Quote from Forum Archives on June 5, 2006, 6:56 pm

Posted by: jpeters <jpeters@...>

OUR TENTH YEAR

SERMON SEEDS FOR JUNE 5, 2006

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ABOUT THE WEBSITE – The website is now up to date.  As far as I know, all material through last week’s Sermon Seeds are posted, and I plan to post the outlines in this edition sometime today.

 

ABOUT THIS ISSUE – This issue of Sermon Seeds is a little unusual.  There are 4 outlines in the same series, Christian Character Clinic. I do normally space these out, but decided this time to send you all of these at once.  Four more will follow as I teach them on Wednesday Evenings.  Also the latest outline of James and The Life of Christ are included.

 

 

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Judges 6:1-24

THE RECRUIT

 

Israel was having a rough time.  God had a recruit to lead Israel to victory.

 

GOD’S DECIMATION OF ISRAEL – Vss. 1-10

GOD’S DIALOGUE WITH GIDEON – Vss. 11-18

GOD’S DISPLAY OF POWER – Vss. 19-21

GOD’S DISCLOSURE OF PEACE – Vss. 22-24

 

 

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Psalm 34:1-9

COMMITTED TO GOD

 

COMMITMENT TO PRAISE GOD – Vss. 1-3

COMMITMENT TO PURSUE GOD – Vss. 4-6

COMMITMENT TO PARTICIPATE WITH GOD – Vss. 7-9

1.     Fear

2.     Taste

3.     See

4.     Trust

 

 

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Jonah 1

RELUCTANT PROPHET

 

JONAH’S RETREAT (or REBELLION) – Vss. 1-3

GOD’S RETRIBUTION – Vs. 4

THE SAILORS’ RESPONSE – Vss. 5-10

JONAH’S REQUEST – Vss. 11-12

THE SAILORS’ RELINQUISHMENT – Vss. 13-15

THE SHIP’S REVIVAL – Vs. 16

THE LORD’S RECEPTACLE (a great fish) – Vs. 17

 

 

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John 9

THE LIGHT AT WORK AM

LIFE OF CHRIST #36

 

 

Jesus is the light of the world. John 8:12, John 1:1-5

 

It was after Jesus had shown mercy to the woman taken in adultery that Jesus was still in Jerusalem after the Feast of Tabernacles.  We are not certain where he was.  Perhaps he was near the temple.  

 

Vs. 1 – There was a man who was blind from birth.

 

Vs. 2 – Jesus’ disciples asked a theological question.  Based on what they had been taught, they felt that all illness was caused by someone’s sin.  So they wanted to know, whose sin was responsible for the blindness.  Was it something the blind man had done, or was it the sin of the parents.

 

What is the source of all illness in the world?

It is sin!  Death did not enter into the world until after Adam and Eve had sinned.  They were in a perfect environment.  Therefore, sickness did not enter into the world until after Adam and Eve had sinned.

 

So, all sickness is actually caused by sin.

And some sickness is caused by the sins of parents. For instance the suffering of baby with AIDS might be caused by the sin of the parents.

 

And some sickness is caused by our own sins.  A person who habitually overeats, smokes or abuses alcohol can bring about sickness to his body.

 

But as Jesus will indicate in the next verse, not all sickness is caused by some specific sin.

 

Vs. 3 – God had a purpose for this man’s suffering.  There was no specific sin that caused his blindness.  

The purpose of the sickness was that the works of God would be revealed in him.

 

Beloved there are times when we suffer illness or other problems so that the glory of God may be revealed in us! Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4

 

Vs. 4 – In the original language, the word “I” is “we”. Jesus is saying to His disciples, “We must work the works of him that sent me.”

I feel that the word “We” is still in effect today.

We must work the works of the Father.  That’s what Jesus has given us to do. John 14:12-14

 

While we are alive it is “day”.

The night of death is coming when no man can work.   

Whatever good you are going to accomplish must be accomplished before you die.  And you don’t know when that will be.   

 

Vs. 5 – At this point Jesus was still physically in the world.

He was the light of the world.

And as light illumines, so did Jesus.

 

Question – Is Jesus still the light of the world?

Of course He is! How does He shine today?

 

He shines through His Word.

He shines through His Spirit.

He shines through us! Matthew 5:14-16

 

Now we are going to see Jesus at work in the life of this blind man.  We see the Light at work.

 

JESUS GAVE LIGHT TO THE MAN’S EYES - Vss. 6-12

 

Vs. 6-7 – Why did Jesus make mud, put it on the blind man’s eyes and tell him to go wash?  Couldn’t he have just spoken a word or touched Him and achieved the same?

 

Of course he could have!

We do not know for sure why Jesus did it this way.  Perhaps he was testing the blind man’s faith as God did with a certain leper named Naaman. Naaman was told to wash himself in the Jordan River 7 times. He did and He was healed.

Whatever the reason, Jesus is God, and can go about the healing process anyway He sees fit!

 

The blind man went to the Pool of Siloam and washed.

It wasn’t long before he was back and seeing.

 

Vss. 8-9 – The man caused an immediate stir. People who are blind often look blind. They look different.  He looked different because he was no longer blind.

 

Some asked if this was the man who used to sit and beg.

Some said, “Yep, that’s him!”

Others said, “Nope, he just looks like him.”

 

The former blind man left no doubts.

He said, “I’m him!”

 

Vss. 10-12 – Of course, the people asked the obvious question, “What happened!”

 

The man answered them by telling of the man named Jesus who had made clay, put it on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

 

They wanted to know where Jesus was.  The blind man didn’t know. Jesus had left. And remember that the blind man hadn’t seen Jesus as yet.

 

Jesus still gives light to the blind today.

When a sinner comes to the point of being convicted of his sin and of his need for help, Jesus is opening blind eyes through His Spirit. John 16:8-10

 

When you and I as Christians see things which we hadn’t seen before, we are being given Jesus’ light through the Holy Spirit.   

 

When you and I as Christians walk in His light, we will deal with sin in our lives. 1 John 1:5-7

 

JESUS GAVE LIGHT TO THE MAN’S MIND – Vss. 13-34   

 

Vs. 13 – Evidently some Pharisees had been appointed to have jurisdiction over certain religious matters.  The man was taken to them.

 

Vs. 14 – Here is the issue. Jesus had done this healing on the Sabbath day.  The Pharisees considered it a violation of the Sabbath to heal someone who is sick.

 

Many rules and regulations concerning the Sabbath had been added to God’s law.  It was man’s law, not God’s that Jesus had violated.

 

Vss. 15-16 – The former blind man told what happened and there was an immediate debate over the Lord Jesus.

 

Some said, “This man is not from God.  He broke the Sabbath!”

Others said, “How can a sinner do miracles like this?”

 

Vs. 17 – They asked the opinion of the blind man.  His eyes were opened enough for him to see that Jesus was at least a prophet.

 

Vss. 18-22 – The Jews were not ready to concede that Jesus had worked a miracle.  They were thinking that maybe it was a hoax.

 

So they brought in the man’s parents. They asked questions.

“Is this your son?”

“Was he born blind?”

“How is it that he now sees?”

 

The parents answered.

“Yes, this is our son.”

“Yes, he can now see.”

“But we don’t know how it happened.”

(They lied because they did not want to be excommunicated from the synagogue.)

“Our son is of legal age. Ask him!”

 

Vs. 24 – They brought the man who had been blind back into the proceedings.

They told him to give God the praise for the healing. “Don’t give credit to Jesus because we know that He’s a sinner!”

 

Vs. 25 – The man was not about to debate whether Jesus was a sinner was not. 

But no matter what they said about Jesus, the man knew one thing, “Once I was blind, but now I see.”

 

Vs. 26 – They were still looking for a way to discredit Jesus, so they asked him again what happened.

 

Vs. 27 – I think the man was being sarcastic. “You’re asking me so much about Him.  Do you want to be his disciples?”

 

Vs. 28-29 – That set the Pharisees off.

“You’re his disciple. We’re the disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t where this guy came from.”

 

Vss. 30-33 – Now we see how completely Jesus had opened this man’s mind.

 

“This man’s opened my eyes, and you don’t know where He came from! That’s amazing.”

 

“We know that God doesn’t hear sinners.”  He was right, according to Psalm 66:18.

 

“Since the beginning of the world, such a miracle hasn’t been performed.  If this man wasn’t from God, He couldn’t do this or anything else.”

 

Jesus had given light to this man’s mind.

And let me tell you, when our minds grasp the things of God as this man did, it is because Jesus, the light of the world, has given light to our minds through his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:15-16

 

Vs. 34 – The Pharisees were so incensed at the man that they excommunicated him from the synagogue.

Remember, when we have light from Christ in our minds, we are not always going to be accepted or popular.

 

JESUS GAVE LIGHT TO THE MAN’S HEART – Vss. 35-39  

 

Vs. 35 – I’m sure the man was hurting and confused.  He had received a great miracle, and instead of the religious leaders rejoicing with him, they persecuted him and excommunicated Him.

 

When Jesus heard what had happened, He found him.

And when we hurt Jesus will find us.

 

The man was ready for a heart decision.

Jesus had given light to his eyes.

Jesus had given light to his mind.

Now it was the heart’s turn.

 

When we come to Christ for salvation:

Jesus opens our eyes to see our sin.

Jesus opens our minds to understand what Christ has done for us in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Jesus opens our hearts to faith.

 

Jesus asked him:

“Do you believe on the “Son of God”.

 

Vs. 36 – “Show me who it is Lord, that I may believe on Him.”

 

Vs. 37 – “The one talking to you is this person.”

 

Vs. 38 – He believed and worshipped.

 

Whenever a person believes it is because Jesus, through His Spirit, has opened His heart.

We have no capacity to believe except by God’s help. Ephesians 2:1, John 3:3, 6-7,

 

My friend, perhaps Jesus is talking to you this morning.

Perhaps he is showing you that you need to place your faith in Christ alone as your Savior. Perhaps he is giving light to your heart!  If so place your faith and trust in Him right now.

 

And Christian anytime you are at a point of making a right decision to do the right thing, I believe that Jesus, through his Spirit is giving light to your heart. John 16:13

 

Make sure that when the Lord gives light to your heart that you are obedient.

 

JESUS GAVE LIGHT TO THE MAN’S EYES

JESUS GAVE LIGHT TO THE MAN’S MIND

JESUS GAVE LIGHT TO THE MAN’S HEART   

 

He will give you light as well if you ask.   

 

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ACTS 6:1-8

The Model Church, Lesson 12,

 

A problem rose in the early church that required good leadership on the part of the disciples and it required the appointment of good lay leadership.  To you, what are the qualities of a good lay leader?

 

Things were going well.

What can you count on when things are going well? Why? 1 Peter 5:8

 

When Satan starts to work, strong leadership is necessary.

In this chapter we see the "LEADERS AT WORK".

                                                        

DIFFICULTY IN THE FELLOWSHIP - VS. 1

 

When Satan can not work from the outside looking in, he will try to work from the inside looking out!  He will do whatever he can to bring about chaos.  He will do anything he can to limit the work of the Spirit of God.

 

Please remember that this was still an all-Jewish church.  However there were two different groups represented among these Christians.

 

One of the groups is called "The Hebrews."

 

The Hebrews were Palestinian Jews, part of the groups that came back to resettle the land after the exile.  These were people like Ezra and Nehemiah.

 

The other group what is referred here to as "the Grecians".  They are also known as Hellenists, or Hellenistic Jews.  This group would have been made up of people who grew up outside of the native land of Palestine and of Jewish merchants who lived in other parts of the Roman Empire.  Most of their worship centered around the synagogues where they were living.

The Hellenists had a Greek culture background, and this made them different from their brothers, the native Palestinians.

 

Satan will find an issue and try to divide people.

In this case, the issue was the neglect of the Grecian widows who were being taken care of by the church.  Evidently, they were not being as well treated as the Hebrew widows.

The result was murmuring, or complaining.

 

Are there ever legitimate complaints in the church? Why?

 

How should complaints be handled?

 

DISTRACTION FROM THE WORK VS. 2

 

The problem is brought to the attention of the right people, the leaders.

Very often people talk about church problems to everyone except the people who can do anything about it.  In this case, the Apostles were made aware of the problem, and began to deal with it.  This is exactly what we should do as a church "family".

 

How would this problem distract the Apostles?

 

How can pastors be distracted from the ministry of the Word?

 

Why is this a difficulty?

 

What does the ministry of the Word involve?

 

Preaching and teaching in Church services.

Personal evangelism.

Visitation in people's homes, and hospitals.

Teaching in nursing homes.

Listening and counseling.

 

How can the church and its leaders help a pastor to stay focused?

 

Pitch in. 

Quietly tell him when they think he's not!  It is not always the congregation's fault.

 

DECISION OF THE APOSTLES Vs. 3

 

Notice that the solution to the problem is delegation. And remember the church could have had as many as 20,000 members at this point.

The less the pastor needs to concentrate on, the more he can give to the ministry of the Word of God.  

 

There are jobs that require Spiritual leadership. Surprisingly enough, feeding people was one of them in the early church. Why were Spiritual people needed in this situation?

 

Here are the requirements (Discuss)

 

1. GOOD REPUTATION

2. FULL OF HOLY GHOST

3. FULL OF WISDOM

 

DETERMINATION FOR MINISTRY VS. 4

 

Whatever God has given you to do, there needs to be priorities.

It is possible to get too many things going at once.

When we have too many things going, we can't do any of them very well.

For the pastor, it's the ministry of the Word and Prayer.

For you, emphasize the ministries that you know God has called you to.

Ezra 7:10

 

DEPLOYMENT OF DEACONS VSS. 5-6

Looking at the names, it's a good possibility that all of these men were from the Hellenistic camp.

The Apostles ordained them, or set them apart for a specific task.

 

DESCRIPTION OF GROWTH VSS. 7-8

 

 

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1 John 1:5-10

IN THE LIGHT!

 

COMMUNICATION - Vs. 5 - God is light and in Him is no darkness.

CHOICES - Vss. 6-7 - We will either walk in light or darkness.

CAUTION - Vss. 8,10 - Never claim to be without sin.

CLEANSING - Vs. 9 - When we confess our sins, "coming clean" before God, naming our sins, we are forgiven and cleansed by Him.

 

Sermon Seeds A43

 

 

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CHRISTIAN CHARACTER CLINIC

WEEK #7 – PATHWAY TO PIETY - GODLINESS

 

2 Peter 1:5-6 - And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; [6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

 

·       What does it mean to reverence God?

·       How can you tell when someone is reverent towards God?

·       What part does fear play in reverencing God?

 

Isaiah 8:13 - Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

 

1 Peter 2:17 - Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

 

Hebrews 12:28-29 - Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: [29] For our God is a consuming fire.

 

·       Why should we have a desire towards godliness?

 

Peter continues to show us areas of Christian Character that should flow one out of the other. Flowing out of patience is godliness. Godliness is a reverence for God or piety that leads to holy living.

 

A PRAYER FOR GODLINESS

1Timothy 2:1-4 - I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; [2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. [3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; [4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

THE PROTOTYPE OF GODLINESS

1 Timothy 3:16 - And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

 

THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS

1 Timothy 4:8 - For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

1 Timothy 6:6-8 - But godliness with contentment is great gain. [7] For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. [8] And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

 

THE PERVERSION OF GODLINESS

2 Timothy 3:5 - Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

 

1 Timothy 6:3-5 - If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; [4] He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, [5] Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

 

1 Timothy 6:9-10 - But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. [10] For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

THE PRACTICE OF GODLINESS

Titus 1:1 - Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

 

1 Timothy 6:11-12 - But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. [12] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

 

THE PROVISION OF GODLINESS

2 Peter 1:3 - According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

 

THE PERSPECTIVE OF GODLINESS

2 Peter 3:8-12 - But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, [12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

 

 

 

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