"Grace and Peace"

I Corinthians 1:3 "Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

Grace and peace have always been fascinating topics to me. Grace being the receiving of a positive benefit that one does not deserve, and peace being that inner feeling of rest that almost can't be described.

John R. Rice said, "God's grace always comes before God's peace." How true is that statement in our lives. We get ourselves in these places of uncomfortableness, then we get to the point where we are in need of God's peace. The only problem is, we don't deserve God's peace. So what has to happen? God's grace must come first in order for us to get God's peace.

So next time you are in need of peace, remember to pray for God's grace so that His peace can soon follow.

"Pleasing the Father"

Ephesians 6:6-8 "Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."

In the life of the Christian, God tries to orchestrate and conduct their lives. Many are too worried and concern with what everyone else around them thinks or wants. Ephesians says that we need to only concern ourselves with what God wants. His opinion should be the only one that matters.

When we keep our eyes on the Father, and do exactly what He wants us to do, we will do just fine in life. Follow His lead, and He will orchestrate a wonderful life in you. Don't worry whether the pastor thinks your doing a good job or not, what matters the most is what God thinks of you. Seek to please the Father, and your spouse, pastor, children, everyone around you will be pleased as well.

"What is your Motive"

II Corinthians 5:14 "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead"

When was the last time you considered what Christ did for you? When you think about what He has done for you, what does it cause you to do? Do you love Him more? Do you want to live your life for Him? Do you want to serve Him in a greater capacity? We ought to!

When we come to personal witnessing, what are our motives? The need of mankind or our love of Christ? The Bible says that "the love of Christ constraineth us" When we have the motive of man's need, we pick and choose which man, women, or child we will or will not witness to. But when our motive is to obey Christ out of our love for Him, it doesn't matter the man, woman, or child - we will witness to them out of our love for the Savior.

We need a new motive - the Love of Christ! Examine your motives today, and get a fresh look at what He has commanded us to do, to win the lost. Do it today.

"Acknowledge Him"

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

Acknowledge means "seek to know God and to see God in all your ways" Do you have a relationship with God that causes you to know more of him? God should be part of your daily routine. You know something, when God has been incorporated into ones daily life, doing God's will, to them is easy. We must accept the fact that we are the lesser ones in this relationship, and it needs to be a natural thing that we follow His guiding and do what pleases Him. Acknowledge Him. Seek Him. In every part of your life, place God where He ought to be placed. You'll find Him, when you acknowledge that He's there.

zSHARE - Pastor Aaron 7-19-2009 Am.wma

Download Sunday Mornings Sermon "This Little Light of Mine"
zSHARE - Pastor Aaron 7-19-2009 Am.wma

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"Can we Fix Broken Relationships?"

If we are going to fix a broken or wounded relationship we are going to have to have Christ-centered, and God-focused solutions. You can try some of the more popular psychological theories, and most likely you will find them wanting. The reason for that is that they fail to address the deepest need in our lives. Christ. If it is true in Philippians 4:13 that, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," then it is also true that "without me ye can do nothing." Jesus Christ is not an add-on in relationships. He is the relationship. Our goal ought to be, to bring Christ to his rightful place, the center of the relationship.

It doesn't matter if it's your marriage that's failing, your relationship with your parents, your children, your siblings, whoever it may be. Christ must be at the center. If He is not, then expect problems in that relationship. This is not about theories, it's about facts - Christ at the center works every time. Yes, every time. For those of you who are doubting this, I dare you to try it. Place Christ at the center, focus on what you should be doing in the relationship, and do it. Can a broken relationship be fixed? Yes, with Christ in the center, the answer is always yes!

"From Glory to Glory"

II Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

As Christians, we must understand that our relationship with God is based on the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Don't allow yourself to be trapped in a performance-oriented, defective concept of Christianity. We must recognize that God gives His grace freely to us, we don't have to "earn" anything or prove anything to Him. We must be reminded that it is not what I do for God that gets me into heaven; it is what Jesus has already done on the cross.

What we do for God, ought to be done out of a heart of love, and a desire to please Him, not gain His approval. We need to live our lives as Christians from His approval, not for His approval. What a difference this will make in your daily life.

"Give Him you Best"

John 2:5 "His mother saith unto the servants, 'Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.'"

Our Lord always demands our best. He doesn't want our second best, or our left overs. When we give Him our best, He tranforms it into His better. He turned the water into wine. He turns the handful of seeds into a great harvest. He turned 5 loaves and 2 fish into a full meal with leftovers.

What are you holding back? Does Jesus have your best? You'll be amazed what he can do when you decide to give it to him. Give Him your best - He deserves it!

"Let's Get Stirred Up!"

II Timothy 1:5-6 "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned Faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in they grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands."

This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. I love seeing the Christian heritage of Timothy. I am so glad that I am not a first generation Christian. My Christian heritage goes back at least 5 or 6 generations. Not that there is anything wrong with being a first generation Christian, I for one am glad for the Biblical teachings that have been handed down to me from my distant relatives.

Do you ever get stirred up about anything? Something that just gets you going and you just have to talk about it? In verse 6 Paul tells Timothy that he remembers stirring up the gift of God. What a testimony we could have if we would just get stirred up about the things of God in our lives. Could you imagine the people that we could win to Christ if we would get stirred up. We must get excited about what God is doing here if we ever expect our lives to influence someone else's life. Let God do something special in your life today - Get stirred up!

"The Heritage of the Lord - Children"

Psalm 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is His reward."

Our church just finished an awesome week of Vacation Bible School. We had 63 kids enrolled, raised $116.00 during the penny wars, dressed up goofy, used 144 balloons for balloon animals and hats, and saw 7 children added to the Lambs Book of Life. Our church did such a phenomenal job. From the decorations, registration table, the crew leaders, the classroom teachers, the photographers, the snack preparers, nursery workers, to the the teen workers. Everyone made our VBS a huge success!

Psalm 127:3 says that, "children are an heritage of the LORD" What an opportunity we had this week to minister to God's heritage. I think the the people of Crossroads Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama have pleased the Lord greatly this week.

Great job Crossroads! Thanks for all your hard work.

"I Will Sing!"

Psalm 66:2,4 "Sing forth the honour of His name: make His praise glorious. All the earth shall worship Thee, and shall sing unto Thee: they shall sing to thy name."

Do you ever find yourself upset? Angry? Mad? Depressed? Disappointed? All of your inner feelings in torment? I know I've been all of those places before. All of those things have something in common - they are all emotional responses to something taking place in our lives.

There are plenty of genres of music out there. And the fact of the matter is music often changes the way we feel emotionally. So the next time you feel one of these ways - I want you to try something. SING, SING, SING! Sing praises to GOD! You know something it's hard to stay mad, angry, or even disappointed when the song "O Say but I'm Glad" comes to your lips. "There is a song in my heart today, something I never had. Jesus has come and my cups over run, O! Say but I'm Glad" I always find it difficult to stay depressed when I sing, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine"

When you feel those feelings of emotion getting to be to much for you - SING!

"Which Way Do I Go?"

Job 23:10 "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

When I was in high school I worked at a gas station. From time to time we would have people come in the station and ask for directions. Most of the time we would kindly tell them how to get there as long as we knew the way. But then there were other times, for no good reason at all, we would give them the wrong directions. It was pretty funny at the time, but this is also the reason I hesitate asking for directions at gas stations, cause I know what goes around comes around. It amazes the amount of people that head out to go somewhere, and they have know idea how to get there. Now, I know that some start out thinking they know where they are going but in the end they have to ask for directions.

Christians are the same way sometimes. We start off in our Christian lives on a journey, and we are pretty sure where we are going. But somewhere along the way we get lost and have to ask for directions. The fact of the matter is we often ask the wrong ones. Sometimes the people we ask know the way, but sometimes the people we ask have no clue at all and they send us on a wild goose chase. Why not just consult a map? Or better yet, the map's creator. By map I mean the Bible, and by map's creator I mean GOD. He always knows the way, the best short cuts, the roads to avoid due to closing or heavy traffic. God will never steer you wrong, He knows the way you need to take. Trust HIM and follow the path He lays out for you. He'll get you there safely. Have a good trip!

Devotion for Wednesday, July 15th - "A Restful Place"

Exodus 33:14 ". . . My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."

Vance Havner said, "We can take a vacation within if not one without. You need not seek rest in the mountains or by the sea if you do not have it in your heart. You cannot get away from it all if you carry it all with you." What a true statement!

The summer months of June, July, and August are also know as the great vacation months. If your family is anything like my family when you arrive home from a vacation you are more tired then you were before you left! People are always looking for rest. We try the vacation thing and that doesn't work. The most restful times for our family is when we just stay home for a couple of days and do nothing, but in the end we are still tired.

I am convinced that the key to finding rest is not in the ceasing from activity, but rather having our lives hid in Christ, and to learn as Paul did, whatsoever state we are in to be content with what ever is happening at the time.

Wouldn't it be amazing if you and I could find rest right now in the business of our day? We can, In the presence of God! Go there now and find the rest you have been longing for.

Devotion for Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 "Do it on purpose"

Daniel 1:8a "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the kings meat..."

I like that phrase, "Daniel purposed in his heart." What a statement that is. In the Christian life, we must realize that if we are going to be exactly what God would have us to be, then we are going to have to do somethings on purpose.

If we are going to have a spirit-filled marriage, it's going to have to be done on purpose. If we are going to raise Godly children, it's going to have to be done on purpose. If we are going to grow in our Christian lives, it's going to have to be done on purpose. I could go on and on with the things that we need to purpose in our hearts, but I think you get the picture. These kind of things don't happen on accident, they happen on purpose.

What is your purpose today? Have a happy, spirit-filled marriage, raise some Godly children, grow in your Christian life, and do it on purpose.

Devotion for Monday, July 13th, 2009 - "Hear and Do"

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 "(11) For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. (12) It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, 'Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?' (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? (14) But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, thou mayest do it."

Vs. 12 ends with "that we may hear it, and do it." Vs. 13 ends with "that we may hear it, and do it" and Vs. 14 ends with, "thou mayest do it". Notice that in verse 14 the hearing is not there. Maybe the Lord is telling us that we have heard enough and now it is time to go into action and "do it"

Our churches are filled with hearers. So, somebody tell me why 75% of the work gets completed by 15% of the workers? We have all heard and heard what we are to do. It is now time that we take what we have heard and get something done! When was the last time you won someone to Christ? When was the last time you served in church? Our churches are filled with people who used to do, and now they don't. Where do you think our churches would be if they were filled with people that STILL DO, not just used to do people?

Let's hear it and do it this week. Most of you reading this were challenged to do something in a sermon yesterday. You heard it, but will you do it? It's up to you now, get it done, before it's too late!