Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Brenden Ashby

The Poor In Spirit

Brenden Ashby

The first words of the sermon on the mount are, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:3 NKJV. Let’s break down this beatitude to find out what Jesus is teaching here.

Blessed means to have found the favor and approval of God. It in of itself is not happiness but happiness will be a natural byproduct of knowing you are in a right relationship with your Maker.

The NEB renders Matthew 5:3  as, “How blest are those who know their need for God.” This gets to the heart of what Jesus is teaching here. Those who find God’s favor are those who get it. They get that without God they are nothing, poor, and needy.

When we are poor in spirit, we are possessors of the kingdom of heaven. This phrase means the rule of God in the hearts of men and women. Those who recognize their spiritual poverty desire and long for the One who can take spiritual rags and turn them to riches.

Luke records a vivid illustration from Jesus about what it means to be poor in spirit in Luke 18:10-14. There we read that a Pharisee and a Tax Collector both went to pray. The Pharisee was full of self and thus entitled. But the Tax Collector was poor in spirit and recognized his deep need for God. Because he was poor in spirit he revered and submitted to God. As a result, Jesus said the Tax Collector left right with God not the Pharisee.

May we all desire to be poor in spirit and be inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Paul Gaughan

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Dave Richards

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Eric Cook

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Brett Wingate

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Brenden Ashby

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Brenden Ashby

Ambassadors For Christ
Brenden Ashby

Christians need the skills and tact of an ambassador to make the case for the Christian faith in the twenty-first century. This does not mean believers need to be political masterminds, however, there are some lessons we can learn from what it means to be an ambassador and how they apply to making the case for the Christian worldview today.
First, an ambassador knows the will of the king. As disciples of Christ, we need to know the will of our King, Jesus. This means we need to have a grasp on the gospel and common objections to it. This requires much reading and studying so we can thoroughly know the will of God (1 Pet. 2:1-3).
Secondly, an ambassador is wise. We need to know how to make the case for Christ and not just the facts about Christ. We are instructed to let our speech be gracious and that we would “know how [we] ought to answer each one” (Col. 4:6).
Thirdly, an ambassador’s character matters. How we conduct ourselves sometimes carries more weight than our arguments. If our character does not match our profession we can do great harm to the cause of Christ. Christians need to make sure we are living what we are preaching.
We will dig deeper on this subject in this morning’s lesson.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Mark Beans

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Dave Richards

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Brenden Ashby

Abounding Love
Brenden Ashby

We read in Philippians 1:9 that Paul prayed for the Philippians “Love may abound still more and more in knowledge and discernment.” This is a directed love that has tangible results in our lives. Paul outlines three specific results we can expect if we abound in true Biblical love.

The first result of having an abounding love is that we would approve of excellent things (v.10a). As Paul wrote elsewhere, true biblical love rejoices in truth and not in unrighteousness. If we are rejoicing in and approving of what is good, pure, lovely, etc. (Phil. 4:8) then we are abounding in love.

Paul also says that to abound in love is to have a purer character (vv.10-11a). Paul notes that if are full of love then we will be “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (v.11) and that we will be “sincere and without offense till the day of Christ” (v.10).

Finally, we see that to abound in love is to live to the glory of God. God is love, and we are most like our Father when we abound in love. When we are most like God, we most glorify Him (v.11b).