And this was my sermon last Tuesday at church . We are coming near the conclusion of this wonderful-- and understandable!--book in our study of the Sovereign Kingship and victory of Jesus Christ!
Here are some quotes I put on the outlines which I thought would also be profitable to post here for your enjoyment and musing. Think, ponder, consider, get excited for heaven (cf. Phil 3:20).
Todd Bolen: “Christianity would not be Christianity without its belief in heaven. Did you know that if salvation did not include the promise of heaven, that it would be a weak salvation indeed? This world is not our goal; the next is. If there was no heaven, we might be saved from the condemnation of sin , and we might be saved from the power of sin , but we would never be saved from the presence of sin . If there was no heaven, we would never be perfectly righteous. If there was no heaven, we would not be pilgrims and strangers in this land. If there was no heaven, we would have no hope
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In my study for Acts 8 this Sunday morning, I came across this excellent insight by William Kistemaker: "Philip puts a penetrating question to the Ethiopian Eunuch: "Do you understand what you are reading?" This question is basic to confirming the Christian faith, for the Christian knows Christ only through the Scriptures. By reading God's Word, he increases his knowledge of Jesus Christ, his Savior. Thus Philip begins with the Scriptures, explains their fulfillment in Christ, and leads the Ethiopian official to repentance, faith, and joy. The task of the preacher is to show Christ to his audience. For precisely this reason, some churches have a plaque fastened to the pulpit just below the open Bible and visible only to the preacher. The plaque has the words, "Sir, we want to see Jesus" (John 12:21). The average member of a congregation listens to the preacher only on Sunday, during the worship service. He comes not to hear views on a number of topics that
My youth group has journeyed through the book of Revelation with me for the last 6 months or so--week after week. We are coming to the conclusion of the book and to the conclusion of time as we now know it. Last night I did part 2 of our study on hell: "The Shrieking Cries of the Tormented in Hell Manifested." (I have to give it some title to seize the reader's attention.) Here was my outline (it was more or less a topical study on hell): 1. Hell will be conscious torment in the presence of God (Rev 14:9-10) 2. Hell will be everlasting, unending torment without rest (Matt 25:46; Rev 20:11) 3. Hell will be shameful and conscience-stricken torment (Luke 16:24-28; Isa 66:24) 4. Hell will be black darkness, a bottomless pit, and awful fire (Matt 5:22; 13:50; Jude 7; Rev 19:20; 20:10; Jude 13; Rev 9:1-2) 5. Hell will be where God is glorified to destroy unrighteous sinners (Rom 9:22-23) 6. Hell will be where sinners will think about the opportunities they had to repent
“Consider the Cross” the 2009 CCC youth winter retreat Date : Feb 26 – Mar 1, 2009 Location : Big Bear, California Lodging : The Robinson’s Home Cost : $165.00 (scholarships are available) (includes 2 days skiing/boarding, food, lodging, transportation, and weekend notebook).
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Tentative Schedule of Events: Thurs, Feb 26 7pm meet @ ccc 7:30 depart ccc 10:30
Tonight I have the (weighty) responsibility of preaching on hell. We've been going through Revelation in our Bible Study and we studied the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15) a few weeks ago. Tonight is part two of that sermon. It's overwhelming. I'm not sure what else to say. It's overwhelming because it is so serious--and yet so many Christians think so lightly of hell. I have 10 points to my sermon tonight on hell. I've titled my sermon in such a way as to get their attention: " The Shrieking Cries of the Tormented in Hell Manifested ." I've grown personally in my own study and I trust that many tonight will learn more about the horrors of being tormented by God forever in hell. I am thankful for God's grace. I'm thankful for Jesus Christ, who died in my place. I'm thankful that "I'm saved from the wrath of God through Him [Christ]" (Rom 5:9). Salvation is truly from the Lord (Jonah 2:9). Stay tuned for the update
Called According to God’s Good Pleasure—A Study of 2 Timothy 1:9 Text: tou/ sw,santoj h`ma/j kai. kale,santoj klh,sei a`gi,a|( ouv kata. ta. e;rga h`mw/n avlla. kata. ivdi,an pro,qesin kai. ca,rin( th.n doqei/san h`mi/n evn Cristw/| VIhsou/ pro. cro,nwn aivwni,wn( Author’s Translation: [God] who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but on the contrary, according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the eternal times . It is evident from this text that the believer in Jesus Christ is saved by the sheer pleasure and grace of God. This is not a new concept. In the Old Testament, Israel was called by Yahweh to Himself simply because of His sovereign choice: Deuteronomy 7:7-8 7 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the LORD loved you Just as God elected
This is a great 2 minute video! It brings a good laugh too! :=)
According to a leading CNN article , this is apparently the case. Elizabeth Landau writes: Sexual content on television is strongly associated with teen pregnancy, a new study from the RAND Corporation shows. Researchers at the nonprofit organization found that adolescents with a high level of exposure to television shows with sexual content are twice as likely to get pregnant or impregnate someone as those who saw fewer programs of this kind over a period of three years. It is the first study to demonstrate this association, RAND said. A central message from the study is that there needs to be more dialogue about sex in the media, particularly among parents and their children, said Anita Chandra, the study's lead author and a behavioral scientist at RAND. She goes on to note: "We know that parents are busy, but sitting down and watching shows together with their teen, talking about the character portrayals, talking about what they just witnessed, and really using it as a teac