Tag Archives: sermons

Pastor Wrinkles: Little Heroes, Big World

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I recently had the privilege of preaching the Independence Day Message at Cornerstone Church in Winchendon. The message I preached was entitled, “Little Heroes, Big World”.

Over the next several days I will excerpt the sermon for us here so that we can have discussions on what we see in the Scripture.

Our opening Text is from the Book of Haggai chapter 2 verses 2-9

Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,[a] the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’

6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”  Haggai 2: 2-9

I, of course, have my ideas but I would love to hear from you what stood out to you in this passage.

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 3

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Taking the Witness Stand is one sermon in a series our church staff is preaching following the NBC series A.D. The Bible Continues.

If you missed either of the  first two parts of Taking the Witness Stand you can find them here:

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 1

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 2

Here is today’s portion:

Yesterday we concluded by saying…

We Have To Obey God in the midst of opposition

Taking the witness stand for Christ is not always easy. In America, right now, we have a right to declare our faith freely without fear of retribution. It is not that way in the rest of the world.

These headlines come from Voice of the Martyrs

March 2015-News has just come to hand from Vietnam sources of the Vietnamese Evangelical Mennonite Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang and his son Nguyen Quang Trieu being attacked by a group of seven young men while uniformed police sat back and did nothing to prevent the assault from happening.

April 1, 2015- A pastor’s daughter died, several people were injured and a Baptist church was torched during an attack on a village in the Rogo local government area of Kano State on the evening of 1 April.

We hear stories like this and cannot believe the ferocity of these attacks. We ask why. Jesus explained the reason in John 15 when He said,

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

 18“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.

Still, why would we choose Peter and John’s road in Acts chapter 4? If what Jesus said is true,why would we choose to take the witness stand for Jesus?

We choose to do it because we understand that

Jesus is the foundation and because

  When we stand for Jesus, He shines through!

How is Jesus shining through your life right now?

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 2

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Taking the Witness Stand is one sermon in a series our church staff is preaching following the NBC series A.D. The Bible Continues.

If you missed the first part of Taking the Witness Stand you can find it here:

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 1

Now  on to today’s portion…

Yesterday we finished up by saying Jesus is our foundation.

I can remember a point many years into my Christian walk when things weren’t going so well for me. My career choices were in question. Financially things weren’t so good. The future looked grim and I can remember looking up to Heaven shaking my fist at God and saying, “You call this a plan? I can do better than this!”

I stopped praying. I stopped reading my Bible. I acted like there was no God. Fortunately, God never acted like there was no me. He dogged my steps. He haunted my dreams at night. He withdrew but stayed just on the edges of my life for weeks, waiting for me to realize the truth that He is the foundation of life. The good news is that in my moment of rejection He remained faithful and when I came back to Him I had learned that there is no such thing as real life without Jesus. He is the center of everything living. He is the foundation of order, and He is the way, the truth and the life.

Today I am with Peter and John. I get it. I cannot help but testify to it. I know that Jesus is the only sure foundation and everybody ought to know who Jesus is. He is why I do what I do. He is my reason. He is my goal. He is my beginning and end.

How about you?

Understanding that Jesus is the foundation of life and everything has caused Him to become my goal. That understanding drove Peter and John to give their lives for the cause of Christ. I am trying to do the same thing.

How about you?

I have a friend, Ben Nelson, who pastors in New Jersey. He writes a blog called Another Red Letter Day . In one of his recent posts he wrote,

In Matthew 20 Jesus gives us a parable that’s full of wonderful images. He paints a scenario from life on the land to teach principles of the kingdom of God.

 

In this parable He tells of a land owner who owned a vineyard, and needed laborers to work it. I’m guessing harvest was in full swing. He heads to town, to the market, where he knows those looking for work assemble, and five times throughout the day, he hires groups of laborers. He brings people back to his field starting “early in the morning” right up till “the eleventh hour,” with groups starting at the third, sixth, and ninth hours as well.

 

What can we learn about the kingdom of God from this parable?….

 

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. – Matthew 20:1 NASB

 

The parable begins with a premise we have lost in our current day. The landowner (the Lord) went to the marketplace (the world) and looked for laborers (those entering the kingdom of God.)

 

It seems to me those entering the kingdom of God today, often look at it as an escape from work, a place of rest rather than labor. But Jesus speaks of entering into work.

I have learned that becoming a Christian is not really about having all your problems solved. Oh Jesus solves our problems: He heals; He delivers; He saves; He restores; He fixes broken lives  and we desperately need Him to do those things. In fact sometimes our brokenness is the starting point of our relationship. But it is not THE POINT. All of that is secondary.

At its heart becoming a Christian is about changing kingdoms. It is about declaring a new king over your life. It is about making Jesus Lord and master.  Romans 10:9 says

 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Jesus heals, delivers, saves, restores and fixes because that is the required state of everything in the Kingdom; But as you make your decision to serve Christ please understand that you are becoming a citizen in a Kingdom not a democracy. You leave your vote at the door and take up the decision to obey.

We are called to receive God’s gifts and to obey his commands and sometimes like Peter and John we are called to face opposition in this world for our obedience and yet because Jesus is our foundation.

 We Have To Obey God even in the midst of opposition

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 1

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“Taking the Witness Stand”,  is one sermon in a series our church staff is launching off of the NBC telecast A.D. the Bible Continues.  The Scriptural reference is Acts 4:18-20

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If you remember the story….

After the experience the disciples had in the upper room with the baptism in the Holy Spirit something inside of them changed. Before the baptism in the Holy Spirit the disciples were men and women filled with fear, not knowing what to do. Peter had denied Christ three times at the scene of Christ’s trial and all the others had been so afraid they had not even shown up at the hearing. But after the baptism in the Holy Spirit something was different about them! They had a new boldness. They had a new sense of passion, a new understanding of the mission. They began to preach and teach the message about Jesus every day in the Temple courts and from house to house.

In Acts chapter 3 a spectacular miracle of healing is recorded that causes the disciples and their message to be catapulted to new levels of fame among the Jewish people. In a very short span of time the church grows from 3,000 to 5,000 souls.

Wanting to quell the rising tide of revival the rulers of the Temple have Peter and John, the ringleaders of the Jesus circus, arrested. However, not having any valid charges to hold them on they prepare to release them And that is where our Scripture passage this morning picks up the story…

 

Acts 4: 18-20 New International Version (NIV)

 

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

I don’t know about you but if I had been Peter and John I think I could have come up with a better response than that.

I could have:

Abandoned the message and just gone back to fishing because this was not what I signed up for.

Just told the men what they wanted to hear. I could have said something like, “As you wish gentlemen. We’ll stop.” Then I would have gone out and done the exact opposite of what I promised.

Tried to negotiate the message. I could have said,“Well what if we include the Kadosh and some really strong teaching about the 10 commandments in all our lectures? How about if we share time? We can share our message but give you a platform during the service as well?”

I am sure that all of these responses presented themselves to the rational minds of Peter and John in those moments. They were after all men just like you and me. But in those moments they chose not to take any of these options. Instead they openly defied the Sanhedrin and said “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen or heard.”

You see they understood something about the life they were now living. Jesus was not just an addition to the 10 commandments. Jesus was not a new fad in the Jewish religion. They understood It was not Jesus and the Law. They realized when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the Law. He was the One the prophets proclaimed. Everything in the Old Testament was pointing to Him. They understood that everything in history was His Story. Jesus was their foundation. They understood that without Jesus there was nothing to believe in because Jesus had become their foundation and today I would put to you that

Jesus is our foundation too!!!!

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 5

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Today we are concluding our conversation about complete worship. If you have missed any piece of the discussion you can go back to

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/03/17/pastor-wrinkles-complete-worship-pt-4/

and work your way back through the links.

Today we leave off the public and private expression of worship in order to discuss the worshipper’s heart. In order for worship to be complete…

The act of publicly worshipping and privately worshipping must come out of a singular heart towards God. Lifting our hands, singing, shouting and dancing are indeed all forms of worship but if they are not done out of heart of worship to God they are nothing more than dead religion.

Matt Redman wrote these words about the danger of worship devoid of “the heart”,

When the music fades

 All is stripped away

 And I simply come

 Longin’ just to bring

 Something that’s of worth

 That will bless your heart

 I’ll bring You more than a song

 For a song in itself

 Is not what You have required

 You search much deeper within

 Through the ways things appear

 You’re looking into my heart

 I’m comin’ back to the heart of worship

 And it’s all about You

 It’s all about You, Jesus

 I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it

 When it’s all about You

 It’s all about You, Jesus

 Matt Redman – Heart Of Worship Lyrics | MetroLyrics

At the beginning of our time together I said “The Bible teaches us that the nature of worship is two-fold but that the heart of worship is singular.”

 I want us all to capture the heart of worship. That is a heart that has eyes only for Jesus. It is a heart that let’s go of every other care for the job, for the family, or for the bank account. It is the heart that knows Jesus will take care of all those things if we just make Him a priority. The heart of worship is the heart that believes Jesus when He says,

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? 

28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Ma. 6:25-34

Maybe you have lost your ability to worship God because you have begun to worry about your life, your family, your provision, your health. Maybe your worry about those things has dampened your ability to worship privately or together with other Christians. Please all me to call you back to the heart of worship this morning. Allow me to ask you, with Jesus, to seek first the kingdom of God, to focus on the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Doing that involves three steps:

 FIRST:  Admit the thing that is taking your focus away from Jesus.

SECOND:  Repent and decide that you are going to focus on Jesus and not that thing.

THIRD:  Practice focusing on and worshipping Jesus with the song below. Make some noise. Let Jesus consume your attention for the entire song!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MEYWmUYD5E&t=10

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 1

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Here is our text for tomorrow’s sermon.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the Lord

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

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What does worship look like to you?

Dare To Be A Daniel Pt. 2: Pt. 1

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Here is the Scripture passage for my next sermon, Dare To Be A Daniel Pt. 2. This is a continuation of Pastor Risto’s message from last week.

DANIEL 2

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers[a] to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.[b]”

4 Then the astrologers answered the king,[c] “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”

7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”

10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”

12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.

14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.

17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him.
23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
    You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
    you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Daniel Interprets the Dream

24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”

26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:

29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49 Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Pastor Wrinkles: Paying the Asking Price Pt. 4

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Today we are concluding this series from Luke Chapter 14 on Paying the Asking Price. If you have missed any of our previous discussions go to:

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/04/pastor-wrinkles-paying-the-asking-price/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/06/the-place-to-pay-the-price/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/06/pastor-wrinkles-pay-the-asking-price-pt-2/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/07/pastor-wrinkles-paying-the-asking-price-pt-3/

Now on to our conclusion

Whatever your rhema Word (see pt. 2 for the discussion on rhema) is this year. Whatever God is telling you about your future there is going to be a price for that future with Jesus.

The cost might be forgiving someone who has wronged you terribly. The cost might be giving up a relationship that holds you back from getting closer to Jesus. The cost might be swallowing your pride and reentering a relationship you know is good for you. The cost might be more giving if you are stingy or it could be less giving if you are codependent. The cost might be inconveniencing yourself and your family in order to serve God in some ministry. It might be getting a new job or it might be sucking it up and being joyful in the job you’ve got.

I can tell you this the cost is never fun to pay. The longer you look at it and ponder whether or not you should pay it the less you will want to. But when you bite the bullet and pay the price whatever it is, you open up your life to God’s blessing and you open up your life to see the rhema word fulfilled successfully.

Moondustwriter, a blogger friend of mine, wrote these words on a recent poetry forum

Worth Giving

“Give your life away”

was all the message

had to say

it seems a cold hard voice

that makes me take

the sacrificial choice

But as you offer up your hand

another life has the

opportunity to stand. http://moondustwriter.com/2014/12/28/worth-giving-sundaydevotion-poem/

go visit Moondustwriter at

http://moondustwriter.com/

The choice can seem hard. But once it is made the blessings begin to flow and what you will receive is ultimately worth far more than anything you give away. To quote and old adage, “you cannot out-give God.” To quote an even older Scripture “Give and it shall be given you full measure pressed down shaken together and overflowing.” Luke 6:38

What choice is God leading you to today?

Pastor Wrinkles: Paying the Asking Price Pt. 3

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For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:17, 18

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:17, 18

Over the last few days we have been laying out the idea of being willing to count and pay the cost in order to have God’s will and blessing accomplished in our lives. If you have missed these writings you may read them at…

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/04/pastor-wrinkles-paying-the-asking-price/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/06/the-place-to-pay-the-price/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/06/pastor-wrinkles-pay-the-asking-price-pt-2/

Let’s advance these thoughts a little shall we?

Yesterday we concluded by asking…

What is the present word of God for your life?

Everyone reading this blog has both a rhema word and the logos word from the Lord concerning their lives right now. You discover those words by going to the Lord and asking Him for them and by reading the Scripture.

I can tell you one thing, though, whatever the word for your life turns out to be there is going to be a price to pay for that word to be fulfilled in your life.

Last week our youth pastor delivered a sermon regarding salvation as a work of grace done by God’s hand alone. You can do nothing to earn your salvation you can do nothing to make yourself more righteous. Jesus paid it all on the cross and the only way to Heaven is to accept Jesus’ sacrifice and ask Him to forgive your sins. You will never earn your way into Christianity or Heaven or relationship with God. Jesus does it all.

That said as Jesus comes and adopts you into the family, that act puts into motion certain principles which are going to affect you for the rest of your eternal life.

Christianity is obtained freely You don’t pay for your salvation by good works. But there is a price that comes with being a Christian. Getting into the family is free. God will adopt you if you want to be adopted.  But being in the family costs. That’s because our family, this family of Christians, is committed to accomplishing a certain job in this world and because this family, the family of Christians, has a group of beings who have decided that they hate us just because of who we are. Paying the price doesn’t get us into Heaven. Christians are already going there. Paying the price is a result of us receiving the gift in the first place. It’s part and parcel of the gift. With this gift you get: eternal life, all the powers of the Holy Spirit, direct access to the throne of God and constant fellowship with Him and you also get some very powerful enemies who have power in the world to cause harm and who are set against you to stop you and your success.

That is why Jesus said, “whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14

This is not because the cross earns us the right to be saved but because the cross is part of salvation. Jesus didn’t purchase Christianity without a cross and Christians cannot live Christianity without a cross.

Whatever your rhema Word is this year. Whatever God is telling you about your future there is going to be a price for that future with Jesus.

Do you know what the cross Christ is calling you to bear looks like?

 

Pastor Wrinkles: Pay the Asking Price Pt. 2

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Today we continue with our rehash of Sunday morning’s sermon at Cornerstone Church Winchendon MA entitled, “Paying the Asking Price.”

If you missed the first part of this share go to:

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/01/04/pastor-wrinkles-paying-the-asking-price/

Today we begin discussing the difference between “rhema” and “logos”. If you get to the end and wonder how it all ties in don’t worry. I will wrap it all up in a neat package tomorrow.

As I enter 2015 God has led me to begin praying about His Rhema Word for this year of my life.

You know what a Rhema word is don’t you? The word Rhema means “word” and it is used in I Peter 1:23-25:

23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word (Logos) of God. 24 For,

 

“All people are like grass,

   and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

   but the word (rhema) of the Lord endures forever” 

And this is the word (rhema) that was preached to you.

Now, there are two ways God speaks into a man’s life. He uses a lot of different methods but there remain but two types of “words” that God speaks into a man’s life. There is the “Logos Word” the unchanging word which is Scripture. From the logos, Scripture, we are to draw all of our right understanding of God, the way He operates in the world, His moral way and the strategy we are to live by on a day to day basis. The logos is the same for everyone because the Scripture is the same for everyone.

We cannot change it or say “This part of Scripture is for me while that part of Scripture is not for me.”

God is God, unchanging. His Word is His word, unchanging. The ten commandments, are my ten commandments and they are your ten commandments. Jesus sacrifice on the cross is my way to Heaven and it is your way to Heaven. The “logos word” applies to everyone.

But the “rhema word” is God’s present word for my life. It is the voice of His Holy Spirit telling me prophetically what my year is going to be about. The “rhema word” comes out of the “logos word.” The rhema never contradicts the logos. Further the logos tells me how I am to walk in the present word of God, the “rhema word” of God; But the “rhema word” can be different from person to person; So for instance God might be telling you that this year is going to be a year of celebration and restoration while he might be telling me this year is going to be a year of great battles and great victories. While he might be telling the sister across the room that this is a year of loss but sustaining grace. Different rhema words for each one of our situations but in the midst of all those different “words” the Bible tells us how to live each of them out. The way I live as a Christian is defined by Scripture whether I am walking in celebration, battle or sustaining grace. The rhema word tells me what is about to happen. The logos word tells me how I am to live in the midst of what is going to happen.

A few years ago the Lord told me I was going to go through a year of loss but He gave me Scriptures from the Bible about how I was to walk through that loss. He told me I was to “set my face like flint” from the book of Isaiah;

He was telling me “Don’t allow your emotions to take control.”

He also told me to, “walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and refuse to be afraid.” Psalm 23

His Word assured me if I did I would find He was with me every step of the way.

The rhema told me what was going to happen the logos told me how I was supposed to live through it.

What is the present word of God for your life?