Episodes
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Irrespective of Your Personal Wealth and Status, God Has Entrusted You with Much; and You Are Accountable
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Who is going to be responsible? God wants us to take responsibility and accountability for that which He has entrusted us. Some would say: “God has not entrusted me with much.”. This person would be wrong! What about his or her life? What about Jesus Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to make disciples? What about the lives of his or her children? What about his or her job? God has entrusted us with much, and God is holding us personally responsible and accountable for these trusts.
In Jesus’ parable from Luke 16 about the rich man’s incompetent manager, Jesus summarizes the meaning of His parable in Luke 16:9: “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.". in Luke 16:12-13, Jesus summarizes His position regarding our responsibilities and accountabilities, Also, Jesus provides the prioritization of our responsibilities for His trusts given to us as well as the trusts given by others in us here on earth: “And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”. Jesus is, also, telling us that if we cannot be responsible for earthly treasures how can we be responsible for Spiritual Treasures.
As Christians, it is imperative that we put God first. If we do not put God first in our lives, then, in a subtle way, we begin to resent God and His Grace. Proverbs tell us, in Proverbs 19:22, that the desire of every human heart is to love: “What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.". Only Jesus can give us this “steadfast love”, which is a Spiritual gift or entrustment from God. However, most of us go through our lives trying to find substitutes for God’s love to fill our lives; and we cannot find a substitute outside of God. Only God and Jesus can meet out heart’s need for “steadfast love”.
By the way, our earthly riches do not make it into heaven with us; only our heavenly or Spiritual riches accompany us. We are responsible and accountable for all with winch God has entrusted us – both earthly and heavenly.
Today’s Affirmation: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13).
Scripture Reference (ESV): Luke 16:1-15; Proverbs 19:22; Matthew 28:18-20.
WEBSITE LINK: www.AWordFromTheLord.org/
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “As a Christian, You Are Equipped for God’s Purpose; Be Courageous and Let Others See Jesus In You for God Is With You”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
If You Knew that You Would Die In the Near-Term, How Would You Spend the Remainder of Your Life?
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Today, do you live your life as the country singer Tim McGraw says in his song, “live like we were dying”? Jesus tells us in today’s Lessons from the Gospel of Luke, that acquiring wealth is not, per se, wrong; however, Luke’s Lesson is that we are a fool if we center our life around accumulating wealth. It is difficult for us to have many possessions without these possessions “possessing us”. In Luke 12:15, Jesus says that: “. . . Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Jesus is telling the brothers in Luke 12:13-14 that covetousness (i.e. greed) will wreck all aspects of our lives. In Ephesians 5:3, Paul classifies the sin of covetousness (i.e. greed) with other sins such as “sexual immorality: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.".
Jesus illustrates His position regarding covetousness (i.e. greed) with Parable of the Rich Fool, beginning with Luke 12:16. The “Rich Fool’s” life was all about himself and his possessions and without a consideration of God or the needs of others. Therefore, in this parable, God took the life of the greedy “Rich Fool”.
If you knew that, in the near-term, you would die, how would you spend the remainder of your life? Would you focus on the assimilation of new possessions and experiences; or would you reaffirm your commitment, as a follower of Jesus, to Jesus’ Great Commandment and His Great Commission? Would you, like the country singer Tim McGraw says in his song, “live like we were dying”?
Beginning in Luke 12:22, Jesus tells His Apostles about the prioritization of their lives’ focus, especially as their focus relates to their “anxieties”. In Luke 12:29-31, Jesus summarizes His teaching to His Apostles with a model for our life focus: “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.".
If our lives are centered on greed and the accumulation of passions and wealth, our lives will not be rich in the Presence of God.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 12:13-34; Mark 7:21; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; Philippines 4:19; 1 King’s 10:4.
WEBSITE LINK: www.AWordFromTheLord.org/
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “As a Christian, You Are Equipped for God’s Purpose; Be Courageous and Let Others See Jesus In You for God Is With You”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Message Summary:
This “Life Lesson from Luke” will focus upon the Apostle Luke in the context of “Luke the Evangelist” – telling the good news of Jesus the Christ.
Luke describes Jesus’ prayer life which provided the prayer model, in terms of both prayer content and timing, for His Apostles, Also, Luke emphasizes the importance of Jesus’ prayer life. Jesus provided Christians with a “Prayer Model” which was and is difficult for Christians to understand. Christians must, in difficulty, realize that Jesus’ “Prayer Model” removed all the Priestly Intermediaries that were required for prayer before the “Temple Vail” was torn at Jesus’ Crucifixion. Jesus’ “Prayer Model” provides a way for Christians to have a direct personal relationship with God through our direct prayer channel, without priests, to God, who is the Creator of the Universe.
The Apostles, including Luke, would have seen Jesus pray every day and night, over three years, as they followed Him. In Luke 11:1, the disciples asked Jesus: “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’”. Ask Jesus both to teach you to pray and lead you to a person that can teach you to pray. Then in 11:2-13, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray – The Lord’s Prayer. From Luke 11:1-13, we can envision God standing, with His hands wide open, to bless us; but we must pray and ask.
Be persistent in praying to the Lord and asking, as Jesus has instructed us through the Gospel of Luke and, indeed, like we are consistently instructed throughout the New Testament.
Today’s Affirmation: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
Scripture Reference (ESV): Luke 11:1-13; Luke 15:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 9:29; Luke 22:31-32; Luke 22:41; Luke 23:34; 1 Chronicles 4:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13-14; James 4:2-3.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 9:51-60; Matthew 10:34-42; Psalms 18d:31-40.
WEBSITE LINK: www.AWordFromTheLord.org/
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “As a Christian, You Are Equipped for God’s Purpose; Be Courageous and Let Others See Jesus In You for God Is With You”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB