Sermon Blogs Archive

Day 29 – Philippians 1:6

Being confident that God is constantly working in and improving me can be a difficult
stance to achieve. Paul however is offering us the reality that it’s not something to
be worked at but rather just accepted. The sky is blue, water is wet, and God never
stops working out His perfect will in my life, and in yours.

He is never going to stop until Jesus returns at which time that ongoing work will become
unnecessary as we will all be perfected and no longer in need of any direction, correction
or repair. That’s a little something special to look forward to right?

Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, be it seemingly successful or not, God is working out
something incredible in me for His glory and my good. Amen.

-DeWayne Watson

Closing the Gap

Day 28 – James 5:19-20

My Paraphrase:
Dear family in the faith, let us watch out for one another and rescue anyone that may be drawn away by the deception of our enemy. Knowing that by dispelling the lies of the devil with God’s precious truth, it will restore their soul and cleanse from much shame and guilt.

My thoughts:
Surely I am my brother and sister’s keeper and should be watching over them as well as coming to their rescue from the deception of the devil. As an elder I’m
called to watch over the sheep and help guard them as they feast on the green pastures of God’s truth. It is a joy and a passion for me to see God’s people move forward in knowing His loving kindness and falling ever deeper in love with
the God’s who cares.

-Bob Watson

Day 27 – Jame 4:10

‘Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up.’ James 4:10

This verse is considered on the ‘Paraphrase’ week. We have been
practising reading, and re-reading passages, and then putting them
into our own words to ensure we understand what we’re reading. Rather
than paraphrasing this verse, I would just like to share briefly how
relevant its truth has been to my life, and my pursuit of freedom as a
believer.

I did not make myself. I find myself here. Life is extraordinary.
Fascinating on all levels – water, fire, wind, smiles, food,
relationship, etc. All authority in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus
(Mt 28:20). So life is a gift to me. The spirit and joy of life can
only come to me through this same Giver. And yet I find myself
constantly, exhaustingly, painfully seeking to know myself, define
myself, center myself, like myself, correct, improve, endear myself
(on and on and on). This verse of James is extraordinary in the
freedom it declares. We only need to be honest about who we are and
how we got here (and even this, by God’s grace), and we should find
ourselves humbled. In this place, however, far from being alone and
confused, we find that we are lifted up and defined and named by
Christ himself. We call Him by name, and He will name us. We lift Him
up, and He exalts us. We seek to know Him, and He gives us peace about
ourselves, and makes us known to others. This is God’s way to free us
from the snares of self, and set us free in the flow of the spirit.

-Peter Walker

Day 26 – James 3:13

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13)

Paraphrase it: The person who is really wise demonstrates wisdom by having emotional intelligence (knowing how to relate well to people). Some people try to show off intelligence by being head smart. True wisdom teaches us to be heart smart. It’s not about words and talking big but actions and living well: serving others with good deeds. Let your actions speak.

Apply it: This verse inspires me to walk humbly with my God and simply let my actions speak. The opposite of being wise would be trying to impress others (pride) through words and not actions. Lord, help me to be wise in walking in humility making the most of every opportunity to serve and demonstrate kindness to others.

-Kendrick Vinar

Day 25 – James 2:17-18

James 2:17-18:
v. 17: “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” NIV

If a man gives mental assent to the fact that Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished the atonement for his sins and makes him a child of God, but this fact makes no difference in the way his lives his life, then maybe his faith or conviction about what Christ did for him is lifeless, or unresponsive.

v. 18: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” NIV

A friend might ask me, “You believe Jesus’ died for your sins and rose again; I do good things for people. I challenge you to show me how you can believe all that stuff about Jesus without having it change the way you act, and I will show you how I live my life reveals that I believe in Jesus too.”

In James 2:14-26, James explains how our faith in God and Christ’s atoning work for us on the cross and His resurrection are unmistakably linked to how we live our lives. Abraham’s faith was counted as righteousness by God even before he sacrificed his son, Isaac, or was circumcised (Gen. 15:1-6; 17:24; 22:1-18; Rom. 4:1-12). Yet his actions were an evidence of his faith. The same was true for Rahab. Her faith in God was “active” and led to her actions to save the Jewish spies at Jericho (Josh.2)
Our actions are in essence inseparable with what we believe. My husband says our faith is like “our life blood or the sap that flows in a tree. The sap produces growth in the tree. Without it, the tree would be a tree, but it would be a dead tree.” This analogy is similar to the idea that a body cannot be alive by itself without its soul. Since a human is declared dead when his soul (or spirit) has left his body, so faith all by itself without works is dead (see James 2:26). Our faith and our actions are inextricably joined in us, just as our body and soul make us a person and both are necessary to make us alive. It’s not an either/or proposition, but a both/and. We don’t either have faith or works but we unavoidably show what we believe by how we live our lives. We are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and His workmanship has made us spiritually alive through Christ for good works (Eph. 2:10). Once we are transformed from “caterpillars” to “butterflies” we are not the same creation. It’s as if our DNA is changed. Everything we think, say, and do reflects the Who we belong to now and whether we are living in His grace.
James’ letter is full of examples where this new mind of Christ in me should be evident in how I live my life. For example, how I react when trials come, how I treat the poor, orphans, and widows, how I react when provoked, what comes out of my mouth, and whether I show partiality to one group of people and treat other people disrespectfully, all reveal how my faith makes me different than I used to be and shows what I really believe in my heart.
Lord, thank you for giving me faith to believe in You and counting me righteous because of what Jesus did for me by shedding his blood on my behalf. Show me those places in my heart and my mind that still need to be transformed by You. Show me where my life is not reflecting what I believe. Show me someone I need to see through Your eyes. Holy Spirit, help me be a blessing to them.

-Cindi Suffern

Day 24 – James 1:22-25

James 1:22-25 (paraphrased) “When you hear God’s word, don’t just let it go in one ear and out the other. Put it into practice and avoid deception. Otherwise, you’ll be like someone who catches his reflection in a mirror, then turns away and forgets what he saw. If you remember God’s word, which has the ability to set you free, and put it into action, He will bless you for doing it. ”

God’s word. It comforts, encourages & holds out to us the words of life. But sometimes as we peer into it, we see reflected back areas in our lives where we fall short, areas where we need to change. Occasionally, our response to that reflection is much like a woman trying on a bathing suit in a 3 way mirror after a winter of eating too many brownies – horror, dismay, avoidance of reality as she whips off the offending suit, dashes out of the dressing room, blocking the mental image from her mind, vowing to wear a bathing suit coverup all summer long whenever a need for one arises! But how much better it is when we listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures, retain it, and put it into practice.

I had the opportunity to do just that in the past two weeks. After 5 weeks of having a variety of ailments, I was getting depressed! The Lord, in His faithfulness, revealed that the cause of my depression was that I was focusing on myself rather than “dying to self”. Within a day or two, I was feeling much better, no longer focusing on my woes, and the depression lifted. However, a week later, I had a new opportunity to focus on self once again, when a coworker, in a bad mood, snapped at me and hurt my feelings.

The next day I was praying about it, telling God my sad tale, when I noticed I was beginning to sink into depression again, even as I was praying! Dressed in a different circumstance, I didn’t realize I was entertaining self pity again. Fortunately, the Lord didn’t let me stay in the pit for long. It was day 13 of our 40 days, the day we read about Peter getting out of the boat, and walking on the water toward Jesus, until he noticed the problems around him. As I read about Peter sinking into the mire, God revealed that I was doing the same thing, focusing on my troubles rather than on Him. This time I prayed, focusing my eyes on Him, releasing the problem into His hands, and was lifted right out of that pit of depression. FREEDOM! The perfect law that brings freedom. In doing it, we WILL be blessed!

-Linda Simmen

Day 23 – James 1:19-20

I love how the NIV reading of this verse begins with “take note of this” …It seems the Holy Spirit has often had me take note of the truths in this portion of Scripture. I have been the fast speaker and slow listener many many times in my life and the result was not as productive as I was hoping for at the time. These last few years of training and working in crisis work have really opened my eyes to God’s wisdom in being a slow to speak woman. Listening well before speaking allows me time to hear His voice in the words of the speaker. To hear what the heart is really saying requires more listening and less talking.

The next “take note” hits home as well …..slow to become angry…..and this is tied to being slow to speak! Sadly, I have experience in fast reaction anger and have learned lessons the hard way. God’s cause is not furthered by this type of angry reaction and I see how His heart is slow to anger and this is good!
As I listen more and speak less, I also react less in ways that are hurtful…I allow God to temper those quick reactions and replace them with understanding and kindness. I want to reflect His heart to others and I am so glad that He keeps helping me “take note” !

-Phyllis Reklis

Digging into the Bible

Day 21 – Mark 16:1-20

An attitude to change?

Jesus comes to the disciples after His resurrection and reproaches them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. Why didn’t they believe Mary Magdalene or the two men walking? Why did Jesus need to come to the disciples Himself for them to believe? He had foretold them of all the events leading to His death. I wonder why I don’t have greater faith considering the miracles I’ve seen in my own life and the prayers I’ve had answered? Why is it that with many of the trials I face I wonder if God will come through for me? Do you ever have the same questions?

What is most astonishing is that immediately after Jesus’ disapproval of the disciples unbelief and their having hard hearts, He says to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation.” Jesus uses these men of little faith and with hard hearts to fulfill the great commission. Why would He trust them to follow through after all the mistakes they had made? Why does He trust us with the same command?…..Because He is with us. He guides us by His Holy Spirit and even works through our weaknesses. As we draw close to Him, He empowers us to do His will, just as He empowered the disciples. As we move through life He is always with us. At the end of the chapter the Word says, “they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them”. He’s working with us as we do our part to love the Lord, love His people and and tell the whole world about the gospel.

-Patti Paine

Day 20 – Mark 15:33-39

This is a passage that invites me to apply both methods 1 and 2 of 40 Days in the Word that we have enjoyed during the first two weeks. You pronounce it and visualize it. How powerful can be to pronunce each word, and then fit yourself in the scene. However, by proving it (method 3) I read, see myself and get a total and truthful assurance that the Word is active and alive and it operates for my salvation and for God’s glory.

Verse 34 makes me realize how tough it was for Jesus to carry all of our sins. I confess my sin. It also helps me understand how humble Jesus was in order to face this hard moment. I change my attitude. That can’t be enough! Verse 36 shows how cruel and mean we can be in relation to his sacrifice at the cross. I must honor God. Verse 39, however, states the most powerful truth this passage contains: ““Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Pronounce it! Visualize it! Prove it! It will transform you life and become a doer of the Word.

- Luis F. Olivieri-Robert

Day 19 – Mark 14:3-9

While reading this chapter I couldn’t help but realized that this was a pretty tough chapter to write about–like seriously, tough. In one chapter we have the anointing of Jesus’ feet with perfume, the Passover dinner, and the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. Talk about a bombshell. But for today, let us just focus on the story of the woman anointing the Messiah’s feet.
It’s great how the woman, knowing the potential and certain scorn of the men and the disciples around, pours the perfume bottle all over the Messiah’s feet. Sensing the judgment and attacks from the men, Jesus defends her and states, “you will always have the poor, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.”
It’s a tough one to dive into because Jesus has already passed away; he has already died and resurrected. His words seem almost too focused in the context of the story to seem relevant to the saints and the church of today. Why would we be bothered or impacted by words of the Messiah? After all, we have our whole lives to work towards the Kingdom of God and also the expansion of God’s Justice upon the Earth.
And yet, Jesus knew, and knows, that this story and His words would continue to bother us even today (verse 9). It’s not just easy, it’s natural to look at this story and say, “it’s all in the context–we can place the poor first and always seek the Kingdom” or go the opposite way and say, “who would ever put the poor before Jesus–he is Jesus!” And yet in both trains of thought we can be so wrong. The message of this passage lies in how we define “poor.”
Those that scorned the woman for “wasting” the perfume on Jesus’ feet attacked her because they considered the poor more important than the honoring, worship, and glory of the Messiah. They saw the expensive liquid poured out and were blinded by the amount of money it was worth and/or the numbers of people that could have been reached and impacted by it. That’s the issue Jesus targets here. Who is the “poor” in our life? Who in our life deserves more than Jesus? Is it literally the poor? I bet the men attacking the woman weren’t really thinking about the poor. Is it our atheist or non-Christian friends? Is it our past-times and day dreaming? Is it the latest global justice issue or the most recent controversy in the culture war? Who? Who deserves more than Christ?
No one. No one deserves greater honor and praise in our life than Jesus, the Messiah. And that’s what Jesus is getting at. All that we know when we wake up is that we get this day. THIS DAY! Will you get tomorrow? Will you get next week? You don’t know that. So, who are you going to honor today? Who are you going to honor this morning?
So as you read this post, whether you are holding your daily cup of joe or some delicious chai (w. a shot of vanilla), or barely conquering sleep as you lie down by your night stand, ask yourself: who, or what, in my life deserves more of me than Christ does, if all I get is today? Hopefully your conclusion is that the Messiah deserves our all. Be blessed.

-Quauhtli Y. Olivieri Herrera