While one day all pain and problems will be behind us, for now we must draw strength from God’s family as we endure the sting of strained and fractured relationships that are inevitable because of our alliance with Christ.
We must understand the clear and repeated call to fear God, first in view of our need for salvation and then in view of his absolute and ultimate authority over every aspect of our lives.
Real Christians must fall into the same pattern as phony Christians, as though we will not face a day when our Father will thoroughly evaluate and call us to account for our actions and words.
We must understand the reason people respond in a hostile way toward the truth, prayerfully and lovingly warning of the multiplied consequences of rejecting it.
We need to be discerning in our evangelism, knowing when to move on and understand the gravity of the situation when we have to.
Is murder worse than lying in God’s eyes? Or are all sins the same? Pastor Mike takes a look at Scripture to determine how God views sin.
To present Christ accurately to our generation we must relay a clear sense of Christ’s authority and power both to direct and to judge our lives by his standards.
God has shown his faithfulness to his good promises, as well as his faithfulness to his just judgments by the way he provided Jesus from the lineage of David.
Faithful messengers of the Good News of Christ must be willing to endure unfavorable responses when we speak plainly of sin and God’s impending judgment.
Though we experience a lot of painful inequities in this life we must replace frustration & complaining with a trust in God’s justice and a focus on his incomparable benefits.
We should gladly submit ourselves to God’s only sanctioned Savior and King, mindful of the grave consequences of opposing or rejecting his loving leadership.
We must lovingly anticipate the potential negative impact our “gray area” decisions might have on others, and always be willing to sacrifice our freedom for their spiritual good.
Christianity assumes and requires that Christians are consciously and purposefully living for the glory, honor and benefit of God – not themselves!
All of our decisions about “gray areas” need to be carefully and soberly considered in light of our future accountability at the bema seat of Christ.
Our ability to readily discern sin in others must be utilized in honestly appraising and admitting our own sinfulness as God’s unmerited forgiveness requires.
We must be informed and prepared for the resurrections and judgments that await all of people.
Because Christ has demonstrated an extreme love to redeem us from sin and its consequences, we should soberly insure that our lives are transformed and growing in a deepening devotion to God.
The Gospel benefits require a complete and total honesty about our guilt and culpability before God’s holy tribunal.
Our righteous deeds or righteous environment is tempting to trust in, but doing so is a catastrophic mistake – we must trust in Christ alone!
God’s grace is amplified as we understand the inexcusability of our sin; we have been warned about his rules repeatedly by natured, conscious and God’s word.
While passages of Scripture sometimes appear to support “works salvation” it is essential to know that good works that accompany salvation come after real repentance & faith.
God’s judgment of sin is reflected in our passing judgment on others; it should confirm our guilt and should be done only as God would direct us – without hypocrisy or self appointed authority.
We must understand that God temporarily tolerates (co-exists) with sin and allows people to plow headlong into increasing sin until the day of judgment; this does not reflect a lack of power on God’s part, but only patience and grace until his coming.
Feeling awkward or even scared when talking about the gospel is normal, even expected, but we have to power through the feelings to be obedient representatives of the most important message in the world.
In light of our present resources and our future responsibilities we ought to be able to wisely resolve any dispute that comes our way.
We must let the frequent thought of our future judgment effect the quality and quantity of effort we expend to make a difference in people’s lives for Christ.
