Morningstar Christian Chapel Live Stream

sweetly broken let's gift undeserved have i been given through christ's crucified you've called me out of death you call me into life i'm reconciled to my knees is my knees [Music] [Music] is [Music] you draw me gently to my knees [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] scissors good morning good to see you it's going to be humid it seems like huh gosh stick you're ready all right let's pray thank you lord for this place you've given us to gather and it is certainly something we look forward to each week getting with the body sitting before our god hearing his word worshiping his person relying upon his power be with us lord this morning may you speak clearly and loudly to us may your word impress and motivate and encourage and comfort challenge may you have your way in this place we pray in jesus name amen amen good morning everybody what did you all stand with us [Music] we've waited for this day we waited for this day we're gathered in your name calling out to you your glory like a fight a waking desire will burn our hearts with truth you're the reason you're the reason we're here you're the reason we're singing [Applause] [Music] the mighty river flowing from your heart and filling every part of our praise your presence in this place your presence in this place your glory on our face we're lurking to the sky descending like a cloud you're standing with us now lord unfill our eyes [Music] [Music] open [Music] in every part of our praise show us your glory show us show us your glory show us show us your power show us show us your glory lord show us your glory show us show us your glory show us show us your power show us show us your glory lord show us your glory show us show us your power show us the show us your glory lord open up the heavens we want to see the lord open up your [Music] [Music] oh and filling every part y'all could be seated if you like [Music] [Music] me i hear the sound of your voice oh now once it's gentle and thundering knowing i know that you are [Music] i don't run [Music] myself in you [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] me you are beautiful you are [Music] oh god there is no one more beautiful you are beautiful god you are the most beautiful you are wonderful you are wonderful oh god there is no one oh wonderful you are wonderful god you are the most wonderful you are glorious you are glorious oh you are glorious [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] her [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] amen psalm 77 we're going to read the first 15 verses this morning so let's stand together i'll read the odd-numbered verses you can read the even-numbered ones i don't know why we stopped at 15. is that what it says or wherever it is over there all right that's what we're doing then all right i cried out to you god with my voice and to god with my voice and he gave ear to me in the day of my trouble i sought the lord my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing my soul refused to be comforted and i remembered god i was troubled complained and my spirit was overwhelmed you hold my eyelids open i am so troubled that i cannot speak i considered or i have considered the days of old in years of ancient times i call to remembrance my song in the night i will meditate within my heart and my spirit makes diligent speech will the lord forever cast us off will he be favorable no more has his mercy ceased forever has his promise filled forevermore has god forgotten to be gracious has he in his anger shut up his tender mercies and i said this is my anguish but i will remember the years of the right hand of the most high and i will remember the works of the lord surely i will remember your wonders of old i will also meditate on all your work and talk of your deeds your ways of god are in the sanctuary who is so great at god as our god you are the god who does wonders you have declared your strength among the peoples and you have with your arm redeemed your people the sons of jacob and joseph father this morning as we we we listened to this psalm a psalm of asaph a cry out to be reminded of what you have done in the past to try to explain and to survive the present and have a hope for the future it is certainly your past work your great promises the things that you have said that have been fulfilled that should keep us going day in and day out so even this morning may you remind us of who we serve no one like our god he hasn't forgotten to be gracious his mercy has not ceased his wonders continue even in our own lives remind us again lord of who you are we pray in jesus name amen you may be seated good morning let's go ahead and take out our bulletins and we'll go through some of the announcements some of the events that are coming up and opportunities we have to serve the children's worship ministry meeting is happening today and so if you have a heart for kids and love to sing or play an instrument you might consider going to that meeting and checking out the possibility of being involved in that ministry we do have a room change for that because we're getting prepped for vacation bible school so that meeting is going to be at one o'clock this afternoon it'll be in room eight and as well a room change for the mission's prayer today that will be in the multi-purpose room jesus told a parable of a king who invited many to a wedding feast and his invited guest didn't want to come so the king says go into the highways and byways and invite all those that will come in our neighborhood outreach ministry does just that we go door to door through our community and we invite people to come to church to come to to feast here on the word of god and to be able to get to know jesus so if you want to be a part of that group that's going out it'll be this saturday that's july the 24th they're meeting at 10 o'clock in the morning right here in the church parking lot and they'll go out from there so encourage you guys to to come out and you'll go out in pairs or you can go out as a family and invite folks to church you know psalm 13 133 says behold how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together and a great way to do that is by breaking bread well we're not just going to break bread we're going to break hamburgers together on uh wednesday august the 4th uh from five o'clock to 6 30. so before our wednesday evening service we're going to have the in and out truck here and we'll be able to get a meal together we'll have tables set out and chairs and so we can have fellowship together you can bring the whole family and get your meal in before church and have a wonderful time together so that's coming up on august 4th on wednesday in terms of signups we're continuing to take sign ups for the vacation bible school let me ask a question how many of you here went to vacation bible school as a kid look at all those hands see it works you're still here we encourage you guys to get to get the kids going there and as well uh there's still room to sign up to be part of the the workforce part of the team that will be serving many aspects through the two weeks first week starts tomorrow actually june the 19th through the 23rd is our first session and then the second one will be the 26th through the 30th you can still sign the kids up you can do so today online and certainly for that second week as well and that's for kids that are three years old that are potty trained all the way through sixth grade and then gentlemen our half day conference coming up on saturday july the 31st it's gonna be at seven o'clock in the morning right here in the fellowship hall um i will tell you men that uh by this point in the ladies luncheon that was you know halfway up to sign ups they were already well over halfway full so i'm just telling you guys we got a ways to catch up so go ahead and get signed up sign up early and uh bring friends along guys from work uh from your neighborhood for our men's half-day conference pastor dan fenfrock will be teaching us that morning and we'll have a time of fellowship and be able to eat breakfast together too so sign up online for that and then finally our growth classes continue to take sign up so you can do so in the back in the foyer after service or you can sign up in the church office or online and it's an opportunity for us to come together for four weeks in august starting on august 4th i'm sorry august 8th and uh from six o'clock to 7 30 in the sunday evenings to really go in depth on different subjects and you'll have the opportunity to sign up for either confronting christians basically basically biblically don't help me and uh they're also a biblical view on on race issues uh that's what sounds like an interesting class ladies there's a character of christian women class and uh as well uh get to know more of uh from reading your bible what you can get more out of your daily devotional time so uh lots of opportunities to sign up for different classes so go ahead and do so and like i said we'll start on august the 8th let's pray lord as we have come before you here this morning it's our heart's desire that in everything that is said and done you would be glorified lord that we would decrease so that you might increase in our lives and in our fellowship and our time of community together and as we worship you lord lifting up one single voice in praise to you preparing our hearts for the study of your word may all of that be done lord to glorify you and may we also lord humbly and cheerfully glorify you through our giving our tithes and offerings lord we pray that they would be received now and that you would bless them lord in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] solid ground as nations rise and fall kingdoms once strong now shake it we trust forever in your name in the name of jesus oh we trust the name of jesus you are the only king forever forevermore [Music] imagining all your wisdom in love and justice you will be and every knee will bow we bring our expectations our hope is anchored in your name in the name of jesus name oh we trust the name of jesus [Music] [Music] you are the only almighty god you are the only king forevermore [Applause] [Music] the name of jesus from age to age you reign your kingdom has no end we lift our banner high we live the name of jesus promise to age you reign your kingdom has no end you are the only king forever almighty god we limps you you are victorious you are the only king forever almighty god we live [Music] forever [Music] this next song might be unfamiliar it's called my victory [Music] you came for criminals and every fair seat you came for hypocrites and even one like me you carry sin and shame the kills of every man [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh you're in basically [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] of god who takes away our sin who takes away our sin the holy land of god makes us alive again makes us alive again [Music] [Applause] [Music] again [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] me [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] or we're grateful that that's the truth that we live in that you died on the cross to give us victory over death to separate us from the shackles of sin you've given us a choice you've given us a choice to not sin which we don't have apart from you so we're grateful we pray this morning that we would look to you as our savior we would look to you as our closest friend the god that gave everything so that we could have life you held nothing back so why would we want to be open we want to be vulnerable we want to be receiving of your word to take it at whatever it says and pray that you would illuminate that to our eyes to our ears to our hearts we would be changed people this morning we ask you to do that in jesus name amen amen good song good worship so in our bibles this morning second timothy chapter 2 verse 8 as we continue through this last book of paul's that he wrote from death row to a man that is now in his middle age who had been really with paul since he was a teenager but he had been sent now to ephesus to try to fix a church that within about 10 years had really turned away from the gospel and this wasn't an easy time to be a christian certainly timothy was a tentative guy he was a hesitant pastor he was a a loyal saint a faithful man of god but yet everything he faced was difficult not for paul paul took it on he's a paul was a boxer you know he was a ufc guy timothy liked to do the announcements he didn't want to get in the ring so paul encourages him paul is about ready to die now for his faith timothy is going to be left alone to battle and to lead as he has you know been given or will be given the mantle by paul so this last letter if the first letter was all about church life and and church practice you know paul had sent timothy there and he had instructed him how the church should behave itself this letter is very personal it's very you know like heart to heart paul goes out of his way to motivate his young man young man to paul anyway to stay the course that this wasn't going to be easy last week as we began chapter 2 he had talked to him about being strong in god's grace that this the grace that saved us would also keep us we talked a lot about that he illustrated it by a couple of examples being a good soldier and not getting entangled in the world because you get killed if you're not paying attention in a battle of being a dedicated athlete who would train not just to run but train to win and then of a farmer who has to be patient because growing crops takes time this morning we'd like to look at verses eight excuse me down to verse 13. as paul continues to try to encourage timothy the word from paul this morning to timothy is why we read psalm 77 the first 15 verses the word remember paul's going to make two points that are going to be kind of absolutely clear i guess if you walk away those you've gotten the text number one there's an absolute certainty that if you're going to serve the lord you're going to suffer look through all of the heroes in the bible and find out how many of them were very popular in the culture you won't be either regardless of the culture in which you live you're going to suffer those who would live in christ jesus and walk faithfully are going to suffer and secondly if you remember what god has done and what he promises to do you'll make it through so the certainty of suffering the need for us to remember his promises to finish faithfully as to the first point of suffering throughout the scriptures you will find men and women who put the lord first and it wasn't it didn't turn out well in this life jeremiah might be the best example i can think of him he has to be the most godly man in his day if there are others the bible certainly doesn't mention to them and yet the more he served the people of god the worst things got for him he was chastised by the culture he was imprisoned by the people he was abandoned often left for dead several times eventually he was mercilessly stoned to death a long ministry that seemed to go nowhere outwardly jeremiah was born to a priestly family he was called to be a priest when he was a young man he ended up being one of the most tormented prophets that the bible sets before us and yet he didn't compromise the truth of god he remained faithful you can read in jeremiah i think it's chapter 9 verse 1 that he he stood before the lord for the people and says my eyes are like fountains they weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people he loved the people he served and yet they appreciated him not at all in great despair he in chapter 12 turned to the lord and he said to the lord how long are you going to let this go on the wicked prospering those that are happy with their sinful life dealing treacherously you've planted them they've grown they're bringing forth fruit and then he said you're near their mouth but far from their reigns they talk like they know you but they don't and the prophet was calling people back to a walk with god how long are you going to let this go on now you would suspect for a man that would suffer 50 years in ministry that the lord might have said well come here buddy give me a hug things are going to be all right but the lord doesn't say that at all if you go read chapter 12 beginning in verse 4 or verse 5 i think the lord says to him well you've been running with the foot soldiers and now you're tired already what are you going to do when the horses show up he said even your family is going to turn against you eventually and speak evil of you don't believe what they telling you they're not your friends well thanks lord that was comforting but it is i think to the point jeremiah if you're tired now just wait things are going to get worse before they get better and i think that's essentially what paul wants to say to timothy and i suspect that's the lord would say that to us the church is under great attack in our culture in the world for that matter it seems like it has changed even in the 40 years i've been a christian 45 years remarkably so and yet the charge is the same the the lord that we serve is the same his spirit is as powerful as he has ever been and so paul will say he said it in in you know be strong in god's grace verse three in dear hardship as a soldier verse 12 of the next chapter he will say you desire to live a godly life you're going to suffer there's really no way to to beat that prediction if you will jesus when he spoke to the disciples said if you if you won't take up your cross and follow me you're not worthy of me if you try to find your life you're going to lose it but if you'll lose your life for my sake you'll find it faithful service to the lord has always been costly go read hebrews 11 you you'll cheer through the first oh i don't know 37 verses which talk about the the victories of men and the and the miracles of god and and how the lord just delivered his people from all kinds of mess in the world but then you get to verse i think it's verse 35 actually in the middle of verse 35 it says and others had trials of mockings and and scourgings and bonds and imprisonment they were stoned and cut in half and tempted and slain with the sword they wanders around like in sheepskins and goatskins destitute afflicted tormented and then he reads this the world wasn't worthy of them but they did the work that god had set before them as they wandered paul writes in the deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth paul had learned somehow to embrace whatever came into his life for serving the lord what he couldn't change was serving the lord what came because of that really wasn't in his power so when he writes of the corinthians in his um second letter to them towards the end he says i'm taking pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and and persecutions and distress for christ's sakes because when i'm weak he's strong so timothy needed to hear from paul and like i said this was a terrible time nero was on the war path the christians were his target people were dying by the thousands every day come on timothy be strong in god's grace to the second point of remembering paul will tell timothy yet again that the one one of the greatest tools that we have to stand strong when things get difficult is to remember what god's done and that there is a definitive kind of problem for us in that we don't always remember we we quickly forget what god has done to face the new challenge with fear or with very little hope in in the old testament remembering is one of the essential kind of tools that god gives to his children so that they can do well i mean all you have to do is go back to exodus 12 for example go to the passover celebrated every year designed solely to remind the people and to teach the next generation that god can deliver his own that you should never forget what he has done it was part of the essential kind of memory that was supposed to be developed into the lives of his people in fact all of those feast days we're just with that purpose more than anything else remember what god has done when the lord gave the the law to the people when he when he thundered the ten commandments from mount sinai and set before the people the ways of the lord he impressed upon them that truth he said through moses to the people in deuteronomy chapter 6 i want you to take this to heart i want you to teach this diligently to your children when you sit in your house when you walk in the way when you lie down when you rise up i want you to bind them upon your arm and stick them between the frontlets of your eyes and remember what god has said put them on your gates put them on the houses that they might remember that god brought you out of the land brought you here just stick it there you know biblical graffiti put it everywhere just make sure your kids grow up remembering so that when they get in the land when they get houses that they haven't built and when they are giving are given wells that they haven't dug and when they get vineyards and olive trees and which they haven't planted and when they've eaten and they're full that the one thing they won't do they won't forget how they got here big challenge remember forget remember forget when you get to deuteronomy chapter 6 later on in that same chapter the lord through moses will say to the people when your son asks you in time to come why do we have these testimonies and these statutes and these judgments which god has commanded us then make sure that you sit your son down and say to him we were bondage we were in bondage to the pharaoh in egypt and yet god brought us out with a mighty hand showed signs and wonders and delivered us don't forget if you'll do what he says he'll do for you what he did for us don't forget it's just this constant kind of reminder when the children of israel were brought into the land across the jordan at flood season the lord rolled the river back 30 miles upstream it left quite an impression as you might suspect as the priests carried the tabernacle if you will into the the water and as their feet hit the ground and the waters began to receive all of the people saw god's work in joshua chapter 4 they they were instructed by the lord to go and to gather 12 stones together and put him in the middle took them out of the the middle of the river and put them out on the shore into the land of promise under that side and then the lord said to the people when your kids later on ask their fathers what do these stones mean you tell them the story of how god brought you in at a time when you couldn't have got in on your own you couldn't have crossed the river but now remind them that this is what the lord has done this is his ability not yours you live here by his deliverance not your own why this constant reminder because we're prone to forget read psalm what do we read 77 read the next psalm read psalm 78 sometime on your own 72 verses that just say one thing israel for god forgot forgot forgot forgot for god you could just read it a hundred times and and we are prone to forget they didn't keep the power of god they refused to walk in his life they forgot his ways and his wonders which he showed them and so they went stumbling along so there's something to be said for remembering it's not just forgetting it's we have to remember we have to remember peter reminded the church of god's judgment and deliverance when he wrote in second peter chapter two about the the fall and the overthrow of sodom and gomorrah don't forget so we need to keep in mind so so far paul if you've been with us has reminded timothy in verse three of chapter one of of his forefathers that they had great faith remember they walked with god he reminded him in verse four of their friendship and how they walked together with the lord he he reminded them at the end of chapter one about their rich heritage of of faith that they came from he reminded them in verse 13 about the the power of sound doctrine if you preach but every place you turn he says remember remember remember so verse eight we we begin with the word remember remember that jesus christ of the seed of david was raised from the dead according to my gospel or if you will remember the gospel start with this timothy if things are going to turn you away from the lord remember what you're preaching the gospel jesus was raised from the dead the word raised as perfect tense in greek it means he was raised israel will stay raised he's a wife no doubt about it right he rose and to remember is one of those imperative words it means it's a command please don't forget it's in the active voice keep reminding yourself if necessary of the fact that you serve a god who has risen he's alive that's the essence of the gospel isn't it he's alive timothy if you're to die tomorrow or if paul if i'm to die in jail tomorrow i'm going to live because he lives that's my hope when he wrote to the corinthians paul said if christ is not risen our preaching is in vain and so is your faith but the resurrection substantiated the gospel everything that jesus said in the gospels is proven as true by the resurrection you can read it all and if he stayed dead you can just close your book and put it away but he rose it is our assurance that our life in him is going to continue paul said that to the romans we were buried with him in baptism but like christ who raised for the from the dead by the glory father we're going to be raised to life so timothy don't be put off by the the challenges that you face when you realize that the gospel the very thing that we preach speaks about life after death jesus's path by the way was was marked with difficulty before this glory of resurrection there was pain before pleasure there was sorrow before joy there was persecution before exaltation there was death before resurrection jesus said to the disciples before he was to to be arrested and then killed a little while and the world will see me no more but you'll see me and because i live you'll live also so to a very frightened middle-aged man in a very difficult spot who's now being invited to come see paul which could put his life at risk paul said let's remember the god timothy don't forget the gospel jesus is resurrected our sins are forgiven because he rose what greater motivation could you have than that he's of the he's of the lineage of the seed of david when jesus met with that couple on the maters road which he spent all of resurrection afternoon with he laid out for them so clearly it says that he he began you know to go over all of the things that jesus should suffer and it says ought not christ to have suffered then enter into his glory and beginning in moses going through the prophets he laid out everything in the scriptures concerning who jesus was but it was always that suffering before the deliverance so remember that jesus our messiah and lord is not only the culti the culmination of god's plan for man but but he he tasted of the sorrows and he he rose from the dead if you live for the lord you'll you'll live you'll be fine timothy you're you're you're in the right place you're with the right god so remember the gospel second of all we read in verse uh at the end of verse eight was he was raised from the dead according to my gospel for which paul said i suffer trouble as an evil doer even to the point of chains but the word of god is not chained if the first motivation is remembering who we serve and the very fact that we have this good news that is our anchor for our hope our second motivation is that god's word works and though his vessels might somehow be chained his word can never be slowed down notice that paul knows and understood and i think everyone else who knew him as well that he was in jail for certainly for one thing he was preaching the gospel right he was suffering in this world because he was sharing the gospel paul's circumstances were humiliating they were you know embarrassing if you will to him they treated him as a criminal the word evildoer here would would is a greek word that would would say he was a violent offender like a murderer he did the worst of things yet paul had no self-pity he rather declared god's word isn't chained wherever paul went and timothy you should remember this not only is we serve a god who rose from the dead but we have a power from god's word that changes lives wherever paul went he was he was big on standing on god's word he would write to the ephesians that the word of god was like a sword that would give you victory god will work you can't imprison god's word you might put to death his servants but you can't do anything to his word it's interesting you know today how i hear a lot of the christians complaining about the society that we live in all the restrictions and oh man you know it's just their fault no we just speak up and we just speak out well you can't pray in school who's going to stop you from praying in school well you can't pray but yeah i think the lord listens you can't change god's word down the council for the church to compromise in order to reach people and make the message more acceptable is is one that is preached a lot of times today but it's just absolutely demonic the truth sets you free that's the truth god will work despite man and his word cannot be chained if you get a chance to go to rome make sure that you go look at the catacombs there were at one time 600 miles under the city of catacombs we've been in them more than once they were dug by ten generations of christians they were dug first as a meeting place then a hiding place and eventually became a burial place the most common inscription found on the walls of the category of the catacombs are these words the word of god is not bound you will read it a hundred times it became the the cry of the church you can kill me you can't stop god's word so the word of god cannot be about timothy remember god's work and his gospel but remember the power of his work god's going to overcome the world that you face john bunyan wrote his most effective nominal pilgrims progress from a jail in in bedford england it led to the conversion of tens of thousands of people before the um communist conflict or conquest i should say in the late 40s and 50s there were an estimated 750 000 christians in china during the cultural revolution or so it was called 30 million chinese were murdered among them many christians today 70 years later the estimate of christians in the chinese underground church not the state-sponsored church but the underground church is about 180 million nothing has slowed down the gospel even though copies of the bible at least for some time were hard to come by we spent years with brother andrew smuggling bibles into china the truth of god prevails i got saved without ever really being in a church that taught the bible ask a raised catholic but i really learned the bible there i got saved because some friends of mine shared god's word with me so timothy you can chain the servant you just can't chain god's word your power lies in what god has said remember who you serve remember what you've been given verse 10 says therefore paul said i endure all of these things why for the sake of the elect that they may obtain salvation in christ jesus with eternal glory the purpose of god and don't forget timothy that god's purpose for the church on earth is to reach the lost isn't that it i mean ultimately that's what god wants if if you're not involved in that what are you doing here i mean you're saved you're going to heaven the work is done with you just go ahead go to heaven you should get baptized and just never come up just stay down there but you come up because god has a work for you to do and this is it paul said i'm going through this and they're making calling me an evil doer and i'll endure it all because there's only one purpose for the church and that is that they might declare to the world that you can obtain salvation through christ that's really what drives us paul was suffering for sharing the gospel preaching the gospel living the gospel now he's bound but he says look god's word is outbound and while i have breath it's going to get preached the purpose never changes reach the lost teach the word since the lord has us here for that purpose i can endure for the sake of the elect the elect those whom god has called those that will be saved others had become bolder when paul was in prison he wrote in in chapter two of philippians i i i've heard that fallen out from me being here there's been the furtherance of the gospel the gospel is being preached in the palaces now they're talking about me the brethren are more encouraged to be faithful than ever before notice paul here speaks about the lost i want you to notice that his heart and he wants timothy to have that as well is that his heart was that he wishes that folks would hear and be saved god's will it's in your bible is that all men would be saved right come to the knowledge of the truth that's god's desire we know god has chosen man to be saved you can read it in chapter one of ephesians we know that if we if we you know look to him and believe in him that we can be saved jesus said in john chapter 3 verse 18 he who believes in him is not condemned he that does not believe him is condemned already because he hasn't believed in the only son of god if you believe in him at the end of chapter three you have eternal life so the gospel right that's why we're here that's why you and i are here let me ask you how many people have you led to the lord this year or even talked to about him this year that's why we're here that is ultimately what god has given us to do to preach the gospel to those that are lost now paul speaks here about the loss his heart is about the loss he uses the word here the elect sometimes confusing to people i learned that i was elected by god to be saved after i got saved it was a truth that i learned when i gave my life to christ before i didn't care at all when i got saved i was glad to know that god actually wanted me around that i didn't sneak in you know that i didn't like didn't belong there that he had his eye upon me and he wanted to choose me and pick me and by the way that is a truth in the bible that is only offered to christians it is the assurance to you on the outside of heaven is a sign that says whosoever will let him come because that's god's heart but the minute you come in you can look back at the sign that you've just come under and it'll say chosen in him before the foundations of the world so god is desiring that we would come to know him and i rejoice that god has chosen me and that he has called me but then to the church matthew 28 verse 19 go into all the world preach the gospel to every creature matthew or acts chapter 1 the holy spirit will come upon you so you can be by witnesses jerusalem judea samaritan the uttermost parts of the world that's the work of the church so paul says i'm in jail i'm about to get killed for accomplishing what god wants don't forget the gospel and the power of it don't forget god's word but understand that the divine purpose of the lord is that the world would hear about jesus from us paul would do whatever it took to accomplish god's will for men to be saved you might want to go read john wesley's story if you've never read it he was an interesting guy he traveled 250 000 miles on horseback and on foot i can't imagine preached 40 000 sermons lived a very simple life he sold or gave away literally everything that he held and yet in every turn and throughout his life he was criticized he would show up to preach a town and be pelted with rocks along the road size he was ostracized by his fellow clergymen from the church of england and yet if you read his life story and listen to his messages he never lost the joy of serving the lord the love for the lord or the desire to see people get saved it didn't matter to him as long as people heard whitefield george whitfield who was a close friend of both charles and uh yeah charles and john wesley spent 34 years of his life preaching the gospel in the british isles and in in america as well i think he traveled across the ocean the atlantic 13 different times pretty dangerous preached 18 000 sermons on two continents was so obsessed that he just got on a boat and well whatever happens i got to get the gospel out lived his life that way are you obsessed with carrying god's desire to see men get saved enough to speak up tell others preach the gospel timothy don't forget what god has done don't forget his word don't forget his power and then paul ends this section with um what is a pretty easy i think little poem to remember maybe it was a song i don't know or a responsive thing that you would say in church all of the lines begin with the word if calvary chapel passed costa mesa years ago pastor chuck just one sunday got up and said god is good all the time and the people would respond all the time god is good it really took hold for the next 20 years that was high fives you know everyone would say it to one another the body loved it the truth i think shine through it it reminded me kind of this little four little liner that says this this is a faithful saying paul said if we die with him we're going to live with him if we endure we'll also reign with him but if we deny him he'll deny us if we're faithless he'll remain faithful because he cannot deny himself certainly if we die with him we're also going to live with him is exactly what paul has been talking about if our old man is crucified this body of sin is destroyed we don't serve sin we belong to him you die to yourself die to your hopes of of saving yourself that's really part of getting saved we have a new life and we can look forward to a new body a new resurrection um so if we if we will die with him in the sense of dying to ourselves and living for him we're going to live that's what the resurrection promises us secondly if we endure we're going to reign the word endures by the way the same word as endure in verse 10. it means to stand your ground when facing affliction or difficulty one day you're going to reign with christ you're going to make it to the end in other words you may you may suffer now you'll have to stick with it you want to see it through to the end and there's going to be a reward waiting if we verse 12 at the end deny him the word means to disavow or just i have nothing to do with him i really am not associated with it it is a firm kind of declaration of separation if if conversion and perseverance are the topics of the first two this one speaks about apostasy jesus said in matthew chapter 10 if you will confess me before men i'll confess you before my father in heaven if you will not confess me before men i'll deny you it's the same word that is used here so um to disown or to deny god's word and god's solution or and his son if you turn away from him permanently you really are going to end up alone god will not stand with you there will be no hope for you you can't really blame the lord he has come to give life but if you deny him if that's what you want then he can deny you but then we have in verse 13 kind of what seems a bit the antithesis if we're faithless god will remain faithful he cannot deny himself here like the first promises of the first two and not like the warning of the third this comes back to the present tense all of them are written present except the third one which is written in the future tests or the outcome peter denied the lord but the lord didn't deny peter the bible says first john that god is greater than our hearts and knows all things if our own hearts don't condemn us then then we are and have confidence towards god the difference between the third and the fourth one is the third one is a is a decision that is made and is stood upon i don't want to have anything to do with jesus i don't want to walk with him i don't look to him but the fourth one has to do with things that come into all of our lives the wavering the the fear the difficulty we we want to serve the lord we're faithless in that regard we we don't measure up but god is faithful and what god has promised to do in our lives he will continue to do it must have been i think a very comforting verse to timothy who was fighting with a lot of fearfulness and and let's face it if you read these passages timothy wasn't doing so great in ephesus things didn't seem to have changed very much but verse 13 god is faithful he doesn't that's his nature he's he is who he is and and who he will be we're not always ourselves we're not always faithful but god always is so be encouraged and that's really where we stand so timothy remember this these are the things that we can count on and these are the things that god will do remember the gospel that saved us that's worth preaching change our lives remember the the power of god's word that it can't be chained it is the word of god that brings life remember god's purposes that is to see people get saved and he wants to use us well i'm not very well equipped well then get equipped but go get it done and remember that a faithfulness to the lord will bring life and and a place to serve and when you fall and stumble god will remain faithful it is only when you decide to deny him that you run into big trouble so timothy here's a lot of things to remember and don't forget father this morning as we sit together i know that it's real hard to always be so faithful especially in this life that seems to more and more bring opposition and difficulty our our our culture today certainly doesn't make it easy and yet i can't imagine it was any easier for paul and for timothy in fact it seemed like their life was more like the life of a believer it would be in china or in some of the muslim countries that are just brutally treating those who believe in you that are our difficulty is certainly far less and yet our problem is the same we forget what you've done what you've said that we we preach a gospel good news of a savior who has been promised and who came to take our place we we have a the scriptures which you tell us is your word which never goes out void always accomplishes what you want we have your heart and and we need your heart jesus we remember you saying look under the fields you think they're they're they're going to be four months till the harvest the harvest is ready we read of jesus's eyes going on to the multitudes and he had compassion for them they looked like sheep without a shepherd and lord that you would give us the heart that you have for the lost so that rather than being put off or running scared or turning away or letting someone else handle it we we we want you to use us to speak to share to to minister to others not forgetting what we have what we've been given what you've told us what awaits us in the long run stir us up lord as a church we thank you for those that are every month going into the neighborhood just knocking on doors hey you want to come to church and sometimes the people just say get off my porch but there's always those who are waiting to hear and god it is to them that you send us may you use us in these last days may we have your heart and may our life more than ever be consumed with preaching your son to a dying world if this morning you don't know jesus his invitation to you is come and know him how do i get saved it's pretty easy just a couple of steps number one agree with god that you're a sinner you don't measure up to his plans you you should know in your own heart that there the very conscience that you're made with would tell you that you don't always do the right thing sin according to god's word brings death why does sin bring death because god is righteous he does the right thing he sets the law up he doesn't abrogate the law when he sees that it isn't being fulfilled sin still brings death separation from god but because he loved you rather than removing the law which would make him unrighteous he sent his son to fulfill it so that he would pay this price for you he didn't sin and yet he could take your sins he he didn't fall you did so i admit to god that i'm a sinner secondly i embrace him as my lord i call upon him and thank him for dying in my place he's my substitute makes him a redeemer he pays the price for what i owe to the law and god there's an exchange he takes my sin he gives me his holiness and righteousness and standing with the father saves me in every sense of the word it's the crux of the gospel god sent his son to die and rose from the dead so that you and i in him could live if you don't have jesus no matter what else you show up with it's not going to work because god who is holy has established the only way into his presence you need to receive christ this morning the apostles will be up front to pray there will be those in the overflow as well if you're online just look down to the the box at the bottom the description box there'll be a link there for to take you to a place that you can also just pray to receive the lord but make no mistake there's no two ways about it he's the only way to life i hope that you'll open your heart to him this morning shall we stand [Applause] [Music] sing hallelujah christ is riser oh we bow down before him for he is lord of all we sing hallelujah christ is [Music] the father's arms are open wide [Music] the altar the father's arms are open wide forgiveness [Music] was [Music] sing is [Applause] [Music] christ is risen father we love you this morning may that message be carried out by your people and may you help us to just stick with it no matter the cost because of all that you've done for us may we not forget remind us again we pray in jesus name amen god bless you guys happy hunting

Channel: morningstarcc

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Id: Yf4jZ51sCi8

Length: 73min 14sec (4394 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 18 2021