In many ways, follower's of Christ are no different than anyone else. We experience difficult times, loss, heartaches, sickness and pain. But in many ways, we are very different, we have access to the power and provision of God! We are not to see our struggles through the same lens as the world - we are called to see what others don't!
The Christian life is a "supernatural" life. We serve a God of miracles & the impossible. In Mark 8:15 Jesus warns that we must beware of the leaven of unbelief. Remember without faith it is impossible to please God! As we study & believe God's word our faith grows to a point where we see what others can't!
In Jeremiah 18:1-10, we read the story about God speaking to Jeremiah by using the illustration of a potter and clay. There are important spiritual principles in this story. God is not willing to leave us "marred" or broken, He is the great restorer!
In Acts chapter 2 Peter says, "Repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Then in turn we need to share and live what we have learned with others.
In each of us is a desire to live a life that is bigger or beyond that which is natural. The world is constantly doing its best to define how this can best be achieved but the truth is that Jesus has already shown us! According to the example and teachings of Jesus, if we truly desire to be "great" - we must take on the form of a servant.
Jesus made His followers a wonderful promise - that He would go to prepare a place for them to dwell for eternity with Him! Heaven is the hope of every disciple of Jesus - as it is still to come!
According to Hebrews 9:27 it is appointed for men to die but after this the judgement. In this message we look at what the scripture says about the day of judgement. There are two judgements: one for the righteous and one for the wicked. Both fall under the category of "Things to come!"
Many of us are intrigued by future events. There is much being said as to what the future holds, however, we must look to the Bible for our answers. God's Word is full of promises as well as prophecy - some are clear, while others are very vague. Today, we begin a series in which we will address some things to come, while explaining that - there are just simply things we don't fully understand yet.
For the past two weeks we have highlighted the fact that there are stages of Godly development in our personal walk with Christ. Today we see that this principle is true for the "corporate body" (church) as well, one of the best ways to gage if a church is growing spiritually is whether it is more like a factory or a family!
This message is a continuation of last week's sermon.
