IT WILL NEVER CHANGE

Sunday Sermon
November 23, 2008
Rhema Community Church

Sermonic Skeleton

Sermonic Scripture

ESV Isaiah 40:1-8 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Sermonic Sentence: This pericope teaches us about the transient nature of all flesh and the timeless truth of God’s word.

Sermonic Point: All flesh will be changed by a word that never changes.

Sermonic Context:

NLT 2 Kings 18:13-20 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. 14 King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only go away." The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and about one ton of gold. 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the LORD and in the palace treasury. 16 Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the LORD's Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king. 17 Nevertheless the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his personal representative from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians stopped beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is bleached. 18 They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian. 19 Then the Assyrian king's personal representative sent this message to King Hezekiah: "This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? 20 Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Which of your allies will give you any military backing against Assyria?

NLT 2 Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about King Sennacherib of Assyria.

NLT Luke 3:1-6 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living out in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned from their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: 'Prepare a pathway for the Lord's coming! Make a straight road for him! 5 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills! Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places! 6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.' "

Sermonic Structure:

I. GODS WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF IT

(Isaiah 40.1-2)

II. GODS WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NEWS CONTAINED WITHIN IT (Isaiah 40.3-5)

III. GODS WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO’S LIVES ARE BEING TRANSFORMED BY IT (Isaiah 40.6-8)

INTERNAL POWER

There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. Moreover, if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.
These are the words of Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman (1900 – 1981)

I hear the Apostle Paul saying to the church at Ephesus,

Ephesians 3.20–21 (The Message)

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

IT'S THE MAN ON THE INSIDE

Sunday Sermon
November 16, 2008
Rhema Community Church

Sermonic Scripture: ESV 1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Sermonic Tension: The spirit of the Antichrist and the doctrine of Docetism

· ANTICHRIST First used in the Johannine Epistles (1 John 2.18; 22; 1 John 4.3; John 7), the term signifies those who deny Christ’s Incarnation. It has also been used to signify the prince of the enemies of Christ. In the Gospels, Christ warns of one who would come and try to deceive the elect in His name (Matthew 24.24; Mark 13.22). Paul warns of the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2.3; 8; 9) who will come and do miracles (2 Thessalonians 2.9-10) and deceive many. The Antichrist is described in Revelation as “the Beast,” and his appearance is the prelude to the parousia (Second Coming) of the Lord Jesus. At this time, the Antichrist will be defeated by the Lord. Speculation about the identity of the Antichrist has been common throughout church history. The early Church believed the Antichrist was a person such as Caligula, Simon Magus, or Nero. Others felt that the Antichrist was the Arian heresy popular in the early Church. During the Reformation (and to this day in some less-educated Protestant circles) the Antichrist has been identified as the pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

· DOCETISM From the Greek dokein, “to appear,” “to seem.” Docetism teaches that the humanity of Jesus was not real; He was a divine being who only seemed to have a human body. The belief was widespread among those who held that Christ could not suffer and still be Divine, and also among those who believed that Christ’s having a material body would have tainted Him with sin. Docetism was opposed by the framers of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds and soundly defeated at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, where it was affirmed that Jesus was “truly God and truly man.” See: Apostles’ Creed; Chalcedon, Council of; Nicene Creed.

Sermonic Point: There is no reason for a child of God to fear or experience failure. God has declared us the winner of every fight. (Live to win)

Since this premise is true, (1 John 4.4) then why do I feel like such a failure? Either you are not saved or you are ignorant of your salvation.

Sermonic Structure:

I. I AM CONNECTED TO THE CREATOR
(Little children, you are from God)

II. I AM AN OVER-COMER
(And have overcome them)

III. I AM POSSESSED BY THE COMFORTER
(for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world)

"HOW TO RESPOND TO POLITICAL PROMOTION"

Sunday Sermon
November 9th 2008
Rhema Community Church

Sermon Skeleton

Sermonic Scripture: Romans 13.1-7

ESV Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Sermonic Sentence: Citizens of God’s kingdom are marked by total obedience unto Him.

Sermonic Subject: Civil obedience (Our government is in God’s hands)

Sermonic Tension: Being a Christian does not mean that I’ve been called into a life of passivity. As a Christian, I am always speaking truth to power. Never forgetting that as a child of God, we hold dual citizenship. We are heavenly minded and we are earthly good.

Sermonic Structure:

I. Acknowledge that all power belongs to God. (Romans 13.1)

II. Acknowledge that all promotion comes from God. (Romans 13.1-6)

III. Acknowledge that all politicians are respected out of our obedience to God. (Romans 13.7)