Dear Father in Heaven, Thanks for another day, and thanks for Friday and the day we call Salvation Friday. Please, Lord, forgive us of our sins, and Lord, for we who are saved, renew us this day by cleaning us, and Lord, use us in Your fields of harvest to help bring in the lost. Point them out to us so that we may teach them about Your love for all of us. Help us, Lord, I pray in Jesus' Name, Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, what a beautiful fall day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Today is Salvation Friday and the day we pray for the lost and pray for we who are saved that God would clean us and send us forth to work the fields for Him. Pray also that when He does send us, we answer the call, not just walk away. Today I want to do a wrap-up of the message on the Big Three, and I want to get right to it, as it might go long.
The Big Three (Wrap-Up).
Matthew 17:20 - Jesus replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible to you." (NIV)
Let's today talk about faith. How much faith do you have? Do you pray for healing or for money to buy fuel and nothing happens? Could it be your lack of faith? How much faith do we really have? Do you know that we must also use good judgment when it comes to faith? Oh, you want me to explain that one? Folks, we must not test God when it comes to our faith, we just must have faith in God and believe. Let me just make up a couple of examples. Okay, you have faith that when you cross the street you are not going to get run over by a vehicle. Do you just walk out in traffic saying no one will hit me because I have faith that God is protecting me? Or do you cross at the crosswalks, look both ways until traffic is clear before you cross, and then have faith that no vehicle will hit you? Do you have faith that God will heal you but never, ever go to the doctors that God has loaned talent to? Or do you go to your doctors and get treated and have faith that God is working directly and also through your doctors? I have four doctors, my family doctor, a pain doctor, and the one who handled my cancer, plus my foot doctor. All of them have faith in God through our Lord Jesus and each one of them prays with us when we are in the office. God is good. Now you say, why go to the doctors if you have faith in God healing you? Listen to me on this one ... You pray for food, does God provide this food? Yes, but the sky does not open up and food drop on your plate because you have faith. God works through the hands of many on this food chain. Think of it from the farmers who go to the farm stores to get their seeds, so it starts way before the planting. The fields get readied, and then the planting and the tending and all of that and then the harvest. Oh, and God does send the rain if in a dry area, He lent talent to men and women to put in systems to water the plants. So if we put our faith in God and we really listen to Him, it will work out.
I Corinthians 13:13 - And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. (NIV)
Have you ever hoped for something? Of course you have, you have prayed for it, and HOPEFULLY you had FAITH that it would come. Maybe in our younger days we might have called it a wish or something else. All who are parents have prayed and hoped that our children would grow up and be good Christ-loving adults. We pray and hope that they work hard and get all the things in life they need and lot of what they really want. We also have hope for other things. And you cannot separate faith and hope, my friends. If you do not have faith, how can you even think about hope? Folks, how many of you have walked out on a limb in faith? I know many people who have. Let me roll back about 50 years and tell you about a few young men who walked out in faith to sing for the Lord. Picking an are in the United States where God sent them to sing ... and sing they did and the name of the Couriers was born, and although those guys, who made the walk back then, three are still walking out in faith and one is home with the Lord. Many others have done the same and from Dave, Duane, Neil, Tim, Pastor Larry, Doug Boyer, and so many more have stepped out in faith, with Hope that the Love of God will be shared with all who they come in contact with while singing, preaching, and teaching. We in Carry The Light Ministries have stepped out in faith with hope that we could get the word out for the Lord and also feed the hungry as we go.
Folks, are you ready today when you Hope for things to take that step out in Faith? Do you have faith in our Lord Jesus and hope that you will make it to Heaven? Folks, Faith and Hope come from God, that is REAL faith and hope.
Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
I Corinthians 13:3 - If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (NIV)
I Corinthians 13:1 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (NIV)
I Corinthians 13:4 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always HOPES, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. (NIV)
Mark 1:10 - As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw Heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from Heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased." (NIV)
Mark 12:30 - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." 31 "The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV)
Yesterday I quoted that scripture from Matthew about the great commandments.
Folks, you can think you have it all, but if you do not have love, you HAVE NOTHING! Throughout the Bible, God talks about Love and Jesus talks about Love. Where do you stand on it? Do you love your neighbors, all of them? Some people don't even love their family members or at least they do not show it. If you truly have love, you will show it. Jesus showed it in the way He lived on this earth. Jesus was always doing for others and setting examples for others to follow. How about you? You might say you love all others, but does your lifestyle play that out? Maybe the reason some people do not love their neighbors as themselves is because they do not love or even like themselves. I talked about that yesterday, this is a wrap-up.
John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (NIV)
Let's pause right now and say thank you to those of our military who laid down their lives for our country and that means laid down their lives for us. Each day our fine men and women in the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, and all of the National Guard units, and all of our police officers, have been willing to lay down their lives, and some have.
Romans 5:6 - You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ DIED for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US. (NIV)
And this is worth repeating over and over again ...
John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (NIV)
John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (NIV)
John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (NIV)
No greater Love has been shown for us than those willing to lay down their lives to keep us safe and free, free as a nation. And no greater love has been shown by anyone other than our Lord Jesus who laid down His life for our sins. Listen to this, He created us, He saved all those who came to Him, He will save all those who come to Him. And for those of us who come, He will someday COME BACK FOR US. NO GREATER LOVE has been shown for us than our Lord who went to the cross for us and died for us, even before we were born. JESUS DIED FOR YOU AND FOR ME. Jesus knew us when He was on the cross, He knew us even before we were in the womb.
Now, my dear brothers and sisters ... I know all of you would lay down your lives for your child or grandchild. So I will ask you this ... Are you willing to lay down your life for others and for Jesus? If you are asked by a non-believer who is holding a gun to your head "Do you love Jesus?" What would you say? Would you lay down your life for Jesus as He laid down His life for you?
Brothers and sisters, I pray I would have the nerve and courage to put my life on the line for you and for Jesus. I pray none of us are called to that, but Lord, please help us to be strong and ready and willing.
Dear Father in Heaven: Thank You for laying down Your life for us, thanks for dying for us so we might live. Give us the courage to stand up for You in all we do, even if it means giving up our lives for You as so many missionaries have done in the past. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth sharing your blessings. Love ya, Pastor Dan.
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