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Pursue Purity: The tragedy of being in love with a prostitute (sermon)

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This is part two in a three part series. You can listen to part 1 here, part three will be released next week.

The book of Hosea gives us a look at God’s faithfulness. In this sermon, Josh gives us practical ways to respond to God’s love for us. When we understand our sin against God, will will better grasp His deep love for us. His loving kindness should lead us to repentance and a pursuit of holiness in our lives.

Sermon Notes and Outline:

 

Title: “The Tragedy of Falling in Love with a Prostitute”

Main Point: God longs for His people to be pure 

Main Passage: The Book of Hosea

Length: 30 Minutes

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Written on June 16, 2013 at 4:43 am, by

How To Highlight and Color Your Bible Effectively

This is a guest post from Jenna Marie Belcher at Jennam.com

Have you ever thought you knew an entire song and the meaning by merely listening to it a few times? I can remember one Friday night, while out with my friends, I got up to sing karaoke thinking I KNEW the words backwards and forwards- to “My Heart Will Go On”.  As the music started I walked up to the stage full of confidence, grabbed the mic, closed my eyes- not even looking at the queues- and began to sing… 

“Every night in the “light beams”

I see you, I feel you

That is how I know you go on.

Far across the distances

And ”spaceships” between us

You have come to show you go on… Near…Far…

I had just belted out the alien revised version of a well-known heartthrob song! As Christians we sometimes tend to do this when referencing scripture. While it is with good intention, and perhaps a bit of over zealous confidence, we belt out a snippet of scripture without knowing the exact words, the reference, or the context it was given. As someone who has worked in a Christian setting for some time, I experience “scripturese” conversations by those who have committed their lives to studying and pursuing Christ’s living Word. Much like my alien experience, I thought by merely listening to those people and spending some time in my devotions, the Scriptures would roll off my tongue.  I found out quickly that I can obliterate a Bible verse and take it so far out of context that it could do some serious harm. Therefore, in my zeal to make scripture my first language and not morph it into something it is not, I found that:

The Bible, the living breathing Word of God, is a book that is not merely for reading; it is the best textbook for life applications. Becoming a student of the Word is vital.

I have applied several techniques I have found helpful for me as I study scripture.

  • I pray over the verses before I read them.
  • I read the entire section and sometimes the chapter in order to know the context.
  • I then use my color wheel as a way for me to think through the categories that will easily help me identify the context and purpose of each verse.

What is a color wheel? Much like color psychology (the study of color as a determinant of human behavior), I think through which colors I can easily use to identify the “behavior” or character/type in Scripture. Each color needs to be easily identified with its descriptor. Such things as: Read more

Written on June 14, 2013 at 11:33 am, by

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3 Keys to Helping Someone Through Loss

This may sound a bit off, but consider this a pastoral confession:

I enjoy being involved with people at their greatest point of loss.

There is nothing more tragic than the loss of someone you love. Death is hard, no matter when it comes. As a pastor, I am often involved in helping people through the loss of their loved one, and it is a sincere joy for me to be there to catch them when they fall apart.

Let me be clear: I believe that God is the one who catches them, He just happens to use my physical arms to do the catching.

There is something sweet about helping a family say good-bye. There are those unique moments in ministry when we get to stand with a family when the are reminded to return to the core of who they are and not what they have.

As a pastor, I’ve been invited to release people to death, stand with them next to the dead, make arrangements of for the body of the dead, plan the future (even if that is only one step at a time), and speak at a funeral. These are some of the hardest moments any person has to endure.

The type of ministry opportunities a loss brings to a person’s life only come a handful of times in our lifetime. I try my best not to miss these moments because you’ll never get them back. There is nothing like them.

Oh the joy that comes to my heart to weep with those who weep, mourn with those who mourn, and rejoice with those who rejoice. I am a servant to God, that means that I provide physical presence to the places His Spirit resides. My cooperation with the Holy Spirit can be the very comfort God intends to give in those with greatest need for Him.

Along the way, I’ve learned some lessons (maybe even the hard way). I want to share them with you, should you find yourself given the opportunity to stand for God in a gap of another person’s loss.

When it comes to speaking at a funeral or helping a family in the days preceding, I try to keep these three things in mind:

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Written on June 10, 2013 at 9:59 am, by

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Pursue Purity: Abstaining from self-indulgence to obtain God-dependence (sermon)

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Let’s Face It, Pursuing Purity is Hard.

Our culture screams at us to indulge in selfish sin. Our understanding of what purity means is skewed by the emphasis on the physical, while the emotional and the mental are virtually ignored. In the “Pursue Purity” sermon series I try to reveal that to fulfill our desire for purity we must seek God Himself. I try to unpack the biblical challenge of making holiness a way of life. Though it is hard, God offers us His love and help as we enter the battle for purity. As we view ourselves through the lens of the Cross, we will find forgiveness, hope and strength in Christ.

In this first sermon, “Abstaining from self-indulgence to obtain God-dependance,” I talk about the necessity of getting past our own desires of the flesh and longing to be more dependent upon God to lovercome sexual temptation.

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Written on June 8, 2013 at 10:59 am, by

Who You Be: Knowing Your Identity in Christ (Video)

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Here are some other resources that may be helpful as you journey to know your identity in Christ:

“Who Do You Think You Are?” by Mark Driscoll

Who Do You Think You Are? is an exploration of the issue of identity and an encouraging examination of what it means to be “in Christ.” Pastor Mark takes the book of Ephesians and applies it in the most personal way possible.  You can order the book or get a free chapter here.

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Written on June 4, 2013 at 6:59 am, by

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