South Union Sermons

Bottom line: Even in the midst of our failures and unfaithfulness we have hope because God is faithful and never fails in His covenant promise.

The book of Judges records a dark period in the history of Israel. The author of Judges tells us that in the time period of the Judges there was no king in Israel and that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges records 7 different "spin cycles of sin," (i.e. departures from God into idolatry and spiritual failure). And the question the book of Judges answers for us is this, "In the midst of the failures of God's people, when they rejected God, departed from Him, and found themselves in a place of despair, was there hope? Was there hope that the people could be forgiven and restored?" And the answer is yes. The book of Judges is more than a book about a people who find themselves repeatedly caught up in the "spin cycle of sin." It is a book about a King who faithfully loves His people even when His people are unfaithful and unloving towards Him.

Bottom line: Overcoming hypocrisy is not achieved accidentally. I must intentionally choose to be real with myself, others, and God.

Jesus encourages us in the Sermon on the Mount to not be like the Pharisees - hypocrites - who do what they do just to be seen of men. The Pharisees couldn't see it in the themselves, but they had gap between what they projected outwardly and what they were inwardly. Jesus said they were whitewashed sepulchers - clean on the outside and yet full of dead men's bones on the inside.

Sometime we do what they did. We wear a mask. We project outwardly to others something different than what we are inwardly. That's hypocrisy. And hypocrisy is a big deal with God because hypocrisy turns people away from God.

When I choose to be real with myself, I can be real with others and God. As long as we wear the mask of hypocrisy, we can't be real.

Bottom line: When we forgive others, we receive freedom.

When we are committed to growing in our willingness to forgive others, God helps us grow in our ability to forgive others. And we should be committed to growing in our willingness to forgive because we have a limited to capacity to carry the hurts, pains, and offenses that others have cause us. Forgiving others allows us to offload the hurt and get unburdened from the pain. We actually find freedom from things like resentment, revenge, and bitterness when we forgive. Because of the benefits of forgiveness we should seek to do it, but it is also God's desire for our lives. Paul said that we should be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. Since we've been forgiven, we should extend forgiveness to others.

Bottom line: I can trust God today with tomorrow's concerns.

Can we trust God? Yes we can. Jesus addressed this issue in the Sermon on the Mount. If God takes care of the birds of the air, then you can trust that He will take care of you too. Can we trust God? Yes. Do we trust God? That's a different question all together. Oftentimes we worry and drag tomorrow's concerns into today, but when we trade our worries for trust, we get peace in return. When we sense worry in our lives, we need to move in a different direction by seeking God's kingdom first (cf. Mt. 6:33). By seeking the kingdom first, we demonstrate our trust in God. Trading our worries for trust in God brings God's peace into our lives.

Bottom line: We light up the darkness when Jesus' life shines through us.

In a culture where the light of the church is dimming, we can turn up the brightness of the light . Peter teaches us five things we can do to light up the darkness in 1 Peter 2:1-12. We can live evangelistically, grow in maturity, serve in ministry, identify peculiarly, and sacrifice worshipfully. As we do these things, we shine the light of Jesus' life into the culture around us.

Bottom line: A good and godly man lives a blessed life.

When we walk in the fear of the Lord and His ways, we can expect God's blessings to flow to us for the purpose of flowing through us to bless those around us (e.g. wife, children, family, church, community, etc.)

Bottom line: Because of our access to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we can make the devil run.

God the Father is our power. We have authority over the devil because our heavenly Father has authority over Satan.

God the Son is our purity. He gives us power over sin.

God the Spirit is our presence against Satan. When the devil comes against us, just know that the Holy Spirit of God is with us. Because He is with us, we have power of Satan. He is our courage and our comfort.

Bottom line: Missions is a partnership between a missionary and a sending church for the "furtherance of the gospel" so that Christ may be made known.

A sending church and missionary partner together in prayer, in faithfulness of defending the gospel, in sacrifice for God's glory, in labor to spread the gospel, in finances to support the gospel's furtherance.

Change happens all the time in our lives. Sometimes its good. Maybe you get a new job or add a baby to your family. Other times though, maybe you have a loss of some kind. Spiritually, we change too. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The encouragement is that in a world of change, the things that should stay the same, do stay the same.

Bottom line: We honor our moms because God commands us. And the command is doable because moms are honorable.

This message looks at a young mother and the lessons we can learn from her that make moms worthy of our honor.

1) She did all she could to provide for her family.

2) She took advantage of God given opportunities to bless her family.

3) She remained faithful to God and His command.

4) She interceded for her family.

5) She impacted her family positively with her faith.

In many ways our mothers did and blessed their families in the same or similar ways. For that, our moms are honorable, and the command to honor is doable. (cf. Ex. 20:12)