jstchurchofchrist

ROMANS – Paid in Full

Why the Gospel is Such Good News!

Rome was the most powerful city in the world––but Paul didn’t send this letter to:

• The Emperor of Rome –– The good news of Salvation is not in Government…
• Nor the Senate, or Courts of Law –– Salvation is not in the Courts of Law
• Or the Philosophers, or Rich or Powerful –– Salvation is Not in Man’s Wisdom!
• This Message is TO THE CHURCH! –– The Kingdom of God, the Pillar & Ground of Truth.

Rome also worshipped POWER, but Paul reveals a power greater than world empires, The Gospel is the POWER OF GOD to Save Humanity. And This Paragraph is the Heart of Romans––the Heart of the Gospel (Romans 3:21–26).
NOTE: Audio from Sunday’s sermon, video is a pre-recorded version.

Sermon for August 2, 2020 – AUDIO | TEXT PDF

ROMANS–Paid in Full

The Light of the World

There are two competing belief systems––from the world and from God. In the world’s belief system, your self worth is determined by your performance and what others think about you. However, with God, your self worth is not based on your success or failure or what others think about you––it is based on the truth of God’s love and purpose. This is why so many people who live for other’s acceptance, die by their rejection.
We are introduced to a man born blind in John chapter 9. And before it’s all over, he will be rejected by his parents, mocked and scorned by the powerful Pharisees, and yet he defends Jesus Christ against their attacks! In other words: In the End He Doesn’t Need the Acceptance of his Parents or Approval of the Pharisees, Because Jesus Had Opened His Eyes.

Sermon for Sunday, July 26, 2020 – AUDIO | TEXT PDF

The Light of the World

Battle For Peace

The news is so negative. It has always been that way. However, today it seems like the negativity carries a megaphone and a bat. Despair echoes from every direction. Conflicts boil over in every relationship. We are paralyzed with anxiety and wield our opinions like swords. The devil dances with delight.

It is time for disciples of Jesus to go on the offensive. This is the moment to fight for peace. Now is the hour to rise to the occasion. But beware, our weapons are not physical, but spiritual. The battleground is not outward, but inward. The war is won by overcoming evil with good.

The path to peace does not come from human rulers, medical advances, or powerful organizations. Our peace is greater than any worldly calm. It comes from a transcendent God.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7)

How often have I come to those words in search of peace and left frustrated!? I felt my peace should rise each morning with the dew, but it was gone just as quickly.

I discovered that peace does not come from chanting these words like a magic formula. They are not an ointment you rub on a bad day. The peace of God is a promise that depends upon tangible actions on my part. I must engage in the battle for peace, and God will ensure I win.

The strategy for winning the battle for peace is laid out in Philippians 4. Here are a few essential tactics.

Stand Together. A divided army is a defeated army. You see, there were two ladies in Philippi who were arguing, and the church felt the pain. Paul’s advice to them was to, “agree in the Lord” (Phil. 4:2). How can we spread peace, when there is no peace among us?

The blazing passions of our times are setting fires among believers. Now is the time to lay down your opinions and “pursue the things that make for peace” (Rom. 14:19). More than ever your world needs you to be a “blessed peacemaker” (Matt. 5:9).

Hold on To Joy. When days are dark it is hard to see the light of joy. You must fight for it. You must hunt it down. But it is there, in an endless reservoir, when you look in the right place. “Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Phil. 4:4). Find your joy in the Lord, for it does not crumble when the world quakes.

What makes you happy? Your anxieties reveal your true source of joy. When you are anxious about things that are temporary, worldly or selfish; when you agonize over the loss of your pleasures and plans, it is time to lay down your anxieties and “rejoice in the Lord.” Counteract every crushing report of despair with a reason to hope and rejoice in the Lord (this was the practice of the prophets and the psalmists).

Talk with God. I’m not surprised that people are afraid, uncertain, and angry. The problems of this world are too great for us. Even a microscopic virus is too great for us! But we are not alone. Through prayer we can rest in His ensuring wisdom and power. Through prayer we can fill the halls of our hearts with thanksgiving and praise. We need more prayer warriors who will lay down their constant need to be seen, and battle for peace on their knees (Phil. 4:6, 11-13).

Focus Your Thoughts. You are what you think! When our thoughts are dominated by the conspiracies, uncertainties, and violence of our day, we will be walking zombies of despair, or even worse, marching soldiers of ruin.

Guard the gate of your mind like a sentinel. Beat back the hordes of negativity. Only open the eternal real estate of your heart to things that are “true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy” (Phil. 4:8). In this culture, if you passively sit in your chair your mind will be captured by a parade of pessimism. It is time to break the stupor, get out of our chair, and go on the offensive and focus our thoughts on what is godly!

Take Action. The battle for peace has one more piece. Put on your shoes and do something to serve the Lord. Paul wrote, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 4:9). The time you spend helping the weak, saving the lost, serving the saved, healing the broken, will fill you with more peace than another hour plugged in to this cynical culture.

Lay down your pillow of escapism. Lay down your passive guzzling of pessimism. And bring the peace of God into a reality in your world.

Paul’s prayer is mine.

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way.
The Lord be with you all.” (2 Thess. 3:16)

Tim Jennings,
Castleberry church of Christ, River Oaks, Texas.

From Focus Online

With Jesus in the Storm

The World Needs the Truth Now More Than Ever. And you are the Church––the children of God––Shining as Lights in the World. Especially now during the distress of a pandemic and social chaos.

We Are the Children of God––but we are not exempt from the storms of life.

But when the storms of life hit us––and we turn to God for help…
We come through the storm with a new appreciation for life,
A greater appreciation for God who hears our prayers,
and deeper appreciation for Christ who offers peace in the midst of the storms.

Christ is the Calm in the Center of the Storm because He Saves

‘When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.’
Viktor Frankle

Sermon for July 19, 2020. AUDIO | TEXT PDF

With Jesus in the Storm

The Purpose of Suffering

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippains 4:13)

Do you ever find yourself complaining throughout your day about silly frivolous things? Do you complain when it takes 20 minutes to get through the drive through at Burger King even though there are only two cars ahead of you? Do you complain when your tired and you just don’t want to do your homework, or the dishes? How about not wanting to go to work, or do your job while you are there? I’ll be the first to admit that I can sometimes be a big complainer––just ask my wife. The truth of the matter is that we really have absolutely nothing to complain about. It must sadden the LORD to listen to us grumble and complain about such minor things in our lives.
In 1 Corinthians 10:10-11, we can read about how the Israelite nation had this very problem. After they were freed from Egyptian bondage, and led into the wilderness, some of them began to complain and grumble about the conditions that they were living in. Some of them lost their lives because of their complaining. The Corinthians were told not to grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples, and were written down as a warning to us.
How strong this message is! The complaining that we so easily find ourselves doing is not very becoming of a Christian, but suffering for righteousness is.
When I hear someone is having a bad day, I usually tell them that you’ve got to have some bad days to appreciate the good ones. They usually tell me to shut up and go away!
To know Christ is to have fellowship in His sufferings. Philippians 3:10-11 tells us that to be a disciple is to suffer. According to 1 Peter 2:21-24, we have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for us, leaving His life as an example for you to follow in His steps. Then in Matthew 5:10-12, it tells us we are blessed when we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. James 1:2-4 says that when we suffer, we also grow.
Here is a story by an unknown author that I’d like to share with you. One day, a man found the cocoon of an Emperor Moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as it struggled to force it’s body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The moth emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth, expecting that at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the little moth spent the rest of it’s life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled legs. It was never able to fly.
What the man, in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon, and the struggle required for the moth to get through that tiny opening were necessary. God had planned it that way to force fluid from the body of the moth into it’s wings. It would then be ready for flight once it finally achieved it’s freedom. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of that struggle, the man deprived the moth of health and great achievement.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. Our sufferings make us who we are. Read Romans 5:3-5. Trials produce many great qualities in us. We are blessed when we suffer for righteousness, 1 Peter 3:14-18. The conclusion of this is 2 Corinthians 4:8-11, we glorify God in our suffering.
We all have struggles, we all have trials. What we must understand is that the suffering here in this world and this life is not going to last forever. If we as Christians can continue to endure and fight the good fight, then we know that there is a home waiting for us in Heaven. If you are not yet a Christian, then you do not yet have that hope of being with God in the end. You need to asses your situation and find out what is keeping you from the Lord. He wants you, and you need Him, so become a child of God today.

––Eric Olson, Waupaca Church of Christ, Wuapaca, Wisconsin

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 16)