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Sermons

Fleeing the Cross

the cross.2And they all forsook him, and fled. (Mark 14:50)

While reflecting over some of the articles we have previously written I also realize that there have been many times in my life that I had great difficulty in truly embracing the cross of Christ. So many times when I would turn to scripture and read the words of Jesus and the teachings of the Apostles I had a tendency to overlook the failings and disbelief of the disciples we so highly esteem.

The disciples were not truly transformed into the what they had been taught until after they understood and embraced the cross. I then found much common ground with this group of twelve when I saw that in God's wisdom he allowed the failings of the disciples to be recorded just as much as their successes.

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Selfish Salvation

Dear Followers Of  Christ

money church.2After considering what I would write in this sermon for many months my prayer is that I will stir your hearts toward reflecting on why we serve our Lord.

I believe that this reflection is probably one of the greatest tasks we as professing believers can undertake, so much so that if we do not prayerfully consider this core aspect we are certain to have many areas of our spiritual life abound with confusion regarding God's will for our lives and how we practice our faith. It is so important that our very salvation may eventually be at risk.

If you have read much of what we have written on this site you are aware that we do not find our salvation is based on an event we could easily record from some moment in the past, but rather our salvation is a daily event of being currently grafted in the vine. Paul cautions us about this in Romans 11.

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Keeping Christ In Christmas

christmas.2We are living during a time in history when the deeply held beliefs of Christians are being challenged by the secular anti-christian world around us. The convicting message of Christ and his teachings are increasingly being scorned in every area of our society and has even invaded the churches that profess to hold to the teachings of Christ.

Many of these churches no longer focus on, or even teach, the repentant nature of our faith but rather choose to focus on the goodwill and glad tidings portion of the historical record of his birth and other pleasantries of his life. Even though this non-confrontational style of preaching is heard in most churches today, we find an even more aggressive agenda of the secular world to purge any affect of the person of Jesus from our lives especially around Christmas.

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Assurance, not Insurance

trust.2Assurance
a positive declaration inspiring confidence
Insurance
promise of reimbursement in the case of loss; paid to people or companies so concerned about hazards that they have made prepayments to an insurance company

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. (1 Jn 5:14)

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Php 4:19)

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Counterfeit Church

cathedral.2Dear Saints,

This article is a call to repentance, an earnest warning that we must return to our first love. The church has been anemic for so long, pursuing the spoils of a wicked world that it is now entering a full blown stage of apostasy. It will not be long before many, if not most, good Christians tumble forward into the pit of deception that has been quickly opening up. There is no great revival coming anymore, it is past that time.

The reason I say this is that scripture is clear that there will be a great falling away prophesied for this period in history. It is sad but it is true. The church herself has brought this final judgement of delusion upon herself and God is not going to allow the church, that he died for, escape his standard of excellence nor his justice. We are foolishly naive to think that God is going to judge the evil and sinful in the world and allow those in the church who continue to reject bearing the fruits of righteousness to be exempt.

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Godliness vs. Goodness

Man's understanding of good and evil is always in contradiction to God's

Dear Reader

tree of knowledge.2This article is being written for us to look at the age old paradox of good vs. evil. For many people it is difficult to accept that good is not Godly, especially when it is present alongside the realities and expressions of evil, this is understandable. The more blatant forms of evil are easily loathed by most everyone regardless of culture or faith. The dislike of evil is not unique to those of Judeo/Christian culture, but actually resonates throughout all of humanity regardless of gender, color, or intellectual ability. Actually, in many cases, it is only as a society in general becomes more educated and academically oriented that the great dislike for the slightest displays of evil is diminished. The more that a society and/or religious group allows tolerance towards evil to persist the greater and more frequent the display of such evil and the less that good is found, yet paradoxically these activities are part of each other, a constant struggle from the same source, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Both results are from the same source, but neither are rooted in the Tree of Life.

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Home Picked Beans

green bean.2Dear Friends,

This sermon is much different from the rest as you can tell from the title. Much of what I have written to date deals with re-aligning our beliefs so that they mirror what scripture teaches which is very important but at times it is also important to bring these teachings into everyday life and that is what we want to accomplish here.

In the summer of "08" we were blessed by finding a home to rent outside of town. The place has about two acres with a small shop/barn out back and also included a two car garage and ample space for our family. It gives us enough room to accommodate my construction activities as well as Diana's sewing and beeswax candle business. We are part of the local farmers market south of here in Marietta, Ohio where we are able to sell things that we grow and make and this keeps us very busy. This year were able to plant a large garden and there is such abundance that we are able to meet our own needs as well as sell considerable extra. So this is where the title of this sermon comes from so on with the beans.

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Modesty

modesty.small.2Dear Brothers and Sisters In the Lord,

One of the most challenging topics within the area of "christian liberty" is the topic of modesty. Included in this, is also the area of who establishes what is considered modest. As the church throughout history has veered away from a strong code of outward modesty so it's display of righteousness has also been left behind. One may not totally see ones heart when ones body is presented in modesty but it is difficult to see anything but carnality when one rejects the outward principle of modesty.

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