SERMON SEEDS
P29– THE WEEK OF AUGUST 7, 2017
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Sermon Seeds is a mailing of brief sermon outlines from Pastor
Jack Peters. These outlines are meant to help other pastors and Bible
Teachers in their own preparations, as well as students of the Word in their studies.
These outlines are only "seeds". They are not sermons ready for you to
preach. Most of these outlines have been shared in the past. Feel free to improve on these outlines any way the Lord leads you.
These outlines are based on the King James Version of the Bible, but are usually a “fit” with other translations.
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THE FAMILY ESTABLISHED
WE ARE FAMILY # 1 OF 4
There are certain institutions that God has established.
- The Family - Genesis 2:21-24 - And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
- Government - Romans 13:1-2 - Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
- Israel - Genesis 12:1-2 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
- The Church – Matthew 16:13-19
- The church is a family. Its members are children of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.
- Universal Church to which each believer belongs
- Local Church – a microcosm of the universal church. It is the local family made up of those who belong the whole family.
This month we are celebrating our family here at First Baptist, encouraging to appreciate who we are, and what our responsibilities are as believers. I think that is important for us to understand the establishment of Christ’s church. Let’s examine that this morning!
THE CHURCH ANNOUNCED – Matthew 16:7-19
Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-6, Job 19:25-27, Psalm 17:15
Peter – Kings to Kingdom – When the Spirit came, he was there. – Pentecost, Samaritans, Gentiles
THE CHURCH COMMISSIONED – Matthew 28:18-20
THE FOUR-FOLD CHARGE:
- Go! Acts 1:7-8
- Make Disciples.
- Baptize New Believers. Acts 10:44-48
- Teach All Believers. 2 Timothy 3:15-17
THE CHURCH LAUNCHED (STARTED) – Acts 2:1-12, 36-42
Notice that the early church did exactly what the Lord commissioned them to do. We must also fulfill that commission as a local church.
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JUDGES 3:8-31 – THE FORGOTTEN FACE OF GOD’S VOLUNTEERS
FORGOTTEN FACES - #2 OF 8
Have you ever noticed how much community work is done by volunteers? (Use examples familiar to your congregation.) Much of the work in our church is done by volunteers. (Use examples from your congregation.)
Just as community organizations and churches actively seek volunteers, God also recruits volunteers willing to serve Him at His request. Judges 3 tells of three judges (leaders) who were God's volunteers. Each one was different.
OTHNIEL - THE REUSABLE JUDGE Vss. 8-11
Many people hit a certain age and think that their work is done for the Lord. They often "retire" without the Lord ever telling them to retire.
There are others, however, who are reusable. They've been used by God in the past, but keep on volunteering until they are no longer able.
Othniel had been used by the Lord earlier (Judges 1:9-15), and he was used again, as mentioned in this passage.
EHUD - THE REFLECTIVE JUDGE Vss. 12-30
Serving the Lord often takes thought. Often, there needs to be a God-directed plan in order to get the job done. Ehud thought through a plan that used his job of delivering money to the king, his being left handed, his locking some doors, and calling together Israel to fight.
It was a successful plan because God was in it, and it was a well thought plan.
SHAMGAR - THE RESOURCEFUL JUDGE Vs. 31
Shamgar's name is only mentioned twice in the Bible, but he teaches us an important lesson. We should use what we have in order to volunteer for God's service. Shamgar used an ox goad, an instrument used to prod oxen, in order to defeat 600 Philistines, and deliver Israel.
God expects us to use what we have in order to serve Him.
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ESTHER 6 – GOD IN CONTROL
GOD WAS THERE PART 4 (STUDIES IN ESTHER)
There are times when things seem very out of control. Everything appears to be going wrong! And yet, in war, in peace, in bad times, in good times, in sickness, and in health, God is still on the throne, and Jesus Christ is still Lord!
The Book of Esther, which never mentions God by name, is a great example of God's control in a bad situation. Wicked Haman was trying to eliminate the Jews, Mordecai in particular. Queen Esther and Mordecai were working against Haman's wicked decree to have all Jews killed (Esther 3). Part of Esther's plan to expose Haman before the king was a series of two banquets for just the king and Haman. Haman, however decided that it was time to have Mordecai hung from the gallows (Esther 5). In Esther 6 we see God in Control, in spite of Haman's terrible plan.
THE RIGHT TOUCH, Vss.. 1-3
God touches the King so he can't sleep. He has his chronicles read before him. God touches the reading of the chronicles so that Mordecai's previous good deed of saving the king's life is read. The king discovers that no reward had been given Mordecai.
THE RIGHT TIMING, Vss. 4-6
Haman arrived early to the court to see the king about hanging Mordecai that very day. The king asks who is in the court, and summons Haman to ask him how to honor someone in a special way. Haman thinks the king wants to honor Haman.
THE RIGHT TESTIMONY, Vss. 7-11
Haman suggests a public display of honor, including wearing the king's clothes, riding the king's horse, and having one of the king's noblest princes lead the person through the city with words of praise.
The king liked what he heard and told Haman to do it for Mordecai.
This display would help Mordecai's position when he later became prime minister, and worked to save the Jews.
THE RIGHT THOUGHTS, Vss. 12-14
Haman was warned by family and friends that he was in big trouble.
They were correct. God was in control!
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LUKE 11:1-13 – QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR PRAYER LIFE
DO YOU HAVE A MISSION? – Vs. 1 – To learn to pray
DO YOU HAVE A MODEL? – Vss. 2-4 – The Lord’s Prayer
DO YOU HAVE A MANNER? – Vss. 5-8 – Persistence
DO YOU HAVE A MANDATE? – Vss. 9-11 – Ask, Seek, Knock
DO YOU HAVE A MOTIVE? – Vss. 12 – To receive the good things God wants to give, especially the power of the Holy Spirit
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JOHN 9:4 – ON TIME
We all have the same amount of time each day.
As Christians we should use it wisely by serving Christ.
We should follow the example of Jesus.
YOU HAVE A JOB - OBLIGATION
"I must work the works of him that sent me."
Walking - Ephesians 4:1-3, Ephesians 5:2, John 13:34-35
Working - Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10
Witnessing - Matthew 28:19-20, 1 Peter 3:15
DAY IS HERE - OPPORTUNITY
"...while it is day."
Now is the time that we have to work for Christ.
We need to labor for him while we are still able. Ephesians 5:15-17
NIGHT IS COMING - OUTLOOK
"the night cometh when no man can work."
Each of us have a certain amount of time.
There will be a day when it will be all over and every Christian will stand accountable to God.
2 Corinthians 5:10
Every unbeliever will also stand accountable to God. Revelation 20:11-15
"Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last."
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ROMANS 6:15-23 – WHOSE FOOL ARE YOU?
There was a very popular song many years ago that included the lines,
"Everybody is somebody's fool. There is no exception to the rule. Everybody
is somebody's fool." I think the intent of the song was to convey that when
in love one tends to do what that person expects them to do. Hence you
become their fool.
I remember reading about a man who carried one of those double placards with
messages on the front and the back. The front said, "I am a fool for
Christ's sake." The back asked, "Whose fool are you?" (I may have gotten
this illustration from Warren Wiersbe, but I'm not sure.)
When you are someone's fool, you are his or her servant or slave. You do
what that person wants you to do. In Romans 6:15-23 we discover that
whoever's leadership we follow, or yield to, we are their servant. There are
two choices. You will either be the servant of sin or you will be the
servant of righteousness. If you are the servant of sin, you are Satan's
fool. If you are the servant of righteousness, you are God's fool. When we
are God's fools we are in good company. Paul was a fool for Christ's sake (1
Corinthians 4:10)
So, whose fool are you? You might respond, "I'm a Christian, I guess that
makes me God's fool. If you are really a Christian, you are partially right.
But if you are really God's fool as a Christian, you should be living a life
that serves God and not yourself, somebody else, and not something else.
Whose fool are you? There are:
TWO POSSIBILITIES - Vs. 16
Think of yourself as a slave. That's what the word "servant" means in this
verse. As a slave, you have a choice to make. You can chose to surrender
yourself as a slave to sin, or you can chose to surrender yourself to be a
slave of "obedience unto righteousness." When you surrender to sin you
surrender to Satan. When you surrender to obedience unto righteousness you
surrender to God.
TWO POSITIONS - Vss. 17-18
Paul is talking about standing or position in these verses. Before being
saved your position was servant to sin. Ephesians 2:1-3
If you are a true Christian, you have obeyed from the heart the doctrine of
salvation that has delivered you and changed your life. Your position in
God's eyes is "servant of righteousness."
TWO PRACTICES - Vs. 19
A person should practice a behavior in line with the position he or she
holds.
A schoolteacher should act like a schoolteacher.
A policeman should act like a policeman.
A pastor should act like a pastor.
It is possible for each of these to not act the way they should. And when a
policeman does not act like a policeman or a schoolteacher does not act like
a schoolteacher, or a pastor does not act like a pastor, there is sure to be
trouble. People get upset, and often the offenders lose their jobs.
Based on these illustrations, let me remind you that as Christians, we need
to act as "servants of righteousness" because that is our position. Vs. 19
tells us to yield ourselves as "servants to righteousness unto holiness."
See 1 Peter 1:15-16. In the past we yielded ourselves as slaves to
uncleanness and "iniquity unto iniquity".
TWO PROMISES - Vss. 20-22
Before being saved you were a free man. You were free from righteousness.
You had the sure promise of death. Vss. 20-21, Ezekiel 18:4
If you are a Christian you also have a promise. It is the promise of "fruit
unto holiness, and in the end everlasting life."
TWO PLACES - Vs. 23
"The wages of sin is death." Death is eternal separation from God in the
Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:11-15
"The gift of God is eternal life..." - Eternal life is in Heaven.
Everyone is going to one of those two places.
SO, WHOSE FOOL ARE YOU?
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1 Peter 4:1-6 – EVERYTHING LOOKS DIFFERRENT NOW!
When a person realizes that he or she is a sinner.
When a person realizes that he or she can not possibly pay or atone for their sin.
When a person realizes that Jesus died on the cross to pay for sin, when a person turns from trusting self to trusting Christ for eternal life, a tremendous change takes place.
"EVERYTHING LOOKS DIFFERENT NOW."
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
In the verses we get a Christian perspective of how things are since coming to Christ. The bottom line is, "EVERYTHING LOOKS DIFFERENT NOW!"
WE HAVE A NEW PRINCIPLE FOR LIVING - Vs. 1
In this verse Peter is building on 1 Peter 3:18: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Jesus only had to die once for our sins! He suffered for them and it was done! Payment was made in full for those who trust Him!
It was the just, the righteous one, Jesus dying for the unjust, the unrighteous one, Jack Peters.
He was put to death in the flesh. He really died!
But He was quickened or made alive by the Spirit. He rose again! 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Now in 1 Peter 4:1 we see that because Christ suffered for us in the flesh we are to have a new attitude, or a new principle of living. Out of appreciation for what Jesus has done for us we should arm ourselves as if going to battle with the same mind, or attitude Jesus had to sin.
All through His life Jesus was dead to sin.
Jesus always said "no" to sin. Jesus was tempted, but He never sinned! Hebrews 4:15
Jesus was dead to sin but alive unto God. He always did what God wanted.
The day came that Jesus literally died for sin. He died for your sins and mine!
Turn please to Romans 6.
Vs. 10 - When Jesus died he died for sin once!
Then Jesus rose and lives in Heaven unto God!
Vs. 11 - Here Paul tells us to reckon on a new principle for living.
"Likewise" or "Just like Jesus" count on the fact that you are dead to sin, or sin's influence and alive unto God.
When did you die? You died with Jesus on the cross, because He died in your place. When did you rise to a new life? When Jesus raised from the dead. Baptism is a testimony of this.
Vs. 4 - When Christ died, I died.
When Christ was buried I was buried.
When Christ rose to new life, I rose to newness of life.
So, in verse 11, we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God!
Vs. 12 - With this new principle at work in our lives, we are not to let sin reign in our lives.
Vs. 13 - We are not to yield to sin, but to God.
Vs. 14 - A great promise.
I believe that 1 Peter 4:1 is talking about the same principle found in Romans 6.
We've suffered in the flesh. We died with Christ and have ceased from sin. That does not mean we are sinless, but that sin does not have control over us the way it once did.
WE HAVE A NEW PURPOSE FOR LIVING - Vs. 2
The person without Christ lives to satisfy his own selfish desires, whatever they may be.
Those of us who come to Christ and are living by the principle of dying to self and living unto God should go a step further.
We are to no longer spend our time pursuing our own selfish desires, but doing the will of God.
When we do the will of God we are doing what is "good and acceptable and perfect" according to Romans 12:2.
There is no better way to say thank you to God than by striving to do his will.
Christian, what is your purpose for living?
Is it to do the will of God?
WE HAVE A NEW PRACTICE FOR LIVING - Vs. 3
Did you ever spend enough time doing something? I'm sure that you have.
- There were days when you spent enough time working.
- There were days when you spent enough time listening to someone complain.
- There were days when you spent enough time waiting.
- There were days when you spent enough time cleaning.
Here God is telling us here that you have spent enough time walking in the will of the Gentiles. We have spent enough time doing things that did not please God. We've already spent enough time in:
- Lasciviousness - "excesses" or "open outrages against decency"
They are everywhere from Pornographic Magazines, to movies, to internet sites. Not all internet is good my friend.
- Lusts - "compelling evil desire"
- excess of wine - drunkenness
- revellings - "wild feasting", "carousings" even orgies
- banquetings - drinking bouts
- and abominable or unlawful idolatries:
Much of the behavior mentioned above would have been connected to idol worship.
Now you might say, "Well, Pastor, I've never done anything as bad as these things here.”
Let me remind you that anything we do which is displeasing to God should be removed from our lives. These are some of the worst things, but we are called to a life of total purity and holiness.
WE HAVE A NEW PATIENCE FOR LIVING - Vss. 4-6
Vs. 4 - Do you want to know a sure-fire way to lose friends?
Act like a Christian.
That will guarantee that some who used to be your friend will not longer be your friend.
They want to run to excess of riot, or unrestricted living.
When you live the way you should live as a Christian, some will leave you. Some will stop being your friend. But others will embrace you. They will become your friend!
Those who leave you will think it strange that you do not do the same excessive and perverted things that they want to do.
And to make matters worse, they will speak evil of you.
Vs. 5 - Be patient because one day these people need to stand before God. They will answer to the judge of the living and the dead.
Vs. 6 - Peter is referring to Christians who were now dead.
It is possible that they had been judged by man in the flesh. They had been persecuted and martyred.
Although they were dead physically, they continued to live on in the spirit. Their bodies had been destroyed, but their spirits were in the presence of God. To be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord.
And as Christians, one day our Spirits will be joined to a new resurrection body! 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
So we can be patient, even when non-Christians do not understand us. We have the hope of eternal life.
EVERYTHING LOOKS DIFFERENT NOW!
WE HAVE A NEW PRINCIPLE FOR LIVING - Vs. 1
WE HAVE A NEW PURPOSE FOR LIVING - Vs. 2
WE HAVE A NEW PRACTICE FOR LIVING - Vs. 3
WE HAVE A NEW PATIENCE FOR LIVING - Vss. 4-6
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