In Romans 12:1-2, the Apostle Paul said, given all the things God has done for us to redeem us from our sins and to assure us of our home in heaven, the only reasonable response would be to “present ourselves unto Him as living sacrifices,” giving up our wills and fully surrendering ourselves unto His will for us, and that should include our worship of Him, and our ministry to others.

The New Living Translation expresses Paul’s appeal: “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him” (Romans 12:1).

No matter how we interpret reasonable service, we can conclude that God desires worshipers who offer Him authentic, heartfelt, and radically lived-out devotion based on a solid foundation of gospel truth. That includes our ministry to others, especially those of the household of faith.

Tonight at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 12:1-8.  

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends.

One of my Bible college professors taught us to ask a certain question when we came upon the word “therefore” in the Bible. He told us to ask: “Wherefore is that “therefore” there for?

I submit to you that the most important “therefore” in the Bible is found in Romans 12:1-2 where the Apostle Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

On Sunday night at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 12:1-2 under the heading: “The Call to True Worship.”

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends.  Pastor Wayne

What are you doing today “for the furtherance of the gospel?”

The Apostle Paul was under house arrest in Rome, and chained to a Roman guard 24-hours a day. Certainly, Satan intended for those chains to prohibit Paul from accomplishing his mission to get the gospel to the Gentiles. But as Paul wrote to Timothy, even while he was incarcerated, “the Word of God is not chained.” (2 Timothy 2:9)

Those who loved Paul and supported his ministry were disturbed by Paul’s pitiful circumstances. But in verse 12 of his letter to the Philippians, Paul said, “I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.”

The theme of our new sermon series from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians is “The Epistle of Joy.” The title of this sermon is: “For the Furtherance of the Gospel”

Thank you for forwarding these sermon study guides to those you think might be interested. We are encouraged by the response we’ve received from viewers worldwide.

Those who believe in what is called “Replacement Theology” believe that the Church has taken Israel’s place in God’s plan for the redemption of lost man. This view not only contradicts the Word of God, it also undermines the God of the Word and, in effect, calls Him a liar. By claiming that Israel has been abandoned, this Satanically inspired, man-generated theology questions the unconditional nature of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 17:7-8.

Beloved, if God were to forsake Israel, He would contradict His own declaration of faithfulness. In Malachi 3:6, God is quoted as saying: “For I am the Lord, I do not change.”

God’s faithfulness to Israel is a testimony of His faithfulness to all His promises. If He abandoned Israel, how could we trust Him to keep His promises to the Church? Thankfully, God’s character is unchanging, and His Word is true.

Tonight at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 11:1-36 and Jeremiah 31:31-37. The title of tonight’s sermon is: “Paul’s Passion for His People.”  

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends. 

One of the significant LIES that has infiltrated the evangelical Church today is Replacement Theology – that because the Jewish nation rejected Jesus as the God-sent Messiah, they forfeited their right to be the people of God. God replaced the Jews with the Church.  Those who believe this damnable heresy consider modern day Israel to be an accident of history. They deny that God has any special plans for the current Jewish people in the end times; that the regathering of the Jews and the re-establishment of the nation of Israel has no spiritual significance.

However, according to the Bible:

God chose the Hebrews to be His witness to the world.
Through them, God gave the world the Bible.
Through them, God gave the world the Messiah.
God has promised that He will save a great remnant of them.
God has promised that through that remnant, He will bless all the nations of the world during Jesus’ millennial reign.

Satan is determined to destroy every Jew on planet Earth so that God cannot keep His promises to them. However, Satan knows that a great remnant of the Jewish people is going to live to the end of the Tribulation. They will be brought to the end of themselves, and when Jesus appears:

“They will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10)
They will receive Yeshua as their Messiah and cry, “Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonai.” (Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!)

 What a glorious day that will be. What glory will it bring to the name of God?  Meanwhile, as we await that day, let us meet each new day with the cry of “Maranatha! Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

Sunday night at 6:00 PM, we will address this issue from Paul’s letter to the Romans as we look at “Paul’s Passion for His people.” As you prayerfully prepare for this very timely study, consider this passage from Romans 11:1: “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”

In Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, the writer defines and describes the whole duty of mankind. In verse 13, he says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, good or evil.

This biblical truth agrees with the first question of the Shorter Catechism, which asks: “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer is: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to praise Him forever.” Therefore, in light of God’s purpose for us, our ultimate goal is to live our lives to the glory of God. That doesn’t mean we live a dull, boring, monastic life cloistered away from society. However, it does mean that in all we do, our main purpose is to glorify God and praise Him forever.  

“Coram Deo” is a Latin phrase that means “in the presence of God.” Because God does not always reveal Himself to us in spectacular ways, it is easy for a Christian to forget that His gaze is always upon us. In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul told his readers that to live “to the glory and praise of God,” they must visualize themselves as if they were constantly “in the face of God!”

The theme of our new sermon series from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians is “The Epistle of Joy.” The title of this sermon is: “To the glory and praise of God.” # 3

Thank you for forwarding these sermon study guides to those you think might be interested. We are encouraged by the response we’ve received from viewers worldwide

The Bible says that when Jesus saw the massive crowds gathering to hear Him, “He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). In deep theological terms, they were lost and without hope of ever finding their way. In Ephesians 2:12, the Apostle Paul described them as people “without hope and without God.”

Is this the way we view lost people today? Not hardly! More often than not, Christians spend more time criticizing the lost for living true to their nature, not necessarily out of their concern for how the sinner’s life choices are going to affect the sinner’s life, but how the sinner’s evil behavior will negatively affect the culture in which we live.

In Romans 9:1-3, the Apostle Paul shared his compassion for his lost relatives and his passion to see them saved. Paul said he was willing to be “accursed from Christ” if, in doing so, his relatives could be saved.  In Romans 7, Paul defined his struggle with sin. In Romans 8, Paul said the answer to his struggle was to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Romans 9, Paul said he was in great sorrow and continual grief over the lostness of those he loved.

Do you get the connection? To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with Christ’s compassion for the lost and a passion to do whatever we can to see them saved.

Tonight at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 9:1-5, 10:1.

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends.

The timeless truth of Romans 7-8 is that it is impossible to live the Christian life apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells the believer at the moment of conversion. Sharing his own struggle with sin, the Apostle Paul assured every believer of two things:

While all Christians will always struggle with sin –
The Holy Spirit will empower those who ask Him to overcome sin and enable them to live a victorious life.

However, according to the most recent survey:

58% of those who claim to be nominal Christians do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real, living being.
62% of those who claim to be “born again” Christians do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real, living being.
Only 39% of those who claim to be “born again” Christians and who are actively engaged in the development of their spiritual maturity believe the Holy Spirit is a real, living being.

Beloved, the essence of being a Christian is to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Sunday night at 6:00 PM, I want to depart from our exposition of Romans to explain “How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our text will be Ephesians 5:1-21. As you prayerfully prepare for this very timely study, consider this passage:   “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:19)

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends. 

The writer of Proverbs said, “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22). Well, if laughter is good for our bones, what would a good dose of joy do to our hearts? A heart filled with joy is revealed in a cheerful face and expressed in a bright spirit, and it is contagious.

Just as true peace is not the absence of conflict, true joy is not the absence of sadness. In Isaiah 63:3, the Bible described Jesus as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” However, the writer of Hebrews said Jesus was the “author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Therefore, true joy is that deep sense of contentment that comes from knowing we are in the very center of God’s perfect will for our lives, even though it may cause us to suffer. In other words, true joy has nothing to do with the circumstances of our daily lives – they could be good or bad, happy or sad. But as the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Those whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered must “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

TRUE JOY is only available to those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and that’s the theme of our new sermon series from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. The Title of this sermon is: “To the Glory and Praise of God.”# 2.

Thank you for forwarding these sermon study guides to those you think might be interested. We are encouraged by the response we’ve received from viewers worldwide

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit begins at the sinner’s conversion and continues throughout the believer’s life, giving them the assurance of their eternal salvation, and enabling them to live the victorious Christian life during their days on this earth.

The Holy Spirit fills believers with God’s love. 
The Holy Spirit produces holiness in the believer’s life
The Holy Spirit helps believers understand the truth of the gospel. 
The Holy Spirit intercedes on believers’ behalf when they are in need. 
The Holy Spirit empowers the believer to be God’s witnesses.
The Holy Spirit guides the believer into developing a Christian worldview.

Tonight at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 8:1-17 under the heading, “The Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit.”

As you prayerfully prepare for this very in-depth study of Romans, consider these three verses:

Romans 8:7-9: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you”. 
1 Corinthians 6:19–20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”. 
John 14:17: “He lives with you and will be in you”. 

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends.