What Does God Really Want from Me? Part III

Pastor Dan's sermon from 1/20/2008
Scripture Reference: Acts 11:1-18
Click here to listen.

BE INOLVED, BE LIFTING UP CHRIST, BE AVAILABLE, BE PRAYERFUL, BE OPEN.

These are the five points that I desire our congregation to remember from this past week's sermon. These are the areas that Peter demonstrates for us in his personal effective ministry. If we are effective in our personal ministry we will be effective in our ministry as a church to the world around us.

I hope that the big picture was in view on Sunday morning. We are on the brink as a church of something new. There is excitement in the air. The Holy Spirit is moving among us and as a result people are being transformed, sharing their faith with the world, and others are coming to know the grace of Jesus Christ.

I am excited as a pastor to be a part of something bigger than myself. And I am excited that our church is willing to be a part of something bigger than the local body. We are about doing the work of the Kingdom. In order to do the work of the kingdom we must be involved, be lifting up Christ, be available, be prayerful and be open to change.

I hope that you were blessed by the Word of God this week.

Just Do It

"We are in negotiations." These are the words that you hate to hear as a sports fan. Especially if you are a Philadelphia sports team fan. Usually, that means that your favorite Philadelphia team is going to offer something that is industry cheap and as a result lose their star player which will lead to a season of frustration. Negotiations. They bog everything down.

I wonder what would have happened had Peter entered into negotiations when the Lord came to him in a vision and told him to go to Cornelius' house. Cornelius was a Gentile, Roman soldier. The Lord wanted Peter to go to him and bring the Good News of the Gospel. Imagine if Peter had done what many churches do today when God speaks clearly to the people.

The Lord, "Peter, go to Cornelius' home and baptize the Gentiles with the Holy Spirit."

Peter, "That sounds great Lord! I will assemble the General Assembly together and we will form a Commission. No wait! We will form a Commision to form a Committee!"

The Lord, "Peter, that's not what I had in mind."

Peter, "Lord we need order! We need to bring people along. We need 100% participation and involvement!"

Obviously, I am kidding around here. But think about it. What if Peter didn't JUST DO IT. I tend toward Peter's style. He did what the Lord asked of him and answered questions later. If he had answered questions first and waited for approval, I might not be writing this blog as a believer and we may have never of heard of the name of Jesus Christ (of course non-sensical because God's sovereign plan assures all that comes to pass).

Peter was able to demonstrate later that what he did was justified. Often, many people who have been "called" cannot give a legitimate reason for their actions. This was not the case with Peter. He proved that he did the right thing by 1) his own experience, 2) the prompting of the Holy Spirit 3)the Word of God verified his actions 4) The Lord brought success.

I am looking forward to preaching this sermon and I hope that you will be blessed this week. You can prepare by reading Acts 10-11:1-18. See you on Sunday!

What Does God Really Want from Us? A Transformed Life

Pastor Dan's sermon from 1/13/2008
Scripture Reference: Acts 9:1-19
Click here to listen.

Every week, Michal, our administrative assistant (since the beginning!), asks my dad and I for our sermon titles and references. I often do not know what my pithy title will be until the very end. This week, I changed it several times as the sermon kept on taking different directions. I finally realized that I was making things too difficult.

What does God desire of us? A transformed life. It is that simple. Who does the transforming? Contrary to what most people believe, it is God who transforms us from the inside out. Nowhere is this clearer in Scripture than the greatest conversion in church history relayed to us by Luke in Acts 9. Saul the persecutor became Paul the Preacher.

We might look at Saul's conversion and think that it was so miraculous that our experience has nothing to do with something as great as this. We couldn't be further from the truth. The same power that saved Saul saves all sinners. It is the same mercy and grace and gift of faith. There are normative elements to each and every Damascus Road. We like Saul had to have contact, conviction, conversion, consecration, and communion. Check out what I mean in this week's message.

What Does God Really Want From Us? Listen Up

Pastor Dan's sermon from 1/6/2008
Scripture Reference: Acts 8:26-40
Click here to listen.

This is the beginning of a new series. As we move through the next few chapters of Acts, three prominent people pop up from the pages--Philip the Deacon, Saul the Persecutor, and Peter the Apostle.

All three of these accounts concerning these men demosntrate to us what God desires of his people. He desires that we listen up, that we are transformed, and that we just do it.

This sermon takes a look at Philip who was willing to leave a succesful ministry in Samaria to follow the instruction of the Lord Jesus Christ, even when it led to a desert road in the middle of no where.

Are we listening for the Holy Spirit? Are we willing to Do something, Say something, and as a result be something for the Lord Jesus Christ?

The Year of Something

Pastor Dan's sermon from 12/30/2007

Scripture Reference: Acts 8:1-8

Click here to listen.

This was the last sermon of 2007. It was a sort of introduction to the next series that I will be preaching beginning January 6th entitled, "What Does God Want From Me?" This will be a three week series on what Luke reveals about the ministries of Phillip, Saul, and Peter from Acts 8-10.

This sermon took a look at Phillip's willingness to step outside of the norm and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit even when he led to unlovely places. As a result, the Holy Spirit used Phillip to deliver his word and accomplish his purposes of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

We can learn much. This year, we will either be something for the Kingdom of God or mediocre in our ministry. What will we do when the Holy Spirit urges us to Do something, Say something, and Be something for the Gospel in 2008?