Good News Baptist Church, Surulere - Audio Podcast

Acts 3:1-9 - As the year draws to a close and we begin to seek the face of God on what will be our theme for 2019, God still wants us to look at our theme for this year from another perspective.

Truly, 2018 has been our year of complete freedom in Christ. Each and every one of us has experienced freedom in many areas of our lives. However, it is not enough to have experienced freedom in Christ; He also desires that we become agents of freedom.

That is, becoming instruments of freedom in the hand of our God to bring about the liberation of others from bondage of sin, sickness, pain, poverty, emotional disorder and other limitations that have held them bound.

Our text gives us insight on how to do this. In our text, three important issues could be identified, the crippled man, his environment or location and John and Peter, whom the Lord used to set the man free and bring about his healing. Let’s look closely at each of these three things.

Psalm 33:12 - The Psalmist has a great revelation to share with us from this passage. There are 3 Revelations which the Psalmist tries to press home in this singular verse.

1/ A nation who recognizes God as its owner

2/ A nation who recognizes the Lordship of God.

3/ A nation being the Choice of God, the Elects of God.

The Israelites are fortunate to enjoy these 3 privileges. No other nations of the world does.

All the Earth belongs to God, (Ex. 19:5) He created it all but not all nations of the world give him this recognition.

Many nations recognize Him as the Creator but do not agree to His Lordship.

His interest is not considered in the affairs of the nations; even though many mention God in their national anthems they don’t mean it, However, the grace is open to all to be His choice of His inheritance.

Deuteronomy 17:8-20 - The fourth major concern of society is the appointment of kings or rulers (Deut. 17:14-20).

These are the only laws dealing with kings in the first five books of the Bible.

Moses predicted that someday lying out in the future Israel would desire a king (Deut. 17:14).

The people would approach their leaders, requesting a king to rule over them like all the nations that surrounded them.

They would desire the royal pomp and power, the authority and rule of a king.

Moses declared the establishment of the law: the king must be appointed by God Himself (Deut. 17:15).

It is important to note a significant fact: God does not tie His people to one form of government.

Deuteronomy 17:2-7 -

Deuteronomy 16:18-22 - God delivered the Israelites from the enslavement of Egypt (a symbol of the world), and He led them through forty years of wilderness wanderings.

At last, they are poised to enter the Promised Land of God. But before they can cross the Jordan to lay claim to their promised inheritance, they must be prepared—spiritually prepared.

To prepare the people, Moses preached a series of messages that were grouped under three basic subjects: First, the need to remember the lessons from history (Deut. 1:6-4:43).

Second, the need to remember the Ten Commandments and the laws that are to govern man and society (Deut. 4:44-26:19).

James 1:22-25 - For several weeks, we had the privilege of hearing sermons that showed us the will of God for our lives and families, particularly in the areas of marriage and parenting.

The question that we need to ask ourselves is this: “What am I going to do about all that has been revealed to me as the will of God for my life?”

Contrary to what most people think, it is not enough to hear and know the Word of God; we must live and do the Word of God. The Lord Jesus expects everyone who hears His Word to do it (Matthew 12:50; Luke 6: 46 – 49).

Malachi 2:11-16 - God ordained marriage, first, to provide avenue for companionship, second, to provide for sexual fulfillment and prevent sexual immorality, and third, for procreation; so that children might be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Putting companionship first is not a mere coincidence. A guaranteed companionship is critical to sexual fulfillment and the raising of godly offspring. Lack of understanding of God's perspective of marital companionship and its purposes has left many people in the dungeon of marital endurance.

Genesis 24:1-9 - There is a desperate need within every generation: the need for parents to counsel and guide their children in dating and marriage.

The severe pain, trouble, and devastation that falls upon broken marriages and families cries out for the godly counsel and guidance of parents.

From the Bible, we can learn that parents have a responsibility to help their children to set up homes of their own.

In the passage we read this morning, we saw that when Isaac was forty years old, though he was quite capable of choosing his own wife (Gen. 25:20); yet Abraham sent his servant to Haran to seek a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24).

What, then, are parents to do to help their children set up their own homes? In the first place, parents must realize that the goal of all the efforts they make in training and disciplining of their children is that they will be able to set up homes of their own in the fullness of time.

Exodus 2:1-10 - There is no greater task given to men and women on earth by God than parenting. By parenting or child rearing, we mean the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood.

Unfortunately, despite its importance, parenting is hardly taught as a subject in school or even in church to everyone that may be entrusted with the task of parenting. The Bible is full of information about parenting, and in fact, God uses the imagery of parenting to describe His relationship with His people.

What, then, are the principles of parenting that we can discover in the Bible? The first is the Principle of Ownership. God is the Owner of the children that are born into our families.

Hebrews 12:1-11 - There is no greater task given to men and women on earth by God than parenting. By parenting or child rearing, we mean the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood.

Unfortunately, despite its importance, parenting is hardly taught as a subject in school or even in church to everyone that may be entrusted with the task of parenting. The Bible is full of information about parenting, and in fact, God uses the imagery of parenting to describe His relationship with His people.