Our hearts are broken regarding the gruesome murder of Davy and Natalie Lloyd, who were full-time missionaries in Haiti. Certainly, their parents, relatives, and friends are stunned by the senseless slaughter of these two young people who had dedicated their lives to show God’s love to a few of the disadvantaged children in Haiti – but such a risk is part of the call to missions.
On the other hand, our hearts are encouraged by Harrison Butker’s bold stand, given the caustic criticism he has received from the “woke” culture crowd for his pro-marriage, pro-family, and pro-life positions. In response to their disbelief that a major football player would have such outdated, conservative Christian values, Butker said, “I lean on those closest to me for guidance. But I can never forget that it is not people but Jesus Christ who I am trying to please.”
Beloved, the Apostle Peter said, every Christian has been called to endure such suffering, even martyrdom. In fact, Peter said our response to suffering and persecution reveals the authenticity of our relationship with Christ. So, when such opportunities arise in our lives, we are to “Rejoice, so that the genuineness of our faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:6–7 HCSB).
The title of this sermon series is “How Should We Then Live?” We aim to reveal what the Scriptures define as an “Authentic Christian.” In this sermon, we continue to look at the scriptures that give us “The Assurance of Our Salvation.”

Years ago, Oswald Chambers wrote: “Satan’s great aim is to cause us to be devoted to the death to a cause; any enterprise, any type of movement or ministry, other than to the Person of Jesus Christ.” Since Satan realized he couldn’t destroy the church, he did the next best thing – he produced a counterfeit Christianity! Whereas the goal of every authentic Christian is self-discipline, self-denial, and even self-detriment, if necessary to authenticate our witness, the goal of the counterfeit church is self-acceptance, self-achievement, and self-enrichment – in effect, using the name of God to get the same things Satan promised those who worship him.
Satan also raised up a new crop of counterfeit preachers who are willing to say whatever the congregation wants to hear as long as they tickle his ears with praise and line his wallet with cash, for they are but hirelings and not true God-called shepherds. Sadly, the pulpits are filled with many of them today.
The title of this sermon series is “How Should We Then Live?” Our purpose is to declare what the Scriptures define as an “Authentic Christian” for there are many false professors among the true confessors, and they are giving Christianity a bad name.

Given the spiritual condition of today’s church, I believe God’s people need to spend much more time in the Psalms, for while the Psalms reveal both the intellectual and devotional aspects of our daily walk with the Lord, the Psalms also show us how to connect with God through prayer, and how to hear from God through His Word.
This Sunday evening, I will cover Psalms 5 under the heading, “A View of David’s Quiet Time.”

The title of this sermon series is “How Should We Then Live?” Our purpose is to declare what the Scriptures define as an “Authentic Christian” for there are many false professors among the true confessors, and they are giving Christianity a bad name.

Perhaps the first place to begin is in our “calling,” for in 2 Peter 2:10, the Apostle urged his readers to “be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.”

· In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the Apostle Paul said, “We should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”

· In John 6:37, Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Admittedly, the two concepts don’t seem to go together. However, both are true, and we must accept them both by faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior rests entirely on God’s election. And yet the day we heard the gospel and received Jesus Christ as our Savior, we did so because of an internal desire, but even that desire was God-given — He supplied the necessary faith so we could believe (Eph. 2:8).

The Sunday morning sermon is titled: “How Should We Then Live?” The Search for Authentic Christianity # 3

For the next 12 Sunday evenings, (except June 2), I will preach a series of sermons on selected Psalms. Given the spiritual condition of today’s church, I believe God’s people need to spend much more time in the Psalms, for while the Psalms reveal both the intellectual and devotional aspects of our daily walk with the Lord, in the Psalms, we also learn how to connect with God through prayer, showing us how to pray, and then how to hear from God through His Word.
This Sunday evening, I will cover Psalms 1 and 2 under the heading, “Contrasting the Righteous and the Wicked.” Beloved, even though these Psalms are 3,000 years old, it will seem as if we are reading today’s news.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines “authentic” as an item or a statement worthy of one’s trust. God has called us to be authentic in our Christian faith, to be true representatives of Jesus Christ as we walk in this world.
According to every evangelistic organization, those who know they are away from God are yearning to see a true, blood-bought believer, one who is a devoted disciple of Christ, one who will not waiver in their convictions, for while the harvest is ripe, the laborers are few, and the greatest hindrance to effective evangelism today is a false believer, one who can explain their version of the plan of salvation, but who has never had that personal experience with Christ as their Savior.
This Sunday morning, I will continue our new series of sermons on “How Should We Then Live?” – a study of the Epistles of Peter. The title of this sermon is: “In Search of Authentic Christianity,” # 2.

The most heartbreaking statistic to me is that 80% of evangelical youth leave the church when they reach adulthood, and that number has continued to increase since the youth ministry began in the 70s. According to the most recent survey, the main reason they leave the church is because they do not think Christianity is authentic.

Other words for “authentic” include, true, real, reliable, and genuine. The number one antonym for authentic is “fake,” and it should cause us to cry out in repentance to learn that the ways we are expressing our faith in Jesus Christ is not even convincing our own children and youth that Christianity is real. God forgive us!

In Philippians 4:9, the Apostle Paul told his followers, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Can you say that to those who are evaluating Christianity on the basis of your personal testimony? Can you say that to your Children? If we say we “believe,” it will be manifested in how we “behave!”

God help us if we, in any way, directly or indirectly, put a stumbling block in the pathway of those children and youth who are looking at our lives to find the answers to their questions about life and faith. Help us determine to develop a contagious faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and let our faith infect others with that same desire to know Him as we have. May every decision we make, regardless of how insignificant it may seem to us, be evaluated as to how it will glorify the Lord, and affect our witness to those who are watching us.

The most heartbreaking statistic to me is that 80% of evangelical youth leave the church when they reach adulthood, and that number has continued to increase since the youth ministry began in the 70s. According to the most recent survey, the main reason they leave the church is because they do not think Christianity is authentic.
Other words for “authentic” include, true, real, reliable, and genuine. The number one antonym for authentic is “fake,” and it should cause us to cry out in repentance to learn that the ways we are expressing our faith in Jesus Christ is not even convincing our own children and youth that Christianity is real. God forgive us!
In Philippians 4:9, the Apostle Paul told his followers, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Can you say that to those who are evaluating Christianity on the basis of your personal testimony? Can you say that to your Children? If we say we “believe,” it will be manifested in how we “behave!”
God help us if we, in any way, directly or indirectly, put a stumbling block in the pathway of those children and youth who are looking at our lives to find the answers to their questions about life and faith. Help us determine to develop a contagious faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and let our faith infect others with that same desire to know Him as we have. May every decision we make, regardless of how insignificant it may seem to us, be evaluated as to how it will glorify the Lord, and affect our witness
This Sunday, I will begin two new sermon series:
· The Sunday morning series is entitled: “How Should We Then Live?” – a study of the Epistles of Peter.
· The Sunday evening series is entitled: “Sermons from the Psalms” – a study of the prophetic implications of selected psalms.

Jonathan Edwards was an American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist theologian. Edwards wrote, “It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven . . . to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end and true happiness?”

In his early twenties, Edwards composed a set of life resolutions. One read, “Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can.” Unfortunately, even many believers find no joy when they think about heaven.

This Sunday, we conclude our doctrinal series of sermons: The Church: The Pillar and Ground of Truth.

· The Sunday morning sermon is entitled: “Our Hope of a Heavenly Home.”

· The Sunday evening sermon is entitled: “What Life is Like in Heaven.”