South Union Sermons

Bottom line: I see the light when Jesus comes into sight. I receive the light of life when I believe in Jesus (the Son of God) as Savior.

The story of the healing of the blind man in John 9 is an illustration of how Jesus is the one who gives the ability to see spiritually and that He is the light of the world. The blind man was given physical sight, but he also gained spiritual sight. His understanding of who Jesus was went from simply being a man named to Jesus to a prophet to a man of God to the Son of God. Once he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, he gained eternal life. The whole point of John's gospel was that his readers might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing they would have eternal life. Jesus is the Light of the World. We can receive Him as the Light of Life when we trust Him to be the Son of God, our Savior.

Bottom line: We can steward the gospel because we have His promises of His power, of success, and of reward.

Jesus promised us His presence and power through the Holy Spirit. Because we have access to His power to flow in and through us, we should be motivated to be a faithful witness for Jesus. We also have the example of the early church's successes. If they did it, we can do it too. Their successes should motivate us to be faithful witnesses for Jesus. But there is another promise we have been given, and that is the promise of reward. God seeks to positively motivate us with the understanding that witnessing and being engaged in winning the lost to Jesus will be rewarded. Paul mentions the "soul winners" crown or the "crown of rejoicing" as being those who we have a part in winning to Jesus.

Bottom line: How we steward the gospel message that has been entrusted to us can make all the difference in whether those in our world do or do not trust Jesus as Savior.

Paul writes to the Colossians and tells of four things that must be stewarded wisely so that those who are lost may know the penalty of sin, the price of sin, the payment for salvation, and the present of salvation. Those four things are our prayers, our opportunities to share, our lives (i.e. our saltiness and brightness), and our speech.

Bottom line: When you b.l.e.s.s. others, you actively participate in God's mission of reaching, restoring, and reproducing.

In the story of the woman at the well we see a microcosm of the mission of Jesus to reach, restore, and reproduce. He reached and restored the woman, and then the woman immediately sought to reach others (i.e. she was reproducing). The mission of Jesus was rooted in blessing, i.e. the blessing of Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant. Everywhere Jesus went he sought to reach people while he blessed people. In this message, we learn about a strategy that can be implemented practically to bless others and in doing so reach others.

Bottom line: When I choose Jesus as my savior, I accept the invitation to eternal life. When I choose to serve Jesus by serving others, I accept the invitation to a better life. 

What happens when we serve God by serving others? 1) God shows up through our service and others get to see His love, heart, work, and Son's life in us, 2) you shine a light that illuminates Jesus, expels the darkness, and attracts people, 3) you experience a better life lived - joy inwardly, community relationally, significance extraordinarily, and intimacy spiritually.

Do you talk to others about Jesus? When the last time you did? God has called, entrusted, empowered, and enlightened us to tell the world about Jesus, who He is, and what He has done for us by grace. Tell them about His person, power, promises, and provisions.

Bottom line: Growing spiritually is the supernatural work of God changing us as we yield our lives to Him in faith and obedience. 

When it comes to spiritual growth, we need to prioritize it in our lives because God has commanded it. We do our part and God will do His to change us for His glory. Our part is to surrender and yield in faith and obedience. We need to apply the equation "Desire + Discipline = Change". We can have all the desire in the world for growth and change and not grow or change one bit. Desire alone will not change us. Desire plus discipline makes the difference. We do our part and God will do in us what we could never do on our own - He changes us from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor. 3:18)

Bottom line: Connecting with God (vertically) and other believers (horizontally) is fundamental to a believer ultimately growing, serving, and reaching others for the glory of God.

There are four things that we want every believer in our church to be: connecting, growing, serving, and reaching. We use these four words in our discipleship process, which is illustrated with a baseball diamond where first base is connecting, second base is growing, third base is serving, and home plate is reaching.

We will never be effective in growing, serving, and reaching if we are not first connecting with God in relation, adoration, and habitation, and connecting with other believers in the body of Christ in both large group and small group.

Bottom line: Our hidden sin can cause us and others great harm, but there is complete forgiveness and freedom in Jesus that will set us free.

What can we learn from Achan? Our sin doesn't just affect us. It affects others, even those whom we love the most. Our hidden sin doesn't just affect us. Our hidden sin can ruin us, our family, and our church.

Sin will take you farther than you want to go. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.

Jesus died to pay for our sin. What one request can we make that only God can fulfill? The request to be forgiven of sin.

Bottom line: Surrender to the King in a moment of time for moments of worship all the time. 

What stands before us today (Christmas morning) is what is most important – the birth of our savior, the King.  Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus in a moment of time so that we can have a King, High Priest, and Warrior Savior all the time. He is worthy of our worship. Surrender to the King in a moment of time for moments of worship all the time. Bring an offering of worship and praise to Jesus. Bring your heart, your life, your surrender, your gold (transfer your power to Him), your prayer, your communion, your sacrifice. Surrender in a moment of time, for moments of worship all the time because what matters most is what stands before you right now!