Worship hearing Sermons from God's Word

As a special treat I will begin posting the sermons from my Church. Our Pastor Jim has a unique style that I really think you are going to enjoy, often getting the entire Congregation involved in the Worship Service.

We have addressed the sovereignty of the Lord in Isa earlier this morn.

We have touched upon His love in our NT passage. But how does that effect the church and the body of Christ as a whole compared to the individual?

We now move to Rev 2:1-5 to examine the truth of scripture that will draw these two previous passages together that seem to have no real connection to the other. There is controversy in some circles as to the studying anything from this book and whether or not we should I will quote John from Rev 1:3 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

So we proceed to study in Ch2

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. PRAY

JC is speaking to his church. In Rev 2 & 3 the Savior addresses 7 diff churches.

Many theologians declare that these are 7 different ages of the church and it is perfect bc 7 is the # of perfection in the bible.

While the current age shows incredible resemblance to the Laodicean age we currently show issues from the previous 6 as well.

In this passage 7 is mentions 2x in representing the stars and the lampstands.

Both give light from within powered by a source that is not their own. It says that he is walking among the lampstands. These lampstands are lights perched up higher than ground level and if you have a perched light it will be seen by more and the influence of that light defeats more darkness.

These lampstands represent the church and if he is walking among them he knows what is going on and is overseeing the operations, activities and productivity of these churches. He knows the burdens they carry, the victories they have gained the opposition against them so let’s make it clear HE is there!He holds stars in his right hand. The right hand in the Holy Word is a rep for the Righteousness of Christ and these stars rep something else.

These aren’t stars like you see in Hollywood obviously or the stars that are above, although they are a symbolism for those stars.

See he knows the true names of the stars above. The stars above represent the leaders of the church. Back before there was GPS mankind found its direction by the stars moved by the light that they can give off. And he holds them in his hand. I want to put a HUGE emphasis here on the word HOLD.

Bc when you hold something you can hold it close or you can hold it away from your body. You can hold it tightly and put the squeeze on it and remold it and reshape it or you hold it loosely and give it freedom to move within your hand. You can show it off or you can keep it hidden. These are church leaders and here is we get into something that a lot of us don’t like to hear, if you have something in your hand you can move it and set it down or drop it completely. V3 He speaks of knowing what they have been thru. He is showing his omniscience here. In other words He knows all things.

All the 3 Stooges bits they played out he didn’t laugh at bc he knows what is coming. Every mystery to us is not to him. Nothing surprises him nothing catches him off guard and he is there in the middle of it with them.

He knows their deeds their actions their work & more than that what they have endured. This is proof right here that the belief that the Christian life is a cake walk is absolutely wrong!

Because when you become part of the body you are going to go thru some things, you are going to meet with conflict and you are going to face some oppression. JC is telling you I’ve got Paradise for you how bad do you want it are you willing to stick with me thru thick and thin? If you do you will not walk in your ways but his. If you do you will not put up with the words of wicked men that say there is any other way to heaven other than JC alone.

Here we read that this church knew what the word says! They knew their theology and it affected their methodology & practicing the works of the Savior. They knew right from wrong & knew what JC had called for them to do. They had it all under control from the MT tops, thru the calamity like we read in Isa 45 this morn. They knew who was in charge & haven’t forgotten who was in upper management & ownership.

Then V4 hits. V4 says they left their 1st love. When you are 1st in love you will do anything to show your love, you will show affection you will kiss on, live to please & act out of love and not duty. There is no it’s the right thing to do. But this church forgot that. It confused motion with progress. The key to all of this is love. Love for JC, love for fellow man bc of JC. James preached what good is faith w/o works? What good is works wo faith? Belief alone is not enough bc even the demons believe and they tremble!

Here they were reacting, working for what they felt was right. How many times have your emotions been wrong? We base too much off of what we feel over what we know & confuse emotion with fact. How many times have you been wrong about how you did on a test in school or a job performance evaluation? Or your 1st impression of someone been wrong ? I can remember a job performance that I thought I was in line for a substantial raise.

I proved I was the best at what I did in the company for the position I worked. I was given a nickel. I can remember a test that I knew that I had failed at and my parents would disown me for. But I aced it! And I can recall certain person in my life that I first met and on that first impression did not care for, yet now is a close confidant in ministry. What you feel can be wrong! Here they were acting & feeling as though it was operating with the Lord’s endorsement. But they were missing the key ingredient.

@ this year’s Indianapolis 500 there was 1 man who was closing in on more than just rookie of the year award. He was in the lead on the last lap. J.R. Hildebrandt had 1 turn in sight to get passed and the checkered flag was his. He felt like he was going to win. He felt the sip of ice cold Indiana milk on his lips. He had all that motion on his way to the finish line, on the way to paradise. He knew where it was. He knew how to get there & was on his way, then, turn 4 came.

Just like in Rev 2, V4 came. In turn 4 JR Hildebrandt hit the wall. Now rather than the car carrying him to the finish line, he had to carry the car to the finish line. See one of my friends said to me that there is a saying in the south, ‘do you go to church because you have to or do you come to church because you want to?’ Is it a duty or a privilege? Why do you come to church? Is it bc someone else comes here? Is it bc your mother came here or your grandmother came here? Do you come here bc of the work that you do in the kingdom Or is it driven by love toward the one who hung on the cross and you just have to get a fresh encounter with him? Or to join w your brothers & sisters in JC & share with them this love affair w/ the most high?

Here is the missing ingredient that you need. In 2 Cor 1:21-22 it says, 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Do you have the HS alive and breathing life into you? If you don’t or you’re not sure you better check yourself before you go doing works in His name! Because what empowers you from the Spirit is found in 1 Cor 13:2 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. Another words confusing motion with progress. When we act within the church, when we act for the church and when we endure the hassles and oppression of the times in the name of Jesus it should be driven by love for the one whom :

Knew you before the creation of the world Who knitted you in the wombWho so loved by him he counted the # of hairs on your headWho loves you so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.Who is making a mansion with your name on it next door to Him in heaven

Who made you a co heir on the throne with Him over the heavens. Jesus Christ the way the truth and the life so I have to ask you by the power of the Holy Spirit are you working for Him in intimacy, in Love or are you working feeling you’ve got paradise in your sights only to have to come to grips you can’t get there on your own?

Good afternoon,

I’m having another busy week so I need to keep this update very brief. I’d love to sit here and write to you all about the weather but I never ever do that so why would I start now? I hope your week is going well and that you enjoyed time this past weekend with friends and family and some time off for the holiday. This Saturday, June 4th, the teens will be having a yard sale at the church as a fundraiser. If you have any items to donate please call Alli (362-7569) and make arrangements to drop them off by Friday afternoon. The sale will begin at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Stop by sometime during the day and encourage our teens and maybe you’ll even find a bargain or two for yourself. Remember that Vacation Bible School is coming up next month, July 11-15. We will need all of you to volunteer to help out to make this outreach effective. Alli and Joe will be directing the VBS and they will be looking forward to you offering to be a part of this outreach. In preparation for VBS, we are asking that you bring school supplies in to the church during the month of June. On the last night of VBS, we distribute these supplies to the children to help them be prepared for the beginning of the new school year.

Stay cool the rest of the week and come and worship with us Sunday morning, God is good! All the time!

Pastor Jim

Good afternoon,

Well, I’m a day later than usual sending this update out because this week has been a crazy one. I’m going to keep this short and sweet because I can’t wait to get back to the craziness! I trust your week is going well and that you are feeling God’s presence with you this week no matter where you are or what you are doing.

This weekend is a holiday weekend and I’m sure many of you have special plans with family and friends. Don’t forget to make a time of worship part of your weekend activities, there’s no reason to take a holiday from God. Be sure to enjoy your time off work (if you get any) and enjoy the time with your friends and family.

This weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer, so Vacation Bible School cannot be far away. Be watching for details coming soon from Alli and Joe (our VBS Directors), they will be looking forward to speaking with you and finding out what role you want to play in this year’s VBS. Have a great week, thank God for His blessings in your life and we’ll all see each other Sunday morning in worship.

Serving Him with joy!

Pastor Jim