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To Have Joy
Joy, let's talk about that for a little while. What is it to be joyful? Can we have joy? How do we become joyful? A host of questions can be asked, we certainly can and should have joy in our lives. The Scriptures share plenty about joy and that it should be a characteristic of every believer. Joy is a feeling of inner gladness, delight or rejoicin…
A Living Hope
Hope, who does not want it? Who can possibly live without it? Why do we need it? Hope seems like it would be a slippery thing to hang onto as a hand grasps oil. Could we get a grip on it that we could own it? Hope, used as a noun or a verb, can be used as an action word as something that might happen, or can be used for something centered around so…
Christ's Great Sacrifice
As we draw near to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we look back at what happened to Christ and why. The Bible is full of theological terms, many you have heard of, but can we think of what those words and actions mean, and what they accomplish? There has been an exhaustive study by many over the years to describe what some o…
Christ Our Redeemer
Redemption, from the Greek word, APOLITROSIS, we can define as the deliverance from the guilt and punishment of sin, by a payment or ransom delivered up for it. We have in the Scriptures the word used ten times in the New Testament. Eph.1:7," In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of …
The Written Word
The Written word, the word of God, inspired by Him, spoken by Him, and written to us. It is and alwayshas been for our good and often for our survival. It is not man's words by their own human will orinsights, or opinions, but it is man, certain men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God to us. Thoughthe Author of this word is infinite, and the mi…
Salvation by Substitution 1
As we celebrated the Lord's supper here at Grace Bible Church in Port Charlotte, Florida, I got theopportunity to share a bit about our salvation, that which has a past, present, and future tense to it, aswe are being saved by the power of God in 1Cor.1:18. And it does not take long for the first gospelwriter Matthew to mention it in 1Cor.1:21,&rdq…
Perishing or Being Saved Part 3
As we finish our series on 1Cor.1:18, we look today at the phrase “The power of God.” As we have seen, no one hasthe power to see anything else but foolishness in the word of the cross. Only the Holy Spirit will give us the abilityto not see foolishness in it that leads to perishing, but to see the power in it to save us from perishing.…
Perishing or Being Saved Part 2
Last week we talked about the cross and the words Paul used to describe it in 1Cor.1:18. Inverse 17, He showed us how he would not take the pre-eminence over the vast importance ofthe cross by not using cleverness of speech, by using eloquent, persuasive, smooth-tonguedwords, but with plain, simple, easy to understand words so that everyone could u…
Perishing or Being Saved
Our text today is 1Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but tous who are being saved it is the power of God.”The reason for this cross, the one Christ bled and died on, was to show man's utter depravity and themanifestation of God's infinite love to fallen mankind. It is the story of Go…
The Covenant Keeping God Part 2
Last week we looked at a passage in Genesis 15 and saw God make a covenant with Abram and He showed how He would not break this covenant with Abram. Abram may break it, but God could swear by Himself that He would not break it and we showed how that could not be possible. God's word, promises, oaths, covenants, etc. cannot and will not ever come up…