Sermons by Archbishop Foley Beach

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Sermons By A Word From The Lord with Archbishop Foley Beach

Episodes

Sunday May 01, 2022

The Upper Room Part 1: The Promise of the Spirit (Apostles Anglican Church; Knoxville, TN)

Sunday May 01, 2022

The Upper Room Part 1: The Promise of the Spirit (Apostles Anglican Church; Knoxville, TN)

MESSAGE SUMMARY:

The Upper Room Part 1: The Promise of the Spirit (Apostles Anglican Church; Knoxville, TN)

In John:14, Jesus is on His way to the cross, and He is arrested – it is the night of the first Holy Communion and the washing of feet. Jesus and the Apostilles are in Jerusalem, and their activities begin in the “Upper Room” and move to the Garden of Gethsemane. In this text, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit; and He tells how the Holy Spirit will work in our lives. Also, Jesus reminded the Apostilles of His prior teachings and that they should “let not your heart be troubled”.

In John 14:23, 26: Jesus is telling the Apostilles about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s role: “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him . . . But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’". Subsequently, Jesus tells the Apostilles that they “must be born again” of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

After twenty-one centuries, how should we consider the Holy Spirit as followers of Jesus? We should consider that: 1) the Holy Spirit is very important for us as we follow Jesus because, like God, we are triune beings – body, soul, and spirit -- with our worship and communication with God conducted through our spirit enabling us to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”; 2) the Holy Spirit brings the presence of the Father and the Son to be both with us and in us; 3) the Holy Spirit helps us to live our Christian life – our “helper”; 4) the Holy Spirit is our teacher to teach us to understand the Bible, how to pray and to acquire the other knowledge that we need to follow Jesus; and 5) while we may want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and our “pilot light is lit”, our “furnace is not engaged” to bring the Holy Spirit into our lives.

It is one thing to know Jesus in our lives, but it is another thing to love and obey Jesus in our lives. In other words, are you willing to let go of controlling your life and turn your life’s control over to the Holy Spirit – God’s will not your will be done? God does not force His will on you. You must seek Jesus to follow Him, and you must follow Jesus “in truth and in {Holy}Spirit”.

Therefore, the question becomes not “do you have the Holy Spirit”, but “does the Holy Spirit have you”?

TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, 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): John 14:23, 26; John 3:3-8; John 4:24; John 7:37-39; John 14:15-17; John 15:26; Jon 16:4-14; Ephesians 2:1; John 14:16-17; Genesis 1:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20; Ephesians 5:18.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Are the Enemy’s {devil’s} Target to Mess You Up and To Destroy Your Relationship with God”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Apr 24, 2022

Jesus Appears Again

Sunday Apr 24, 2022

Jesus Appears Again

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Repentance is a turning away from evil.

In Luke 24:15, Jesus appeared again after His resurrection: “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.". Most Christians around the world see Easter not as one day but as the Season of Easter, lasting fifty days. During this Season of Easter, Jesus appeared many times to many people, including several encounters with His disciples and the Apostles along with an appearance to a group of more than five hundred people. On the fortieth day, Jesus ascended into Heaven. After Jesus Ascension, He appeared to Saul, who became the Apostle Saul, on Saul’s trip to Damascus.

Beginning in Luke 24:36 (“Luke’s Great Commission”), Jesus opened the Apostles minds spiritually to the Gospel; and the Gospel is summarized in “five truths” – the Gospel is a: 1) “double historical event” – Jesus death and His Resurrection, which really happened; 2) “double proclamation” – repentance (the Gospel demand) and forgiveness (the Gospel offer) of sins will be preached in His name; 3) “double reach or focus” – the preaching of the Gospel was to begin in Jerusalem with the Jews, but it was to be extended to all nations; 4) “double validation” – validated by the prophecies of the Old Testament and the Apostles’ witness through their writing of the New Testament; and 5) “double sending” – Jesus promised the sending of the Holy Spirit to His Apostles, and the sending of the Apostles to the nations of the world in the power of the Holy Spirit..

If Jesus was speaking to His Apostles in Luke 24, what is He saying to us, His modern-day disciples, about two thousand years later? Jesus is telling us, today, the same thing that He told His Apostles in Luke 24!

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 24:36-49; Psalms 119:18-20; Romans 1:16; Acts 1:8.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Letting God Be Lord Over Your Finances, which Are His but He Entrusted to You, Will Liberate Your Life!”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Apr 17, 2022

He Is Risen: From Good Friday to Easter!

Sunday Apr 17, 2022

He Is Risen: From Good Friday to Easter!

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Jesus was the perfect Passover Pascal sacrificial Lamb on Good Friday. The events of Holy Week changed the world with His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Holy Week, this week leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, was a week full of events in Jesus’ earthly life – arriving in Jerusalem on Sunday to the adoration of vast crowds and being hailed as “King”; entering into Jerusalem through the “East Gate”, the gate predicted for the arrival of the Messiah; visiting, teaching and debating in the Temple; celebrating Passover with His disciples, thereby instituting the sacrament for us of the “Holy Communion”; on Friday, being tortured and crucified on the Cross, and taking onto Himself all the sins of the world and becoming the Sacrificial Lamb when He called out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”; completing the work, at His actual death on the Cross, that He come to earth to accomplish; nothing occurring on earth during His death on the remainder of Friday and Saturday; and arising, alive, from the tomb Sunday to be seen and to converse with His disciples. These seven days, in the life of the God-Man Jesus, changed everything for all the world!

After the events in the life of Jesus during this Holy Week, it was apparent to His friends and disciples that Jesus was who He said He was – Jesus was the Messiah sent by God to fulfill God’s New Covenant for those that had faith in Jesus as God’s son and followed Jesus in their lives. This promised Messiah opens up a spiritual world of communication directly with God for those of us that follow Jesus.

Not only did Jesus arise from the dead 2000 years ago, He is alive today and seeking a relationship with us! During Holy Week, Jesus left us a pattern for how to live an abundant Christian life today -- die in ourselves; take up His Cross; and follow Him – as Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.". We cannot be “crucified with Christ” if we live with a life-focus on “me, myself, and I”.

He is risen, but do our lives reflect Jesus’ sacrifice for us; are we “crucified with Christ”?

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):Matthew 16:24-25; 1 Peter 4:1-6; John 12:24; Mark 8:34.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers’ Righteousness Will Flow, with the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, from Their Heart Through Their Personal Relationship with Jesus”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Apr 10, 2022

Contemplating the Mighty Acts – Palm Sunday and Holy Week

Sunday Apr 10, 2022

Contemplating the Mighty Acts – Palm Sunday and Holy Week

MESSAGE SUMMARY:

While we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. It is through Jesus’ death and Resurrection that we are able realize God’s Grace of Salvation from our sins and to gain our Eternal Life. Holy Week is all about God’s Grace; Jesus’ death on the cross; Jesus Resurrection; and our Salvation. All sinners need what Jesus did on the cross for us.

The message of Palm Sunday, of Holy Week, is that the Passover Lamb, Jesus, has entered the city of Jerusalem, just as prophesied in Zachariah 9:9 more than five hundred years before Jesus’ birth: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.". The lambs brought into the city for Passover would be inspected, for any blemishes, by the Levites so that the perfect lambs for the celebration of Passover could be selected. At the same time, Jesus was being “inspected” by the various Jewish and Roman “inspectors”, including the Levites and Pharisees, during the week leading up to the Jewish Passover celebration. As prophesied, Jesus was the perfect Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

On the Monday of Holy Week, Jesus reentered Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple. As told in Mark 11:17, Jesus drove from the Temple the sacrificial animal vendors who had booths in Temple’s Courtyard. This Courtyard was set aside, when God had established the Temple, for the Gentiles to pray so that the Temple was the place for all to worship: “And he was teaching them and saying to them, ‘Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.’”.

Tuesday and Wednesday, of Holy Week, were days of both doctrinal challenges and teaching for Jesus – further “inspections” for the perfect Passover Lamb, Jesus.

Thursday, of Holy Week, is the day which Jesus washes the Apostles’ feet and eats the Passover meal, which is when Jesus institutes our Sacrament of the Communion. Also, this is the day that Jesus gives the new commandment of “Love one another”. The Apostle John expresses Jesus’ love and His role on our behalf in John 15:12-14: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.". On Thursday, Jesus has His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed to God to have the responsibility of His Crucifixion, death, and His separation from God to take on the sins of the world, be taken from Him. However, Jesus prayed to God: (Matthew 26:39) “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’”. Additionally, Judas betrays Jesus; and Jesus is arrested – we refer to this Thursday, of Holy Week, as Mundey Thursday. On Mundey Thursday, we begin a period of prayer and mourning.

On the Friday of Holy Week, we come to Jesus’ Crucifixion and death on the cross. On Friday, the Apostle Peter denies Jesus three times; and Jesus has three trials. After His death, Jesus was buried; and His tomb was sealed and guarded by the Roman soldiers.

On the Saturday of Holy Week – the day of rest, the Jewish Sabbath – Jesus is bound by death and in the grave.

On the Sunday of Holy Week – the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, Jesus arises from death as the Passover Lamb, “the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!”.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12f).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Exodus 12:1-50; Zachariah 9:9; Luke 19:41-44; Mark 11:17; Mark 11:20-25; Matthew 21:33-46; Matthew 24:1-2; John 15:12-17; Matthew 26:39. (Click the Bible References, in blue, below to read the full Bible text for these Scripture References.).

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Have a Personal Relationship with the Creator of the Universe So Pray, Listen, and Be Patient for God’s Call”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Apr 03, 2022

How Does God Say He Loves You: Part 5 The New Covenant

Sunday Apr 03, 2022

How Does God Say He Loves You: Part 5 The New Covenant

MESSAGE SUMMARY:

There is a difference in knowing about someone and really knowing someone. Our New Covenant with God gives you and I the ability to Know God in a Personal Way. This New Covenant was fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, as Jesus tells us in Luke 22:19-20: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”.

Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s New Covenant with us. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the Covenant’s terms and rulers.

In the Book of the Covenant (Exodus Deuteronomy 20 through 23 and Deuteronomy), the people made a Blood Covenant with God – the people promised God all that the God has said we will do. Therefore, the people would receive blessings or curses based upon what they did. However, the people always seemed to gravitate toward evil – doing what was wrong in the Lord’s sight. With the people’s sin, he kingdom was split into the “Northern Kingdom (Israel)” and the “Southern Kingdom (Judah)”; and still the people inclined their hearts and behaviors toward evil. Again, God responded by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple and exiling the people to Babylon because they broke their Covenant with Him.

However, in Jeremiah 31:31-34, God declared that that he would make a New Covenant: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”. This New Covenant that God promised applies to us as well as the people of Jesus’ time. The New Covenant is not focused on The Law but on “Knowing God” and having a personal relationship with Him – we are all equal now before God.

With this New Covenant, the Apostle John tells us of God’s love and God’s desire for intimacy with us in 1 John 2:1-2: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.". We have this New Covenant because God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

God desires a personal relationship with each of us, and God has given us His New Covenants upon which to build our relationship with Him. Have you asked Jesus into your life so that your sin is atoned? If not, then there is a blot between you and God. Remember, the God who made Covenant with Moses is Jesus of our Trinitarian God.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 4:26; Luke 22:19-20; Jeremiah 31:31-34; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 2:1-2 (Click below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references.).

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “To Be a Jesus Follower, You Must First Enter the Only Door to God’s Kingdom and that Door is Jesus – the Door to Eternal Life”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Mar 27, 2022

How Does God Say I Love You, Part 4: Violation of the Covenant

Sunday Mar 27, 2022

How Does God Say I Love You, Part 4: Violation of the Covenant

MESSAGE SUMMARY:

“Rejecting the Covenant and the God of the Covenant will eventually lead a person to a place of stubbornness, hardness of heart, and then their destruction.”

Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s Covenant with Moses. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the Covenant’s terms and rulers.

We begin by looking at Israel’s current king in 2 Chronicles 36, King Zedekiah, who was successor descendant of King David and a Godly father, King Josiah. We need to remember that King David had built the kingdom and the nation of Israel into a great nation through a foundation of a commitment to God and the Covenant God had given to His people – King David made God His priority, and David made God’s priorities his priorities. God is interested in those who seek first His kingdom. Also, from King David’s life, we know that God expects one who sins to repent and return to Him. David’s son, Solomon, tells us to “fear God and keep His commandments”.

After King Solomon, God’s people experienced a series of Kings – some who kept God’s Covenant and some who do not keep God’s Covenant. Subsequently, David’s single Kingdom, that brought together the Twelve Tribes, is divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Zedekiah is in deep trouble and in an impossible situation with Babylon laying siege to Jerusalem. Rather than calling on God for help, Zedekiah sends an envoy to Egypt. Zedekiah has rejected God and God’s Covenant (2 Chronicles 36:12-14): “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem.". In desperation, Zedekiah now appeals to the Prophet Jeremiah for a miracle from God, whom he had rejected, to save his kingdom from the attack by Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar (Jerimiah 21). God answers Zedekiah’s plea for salvation through Jerimiah in Jerimiah 21:5-7: “’I {God} myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward’, declares the LORD, ‘I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives.’".

Our God is a Covenant God, and He keeps His Covenants. When the people of God obeyed their Covenant with God they were blessed; but when they disobeyed, they were cursed – just like the people under King Zedekiah.

The significance of the Scripture from 2 Chronicles 36 and Jerimiah 21 for us today: 1) God is a Covenant God; 2) as recipients of the New Covenant through Jesus, we are assured of God’s forgiveness; 3) rejecting the Covenant and the God of the Covenant will eventually lead us to a place of stubbornness, hardness of heart, and then to our destruction; 4) God will try again and again to draw us back to Himself, but if we are hardened we don’t hear God; and 5) our relationship with God is based solely on our relationship with God and not God’s relationship with others – Zedekiah’s father was a Godly man who did great things for his people, but Zedekiah’s unfaithful relationship with God and God’s Covenant brought destruction to Zedekiah and his kingdom.

God desires a personal relationship with each of us, and God has given us His Covenants upon which to build our relationship with Him. Have you asked Jesus into your life so that your sin is atoned? If not, then there is a blot between you and God. Remember, the God who made Covenant with Moses is Jesus of our Trinitarian God.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION:Today, 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): 2 Chronicles 36:11-23; Jerimiah 21:1-10; Hebrews 3:12-15; Psalms 49:1-20.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “God Sees Jesus Followers as “In Christ”: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Mar 20, 2022

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 3 -- The Covenant with Moses

Sunday Mar 20, 2022

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 3 -- The Covenant with Moses

Message Summary:

Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s Covenant with Moses. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the Covenant’s terms and rulers.

After God’s Covenant with Abraham, his son Isaac became the recipient of God’s blessings. Subsequently, Isaac had two sons. One of Isaac’s sons was Jacob, and God changed Jacobs name to Israel. Jacob had twelve sons, and they evolved into the “Twelve Tribes of Israel”. In Genesis 37, the focus begins upon Isaac’s son Joseph; and Genesis ends, in Genesis 50, with Joseph’s death in Egypt.

In Exodus 1, two hundred and fifty years have passed since the death of Joseph. During this time, God’s people and the people of Egypt forgot about Joseph. God’s people became fruitful and multiplied, but they forgot about God and God’s Covenant with Abraham; and the people began to worship idols. Exodus 2 presents the birth of Moses., and Exodus 3 includes God’s call to Moses and God’s appearance to Moses through the burning bush. Since God had a blood covenant with His people, He sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people leave Egypt. Pharaoh said “no”, so God sent nine plagues on the people of Egypt – nine chances for their Repentance. Since Pharaoh continued to say “no”, God sent the tenth plague on the people of Egypt – a plague of Judgement on the people of Egypt. After the Passover for His people in the Plague of Judgement, Pharaoh relented and let God’s people leave Egypt.

In Exodus 19, God’s people wound up on Mount Sini, and God made the “Sini Covenant” with Moses in Exodus 19:4-6: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”. In prior covenants, God did everything; but in this “Sini Covenant”, the people had obligations. God gives His Law, the Ten Commandments, to His people as God speaks directly to them in Exodus 20. The Glory of God, when He was speaking directly to His people, was too much for the people; and they feared a direct personal relationship with God, and they wanted Moses or an intermediary to speak to them for God – they rejected a personal relationship with God just has humans have been doing ever since.

In Exodus 21, Exodus 22, and Exodus 23 (“The Book of the Covenant”), God takes His Ten Commandments and He applies the Ten Commandments to our everyday living. In Exodus 24:3,7-8, Moses takes God’s Book of the Covenant to the people: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”.

Deuteronomy 28 presents the “blessings” for the people if they adhere to their promises to God in the “Book of the Covenant”. On the other hand, Deuteronomy 28 lays out the “curses” for non-adherence to the Covenant. Within six weeks, God’s people, who had said “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do”, had disobeyed and broken their Covenant with God. The disobedience of God’s people is significant to us today because “it shows us what sin is”. “God is unconditional love” (1 John 4:16); and in this Covenant, God made plain to all of us “what sin is”. “We are made by God to be perfect mirrors of God’s Agape love.” Our sin is our failure to act as the God of Agape love acts. Sin is our self-centeredness. “The opposite of love is not hate; sin is me.” The Ten Commandments are not negative; they are God’s Agape love because they show us what a life of love and without sin and death does not include. Jesus tells us the most important Commandment in Mark 12:28-30: “’. . . Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’”.

The people of Israel continued to mess up and sin, but they continued to sacrifice a lamb for their sin thinking that their sacrifice brought their lives of sin back into adherence with their Covenant. However, in both God’s impatience with our sin and in His Agape love and His adherence to this Covenant, God sent the perfect Lamb as His and our sacrifice for our sin – Jesus the Christ. This old Covenant points to God’s New Covenant – Jesus’ death on the cross and His Resurrection.

Have you asked Jesus into your life so that your sin is atoned? If not, then there is a blot between you and God. Remember, the God who made Covenant with Moses is Jesus of our Trinitarian God.

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): Genesis 3:15; Genesis 37:1-36; Genesis 39:1-23; Genesis 41:1-57; Genesis 42:1-38; Genesis 43:1-34; Genesis 44:1-34; Genesis 45:1-28; Genesis 46:1-34; Genesis 47:1-31; Genesis 50:1-26; Exodus 1:1-22; Exodus 2:1-25; Exodus 3:1-22; Exodus 19:3-11; Exodus 24:1-18; Deuteronomy 28:1-68; 1 John 4:16; Mark 12:29-30;

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Your Sin Is Never Too Great so that You Are Lost to God’s Salvation - “Return to Me {God}, and I Will Return to You””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

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Sunday Mar 13, 2022

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 2 -- The Covenant with Abraham

Sunday Mar 13, 2022

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 2 -- The Covenant with Abraham

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s Covenant with Abram and Abraham. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the covenant’s terms and rulers.

In Genesis 12:1-5, God presents His promise to Abram: “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.".

In Genesis 15:18, God makes a covenant with Abram: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give his land . . .’”. In Genesis 17:4-5, God makes another covenant with Abram changing Abram’s name to Abraham: “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.". in Genesis 21-1-4, Abraham’s son through Sarah, that God had promised Abraham, is born: “The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.”.

In Genesis 22:1-18, the final part of God’s covenant with Abraham is found when God provided the blood sacrifice of the lamb that sealed His covenant with Abraham: “And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.’”.

The significance of God’s covenant with Abraham includes: 1) Abraham believed God and had faith, and because of Abraham’s faith God made Abraham righteous – foretells the significance of the Gospel because God’s covenant through Jesus for us is a covenant of faith; 2) God’s covenant with Abraham foreshadows His covenant through Jesus as he Messiah, the Christ – Isaac is the first legitimate son of Abraham, and Jesus is considered the last son through Abraham, Isaac voluntarily went to the alter and Jesus voluntarily went to the cross, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice and God gave His Son as a sacrifice; 3) God’s covenant is still being fulfilled today – in a physical sense, the covenant is fulfilled through the Arabs and the Jews since both consider Abraham as their father and fulfilled in a spiritual sense through Jesus as Paul tells us in Galatians 3:14: “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.".

Remember, the God who made covenant with Abraham is Jesus.

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): Romans 10:9; Genesis 9:20-29; Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:1-9; Genesis 15:1-27; 1 Peter 3:18-21; John 3:16-17; Hebrews 11:6; Galatians 3:7-9,14-16,29.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “As a Jesus Follower, the Greatest Witness for the Gospel that You Can Give Is for Others to See Jesus IN You”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Mar 06, 2022

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 1 -- The Covenant with Noah

Sunday Mar 06, 2022

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 1 -- The Covenant with Noah

MESSAGE SUMMARY:

We have a God that loves us so much, and God’s love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God’s “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today’s message, we will discuss God’s Covenant with Noah. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the covenant’s terms and rulers.

In Genesis 6:5-22, the corruption of humanity, through mankind’s sin after the Fall, became too much for God, and He became sorry that He made mankind. From Genesis, we know that God “grieved in His heart” because of human evil, corruption, and violence. However, Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Noah was righteous and blameless, and Noah “walked with God”.

After destroying all humans and all other inhabitants of the earth, except for Noah, his family, those animals that Noah collected for His arch, God “blessed Noah in Genesis 9:1-29; and God established His covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:9-1:10,11-13: “’Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you . . . that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’". Therefore, this covenant is not only with Noah and all other living things on the earth; but God’s covenant with Noah is with us too! The “rain’bow’” is a sign of this covenant between Noah and all humanity; and this “rainbow” is, also, a sign of God’s love, grace, and mercy.

In 1 Peter 3:18-21, the Apostle Peter relates Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, which is redemptive covenant for our salvation, to God’s earlier covenant with Noah: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ . . .". In this text from 1 Peter, we learn that our “baptism” represents our Salvation through Jesus. Like Noah and his family, we have been saved “through the water” not “by the water”. Therefore, “baptism” is another covenant between God and all humanity, through God’s Grace, to save mankind from itself if we accept God’s Grace. God does not see us, now, in our sin like humanity’s evil of Noah’s time; rather, God sees us through the eternal (like the “rainbow”) “Justifying” covenant blood of Jesus.

TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12f).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Genesis 6:5-22; Genesis 9:1-29; 1 Peter 3:18-21; Psalms 28:1-9.

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Is Your Faith Yours, or Is Your Faith a Faith Derivative of the Faith of Others?”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday Feb 27, 2022

Am I Ready to Pray? (Bude, Cornwall, UK)

Sunday Feb 27, 2022

Am I Ready to Pray? (Bude, Cornwall, UK)

INTRODUCTIOIN -- Prayer is: 1) spending time with God – acknowledging God’s presence in all our lives’ activities; and 2) conversation with God – listening to and talking with God. Prayer reflects on our relationship with God. Why don’t we pray. The Apostle James, in James 4:2-3, provides a perspective regarding Prayer Life: “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."

SUNDAY MESSAGE – In James 4:3, we are told: “You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”. As followers of Jesus, we are given the awesome privilege of being able to come before God, the Creator of the Universe, in our prayers. We are given a multitude of alternatives for our prayers that include prayers of "petition" (praying for one's own needs) and prayers of "intercession" (praying for the needs of others). God wants prayers of "petition" from us -- all our needs and concerns should be brought to Him in prayer because He loves and cares for us. However, God want us to, also, focus on others and their needs (intercession) -- physical and spiritual. "Intercessory prayer” is fundamental to deepening our prayer life and our personal relationship with God.

However, we often enter into our prayers unprepared – there is sin in our lives, or our prayers are all about “us”; and we seek “our will” and not “God’s will”. Therefore, we need to learn to “pray rightly”.

To “pray rightly”, we need to consider: “1) Am I “clean” before the Lord – have I confessed the known sins in my life that I have not repented? 2) Am I in “communion with others” – are there people with whom I am not at peace? 3) Am I “confident in God’s Word” – do I believe God’s promises are true? 4) Am I “committed to God’s will” – am I committed to act on and obey God’s answer to my prayers even though His answer is not my desire? 5) Am I “centered in the Holy Spirit” – am I focused and tuned in on the Lord, filtering out the “noise of the world”? and 6) Am I “concerned for God’s Glory” – the ultimate purpose of our prayers is uplifting and glorifying God’s name?”.

Additionally, in both our worship and our prayers: “Are we expecting to encounter God?”.

Remember, Jesus taught us that: 1) God is more ready to answer prayer than we are ready to pray; and 2) we must be persistent in our prayers until we have an answer.

Pray specific prayers, in the Holy Spirit and in Scripture, for ourselves and for others -- be persistent.

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): James 4:3; Isaiah 59:1-2; 1 John 1:8; Matthew 5:23-24 Matthew 6:14; 1 Peter 3:7; Luke 11:9-13; Jeremiah 33:3; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:7; Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 5:7; 1 John 5:14; Psalms 37:4; John 14:23; James 1:5; Romans 8:26-27; John 14:26. (Click the blue below to read the full Bible text for these scripture references in BOLD.).

A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “God, the Father, Is Spirit; Jesus Followers Must Worship the Father in Spirit and Truth with Reality and Honesty and Not a Façade”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/

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