I am new at writing sermons. I invite your comments and assistance (no I beg them) as I wish to grow. This Sermon is short but I feel it says all it needs to say.
I have no congregation, no church, no wall full of Christian degrees, there is no reason that you should follow my urgings except that they ring of truth - the truth that Jesus died to bring us.
My ministry is a simple one, but it reaches hundreds, and I shall not rest until it reaches more.
It is simply comprised of several emails per week that are sent out to encourage Christian Fellowship and Growth. It specializes in reaching those with problems. Mental, Physical, Health and Relationship problems. Problems like we all have but sometimes worse.
Why do I send them ? Because God told me to do it, and he is my only ordainer. I humbly pray that I may become worthy and that he lead me in what needs to be said. He, the Bible, and those I Fellowship with are my only teachers. I beg them all for appropriate material and welcome all who feel they have been led by Christ to submit material for consideration.
Jesus Loves Me
The Apostle John is sometimes criticized for mentioning so often that he was the Apostle who Jesus loved. He mentions it 5 times in his Gospel. He was very proud to be loved by Jesus. Some think of John as conceited for those statements.
In essence he spoke the truth although we know Jesus loved all the Apostles but must have had a special love for John because on the cross he gave John to his mother to be her son and Mary to be his Mother, and John we know took Mary into his home upon the death of Jesus. Obviously Jesus did love John in a special way if in his agony on the cross Jesus thought to gave John to his mother,and she to him, as one of his last acts.
I’m sure He loves us all in some special way. I am sure because in the Bible he tells us so -
John the Apostle was proud of Jesus’s love and you should be also. Those of you who do not feel you have a relationship with Jesus should work immediately to establish one.
How do we know we have a relationship with Jesus ?
In my humble opinion - when we have worked diligently to know his teachings and the Word as presented in the Holy Bible - his instruction manual on how to live our lives. When we see that as a result of our studies, faith in him and sincere desire to be sorry for our sins for we see that they grieve Him and do us no favors. When we see that he has begun to work within us - filling us with the Holy Spirit and sending us in directions we never would have imagined on our own.
Feeling that way already ? - good then you have that relationship. Enjoy it and grow in it. Speak with Jesus often and confide in him, ask him for assistance in all matters, asking him always for knowledge and his blessings and power and to bring you with him to honor the Father, and reveal in your nearness to Jesus as your best and most understanding friend. Speak to him when you fall for He will understand and forgive if you are repentant for He has walked like us with temptation. When you fail to stay to his standards it not a time to hide but time to move nearer to Him. He is your best friend and will bring you back.
Some may say well those things take time. Yes, but your relationship with Jesus can start this very day. Begin to read the Word and put your faith in him recognizing that he has died on the cross and rose again so that you may live and receive forgiveness for your sins. Be truly sorry for your sins and you will immediately begin your relationship with Jesus - He will take care of the rest, putting his arm around you, and begin to move you this very day. Simple enough in our "want it right now society isn’t it ?
Those actions will however assure you of salvation - yes it is that easy, and also to begin forming a relationship with Jesus. Yes it will take some work on your part, but He will lead you kindly and gently through it via the Holy Spirit - his arm always around you. Lovingly and with the tenderness and yet strength that you would expect from any great relationship.
How you ask do I know these things ? Am I sure ? Yes because the Bible tells me so, and on a more personal level, I have, thanks be to God, made that very journey myself, and watched many others.
Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it ? But it is not, I swear it by all that is sacred to me. It is true and this great love is free for the taking.
Isn’t love something we all want, and not just love but an always there, always growing ever lasting love ? Where else may we be assured of that ? We have all seeked high and low for that kind of love, and it has been under our noses the whole time.
I have a plaque in my room that says - "No love is greater than the love of God." I sincerely believe that, for it is the ever lasting and always present love that we all seek. A love that encourages us, rebukes us, leads us, and has a plan for us always. A love that builds within us so strong that we might even share it with our enemies and a love that enables us to call all of those with a similar love Brother and Sister and to fellowship with them, and a love so strong that it forces us to give it to others feeling that it is our duty.
We need to learn to work diligently within each of our own special talents to serve Him and return that special love that He has for each of us distinctly.
I Love you all Brothers and Sisters, and encourage you to pass that love on as Jesus encourages you. Pass it on in your love for the Father and to your fellow man, Christian and non Christian, friends and enemies, loved ones and neighbors. Pass it on to the homeless man down the street and the beggar you passed by in fear that he would only abuse your help and love - go back and find him and pass on your love. Feed and inspire him without judging.
Let Jesus’s love fill you to the point that you will seem to burst and must pass it on, for then you shall know that you are truly loved by Jesus and his love indeed works within and thru you, and it is so pure that it will surely change you. It is not I, but Jesus that tells you these things.
Read the Word today and each day, and let it teach you of God’s love and instill in you that love of Jesus that John the Apostle had. Wear it proudly like John, flaunt it for all to see, and work diligently at it, and Jesus will invite you, like the Apostle John, into his family.
My Love to you all
Dennis C.
Loved by Jesus
† Yours in Christ †
Dennis C.
Christian Fellowship
Cocoa Beach, Florida
