In Our Sufferings

Text: Philippians 4:6 thru 8

Prayer:

I want to tell everyone this morning how pleased I am with what the Lord has been doing with this church. Does that come as a surprise to anyone? The fact is I see many people here today that are certainly not the same people my wife and I met a year ago. Many of you are really finding the peace of God and the anointing of the Spirit in your life. If I can see these changes I know God can see them as well. God senses His Glory in you!

I say all of that to say that we do have a new problem that seems to be stirring. I want to set the record straight on this.

Just as God is seeing these positive changes taking place, the devil is seeing them also. Satan is not happy with these changes.

He is now trying his best to plant a seed of discouragement in a few of you hoping that it will take hold and get to everyone else.

Well I have decided it’s time to blow the whistle on the devil.

I caught him red handed trying to sew seeds of discouragement.

I am not here to embarrass any of you that have fallen to this lie.

I am here to rebuke the devourer and serve him notice.

I have heard it said by some that nothing has changed, and this church will never change. It may be true there has been a pattern in the past of a cycle of that has plagued this church.

The devil wants to convince some of you that this church will cycle again with all of it’s problems. I refuse to believe that.

I would ask that everyone begin to make it a point to speak positively about what the Lord is doing and stand firm in their faith on this church fulfilling it’s destiny with the Lord.

Simply put, no one should allow themselves to become discouraged with what God is doing. Each and everyone that calls this fellowship their family needs to be very careful with what they are thinking about, what they are worried about, and certainly what they are talking about.

I did come here to scold any of you, but perhaps the greatest problem this church has ever had to face in the last 20 or 30 years is in ignoring what is written in Phil 4:8. The problem we have today is what we have allowed ourselves to think about.

Phil 4:8 is a passage I would suggest us all put on our mirror in our bathrooms, and tape to the phone on the wall. Put it in your car you drive to work. Put Phil 4:8 everywhere until you change the way you are thinking, and what you are saying to others.

Stop looking at the problems. Stop thinking about the problems. Stop talking about the problems. Start being a part of the promises that God has for this church and this family.

We are family.

God has bonded us together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Listen carefully. Many times people want things to change overnight. I should remind us that we are not trying to build a spiritual Disneyland. None of us are looking for a magic pixey dust to wave over this church and make things change overnight.

That is not the plan God has for us. God’s plan of salvation is instantaneous, but God’s plan of restoration often takes time.

He gives you trials and circumstances that bring Him glory.

This is a series of supernatural events that has a two-fold purpose of restoring you while glorifying God.

Text: Romans 5:1 thru 5

Romans is an interesting and intense book that will either make or break a Christian that is unsure of his/her salvation.

To understand this text in chapter 5, we have to look at what is going on in the four previous chapters:

· Chapter 1 – the world is a mess

· Chapter 2 – you are a mess

· Chapter 3 – everybody else (in the world) is just like you

· Chapter 4 – it’s always been this way (for people w/out God)

The Truth of God’s Word sometimes will give to us the facts of life. This challenges some and offends the others. If it offends you when God reminds you are hopeless without Him, that’s too bad. You need to repent and get over it today.

And if you do repent, then Chapter 5 is the passage that will take you to the next step. It says that we:

1. Are justified by faith

2. Have peace with God

3. Have access to God’s amazing and unmerited grace

4. Are to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God