Liberty Church Online Sunday Sermon 6/21/13

Liberty Church FB Group

Good morning Liberty Church!

Hope your activism is blessed today, and full of good fruit.   If you're not an activist, I hope your fruit is just as good!  I hope your inner strength is in the peace of God.  Reach out for God and he'll reach out for you :)

I'm pumped for week after week of growing closer to the heavenly Father.  It's a wonderful journey.  As we grow closer to God we start to see the truth more clearly.  We become progressively more moral.  We become wiser.  We become stronger.  Our faith grows and flourishes.  Our inner peace and serenity expands, so we can handle the most desperate situations calmly.  Because one day soon, we may have to.

I see God training a new generation of leaders, through the power of the internet.  These men and women have access to a wealth of information on politics, news, science, and religion.  These people have the need for truth, and desperately seek the truth.  And eventually they find the road leading to the holy Bible.  They come for the word of God, because they see an awful world around them.  

The truth sets us free, inwardly.  When we are free inwardly, we seek to make our external world better.  We seek for true liberty of surroundings.

And it's nice being free isn't it?  Our freedom may be taken away externally, but internally we find freedom from sinful obsession, in the love of Christ Jesus.

John 8:36 NIV
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

I like being free.  We love freedom because it is our natural correct state under God.  God created us with free will, so we could choose freely, whether we do good or evil.  And given a complete and utter choice we tend toward good.  But when laws and rules upon rules are forced upon us, ironically, we often tend toward misconduct, if only to show our own independence.

Godly men founded this nation, the United States.  We know that God blessed this nation, because it has prospered.  Some might teach that the American Revolution was unholy, but if it was, why would it have been blessed by God?  Considering the odds the founders had to face, fighting the greatest army the world had ever known, the British army, how could they have prevailed without God's blessing? 

 Some might say that we should stand at attention before our governments and submit to everything they say.  This isn't what the Bible teaches.  The Bible teaches that we ought to obey, but disobey if it interferes with our service to God.  The Bible doesn't teach us to ignore what our government does.  It doesn't teach us to sit idly by.  Since we have a participatory government, we ought to engage in it.  If we see laws that are unjust we change them, but we need not disobey them, unless they harm others or ourselves directly.

I know this is a hard time to be a Christian.  It's a very hard time to be politically "awake" and to also be a servant of the most high God.  We face ridicule on two different fronts, and probably many more as we proceed forward.  I think of Psalm 3 when I look at the situation in America:

¹ Lord, how numerous are my enemies!
Many attack me.
² Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.”
³ But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me;
you are my glory and the one who restores me.
⁴ To the Lord I cried out,
and he answered me from his holy hill.
⁵ I rested and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord protects me.
⁶ I am not afraid of the multitude of people
who attack me from all directions.
⁷ Rise up, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Yes, you will strike all my enemies on the jaw;
you will break the teeth of the wicked.
⁸ The Lord delivers;
you show favor to your people." 

For several years I was concerned that knowing the United States was starting to resemble, and now very clearly does resemble a modern day Babylon, should I not leave?  The Babylon described in Revelation is often accompanied by pleas to "flee Babylon!"  Should I prepare my family and leave?

It's a tough question.  But I take some solace, that in the Old Testament Babylon conquered Jerusalem.  This was the ancient Babylonian captivity.  Almost a million Israelites were enslaved and taken to Babylon.  Later on, a Persian king conquered Babylon, and allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem.  50,000 Israelites returned to Jerusalem, and God blessed them.  The vast majority chose to stay in the wicked kingdom of Babylon, and God blessed them as well.  

We who remain in the United States can minister to the corrupt masses.  We can wake them up to the truth of Jesus Christ.  And I believe God will bless us on that quest.  

As many have said, there is much work to do.

Let me remind and encourage you to pray.  Pray when you're frustrated by the media cover ups.  Pray when you wish for sleeping people to wake up.  Pray when you feel frustrated.  Pray when you feel lost.  And pray when you're scared for your nation.  

God is not deaf.  God hears us.  God is REAL.  Most importantly, God is love.  He is pure mercy.  He is not the mean monster that you've been told about.  He's a loving God.  A pure God.  A God with you in the room you read this in, right now.  

He's there.  Right now.  Listen for him.  Watch for him.  

I know, it's hard to work through the science brainwashing of public indoctrination, education, whatever you'd like to call it.  Please don't mistake me, science and medicine have assisted us greatly on this journey called life.  Scientists wonder at the power and majesty of the universe.  I deeply respect that.  I deeply respect their search for truth.  I firmly believe however, that God is at the end of that journey.  

Some of us see the presence of God in our experiences.  Some of us see it in the facts.  Neither way is wrong.

So we know what to do, don't we?  Matthew 28:16-20 says "

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The great commission is ours to fulfill.  And we can fulfill it.  We can fulfill it every day.

So please, don't be afraid as you're out there fighting for the truth.  How many times does the Bible tell us to not be afraid?  I know many Libertarians believe the Bible is a work of indoctrination meant to control us.  I don't see that within the actual pages of the Bible.  Maybe that's what is preached at many churches.  But within the actual pages of the Bible, I see a path of true and perfect peace.  I see a path where fear and doubt has no place.  How can such a beautiful teaching of peace be indoctrination?  If it were indoctrination, it would tell me to serve the state as number one, it would tell me to be afraid and to be uncertain.  It would tell me to serve myself, not others.  Instead, it tells of loving and caring for others, for peace and truth, for serenity and love.  This is no work of indoctrination.  Of course interpretation can lead to indoctrination, which is why we must read the Bible for ourselves.  We must see the truth, from our own unique perspective.

Remember, that we have an enemy out there.  That enemy is Satan, and his followers.  They are Satan worshipers, many masquerading as Jews, who quietly control the governments of the world through banks.  I don't have to tell you, most of you already know this.  Don't let this trouble you.  We are to expect great troubles in the world.  But final victory will be ours over these Satanists. 

Revelation 3:9 says "I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." 

Always remember, while you're out there fighting for the truth, the truth that is God given, and liberty, the liberty that is God given, remember this: You're savior Jesus Christ has already won.  

John 16:33  "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Father's Love letter

My Child,

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

-Barry & Ann Adams, January 1999

Source: https://www.fathersloveletter.com/

Passion for Christ and Ministering to Others

Good evening. I'm pleased to be coming to you from the Christine Center Spiritual Retreat in beautiful Willard, Wisconsin.

I just arrived today, but I'm looking forward to a few days of peace and
relaxation. I hope everyone here today is enjoying some peace with
God on this retreat. It's a wonderful place isn't it? I've been here in
the past and I've always noticed the presence of God on these
grounds. 

So before we start, let's go to God in prayer this morning
and ask him to join us here:

Jehovah God, my Father, our Father, We ask you to join us today as
we get into your word. We feel your nudges Lord, that push us toward
you. We acknowledge your presence in our daily lives. Your sons
life is a testament to perfection. Help us to become holy, each day, as
we approach the next life. In Jesus name, Amen.

We feel your presence Father, in all things. We feel you here today.
We know you are true and your word is a true representation of your
love for us.

God is right in all things. And he's working in all things.
He's so full of love. He's so full of truth. And he likes you.
He feels something special for you, because you're his special possession.
You're part of his chosen people, if you've chosen to serve
Christ in your life.

We're his creation. We didn't think the universe into being,
God made it with his voice and his hands.
We know this walk isn't about material gain, don't we?
Great wealth is certainly possible for some Christians.
We know God rewarded Solomon with great wealth and
prosperity because of his request for wisdom in prayer.
But that's not going to be everyones walk with Christ.
And we don't need wealth of the material anyway, do we?
Because we have wealth in here. Wealth more than all the
money on the planet. Right here, inside.


That wealth is peace with God through Jesus Christ.
That wealth is serenity in the storms of life. That wealth
is constant contact with Jehovah our God. That wealth is
the promise of eternal life. Today I'd like to talk about
passion for this walk with Christ. 2 Samuel 6:14 says
And David danced before the LORD with all his might,
wearing a priestly garment.


A lot of the time I've heard church leaders claiming that this was a
horrible mistake, and oh, David shouldn't have been dancing like
that before the Lord. In fact David's wife Michal came to him after
she saw him doing this and said to him:

How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around
half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar
fellow would!”


21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me
rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed
me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the
Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will
be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of,
I will be held in honor.”


I really like how David responded here. And hasn't that happened
with a lot of us? We go too far in others eyes, and just let free our
worship of God. Like the people at church who lift their hands to
God as they sing. I'm sure a lot of the congregation are thinking,
wow, look at how self righteous they are. And I've heard that a lot.
Like "who are they to do that" "who are they to break the unspoken
rules of how you should act" I can't stand those taboos personally.
I really can't. I get nervous sometimes when my family and I pray
at a public restaurant like oh what are the other people around here
going to think? Well.. you know, who really cares what they think?
I care about what God thinks. I care about how he feels about my
worship.

David's response is great. It was before JEHOVAH that I danced,
not your dad or your family or anyone else. And then he says I
WILL celebrate before the Lord. And I'm not even done with just
dancing, I'll do even more publicly embarassing things to show my
God I'm NOT ashamed by him. And he said in his own eyes he'll
feel weird about it, but the people of Israel will know that I'm honorable.

Michal may have been jealous. And that's fine, that's fine.
But understand David, your husband's heart. He's a man with passion
for God. Don't step in his way when he lets loose in a difficult way to
show his love.

How do we show our love for God? Many of us pray and give thanks.
And that's great. Keep going with that! But there are other ways we can
show our passion for God. Singing is one we do a lot, at church. Dancing?
Hey, why not right?

This walk with Christ is exciting and relevant today.
That's what a lot of modern christians have forgotten.
Depravity isn't required to have a great time or a "cool" time.
There's great honor in this walk with Christ. Theres great dignity.
There's great joy. Solomon went before God in prayer as he took up the rule of Israel
after King David's death. And he asked God for discernment in ruling Israel.
We know from scripture that God was happy with Solomon's request.
God granted him this request for discernment, but he gave him even more than that.

1 Kings 3:13 says
New International Version (©2011)
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for--
both wealth and honor--so that in your lifetime you will have
no equal among kings."

God granted Solomon wealth and honor because of his request
for discernment, wisdom. When we ask god to search us and
make us right within, he in turn grants us honor. And that goes
again back to what we were talking about the last few weeks,
self examination in the Christian life.

That's what I try to tell younger people, especially teenage male
Christians. Because I know at that age I thirsted for honor.
I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be a chivalrous warrior.
But maybe I'm out of date now. Maybe this isn't the 90s anymore.
Maybe with the things kids see in the media these days,
all they thirst for is to be a gangster, for fame, wealth,
women, drugs, and parties.

Heavenly Father, please, say that isn't so.
Say that these young people rising up, men and
women a like, still long deep down for an honorable
life with their creator. I hope and pray this is still true
in the young people of today.

And I'm sad to say that those are reasonable fears today.
People are good at minimizing the impact media has on
their children. They like to pretend it's not going to impact
their children. How couldn't it? I know, you don't want to
believe that we live in a society that has fallen far from God.
But.. it has. It's plainly obvious. It's a hard truth to swallow,
but there it is. And that truth isn't going anywhere. We can
arm ourselves against it, or fall victim to it by conveniently ignoring it.

But you know what? This may be the truth for some, even many.
But it's not the truth for all. I see a revival in the church. It's not
something just talked about either, and never fulfilled. It's something
happening before my eyes.

Even in my small area, I see young leaders rising who are getting
back to the foundation of the truth, which is the Bible. They're
passionate, you can hear it in their voices. They love God with a
passion that burns strong within. They're not interested in the
old traditions that kept them disconnected from God. They're
interesting in breaking through that, because they did personally,
with a push from God. And now they want to share that. And
seeing those leaders emerging, I want to be a part of that as well.
I thought of the ornate golden temple of the Pope always, when
I sat at some churches. At the new churches I see, I think of
Moses in the wilderness, and the tent. Very meager, very modest,
but full of not human power, but of God's power.

God showed us again and again that he
doesnt need anything but a willing vessel.
When David killed Goliath he did so with nothing but a sling shot.
Samson slew 1,000 philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey.
Gideon drove back the Midianities with 300 men, a few torches,
and a lot of noise. It doesn't take millions when we have God on
our side. It takes a dedicated few being empowered by God.

God himself said it better than I ever could:
Isaiah 55:10-11
New Living Translation (NLT)
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.


As I see it, we have a cover up going on in the modern church.
I wonder, what god are they worshipping? They seem to
treat sinners with contempt, and expel them from their churches.
Christ never allowed this. He lived and ate with the sinners, they
approached him for forgiveness and he gave it. Not only that,
but he would then call them to minister to his purpose, his purpose
that is being fulfilled to this day: making disciples of all the world.
I do not see that kind of love in the modern church. I see condemnation,
and I ask, do we have a God, who sees a man or woman suffering, and
living in sin, and when they call out to him for mercy and for love, that
he would instead condemn them, and turn them away? I do not know
that god you speak of. I know the one true God, named Jehovah, who
loves the world with a mighty power and cares for the world, but not
only on such a scale, but he cares for his people individually. And
when his people call out from their place of sin, he delivers them from it.
We see this again and again in scripture, old testament and new. Why is
it so hard to understand?

If you're a conspiracy kind of guy, then this is it! Because it's the biggest you can imagine:

You've been lied to about who God, Jehovah, the creator
of the universe really is. He's been sold as a angry, cruel,
condemning, destroyer. But instead, within the pages of the
Bible, you will find he is a loving, gentle, peaceful, and caring God.
A God personal to you. A God who came to earth personally in human
form to sacrifice himself to rebuild a relationship with his people.
That's the God I know, and that's the one you ought to introduce yourself to!

So knowing that God loves you truly and does care for you.
And seeing that on our own power we have nothing, and
everything goes wrong.. Why not turn to him? And why not, once
we've turned to him.. why not help him? Join him in this revival.
Join us. Join God in this revival.

So how do we join in?
Well I think it's important that we make sure God is included in our
daily walk, as we've been discussing, and also that we're openly
discussing our faith with family and friends.

And thats something you can do today. That's right, today.
Thankfully, there's not four books required reading on ministering to
others. There isn't a manual 300 pages long, and ten pamphlets to go
over, and a list of fourty eight rules to obey, and three qualifying interviews
with lead staff at the church to make you "ready" to do it. It doesn't take a year and a half to make you ready, studying this, paying dues,
making pledges, and so on.. That's where so many churches
get it wrong. They put new leaders through so many books,
and interviews, and studies, and sheets to fill out that before
they're even halfway through they get frustrated and just pass on it.
And such programs and churches ought to look to John 7:24 which states
": Stop judging by external standards, and judge by true standards."
Those are the words of Jesus to a crowd who were saying Jesus
had a demon in him! Jesus was trying to teach them that it's OK
to do miracles on the sabbath. And for us, it's also OK to minister
to others without going through a 16 week training program.

Sometimes I think these rigid, condemning churches are still trying
to fulfill the law after two thousand years of
ALREADY HAVING IT FULFILLED THROUGH JESUS.

Of all the people God called throughout the Bible, did any one of them,
even one, have to fill out four sheets, go through two one
hour interviews, and read six books on evangelism? That's right,
none of them did. Not one. God qualified them,
God brought them up through EXPERIENCE training,
and God set them on the path of ministering to others.

And all the while, the religious leaders of the various times
pointed to these prophets we now revere, and said, "You can't
be doing that! You need to read these four copies of this here,
and be ordained by us over here, and bow down before the high
priest, and go to school for X amount of years before you can do
that!" But God just said, don't listen to them they're hipocrates, farces.

If God doesn't want you ministering, he probably won't let you.
He'll cut you off from chances to do so, unless someone can
learn from the poor example. And if he does want you ministering,
which I have to believe for most of us, he does, then he'll send you out.
And face you time after time, with chances to spread his good news.
The good news of Jesus Christ. It's not bad news. Its GOOD news.
The good news that Jesus the Christ died on the cross to restore the connection
between almighty God and his people.

So share that. Share it humbly, share it with scripture to back it up.
Share it with strangers. Share it with family.
Share it with cherished friends. Share it non-judgementally.
Share it freely. Share it kindly. Study the Bible if you're nervous.
And if you'd like training, by all means step into that.
We share the message, plant the seed, and then God waters it.
God works through us in these situations. So we don't have to worry.
And what we don't know, God works on us. And adds it to us.
His holy spirit pushes the truth through us. Isn't that cool?

We have a loving God. Out there working in billions of
lives at this very moment. Sometimes we hear about
those stories, sometimes we don't. But I'd like to share one
of those stories with you before we close. It's about a girl I know,
a friend of mine, whose been having a lot of trouble.
Shes a young, attractive girl in her mid twenties. And lately after being sexually assaulted by a friend, shes been struggling.
To deal with the pain of that, she turned to drugs and alcohol.
I've been praying for her, many of my friends have been praying
for her, and something very powerful happened recently.
She was down in Madison, and she experienced yet more
traumatic events.

She was trying to get back from Madison to here in
Wausau to stay with family, but her roommates had
been persecuting her. She found herself with no escape,
no one able to come get her out of the terrible situation she was in.

I would say chance happened upon an opportunity.
But it was something else entirely. She was taking a
cab from the hospital. The cab driver noticed she
was really upset. He asked her, "are you ok?" And
she burst into tears, and told him everything that had
happened and was happening to her. She couldnt
find a ride home, nowhere to stay, troubled and lost.
And he invited her to stay with him.
Having nowhere else to go, she went there. And the next day he gave
her a ride home, 3 hours back to Wausau, free.

And heres the catcher. On the ride back, he told her that
several years ago he was driving a girl home in his cab.
He could tell the girl was upset, but when she asked him
for help he couldn't bring himself to help her. Later he
found out she had committed suicide. And ever since that
day he had been filled with guilt over not helping her.

On that day, God brought a cab driver into a young girls life.
A young girl who needed help. And a cab driver who needed redemption.

And both were filled.

That's the kind of God we have.
A loving and compassionate God. A God who answers prayers.

I want to thank you for tuning in for our service today.

Have a great day, go in peace.

From Self Examining to Sharing with Others

Good morning everyone!  Are you having a good morning?  Are you finding some peace with that walk with God?  I certainly hope you are.  It's a beautiful day here in Wisconsin.  Thankfully we haven't had any tornadoes here, like those in Oklahoma recently.  We'll get that topic soon, but first I want to share something with you that's been on my heart recently.

It seems that once we start down this road of faith we can start to inwardly accuse ourselves.

I know, I'm jumping right in, without going into all the technical stuff.  But this is something I want to talk about right away before I start the service, because it's on my heart right at this moment.

Because I get confused.  And I get upset.  I'm struggling with some tough decisions I have to make, and it's hard. Because I want to make the right decisions so desperately.  I really feel I need to make the Godly decision.  When we start this we consciously start to try and do what God would want from us in any given situation.

But I see myself going way too far with it.  I get on my knees, and ask God for a sign or for the ability to make the right decision.  But let's face it, a lot of decisions we're gonna face are not cut and dry.

It's mucky, and theres good points on both sides and bad points on both sides.  So it isn't easy, and it's not like God comes down off the throne and gives us a verbal answer to these situations.  A lot of my frustration on this is that God isn't being as clear as I would desire.

I want an answer, I want a clear answer, and I want that answer now.  Isn't that how it is as human beings?

Meanwhile, in the agonizing of making these tough decisions that inner voice of accusation just runs rampant over my thoughts and choices.  Pretty soon I'm feeling guilty, and ashamed, and upset, lost, depressed and just plain miserable.

That's the point I'm trying to hit here before we start: Don't let yourself be victim to an inner voice of accusation.  That inner voice that fills you with shame when you make a questionable decision.  You aren't quite sure, you think it might be the wrong decision, and suddenly that inner voice is just beating you down.

Well that isn't of God.  And that's what I try to answer that voice with.   I found a really powerful graphic on the internet that I'd like to share with you here, it reads:

So that's really just how it lines up.  Don't you ever believe that the angry voice in your head just playing a mistake over and over and over, and condemning you for it.. is how a Christian is suppose to feel.  Absolutely WRONG.  We can feel convicted when we make a mistake or sin.  But it's not something that will be played over and over again with negative self talk.  That is not of God!

 Alright, rant over.  As you probably know, this is Universal Life Church.  We are a Christ based ministry, but we accept those all of faiths to learn more about our savior.  We're a very accepting church.  We're not gonna condemn you because of your choices or tell you that God doesn't like you.  Because we know he does like you.  He likes you because you're part of his chosen people.

If you'd like to find our group on Facebook do a search for Universal Life Church 62648.  That number is our identifier within the ULC community.  And that goes into where we operate, which is on the internet.  We run things from our facebook group where we post sunday sermons, wednesday bible studies, and sunday teaching lessons in audio format or text.  We also offer encouragement to church members through the group.  So if you'd like to be a part of that, please find us on facebook and join up.

Thank you for being here for our Sunday sermon.  Thanks to Lead Pastor Dustin Milam for all his work at the church and the clinic in Kentucky.  Thanks to the new deacons and our minister for their continued work.

So before we start, let's go to God in prayer this morning and ask him to join us here:

Heavenly Father, please hear our prayer.  Join with us today as we praise your name.  Work on our hearts Father, and make us holy, one brick at a time.  Keep us on this path, and comfort our hearts.  Help us to work on ourselves, and then learn to help others.  And Father please lift up those who have been affected by the destruction in Oklahoma.  We ask that you take them under your wing, and give them special attention in this difficult time.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

I'd like to mention something that was recorded recently, an interview in the rubble with an old woman in Oklahoma.  I don't watch the news very much, just because of all the fear being pandered, but an old friend of mine brought this story to my attention.  I've included a link to the interview on Youtube within the text of the sermon, so please feel free to watch it yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUc1ZgXiQGs

So there was this older woman, and sky news was interviewing her about the tornadoes.  Her house was utterly and completely destroyed.  You could see the broken timber and splintered pieces of the house all around her.  Yet as they interviewed her she seemed strangely serene.  They asked her what it was like, and she said her plan had always been to go in this bathroom for cover from the tornado.  She was sitting on a stool in the bathroom.  She felt the stool come up through the floor and boom, the house comes down around her and shes sitting in the rubble.  And she had a little dog, and tried calling it.  But the dog didn't come.  The interviewer asked this old woman if she could comprehend what had happened.  And she replied, "I know exactly what happened.  This is life in the big city."  And she seemed so calm about it.  But she was sad, because she lost her dog.  And just after she had said this, the interviewer noticed something moving in the rubble.  And it was her dog.  They came over and pulled it from the rubble.  The woman was beset with relief.  The first thing she said, pulling the dog from the rubble was "bless your little bitty heart."  And next she said, "Thank you God."  Then she said, "I thought God just answered one prayer, to let me be ok.  But he answered both of them.  Because this was my second prayer, " She said looking down at her dog. 

That was really powerful to me when I saw it.  And it's still powerful to me.  The interviewer seemed to expect the woman to be frantic and lost, but she wasn't.  Even after her house had been utterly destroyed, she had peace about it, because she was ok.  She knew God had saved her.  And she knew that these kinds of troubled arent things we need to freak out about.  They're things we can have peace about, because God loves us.  She knew her first prayer had been answered.  And she testified to the camera person.  But God wasn't done there.  God's love is bigger than even the huge miracle of protecting her life.  God is abundantly loving.  He not only saved her life, but he saved her dogs life.

And what I'm telling you now, isn't something I would have to tell that old woman.  It's something she already knows in her heart.  And it gives her complete peace in the storm of life.  How many of us have lost it when we got in a fender bender or made a mistake at work?  Do you remember how you felt during it?  Lost, upset, afraid, confused?  Just to name a few?  Well this woman may have been afraid when that tornado brought down her house around her... but in the aftermath she wasn't running around the wreckage yelling and frantic.  She didn't search high and low for her dog for hours in wreckage that could harm her.  She took in the situation peacefully, had some faith in all of it, and God saw that.  He saw that woman, and said I'm not just gonna save your life from this natural disaster, I'm bringing your dog with too.  That's the kind of God we have.  A loving God, named Jehovah, who actively cares for us. And is personal to all of us.


If you thirst for justice.  Which is something I thirst for, you won't find it on Earth.  But you will see it in God.  And his justice is done, sometimes on Earth, and sometimes after death. 

I thought I'd tell you a little bit about me. Just a bit, I don't want to go into too much detail.  But I'm your Pastor, and you ought to know a little right?  So here we go: I'm left handed,

I stutter sometimes (like Moses) and

I've had about 7 concussions in my life.

So if my sermons don't make any sense, now you know why.  If I ramble endlessly, that can be my excuse.

The title of the sermon today is "From Self Examining to Sharing with Others."   The last two weeks we've been working on getting right within our own minds. 

proverbs 16:32 says New Living Translation (©2007)
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.

And we've gone over several Bible verses in the past few weeks that emphasize self examination.  He who conquers himself is greater than one who concurs a city" is a way I've heard that proverb paraphrased.  

Let's go over something again.  The story in the news about the old woman in the Oklahoma tornado.  She trusted God and received peace of mind from that.  Most of the time I can spot someone who doesn't have that from a mile away!  I was hanging out with a friend of mine, and he told me that once when during high school, he was getting off the bus, and boom a car flies through and he goes flying off the windshield.  And instead of the person running over to help him, this guy starts freaking out at him, saying it was his fault, and just frantic!  Rambling on about how he needed to call his insurance agent!  Absolutely no concern for a human being he just injured, by flying past a bus with it's lights on, indicating kids are getting out.

Looking at it now, a lot of us would never want to be that person.  Because from our perspective thats just a rotten way to react!  But how often in the past have we had an emergency, and the first thing we thought about was ourselves.  How often, when someone dear to us has died have we cried and worried over the fact of what we're going to do without them around.. and having to deal with the funeral and family, instead of worrying about their family, and their salvation, and how others will cope?

We tried living a life run on our selfish will.  We were in charge and we didn't need any God!  Remember that?  Was that ever you?  I'm so self sufficient.  I've got a good job, I'm gonna prosper, gain wealth and prestige and power.  I'm taking the world by storm!

But now we look back, and see where that took us.  It took us into selfishness.  Which lead to fear.  Which lead to temptation.  Which lead to sin.  We were rudderless.  And eventually we recognized that.  And started searching.  Maybe we'd heard of Christianity or been raised in a condemning church.  So Christianity was the last thing we wanted to explore.  Buddhism, taoism, naturalism, new age, auras and chockras, zodiac stuff.  We explored it all, step by step, but it was all empty.  And finally, as it got worse and worse, we realized that the truth had been right in front of us all along.  That instead of wandering lost through the wilderness, like the tribe of Israel after the exodus, we could've just stepped right into the promise land, if we'd just pushed past our fears, doubts, and misconceptions about Christianity and the Bible.

And now we don't have to be those people we see everyday.  Stressing in the car.  Dead in the eyes.  A constant frown on the face.  Miserable, while trying to maintain a reputation of self reliance.  We know those people, and we see them everyday.  And aren't we glad we don't have to be that way anymore?

Now, when the storm hits, the tornadoes rolling in, we can sit down on a stool, and just wait it out, knowing that our God will protect us.  We can have a little peace about life.

We receive that peace through faith in God.  We're seen a righteous through our unwavering faith in God.  And the only way to that close connection with God is Jesus the Christ.  The Christ that bore the weight of your sins personally on the cross.

And now that we're working on ourselves day by day, that peace and connection with God grows and flourishes.  We grow up tall like a tree and bear fruit. 

Matthew 12:35  says: "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

So we've got ministers of good in the world and ministers of bad in the world.  And we want to be the ministers of good, don't we?  We want to bear good fruit.

1 Peter 2:1-5

New International Version (NIV)

2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house^[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So we go from the topic of self examining to sharing with others.  Self examination doesn't stop.  But at some point sharing does start.  Let me encourage you to pray for the opportunity to minister to others.  If God wants you to do that, the opportunity will present itself.  This is the great commission, the great responsibility of every Christian on the planet.  Matthew 28:18-20 says "

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus Christ is with us and it is our duty to him to minister to others.  This starts with our family.  Then continues with our friends.  It also means encouraging and talking with the congregation about Biblical truth.  And beyond our family, friends, and congregations, it does mean ministering to strangers as well.

This doesn't necessarily mean going door to door, or walking around a college campus asking students if they think they're going to heaven.  Which is misleading, because we're going to the New Earth, not heaven, though some will rein with Christ in heaven.  We can go door to door, and we can walk around college campuses, I'm not discouraging that.  But a lot of times we can just be in casual conversation and the opportunity to bring it up comes.  We have to push past the fear, and doubt, and just start talking about it.

It's a duty we have as Christians.  We must make disciples of the world.  How great is it to bring people to the next life with you?  It's a wonderful thing.  It's a gift from our creator.

And don't be discouraged if someone doesn't take the message.  You've planted a seed that can't be unsown.  They can't unhear what you've told them.  And if you've ministered to them humbly, they might just look back on that conversation in a tough moment and think, hey, yeah, that person who talked to me really seemed to have a lot of peace about that Christ thing.  They really seemed non-judgemental and happy.  I want that.

So that's something that people will really take more notice of than your words.  They'll take notice of your example.  And theres no faking that example.  People have good intuition about true peace and serenity.  If you have that, that Christ within, it will shine through.  

But for a lot of us we have trouble ministering to others.  And maybe that's because we don't care enough.  Experience has made us jaded toward our fellow man.  Isn't that the case with some of us? Maybe we have trouble loving others, not because we're bad people.   But because our society has hurt us in the first part.  Remember what Jesus great command was?

Matthew 22:37-39

New International Version (NIV)

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[a] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]
Maybe we can't fulfill loving our neighbors because of what we measure it by: Loving ourselves.  Maybe we've forgotten even how to love ourselves, and thus we give our neighbors the same love we give ourselves: none.

And once again, that's an issue of self examination.  If we can learn to love ourselves, and see ourselves the way God sees us, as his children, made perfect through Christ, maybe we could learn to love ourselves.  And then love others in turn.

So let me encourage you to start that process.  We've worked on ourselves.  Now we can help others effectively.

I want to thank you for listening in on our Sunday service here at ULC Online Church. Next week we're going to talk about having passion for the Christian journey.  Passion like David had when he danced before his God. And we'll talk about love being the greatest motivator for this walk with Christ.  Have a great day, and go in peace.