Words of Life|Pastor Balan Swaminathan|HIPM

The following are the results of persecution on the early church:

- Church was purified & their faith was strengthened    

In ancient Rome, crowds by the tens of thousands would gather in the Colosseum to watch as Christians were torn apart by wild animals. Paul Rader, commenting on his visit to this famous landmark, said, "I stood uncovered to the heavens above, where He sits for whom they gladly died, and asked myself, 'Would I, could I, die for Him tonight to get this gospel to the ends of the earth?'" Rader continued, "I prayed most fervently in that Roman arena for the spirit of a martyr, and for the working of the Holy Spirit in my heart, as He worked in Paul's heart when He brought him on his handcuffed way to Rome." Those early Christians "lived on the threshold of heaven, within a heartbeat of home, no possessions to hold them back." Lord give me the spirit of a martyr. 

The early church was a persecuted church as a result, the church was purified, strengthened in their faith, word of God spread everywhere, people are drawn more to the coming of the Lord.  May the Lord revive our church today to these wonderful truths of persecution.  Amen!

The early church was a growing church.

- The growth of a church can't be just measured by the number of people attending the church.

Our individual prayer lives have a great influence in the prayer life of the church.

- Let us pray more than we do

I am sure God is working in some of your lives to draw you into the realm of prayer and intercession.  He is not going to leave you until He is done with you.  The early church was a praying church and it was also a growing church.

Luke 2: 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

You and I are called to be like star to this world.  In what way?  

- It was a start of the King

This is the third miracle of Christmas the appearance of the "Angel and the company of angels" - Luke 2:9,13

- Who are these angels?

One of the miracles of Christmas was the way God protected child Jesus from the hands of the enemy.

The same God can do the same supernatural miracles to us too.

- God instructed the wise men not to go to Herod

This sermon answers some of our questions about our relationship with God and how to lead a life that pleases God and not our own flesh. 

- God is saying do not steal.  Taking other's possession is not the only way of stealing. 

Let us not fall in to the sin of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Matthew 5:17 "Do not think I have come to get rid of what is written in the Law or in the Prophets. I have not come to do that.  Instead, I have come to give full meaning to what is written. 18 What I'm about to tell you is true.

The following are the topics discussed in this sermon:

- Relationship with our Heavenly Father

The following are the topics covered in this sermon based on The Ten Commandments:

- Relationship with our heavenly father

We need to seek Him in a time when He may be found  also when He is found near to us. 

- What is seeking?  According to 2 Chronicles 7:14  seeking is

1. Humbling

- Why people don't seek God?  They don't find the need of seeking God, Thinking that we know everything, Ignorance of eternity, Pleasures of this world----more----

- We see from the scriptures that God may not be found at times either because of His timing or because of our iniquities. 

Listen to the sermon and seek the Lord.