Renewed to Honor

Romans 5:3–5; James 1:2–4; 2 Peter 1:3–9 It is easy to understand the above portions as means of building up the church. All the three passages state that either through suffering or by act of disciple the believers are called to be steadfast, or to endure or have patience in all things. Looking at Romans 5:3-5, we see that suffering brings about endurance, that inturn develops in us a charector and this charestor builds in us hope. Now James 1:2-4 says that there are ways the faith will be tested or we undergo presecution  and that we need to be steadfast in our belief. in 2 Peter 1:3-9 it is said that while we believe that we have been saved through faith, we are to add to this faith an active surplus amount of virtuem knowledge and selfcontrol that couases us to endure all things. This will lead us into a charector that will mold us into the people of God.  Remember the purpose of creation,  Psalm 86; Isaiah 60:21; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 10:31; ...

Hosea 2:14-16 Therefore I am now going to allure her;     I will lead her into the wilderness     and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards,     and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth,     as in the day she came up out of Egypt. “In that day,” declares the Lord,     “you will call me ‘my husband’;     you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ New Audio Sermon How do we react when things do not go our way? How do we find peace when we face difficulties? Does God open a door when he shuts another? This week we shall see how God shuts a door and wants us to be there in the room with Him. This is a time of pruning and anointing. Fight the myth that when God closes a dooor he opens another. See the lives of Lo-Ammi (Not my people) and Lo-Rummani (Not loved) being changed. We are adopted in God's family. Pursue His love. ...

Prayer is the battle cry we have in order to fight against the actions of the devil. We are to fall on our feet to fight the fight and to act the act. Man will bring you down, strip you to the very core, shame you, abuse you, but the very God who made you would not leave you. Your pride will be hurt but you are not destroyed. You will be shamed but you won't be struck down. Praise him in the storm , praise him at all times. As the Psalmist says , God will instruct you and guide you in the way you should go. Even if you were to go through darkness, you are not alone. Fight this fight with the weapon that God has given us, sharpen it- sharpen your prayer. You may have the enemy in front of you, charging against you. But you fall on your knees, not in surrender to the enemy, but to Christ who is preparing the victory over your battlefield. Let us fix our eyes on God, not due to the fear of the situation we are in, but because we fear the Lord.  Let the praise spring up before all nati...

  Sermon Notes: love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:19 Isaiah 58:7-8 Fasting is the act of coming to God It is a pursuit  Jer 29:13 1 Chron 28:9 Ps 14:2 Being Weaned Ps 131:1 Acts 13:2,14:23  Fasting is feasting on God drawing deep on his presence depend on His power enjoying His goodness gazing on His beauty Fasting is motivated by desire Ps 139:23-24,John 4:32,Luke 5:35(return) Fasting is not for God Ps 56:12,1 Samuel 7:3,1 Kings 21:29 Fasting means God is better Eph 3:19, Psalm 84:10, Psalm 63:5, 1 Tim 4:3 Fasting should glorify God John 4:32 It opens our antennas Acts 13:2,14:23 It is a weapon for spiritual warfare Mat 4:2-3 It is the crucible to mold us Mat 4:2-3 With love for Sam Storms (Practicing the power, The Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts) God sees us fasting and knows that we are motivated by a deep longing in our hearts for him and for his purposes to be fulfilled in the earth. He knows ...

Sermon Notes  1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. Colosians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Ephesians 5:25-33 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—  30 for we are members of his body.  31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be ...

 Words to encourage someone through bereavement Romans 8: 38: A love that death cannot separate. In the story of Sodom, Abraham asks God ( Genesis 18:25) - will not the judge of all creation be just? In the story we see that God promised Abraham that even if there were 10 people in a tiny city who loved God, because God was and is a just God, he would not destroy the city. The thief on the cross was saved at the last moment and he was crucified for the right reasons, yet like Paul says, there is a love of God that cannot separate us even in death. It is not that there is a purgatory of sorts, but rather there is a God who can and does speak to the soul of a man. We were once dead in our sins with our hearts bent away from God but God in his sovereignty took mercy on us and rescued us. This is the God we believe in.  Thessalonians 4:13-14 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind,...

Sermon / Podcast Notes: Submission : Google's dictionary defines submission as "the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person." Submitting means putting others before yourself; it means not always doing what you want to do.  1 Peter 3:3-6 2 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that leven if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.  3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—  4 But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,  6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you ...