090614AM DWM-5 Prayer.doc The Unlimited Power of Unhindered Prayer in A Godly Marriage I Peter 3:1-12 DWM-41 BC&D-41 Lesson 17-1 131204WE As we open to I Peter 3 this morning, may I challenge each of you to one of Christ’s greatest promises to us as believers? Jesus said, “If you pray in faith you can […]
DWM-01 WFF-34 WFP-29 021014PM IS YOUR MARRIAGE – YOUR PRIMARY MINISTRY? This morning a little five year old boy slid up on my lap while I was hunched over my laptop typing. He said, “Dad, have we had good morning prayer time yet?” he must have forgotten that he had slid in and put […]
BCR-2017 DWM-02 WFF-03 991013WE Key Number One: Lead the Family Devotions A GODLY DAD WILL EMPHASIZE BIBLICAL COMMUNICATION Deuteronomy 6:7-9 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when […]
DWM-03 WFF-11 Resolves Of A Godly Ephesians 5 Husband & Wife 000911AM Three keys to a Godward home: solitude, simplicity, and surrender Three Personal Choices that Unleash a Godly Home Deuteronomy 6:5-8 Do you know the joy of a Godly home? God says that some of the GREATEST joys in life can come through our […]
DWM-35 NR1-40 NR7-22 RIG-08 WFF-51 WWJ-32 000917AM As you open to our exposition of Colossians 3:1-17 this morning, may I make one thing perfectly clear: God wants your mind. More than anything else God wants to have the control of your mind. If God has your mind – He has your body, If God has your mind – He has […]
NR1-37 NR7-19 RIG-05 DWM-34 WFF-48 WWJ-29 000903AM The Holy Spirit chose eight different Hebrew[1] words to paint the picture of the God who seeks us to come silently before Him and to listen to Him through His Word. A personal Sabbath feeds our patience, strengthens our obedience, focuses our spirit and renews our strength as […]
DWM-33 NR1-36 NR7-18 RIG-04 WFF-47 WWJ-28 000827AM Just to feed three million people would take 1300 railroad box cars of food each day, or a daily train 9 1/2 miles long! Can you imagine the deafening buzz of all those people talking, walking, bartering, gathering, cooking, cleaning and caring for their campsites? But on […]
DWM-32 NR1-34 NR7-16 RIG-02 WFF-45 WWJ-26 000820AM Isaiah 58:13-14 Did you notice this morning the pace of your life as you came here to worship God? Perhaps[1] we all need to slow down and reflect on the following… The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; […]
GEW-R-17 110206AM EBG-35 Women of Grace .doc 21st Century Women of Grace: God’s Pathway to Eternal, Life-long Usefulness Titus 2:2-8 God has clearly communicated in easy to understand terms His desires. God wants 21st Century Women of Grace who follow His pathway to life-long usefulness. This desire of God was embraced by generation after generation […]
081130PM GCM-43 GEW-23 ANNA: LIVING A GRACE-ENERGIZED LIFE OF PRAISE Luke 2:36-40 As we open to Luke 2:36, and are introduced to the life of Anna, I’d ask you to underline two words in your mind. First, in v. 36 “she was of great age”—underline in your mind OLD. Second, in v. 37 “a widow […]
GEW-20 EBG-49 070909AM Jesus reduced life to one simple goal—seeking God’s rule over each day of my life. Do you remember Christ’s simple yet powerful words? Please open there with me: Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. NKJV Ever since the Garden of Eden, […]
GEW-19 EBG-48 070902AM Can you imagine how liberating it would be to know how to choose the best in life? We live in a complex world of multiplied choices, many of which are good. We have more new information and more new opportunities offered to us each week—than the average 18th century person was offered […]
GEW-18 EBG-47 070826AM This week I had lunch and someone stopped by our table and asked, “Could you define ‘grace-energized’ for me?” I did briefly there at that restaurant, but as I thought and prayed about it, I decided that it would be good to pause one week and back up to look at […]
EBG-46 GEW-17 070819AM Do you serve the Lord with grace-energized kindness? Knowing that is vital because that is the only type of serving that God will reward according to His Word. Someday when our journey on earth ends, and we stand before Christ’s Throne—the Scriptures use only one word to describe what God […]
EBG-44 GEW-15 070812AM For two thousand years God has been looking in each generation of Christ’s Church for a few good women–who will give themselves to His plan for their lives. That plan has been laid out for them in Titus two. When these women offer themselves as willing servants to follow God’s […]
EBG-43 GEW-14 070805AM What Does a Grace-Energized Church Look Like? A grace-energized church is where believers are empowered by God to magnify Christ, when God’s Word is prevailing in and through their lives, and they are willing to consecrate their lives and rid themselves of anything that hinders or displeases God. As you open in […]
EBG-42 GEW-13 070729PM As we open to I Thessalonians 5, we open to Paul preparing new believers for spiritual warfare. As believers and followers of Christ, they were going to be attacked in their minds, by the Devil. That is where he starts. Your body only goes where you mind directs. Your mind is […]
070722AM EBG-40 GEW-11 Titus Two Women-11 Children Loved by Grace-Energized Mothers .doc Grace-energized Living: The Titus Two Model Titus 2:4 We have gathered as Christ’s church this morning, but the church that met as Christ’s church nearly 2,000 years ago in New Testament times was a much simpler, informal gathering. There were no “church […]
GEW-10 EBG-39 Titus Two Women-10 Children Loved by Grace-Energized Mothers .doc Children Loved By Grace-Energized Mothers Titus 2:4 070701AM God is love, the greatest of all Christian virtues is love, and love energized by God lasts forever. What can be the most powerful aspect of a wife and mother’s life on earth as […]
GEW-09 EBG-38 Titus Two Women-09 Grace-Energized Mothers Deal with Bitterness .doc Grace-Energized Mothers Deal with Bitterness Titus 2:4 070624PM The decline and fall of the human race is set forth in Romans 1. Curiously, right in between all of those dreadful sins is one that seems to have always stood in the way of mothers […]
GEW-08 EBG-37 Titus Two Women-08 Bitterness Hinders Grace-Energized Wives and Mothers .doc Bitterness Hinders Grace-Energized Wives and Mothers Titus 2:4 070624AM God’s high calling for grace-energized women is to love their husbands and children. To most of us mature 21st century believers that may sound wonderful. To them it must have sounded impossible. The Cretans of Paul’s […]
GEW-07 EBG-36 Titus Two Women-07 Mothers Energized by Grace Love Their Children .doc Husbands Loved by Grace-Energized-Wives Titus 2:4 070617AM I’d like to go back with you to the beginning and together see God’s original intent and plan for men who would become husbands and fathers, as seen in Adam. As you turn to Genesis […]
GEW-06 EBG-35 Titus Two Women-06 Mothers Energized by Grace Love Their Children .doc Women Energized by Grace Love Their Children Titus 2:4 070610PM Women energized by grace love their children. That is what Titus 2:4 says. We are going to see how to love children with love they can feel. But before we do that we […]
GEW-05 EBG-34 Titus Two Women-05 Mothers Energized by Grace .doc Mothers Energized by Grace Love Their Children Titus 2:4 070610AM Ministry in Christ’s church was never easy, even from the start. As we open Paul’s letter to Pastor Titus, missionary church-planter to Crete—we look at the description of the cultural background of the congregation Titus served […]
GEW-04 EBG-33 Titus Two Women-04 Women Energized by Grace .doc Titus Two Women-04: Women Energized by Grace Love Their Husbands Titus 2:4 070527AM We were saved by God’s grace; and we are kept by God’s grace; and we live in a way that pleases God and earns His rewards—energized by His grace. These past few […]
GEW-03 EBG-32 Titus Two Women-03 Teaching Good. Life Models .doc Women Energized by Grace-03 Teaching Good and Life Models Titus 2:1-13 070520AM When the Gospel of the life-changing grace of Jesus Christ entered the Roman world of the New Testament, the condition of family life was very bleak. Paganism had all but erased the […]
GEW-02 EBG-31 070513PM Christ’s church was born into a sin-warped, sin-darkened world of mixed-up marriages, sin-scarred lives, and confused families. But men and women who were gloriously saved did not automatically become great wives and mothers, or husbands and fathers. When they came to Christ and were forgiven, God graciously gave them everything they needed […]
GEW-01 EBG-30 Titus 2.3-5 Women Reverent in Behavior .doc Titus Two Women, Mothers and Wives: Reverent in Behavior Titus 2:1-8 070513AM For the past twelve years it has been my joy to present on Mother’s Day a lineup of the greatest mothers of the Bible. We have seen Hannah, Ruth, Elisabeth, Mary – the Proverbs […]
GEM-31 080720AM Jesus said that if our eye is single (Mat. 6:22), all of our lives will be filled with His light. Jesus went on to say that we can’t have two masters, we must focus upon one (Mat. 6:24). James warns us of the dangers of being double minded (James 1:8), because it destabilizes […]
GEM-30 080713AM Un-enslaved to Corruption in a Corrupted World Our God is a Consuming Fire (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29); and He forever dwells in Unapproachable Light (I Tim. 6:16), surrounded by His exquisite creations that chant Holy, Holy, Holy—and fall down in obeisance before Him (Isaiah 6:3; Rev. 4:8); and since the Lord God Almighty is […]
GEM-29 080629PM Following Jesus is the call of every believer. As the Apostle John was inspired to say, it is also the test of true salvation. Listen to him in his first letter: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:6) Discipleship: Learning to Follow Jesus Although the word […]
GEM-28 080629AM Christ’s first words, to His first disciples, should be our first priority as His disciples today. “Follow Me” is still the essence of Biblical Christianity. Those two words were what He spoke to Peter, Andrew, James and John as they fished (Matthew 4:19) and to Matthew as he sat at the tax […]
GEM-27 080622AM Jesus said that eternal life is all about following Him; and He summarized His entire plan for the disciples in just two words: “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19). Those two words were what He spoke to Peter, Andrew, James and John as they fished and to Matthew as he sat at the tax office […]
GEM-26 080615AM If we gathered every young man in the church to give them the most important Biblical lesson they would ever get—what would that lesson be? If we had only one shot at preparing a class to teach young Christian men, that would prepare them for a life of blessing, a life of spiritual […]
GEM-25 080608PM Grace-energized, persevering hope is especially relevant to days in which we live. God wants hope-filled men and women walking through life side-by-side with hope-less worldlings, so that we can point those without hope to our hope in Christ. In one of Christ’s final messages, He tells us that the time period ahead of […]
GEM-24 080608AM Paul set out God’s plan of discipleship for Christ’s church nearly 2,000 years ago. We began to study that curriculum in Titus 2 about one year ago, and we are entering the final stretch. Before us lay the final elements or characteristics of what a useful, godly, servant of the Lord not only […]
GEM-23 080504AM As we open to Matthew 24, Jesus sat down near the end of His earthly ministry and painted a vivid picture of what the world would look like as it neared its final days. We have studied that message called the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 many times. But this morning I […]
GEM-22 080420AM Before the celestial “shock and awe” judgments of the Tribulation are unleashed, God’s Word describes a time characterized by false teaching and teachers SO strong, that it would even sweep away even true believers (Mark 13:22) if they were not sealed by the Spirit of God. In Matthew 24 Jesus describes the world […]
GEM-21 080413AM I love the simplicity of the Gospel. Jesus gave us three powerful truths to hold onto through life, and that will get us safely into our place He has prepared for us in Heaven. Just before Jesus left His disciples to return to Heaven, He spoke these words in John 14:6. This passage […]
GEM-20 080330AM As we open to Acts 20:17, may I remind you of an old truth? “There is nothing new under the Sun”, that’s what God’s Word said three thousand years ago by Solomon (Ecclesiastes 1:9). When it comes to the state of Christ’s Church, that truth is very helpful. Satan has just one […]
GEM-19 080316AM Palms waving, people chanting, but there was one more part of Palm Sunday—Jesus started and ended His ministry shaking up the religious establishment. On Palm Sunday, what did Christ do right after He rode into town? What was the first event noted right after the triumphal entry? What follows that event in all […]
GEM-18 080302AM God commands each of us this morning to ask ourselves a series of questions. These questions are all targeting the one very most important issue of all—the reality of our eternal destination. As we turn to II Corinthians 13:5, Listen to what God commands us two times in this one verse, to be asking ourselves […]
GEM-17 080224AM Please open to Titus 2, where we find the marching orders for all men in Christ’s church. This chapter lays out God’s expectations for all men young and old, as well as we already have seen, for all women young and old. We have come to the fourth quality of grace-energized men that […]
GEM-16 080217AM The God of the Universe is seeking something—God is looking for individuals who will worship Him. We were all born, alienated from God, by our sin. But Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost by taking our place on the cross and paying the price for our sin. The Good News […]
GEM-15 080210PM Grace-energized men get “sound in faith” when they are mended (by equipping) and built up (through edification) by the Word of God’s truth. Then they go through life building others up (edifying them) by God’s Word. In Christ’s church each of us has a different giftedness God wants to use in His construction […]
GEM-14 080210AM As we open to I Timothy 3, turn your minds towards one of the most amazing parts of our faith—the new relationships God gives to us. First, all of us in Christ this morning are brothers and sisters (I Tim. 5:1-2); and that even includes our children, our parents, and our marriage partners, […]
GEM-13 080203AM Have you ever wondered how God looks upon us as we come together to worship each Sunday? God has said that He looks at us as His family or household, gathered as pillars solidly grounded in a foundation of truth. That is how He sees us, and we should remember that as we […]
GEM-12 080127AM The Lord has revealed His convictions very clearly in His Word. God is Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, Pro-Justice, and Pro-Work. We then defined those convictions as the Bible does, that God is: GOD is Pro-Life—God is opposed to Abortion and Euthanasia. GOD is Pro-Marriage—God is opposed to Gay Unions, as well as divorce, adultery, fornication, […]
GEM-11 080113PM We are living through days so much like those when the aged Paul sat to write his young disciple named Titus. His days like ours are increasingly filled with false teachings about God, and false doctrines. For times just like those in which we live Paul writes, Christ’s church is to be […]
GEM-10 080113AM Nothing is so precious as the faith we have in God, His Word, and Christ’s work for us. That is why Paul sat to write the young church planting pastor named Titus, serving on the island of Crete. Paul’s world was hostile to the truth of God; and Paul warned that days to come would increasingly […]
GEM-09 080106AM Open with me to James 4:14. As we enter this first Sunday of the New Year, we should each pause and reflect upon the brevity of our life; and how God wants us to live each day. “…whereas you do not know what will happentomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for […]
GEM-08 071209PM Titus 2 is all about discipleship—learning to live the way God wants us to live. Men and women who seek out being mentored by godly examples within the church. Discipleship is all about following our Master Jesus Christ and learning to live by the wisdom of His Word. When Jesus called […]
071125PM GEM-07 Getting Serious About Life in An Amused World .doc Grace Energized Men: Reversing the Erosion of A Reverent Mind Titus 2:1-2 God offers to all of us the incredible power of the Spirit to free us from the shackles of sin. Everything I will share this evening about personal sanctification can only be […]
071125AM GEM-06 Renewing a Reverent Mind .doc Grace Energized Men: Renewing a Reverent Mind Titus 2:1-2 God’s constant call to His servants in His Word is for their minds to be His dwelling place. That is why Paul called the early church to begin training older men in the godly habit of living reverently for […]
071118AM GEM-05 Getting Serious About Life in An Amused World .doc Grace Energized Men: Getting Serious About God in An Amused World Titus 2:1-2 Are you reverent this morning? Reverence is feeling the “weight” of God in every part of our life and mind. The word “glory” as in the Glory of God in the […]
GEM-04 071111PM God is looking to train a generation of un-intoxicated men to lead and model Christ’s righteousness in an intoxicated world. God wants men who do not succumb to the intoxicating influences that dull their mind. Any desire, unrestrained by God’s grace can become an intoxicating idol. Things like: sober: comfort, convenience, security, work, […]
GEM-03 071104AM God wants balanced, anchored lives in His Church to lead and guide others to spiritual stability and maturity. As we open to Ephesians 4:14 this morning, remember how we all begin as believers. Paul reminds us that we all start out as babies not just physically, but spiritually. In Ephesians 4, Paul explained that one […]
GEM-02 071028PM In Titus 2:2, God tells older men to make a choice: “You can invest your life, or waste your life—its up to you!” Think about those choices as we look at this crucial portion of Scripture for every man who knows Christ! Paul asked Titus to be on the lookout for “older” men […]
GEM-01 071028AM The eyes of the Lord are on a constant search for godly men this morning. His Word tells us that He is looking for those who have a heart for Him. As we open to II Chronicles 16:9 listen to the voice of God sharing His quest: 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the […]
EBG-51 GEW-22 070930AM Things completed, give such a great feeling: a completed assignment so our work is done; a completely balanced diet so we are healthy; all our requirements completed, so the pressures are off…all of those feel so good. The Joy of Completion The dictionary defines this word so well: com·plete adj., = […]
EBG-50 GEW-21 070916AM When God looks down upon us humans who live on Earth He only sees two kinds of hearts: saved hearts and lost hearts. God’s Word classifies everyone as either: having Christ or not. Listen to John: 1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son […]
EBG-45 GEW-16 070812PM For the past 20 centuries God has offered to every married woman the privilege of turning each moment she spends in her hut, tent, cave, flat, apartment, or palace–into eternal crowns to cast at Christ’s feet. Since Paul sat to pen one word “homemakers” (NKJV) [“keepers at home” (KJV); “to be busy […]
EBG-41 GEW-12 070729AM Jesus loves absolutes. He always used them in His teachings, through contrasts: Light vs. Darkness, Heaven vs. Hell, Life vs. Death, Broad way vs. Narrow Gate, and so on. Those absolutes continue into the church that bears Christ’s Name. We have to choose go His way or ignore His way. The clearest […]
021208AM Prayer-20 GDGW-39 Laying hold on Eternal Life: BY GIVING THEIR LIFE BACK TO GOD DWM-31 WFF-39 WFP-34 This morning God’s Word has a powerful illustration of how we should pray for our families. Remember we are to be Raising Godly Families – One Prayer at a Time. Open with me this morning […]
021201AM Prayer-19 GDGW-38 Laying hold on Eternal Life: By Commitment DWM-30 WFF-38 WFP-33 We have come to our fourth and final element of how to Raise Godly Families – One Prayer at a Time. This is the area Paul commands us as he says “Lay Hold on Eternal Life”. We have been examining just how […]
021124AM Prayer-18 GDGW-37 LAYING HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE: BY CONSECRATION “LOSERS ARE KEEPERS” DWM-29 WFF-37 WFP-32 WTB-39 Losers are Keepers Remember when you went to school as a kid? Out in the playground you learn a lot of things that stay through life. Here’s one “Finders keepers, losers (what?) weepers”. Right? Well […]
021117AM Prayer-17 GDGW-36 Laying hold on Eternal Life: By Contentment DWM-28 WFF-36 WFP-31 I watched the World Population Clock again this week. It is a very moving sight to see each second as the numbers changed. The math of this UN site is simple — the number go up by five births and down by […]
021110AM Prayer-16 GDGW-35 “PRAYING FOR GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT FOR OUR CHILDREN ” BEWARE OF AFFLUENZA DWM-27 WFF-35 WFP-30 One of my hobbies is to follow Global Trends. We are so fixated often as Americans on America we are out of touch with issues that most of the world is focusing upon. This week many […]
021013AM Prayer-15 GDGW-33 RAISING GODLY FAMILIES ONE PRAYER AT A TIME DWM-26 WFF-33 WFP-28 Paul distilled the life of a believer down to one word in 1st Thessalonians 1.10 – WAIT. We are waiting for Jesus, waiting for the Kingdom, waiting upon Him who loved us and loosed us from our sins. But what do […]
020922AM Prayer-14 GDGW-32 Growing Dads God’s Way-32 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 14 PRAYING THAT THEY WAIT TO MEET GOD’S PREPARED PARTNER FOR THEM DWM-25 WFF-32 WFP-27 God has inspired two pictures in Proverbs. One is the Proverbs 31 woman; the other isthe Proverbs 14 woman. In contrast to the elegantly […]
020915AM Prayer-13 GDGW-31 Growing Dads God’s Way-31 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 13 PRAYING THAT THEY WAIT TO MEET GOD’S PREPARED PARTNER FOR THEM DWM-24 WFF-31 WFP-26 One of my favorite moments in ministry is when I stand up here with two trembling hearts standing before me at the […]
020908AM Prayer-12 GDGW-30 Growing Dads God’s Way-30 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 12 “PRAYING THAT THEY WAIT TO MEET GOD’S PREPARED PARTNER FOR THEM ” DWM-23 WFF-30 WFP-25 For most of us, most of our life will be spent in marriage. What do you want those bulk of your years of […]
020901PM Prayer-11 GDGW-29 Growing Dads God’s Way-29 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 11 “PRAYING THAT THEY LOVE THE WAY GOD MADE THEM AND BOYS AND GIRLS” Part Two DWM-22 WFP-24 As the world crumbles, as society disintegrates, and roles and genders are obliterated – God’s Word stands. As even the Christian […]
020901AM Prayer-10 GDGW-28 Growing Dads God’s Way-28 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 10 PRAYING THAT THEY LOVE THE WAY GOD MADE THEM AS BOYS AND GIRLS DWM-21 WFF-28 WFP-23 Each of us were built to a perfect and intricate set of plans, engineered by God Himself. Within every cell of our […]
020825AM Prayer-9 GDGW-27 Growing Dads God’s Way-27 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 9 “PRAYING THAT THEY WILL TRUST GOD WITH HARD SITUATIONS AND NOT REBEL” DWM-20 WFF-27 Every day of our lives we make choices. Those choices will often involve a response to an authority God has placed around us. For […]
020818AM Prayer-8 GDGW-26 Growing Dads God’s Way-26 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 8 “PRAYING THAT THEY LOVE THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS” DWM-19 WFF-26 WFP-219 Are you wearing your ID Tag this morning? Jesus said in John 13 that each of His children has an ID badge. “By this shall all men […]
020804AM Prayer-7 GDGW-25 Growing Dads God’s Way-24 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 7 “PRAYING THAT TRIALS NEVER EMBITTER THEM” DWM-18 WFF-25 WFP-20 Are you ready for some troubles? I am amazed as a pastor for the past twenty-five years how few of us really are. Will you be taken off […]
020728AM Prayer-6 GDGW-24 Growing Dads God’s Way-24 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 6 PRAYING FOR SERVANT HEARTED CHILDREN DWM-17 WFF-24 WFP-19 May I give you a little quiz this morning? If you know the answers just say it right out like we were sitting in my living room at one […]
020721AM Prayer-5 GDGW-23 Growing Dads God’s Way-23 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 5 Praying for their Purity DWM-16 WFF-23 WFP-18 Did you know what Jesus prayed for you and me as He walked towards Gethsemane, with His eyes lifted toward His Father in Heaven? He was praying for our sanctification. […]
020714AM Prayer-4 GDGW-21 Growing Dads God’s Way-21 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 4 DWM-15 WFF-21 WFP-07 Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. How are you doing this morning in the most wonderful and available ministries available to all of us as believers? Prayer […]
020707AM Prayer-3 GDGW-20 Growing Dads God’s Way-20 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer – 3 What happens when parents pray? DWM-14 WFF-20 WFP-17 What Happens When Parents Learn to Pray? I Samuel 12:23 One of my great heroes of the faith is a missionary who lived from 1824-1907. His name was […]
020630AM Prayer-2 GDGW-19 Growing Dads God’s Way-19 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Prayer -2 DWM-13 WFF-19 WFP-16 A church that doesn’t pray is on a spiritual treadmill, lots of action and no progress[1]. Prayer catapults us to the frontiers of what ever God is doing around the earth. The keys to prayer: […]
The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Tool Two – Prayer DWM-12 WFF-18 WFP-15 The Secret to Successful Parenting is Learning to Pray! Titus 2:11-13 Has the God of the Universe clearly marked the pathway we need to stay on for raising our children? The good news is that He has. And in the […]
020623AM Mile Markers GDGW-17 Growing Dads God’s Way-17 The Most Powerful Tools in Godly Parenting: Tool One – Character DWM-11 WFF-17 This message is one chapter of the book The Joy of a Word Filled Family available in audio and print form free online at www.dtbm.org as well as on Amazon. We just returned […]
020512PM DWM-10 WFF-16 We just arrived back from a 4,639-mile journey through 16 states in 16 days traveling from Tulsa to the East and back. As I sat for about 92 hours over these past few days behind the steering wheel, often moving at 102 feet per second, I started noticing how many details […]
890514AM MATTHEW 1:3-16 DWM-09 WFF-14 WHG-05 ZNA-426 Mothers are quite a precious commodity, aren’t they? Each of us owes our very existence to our Mom! Scriptures are specific when we speak to the blessed theme of motherhood. In fact: God is interested in individuals – 2,930 individuals named. God is interested in […]
930516AM I Peter 3:1-6 DWM-08 WFF-08 OPEN YOUR BIBLES TO MARK 14:3-10 Its just a day before the end of Christ’s earthly ministry. On this night before that long last supper/betrayal night, one of the most touching scenes from the ministry of Christ occurs. A love filled woman, driven by gratitude, smashes a jar containing […]
991110WE DWM-07 WFF-04 GROWING DADS God’s WAY is a six-tape journey to the heart of parenting. Dads, it is us that God chose to lead. Are you following the plan? The Word of God lays down a Biblical pattern for dads. In these pointed sessions we are faced with the truth and how to apply […]
DWM-06 WFF-01 990915WE GROWING DADS God’s WAY is a six-tape journey to the heart of parenting. Dads, it is us that God chose to lead. Are you following the plan? The Word of God lays down a Biblical pattern for dads. In these pointed sessions we are faced with the truth and how to apply […]
011112PM Psalm 127-128 DWM-05 WFF-09 The Four Stages of a No-Regret Marriage and Family Psalm 127-128 When your life is done, and you look back those last few weeks or months that you have before cancer, or heart or respiratory problems overtake you – will you regret these days of your marriage and family? Will […]
930523AM Wanted: godly men Psalm 15; I Tim 3 DWM-04 WFF-13 There have probably been few times in the history of this planet when it has been harder to be a man of god than today. All around us Satan has poised the forces of the darkness of this world to destroy the endangered […]
090830AM DWM-15 Praying.doc Praying with Personal Integrity Psalm 66:18 DWM-50 One of the greatest tools God gave us was the tool that the Apostle Paul used so widely. Prayers from a heart and life of integrity can touch the whole world. Paul lived in integrity. As he faced prison for his testimony he declared in […]
God loves things to be according to His specifications. He likes us to follow the code He has established in His Word. When Moses went up the mountain in Exodus 24:18-25:40, God showed him the detailed plans for the Tabernacle, the most written about physical building in the Universe. More chapters are devoted to the detailed descriptions of this building than any other in the Bible. God spent more time on the Tabernacle than He does on the Creation of the Cosmos, the Flood and even the last week of Christ’s life.
The Tabernacle was so important to God that He wanted it built and operated just right. God wanted His Glory and plan to be reflected by everything done in that tent. The same is true in another temple He has built.
Today God wants us living for Heaven, and every other day of our earthly lives.
But, we have to do so in the midst of an epidemic that has gotten stronger century by century. This flu we face as believers in Christ each day is far more deadly than the H1N1 variety of influenza now loitering and infecting people across the globe. Affluenza or materialism is a deadly disease that robs Christians of their desire for Heaven and replaces it with a desire for earth.
As we open to I Timothy 6 we find Paul warning about this spiritual sickness of materialism. This morning measure your personal resistance level to the nearly irresistible draw of spending life chasing stuff, money, pleasure, and possessions.
In the last book of the Bible, we find that Jesus went on a journey visiting seven churches on that particular Sunday, recorded in chapters 2-3. Jesus went to church, reminding us He comes to watch us as we gather today.
When Jesus chose to use the number seven (always used in the Bible for completion, or a complete set of something) He was demonstrating to us what He saw in all churches at that time, in every place, and also I believe, what Christ’s church would be characterized by throughout all the ages.
The Day Jesus
Came to Church
Mature saints offering true spiritual worship is God’s strong desire for each of us.
As we open to Ephesians 4, through His servant Paul, our Lord Jesus Christ explains the purpose and plan for His Church, and where each of us should seek to be today.
First, Jesus explains His plan for the church is giving God’s Word through Apostles and Prophets (Ephesians 4:11a); and for that Word to be used to plant churches throughout all generations by church planters (evangelists); and to mature and grow believers by pastor teachers (Ephesians 4:11b).
God gives us two different inspired descriptions of women in Proverbs. In fact, if you sorted through the 31 chapters, 915 verses and over 15,000 words of the Book of Proverbs, you can find just over 200 verses that actually declare what good men and women, boys and girls look and act like, and what the immature, unspiritual, and ungodly opposites look and act like.
One of the most striking contrasts is between the Proverbs 31 type of woman who is described as a woman of beauty, grace, wisdom, and excellence; and the Proverbs 14 type of woman who is described as a woman of immodesty, aggressiveness, and evil intent.
Can there be any higher calling than the one the God of the Universe has given to husbands? God says, love your wife just like Christ loves His Church. That is a very high calling, and perhaps the most sobering words any married man, who knows and loves God could hear.
Paul explains marriage is unlike any other role we fill in life as a man. Marriage is unlike any other job we do. Marriage is elevated, by God, speaking through Paul in Ephesians 5, to one of the highest places in life.
There are few things in life that God singles out to be done in a way that clearly imitates how Jesus did it.
As the summer winds down, and we stand before the freshness of a new start this fall. Have you pondered what would be the best investment of your spiritual capital in the fall of 2009? In other words, where are you going to focus your time in pursuit of Christ Jesus the remaining months of this year?
To help you with that choice listen to the incredible challenge Paul lays out in Ephesians 6:18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
Paul says that we as believers are to have the priority of prayer in our lives. Prayer should be our first choice, the first option, our first pick when we have a chance to pick an activity.
On Father’s day perhaps the greatest question every husband and father should ponder is, “Am I fulfilling my high calling from God to bless my wife and children?”
Today as we open to I Peter 3, we proclaim the incredible duty that God has given to husbands and fathers to bless those around them in their life and family.
God’s Word declares that He has chosen husbands to lead their homes and marriages with Christlike love. Jesus showed us how to love by His example to His disciples. Part of what every born again husband and father will stand before Christ’s Throne and explain is how he did at blessing his wife and family with Christ’s sacrificial love.
As we open to I Thessalonians 5, there is one tool God left us above all others that is ours alone to use. We are not forced, we are not obligated, we are just offered the single greatest source of unleashing spiritual power through our lives.
And what is that tool we can take or leave each day? It is the tool that keeps us connected to God, His Word, His plan, His power, and His Presence—the choice we make to talk to Him in prayer!
Prayer is how we can open our lives to God’s plan and then be used by Him to penetrate the lives of our marriage partner, our children, and our dearest friends with God’s truth.
There are 1189 chapters in the Bible. As we open to Psalm 127-128, we open to two of the most beautiful pictures of marriage and family life in all of God’s Word, captured on paper for us to read. God allows us to see marriage and family life from His perspective, with children described as growing like these healthy green, fruitful trees, entwined lovingly into our lives as parents, and growing with us in godliness.
The picture seen in this Psalm would be the dream come true for every parent who knows and loves God today. But we must balance this picture with the reality taught by the other 1187 chapters of God’s Word:
Each of us here this morning are engineered by God; and as we open to Psalm 139, He wants us to understand His intentional design and reflect His glory, by loving the way He made all of the unchangeable features of our lives.
One of the greatest reminders of God’s creative power is the reality that each of us humans who have ever lived are distinctly, uniquely, and wonderfully different. From our fingerprint, to our tongues, from our DNA to our lives—we are all spiritual snowflakes, truly one-of-a-kind.
As we open to Ephesians 5, think about the end of Creation Week, as God looked over the entire scope of the Universe He fashioned, only one element was “not good”. It was man. Adam was alone, and God said that wasn’t good. So God crowned the six stellar days of creation with Eve, the perfect partner and friend for Adam. When God designed marriage, it was to perfectly complete those He had fashioned in His image. God established a vital truth: a designer marriage would be one lived the way God designed it to be. Sadly, most marriages are not designer marriages.
God desires every marriage in Christ’s church to be led by a husband clothed in humility. That is the goal God has for every man here who is a genuine believer, and is married or hopes to be someday.
All of us husbands are asked by God to represent Him here on Earth. As we saw last time in Ephesians 5:25 our first command is to LOVE our wives. Sacrificially like Jesus. Today we look at the second half of the plan God left for us: we are to LEAD with Christ’s humility.
Humility Reflects
Christ Jesus
There is only one chapter in the New Testament that explicitly describes God’s expectations for every man, every woman, every boy, and every girl who are part of Christ’s Church, and that is Titus 2.
As we turn there this Mother’s Day morning, each of us in our hearts hold such a special place for our moms. But whether you are a mom or not, married or not, or even if you are a part of the half of us who are men—the passage we are going to in God’s Word speaks to all of us.
Titus 2’s verses are a message from God to every man and woman, boy and girl in Christ’s Church. This morning we are specifically going to examine what God has set down as a pattern that every woman should have as the goal of her life.
This morning we are right in the middle of looking at godly wives and mothers. Our theme this morning is that godly moms are in partnership with God and they love their children with love that can be felt.
But before we plunge into those Titus 2 methods of loving husbands and children with love they can feel, a quality that God wants every wife and mom to know and practice, we need to turn to the book of I Thessalonians 4 and ask, “Why are we even here studying God’s Word today? What is the bigger picture of what God wants from all of us.”
One of the great blessings in life comes from knowing what God wants you to do and doing it. That way of life Jesus described as His chosen path. He once said that He delighted in doing God’s Will.
For us who know and love the Lord, life is a delight. We know why He made us, what we are to do for Him, and so we face each new day knowing that the Lord is with us, His strength is ours, and His smile is upon us. Like Jesus we delight to follow His plan.
God commends to us the sheer delight that comes to wives and mothers who follow His plan. Paul tells us that they are catapulted to the front ranks of God’s most decorated servants I Timothy 2:15)—just through the obedience of nurturing children for the glory of God.
DWM-54 091004AM Consecration is giving our bodies as a living sacrifice to Christ. That is what Jesus says as we open to Luke 9. The truth of consecration is: “Losers are Keepers[1]”? God’s ways are so different than ours. Remember when you went to school as a kid? Out in the playground you learn […]
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