https://youtu.be/_GdXwEtE4rg?t=1449 Audio Recording Serve the Lord with gladness. Let us consider what it means to serve the Lord and to serve Him with gladness. Service is exhibited through action. You can’t serve without doing anything. At the same time our motivation for serving will impact how we will serve with gladness or not. Sermon by Graham Mol Download the Summary
by Calven Celliers“6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 6 & 7NIV) “Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centred in anything short of God and His will for us.” (Billy Graham) At its worst, anxiety is a crippling disease, taking over our minds and plunging our thoughts into darkness. But God wants so much more for us than to walk through life full of fear, worry and anxiety. But our instruction to not be anxious doesn’t just stop there. The apostle Paul goes on to tell believers exactly what the solution is and what we should focus on – “8Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8NIV)The first step to an anxiety-free mind is to fix your thoughts on Jesus – “5 …take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5NIV) – and to gain control over what you think about yourself and life. In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes this awesome promise – “36 …if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36NIV) Many people seek peace of mind, and yet it eludes them because they seek to fabricate something that only God, the God of peace, can give us through His one and only Son, the Prince of Peace, and the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit, who produces peace within us.We must, however, work with the Holy Spirit, by thinking about what we allow into our minds. Guard your mind from garbage! The old computer cliché, GIGO – Garbage in/Garbage out — holds a lot of truth. If you put bad data into a computer, you will get bad results out. If you put mental garbage into your mind, you will get garbage out in your life. As long as we live in a fearful, stressful, fallen world, negative thoughts will come our way. We have the option of either stamping out those thoughts or nurturing them. The apostle Paul not only tells us what to think about, but he implicitly teaches that we can control what we think about. When a negative thought comes, we as Christians, who have the mind of Christ, have the ability to push it out of our mind and replace it with godly thoughts. This takes practice, but with persistence, it gets easier. The good news is, negative thoughts can be replaced with positive ones, and the more that godly substitution takes place, the more peace and joy we can experience.Christians must think about what they’re thinking about and not allow their minds to have free rein. In our spiritual warfare, we’ve been given the helmet of salvation to guard our minds.God bless,Calven
by John Doyle“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life”1 John 5:13The words of this precious hymn *Blessed Assurance* were written more than a century ago in 1873. The world has changed in staggering ways since that time. We now have Automobiles, Radio, Television, Computers, Cell phones and the Internet and these are just a few of the major inventions of the past century. Culture has changed too, and even churches have changed. But the one thing that has not changed and will never change is the security that we have as believers due to our Salvation in Christ.Many of us these days "Take out insurance" on our Homes, and Vehicles and many other things but we as believers can be assured there is no Insurance needed for our Faith, because we have a full Assurance of Life Eternal in Glory because of the Gift of God His son Jesus for us all.If you have been, as Fanny Crosby put it long ago in the song, “Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood,” you have the blessed assurance of salvation. No matter what happens, changes or comes against you, your place in God’s family is sure. It is not because of anything you have done, but because of what Jesus did for you through His Death, Burial and Resurrection.The Apostle John spent much of 1 John explaining to God’s people how they could have the assurance that the song writer Fanny Crosby later wrote and sang about. His desire was that they “know” they had eternal life. Notice he didn’t say think, or feel, or hope. He said, “Know.” But how can anyone really know we will go to Heaven when he dies until he actually dies?Many Christians have doubted their salvation at some point or another in their lives because they have strayed from their journey with Christ. Many times, this doubt arises not because we doubt God, but ourselves. We consider our lives, how we are living, the depth of our faith, and we wonder. Perhaps we compare our life to a former time of growth spiritually and wonder, “what happened?” “How did I get here from there?” Or, maybe we were taught that salvation could be lost which Biblically is not true.But God’s Word says we can know we have eternal life. We don’t have to worry or fear. This assurance is ours now. Notice that John is speaking to those, “who believe in the name of the Son of God.” He didn’t say, “believed.” Our assurance does not come from a past event or experience. Assurance comes from continual faith and perseverance that is growing and yielding the fruit of obedience. Salvation is past (what Jesus did), present (being changed into His image by the Holy Spirit), and future (living with Him in glory forever).When doubts arise, examine your heart. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Does that…
https://youtu.be/6-kAPj2_5Ms?t=1210 Audio Recording Many people seek peace, and yet it alludes them because they seek to manufacture something that only God, the God of peace, can give us through His one and only Son, the Prince of Peace, and the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit who produces peace within us. Sermon by Calven Celliers Download the Summary