Sermon Reflections from Embracing Grace | Alex Hardt | February 25,2024
Pastor Alex addressed the last rhythm for staying close to God which is service. When you draw close to God with prayer, study and reading the Word, try to cultivate Love for others sincerely, seek to witness to the transforming power of Christ, it leads you to service. What do you do with your faith? Now that you know God, desire to commune with Him, are practicing His love when with others and telling others about Jesus, you may ask what more do I need to do? All of these things leads you to love God more deeply, have a genuine love for others and desire to see them with you in the kingdom of God. But, not everyone is ready and willing to listen. Service is a way of showing others the love of God in a tangible way- no words required – just smiles and an open hand. Reaching out to others in love with food, a kind email, cookies, a welcoming smile and words of greeting are ways of showing God’s love. Nothing is expected in return. You aren’t doing the kind deed to ‘get’ something, only to give. This something very foreign to the world’s system of getting, doing and working for gain. How does this happen? Paul tells us in Colossians 2:6-7 “ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Our actions are a direct result of Christ being in our lives, indwelling and motivating us to love the world as He did. Pastor Alex had many scriptures of Jesus’ actions as He modeled this while here on Earth. Being rooted in Christ leads us to reflect God’s goodness to the world. Are you overflowing with grace and love because of your faith in Christ? Are you rooted and grounded in our faith? This is not something you get quickly but it grows over time as you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life. The sanctification process of becoming more and more like Jesus begins at the moment of belief in Jesus and continues growing throughout your life. It is truly a life changing process made possible only in Christ. Christ alone is the reason for our change. Without Christ, good deeds are just good deeds and have no eternal value. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, we can be rooted and grounded in Christ producing a life that is abundant and filled to overflowing with thanksgiving, hope and love. A life motivated by Jesus is one that loves to serve others and express His love for them. Deeds are done out of love and gratitude. It is the process of giving out the love of God. As you made the bags with goodies to give to someone in need, you were motivated by the desire to help someone else and show them a bit of God’s love. Lianna got the blessing of leading and helping others to do something nice, possibly creating an opportunity for someone to talk of Jesus and His love, and showed others a tangible way they could act. Lianna also got the joy of giving and being able to participate in God’s kingdom. You get the blessing of participating, giving out and possibly talking to someone about Jesus. You also get joy in giving out and participating in God’s kingdom. A win-win with blessings and joy for all in service to our King. Thanks Lianna for this great lesson in tangible love. Linda MESSAGE LINK Click Here to View the Message on Youtube Our Sunday service is online and in-person at 11:00am. Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass. Sermon Reflections from Favoritism Forbidden | Alex Hardt | July 9, 2023
James 2 is a very practical chapter for the church and how it is to operate. It also speaks to each believer about their own personal walk and commitment to Christ and His kingdom. Damon began with some personal examples of where he has seen favoritism in the form of snobbery within the church that caused him to reevaluate and question his own thoughts and actions. It was a good reminder how one action builds upon another and events can spiral away if we are not diligent. God calls us to look carefully at our actions and listen to our own words. Are they words and deeds that will bring Him glory? Are they edifying to Him and others? James calls favoritism sin, 2:8-9 “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” Where are you allowing Satan to lead you to sin? Is it your arrogance- thinking you are better than other believers, more devoted, more generous? Or is it your pride –thinking your way of doing things is better or you always get the right outcome? Satan is the great deceiver and we must always be aware and on guard. We need to constantly reassess and see if we are showing others Christ in and through our actions. John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Damon challenged us to align ourselves with scripture and focus on how we are acting and reacting with others. We are to constantly ask, are others seeing the love of Christ through me? James 2 is not all about how we act impartially towards all believers and unbelievers so they will see Christ but he also speaks about how our faith should be reflected in our deeds. Deeds for unbelievers stand alone as good or bad but deeds for the believer are to be a reflection of Christ within us. We cannot count on good deeds to gain us credibility with the world and His kingdom. They must be accompanied or motivated by our faith in Christ. The world’s opinion of our ‘good’ deeds should not matter to the believer. The only opinion that matters is God’s. He wants to know why you did what you did. God wants actions of the heart. Our heart for Him is to be our motivation. We do what we do because of our love for Him! When someone looks at our deeds they need to see both the good deed and the faith that motivated it. However, since people do not always perceive things correctly we should be relieved that God sees, God knows and God sees and knows what is in our hearts. He knows our true motivations. His opinion is the only one that matters! When I was working on memorizing James, I gave considerable thought to James 2:13-14. I struggled to make sense over “mercy triumphs over judgement”. Here are these verses in the New Living Translation and then in the Message. As you read and study James 2 this week, I pray they will be helpful. The New Living Translation “So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.” The Message 12-13 Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time. Let the lessons of James 2 speak to your heart this week. Will you be more open and less judgmental? Will your love and good deeds be a reflection of your faith? Will you seek to treat others with godly mercy knowing you are going to be totally provided for by God’s grace? Linda SERMON LINK Click Here to View the Sermon Our Sunday service is online and in-person at 11:00am. Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass. |
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