3/27/2022 "Christian Living"

Announcements:

Today is Easter egg filling day!

SATURDAY is the Easter Egg Hunt! Come Help!

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(Intro)

Have you ever tried to ASSEMBLE SOMETHING that had BAD INSTRUCTIONS? Took FOREVER and you ended up FRUSTRATED?

This has happened plenty of times to me. -HANDY, but its DIFFICULTY

However, I am thankful that GOD gives CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS in His WORD!

It’s not always the easiest to understand, and there MAY be HARD PARTS. But there are PLENTY of TIMES where it is CLEAR and EASY, just HARD to DO.

We’re going to look at one of those passages today.

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Hebrews 13:1 NLT

(1) Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.

LOVE is the MARK of the CHRISTIAN FAITH…

LOVE others AS FAMILY, ESPECIALLY those who are CHRISTIANS

It is also important to remember that LOVING and AFFIRMING are NOT ALWAYS the SAME thing!

2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

This happened in the OT with ABRAHAM.

He ended up HOSTING ANGELS in his home! Not to say it will happen to us necessarily, but we need to BE SURE we’re always TREATING OTHERS RIGHT!

3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

EMPATHIZE with those in HARD TIMES…ACTUALLY PRAY for people when they ask for it!

I ACTUALLY PRAYED FOR CLASSMATES IN SEMINARY = stop & pray.

4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

People who AREN’T CONTENT will NEVER HAVE ENOUGH!

ECB- Both SEXUAL SIN and ISSUES with MONEY are ROOTED in a DISSATISFACTION with GOD’S PROVISION…

They are also SINS of UNBELIEF, for there is no faith in the negative consequences of sexual sin or the promise of God’s provision.

GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU - Note the emphatic double negative in Greek

You can be secure in God! No matter how much of a mess your human relationships may be, God will always be there for you. He will never never leave you and never, never, never forsake you…

6 So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

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7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

STAY TRUE to the REAL JESUS, not some new invention!

And while RELIGIOUS ACTIONS are GOOD, they DON’T SAVE us.

No amount of coming to church will save you, only Jesus can! No amount of obeying the rules will save you, only Jesus can! Then we do good works as an expression or evidence of the salvation that we received through Jesus by grace alone.

10 We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. 13 So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. 14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

The author references the OT sacrificial system. Because JESUS DIED AS a CRIMINAL he was crucified OUTSIDE the CITY!

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15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Jesus is THE only way we can go to God

Big Idea: We can see through this passage that serving God doesn’t have to be crazy spiritual or overly religious, we can serve him in our day to day interactions with others and live lives that are glorifying to him through Jesus Christ!

17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

We do a lot MORE than HANG OUT with you guys on SUNDAY, we PRAY for you, we THINK about you, we try to WATCH out for things in our lives that could hurt you…this is what God has called leaders in the church to do!

18 Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. 19 And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

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20 Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—21 may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

ENCOURAGE you to PRAY the benedictions (endings) of biblical books.

Any of the prayers really, feel free to insert your name or “I” into it.

I pray God will give all of you everything you need to do his will and that you will a fulfilling life that is pleasing and glorifying to Him!

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Application:

Love others, honor them, be kind to them. Especially those who are Christians, they are your siblings in Christ!

Try to remain content in life with what God has given you and where he has you. (This is something that I currently battle as I am ready to move from Coudersport…but I am doing my best to stay content here as long as God has me here!)

Seek his will in all you do and that you would glorify him.

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Remember even Jesus had to live all of this out as our example! Loving others, remaining content with the will of God, at one point he even prayed for it to change! But ultimately his life embodied “Not my will, but your will be done” and that is exactly how we should live before God today.