Harrisonville Church Of The Nazarene

A third "joy thief" in our lives is bitterness, that condition which prevents us from letting go of past hurts in order to receive God's healing. Christ desires to bring pure joy into hearts through his strengthening, redeeming, and purifying work and power, but we must be willing to let go of that hurt and resentment.

As the saying goes, sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. The impact of sin in our lives can extend even after we have come to know God's great love when we allow self-condemnation to rob us of the joy God desires for us. As Pastor Bill reminds us in this sermon, if we hear God calling us any other name than "Beloved", then we are falling for one of Satan's lies. Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts!

In a world with so much hurt and pain, is joy really possible? In a life with so many ups and downs, is joy really possible? Yes! Jesus promises us a life in which we live in joy. But we must choose to pursue joy and nurture joy. This starts by understanding that choosing God's joy means looking beyond our external circumstances and the lies of fleeting happiness.

Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with an image of battle, of a soldier putting on different pieces of armor to be ready for the fight ahead. However, this is a different kind of soldier who Paul has in mind, a soldier who will fight a spiritual battle and whose primary weapon is their witness to the reign of God's inbreaking kingdom.

Matthew's story of Jesus' return to his hometown of Nazareth, and their rejection of him as a prophet, remind us of the importance of faith. God is willing to reach out to us, but we must be willing to believe in who God is in order for us to experience his power in our lives.

One of the trite phrases we Christians need to remove from our vocabulary is "Don't look at me, look at Christ", because this is exactly the opposite of what we should be saying! Where is the world going to see Jesus if not in us Christians, we who have been called by God to reflect his light to a world that desperately needs it.

While we believe it to be right, the often-invoked answer, "Because the Bible says so" is not enough to reach our culture and society. We as Christians must be able to say the "why", like Paul does in Ephesians 4. And the biggest and best response a doubting world needs is to see us live out God's truth in our actions and lives, not just our words.

Continuing with chapter 4 of Ephesians, we see Paul encourage the church to leave behind their old way of life and put on their new selves, characterized by righteousness and holiness. How often, though, do we try to live an "in-between" Christianity, where we add just enough of God to make our lives better, but not so much that we are transformed?

Here in chapter 4 of Ephesians Paul makes a shift from writing about who we are in Christ to how we are to live as Christ followers. Is the church necessary in this? For Paul the answer is unequivocal. How else can we learn to live as Christians if we are not practicing the virtues of humility, gentleness, patience, love and peace within the Body of Christ?

Ephesians 3 contains one of the most audacious prayers in the Bible, as Paul desires that the church be filled with the Spirit not just to capacity, not just to the church's limitations, but filled with the fullness of God. That was Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, and that is God's desire for every believer.

Is it better to start with the good news or the bad news? Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with good news, the good work God was doing for them and the good things the church was doing for God and others. But Paul still talks about the "bad news", about the sin we were mired in before we knew Christ. Paul wants us to remember where we came from, what we were saved from, because remembering our rescue is what creates compassion in us for those in need of rescue.

Church is both a noun, something we are called to BE, and a verb, something we are called to DO and live out. As we begin our study of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we will see that before we learn what to do as Christ's church we must learn who we are called to be, and it all begins by understanding that we are created, saved and sanctified to glorify and enjoy God forever!

Jesus promised his disciples he would not leave them alone, that God would send them an Advocate to be with them, to fight for them. This is the promise of Pentecost, that God makes his very presence available to us, to empower us, to guide us, and to reassure us of his love.

Jeremiah call to be a prophet was not an easy one, and he was not afraid to complain to God. Even so, Jeremiah had already decided God was someone worth trusting and obeying - his lament eventually turns to worship as he is able to declare that God is good. Jeremiah understood that in the midst of the storms of life, worship is what grounds us in the promises of God.

Judging him only on his outward appearance, David wasn't the biggest, strongest, or most impressive looking of his brothers. But when it came to choosing Israel's next king, God was not interested in outward appearances, God was interested in David's willing heart. You see, God is not looking for perfect people, but people whose hearts are open to grace.

The story of Rahab is complicated, then again life is complicated and the Bible does not try to hide this fact from us. Rahab's story reminds us that God does not expect us to the all put together when we first decide to follow Jesus. Before we know everything there is to know about God, we are called to be faithful and obedient to what we do know and understand.

How often do we hesitate from following and obeying God's call because we think we are not qualified enough, not good enough, not saintly enough? Moses' life shows us that the truth is that we will never be enough - but the good news is that God does not choose us because of what WE can do, God chooses us because of what God can do through us.

Reading through the early parts of Jacob's story it is difficult to understand why God would choose him. A trickster born into a dysfunctional family, Jacob sure does not seem like the kind of model we want to follow. But God is not like us - God does not prejudge us based on our past or our failures. Jacob's story teaches that God loves you as you are, and not as you should be; because none of us are as we should be.

Pastor Nancy Cantrell concludes our Spiritual Deepening weekend with a powerful message about based on 1 Corinthians 12-13. The church is to be one body, one loaf of bread, to function as Christ's body for the sake of the world.

Easter had changed Peter's life completely - he went from being an impulsive, immature follower to one of the leaders of a movement. He went from denying Jesus to becoming one of his greatest defenders. However, as Peter found out in Cornelius' home, there was more that God wanted to transform in his life. This is because Easter changes everything, even things we don't think need changing!