THE BEST SERMON

C.H. Spurgeon

     Title:    THE BEST SERMON
                           
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        Mr. Spurgeon related a story that I believe would be excellent for every preacher to read at least once a week. It is a story of a young English preacher delivering a message before a renounced pastor of many years. Upon finishing his sermon, the young man went to the old pastor to ask how he had done: "What do you think of my sermon, sir?" he asked. "A very poor sermon indeed," he said. "A poor sermon!" said the young man, "it took me a long time to study it." "Ay, no doubt of it." Why, then, do you say it was poor; did you not think my explanation of the text to be accurate?" "Oh yes," said the old preacher, "very correct indeed." "Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate, and the arguments conclusive?" "Yes, they were very good, as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon." "Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?" "Because," he said, "THERE WAS NO CHRIST IN IT." "Well," said the young man, "Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text." So the old man said, "Don't you know, young man, that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?" "Yes," said the young man. "Ah!" said the old preacher, "and so from EVERY TEXT in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is CHRIST. And, my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, 'Now, what is the road to Christ?' and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis - Christ. And," he said, "I have never yet found a text that had no such road, I will make a road, I would go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my master, for a sermon is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill, unless there is a savior of Christ in it."

Evidence of His presence

          Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were    uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.              Acts 4:13

Have you ever been in a room filled with cigarette smoke? Perhaps you were in a  restaurant, car or bar and the the entire place was saturated in smoke. Even well after you've left that environment your hair and clothes still smelled of that Oder.  


It's no different in the spiritual realm. You cannot spend time in the presence of the Lord without His glory, His majesty, His beauty, His power, His love and His peace rubbing off on you. You will begin to “smell” like Jesus, be bold like Him and be filled with peace like Him! No wonder Acts 4:13 records this about Peter and John: “Now when they [the rulers and elders of Israel] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”


Beloved, practice the presence of the Lord in your life. Talk to Him, spend time with Him and you will experience the undeniable evidence of  His presence in your life. To the point where you will now begin to create an atmosphere that will impacted / influence those in your presence. Sending them home with the fragrance of Christ! 

JNAZ

Bound by a Secret

This is a testimony you must listen to. God can do anything if we only believe!

WOW!!!

THE CHRISTIAN TREE

Mark 8:22-24

    

   It’s a shame but the reality is today's christian is nothing more than a Christmas display. God is truly NOT real to so many of us so called Christians. We have fabricated our Faith, adorned our lives with decorative fruit and lights only to portray and reflect an image that may be desired, yet deceiving to the world around us. Let me explain; Many Christians today are nothing more than human Christmas trees or better yet “Christian Trees”. They look  full of life but are clearly dead and every day die a bit more. Just like a real Christmas tree they Try to survive feeding from a cup or two of still water. 

 The Christian tree is much like a CHRISTMAS TREE, Notice how it's fruit/ornaments Are not  self-generated but put on by man. What you see on the tree is not produced by the life in the tree but a form of,  just an attractive alluring light that serves no real benefit, It’s much like trying to get heat from a painted fire. It's sad but today’s so called believer has become nothing more than spiritual Christian trees that’s beautiful on the outer and enticing to the eye, but dead none the less. We have clothed ourselves with garments and called ourselves holy. In Col. 3 it clearly tells us what we are to be clothed in, YET  we’ve put on a physical attire and made ourselves holy, thinking we are pleasing God and walking in his will because of a dress code. A long skirts or long hair does not make one holy. We're holy because HE IS HOLY... 

 Holy isn't anything physical we put on nor is modest apparel little house on the prairies fashion line. Please keep in mind I'm not saying we can we can dress or act however we want, as christian we must have moral standard and be the example. What this means is we have a responsibility and just like we don’t  walk passed our closets and our clothes automatically jump on our bodies, it's no different with our spiritual man. It's our responsibility to dress ourselves, to go to our spiritual closets (Gods Promises) and cloth ourselves in truth. This is LIFE and what it means to be a Christian, NOT decorating ourselves with law, holiness, intellect, or titles and the list goes. Those are nothing more than fruits hung by man to try to portray a faith through an outer expression while the inner man is parched from a lack of living water.

 Let us let nature take its course (allow god to move) and you will witness just like in the natural realm, when the change of seasons come, living tress also change their look whether they like it or not because it's a law of nature. It's the same with GOD, we too will change in season as long as we “The Branches” stay connected to the life in the vine. A branch cannot live independent of the vine but must learn, trust and depend on the vine. Let us stop trying to produce this change of season, it only confuses the process. But instead let's trust in God and his perfect plan for us and let our Christian light shine this season instead of our Christmas lights.

  God Bless you all & Merry Christmas!

Today's Church

Very funny But True!! Though this is meant to be funny it is more real than we think.

The Stranger

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger ... he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present, and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never seemed to stop talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.) Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home ... . Not from us, our friends, or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... and NEVER asked to leave.More than 50 years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name?

.We just call him, "TV."

With love 
Jason N.