Power of the Gospel
The Power of the Gospel: —
I Thes1:5
+ Hobbes Gospel to Calvin
> Calvin “”Hobbes, Quick! How Do I Stop?
> Hobbes “ Steer into a gravel driveway and fall
down!
> SKRUNCH!
> Hobbes “ It was only a suggstion”
+ October 30, 1961, the most powerful weapon ever
constructed by mankind was exploded over the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Sea.
- The device was code-named "Ivan,"
- It was detonated 2 miles up to give a chance for the
plane to escape
- A yield of about 50 megatons. This is equivalent to
all of the explosives used in World War II multiplied by 10
- Releasing 3800 times more explosive energy than
the Hiroshima bomb (14 kilotons killing 140,000 people ) – equivalent to fifty million tons of TNT.
- Despite the cloudy weather, the flash of light was
visible as far as 620 miles away
- Blast wave was felt 3 times as it went around the
world
- Fire ball 110 miles across
- It obliterated everything in a 30 mile radius
- The ground surface of the island has been leveled,
swept and licked so that it looks like a skating rink.
- The mushroom cloud which followed the blast was
enormous in scale. It stretched 36 miles into the sky, and had a diameter of about 24 miles.
- Ionization from the explosion disrupted radio
communications for the better part of an hour.
Last Week
> On Sept 11/07 Russia has tested the world's most
powerful vacuum bomb
- It’s destructive shockwave had the power of a
nuclear blast
-. This bomb was much stronger than the U.S.-built
Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb -- MOAB
- Also known under its name "Mother of All
Bombs".
- Russian designers called the new weapon
'Father of All Bombs'
- 4 x more powerful than the U.S
- This 8 ton bomb has more than five times its own
weight in TNT
- It can erase a village or section of a city.
- The consumption of gases in the blast generates a
partial vacuum that can compound damage and injuries caused by the explosion itself.
- The main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic
shockwave and incredibly high temperature
- All that is alive merely evaporates,
- Man’s greatest power is power of death &
destruction
- God’s Greatest power is power of life & salvation
+ ❶. CHRIST IS FULL OF POWER
> Power to :
> Change water into wine
> Walk on water
> Feed 5000with 5 lovaes and 2 fish
> Heal the blind, lame to walk, lepers made clean,
remove demons, rise the dead
> God to the cross and die and rise again 3 days latter > Sp. Dead lives to lives of joy & life
+ ❷. MAN NEEDS A POWERFUL GOSPEL
> Emmy Awards Sun, Sept 16/07
- “My Life on the D-List” - Kathy Griffin
- Reality show of her life as a comedian
- When she accepted her long-awaited award, she
said: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."
- She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an
off-color remark about Christ
- And proclaim "this award is my god now!"
> BLIND To see and know our lost condition
> 1 Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
+ ❸. THE PROCLAMATION OF GOSPEL’S
POWER
> 1. Not Man’s Gospel
> Ga 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
> Ga 1:6 (NCV) God, by his grace through Christ, called you to become his
people. So I am amazed that you are turning away so quickly and believing something different than the Good News.
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> 2. The Gospel of Christ
> Ac 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
> 3. The effects were “much assurance.”
• Fully persuaded of the truth of the gospel
- No staggering or blinding doubts.
•They had the fullest confidence of slavation
- They were saved, and they knew it.
+ ❹. PROCESSING GOSPEL’S POWER
> 1. A Electrifying Power.
- Relief & Peace, Freedom
- Makes you alive
- People notice
> 2. An Illuminating Power.
- He showed you your sins and your Saviour.
> 3. A Comforting Power.
- Your burdens were removed
- He opened up to you His promises.
- Never alone
> 4. An Inflaming Power.
- Boldness of the HS
- Daring to believe and do the impossible .
> 5. A Rejoicing Power.
- Confidence, Hope, Ability
+ ❺. THE PURPOSE OF the GOSPEL’S POWER
> 1. To presents truth
> x 1 Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
> 2. To give knowledge of freedom & salvation
>x Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
> 3. To give us the seal of glory
>x Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
+ ❻. THE PROMISE OF THE GOSPEL’S
POWER
> 1. Promise of forgiveness
> Ps 103:12-13 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
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> 2. Promise of love
> Col 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
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> 3. Promise of Righteousness
> Is 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
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> 4. Promise of Hope
> Heb 6:18-19 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
+ TEAM HOYT
- Team Hoyt loves to race
-Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from
Massachusetts
- Since 1975 who together compete just about
continuously in running cycling swimming crossing 1000 finish lines
- 64 marathon races.
- 204 10 K runs
- 206 triathlons
- 6 of these triathlon were at Iron Man distance
- Iron Man id almost superhuman, combination of
26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming
- Together they have climbed mountains
- Once trekked 45 days across America — 3,735
miles.
> Only half of team Hoyt can run
- Rick the son can't walk or talk.
- For the past twenty seven years or more Dick, who
is 66, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines.
- When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick
is pushing.
- When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his
wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike.
- When Dick swims, Rick is in a small boat being
pulled by Dick.
- At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled
around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain.
- Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would
be no hope for their child’s development.
- Rick uses a computer with his head
- Graduated from HS
- Graduated from college with a degree in special
education.
> At 15 Rick wanted to run so they enrolled in a 5
mile benefit run
- Dick never ran before
- Using a 3 wheeled wheel-chair
- Rick depends on his father
- He can’ t even enter a race
- Rick depends on his fathers strength
- That’s what Christ wants us to do
+ Footprints In the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
There have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”
> The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand, is when I carried you.”
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