13th Sunday after Pentecost Sermon 1 of 5 "New Every Morning" 9/11/11
13 Sunday after Pentecost
4/11/11
Text: 2 Timothy 3:14–17
Title: New Every Morning.
Sermon 1 of 5
Have you ever found yourself playing the “what if” game? You know, the one where you find yourself second guessing yourself. Most of us have been guilty of this at one time or another. We wonder how our life would be if an important event had happened differently or if something we wished for had happened. The problem with playing the “what if” game, is that it quite often can lead a person to be less appreciative of God’s blessings.
While the “what if” game can lead to some spiritual problems I have some good news for you this morning; actually God has some good news for you this morning. You can play the “what if” game in a way that doesn’t cause you to be less appreciative but more appreciative of God’s blessings in your life. Listen to Matthew 6, 33–34: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
You have probably all heard these verses, but do you believe that what they are saying is true? Do you truly believe that if you seek first God’s kingdom that everything else will fall into place? When I say that, that does not mean that life is going to go the way you want it or exactly how you had planned it to go. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that never happens.
And yet this statement is true. If we seek God’s kingdom first, all that we need will be given to us as well. And this really then lays down for us the reason for my sermon and Bible study series titled New Every Morning that we are starting this morning. This series of sermons and Bible studies all about the spiritual discipline of submitting ourselves to God’s will and receiving all that the gracious hand of God has for us.
I wonder what would happen if every member of Saint John Lutheran Congregation started each day reading and meditating on the Word of God? If you think that doing this would bring would bring about a blessing in your life, the life of your family, and in the life of the entire congregation, as God promises raise your hand.
I am glad to see so many hands go up, for simply put, if we seek first God’s kingdom and commit ourselves to starting each day in God’s Word, we will be better focused on God’s kingdom seeking his righteousness first.
God’s Word is really the only thing we can completely trust in to inform and strengthen our faith, and yet it is one of the most neglected tools in most Christians’ life, so I am delighted to see that most of you recognize the importance of starting each day with God’s Word.
It really is not complicated, for it only revolves around a single step, the next step that you will take in your life of faith. It does not make any difference whether you are a new believer or a long time believer. The next step for every Christian is always the same, for it is a step that takes us closer to God.
I am not going to ask for a show of hands, as I did earlier, but I do want to ask each of you, if you feel like you have arrived in your relationship with God, in that you are you are exactly where you want to be in your relationship with God. Is there some room for improvement? If you are like me there is definitely room for improvement.
Can you get closer? Of course, you can get closer. I do not care how mature you are in your faith; you can always get closer. Whether you are a new believer, a mature believer, or, as I think the case is with most of us, somewhere in between the next step is the same—“seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That is the reason that we, as a congregation are embarking on this series of sermons and Bible studies called New Every Morning, so that, we as Christians who want to get closer to God can take that next step that God is calling each of us to take.
This is not a program, for there is not a program in all the world that is going to draw you closer to God until you respond to God’s call by seeking his will, for as we learned in the sermon series on the Will of God he wants you to be in a trusting relationship with him. And the only way to do that is to daily be in his Word.
This is a spiritual discipline that God will bless: “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” You can’t do it for others in our church, but you can do it for yourself. I can’t mandate no matter how much I believe it is good for the congregation. Each of you has to decide for yourself to study and meditate on the Word of God or not.
Each one of you will hopefully decide to begin every day in the Word of God. Start by doing it for a week, one day at a time. Continue doing it for a month. And then look back over that month and see where you’re at in your walk of faith compared to where you started. See how your life is going.
Jesus quite often talks about himself being the bread of life. That comes from the time that God saved the people of Israel, as they wandered in the desert. Forty years he provided manna so they would not die.
God was specific in his giving of manna, for he wanted them to learn to trust him to provide for their needs. He told them take only enough for one day except on Friday morning when they could take enough to last them through the Sabbath. Take too much and it would rot.
Of course in the beginning they took too much. Why not? They needed that daily bread or they would perish from hunger. The problem was that the manna they worked so hard to collect rotted, as God said it would. So they did not try that again and over a forty-year period of time was a daily reliance upon God. They went to sleep with only their faith in God that there would be provision for them in the morning. They woke up every morning and collected their daily bread. They did that for forty years and God never let them down.
What I am asking of you this morning, actually God is asking of you, is that each of you will first thing in the morning seek the daily bread of God which is nourishment for your soul. You, need the rich food God has provided for you daily as it is found in His Word.
Another lesson that the Israelites learned was that they needed to rely on the Lord’s guidance. They would move when He said “move.” They would camp when He said “camp.” They would go where He said to go, for everything that they needed came from Him.
This applies to us also since we are God’s children knowing that we are sinners in need of God’s grace. We know that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves and that we must let God speak to us about the forgiveness we need each day through suffering, death and resurrection of our risen Lord.
Don’t believe Satan’s lies that you don’t have time, or that it really is not important to read God’s Word, as long as you believe in Jesus as your Savior. Don’t believe Satan’s lies that the Word of God is too complicated to understand. For he is the father of lies, lies that are designed to keep you from doing what God wants you to do; be in his Word so that you know about him and his will for you.
Listen to God’s Word as it is found in Lamentations 3:22–24: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
Just as God’s love, mercy, and compassion are all new every morning, they will never cease or fail. By reading and meditating on his Word every morning you will find peace in this world of trouble and who does not want that? Amen.
4/11/11
Text: 2 Timothy 3:14–17
Title: New Every Morning.
Sermon 1 of 5
Have you ever found yourself playing the “what if” game? You know, the one where you find yourself second guessing yourself. Most of us have been guilty of this at one time or another. We wonder how our life would be if an important event had happened differently or if something we wished for had happened. The problem with playing the “what if” game, is that it quite often can lead a person to be less appreciative of God’s blessings.
While the “what if” game can lead to some spiritual problems I have some good news for you this morning; actually God has some good news for you this morning. You can play the “what if” game in a way that doesn’t cause you to be less appreciative but more appreciative of God’s blessings in your life. Listen to Matthew 6, 33–34: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
You have probably all heard these verses, but do you believe that what they are saying is true? Do you truly believe that if you seek first God’s kingdom that everything else will fall into place? When I say that, that does not mean that life is going to go the way you want it or exactly how you had planned it to go. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that never happens.
And yet this statement is true. If we seek God’s kingdom first, all that we need will be given to us as well. And this really then lays down for us the reason for my sermon and Bible study series titled New Every Morning that we are starting this morning. This series of sermons and Bible studies all about the spiritual discipline of submitting ourselves to God’s will and receiving all that the gracious hand of God has for us.
I wonder what would happen if every member of Saint John Lutheran Congregation started each day reading and meditating on the Word of God? If you think that doing this would bring would bring about a blessing in your life, the life of your family, and in the life of the entire congregation, as God promises raise your hand.
I am glad to see so many hands go up, for simply put, if we seek first God’s kingdom and commit ourselves to starting each day in God’s Word, we will be better focused on God’s kingdom seeking his righteousness first.
God’s Word is really the only thing we can completely trust in to inform and strengthen our faith, and yet it is one of the most neglected tools in most Christians’ life, so I am delighted to see that most of you recognize the importance of starting each day with God’s Word.
It really is not complicated, for it only revolves around a single step, the next step that you will take in your life of faith. It does not make any difference whether you are a new believer or a long time believer. The next step for every Christian is always the same, for it is a step that takes us closer to God.
I am not going to ask for a show of hands, as I did earlier, but I do want to ask each of you, if you feel like you have arrived in your relationship with God, in that you are you are exactly where you want to be in your relationship with God. Is there some room for improvement? If you are like me there is definitely room for improvement.
Can you get closer? Of course, you can get closer. I do not care how mature you are in your faith; you can always get closer. Whether you are a new believer, a mature believer, or, as I think the case is with most of us, somewhere in between the next step is the same—“seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That is the reason that we, as a congregation are embarking on this series of sermons and Bible studies called New Every Morning, so that, we as Christians who want to get closer to God can take that next step that God is calling each of us to take.
This is not a program, for there is not a program in all the world that is going to draw you closer to God until you respond to God’s call by seeking his will, for as we learned in the sermon series on the Will of God he wants you to be in a trusting relationship with him. And the only way to do that is to daily be in his Word.
This is a spiritual discipline that God will bless: “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” You can’t do it for others in our church, but you can do it for yourself. I can’t mandate no matter how much I believe it is good for the congregation. Each of you has to decide for yourself to study and meditate on the Word of God or not.
Each one of you will hopefully decide to begin every day in the Word of God. Start by doing it for a week, one day at a time. Continue doing it for a month. And then look back over that month and see where you’re at in your walk of faith compared to where you started. See how your life is going.
Jesus quite often talks about himself being the bread of life. That comes from the time that God saved the people of Israel, as they wandered in the desert. Forty years he provided manna so they would not die.
God was specific in his giving of manna, for he wanted them to learn to trust him to provide for their needs. He told them take only enough for one day except on Friday morning when they could take enough to last them through the Sabbath. Take too much and it would rot.
Of course in the beginning they took too much. Why not? They needed that daily bread or they would perish from hunger. The problem was that the manna they worked so hard to collect rotted, as God said it would. So they did not try that again and over a forty-year period of time was a daily reliance upon God. They went to sleep with only their faith in God that there would be provision for them in the morning. They woke up every morning and collected their daily bread. They did that for forty years and God never let them down.
What I am asking of you this morning, actually God is asking of you, is that each of you will first thing in the morning seek the daily bread of God which is nourishment for your soul. You, need the rich food God has provided for you daily as it is found in His Word.
Another lesson that the Israelites learned was that they needed to rely on the Lord’s guidance. They would move when He said “move.” They would camp when He said “camp.” They would go where He said to go, for everything that they needed came from Him.
This applies to us also since we are God’s children knowing that we are sinners in need of God’s grace. We know that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves and that we must let God speak to us about the forgiveness we need each day through suffering, death and resurrection of our risen Lord.
Don’t believe Satan’s lies that you don’t have time, or that it really is not important to read God’s Word, as long as you believe in Jesus as your Savior. Don’t believe Satan’s lies that the Word of God is too complicated to understand. For he is the father of lies, lies that are designed to keep you from doing what God wants you to do; be in his Word so that you know about him and his will for you.
Listen to God’s Word as it is found in Lamentations 3:22–24: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
Just as God’s love, mercy, and compassion are all new every morning, they will never cease or fail. By reading and meditating on his Word every morning you will find peace in this world of trouble and who does not want that? Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 1:39 PM
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