Before you can be obedient to the commands of Jesus, you must have faith that Jesus can accomplish His purpose and His will. When Christians have faith, they obey. Experiencing the power of God comes in the context of obeying God.

This week's sermon short is from the archives. It is from a sermon I preached in 2016 from Psalm 1 titled The Way of Righteousness.

What does it mean to delight in the Lord?

Psalm 1 teaches that the righteous take pleasure in the law of God. This is the truth that gives understanding to the second part of verse 2; "but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:2 ESV)

What we find pleasure in attracts our attention. Whatever has our attention, we will seek out. The one who delights in the law of God does not approach the law of God with dread but with joy. This pleasure is better than the world's pleasures because it satisfies, fulfills, and is never-ending.

Where the hopes and desires of the wicked are lost to the wind, the delight of the righteous is satisfied and fulfilled in the Lord. The way of sinners leads to rejecting God and scoffing. The way of righteousness leads to delighting in the Lord and meditating day and night on His word.

The work of atonement could only be accomplished by Jesus and has been accomplished by Jesus. The work is done. It is finished. You must decide to receive the gift of His atoning work by believing faith or to reject the cross. You cannot add more to what Jesus has done. You either must receive the gift or reject it.

The work of redemption is finished and offered to you today. Receive the free gift of the atonement and be saved today.

It is easy to recognize and condemn the sin we see in others. But all sin demands the sacrifice of the lamb of God. All sin is just as wicked, just as shameful, and just as costly as the vilest of sinner's sin. All sin is just as shameful as the sin of those who cried "crucify Him."

To the one who rejects Jesus, the cross remains offensive and ugly. But to the one who has been made clean by the blood of Jesus – the cross is beautiful and glorious! Come to Jesus. Bow before the King of kings. Believe in faith and be saved.

Direction is more important than location. We tend to give more importance to location, but where you are heading matters more than where you are. You may be far away from the Lord today, but God beckons you to draw near (direction language). And the beautiful promise is that no matter where you are - when your direction changes from chasing after the world to drawing near to God, God meets you where you are and exalts you to a right relationship with Him.

Babies are cute, and we find them adorable. Even though they are not potty trained, they often spit up, drool when teething, incessantly cry when hungry, have no patience, and have a very low tolerance to any discomfort we do not think ill of them because they are babies. However, if a teenager behaved like a baby, we would recognize it as a lack of proper development and needing treatment or discipline. If an adult acted like a baby, we would judge the person as mentally ill. It is ok to be immature in the faith. It is not ok to remain immature in the faith. It is ok to be a babe in Christ. It is not ok to remain a babe in Christ.

Have you heard about deepfakes? The technology is terrifying when you think about all the implications of how it could be used to destroy someone’s reputation or even cause havoc with the stability of governments.

The church has been countering deepfakes since the very beginning. There have always been some who claim to preach the word but actually weaken, manipulate, and twist the word to suit their desires and agendas. Such people are spiritual deepfakes. They look like they are preaching the word, they say they are preaching the word, but they are not.

The way these are confronted and countered is by knowing the word so that counterfeits are recognized, by preaching the word faithfully so that others can recognize such counterfeits, and by keeping close to the word so that when such fakes come along, they are quickly identified.

This is the mission of the church – to preach the word. In every season with all faithfulness, until Jesus returns – preach the word.

From the sermon The Church’s Worship, Ephesians 5:15-21

In Acts 16, the Bible records that Paul and Silas had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel and casting out a demon from a slave girl. They were ordered to be imprisoned and their feet fastened in the stocks. The next verse gives a simple description:

Acts 16:25 (ESV) — 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

Paul and Silas were doing what Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:15-21. They were being abused by the government. They were in the unsanitary, uncomfortable, and unpleasant confines of a 1st-century jail. They were surrounded by others who did not know Jesus. But what do they do?

They do not complain. They do not scream and cry. They do not even demand justice.

They worship. They prayed and sang hymns to God. They were worshiping with integrity. They were worshiping in faithfulness. And they were worshiping for the glory of God.

From the sermon The Church’s Testimony, Matthew 18:15-20

The worthiness of fighting for something is not from the outcome but the value of what could be lost. It is worth the risk to contend for a brother’s restoration and lose than surrender him to the devil without a fight. Do not give up on your brothers and sisters without a fight. Speak truth into their lives, Contend for their restoration. Honor the testimony of the church.

From the sermon the Church’s Foundation, Matthew 16:18-19