Live Ready - Week 3 - Ready to Respond

Countdown Video

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Scripture Reading by Lady Pepper

(Show Slide)

Thank you Lady Pepper for the announcements and the reading of God’s Word.

Welcome! to everyone especially those who are joining us for the first time. My name is Pastor Doc, and I will be sharing the Word of God with you today.

Have your Bibles Ready and take notes

Show Video

The Series: Live Ready

Title of the message this Morning

Ready to Respond

Week 3

Big Idea:

The world needs genuine followers of Christ who are ready to respond to the injustices in the world.

Life comes at us fast, and often we don’t have time to think before we respond.

We need to be ready to react from a place of deep faith and strong convictions.

Keep an eye out for darkness in the world that is in need of light.

Prayer:

“Lord, give us the faith to respond like you respond.

Fill us with love, and kindness, and light as we live in this world of darkness and pain.

You are our greatest hope, our eternal salvation. We love you Lord.”

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 16:13-14; Proverbs 4:23; Psalm 119:105; Matthew 18:21-22

(All scripture quoted comes from the NIV unless otherwise noted)

Introduction

Welcome

We are right in the middle of a series we started a few weeks ago called “Live Ready.”

We’ve talked about a number of different things so far, but ultimately, we are seeking in this series to learn how to respond well to suffering, pain, turmoil, and trouble that will indeed come our way this year.

We are unpacking these biblical principles in this series from an eternal perspective, knowing that Jesus will one day soon return to this very earth, and we must be ready!

Today, we are going to focus on practical responses to things we both personally witness and see/hear about in the world around us, and in the lives of others.

We all have so many inputs in our lives, and sometimes the amount of information coming in can be overwhelming.

Not to mention, much of the information is negative or alarming.

What are we supposed to do with it, how should we handle it, and how can we respond in righteousness to a weak and weary world around us?

STORY:

Talk about a time in your life when you witnessed something wrong or some injustice happening around you.

At this moment, I had to decide how I would respond.

But in the life of a believer, it is important that we determine in advance how we will respond.

Our present scenario will often determine our actions.

For instance, we are online in church right now.

So, we all are focused on the same God, and it is an understood, that when you come to church, worship and learning is what you get to participate in if you choose to.

But in a situation when there is wrong being done before our very eyes, certain aspects will sway us to one course of action or another.

We live in a fallen world, where we will experience trouble.

We’ve got to be ready to respond in righteousness.

Main Teaching

Maybe you see someone steal a woman’s purse and you say to yourself, “that’s wrong, but what will people think of me if I start chasing a guy on the street?”

Or instead, maybe everyone at work or in school is participating in that one thing you know is wrong, but you wonder what it would feel like to be viewed as the black sheep.

Today, I want to share with you from Scripture how we can ready ourselves in advance so that we may respond well to life’s circumstances with deep faith and strong convictions.

Read 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

I. Stand Out

The place that Paul is encouraging us to start in this discussion is to be on our guard.

But how do we do this?

ILLUSTRATION:

Have a glass and a pitcher of water on stage with you.

As you pour the water into the glass, make the point that only water could now come out of this glass.

Being on our guard, as Paul says, means that we become extremely aware of that which we are allowing into our life.

Because truly, whatever we allow into our lives will come out of our lives.

We talked about this concept last week as well, and again, this passage from Solomon really hits the nail on the head…

Read Proverbs 4:23

As we talked about last week, our hearts are very important.

And whatever we allow into our hearts will eventually affect what comes out of our lives.

The way that Jesus lived His life here on earth was perfect.

In order for Him to serve as the untainted sacrifice for our sins, He indeed had to be perfect.

We, on the other hand, will not be perfect.

However, He gives us a model to holy living.

That is, to pursue that which is best no matter the cost.

Even if that means standing out, or being the black sheep

When you and I decide to say “no” to some things so that we may say “yes” to other things, it will get the attention of other people.

While some will want nothing to do with you, designating you as weird, others will want what you have.

And over time, the Holy Spirit will, more and more, light us on fire with passion for the Gospel message, that we might even share this without using words!

Simply by the way we are living, others will encounter Christ through the example of faith we are living.

John Wesley was the founder of the Methodist movement. He was a preacher and evangelist hundreds of years ago.

But he made a statement during his ministry that is powerful for us to understand today.

He said, “Light yourself on fire with passion, and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”

Take a moment to think about this practically speaking.

If we were outside right now by the street, and you were to take a lighter and literally set me and my clothes on fire, something crazy would happen.

People would drive by and hopefully check on me to see if I were alright and try to stop the fire.

However, there would certainly be people that pulled out their phones and started recording or taking pictures of what they were witnessing.

Because it isn’t every day that you encounter someone who is literally on fire.

I wonder what would happen in our church, our community, our city, our state if we, as God’s people, decided to deny ourselves of everything filthy offered to us, because we were so consumed with passion for Christ!

Our responses to evil things coming our way would be easy and quick.

The temptations we face from the Devil wouldn’t last very long and wouldn’t turn into sin.

Why? Because we would constantly be on our guard for what was coming our way, knowing how to respond before it does.

II. Stand Firm

After grasping the concept of being on our guard, responding well in life does not stop there.

We must also be willing, as Paul says, to stand firm in the faith.

An Example of this when you hear this phrase, you think of a hurricane being reported on the weather channel.

Have you ever seen those instances?

the reporter is standing somewhere with gusts of wind behind them.

But often, the rain and wind will prove to be too much for the reporter, and they can either get back in their car or try to brave the storm, ending in them getting swept off their feet.

The same is true for our lives as followers of Christ.

Our faith is something we should be able stand on in times of trouble.

The hope we have in Jesus should sounds like this: “What I am currently experiencing is not the end. There is a God whom I serve that is always working for good and His glory.”

Standing firm in our faith is relying on God’s Word to be our guide in life.

We just talked about being on our guard, which would mean not allowing certain things into our lives.

But the next step in the process of responding well to situations in life is knowing and defining what guides you.

God desires that all people be guided by the sound of His voice.

And where can we find His voice?

We find it most clearly in the Bible!

Read Psalm 119:105

Both a lamp and a light imply some level of darkness.

There are many things in this life could potentially serve as darkness to us.

But praise God that He has provided a source of light for us even before we experience the darkness!

Reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God is part of deciding how we will respond before we are faced with a situation that needs a godly response.

STORY:

When you and I were in the world, we weren’t very close to God’s Word.

But now for those of us that are Reading His Word, what a difference it makes in how we feel.

Do you see the difference and the importance here?

The Bible can serve as our quicksand in a good way.

Not to sink us into something negative, but to hold us firm in something positive.

This, my friends, is truly the make or break in the lives of those who decide to follow Jesus.

Knowing Him can happen by a simple prayer,

but following Him requires one foot in front of the other every moment of every day, and the way we help you do that is provide services like:

CHURCH POINT:

Faith Vision Christian Ministries is a Training Ground for all things Jesus Christ!

We provide Reading Devotionals “The Word for You Today” to help you along the way.

We provide a Prayer Line every Thursday to pray for our nation and personal needs of our family and friends.

We provide Counseling & Chaplain service for hurting people everywhere.

We provide Bibles and resources for people who accept Christ.

We provide an educational services that helps people learn more about the Bible.

Faith Vision’s Pastor is an Accredited Doctor of Revelation Professor.

All of this is to help deepen your walk with Jesus.

I believe that Community is extremely important in this process.

After all, who is Paul writing to?

Not just an individual, but a group of people!

We stand firm by doing so together.

III. Stand for Love

Love is a very popular word in our culture today.

In fact, many have defined love in numerous different ways to fit their own agendas, desires, and current relational circumstances.

But here’s how Paul uses the word love in verse 14 of our 1 Corinthians 16:14 passage: “agape”.

This Greek word for love is the type of love God has for His people, and the type of love we are called to have for His people as well.

Ultimately, Paul says, as we stand up, stand out, and stand firm in faith, we must do everything in love.

Many of the situations that you may have been thinking about during this sermon are directed toward someone else.

For instance, the injustice we see in our world today.

It comes in many forms, but we as God’s people can pour into those things, bringing the Light of Christ.

This point, however, has more to do with situations directed at us.

It has to do with responding with forgiveness when it simply does not make sense.

This is what Jesus says about forgiveness…

Read Matthew 18:21-22

(490 times)

Conclusion

Just like our other responses in situations, we must be willing to know how we will respond in advance.

When someone wrongs us, how will we respond?

Will we hold that wrongdoing against them?

Maybe we have been guilty of making this statement numerous times: “I’ll forgive, but I won’t ever forget.”

It’s true that we probably won’t forget something that hurt us.

However, we can remember something that hurt us as long as we also remember our forgiveness for that thing.

This allows us to truly show love in all we do and say toward others.

We are broken, sinful creatures, which means that sometimes we will fall short of this glorious standard.

But, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be people who forgive and showcase Christ’s love through our actions

Love is the way that Jesus responded while on earth, and it’s the way we are called to respond as well.

So ready your soul, ready your heart, and ready yourself to respond in any and every situation with a Christ-like attitude and posture.

It won’t always be easy or come naturally, but just like anything else, the more you practice it the better you will become.

And remember, we’re in this together.

If you need help or accountability please reach out and ask. We’re not called to walk this path alone.

Let’s pray together.

Salvation:

The Word of God says in:

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:13

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you’d would like to receive Jesus today, please pray this prayer with all of us:

Lord I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died On the cross for my sins and His resurrection from the dead gives me eternal life. I ask forgiveness of my sins, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

Pastor [e-mail]

Church Office: 909-922-8090

And I will send you a Bible & a Free Book on how to begin your first 21 steps with Jesus (show the book)

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Lady Pepper Please Join Me

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Smith Family for peace / lose of a love one

Vadria - Healing

Joyce - Car Accident

This is Pastor Doc & Lady Pepper with:

Faith Vision Christian Ministries

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Have a Great Week! Goodbye!