Speak the truth in Love (Sunday’s Sermon from Ephesians)

Yesterday was a great day. I really enjoy Sundays, even though as a pastor, it is not really a day off for me. I get to meet with our church members who serve the Lord on the mission field throughout the week and hear how God is at work. It is amazing to be a member and leader in a church that is active. Each Sunday I get to hear at least 2 or 3 testimonies about God’s goodness from members who are actively involved in the process of making disciples.

After hearing all of those wonderful testimonies and worshiping corporately through song, our Senior Pastor, Vasile Filat shared a great message from the Word of God with us. He has been preaching through St. Paul’s epistle to the Ephesian church and this week’s message come from one verse:

Proving God’s existence in 4 easy steps

Last Thursday morning, Good News church held a press conference to draw attention to the lies in the public school textbooks about the pseudo science of Darwinian evolution and creationism. Close to 90% of the textbooks teach Darwinian evolution as a fact and creationism as a myth. The “proof” about evolution is based on outdated science with obvious mistakes in the textbooks. When creationism is mentioned, it is called a myth and there is no evidence to prove or disprove the claim. We pray to be able to help edit future textbooks for the public schools where creationism will be given a fair presentation with the facts produced by Creation scientists. Having this as the context and background, I would like to present Biblical evidence for God’s existence. These four steps can be quickly and easily presented to the people around you. This information came to me via Ray Comfort on Facebook. I am following his basic outline but have modified it a bit with the Scripture references.

Cohabitation and Domestic violence

We hear more and more discussions these days about stopping domestic violence. There are many, many campaigns out there that want to “educate” people on the problem of domestic violence and how to stop it. The discussion is very similar to AIDS awareness discussions. They speak of the problem and offer solutions but never address the root of the problem. If you know anything about medicine then you know that if you just treat the symptoms and never get to the root of the problem then the person will never be cured, just becomes dependent on the meds that treat the symptoms. I have written on the subject of cohabitation and you can read it here.

Man’s need for God (salvation)

I am preparing to preach this Sunday morning at Good News church and as a tradition, I like to write out the sermon in article form so that I can think through what I want to communicate. After having a discussion with a person this past weekend, I felt the need to speak about this subject on Sunday morning. The person wanted to know about getting baptized in the church. During the discussion the person made an interesting statement. It goes something like this. We were discussing the meaning of repentance, what your life was like before Christ and how it has changed. The person explained how she had gone to church her entire life but “repented” or “accepted Christ” when she was an adult. During the discussion there was not much evidence on her part of a lifestyle change brought about after repenting. Her question was, “I do not know what you want to hear when you talk about lifestyle transformation? Do you want me to say that I was good before but now I am better because of Christ?”

Teaching God’s Word

I spent the weekend at a Bible study seminar with many of the members of our church, Good News. Our senior pastor, Vasile Filat, taught the overview of the book of Ephesians. It is a relevant letter for all time. There were so many applicable truths that each and every person on the planet needs to know. We began Friday night and worked until Sunday afternoon. About 50 of our church members were there. While we were there, we evaluated the ministries of the church and planned activities over the next 6 months or so. I would like to present some of the results of my department, education.

Baptism Service at Good News

Tomorrow, Good News Church will celebrate a baptismal service. There are 5 believers who want to show their obedience to Jesus Christ by being baptized according to the New Testament mandate. We are praying for a big crowd and a lot of nonbelievers so that we can preach the Gospel on this special occasion. I have prepared a sermon for tomorrow since I will be the one performing the baptisms. I want to share that sermon here so that I can think through the points and improve on the message. Most people in Moldova do not have a proper understanding of baptism since most are baptized in the Orthodox Church as babies. The fact that faith and salvation come before baptism is a hard thing for most to understand, because they have never read the Bible.

A New Year: A New Beginning

I am preparing to teach a lesson this Friday night at the youth group. The theme is: A New Year: A New Beginning. I chose this theme since we have just begun 2012 and we are making plans to accomplish throughout this year. I want to challenge the young people to plan big and be victorious in what they do (as God desires for all of His children). I want to take a walk through the Scriptures and see what the Bible teaches on being victorious in new endeavors.

Mississippi voted to uphold the legal murder of innocent children

If you do not know about the battle that took place in the state of Mississippi this election cycle then I would like to point out the battle over prop 26. Voting no on 26 meant that you were okay with the legal murdering of innocent babies in the womb. Voting yes meant that you understand God’s stance on life and chose to stand with Him. I am sad to say that 60% of the people who voted in the state of Mississippi voted for legal murder and took stance against God. I want to present God’s view of abortion (yes, the Bible talks specifically about abortion) and then call those who took a stance against God to repent publicly so that they can be forgiven and not experience God’s judgment in their lives.

Change your world

As I prepare to teach the Word of God at our youth group tonight, I am reading through biographies of people who have changed the world. Some have done so for the good of mankind while others have not. I want to teach tonight on how to change your world for the good of everyone around you. Something like that is possible, both for adults and teens (even children). I want to present how it is possible and encourage people to take action.

We live in a day and age when people are very egotistical and apathetic all at the same time. I believe the two things go hand in hand. Since you are the center of your world, you do everything to serve yourself and become apathetic to the needs of the people around you. The Bible teaches the opposite truth, we need to be selfless and serve the people around us. We need to love them and care for them. It is impossible to do this without God’s help. Let’s turn to the Word to learn how we can change our world.

I. Realize that selfishness and apathy are not new things, they have been around since mankind fell into sin.

Speak out against the dangers of homosexuality and you get attacked

I find it odd that those who practice or support homosexuality usually cry for “tolerance” until it is their turn to be tolerant and then they throw “tolerance” (as well as civility) out the door. I have written about how homosexuals are intolerant of those with whom they do not agree. I have written about their deceptive, as well as aggressive tactics. You can read these articles on my blog. In fact, I will link to several of the articles in this one.