Renewed to Honor

This is a short fast paced series. Here is the transcript of the message. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.   For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  (Colossians 1:15-20, ESV) Colossians chapter 1:15.  He is image of the invisible. God, the first born of all creation. You know, sometimes when we meet someone you would say oh he looks like his father, she looks like a mother but You know, that is...

  Jesus talks about the bad manager and from this Jesus has a very important lesson to teach us. Luke 16:1-15  He also said to the disciples,  “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.   And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’   And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.   I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’   So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’   He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’   Then he said to another, ‘And how m...

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  

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 Sermon Notes: (Please hear the audio as my notes are not well written)  v26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.  James tells us what it means to be following a good God and being religious is. He tells us what a false religion is. See, you and the orphan have a same Father- if God s your both father- then how are you not visiting the needy? 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 2 vs 1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  Deuteronomy 10:17  17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, g...

Scripture: James 1:19-25 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

          In the previous sermon, we learned that trials are not a punishment from an angry God but a means through which God disciplines his legitimate (adopted) Children. We saw how trials are meant for our Joy and how this is not a conceptional thing but rather an experiential journey. No one should assume that being joyful in trials is a means of knowledge acquired in any means other than personal experience. God expects us to come to Him and ask for wisdom. This is what the Spirit of God gives, wisdom. No one should assume that this wisdom is based on mental fortitude. This is based on a realisation that you are not strong enough, not wise enough on your own means. This is what trials does. It pushes people to be God dependent. This is what God desires us to do. To be reliant on Him. James as we looked earlier points to Proverbs and the Old testament as much as possible as His primary audience is the Jewish Christians.  Trust in the Lord w...

  When we go through trials and difficult times we are often faced with the following questions Does God really love me? Does God do His will for me? Is God's will for my life perfect? Will I like God's will for my life? Will God take the evil others have done to me and really turn it for my good? Will God repay the evil for the harm them did? James, writes his letter to the Jews who are Christians who ran away from Jerusalem during the time of troubles.   Notes:   (a)  James 1.3: List the different ways in which the trying of faith produces patience (ie: perseverance/endurance).  Faith is always tested - 1 Peter 1:7 and it is in the fire of testing that our faith becomes purer than gold worthy to honour God. A man of faith stands by the Word of God and waits for God to work and waits in patience.  During trying times, we may face the following questions  Is God there? Will God use what others meant for my evil for my good?  The Greek word for...

In Luke 15, Jesus talks about a good father. He tells this to the sinners and tax collectors who come to him as well as the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus tells about a good father who loves the sinner who leaves the father and the family and waste his life away as well as the son who is at home living a life living a life where he obeys the father without knowing who the father is. The father is God - the one who calls both the sinner and the self righteous alike, loving both of them. Genuine repentance involves two main things. % Change of heart Coming to God Jesus talks about the issue with human heart in both the cases. The younger one found the world and its pleasures lovely and the elder one feared and considered the father unjust. This is same in the Church and across human heart. The unbeliever does not want to do anything with God and the church going unbeliever goes just to make sure that they are not wrong. Jesus came to adopt and bring home the lost sons. This is the go...

Post tenebras lux After Darkness Light Portion: John 8:12 Why are we learning this?  To understand the Bible as a whole: The Bible talks from Genesis to Revelation that God is not unlike any gods that nations believe. He is a God who loves to be with people. He made people in His Image and wants to have communion - relationship - face to face meeting with people To understand the Trinity: We have seen what Trinity is: The Father is God, the Son is God and the Spirit is God. They are not ⅓ God - each person is 100% God, and there is only 1 God. The 3 are One. Jesus is God: Jesus uses the same portion that God used in the story of Israel (I AM) to say that Jesus is the same God There are almost 300 times the statement is used Jesus used the Exodus to teach us the kingdom of God Portions we looked last time (Spiritual Darkness/ Need of Light) We too walked in darkness John 1:4, John 8:12, John 3:19-20 Psalm 139: 11,12 - Comfort in darkness + Psalm 18:28 Isaiah 9:2 - People who w...