Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Pastor Paul brings a very stirring message to awaken the Church from a spirit of complacency in our day. Things never begin out in this way but as one generation passes another takes its place, the fervency and the vision which once characterised the former gives place to apathy and by the time one the third generation comes, already the rot of backsliding compromise has set in. We are called to awaken from the spirit of complacency, to return back to our first love and to set our homes in order.
Matthew 8:5-13
A sad reality that haunts our present day is that Christianity has been reduced to nothing more than a simple formula through which if a person can regurgitate a few words, giving mental assent to a few facts, then he’s admitted into this comfortable religion we call Christianity and promised the treasures of eternal life. What does this “comfortable” religion look like? Well...let’s just say, you’d never know that the people professing it were any different from the world if it were not for the fact that they went by the name of Christian!!!! Yet, here’s the thing...as we trace the history of the first century Church, they were not always called Christians; they were called Christians first in Antioch. What were they then known as before Antioch? “...the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch”. Hence we see, the name “Christian”, and the word “disciple” are synonymous!!
This sermon is a call for the rubber on the Christian wheels to meet the road. Who sits on the throne of your heart? Who is the supreme ruler of your life? Who’s pulling the strings? Who’s calling the shots? In short; are you a man under authority?
Revelation 2:8-11
Of all seven epistles addressed to the Churches in Asia, the letter to the Church in Smyrna is by far the shortest. In just four verses, all that the Lord had to say was said! Smyrna was a Church that found itself amidst much tribulation and upon seeing their plight, Jesus sought to encourage them to hold fast and to prepare for an even greater period of persecution that was to follow.
There is much that can be learned from this epistle that we would do well to take heed. May God give us much grace in the days ahead so as to not only prepare for persecution but also to endure it.
Proverbs 3:5-6
There’s a thought that so grips my heart, subconsciously hanging over my head like an appointment. What is this thought you ask? It’s this...my personal accountability to God for what I have done with the time He has given to me whilst on this earth. It is this...the purpose for which I expended my life; the reason for which I lived and moved and had my being; to what end and to whose glory did I spend this little passing moment called life.
This sermon is a challenge and an exhortation for the Body of Christ to press into the will of God. Who will enquire of the Lord and seek out His will for every area of their lives? May God grant us much grace that when our Lord appears, we would not stand before Him empty handed. May we be able to say that we were busy about our Masters business!