Sermons By A Word From The Lord with Archbishop Foley Beach
Episodes
Sunday Apr 14, 2019
Sunday Apr 14, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Contemplating the Mighty Acts – Palm Sunday and Holy Week (Holy Cross Anglican Cathedral; Loganville, GA)
To understand Holy Week and Palm Sunday, we look to the beginnings of Passover and how it had evolved until Jesus’ time.
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 for all time.
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.".
Also on Thursday, Jesus has His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed, in the Garden to God, to have the responsibility of His Crucifixion, death, and His separation from God, as Jesus took 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 – Jesus is dead.
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: 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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Exodus 12:1-25; Zechariah 9:9; Luke 19:30; Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 19:41-44; Mark 11:20-25; Matthew 21:33-46; John 15:12-17.
Sunday Apr 07, 2019
Sunday Apr 07, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Upper Room Part 2: The Promise of Forgiveness (Christ Cathedral; Kampala, Uganda)
Jesus the Christ died on the cross for our sins. Through Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead and God’s Grace, sinners like us can have Eternal Life if we confess our sins and have faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
After Jesus Resurrection, Jesus appeared to many people, including a group of more than five hundred, over a period of forty days. The primary messages of the Bible’s New Testament Epistles are Jesus’ death, Resurrection, and the power of Jesus’ Resurrection. From John 20:19-25, we learn that Jesus appeared to the Disciples in a locked upper room. The Disciples were afraid; but when they saw Jesus, their fear changed to joy. Jesus began His conversation with the powerful greeting of: “Peace be with you.”. In addition to His Peace, Jesus gave the Disciples the Apostolic commission of Go, make disciples, and to teach while communicating the Gospel; and Jesus told the Disciples and us how to “Go”. Additionally, Jesus gave His Disciples and us the power, through the Holy Spirit, to do the mission of His Commission: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20).
The Gospel is a message of both forgiveness and of judgement. With God’s Grace and our faith comes our forgiveness and our Eternal Life. In John 5:24, Jesus tells us that we not only have Eternal Life after our earthly death; but we have Eternal Life from the moment we accept the Gospel and Jesus as our Lord and Savior: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.".
In Romans 8:38-39,we are given the message to communicate as we “Go”: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.".
We have the eternal life-changing message of Jesus’ death for our sins, Resurrection, and our forgiveness. However, are we living this message in our lives, and are we delivering this message to others starting with our family and our neighbors – if not us, then who? Today is the day of Salvation!
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 20:19-25; Luke 24:46; John 5:24; John 1:12.
Sunday Mar 31, 2019
Sunday Mar 31, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Upper Room Part 3: The Promise of Belief (St. Thomas Anglican Church, Athens GA)
A primary component of Jesus teaching methodology was to ask questions. Most questions asked regarding Christianity are directly answerable. However, it is not “doubt” that constrains people from believing and following Jesus; but it is their “resistance to giving up their sins” that constrains their belief and acceptance.
Important questions were asked by Jesus in His several appearances after His Resurrection from His Crucifixion and death. In the first reference in John 20 to Jesus’ appearance to His Apostilles, the Apostille Thomas was not present. Therefore, when Thomas was told of Jesus’ appearance, Thomas said that he would not believe in Jesus’ Resurrection until he could see and feel Jesus’ wounds from the Crucifixion. Jesus, knowing Thomas’ disbelief without physical evidence of His Resurrection, in John 20:24-29, asked Thomas to feel His wounds. Afterwards Jesus asked Thomas the implied question of Thomas’ “belief”, and Thomas answered with an answer that has resonated throughout the centuries: “My Lord and my God!”: “Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”.
Jesus went on to affirm Thomas’ belief in the face of compelling physical evidence, but Jesus acknowledged the power of the belief and faith by those of us who follow Him without physical evidence. So, for us who do not have the physical evidence of Jesus’ death and Resurrection, Paul tells us, in Romans 10:17, that: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”.
Do you believe?
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 10:19-30; John 11:15-16; John 14:5-7; Romans 10:17.
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Interior Life – Part 5: The Conscience (Holy Trinity; Madison, MS)
INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERIOR LIFE -- The Psalmist, in Psalms 1:3-4, describes a person with a fruitful Interior Life: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.". Our Interior Life, typically, does not call out for our attention until, usually, it is too late. Our Interior Life does not call for our attention or scream for help. However, if our Interior Life is not maintained or nurtured, our spiritual life can come crashing down.
Our Interior Life can be viewed like a savings account in a bank. Like a savings account when we make deposits, our Interior Life grows, draws interest, and becomes strong, thereby, giving us a balance that can see us through life’s tough times. However, if we are not making Interior Life deposits and our life circumstances need to draw on our “savings”, we may find that life has put us in an untenable situation; and we go spiritually bankrupt. Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, describes the characteristics of the Inner Person and the maintenance of the Inner Person: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.". Paul describes us as being comprised of body, soul, and spirit.
Our Inner Person, or Our Inner Self, is all that relates to our soul and spirit. The Interior Life is critical for our abundant life – the part of us that is private not public; the part of us that no one sees or knows but us and God. Too often, we focus our personal care on our bodies and not our soul or Inner Person. Paul, in Ephesians 3:16-17, addresses or “inner being”: “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,".
EXERCISING YOUR CONSCIENCE AS A PART OF YOUR INTERIOR LIFE -- We need to focus, today, on a portion of our Inner Self’s soul that includes “our conscience” – “the power of our mind”. Our conscience is that part of our soul that brings our hearts and minds into knowledge of God’s requirements and expectations for living a Godly life. In 1 Timothy 1:5, the conscience is related to love: “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”. Do we have a clear conscience before the Lord?
As an example of “conscience in the Inner Life”, King David was a righteous man that gave God credit for all His successes; but David, like us, was a sinner. He lusted after the beautiful wife of one of his generals. After David got the general’s wife pregnant, David’s sins, like most of ours, cascaded into the murder of his general to protect his secret affair with the general’s wife. Subsequently, David’s conscience rose to the top of his Inner Self in Psalms 51. While David confessed and repented of his sins to God, David was forgiven by God; but the consequence of David’s sins was enormous – David’s family and kingdom were disrupted; and his son, born of the adulterous affair, died.
There are three aspects of our conscience: 1) the part of our person that knows right and wrong within ourselves – our moral compass; 2) as Christians, our conscience becomes God’s moral compass within us; and 3) a reminder that we have sinned against God or our neighbor. The Holy Spirit deals with conscience first and not our intellect or emotion.
What happens when we ignore our conscience: 1) we begin to dumb down the power of our conscience to speak into our lives; 2) even though our conscience speaks to us all the time, we begin not to hear it; and 3) our conscience becomes polluted by the world – a defiled conscience. Ignoring our conscience leads us towards self-deception and depravity.
How do we keep a clear conscience: 1) confess our sin to God as instructed in Hebrews 10:22-23: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.", and in 1 John 1:9-10: "We confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."; 2) make a confession of our sin to a Christian friend; 3) sometimes, confess our sin to a minister; and 4) sometimes, we need to make restitution to those to whom we have sinned, when appropriate.
Our conscience is a mighty gift to us from God if we listen to it and keep a clear conscience. However, we will never have a clear conscience in our Interior Life unless we, like King David, confess and repent of our sins to God and lead a new life in Jesus.
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 51:1-19; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 2:1-8; 1 Timothy 1:5-6; Job 27:6; Acts 24:16; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Matthew 6:22-23; 1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; Titus 1:15-16; Psalms 36:1-4; Hebrews 10:22; 1 John 1:9; Romans 8:1-2; James 5:16; Proverbs 27:17; 2 Samuel 12:13; Luke 19:8; 2 Timothy 1:3.
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Interior Life – Emotional Maturity: Exercising the Mind – Part 4 (Christ Church; Atlanta, GA)
INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERIOR LIFE -- The Psalmist, in Psalms 1:3-4, describes a person with a fruitful Interior Life: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.". Our Interior Life, typically, does not call out for our attention until, usually, it is too late. Our Interior Life does not call for our attention or scream for help. However, if our Interior Life is not maintained or nurtured, our spiritual life can come crashing down.
Our Interior Life can be viewed like a savings account in a bank. Like a savings account when we make deposits, our Interior Life grows, draws interest, and becomes strong, thereby, giving us a balance that can see us through life’s tough times. However, if we are not making Interior Life deposits and our life circumstances need to draw on our “savings”, we may find that life has put us in an untenable situation; and we go spiritually bankrupt. Does the life description, provided by Jesus in John 7:37b-38, describe your life: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”?
Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, describes the characteristics of the Inner Person and the maintenance of the Inner Person: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.". Paul describes us as being comprised of body, soul, and spirit.
Our Inner Person, or Our Inner Self, is all that relates to our soul and spirit. The Interior Life is critical for our abundant life – the part of us that is private not public; the part of us that no one sees or knows but us and God. Too often, we focus our personal care on our bodies and not our soul or Inner Person. Paul, in Ephesians 3:16-17, addresses or “inner being”: “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,".
EXERCISING YOUR MIND AS A PART OF YOUR INTERIOR LIFE -- We need to focus, today, on a portion of our Inner Self’s soul that includes “our mind” – “the power of our mind”. What gives us the power to steer our lives in the direction that we want to go and, in a manner, that God expects of us? The mind gives our Inner Self power. Too many of us are wasting our minds – most of us are not exercising the power of our minds.
To exercise our minds, we must: 1) discipline our mind to mind – mental discipline; 2) take charge of what we let our mind dwell upon – what we think, we are; and 3) learn to think from Christ’s perspective – as a Christian, we must intentionally learn to think from God’s point of view; for example love neighbor rather than diminishing or fearing your neighbor.
To intentionally exercise your mind, you can: 1) read; 2) study; 3) memorize; and 4) meditate – reflect upon an issue.
Jesus was asked, in Luke 20:25b-28 to reveal the key to eternal life; and Jesus responded: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”. To position your Inner Self to think from God’s point of view, your mind must be exercised through the love of God and others.
The mind, as a Christian, is a terrible thing to be wasted by your Inner Self; therefore, you must endeavor to stop wasting your mind.
You need to develop the power for gaining control over your will and directing your mind toward a spirit-filled life in Jesus. Your life is to be driven by the Holly Spirit through your Inner Person to yield your life to God’s will. The Holy Spirit enables you to do God’s will in your life – your Interior Life’s deposit for the future.
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 1:3-4; John 7:37-38; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:1-8; Ephesians 3:16-20; 1 Peter 3:3; Mark 7:21; Proverbs 23:7; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:16-17.
Sunday Mar 10, 2019
Sunday Mar 10, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Where Is Your Interior Life Leading You? {The Interior Life – Exercising the Mind – Part 2 (Camp House; Chattanooga, TN)
INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERIOR LIFE -- The Psalmist, in Psalms 1:3-4, describes a person with a fruitful Interior Life: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.". Our Interior Life, typically, does not call out for our attention until, usually, it is too late. Our Interior Life does not call for our attention or scream for help. However, if our Interior Life is not maintained or nurtured, our spiritual life can come crashing down.
Our Interior Life can be viewed like a savings account in a bank. Like a savings account when we make deposits, our Interior Life grows, draws interest, and becomes strong, thereby, giving us a balance that can see us through life’s tough times. However, if we are not making Interior Life deposits and our life circumstances need to draw on our “savings”, we may find that life has put us in an untenable situation; and we go spiritually bankrupt. Does the life description, provided by Jesus in John 7:37b-38, describe your life: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”?
Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, describes the characteristics of the Inner Person and the maintenance of the Inner Person: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.". Paul describes us as being comprised of body, soul, and spirit.
Our Inner Person, or Our Inner Self, is all that relates to our soul and spirit. The Interior Life is critical for our abundant life – the part of us that is private not public; the part of us that no one sees or knows but us and God. Too often, we focus our personal care on our bodies and not our soul or Inner Person. Paul, in Ephesians 3:16-17, addresses or “inner being”: “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,".
OUR MIND AS A PART OF THE INTERIOR LIFE -- We need to focus, today, on a portion of our Inner Self’s soul that includes “our mind” – “the power of our mind”. What gives us the power to steer our lives in the direction that we want to go and, in a manner, that God expects of us? The mind gives our Inner Self power. Too many of us are wasting our minds – most of us are not exercising the power of our minds.
To exercise our minds, we must: 1) discipline our mind to mind – mental discipline; 2) take charge of what we let our mind dwell upon – what we think, we are; and 3) learn to think from Christ’s perspective – as a Christian, we must intentionally learn to think from God’s point of view.
To intentionally exercise our mind, we can: 1) read; 2) study; 3) memorize; and 4) meditate – reflect upon an issue.
Jesus was asked, in Luke 20:25b-28, to reveal the key to eternal life; and Jesus responded: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”. To position our Inner Self to think from God’s point of view, our mind must be exercised through the love of God and others.
The mind, as a Christian, is a terrible thing to be wasted by our Inner Self; therefore, we must endeavor to stop wasting our minds.
We need to develop the power for gaining control over our will and directing our minds toward a spirit-filled life in Jesus. Each of our lives is to be driven by the Holly Spirit through our Inner Person to yield our lives to God’s will. The Holy Spirit enables us to do God’s will in our lives – our Interior Life’s deposit for the future.
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Peter 3:3; Mark 7:21; Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8.
Sunday Mar 03, 2019
Sunday Mar 03, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Interior Life Part 1: The Power of the Will (Red Bank; Chattanooga, TN)
INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERIOR LIFE -- We are body, soul, and spirit. Our Interior Life is all that relates to our Soul and Spirit – our Interior Life is private and not public. Our Interior Life is the “real me”. Much of our life’s focus is on maintaining our body but not our Interior Life.
The Psalmist, in Psalms 1:3-4, describes a person with a fruitful Interior Life: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.". Our Interior Life, typically, does not call out for our attention until, usually, it is too late. Our Interior Life does not call for our attention or scream for help. However, if your Interior Life is not maintained and nurtured, your personal, spiritual and ministry lives can come crashing down.
Our Interior Life can be viewed like a savings account in a bank. Like a savings account when we make deposits, our Interior Life grows, draws interest, and becomes strong, thereby, giving us a balance that can see us through life’s tough times. However, if we are not making Interior Life deposits and our life circumstances need to draw on our “savings”, we may find that life has put us in an untenable situation; and we go spiritually bankrupt. Does the life description, provided by Jesus in John 7:37b-38, describe your life: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”?
Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, describes the characteristics of the Inner Person and the maintenance of the Inner Person: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.". Paul describes us as being comprised of body, soul, and spirit.
Our Inner Person, or our Inner Self, is all that relates to our soul and spirit. The Interior Life is critical for our abundant life – the part of us that is private not public; the part of us that no one sees or knows but us and God. Too often, we focus our personal care on our bodies and not our soul or Inner Person. Paul, in Ephesians 3:16-17, addresses or “inner being”: “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,".
THE WILL AS PART OF THE INTERIOR LIFE -- The Will is part of your Interior Life, and your Will is your God-Given ability to choose. Often, we run into problems in our lives because we don’t control our Will; therefore, our Will has lost its power in our lives – we yield to our flesh, and we are rendered powerless to our choices. Our choices are stealing our lives away!
Will Power brings power and strength to our Will – taking charge of our life’s choices. The three steps to develop your Will Power, for a given situation or opportunity, include: 1) choosing a task; 2) creating a plan; and following your plan. Make intentional choices.
The Holy Spirit wants to have power over our inner being. If we do not have power over our will and inner being, then how can we yield our lives to God’s Will? We need to develop power in our inner person. “Sin” is defined in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer as “the seeking our own will over the will of God” – thus distorting our relationship with God, creation, and others. Our “sin” requires Repentance, and Repentance calls for our choice. This level of subordinating God’s will to our will, “sin”, calls for our death or our crucifixion. 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.". Therefore, if you have no Will Power, then how can you choose to do the things that God, through the Holy Spirit, requires of you?
Is it the desire of your heart to do God’s Will?
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 1:3-4; Ephesians 3:16; 1 Peter 3:3; John 7:37-38; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 3:16-17; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:16.
Sunday Feb 24, 2019
Sunday Feb 24, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
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.
Sunday Feb 17, 2019
Sunday Feb 17, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Praying with Perseverance (Fowery Parish; 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."
In praying, we should know the difference between 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.
SUNDAY MESSAGE – Jesus’ parable, in Luke 18:1-8, is about both faith and prayer. In this text from Luke, Jesus speaks about the power of persistent prayer. In Luke 18:1, Jesus tells us: “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.". In Luke 18:2-3, Jesus is speaking about an “unrighteous judge” who is constantly appealed to, for justice, by a widow. For a while, this judge refused to hear the plea of this widow. However, because the widow was so persistent in her appeal, the judge the Judge hears the widow’s appeal for justice: “For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” (Luke 18:4-5).
In further comment regarding the message of His parable in Luke 18:6-8, Jesus tells us that persistence in both our faith and prayer matters greatly: “And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’".
Additional lessons, that we can learn from this parable, include: 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 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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 18:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 1:5; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalms 55:22; Philippians 4:6; Matthew 5:25-34; Luke 11:5-8; Luke 11:10-12; 1 Timothy 2:1,3-4.
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
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."
In praying, we should know the difference between 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.
SUNDAY MESSAGE -- This Sermon is Q and A session on prayer with Archbishop Beach and Rev. Matt Jordan.
Jan Karen, author of the Mitford Series, says that "In the big issues of life as well as the small, God wants to hear from His children . . . the most important thing we get from prayer is the relationship that we enter into with God.". As Jesus tells us in Luke 11:9-10 that, as His followers we are both expected to pray and to ask as a fundamental part of our lives in Him: “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.". Additionally, Luke tells us, in Luke 18:1, that we should continue to pray: “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart."
How do you know that God has answered your prayer? What does it mean when God has not answered your prayer? Why, if God answers our prayers, should we ask for others to pray for us? How do we know if we are praying in the Holy Spirit? Why does my mind start wandering when I start praying? How good is it to have a prayer journal? Why, sometimes, are we tempted to sin when we pray? How important is fasting? Do we stop in our prayers enough to give thanks to the Lord? The common position, derivative of all these questions is expressed to us in Ephesians 3:21b-24 that prayer is life changing and fundamental to a life in Jesus: “the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.".
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 A 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).
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S RECENT VIDEOS: https://awftlvser.podbean.com/.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Jeremiah 33:3; Luke 11:1-13; Luke 18:1-8; Luke 22:44; Ephesians 3:20-24.