touches upon the ultimate goal of preaching in colossians 1 28 he says we're to be warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus so our minds need to be convinced by the word our wills need to be convicted by the word and then thirdly our hearts need to be comforted by the word in her book edges of his ways amy carmichael is right on target when she points out that no matter what our need may be what dark cloud may hang over us we will find just the right word in the bible just the right remedy that we're looking for it may not be the first passage we see when we open the book but if we search the scriptures diligently the bible will answer every issue that arises the bible tells us that we're to comfort one another with the words of the bible we're to speak edification and exhortation and build up men the bible is ours for every purpose in life but it must be used in a in an intelligent way it must be used to convince us and convict us and comfort us when you are going through difficulty when you face trials it is the bible that you go to because there you will find the comforting words of almighty god our hearts are to be lifted and we're to lift the hearts of others with the truth of this book i'm sure you know that the place to turn when you need encouragement is probably the psalms somebody said there are more tear stains on the book of psalms than any other book in the bible i can promise you that when i need a lift from god a word of encouragement i turn to the middle of my bible where the psalms are filled with such information so we need a sure word from god and we need a serious word from god we need a systematic word from god and finally we need a sensitive word from god here we are told in this passage of scripture that we're to do this preaching and this teaching with all long-suffering we're to be long-suffering as we teach somebody says why does a pastor need to be long-suffering well the reason is because when he teaches the people the word of god a lot of times they don't do it so you have to keep coming back and teach it over and over and over again and sometimes those of us who listen have to be long suffering for instance some of you here today may be maybe wives who are really growing in the lord and god is using his word to strengthen you and build you inwardly but your husband's he's all involved in his career and he doesn't have time for all of this and and your temptation is to get a little impatient with him want him to come along at the same speed you're going and the bible says we need to be long-suffering we need to be patient all of us need to be patient some of these truths we have talked about are truths very similar to things you've experienced but my friend if you don't have a copy of the word of god and it's not a part of your life if you're trying to get through these chaotic days without the confidence that comes from the scripture sports leagues charles coulson notes that the age of personal computers has pushed individualism to a new level so that rather than connecting with people face to face they do it electronically through internet social networking email and instant messaging much of the time with handles rather than names and faceless anonymity replacing deep knowing friendships in the aftermath of september 11 2001 people came looking for greater community the same thing happened with the subsequent series of crises that followed on the sunday after 9 11 our large sanctuary here could not contain all the people who wanted to be a part of our worship services and for a few weeks after that we had record attendances but then as the thought of all that had happened began to settle in we went back to our normal pattern of not coming to church theologian leonard sweet writes that each of us lives on many levels and we need multi-leveled relationships with different kinds of people to be healthy and whole so with the decline of extended families in our western culture this becomes all the more important social networks have become all the rage we suspect that people long for authentic community and perhaps they're looking for love in all the wrong places online friendship isn't ultimately satisfying and all of the studies prove that it's possible to have 300 connections on facebook 200 following you on twitter and feel as if nobody knows you at all and that you're still all alone so during tough times we're seeing a widespread craving for genuine soul-to-soul connection how many online friends will come to visit us if we check into the hospital how many will hold us accountable for living with godly integrity relationships you see were made by the creator to provide the answers to the needs we have as individuals in genesis 2 18 we read these words it was our creator who said this it is not good that man should be alone and he brought even to the world to provide rewarding human interaction for adam you see relationships men and women are part of our basic design we require a relationship with god's only son jesus christ in order to be saved and after that a great deal of our growth as believers comes through our accountability and our relationship with fellow christians together we become something much larger than we could ever be alone now according to the new testament we are the one body of christ an assembly of parts that only function in unison we call this body the church have you ever noticed in the bible the great 3 16 verses i mean verses that are located in chapter 3 and verse 16. notice john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only son the world as all of us together and then there's first john 3 16 which tells us we know love because he laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren in other words god set the pattern and we're to follow with each other and then there's philippians 3 16 which encourages us to walk by the same rule and the same mind and what that passage is talking about is community and then of course if you go all the way back to the old testament and malachi 3 16 here's what you read then those who feared the lord spoke to one another and the lord listened and heard them so a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the lord and meditate on his name that verse from the book of malachi the last book in the old testament tells us that when god fearing people begin to speak to one another god listens to them and their conversation becomes part of eternity through what is called the book of remembrance do you remember what jesus said he sums it all up for us jesus said where two or three are gathered together i there in the midst of them we can always experience the presence of god alone and we should do that every day but special things happen men and women when believers gather together to share in christ there is a powerful and positive relationship among the three persons of the godhead as each glorifies the other and any strong church or fellowship reflects this principle when we love and perfect each other we are reflecting the work of the holy trinity and participating in his ancient and everlasting love the new testament as many of you know has an incredible pattern of one another passages one another tasks encourage one another and love one another and bear with one another just to name a few as we carry these one another responsibilities out we begin to experience a unique form of godliness that can't be attained as separate human entities we reflect the roles and the relationships of the triune god and we really do become the people of god the body of christ and the fellowship of the holy spirit so if we are going to be able to live courageous lives in these chaotic days we are going to need to be calm in our hearts compassionate toward other people constructive in our relationships challenged to grow and connected to the church we were created to live in community not in isolation mary sanders a southern baptist missionary in africa once described a regular meeting she had with a new christian in somalia the regular appointment was secret because the area was predominantly islamic and often very intolerant of christians on this particular evening mary reviewed the memory verse that the young somali convert had been learning here was the verse psalm 118 verse 24 this is the day which the lord hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it after reciting the verse mary and her convert began to discuss the verse and what it meant and then they sang the familiar chorus that is based upon that verse and the young man was delighted and the idea of singing raised a question in his mind and and he looked at his uh he looked at his discipler mary and he said to her when there is more than one christian what other things do you do mary realized as he asked that question that he had no idea of corporate worship he had no understanding of music and praying together and bible study all these things that she took for granted were unimaginable to someone whose experience was limited to private bible study and prayer for fear of the persecution that would come if he met with other believers well this series of messages is about what on earth we should be doing in times like these and it's built on the framework of passages about the return of christ so the bible teaches that we should be living every day with an attitude of expectancy and the new testament writers had to preach that same message where is it in the bible that we find this priority of being connected to the church where is that written well if you open your bibles to hebrews chapter 10 and verses 24 and 25 here's what you will find and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching that is the passage which is the central passage in the new testament for the importance of staying connected within the church we follow daily events and we realize that this present age could end very soon and that christ's return should be approaching and when we realize that the motives that we have should be stronger than ever to be busy with our father's business and it's very clear that part of that business is to stay connected to one another through the fellowship of the church we are to devote ourselves to one another and to begin preparing the body of christ as we prepare ourselves for that day when he arrives to reclaim us as we see the day approaching says the book of hebrews as we understand that christ is coming back says the writer in the words of hebrews in that situation we should not be separating from one another but rather we should be gathering together more frequently instead of less frequently hebrews 10 24 and 25 constitute the new testament's central statement on the importance of the church by the way in the course of this message you're going to notice that this is one of my favorite words connectivity i love that word of course in the current environment in which we live people hear that term and they think of computers and networks in the internet in the world of business our world of spiritual business is the ultimate connectivity the kind jesus described to his disciples when he said i am the vine and you are the branches and he who abides in me and i in him bears much fruit for without me ye can do nothing in that marvelous analogy we are all interconnected through our attachment to the true vine jesus christ and friends i want to impress upon you today that you cannot afford to be cut off from each other or from the vine that sustains you that feeds you and helps you to grow as we have connectivity with him and with one another we begin to bear much fruit according to john chapter 15. i want to make a case today if i can for the importance of the church and for the importance of the church as never before in these very crucial and difficult ages in which we live the bible says as we see the day approaching we should gather together with great urgency now let's go back to this passage of scripture in hebrews chapter 10 and let's unpack it and find the principles that will help us get this truth in our hearts and hopefully in our walk as well notice first of all the imperative of connectivity let's take a closer look at this passage and discover what that means notice the wording not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some now there are three exhortations given to us by the lord through the writer of this passage in hebrews which are set apart by the words let us hebrews 10 22 for instance says let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance this is our responsibility to god coming to him wholeheartedly hebrews 10 23 says let us hold fast the confession of our hope this is our responsibility to ourselves to live hopefully and hebrews 10 24 says and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works that's our responsibility to one another and we fulfill it by hebrews 10 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together you see for the writer of hebrews worship attendance wasn't an option and it isn't an option for us take a close look at the first generation of believers and you will see how strongly they felt about it according to the book of acts our document of that particular time these first christians assembled in two ways they came together publicly and they came together privately one was the more formal expression of the church and the other was the more informal and intimate expression of the church in homes just think with me for a moment about their connectivity in public meetings those first christians according to acts 246 were continuing daily with one accord in the temple did you notice that i said in the temple isn't that the last place you would expect christians together in the wake of hostility against jesus i mean you'd think that the followers of christ were looking for trouble by gathering there but don't forget men and women that most of the first christians were also jewish the temple was the greatest symbol of worship and spiritual community and they could not imagine any other place to meet and of course as you look closer and examine the language in acts chapter 2 you will discover that it was actually in the temple courts where the believers met the crowds were tremendous in the wake of the resurrection and most people believe that the only place in jerusalem that would have been big enough for such a crowd would have been the court of the temple this matter of gathering together is highly significant the phrase is actually an interesting word it's a word in the language of the new testament it only occurs a couple of times once here in hebrews and again in second thessalonians in the second letter to the thessalonian church paul used it this way he said now brethren concerning the coming of our lord jesus christ and our gathering together to him from these uses of the word we learn that there are two gathering togethers one on earth when we gather together as the body of christ and one coming in the future when we are all gathered together to go with jesus christ into heaven and i want you to understand something very important that the two gatherings are equally important in the mind of god one day we're going to be gathered together with christ and ushered into the kingdom but the bible says we're together together now an anticipation of that time regardless of the stern warning in hebrews many believers today don't seem to take church attendance very seriously as a pastor i hear words all the time like oh i'm spiritual but i don't particularly need the church or institutional religion when somebody tells me i've learned to worship god on the golf course i'm tempted to reply that's a good trick and just about as easy as playing golf in the church auditorium i would love to see ordinary people of our day approach the sporting events which are so popular with the same attitude they bring to christian fellowship now i understand that it's true that some people can't go to church i mean there are people who have no ability to get out maybe they don't have transportation or perhaps they're infirm and they can't leave their home and of course that's the reason why we have a radio and television ministry we minister to those people but we never allow that to be an excuse for not going to church if indeed they are able in fact if you all listen to my radio program you know that almost every friday as we break for the weekend i make a little announcement to those who are listening and tell them listen don't you ever use turning point as an excuse for not being involved in the church turning point radio was never meant to replace your church so be sure to go to church this weekend find a church where god's word is taught and christ is honored and go there be an encouragement to your pastor and a blessing to the other people i believe that sincerely because i think that's the priority of the word of god so in the new testament there was connectivity in public meetings but they also gathered privately and i find this very very significant they came together in their homes the last part of acts 2 46 says this breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart isn't that a wonderful description of what goes on today in many home bible study and fellowship groups in our church and many other churches around the country and around the world you see the early church had this perfect balance between corporate worship in the temple court and dinner meetings in individual homes every day there were brand new believers in jerusalem coming to the large gathering and funneling from the large gathering into the small groups and when they went to the small groups they were encouraged together in the temple in corporate worship and that's the balance we should have in our churches today coming together in our massive groups for majestic praise and worship and teaching of the word of god and then during the week getting together with others in smaller groups where we know everybody by name and we can discuss the things of god and grow and our growth becomes exponential when we balance it out with these two strategies back in the early days of our small group ministry here at shadow mountain when i was totally involved with the teaching and the training we decided to call our groups back then 2020 groups we call them 2020 groups because we felt like the the impetus for small groups came out of the book of acts chapter 20 verse 20. here's what it says i kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house spiritually speaking it's a good way to have 20 20 vision in the church in the small groups following the pattern of god's holy word small group ministry is commonplace in churches today but i think the very first network was in jerusalem and the groups were led by the apostles and the and the leaders that were growing up in the church and it was an incredible way for for believers to mature and to grow you see you come to a church as big as ours or or many of the large churches in this nation you can walk in and sit down in a pew or in a theater seat and you can sit there and leave and no one will say anything to you i mean it's a sad truth but it often happens and if you're not careful you get lost in the process but when you come and you get encouraged and then you go to your small group those two strategies help you to grow and become more like christ which is our goal when we think about all the good things that come out of church fellowship and all the good things that come out of small group ministry we can't help wondering why anyone would ever want to live without it if they are a christian we come together out of obedience to god but we do it also because it gives us strength and joy and it gives us sustenance and patience and productivity so here's your assignment class you need to be in church every sunday and once you get into church you need to find a small group where you can meet with others and grow in your faith and by the way make sure your small group is built around the core teachings of the word of god and not just a gathering together of people to discuss what they don't know which is often what happens in small groups well that's the imperative of connectivity let me talk with you for a moment about the importance of connectivity what are some of the things that happen because we are connected i have a friend by the name of joel rosenberg who tells about a rapidly growing church in iran made up of converts from islam and the pastor broadcasts his weekly worship service and teaching via satellite people are eager to hear these sermons and lessons because they worry about what would happen if the secret police were to catch them attending a christian church they don't dare play christian music in their homes or sing praise songs aloud because the neighbors could turn them in so they depend completely upon the pastor's broadcast for their worship and fellowship in the word we could be like the people in iran someday where we have to secretly worship the lord out of fear of gathering together publicly well when we come together what are the side benefits what what are the motivations what happens when we come together privately and publicly well if you go back to the book of hebrews you'll get some clues first of all we promote love between one another hebrews 10 24 says let us consider one another in order to stir up love here's the phrase again one another one of paul's favorite phrases he uses it 38 times in his letters and we find it occurring 68 times from acts to revelation the new testament you see is a one another book being together reminds us of the needs we have we share the concerns of our hearts we laugh and we eat together and we worship at the throne of grace side by side and in the process god seems to knit our hearts together in love then human love increases our love for that same god who started the whole process in the beginning now in this passage of scripture we're told that when we come together one of the purposes is to stir up love and i love that little phrase because the word stir up should be perhaps translated by the words to provoke or to incite in the greek language it suggests an exasperated fit the choice of words would seem kind of strange when you put it together with love and good works but it's very intentional fellowship should have an energy that provokes everyone toward god's work we should get stirred up when we get together with god's people i remember uh back some years ago when reggie jackson was still playing baseball uh they used to call him hit the straw that stirs the drink he loved to call himself that by the way he was sort of cocky and outspoken and he had a knack for keeping the adrenaline flowing among his teammates hebrews is telling each of us to be the straw that stirs the drink in fellowship together as we stir up love among god's people i envision a church that is if you'll pardon the expression stir crazy a place in which people rise from their beds each week with a relentless purpose by the grace of god they think i'll find a way to show love to a new friend today lord give me a word of encouragement guide me to just the soul who needs to hear that word my life is filled with blessings and i'm going to be a blessing to at least one person throughout this day so the first thing that happens when we come together is we promote love secondly when we come together we provoke good works that's what it says and we do better things together than we can do by ourselves together we can attempt great things for god and expect great things from god together we can reach out to the whole world in providing financial and intercessory support for multitudes of missionaries together we can link up with radio and television and internet and print media and literally we can touch every person on planet earth being among the people of god should be provocative it's not a retreat from the world but it's kind of a pep rally and the sermon should bring on an exasperated fit to go tell people about the lord the music should inspire the soul provoke us to bring our friends to hear the word of god and the music and hearing what god is doing overseas or on the other side of town should stir us up to go and help let's be certain we're clear here men and women we are not saved by good works it doesn't help us to get to heaven because we do these good things we are saved not by good works but we are saved for them aren't we throughout the history of the church it has always been at its best when it has been blessing the world that is around it as soon as churches became free and clear throughout the roman empire christians began to help the sick saint basil built the first hospital in caesarea of cappadocia and soon institutions like that began appearing in many cities around the world at that time there's a book called how christianity changed the world by alvin schmidt and he tells in this book how christians had been erecting hospitals for nearly four centuries and then the arabs took the example and began to do the same thing ladies and gentlemen our faith has not been provided for us so that we can consume it upon ourselves we have been called to be productive christians you all know if you listen to me preach much that philip yancey is one writer whose books i read from cover to cover and he wrote a book called reaching for the invisible god and in that book he tells about a time when a man came up to him after a speaking engagement and said to him mr yancey you wrote a book titled where is god when it hurts didn't you and yancy acknowledged that he had indeed written such a book and the man says well i don't have time to read your book can you tell me what it says in a sentence or two after some thought philip yancey replied to his questioner well i suppose i'd have to answer your question with another question where is the church when it hurts you see he explained the church is god's presence on earth the church is his body and if the church does its job if the church shows up at the scene of disasters if the church visits the sick and staffs the aids clinic and counsels the rape victims and feeds the hungry and houses the homeless he said i don't think anybody will be asking where is god when it hurts because through the body of christ god's presence will be experienced so when we come together in the church we promote love when we come together as a church and we're connected we provoke good works and then thirdly when we come together as a church we provide encouragement notice in hebrews 10 25 what the word says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting grab hold of that word exhorting the word is often translated by the word encouragement it's the same greek word the bible says that when we come to church we're not just to promote love we're not just to provoke good works but we're to provide encouragement we're to encourage one another we should constantly be in the process of finding someone in the church that we know may need a word of encouragement and providing that word so that they can grow and be blessed oh do you know the power of encouragement i can tell you personally that there have been times in my life when a word spoken at the right time and in the right way has lifted me up and helped me go on when i felt like quitting and i'm sure i'm not unusual in that respect when the church goes about its business and becomes a greenhouse for inspiration and evangelism you cannot stop it from growing or from turning the world upside down i mean who wouldn't want to be a part of a place that makes everyone stronger and more confident in our time the world has all of the discouragement it needs we need men and women who are a part of the body of christ who understand that part of our role is to be encouragers marriage and parenting seem harder than ever these days we're brewing a culture of despair and that's just fertile soil for the church to step in and provide real encouragement real relationships real love through the authentic power of jesus christ men and women nothing can come close to competing with the hope and the peace that we have to offer to this world and especially in these days which are considered dark days by some we can be the light we can be the encouragement we can be the salt if we will just take our responsibility seriously yes i know the church as we experience it has its faults but remember the church as god sees it is perfect and it's spotless because of the cleansing of the blood of christ i've always been fascinated by the life and ministry of charles spurgeon charles hadn't spurgeon was the prince of preachers whose preaching took england by storm during the 1800s i recently found a new biography about his life i didn't know there were any others the ones i had already read but this biography had some stuff in it that i had not ever heard before especially about spurgeon's conversion as a teenager charles adam spurgeon was a non-believer he was planning to become a farmer and he decided to study latin and greek instead and he didn't know where his career was going where his life was going but at the school in newmarket where he was studying these languages his life was impacted by one particular individual no it wasn't a professor or an instructor and it wasn't a classmate or a friend charles spurgeon had his life changed by the school's cook an elderly woman by the name of mary king she invited charles to attend her church one day and that led to many conversations with her about his faith and eventually he was set on the path to salvation years later spurgeon heard of mary king's retirement

Channel: Study Bible Ministries

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Keywords: david jeremiah sermons, david jeremiah 2021, david jeremiah heaven, david jeremiah agents of the apocalypse, david jeremiah heaven series, david jeremiah 2021 sermons, david jeremiah depression, david jeremiah turning point, david jeremiah forward

Id: sgBy_ZkloVg

Length: 49min 4sec (2944 seconds)

Published: Thu May 13 2021