God Has Accepted You
In My Father's Arms • Sermon • Submitted
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Handout
Opening
Opening
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.
Groan - Grumble. Make a deep inarticulate sound in response to pain or despair
A lot of christians are lamenting that we are loosing our religious freedom
We are prevented from expressing our faith
The Bible being banned from places of learning
It appears that we are loosing the fight, when we should not because God made that uncompromising victory when He said:
Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
1 John 5:4-5
We hear people complain almost about everything, but there are so much more we can do, than just to complain
It is only during election day when the poor and the popular are “equal”
One vote of the poor is equivalent to one vote of the popular.
Voting is not just a “right”, it is also a “responsibility”
So, this Tuesday, June 5, PRAY, then GET OUT & VOTE!
BREATHE!
Not everything that is “popular” is “proper”
In many instances we have to take the side of the unpopular in order to do what is proper
It is difficult, but it makes the difference
The big challenge in doing what is proper, is our natural desire to be “accepted”
Most of us spend our entire lives trying to earn “acceptance”
We want to earn it from our parents, peers, partners in life, people we respect, and even people we envy
The desire to be accepted drives us to do all kinds of things
It can influence the kind of clothes you wear, the kind of car you drive, the kind of house you buy, even the career you choose.
Would you agree that people do the craziest things to be accepted?
Ask the person next to you
Will you do some crazy things just to be accepted?
BREATHE!
As a kid you badly wanted to be part of the “in-crowd” that someone would say to you, “I dare you to do this”, and you did something truly stupid?
You did it because your desire to be “accepted”, overruled your personal safety
Joining a basketball team in your high school league for example. Remember how great you felt when you were chosen?
We love the feeling of being accepted
On the other hand, we hate the feeling of being rejected
We love the feeling of being chosen
BREATHE!
BREATHE!
Today, I have a good news for you!
God has accepted you!
Not because of what you wear or drive
Not because of what you are
Not because of what you do
You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn’t something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about.
But because of who you are to the Lord
You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name.
But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say,
Tell you seatmate. “You are accepted!”, “You are chosen!”
BREATHE!
It will be Father’s Day soon
And the Lord prompted me to take a look into some of the fathers whose lives are recorded in the Bible for the church to see what we can learn from them
I’d like to begin this series, “In My Father’s Arms” for the month of June with a father that is the subject of one of the parables told by Jesus Himself
Text: The Parable of the Lost Son
Text: The Parable of the Lost Son
One day the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus
But the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law whispering with each other said, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them
So, Jesus told them a story about a father with two sons
The younger one said to his father, “father give me my share of the property.”
So the father divided his property between his two sons
At that time, it is consistent with their law and tradition that the older son would have received a double portion amounting to two-thirds of what belonged to his father ()
But the father, contrary to their law & tradition, divided his property between his two sons
Not long after that, the younger son monetized everything he owned and departed to a foreign country where he wasted all his money in wild living
He had spent everything, and when a bad famine spread through that whole land, soon he had nothing to eat
So, he went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs
This was a threefold dishonor for him because according to their law, pigs were unclean animals, and he was a swine-herding slave to a gentile (non-Jewish person)
To the scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus was telling this parable to, they may have equated these to a cursed life
BREATHE!
However, the trend of the story shifted for the better when he came to his senses
BREATHE!
Road to Rejoice
Road to Rejoice
Whenever you are to go over a railroad crossing, you see some signs similar to this...
Before you cross
You see two R’s with a cross in the middle
Upon seeing these signs, your instinct will tell you to slow down or stop
Why? because there is danger involved in the process
Those who yield to the sign crossover to the other side of the rails safely
But those who are reckless brings harm to themselves
For this younger son in our story, he saw this sign and decided to yield to it
First, there was REMORSE
Finally, he came to his senses and said, “My father’s workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death!
And then, He REPENTED
I will leave and return to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you.
And eventually, He began to REALIZE
I am no longer worthy to be called your son, but let me be like one of your servants.” ’
After all these, the Father have him RESTORED
But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
And that brought them great reason to REJOICE
And get our fat calf and kill it so we can have a feast and celebrate. My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
BREATHE!
Paul explained what Jesus meant to the believers in Rome
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When a Pharisee named Nicodemus, curious about the Lord’s teaching because of the many signs that Jesus performed, came to Him one night, Jesus told him
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Series of questions ensued further during their conversation, and Jesus elaborated to Nicodemus
John 3:
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
My Testimony
I fornicated, I gambled, I was a drunkard, I was a narcissistic, luckily I was not into drugs… but other than drugs, I did all of it.. all you can think of wild living, I did them all…
Until I was born again… in spirit and in water
It happened to me, and maybe these are still happening to you
But these can all change for you today
BREATHE!
God is giving you that opportunity today
God had chosen you, He has accepted you
All you need to do now is to “accept” Him in your life.. in your heart
never wait until it’s too late
you’ll never know what tomorrow could bring
If you fail to yield to that sign, a rushing train could come and before you know it, it will ran over you… and that will be very tragic
That will be eternal disaster for you
Forever separation from God who created you
Forever separation from God who love dearly you
He love you so very dearly that He gave his only Son to die so you may live
2 Corinthians
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
He was crucified
He was laid behind a stone
He was rejected, so that you may be accepted
Above all, He died for you...
As a response to that, will you accept Him today?
Will you come?
Prayer
Prayer