Your Invitation to Christ's Feast - Richard Hamilton

This sermon explores Jesus' parable of the feast in Luke 14:16-24, considering these five points:  

1.  The invitation.

2.  The excuses.

3.  The inclusion.

4.  The exclusion.

5.  The conclusion.

True Life in the Son - Nathan Rages

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."  1John 5:11-13

Four questions about True Life:

1. Where is it found?  Exclusively in God’s Son.

2. How long does it last?  For eternity.  

3. How do you obtain it?  Receive God’s gift by faith.

4. Can you be certain you possess it?  Absolutely! 

Believing God's Testimony from the Water, Blood and Spirit - Nathan Rages

"This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement." 1John 5:6-8

How to Overcome the World - Nathan Rages

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"  1John 5:4-5

1. The necessity of overcoming the world.

2. The prerequisite for overcoming the world: 

     having been born of God.

3. The weapon for overcoming the world: 

     exercising Christ-centered faith.

4. The promises given to overcomers.   

How God Preserves His Word - Nathan Rages

The Bible text of 1John 5:7-8 reads very differently in the King James Version compared to most modern translations like the NASB and ESV.  This naturally raises questions about why these particular verses were changed so dramatically over the years.  Before answering these questions, it's necessary to understand the encouraging process by which God preserved His Word over the centuries and the science of Textual Criticism.

Lessons for us:

1. God has preserved His Word, just as He promised (Is. 40:8, Matt. 5:18).

2. God has done so with counterintuitive wisdom (1Cor. 1:25, Rom. 11:33). 

3. Beware of trying to “help God out” with unrighteous means (Rom. 3:8).

4. Beware of placing religious tradition above Scripture (Mark 7:13).

5. Choose your personal Bible translation with care. 

Love Casts Out Fear - Nathan Rages

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” 1John 4:17-19

The problem: FEAR

      Specifically, fearing “the day of judgment” (v17) and the

      “punishment” connected to it (v18).

The solution: LOVE

      Specifically, two kinds of love:

       (1)  God loving you thru Christ (v7,9,10,11,12,16,19).

       (2)  You loving people in a Christ-like way

       (v7,8,11,12,16,19,20,21).

God is Love - Nathan Rages

"By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.... No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.... We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."  1John 4:9,10,12,16

1. God IS love (v8,16).

2. God’s love was MANIFESTED in sending Christ (v9-10).

3. God’s love is PERFECTED when Christians love each other (v12).  

4. God’s love must be BELIEVED (v16).