May 24, 2015
Building,
Praying, Loving, Waiting
(Jude 17-25)
(Invite Kids up
to the front – sit on the floor.)
Who has
lego’s?
What is the
coolest thing you’ve ever built? (Let kids answer…)
Do you know
what God says about building?...
May 24, 2015
Building,
Praying, Loving, Waiting
(Jude 17-25)
(Invite Kids up
to the front – sit on the floor.)
Who has
lego’s?
What is the
coolest thing you’ve ever built? (Let kids answer…)
Do you know
what God says about building?
Actually the
word “build” is the Bible 236 times…
Building… Ourselves Up! (Have Kids read three verses…)
1
Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are
doing.
Ephesians
2:21
In him the
whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the
Lord.
Ephesians
4:16
From him the
whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows
and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
We need each
other! Your part as Children is to learn
about God –
- through His Word
- through listening and obeying your
parents
- through kidztown as you gather
each week to learn about God – so that you can be built up to make a
difference for Him with the life He has blessed you with - You all can go back to your seats while
Melissa has a little pack for you…
Today I would
like for us to look at the last 9 verses in the book of Jude.
As you can see
the title of the message today is: “Building,
Praying, Loving, Waiting”
How are we going
to reach the lost in around area, at our work-places, and in our neighborhoods
with the gospel? There is a battle going
on…
As you can see
from the subtitle in this passage which says: a call to persevere – meaning to
persist, continue, keep at it, carry on, keep trying, or stick with it.
Jude 1:17-19 (NIV)
A Call to
Persevere
(17) But, dear friends, remember what
the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. (18) They said to you, “In the last
times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly
desires.” (19) These are the people who divide you,
who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
These are those
who scoff at God’s future plans. Scoff
meaning mock, ridicule, make fun of, laugh at, or poke fun at.
They pretend
to know the truth but deny that Jesus is the answer and that judgment will ever
come. These characteristics will prevail until Christ returns.
What
characteristics are we talking about?
2 Timothy
3:1-5 (NIV)
(1) But mark this: There will be terrible
times in the last days. (2) People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,
proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) without love, unforgiving,
slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
not lovers of the good, (4) treacherous, rash,
conceited, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God— (5) having a form of godliness but
denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
What does having a form or godliness
look like?
Ö
Religion
void of a relationship will leave you spiritually hungry. Like drinking saltwater, the more you drink,
the thirstier you get.
Ö
Religion
devoid of a relationship is like a pacifier that a baby works hard to suck on,
but from which no real nutrition flows.
Which one of those sins listed (2Timothy 3:1-5) has captured your heart?
Romans
16:17-19 (NIV)
(17) I urge you, brothers and sisters,
to watch out for those who cause divisions (media,
false teachings…) and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the
teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. (18) For such people are not serving
our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery
they deceive the minds of naive people. (19) Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I
rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and
innocent about what is evil.
Ö
The
essence of false religion is a Christian being involved in religious
activity. It is exemplified by a person
having a ritual of religion without a relationship with God.
So what do we need to do personally
and as a church to not become scoffers?
Jude 1:20-21 (NIV)
(20) But
you, dear friends, by building
yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, (21) keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
True believers
have a sure foundation
and a cornerstone in Jesus Christ. The truths of the
Christian faith have been provided in the teaching of the apostles and prophets so that Christians can build themselves
up by the Word of God
Praying….
In the Holy Spirit!
This is not a
call to some ecstatic form of prayer, but simply – It is a call to pray consistently in the will and power of the
Spirit, as one would pray in the name of Jesus Christ
Romans 8:26-27
(NIV)
(26) In the same way, the Spirit helps
us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (27) And he who searches our
hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
When you pray this will establish our
responsibility (as believers) to be obedient and faithful by
living-out our salvation while God works out His will.
It means to remain
in the place of obedience where God’s love is poured out on His children, as
opposed to being disobedient and incurring His discipline. Currently in our church - we have been having
a small group of individuals praying Sunday mornings from 9-9:30am. And then Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:00pm. Our Wednesday nights have just ended for the
Summer so I would like to announce today that starting Monday, June 8th,
(Monday through Thursday) I will be here at the altar starting at 7:30am for
prayer. Whenever you can make it I would
love for you to join me.
- Please use the green sheets each
week to write out your requests.
- Please write down people that you
are asking for healing for.
- Asking for those who you want God
to penetrate their heart so that they would repent of their sins and
surrender their life to Christ!
Keeping… Yourself in God’s Love
We accomplished
this by: 1) building one’s self up in the Word of God; 2) praying in the Holy
Spirit; and 3) while we wait for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring believer’s to eternal life. We
won’t know how to love others until we learn how to love the Lord with all our
heart, mind, soul, and strength!
Waiting… for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ
Waiting is the
hardest thing for me. I’m trying to wait
on the Lord for growth (spiritual & numerical) for miracles, for healings, for
salvations, for answered prayers…I want to preserve for His glory, honor, and
praise!
Wait appears
in the Bible 129 times.
(Let’s read
these 6 verses out loud together…)
Psalm
5:3
In the
morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before
you and wait expectantly.
Psalm
27:14
Wait for
the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm
33:20
We wait in
hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
Psalm
37:7
Be still
before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret
when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Psalm
38:15
Lord,
I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.
I waited
patiently for then Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
Psalm
130:5
I wait for
the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Jude (continues
here by telling us what to do while we are waiting…)
(22) Be
merciful to those who
doubt; (23) save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted
flesh.
Who are we to
be merciful to? They are:
1)
Sincere
doubters who deserve compassion
2)
Those
who are deeper in unbelief and urgently need to be pulled from the fire
3)
Those
declared disciples of apostasy who still deserve mercy, but are to be handled
with much fear, lest the would-be-rescuer also be spiritually violated.
When it says:
“save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed
with fear.” The third group that
I just mentioned needs mercy, even though they are thoroughly polluted by false
teaching. These people are to be given
the true gospel, but with great fear, lest the deliverer be contaminated also.
The defiled
garment (clothing stained) pictures the unbeliever’s corrupt life, which can
spread its corruption to the well-meaning believer.
These victims
of the false teachers need mercy and patience because they have not yet reached
a firm conclusion about Christ and eternal life, and so remain doubters who
could possibly be swayed to the truth
Jude
Doxology (meaning praise, doxa
means glory, honor. A prayer or hymn of
praise to God)
(24) To him who is able to keep
you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without
fault and with great joy— (25) to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power
and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and
forevermore! Amen.
In the study
that we just finish on Sunday morning “Counter Culture”, David Platt made this
statement:
As we live to extend God’s grace
among more people, let’s long to exalt God’s glory among all peoples.
This last
verse I would like us to look at is the answer to why we do everything here at
CCF:
Ö
Bible
Studies (G3 nights) , ministries for different ages, camps, retreats, VBS,
fellowships, hotdog Sunday’s, etc.
2 Corinthians
4:15
All this is
for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may
cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
How are we
going to reach the lost?
By Building… ourselves up!
By Praying… in the Holy Spirit, (pray is 367 times, prayer 154 times)
By Loving… as we keep ourselves in God’s love and He will show to love others
By Waiting… for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
§
waiting
while we cry out to Him to fill this place with those who don’t know Him, those
who need hope, who are searching for the meaning of life, those who need to
hear the gospel!
§
Waiting while encouraging and loving, and
spurring one another on to love and good works…
Vision
of the church is on the other side of the flyer talking about our new
Life-connection class starting next Sunday morning at 9:30am. The Mingling of Souls by Matt Chandler
