Gospel Living

Here is the video from my sermon on Philippians 4:6-9 at Lynton Missionary Church in Lynwood, CA, on June 17, 2012. Unfortunately, the recorder gave out about thirty minutes into the message, but don't be anxious: you can get the lost fifteen minutes from the manuscript below. od comforts us in the fact that our heroes in the faith are human.  We only need to think of David, who Scripture records was a man after God’s own heart—someone who stood up to Goliath’s bullying with the strength and faith unlike any of his countrymen.  Even so, he was human.  We remember his failures as a father.  We remember his failures in leadership.  We remember his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba.  We remember his murder of her husband.  If after all of this he is remembered as a man after God’s own heart in Acts 13:22, God’s grace provides hope for us all. There is another time when he stumbled in his faith.  Before Saul died in batt...

It may short-circuit both the Gospel movement and your personal passion for holiness. (HT: Justin Taylor )

Just some food for thought: " Bitterness is the pill we eat hoping that it will poison someone else " (Unknown) Ephesians 4:31-32: " Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. " Romans 14:10-13: " Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. "  One more passage to consider - Col 3:8, 9, 12, 13 " But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from ...

When we repent of sins as believers, there are a couple of points within ourselves that must must change. Stuart Scott in The Exemplary Husband (Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2002), illuminates this for us. 1. We repent according to God's process of change by working to renew the mind with Scripture (Romans 12:1-2). He provides the following examples: Click image to enlarge. 2. We repent according to God's process of change by working to put off sinful actions and to put on righteous ones (Ephesians 4:20-24). He writes, " This involves putting enough thought into one's life to: (1) specifically plan how and when a particular sin will be avoided, and (2) determine specific ways to apply its righteous alternatives. True repentance does not take place without these things " (44). Click image to enlarge.