Sermons by Archbishop Foley Beach

Jesus Followers Cannot Live their Lives Without Living in the Indwelled Power of the Holy Spirit, but Consequences May Arise

Jesus Followers Cannot Live their Lives Without Living in the Indwelled Power of the Holy Spirit, but Consequences May Arise

MESSAGE SUMMARY: God desires us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit; however, there may consequences when we are in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus provided us with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He provides us with a model for walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. there are consequences to us when we live and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are given the Holy Spirit because we are Jesus Followers; and Jesus, through Holy Spirit, empowers, baptizes, and indwells us with His Spirit and His fruits of His Spirit. As Jesus Followers, we will be known by our fruit; therefore, we should have the fruit of Jesus in our lives. In Galatians 5:22-24, Paul describes the “Fruits of the Spirit”: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control . . . And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.".

Wherever the Holy Spirit indwells us, there is God’s energy, action, and power. In Luke 4:18, Jesus tells those worshiping with Him on the Sabbath in the Synagogue that: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he [God] has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.". On the other hand, when we have been anointed, like Jesus, with the power of the Holy Spirit, we, like when Jesus was teaching in His synagogue in Nazareth, receive negative pushback and condescension from our friends, family, and/or the world. Often, the Holy Spirit goes right to the very heart of our sins to get to the controlling issue or problem, thereby disrupting our lives or the lives of others.

Our lives are effected from the Holy Spirit’s indwelling by: 1) the Holy Spirit often leading us to the dry and barren places in our lives so that we learn to trust Him; 2) being tempted even though we have the power of the Holy Spirit; 3) like Jesus, conducting our ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit; 4) having the Holy Spirit helps us to interpret Scripture; and 5) realizing that, often, when we speak in the power of the Holy Spirit, His Word will not be well received, and the listeners’ responses will not be pleasant to us.

Jesus is Lord, and He is still sovereign and on His Kingdom’s throne; therefore, no matter what comes our way when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has our backs. However, we cannot live our lives as Jesus Followers without living in the indwelled power of the Holy Spirit. Remember, when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit, God always has the victory!

 

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 4:14-30; Mark 6:1-6; 1 John 2:1-3; 2 Peter 1:21.

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “On this Memorial Day, We Remember Jesus’ Definition of LOVE: ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends’”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

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

Some Jesus Followers Have a Disconnect Between Their Faith and Actual Lifestyles Because the Holy Spirit Is Not Active in Their Lives

Some Jesus Followers Have a Disconnect Between Their Faith and Actual Lifestyles Because the Holy Spirit Is Not Active in Their Lives

MESSAGE SUMMARY: As Jesus Followers, we will be known by our fruit; therefore, we should have the fruit of Jesus in our lives. In Galatians 5:22-24, Paul describes the “Fruits of the Spirit”: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control . . . And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.". With many followers of Jesus, there is a disconnect between what our faith is and our actual lifestyles. Why do we have this disconnect? If we are believers in Jesus, God has given us an incredible gift – the gift of the Holy Spirit. However, the disconnect is that the Holy Spirit is not active in our lives. The Holy Spirit is key to a Jesus Follower’s life, and one cannot be a Jesus Follower without the Holy Spirit.

In Luke 3:15, John the Baptist explains the relationship between Jesus and the gift, from God, of the Holy Spirit: “John answered them all, saying, ‘I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’". In Luke 3:22 when Jesus is Baptized, He receives the anointing of the Holy Spirit for His earthly ministry.

Jesus needed the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and we need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit too. While Jesus’ Apostles were with Him for three years and observed, directly, Jesus’ ministry, death, and Resurrection, the Apostles needed the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as described, by Jesus, in Acts 1:4-5: “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; or John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’".

As Jesus Followers, we have the Holy Spirit; therefore, the big question becomes: “Does the Holy Spirit have us?”. We receive the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives” by: 1) seeking God’s will and way in our lives; 2) repenting of our sins; and 3) surrendering and yielding our lives to the Holy Spirit. However, we run into two obstacles to living our lives in the Holy Spirit: 1) sin, because sin is death and sin “grieves the Holy Spirit”; and 2) our quenching the Holy Spirit by being ungrateful and “murmuring against God’s will”.

Have you been Baptized with the Holy Spirit, and does the Holy Spirit have you?

 

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): Galatians 5:22-24; Luke 1:15; Luke 3:15-22; Luke 2:25; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-4; Ephesians 4:30; Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 6:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16.

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

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

Jesus Followers Are Key to Stopping Marriage’s Perversion by Following God’s Plan in Their Families and Marriages

Jesus Followers Are Key to Stopping Marriage’s Perversion by Following God’s Plan in Their Families and Marriages

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Introduction from Prior Sermon: 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 Message -- Marriage, A Current Assessment: Marriage and the family, in current decades, have been under attack to the degree that marriage is now losing its value in our culture. In Mark 10:6-9, Jesus speaks to God’s plan for marriage: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’”

In our culture’s attacks on marriage and the family, we see ten ways in which marriage and the family  have been and are being perverted: 1) US Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage – as Jesus Followers, we don’t believe the courts have the right to define/redefine marriage as established by God; 2) sex before marriage is becoming the norm; 3) sex outside of marriage has become acceptable; 4) the prevalence of divorce; 5) acceptance of cohabitation; 6) birth of children out of wedlock; 7) multi-spouse marriage; 8) escalation and the acceptance of pornography; 9) the acceptance and practice of abortion on demand; and 10) the acceptable “choosing” one’s own gender by some people. These perversions of marriage and the family are chipping away at the value and importance of marriage and the family in the US – even among Christians. Too many of our Christian young people do not know why they should get married -- this diminution of marriage’s value is a failure, mostly, of the Christian Church.

Many Christians, today, are being deceived and led away from God’s Word by the Evil One (e.g., John 10:10). Therefore, we need to read and understand God’s Word, especially as it relates to His plan for marriage that Jesus posits in His quote from Genesis in Mark 10:6. Throughout history humans have corrupted God’s beautiful plan for His Creation. In Mark 10:7, we see God’s pattern for marriage. In Mark 10:8, we are provided with God’s purpose for marriage; and the product of this “one flesh” is children. By becoming “one flesh” in marriage, the man and women become a “new trinity” – husband, wife, and the Lord. In this “marriage trinitarian relationship”, each child is brought into this family relationship in the same way that we, as Jesus Followers, are brought into our personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the Gospel. In Mark 10:9 we see God’s expressed permeance of marriage.

God’s design and plan for marriage, as presented by Jesus in Mark 10:6,9, is ideal for us as humans, our nation, and our culture: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, what therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’". However, God’s plan is being increasingly perverted. Therefore, what should we do, as Jesus Followers, about these “attacks on marriage”? We can: 1) stand up, speak up and speak God’s truth – Christians need to stop being trampled upon by this divergent culture; 2) model good and Godly marriage and family life to the culture; 3) you teach your children, you not the church/school/government, about God and His plan for marriage and the family; and 4) pray and ask God to intervene in these attacks and to support our seeking to achieve His plan for our own marriage and the family – prayer does change things, and it brings the power of God.

We are blessed to live in an incredible time in history, but the plan and fabric that God designed to keep us together and thriving – marriage and the family – is being perverted. However, we, as Jesus Followers, hold the key to stopping this perversion of marriage though getting our own family and marriage in line with God’s plan and then witnessing and voting to stop this perversion – the time is now.

 

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): Mark 10:6-9; John 10:10; Genesis 2:21-25.

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch

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

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

The Five Needs of Mothers

The Five Needs of Mothers

 MESSAGE SUMMARY: Introduction – Resurrection (Part 5): Jesus said, in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.", Our challenge is to lovingly share Jesus' position with others in ways that they can hear and understand -- Jesus wants us to share Him. Followers of Jesus must communicate the Gospel, unspoken, through a life that is lived with joy and Godliness. God will do whatever we ask in His name.

Today’s Message -- Needs of Mothers: On Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the Holy Spirit was poured out; therefore, everyone is entitled to have a personal relationship with God. 

Today is Mother’s Day, and the Five Needs of Mothers include: 1) to know the Lord – to have a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit; 2) to be loved by her husband, as Jesus loved His Church; 3) help – assistance in all aspects of their life; 4) encouragement – provide praise and recognition; and 5) appreciation – in no way should mothers develop a sense that they are taken for granted.

A friendship between husband and wife is a context in which a mother’s needs flourish. Key is for mothers and fathers to ask the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, into their lives.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: 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):   John 17:3; Philippians 3:7; John 17:3-5; Ephesians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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

God Forgives You and You Are to Forgive Others; By Refusing to Forgive Someone, You Break Your Fellowship with God Making You the Sinner

God Forgives You and You Are to Forgive Others; By Refusing to Forgive Someone, You Break Your Fellowship with God Making You the Sinner

 MESSAGE SUMMARY: In Matthew 25:21-38, Peter asked Jesus how many times one should forgive someone that has wronged them: “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him’, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything’. ‘And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying’, ‘Pay what you owe’. ‘So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him’, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you’. ‘He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him’, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you’? ‘And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.’”.

When you run into some barriers for forgiving someone else, Jesus, in Matthew 18:15-17, gives us guidelines for dealing with those with whom we believe “Have wronged us”: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16†But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”.

What do you think about forgiveness and unforgiveness in your life relative to others? In essence, Jesus told Peter that the limit on the number of times we should forgive someone is, basically, unlimited. Like the king in Mathew 18, God's nature is to forgive. Should we not approach the forgiveness of others in our lives like Jesus in order to be Christ-like in our lives while permitting others to see Jesus in the way we live our lives? However, when the servant did not forgive those with a small debt to him, the master withdrew his pardon to his servant for his larger debt. God forgives us just as we forgive others. Unforgiveness, when we refuse to forgive someone, breaks our fellowship with the Lord and we become the sinner.

Archbishop Beach, at the end of this teaching regarding Unforgiveness, discusses questions, from a previous sermon, that we need to ask of ourselves when we come before the Lord in our prayers. The Gospel is based on both the Old and the New Testaments. The Gospel must go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit – the Gospel is a Spiritual message.

 

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): Matthew 25:21-38; James 2:13; Matthew 18:15-17.

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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

Hear God’s Voice: God Will Speak Directions for Your Life if You Do Not Harden Your Heart to God’s Voice – Listen to His Voice and Obey

Hear God’s Voice: God Will Speak Directions for Your Life if You Do Not Harden Your Heart to God’s Voice – Listen to His Voice and Obey

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Introduction (from a prior Sermon): The Gospel is based on both the Old and the New Testaments. The Gospel must go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit – the Gospel is a Spiritual message.

Today’s Message: In John 10, Jesus is speaking about the “shepherd”; the shepherd: 1) enters through the gate; 2) has the gate opened by a watchman; 3) sheep listen to his voice; 4) calls each sheep by name; 5) leads his sheep by going ahead of the sheep; and 6) has a voice by which he is known to his sheep and they follow him. In the first century, shepherding was an intimate profession; and the shepherd was always with his sheep. The shepherd talked to his sheep, and the sheep knew the shepherd’s voice. Also in John 10, Jesus talked about the “false shepherd” who is a “thief and a robber”. The sheep do not follow the “false shepherd”. Jesus says that the “thief (false shepherd) comes only to steal, kill and destroy”.

In John 10:7-10, Jesus says that He is the “gate”, and He is the way (gate) by which we are saved from our sins and eternal death; and we are provisioned for a full life as His followers. Like the sheep that follow the good shepherd, if we follow Jesus, we will all hear His voice.

How do we know the voice of Jesus? Consider that: 1) we must enter only through the gate – Jesus; 2) we must be a sheep of the Good Shepherd and follow Jesus through an intimate relationship with Him; 3) we must learn to listen (for example, today we listen through the inward witness of the Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit is charged with communicating the will of God to mankind and to sync our mind with the mind of God); 4) we obey as we listen – in the New Testament, the words “hear” and “obey” are the same words – God will speak directions for our lives; and 5) we don’t harden our hearts to the voice of the Lord – listen to His voice and obey.

As the Lord says: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10).

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: 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): John 10:1-18; Ezekiel 34:22-34; John 5:25-29: Ezekiel 43:2;1 King’s 19:12; Isaiah 30:21; John 10:27-30; Hebrews 3:7-15.

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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

After Jesus’ Resurrection, He Appeared Many Times to Many People and the Apostles; Today, We Have His Gift of the Holy Spirit

After Jesus’ Resurrection, He Appeared Many Times to Many People and the Apostles; Today, We Have His Gift of the Holy Spirit

 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: 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 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 SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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

Surprise! Jesus Is Not Dead, He Is Risen; but Too Many Live Their Lives as if They Believe that Jesus Is Dead

Surprise! Jesus Is Not Dead, He Is Risen; but Too Many Live Their Lives as if They Believe that Jesus Is Dead

MESSAGE SUMMARY: Surprise effects people in different ways. When Mary Magdalene entered Jesus’ tomb looking for Jesus after His crucifixion and death, she was surprised in John 20:15-16: “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).".

Jesus was dead, but He did not remain dead. Through Jesus resurrection, He arose from the dead as was seen after the resurrection by Mary Magdalene, the Apostles, and many others over the forty-day period until His Ascension – all were surprised when they saw Jesus alive after His death on the cross.

Today, two thousand years later, many people are surprised to learn that Jesus is not dead. It is not until we come to Jesus in personal faith that we realize that Jesus is alive – our realization of Jesus immortality is not from an intellectual awareness, but our realization of a living Jesus comes through a personal, experiential faith-based relationship with Jesus in our lives.  We are sinners, and evil and sin are all around us. Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.". Therefore, without a living Jesus, our eternal death is the only outcome. Also, societies attempting to function without a living Jesus are on a pathway to “pure evil”.

Easter changed all Eternity for us who come to Christ and follow Him. Jesus is alive for us. For those of us who believe in Jesus, things happen to us personally in our lives: 1) our sins are forgiven – part of Jesus’ resurrection is the power we are given over our sins and sinful nature, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 26:28: “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”, some of us are surprised that our sins are forgiven with our faith but without our performance of some “works”; 2) eternal life is made available to us – having a personal relationship with God for eternity is eternal life; and 3) Jesus is with us in the surprises that life throws our way – we have to come to Jesus in repentance and faith, however, too many of us live our lives as if we believe that Jesus is dead.

Chris is risen! Is Jesus resurrection a surprise to you? If so, ask Jesus, through your faith, to come into your life right now; let a living Jesus and not the twists and turns of your life surprise you.

 

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: 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): John 20:11-18; Romans 6:20-23; John 20:1-10; Luke 24; Acts 10:39; 1 John 2:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:16-19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Psalms 103:12; John 17:3; John 3:36; 1 John 5:11; Hebrews 13:8; Hebrews 13:5.

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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

He Is Risen: From Good Friday to Easter!

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 came 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 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; but He is, also, 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 SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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

Palm Sunday and Holy Week -- Contemplating the Mighty Acts

Palm Sunday and Holy Week -- Contemplating the Mighty Acts

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, Good Friday, of Holy Week, we come to Jesus’ Crucifixion and death on the cross. On Good 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. 

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

WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.

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