Doing God's work, one step at a time

Here lately, I have seen a rash of people hanging onto what I would call 'half-truths'. What I mean by half-truth is this: what they say is partially the Truth, partially a lie. My friends, a half-truth IS a lie. The enemy uses half-truth's to steer us away from the salvation we gain through Jesus Christ. Here are some of the examples of half-truths that I have seen: "Homosexuality is not a sin." "Faith is an individual thing, there isn't one path that is exactly the correct way to get to heaven..." "We have to do works of The Law (Hebraic Jewish Law) and keep the entire Law in order to be saved in addition to believing in Christ." "Why would a woman want to keep a child of a rape??? Abortion isn't wrong in this instance..." "I'm a good person, that's enough to get me to heaven." "Religion is just a system of control on society." These are just a few of the various things I have seen. ...

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Today we are going to start a 14 week sermon series entitled “The Life of Christ”. This is by no means going to be a comprehensive study. There is no way we can look at the life of Christ in 14 weeks…it’s impossible. There is simply just too much information. I actually did this class in 6 weeks in school. It was REALLY intense. I actually had two textbooks for this class; “Four Portraits, One Jesus: An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels” by Mark L. Strauss & “The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is” by N.T. Wright. Both of these books are great reads, however, very intense. I have a couple copies of each of these books if you would like to be challenged and grow your faith. But over the next 3½ months, we will only be able to hit the highlights, obviously ending our series on Resurrection Sunday, April 8th. Between Christmas and Resurrection Sunday every year, there is roughly between 10 and 18 weeks between the two, depending on the year. However, before I...

'Twas the week after Christmas, and all through my room, nothing would fit me, not even fruit of the loom. The cookies I'd nibble, the eggnog I'd taste, all the holiday parties had gone to my waist. When I got on the scales, there arose such a number! When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber). I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared; the gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared. The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese and the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please." As I dressed myself in my old cardinal’s shirt and prepared once again to battle the dirt. I said to myself, as I only can, "You can't spend a winter dressed like a fan!" So away with the last of the sour cream dip, get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip. Every last bit of food that I like must be banished, until all the additional ounces have vanished. I won't have a cookie, not even a lick. I'll want only to chew on a lon...

The Advent of Christ Sermon Series has been about looking at what the arrival of Christ meant to the Hebrews and what the 2nd arrival of Christ means to you and me now. As we began to connect last night, when Christ came to Earth, he brought with him numerous gifts to mankind; hope, peace, joy, love and many others. The greatest gift of all though, was Him. His humanity and deity, all wrapped up into one, given into the world only to be taken out of it by a sacrifice. The little baby who came in innocent as a lamb, left innocent as a lamb, blood shed and body broken for us. Now, we await The Return of the King. Our King, who ascended into heaven two millennia ago, will come again in the future to usher in an era of peace. The first time the Christ came as a child; an innocent tiny baby in the humblest of circumstances. When he left, he had been scorned, abandoned, shamed, crucified, died, yet still innocent. Claiming his victory over death, he rose again and then ascended into heave...

By now, I pray that you are beginning to see how all of these themes tie together. Not one is independent of another. They are mutually dependent upon the relationship of the others. Love is the response of having something to hope in, by which we have peace and joy. Love however, contrary to popular belief, is not a feeling. Love is an action…it’s a verb. All the time on TV and movies we hear the phrase, “Oh I think I am falling in love!” As we define it today, they are correct. A word better suited for that however is ‘infatuation’. Like this, most people think that the opposite of Love is Hate. Again, hate is not the opposite of Love; Apathy is the opposite of Love. Apathy is simply a lack of interest. You would just not care either way. Probably the most famous set of verses on Love is 1 Corinthians 13. It spells out what love truly is. As I read verses 4-7, keep this idea of Love is an action in mind. 3 And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body t...