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영어설교실제세미나
일시: 2016년10월5일(수) 개원, 시간: 오전10시-오후4시
장소: 더 처치카페, 등록문의: 010-2223-9106
영어설교실제세미나 교재
1. The real way to meet Jesus
Mark 10:46-52 (NKJV)
46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
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* Materials for sermon writing
Have you ever walked in total darkness ?
The problem, however, was that his sight wasn't getting any better.
Likewise, spiritual blindness will never improve until one has an encounter with Jesus.
It is a miracle that we can see something brightly.
Do you know the importance of eye ?
Luke 11:34
34 The lamp of the body is the eye.
Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
The kinds of eye.
The physical eye, the intellectual eye, the spiritual eye.
What should we do to meet and see Jesus face to face ?
The first condition is that we should hear what Jesus says to us.
Where does the faith come from ?
Romans 10:17 says, like this,
"17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Hearing the word of God is very important to increase our faith.
Without hearing the word of God, it is impossible to increase our faith to impress Jesus' heart.
He could not see anything else but could hear someone's voice.
It was a miracle that he heard about Jesus.
What is the second condition to meet Jesus ?
The second condition is that we must cry out to let Him focus on our eyes.
What does it mean to cry out to the Lord ?
Crying out, what is it ? It is a kind of prayer.
Am I right ?
At that moment, what did he cry out ?
He cried out for mercy to come to him from Jesus.
What is the definition of mercy ?
The mercy is not getting what we deserve, what do you think about this ?
What do we need to live peacefully successfully, joyfully, abundantly ?
God's mercy is what we need.
The third condition is what ?
It is that we have to overcome our obstacles or handicaps.
Verse 48, what does it say to us ?
What did they say to him when he cried out ?
What does it mean that they warned him to be quiet ?
Don't give up to cry out with a loud voice to see Jesus.
Overcome all kinds of obstacles and handicaps that prevent you to come to Jesus.
They said to him, "Die in your sin, die in your blindness."
The fourth condition.
48b but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
What does it mean that he cried out all the more ?
It means that he cried out with his all heart, with his all strength, with his all might.
What happened to him when he cried out as best as he can ?
When he tried his best to cry out to Jesus, angel appeared to him to produce the supernatural voice.
The supernatural voice produced the supernatural healing.
This is the way to impress Jesus' heart.
Finally, what did Jesus command him ?
He did not go his own way.
He followed Him when he received his sight from Jesus, so that he might become the disciple of Jesus.
What made him very well ?
His faith made him well.
Let me close.
Jesus is asking you, what about your spiritual eyesight ?
All we have to do is to see Jesus face to face so that we may see the great vision with the spiritual eyesight.
2. You must be born again
John 3:1-8
1There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
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* Materials for sermon writing
A Christian life begins with being born again.
We can do nothing unless God is with us.
What does it mean to be born again ?
It means to become a new creation.
Being born again, is it absolute for men to be saved by God ?
Tell us how to be born again.
We can be born again of water and the Spirit.
Is it possible to be born again for ourself ?
It will be done by believing in Jesus.
Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus by night ?
What was he concerned about at that time ?
Have you ever seen the kingdom of God spiritually ?
The purpose of regeneration.
1. We are born again to be saved by God from sin and death.
2. We are born again to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
3. We are born again to raze (destroy) hell ?
Use your weapons to raze hell.
What is the key sentence in this text ?
Be a trouble-maker of Satan's kingdom.
Be a peace-maker of God's kingdom.
Do you want to make a decision to be trouble-makers of Satan's kingdom ?
You are peace-makers of the kingdom of God, aren't you ?
Unless we are born again, we not only can not see the kingdom of God but we also can not enter the kingdom of God.
3. The Dead Church can do nothing
Revelation 3:1-6
3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.
3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
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* Materials for sermon writing
I can't tell you how I am honored to open the word of God to you through this text.
What can the dead church do for the kingdom of God ? There is no hope, vision, dream, challenge, joy in that church. So our church must be alive.
Only the living church can be light and be salt toward age.
Just as this world is getting evil, Korean churches are getting dead or lukewarm.
What did Jesus rebuke those who were in this Sardis church ?
Look at verse one.
What did Jesus say to this church in this verse ?
Jesus said, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead."
What does it mean that this church has a name alive, but it is dead ?
It means that Sardis church was famous, magnificent, beautiful in an outward form.
Where does God's grace come from ?
Where does the real dream come through ?
God's amazing grace comes from the living church.
The true dream comes through the living message of the word of God.
Do you know why this church became dead ?
Do you understand why Sardis church was called a dead church that had foul smell(odor) ?
Anyway, we must revive the dead church, so that it may be alive, and that it may produce a lot of good fruits.
Jesus wants our church to be alive in this perilous times.
Satan wants our church to be dead in this evil generation.
What is the key sentence to open the door of this text ?
In what feature did Jesus appear to this church ?
What did Jesus has when He visited this church ?
The seven spirits of God represent what ?
The seven stars, what or whom do they symbolize ?
Without the work of the Holy Spirit we can do nothing.
Unless the Holy Spirit is at works in our churches,
Our churches will be useless, will be dead.
And then, what is the most important thing for the church to be revived, to be alive, so that our church may glorify God.
How can we be filled with the full of the Holy Spirit ?
1. Be watchful.
2. Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.
3. Remember therefore how you have received and heard;
4. Hold fast and repent.
Anyway, to be alive, we must be filled with the full of the Holy Spirit like fire, oil, dove to please God.
4. Wrestling with God
Genesis 32:22-32
22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.
24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”
And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.
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* Materials for sermon writing
Can you tell us about the life of faith ?
Can you define it ?
What is it like ?
The life of faith is like wrestling with God.
What does it mean to wrestle ?
Wrestling means to struggle with someone to prevail against him.
We struggle when we grow.
Struggle needs power, sweat effort, wisdom, passion, etc.
Specially, among those, we need passion(mentally, emotionally, with willpower) for the victory of faith.
"The faith needs passion."
At that time, what situation was he faced ?
Jacob was faced with serious crisis in his whole life because of his brother, Esau.
But he did not worry about it.
He was not afraid of him.
Wrestling with God in the struggles of life.
Verse24 says, "Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day."
Why was he left alone ?
Because he was left alone to wrestle with God to prevail against his brother Esau, to solve his trouble, to receive breakthrough from God.
It means that he prayed or cried out to God diligently, passionately.
So the faith is the very life of prayer.
How does faith grow ?
Our faith grows through hearing the word of God, specially through prayer.
So we can say he prayed to God all night earnestly until God answered his requirement.
Likewise, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
I will let you go as long as you bless me.
After he prayed to God all night fervently.
How was he changed ?
As a result, he was changed from Jacob which means a deceiver to Israel which means victory.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
He experienced the presence of God.
He met Him face to face, directly, which represents the presence of God.
God does not demand us beyond an experience with Him.
Have you ever seen(met) God face to face just like Jacob ? At that time, he had been blessed by God.
Verse29 says, "And He blessed him there."
Where did He bless him ?
He blessed him at the ford of Jabbok that was called Peniel.
What is the real blessing for Christians ?
It is to be changed into a new person just as water was changed into wine.
Whom is God looking for ?
God is now looking for the man of faith, that is, the man of being changed.
So unless our mind is changed, we can not be used by God.
God is now saying to us through this text.
Change your heart, and I will use you for my kingdom.
5. God who knows our way.
Job 23:8-17
“Look, I go forward, but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;9 When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.10 But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.11 My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food. 13 “But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. 14 For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such things are with Him.
15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence;
When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.
16 For God made my heart weak, And the Almighty terrifies me; 17 Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.
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I want to speak to you about the Lord who knows our way.
The book of Job teaches us that the true victory comes from trial.
He was the richest man in the eastern region.
But all of sudden, he became the poorest man in the world because of a lot of trials.
When we are in special trial, it is very easy for us to complain, to be frustrated, to be disappointed, to give up our faith life.
We have to realize that God allows us to be in trial. God wants us to know that the true blessing is the result of suffering.
The trial is the process to obtain the true victory.
Job, at that moment, he cried out, " where is God when I am hurting (troubled) ?“
Would you read together verse 8-9 ?
He confessed, I can not perceive God, I can not behold Him, I can not see Him.
I can not know where God is when I am in trial.
By the way, even though he could not see God, but He knew the way that he took.
He confessed of his faith, like this, " nobody knows as I know, nobody understands as I understand, but God knows the way that I take in my life.“
Who knows the way that we should take and go ?
We believe that God is able to show us the way that we are going to choose, God is able to make our way,
He will prepare the way for us to be saved, to be successful.
He will give us the best way to be blessed, He will make our way straight so that we may walk in the way of victory.
When Moses did not know where to go in the wilderness, he cried out, likewise, "Dear Lord, please show me Your way, not my way,
Your way is the best way for our nation to enter into Canaan.
We must find God's way, not our way, that He prepared for our salvation.
We try to go to the way that we like, so that we may be faced with deep darkness.
Job was convinced that God prepared the way for his real victory through tribulation.
So he said, " when He has tested me I shall come forth as gold.“
In another word, God tested my faith in trial so that I might come out of total darkness, that I may come forth as gold, not as silver, copper, tree with no vision, vegetables with no dream in a field.
We are not vegetables in the field with no vision.
What does it mean to come out as gold ?
The gold is unchangeable thing, precious thing, expensive thing.
Coming forth as gold means being used by God preciously for his kingdom.
I want all of you to become like the gold to be used by God for His glory.
The problem is how we can become being like gold.
Where is the answer in this text ?
We can find it from verse11-12.
The secret of his victory is in these verses, the secret to overcome the trial is here.
What did he confess in these verses ?
He liked to follow God's steps, go to His way, keep the commandment of His lips, hear the words of His mouth.
That is, he liked God's steps, His way, His lips, His mouth.
Do you like God's steps, His way, His lips, His mouth just like Job ?
Specially, he said, " I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.“
He liked his words more than his necessary food which means daily bread.
Who is able to overcome trial ? Who is able to prevail against Satan's attack.
Unless we love God's words, unless we eat his words like daily bread everyday with prayer, it is impossible to handle it.
We all like God's steps, His way, His lips, His mouth to overcome the world, so that we may live a victorious life, that we may manifest the glory of God in our life.
6. How to overcome being overwhelmed
Psalm 61:1-8
To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument.
A Psalm of David.
61 Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
6 You will prolong the king’s life, His years as many generations. 7 He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!
8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows.
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1. Introduction
This is a low time in David's life. His life was in tribulation.
Absalom had just been killed by Joab and the nation was divided.
The story is found in II Samuel 17-18.
David says that he is overwhelmed--Vs. 2
it means the total darkness in his life.
Sometimes we feel our life has been covered with darkness.
2. The main issue
When you are overwhelmed you need to be led to the Rock that represents Christ.
You need to get with God and let Him have your problems.
What did he do when he was overwhelmed.
He cried out, like this,"lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Psalm 56:9“ When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.“
What is the key word " What does the rock mean ?
3. Conclusion
God is the Rock, Jesus Christ is our Rock.
David was saying, If there is a higher life, lead me to it. If it can be better, I want it.
I want to go higher than I've ever been.
We need the Lord to lead to the Rock of Salvation.
When our problem is low living. Pray and cry to God who will lead us to that rock that is higher than I, just as Jesus on the cross as well as David.
7. The great faith impresses Jesus
Matthew 8:5-13
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
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* Materials for sermon writing
1. Introduction
Our subject for today is "faith that impresses Jesus" or "great faith."
I think the great faith is called impressive faith.
Verse 10 is the key verse in this text to understand what this text means.
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
When Jesus heard the words of the Centurion, “He Marvelled” Literally, Jesus “admired” this man’s faith.
The Bible defines faith for us in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2. Main issue
Our assignment for today is how we can impress Jesus with our faith in this troubled times.
We all feel that we are living in this perilous times, or in this faithless generation.
How can we strengthen our faith to impress Jesus in troubled times ?
Sometimes we feel a sense of being overwhelmed.
When pressures increase, we often find that our faith starts to waver.
How did he impress Jesus ?
(1) He came to Jesus with a great concern for a loved one. (5)
Coming to Jesus is the very faith, and to increase our faith, so that we may impress Jesus.
What should we do to improve our faith when we come to Jesus ?
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
(2) He pleaded with Jesus.(5)
"pleading with Him".
It means that he asked Jesus with his problem.
As matter of fact, he was unqualified by religious law for any kind of help from God.
but he did not allow his position to keep him from asking for help.
Nevertheless, he prayed to Him for his servant to be healed by the blood of Jesus.
Like this, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
He was concerned about his servant who was at the point of death.
He was a compassionate man who was interceding for his servant, who prayed for his slave.
What should we do to strengthen our faith to be an unwavering faith ?
We have to ask God whatever we need to increase our faith to be rewarded by Him.
I want to define about something.
The great prayer produces a great faith.
Jesus replied, "I will come and heal him."
The prayer of faith absolutely is rewarded.
Hebrews 11:6, God is rewarder.
(3) He recognized that Jesus has a speaking authority.(8)
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
He did not doubt the power of Jesus to speak and heal.
He surely believed that Jesus' word has a great and absolute authority to heal the sick.
He said to Jesus, like this, You don't have to come to my house, just only speak a word from where you are.
Just one word is enough for my servant to be restored.
I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.
When he spoke to his men, he was speaking with Romans' emperor's authority.
His command was obeyed without question.
So he believed that Jesus was under God's authority.
What a amazing display of his faith !
His great faith impressed Jesus.
Jesus called it great faith.
The centurion had the great faith that impressed Jesus.
As soon as He heard it He marveled at his response and used him as an example to teach them.
And then He declared to those who followed,
" his faith is great".
3. Conclusion
This man made Jesus say "wow".
What do you see here in the heart of this Roman soldier ?
There is something different about this man.
I 'd like to look at his story and see what faith can do for us.
The great faith is essential to the Christian life to be used by God.
Our great faith absolutely is answered by God.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Do you want to increase your faith to become the great faith to impress Jesus, so that you may be recognized, and be used by God in this faithless generation ?
13, Jesus said to him, "go your way, as you have believed so let it be done for you. and his servant was healed that same hour.
so the great faith is essential to receiving the God's reward.
* Materials for sermon writing 2
We are living in this darken world, specially in this faithless generation, in this perilous times.
The great faith to please God.
Hebrew 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please God......"
Learn how to increase your faith to be great through centurion's faith.
Our little faith must be grown to be great faith.
Jesus declared clearly and in detail to those who surrounded Him about centurion' great faith
in verse10, "Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel."
Jesus proclaimed that his faith is great, so his faith has made his servant well.
What does God want us to do or to increase in this hopeless age ?
What does God want our faith to be ?
God wants us to grow our faith to be the great faith like his faith, so that our faith may be impressive to Him.
Impress Jesus’ heart with your faith.
1. He came to Jesus with his problem. verse 5.
What is faith in Jesus ?
The faith is to come to Jesus firstly to be saved, to be healed.
Coming to Jesus is to increase and grow our faith more and more.
Unless we come to Jesus who is our savior, we can't produce our faith.
By hearing the words of God through a pastor's message.
by reading the Bible day by day,
by studying it,
by mediating in it deeply day and night.
By doing that, our faith will be increased more and more to be great to impress Jesus as well as to please God.
2. He asked for Him
Verse 5, pleading with Him.
He asked Him to heal his servant who paralyzed dreadfully tormented.
Pleading with God is to increase our faith to be great to be answered by God.
What does it mean to plead with Him ? It means to pray to Jesus.
He prayed to Jesus diligently for his servant to be healed of his disease.
Prayer is the centerpiece to increase our faith to be great.
2 Chronicles 7:14
"14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
So the praying faith must be the way in our life to grow our faith to be great so that we may impress Jesus.
Prayer is not secondary in our life. Prayer must be the first in our life to increase our faith to be much stronger than before.
So we have to spend much time in prayer to produce the great faith, so we may work for the kingdom of God powerfully and effectively.
The great prayer produces the great faith.
3. He believed and recognized that Jesus has the speaking and healing authority.
As soon as Jesus said to him, " I will come and heal him."
He replied, likewise, “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.....”
But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
He believed and recognized that His words are so powerful that his servant will be cured completely.
Jesus has the speaking authority for our healing.
He has the preaching authority, the teaching authority, the healing authority.
The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.(Hebrew 4:12)
We also need the spiritual authority to speak, preach the gospel, teach them, and heal the sick.
Verse 13 says, "Go your way, and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."
His great faith had made him well that same hour.
The great faith moves God as well as huge mountains.
Why don't you struggle for a living, for increasing your faith ?
Why don't you attempt with a difficult task, persistent prayer to produce the great faith ?
Faith can't fail, faith never waves, faith speaks forever.
Our real hope is in our faith in Jesus.
Our power, blessing, opportunity, wisdom, vision, good idea comes from our faith.
Let me close.
Anyway, the great faith is what we need desperately to impress Jesus, so that we may be rewarded by God.
Now is the time to make a decision to increase our faith to be the great faith to impress Jesus’ heart by coming to Jesus, by praying to God without ceasing,
by recognizing Jesus’ speaking authority.
The great faith is working faith, overcoming faith, penetrating faith.
8. Moses at the burning bush
Exodus 3:1-5
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
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* Materials for sermon writing
Christianity is the religion of experience, not just simple religion.
Experiencing something good with Jesus, and His words is very important not only to keep our faith until the end but also to be used by God for His kingdom.
Experience the supernatural power of God.
Experience the Holy Spirit like fire, dove, oil.
Experience the holy land which flows with honey and milk.
Experience Jesus who is our Lord, Savior, our way, truth, and life.
Especially today we are gonna experience the burning bush which represents the presence of God like Moses through this text.
Get ready for experiencing the burning bush like Moses.
God liked the fire. God liked to send fire to His people.
Jesus Himself said, in the book of Luke 12:49,
“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
In this text, we can see that God loved to speak to Moses in a flame of fire.(verse2)
Do you know why Jesus came on the earth ?
He came to us to die on the cross to save us from sin.
He came on the earth to send the fire to us who need the great experience, so that we may be the true witnesses to Him, His cross, and His resurrection.
Jesus came for good.
God's fire is the consuming fire.
God Himself said, I am the consuming fire, the burning fire.
Anyway, Moses experienced God's fire which symbolizes the presence of God through this burning bush.
After he got the fire of God he had great courage to go to Pharaoh according to the command of God.
So we have to realize how he experienced the burning bush which means the presence of God.
How can we get the fire from God ?
When did he experience the burning bush ?
What did he do to get the fire ? When did God call to him ?
Look at verse 3, 4.
3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”And he said, “Here I am.”
What does it mean that he turned aside to see that great sight, why the bush did not burn ?
I think it means repenting of his sins.
At that moment he repented of his all sins to see the Lord in the midst of burning bush.
When he repented of his sin, God called him to use him, to save His chosen people from the slavery of Egypt.
Unless we repent of our dirty sins, we can not experience God's fire, we can not be used by God for His kingdom powerfully,
that's why we are gonna experience God's special fire by repenting of our sins, so that we may go to the whole wide world and preach the gospel which means a good news powerfully.
Have you ever been fired up with the gift of the Holy Spirit ?
If you want to be a great leader, you will have to experience the burning bush like Moses.
God does not demand us beyond experience.
9. Being faithful to God until the end
Revelation 2:8-11
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:
9 “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days.
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’
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* Materials for sermon writing 2
Today I want to speak to you about being faithful to God until death.
Tell the people around you, like this, " Your day is not over."
This church is called the persecuted church as well as the faithful church.
Smyrna is located on the west coast of Asia on the Aegean Sea.
It was the loveliest of all the cities and was sometimes called the Ornament of Asia, the Crown of Asia, or sometimes the Flower of Asia.
The word Smyrna itself means myrrh, a sweet perfume used in embalming dead bodies, and included in the holy anointing oil used in the Tabernacle worship in the OT (Ex 30:23).
What is the most important verse among these to figure out what this text means ?
With what feature did Jesus appear to this church ?
We can see Christ's Characterization appeared in verse 8.
What did He say about Himself ?
What does it mean that Jesus is the first and the last ?
It means that He is almighty, sovereign, omnipotent.
What does it mean that He was dead and came to life ?
It represents the risen Jesus, so He was giving them the hope of resurrection.
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. (Isa 44:6)
He is the beginning of all things, and the ending of all things. Everything is under His control. He reigns all people, all history.
We see there is no rebuke in that church.
There is only comfort and encouragement in that church.
Do you know why the people in that church were in tribulation and poverty ?
What did Jesus comfort and encourage them ?
He comforted them like this, I know your works, tribulation and poverty, but you are rich (They were rich spiritually, that is, their faith was rich.)
I know about their profanity.
Jesus was blasphemed as having worked miracles in the name of Satan, when He was preaching the gospel.
" Ten days" it merely symbolizes a relatively short time.
It is the number of temptation.
It is very short time in comparison with eternal life.
What did Jesus encourage or command them who belonged to that church ?
He encouraged them to be faithful to Him to the end so that they might receive the crown of life( glory) even in trial.
They were so faithful to God that they could be patient to the end.
They believed that Jesus could give the crown of life.
They believed that all things of history were in God's control.
Let me close.
Being faithful to God until death is our task to receive the crown of life from God.
Be faithful to God until the end even in trial because of persecution.
Where there is no faithfulness, there is no crown.
If you remain faithful to God until death, you will surely receive the crown of life including all blessings in heaven and earth.
10. Being a true witness
Acts 1:1-8
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
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As you know, we are living in powerless generation, in faithless age.
Today afternoon, I want to speak to you about a true witness.
Being the true and powerful witness to Jesus and His kingdom in this evil generation is so significant to you and me as a Christian, or church leaders.
What does God want us to be or to do in this last generation ?
God wants us to preach the gospel to all over the world as the excellent witnesses.
What is the definition of a witness ?
The witness is the one who has seen and heard something in any event.
So the witness is the one who can speak and testify what he has seen and heard.
Unless we don't see Jesus spiritually and we don't hear His words everyday,
we absolutely can not be real and clear witness for Jesus' kingdom.
And then, how can we be great witness to Jesus and His words ?
I am gonna let you know how to be the true witness through this time in this text.
You know, Baptist John cried out, " I am a true and powerful witness to Jesus and His true light. so I have to shine the true light to whole wide world, I came on the earth to make Jesus' way straight in this evil world."
So we will also have to live to be the true witness and shine His light as witnesses to the darken souls.
Do you know how to be true witness to Jesus ?
This text says in verse 8,
So first of all, in order to be real and powerful witness we must be filled with the full of the Holy Spirit day by day.
If we are full of the Holy Spirit, we can be overtaken with God's heart and His mind.
So the true and burning testimony can be our daily life as the true witnesses.
We have to pray like this, Dear Lord, let the Holy Spirit be upon us every single day.
I really want all of you not except just one people in this house of God to be full of the Holy Spirit to be the light and salt in this chaotic world.
When the Holy Spirit has come upon us we will receive the supernatural power from God to preach the gospel to those who are hungry for the word of God as a true witness.
So what do we need, right now, to be the powerful witness to Jesus ?
That power is what we desire to get from God through the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Do you have the power in public in your society ?
Do we have the divine and audacious power to spread the gospel which means a good news in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth ?
We will have to live for the world mission, so that God may be glorified by us who preach the word of God to all people around the world.
Through this text, we see that God commanded us to be the great witnesses with the burning testimony for His kingdom.
In order to be the effective and powerful witnesses, we need absolutely the burning testimony.
He commanded us in the gospel of Mark 16:15
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
This is our mission, our great task, responsibility that Jesus commanded us.
Take the best opportunity to preach the gospel for God's kingdom to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11. The Blessings of Getting Out
Genesis 12:1-5
12 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country,
From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
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* Materials for sermon writing
As you know, Abram was the Father of faith to Israelite.
so from his age until now, God is called the God of Abraham.
They all liked him and honored, and wanted to be like his life to be blessed by God. We also would like to be like him, his faith to be blessed by God.
He is the model of our faith, our blessing, our victory.
Let me ask you.
Do you want to be blessed by God like Abraham, as much as him, more than him?
Today, my subject is the blessing of getting out.
When the Lord called Abraham, He commanded him to get out of his country, his family, his father's house.
Is it not strange ?
Why did God say to him to come out of his hometown ?
Getting out of hometown that we are familiar with is not easy.
Moving into another city is very difficult.
By the way, all of sudden, God said to him to go to a land that He will show him.
Where should we move and go to be blessed by God like him ?
Where is the blessed land that we should go and live ?
What did it mean that Abraham had to come out of his country ?
It meant that he had to come from sinning with worshiping idles.
Any way, God commanded him to get out of impact of sin.
God's blessing begins from getting out of sin.
By the way, when he did not know where to go, God gave him a direction to move.
Take look at verse12, " To a land that I will show you."
God did not command him without regarding, meaning.
He prepared the blessed land, Canaan which flows with honey and milk for him.
1. God will give us a right direction to be blessed like him, when we get out of the place of sin.
We must get out of a sinful place so that we may enter the thing in which God wants us into.
Getting out of his country is to change his spiritual address as well as geographical address.
By faith we can move to the land of blessing according to the word of God.
2. He gives us a identity, when we get out of the place of sin.
verse2, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing."
God blessed for his nation to be great, and for his name to be great.
So He blessed him to become the person of blessing.
Our name as well as our nation must be blessed by God to be great.
3. God gave him approval, (anointing and appointment).
verse 3,"I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
What does it mean?
It means to become the pathway(Father, source) of blessing for all the people in the world.
Abraham's blessing can be transferable to all people who believe in Jesus.
Galatians 3:9 says, "So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
We also have to be the pathway of blessing for others to be saved, to be blessed.
Let me close.
We have the great task and responsibility to become the pathway of blessing, so that so many people may believe in Jesus and be saved by God.
12. God Will Be Gracious
Isaiah 30:18-22
18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will answer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “ This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
You will say to them, “Get away!”
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* Materials for sermon writing
Today I want to speak to you about "God will be gracious." "Gracious God or Merciful God"
Our God is the Lord who gives us grace.
God delights to be gracious to us in everything of our life.
Without His grace we can not live just as without water we can not live.
So God's grace or mercy is essencial, the most important to our life.
God's grace is what we need like a daily bread.
So we have to eat His grace day by day like a daily bread, so that we may live graciously peacefully.
Psalms23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow meAll the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
verse18 said,
Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
It says that God will wait to give us grace, and will be exalted to give us mercy.
Why does God wait for us ?
Why does God want to be exalted ?
It is that He is going to give us grace and mercy.
So we must receive God's special grace in this special time, so that we may be very special to Him for His kingdom.
We need His grace when we are peaceful, but
we need His grace more and more when we eat the bread of adversity which means a prisoner's food and drink of the water of affliction which means a poor man's food.(Matthew Henry)
One day Jesus said to apostle Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you."
So like Paul, we need to experience God's sufficient or enough grace.
David confessed in Psalm 23, "My cup runs over."
What does it mean ? It means that God's grace is overflowing.
Do you know why we need His grace more and more ? We need absolutely His grace to overcome the secular world, so that we may not be depraved in this sinful world, and that we may keep our faith even in the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, and that our faith may not be waved.
By the way.
This text says, there are the ways of God's grace.
What are the ways of his grace ?
Firstly, it is to cry out to get his grace.
verse19 says, "He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;"
What is the first condition to receive God' grace ?
If we want to get His grace, we will have to cry out to Him as best as we can.
Secondly, it is to meet faithful teachers in adversity and affliction.
Verse20 says, "But your eyes shall see your teachers."
Our faithful teachers will appear to us who pray to God diligently.
They will teach us his words so that we may walk in the right way.
They will lead us to that way.
They will guide us to walk in the way of truth to be successful, so that we may take away the images of silver and gold.