Category: Repentance
Subject: Repentance
Invitation: You Must Repent!
Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox
The lesson establishes that all who are in sin (whether an alien sinner, or one who has become a Christian) must repent! Paul’s writing in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 explains what repentance truly is.
From the Preacher’s Pen: Love and Tolerance are Different Things!
While on the internet earlier this week I came across a quote by Rick Warren. There are many things that Warren teaches that are not true, but he got it right with this statement:
Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense.
You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.
This truth can easily be demonstrated with the parent/child relationship. Many children grow up to embrace beliefs or practices that their parents reject. The parents will express disapproval and may be intolerant of such rebellion, but that in no way indicates a lack of love.
The same thing is true regarding our interactions with one another as Christians. Paul wrote (cf. Galatians 6:1-2) that it is the spiritual man’s duty to correct his brother who is in sin. To do so is an expression of love.
It is also an expression of love to convict the alien sinner of his personal guilt when it comes to sinning against God. It is our duty to the world to seek to save their souls from sin. When we condemn their sin and call them to repentance, we are not hating them. We are practicing charity!
“Your sin will find you out”
Numbers 32 records the petition the children of Reuben and Gad made to Moses and the leaders of the congregation of Israel. They desired to settle on the east side of the Jordan River rather than with the rest of the Israelites in Canaan. Moses agreed to allow this, so long as the two tribes guaranteed they would fight with the rest of Israel until “until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance” (vs. 18). Having given his approval, Moses warned the people should they go back on their word:
“But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out” (vs. 23).
There are many different examples, in both the Old and New Testaments, of people trying to hide their sin. While it is possible for the sinner to hide his sin from men, it is not possible to hide his sin from the Almighty.
Invitation: The Prodigal Son
Invitation delivered by: Chad Gallman
Chad Gallman uses the parable of the Prodigal Son to emphasize both the mercy and grace of the Heavenly Father, and the necessity of a sinner to “come to himself” to receive that mercy.
Invitation: Godly Sorrow
Invitation delivered by: Josh Cox
Josh uses the text of 2 Corinthians 7:8-ff, to explain the godly sorrow that should be present in every person guilty of sin, that they might repent and be saved.
Examine Yourselves – Are You Saved?
It is an unfortunate truth that many are deceived in their belief that they are saved. While they may sincerely believe such to be true, their view is based upon their own subjective feelings in the matter, rather than the objective reality that they have satisfied the requirements given by the Holy Spirit in scripture.
Others may be unsure of their standing before God. This can be beneficial if it brings a careful examination of their faith before Him. However, constant questioning can undermine the faith, bring anxiety and unhappiness, and have a negative affect on the spiritual growth of the Christian. With this in mind, we ask the following questions as a means to “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Sermon: What Is Godly Sorrow?
Most people experience sorrow as a result or consequence of sin. Is that sorrow godly sorrow, leading to repentance, or worldly sorrow leading to death? The lesson examines the difference between the two.
From the Preacher’s Pen: The Proof is in the Pudding
Last Sunday I used the phrase “the proof is in the pudding” while preaching. It is a phrase I had long heard, but some were wondering about it’s origin and meaning. So, I looked it up.
The phrase is actually a misquote of the phrase “the proof of the pudding” (which is fairly nonsensical), but is a shortened form of the phrase, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” which makes more sense. It means that to fully test something you need to experience it yourself. There are examples of the phrase being used early in the 17th century.
When I use it I intend a similar idea. That it is possible to claim something to be true, but claiming is not the same as demonstrating it to be so. There are numerous applications of this in scripture. For example, in the area of repentance. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:11 about the Corinthians proving of themselves, “For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”
When it comes to repentance, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It is not enough to say you are sorry for your sin, you must prove it in your life. Makes sense!
In the News: Printers and Accountability
I am sitting in my office, waiting for a call from a service manager about our broken printer. Yes, that printer which broke down back on January 22nd. I called on the following Tuesday morning to schedule a service call, and have been given the runaround since.
It is actually a humorous story. We originally bought the machine from a local company called Denitech rather than online. The reason was the salesman’s desire to “do me a favor” in the hope that if we wanted more expensive equipment in the future, we would contact him. We chose this particular printer because it had a 1 year warranty (rather than 90 days), and because Xerox equipment we used previously proved to be dependable.
In the News: Last Second Shot!
Friday night the Castleberry girl’s basketball team won a game with the most exciting finish you can imagine. They were playing Mineral Wells, and were shorthanded. One of their players had blown an ACL ligament the previous week, and was out for the season. Their best player had a virus, and though she was playing, was struggling physically. None of their shots were falling, and they were down 12 points to start the fourth quarter.
The deficit continued until about halfway through the quarter, and then all of a sudden the shots started falling. The girls knew they had to win to keep their hopes of going to the playoffs alive. They dug down deep, and narrowed the deficit to one point. With 2.6 seconds left, Castleberry had the ball out of bounds. Josh (my son is the coach) drew up a play, and their best player banked home the shot for the win. The stands erupted, the girls (and Josh) went crazy, and everyone cheered.
Sermon: Indignation and Vindication
In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he discusses their repentance, following his previous letter of admonition. The Corinthians exhibited proper indignation (toward self), and by their actions were vindicated in the eyes of God and man.
In the News: Criticizing the Five Step Plan
I recently was sent an article titled, “Do We Have A Catechism?”, written by Ken Green. The form the article took, and the comments following, indicate that brother Green had posted it to his Facebook page.
Though brother Green gave no specifics in the article, it was critical of the preaching and attitudes of Christians in the past. Notice the following two quotes:
We do not have catechism classes that insist on the rote learning of the proper responses to various questions about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, faith, baptism, worship, and other doctrines. But, by and large, our people have done quite well in memmorizing (sic) things they can recite on a moment’s notice, while, too often, having little understanding of the material and never really growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
But there was a stretch of many years when at least a couple of generations grew up in our churches without hearing much about love, grace and forgiveness and how we’re supposed to treat each other, and it had some devastating effects.
Brother Green took issue with the call made for “distinctive preaching” and said that what was meant is that we should be “reciting the catechism.” It is becoming fairly common to hear a rather dismissive attitude towards the faith and practice of earlier generations of Christians. This is unfortunate.
Continue reading “In the News: Criticizing the Five Step Plan”
Invitation: Almost Persuaded is Eternally Lost
Invitation delivered by: Joshua Scroggins
Josh uses the text of Acts 26:28 and the lyrics of the song “Almost Persuaded” to exhort the audience to make the decision to serve Christ acceptably while time and opportunity remains.
Sermon: Giving the Sense of Peter’s Pentecost Sermon
The Title of this sermon refers to Ezra’s reading of the law to the remnant of Israel (Nehemiah 8:8), and giving a sense (explaining the law) so that his listeners could understand. This sermon is an exegesis of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, (Acts 2).
Sermon Audio: Click Here .
Sermon: The Lost Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) teaches us four lessons. 1) The danger of ingratitude; 2) The Necessity of Repentance; 3) The Mercy and Compassion of God; and 4) The Importance of Rejoicing in the salvation of sinners.
Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .
Sermon Audio: Click Here .
