Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: Christ

Rick Warren (March-19-2023) Daily Devotional: Your Pain Can Make You More Like Christ.

“Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” - Hebrews 5:8 (NLT)

Every pain in your life is an opportunity to grow in character. How do you learn love when you feel unloved? How do you learn joy in the middle of grief? How do you learn peace when everything’s in chaos? How do you learn patience when you’re not feeling patient? 

You learn those qualities, with God’s grace, when you are going through pain. You have to decide if you’re going to let the pain be a stepping stone to maturity or a stumbling block to spiritual growth.

Once you make a decision to follow Jesus, God’s number one purpose in your life is to make you more like Christ. If you’re a part of God’s family, then he wants you to grow up! He helps you do that by taking you through everything Jesus went through. There were times when Jesus was lonely, frustrated, misunderstood, criticized, and in pain.

But the Bible says, “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT).

If Jesus was made perfect through suffering, then you are matured the same way.

There are some things you learn only through pain. In that sense, pain becomes a gift if you let it draw you closer to God in worship, closer to others in fellowship, and deeper in discipleship.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he recognized all the ways they had grown through their pain. He says in 2 Corinthians 7:11, “Isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible” (The Message).

Those seven qualities of Christlikeness are developed in you too when you ask God to use your pain to build your character. If you’ll do that, the pain won’t leave you where it found you—it will transform you!

Talk It Over

• When you are experiencing something painful, what is usually the first thing you pray?
• Do you want to grow spiritually through your suffering? Why or why not?
• It can be hard to know what to pray when you're in pain. Spend a few minutes looking through Scripture to find some verses you can pray when you're in pain. You can look for verses that ask for God's help or for him to use your pain for good. If you're not sure where to look, start in the Psalms.

Daily Devotional (March-18-2023) MAINTAIN YOUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST.

Scripture Reference: Mark 7:6-8, NLT - Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce;for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

An opportunity came that one day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over THEIR cupped hands, as required by THEIR ancient traditions.

Similarly, the Pharisees and teachers don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse THEIR hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as THEIR ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow OUR age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.” It was clear that they were only interested in obeying their own human traditions.

These Pharisees and teachers of the law are not different from this generation where they practice lip service and are grown in obeying man rather than God. The Lord answered them as hypocrites, which is more important, The cup or inside the cup? They thought they are very wise coming out with human customs and traditions far away from what the Word of God teaches.

It becomes an issue when some teachers of the Word come with restrictions and limitations on the kind of liberty God has given us under the New testament.

In the New testament there are so many things that do not apply again. The Bible says the Old Testament was written for our learning. The only way you can identify them is by reading and studying the Word of God. The Lord Jesus thought something important; _“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)(Mark 7:18-19)

PRAYER - I refuse to honour God with my lips, but my heart is far from Him. I refuse not to accept any teachings on human traditions and customs. I receive the grace to serve God with all my heart in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen.

Watch BibleProject - "Christ" Is Not a Name • The Anointed Ep. 1. The title most often applied to Jesus is “the anointed one”—that’s what the Greek word “christ” means! But what is the practice of anointing? What does it signify, and who gets anointed? The practice of anointing people with oil is a theme we can trace throughout the entire story of the Bible. In this episode, Tim and Jon start a brand new theme study all about anointing.

Daily Devotional (March-12-2023) THE TRUE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:11-12 - “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Today’s passage comes from the famous “Sermon on the Mount” given by Jesus. He says we are blessed when we are treated in a very bad way and even lied about for His sake.

Jesus said we should actually rejoice because:

• We have a great reward waiting for us in heaven.
• The prophets of old were treated the same way (so you are in great company!)

Jesus said these words to prepare us for the hostility that we will face because of Him. He didn't say these things so that to impress us, neither did He say these things discouraged us. His focus was to prepare our minds for the effect of the decision we took. This is difficult because we naturally feel happy when we are respected, appreciated and honoured.

The Living Bible puts verse 11 this way:

(Matthew 5:11 TLB) - “God blesses you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers.”

Please remember that the blessing comes when we are being treated badly because of our faith:

• When we do something because of our faith.
• When we refuse to do because of our faith.

This blessing does not come when we are being treated badly because of our poor character, bad behaviour or meddling in matters we should stay out of. The consequences of bad behaviour are not the same as persecution because of Christ.

PRAYER - I refuse to do things to please men rather to please God, I take a stand to stay strong when my faith is attracting attacks on me and my reputation. I declare that my faith will survive all manner of attacks in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Watch Priscilla Shirer FULL SERMON - Are You Living Your Life for Christ? Priscilla Shirer speaks at the Propel Women's Conference to share how holiness is key to our happiness and fulfillment in Christ.

Dutch Sheets (March 7 2023) Watch Daily Prayer: Understanding Our Authority in Christ | Give Him 15 - Daily Devotional.

Joyce Meyer (March-04-2023) Daily Devotional: You Have the Mind of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 2:16, we are told we have the mind of Christ. This statement overwhelms many people. If these were not the words of the Bible, they wouldn’t believe it. But Paul was not saying we’re perfect or we’ll never fail. He was telling us that we can think spiritual thoughts because Christ is alive within us. Thankfully, we no longer have to think the way we once did; we can begin to think as He does.

Another way to look at this is to point to the promise God spoke through Ezekiel: A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you… (Ezekiel 36:26–27 AMPC).

Your mind, heart, and spirit are new in Christ. You are growing spiritually and becoming more like Him each day—that’s something to be thankful for!

Prayer of the Day: Thank You, Father, that You have given me the mind of Christ. I no longer have to dwell on anxious, fearful, insecure thoughts. Because of Jesus, my mind is renewed, and I can think positive, joyful, faith-filled thoughts about my life, amen.

John K. Jenkins Sr. - Watch Sermon: The Body of Christ Series - Part 1 (The Purpose of the Gifts). 

Derek Prince - Watch Sermon: Do You Realize What It Means To Be A Soldier Of Christ? Declaring ourselves 'soldiers of Christ' is easy but do we realize what it means to be a soldier of Christ?

Derek Prince - Watch Sermon: True & False Christ - Part 2. The ultimate end-time conflict: the beast (Antichrist) vs. the Lamb (Jesus). How will we identify the beast? Whose side will we be on?