I caught up today with online sermons from Thanksgiving Day.
Several that I enjoyed included, my boy (a term of respect and affection), Pastor Paul Sheppard. Pastor Paul has a two part message on the topic of "Praise Your Way Through" about learning how to praise God even in dark and difficult times (based on the experience of Paul and Silas - Acts 16:16-36)
"You want to feed your faith and starve your doubts. What we feed grows. We only have to look in the mirror to confirm that," joked Pastor Paul. Sheppard emphasized that we grow in our relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus Christ by both hearing the Word of God proclaimed and by reading it. He also quoted the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans. chapter 10: 17, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
A quote of Pastor Paul's that stuck with me and tied in nicely with Thanksgiving,"
You can't fly with eagles, when you're hanging out with turkeys! Sheppard talked about discovering God's will for ourselves and one of the ways he mentioned is to be with like minded, faithful believers in Christ as they may see what God wants you to do in life.
Truths That Transform - the ministry of the late, Dr. D. James Kennedy 1930-2007 had a good, two part message entitled, "The Life-Changing Power of Thankfulness." The series aired on Thursday, Nov. 22 and Friday, Nov. 23, 2007, and is an older sermon of Dr. Kennedy's, who died recently in August of 2007, but like many preachers with an archive of sermons, his messages still live on via the airwaves and Internet.
The description of Dr. Kennedy's Thanksgiving message is, "Do you know what the best cure for stress is? It's not a news flash, but more a lost treasure for many people today. It is when we pray with thankfulness to God, which takes away our feelings of anxiety! Gratitude...builds a healthy lifestyle! Who knew? Learn what else it does, on Truths That Transform with Dr. D. James Kennedy."
Have a blessed day and may you fly like an eagle when it comes to
doing God's will for your life.
Your Brother in Christ,
Steve Kendall
Friday, November 23, 2007
An Attitude of Gratitude
My family was blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
We began the morning at church. Our Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, preached on the topic, "Do For Others, What Christ Has Done for You." Dr. Dalton used Deuteronomy 26:11 as his text. In his message, he pointed out two things the Biblical text of Deut. 26:11 can teach us:
1. God has been generous to us. We need to reflect on from where the Lord brought us from. "We are where we are today," said the pastor, "thanks to the glory of God." Some of fail to thank God for what He has given us.
2. God's generosity shows us how to be generous to others. Pastor Dalton used his oft quoted analogy that if we have a closed hand, balled into a fist, we cannot receive anything, nor can we give anything away. Many of us are like that closed fist--we horde what God has given us and therefore can't bless others.
I was inspired by another sermon I heard this week on the radio, from Dr. Tony Evans, of the Urban Alternative. Dr. Evans was preaching on the topic of Money, based on the life of Solomon, whom God blessed with riches. Like Solomon, we need to be mindful of our blessings and thank the Lord.
Dr. Evans pointed out that a sign that you're obsessed with money is when the time you spend complaining about what God has given you far out distances the time spend thanking God.
So, on Thanksgiving Day of 2007, I reflect back on the year with an attitude of gratitude.
I'm thankful that you took the time to read my blog and pray that God keep you in His care.
You are invited to read my daily Bible Study blog at:
http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/
Have a great weekend.
Your Brother in Christ,
Steven Kendall
We began the morning at church. Our Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, preached on the topic, "Do For Others, What Christ Has Done for You." Dr. Dalton used Deuteronomy 26:11 as his text. In his message, he pointed out two things the Biblical text of Deut. 26:11 can teach us:
1. God has been generous to us. We need to reflect on from where the Lord brought us from. "We are where we are today," said the pastor, "thanks to the glory of God." Some of fail to thank God for what He has given us.
2. God's generosity shows us how to be generous to others. Pastor Dalton used his oft quoted analogy that if we have a closed hand, balled into a fist, we cannot receive anything, nor can we give anything away. Many of us are like that closed fist--we horde what God has given us and therefore can't bless others.
I was inspired by another sermon I heard this week on the radio, from Dr. Tony Evans, of the Urban Alternative. Dr. Evans was preaching on the topic of Money, based on the life of Solomon, whom God blessed with riches. Like Solomon, we need to be mindful of our blessings and thank the Lord.
Dr. Evans pointed out that a sign that you're obsessed with money is when the time you spend complaining about what God has given you far out distances the time spend thanking God.
So, on Thanksgiving Day of 2007, I reflect back on the year with an attitude of gratitude.
I'm thankful that you took the time to read my blog and pray that God keep you in His care.
You are invited to read my daily Bible Study blog at:
http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/
Have a great weekend.
Your Brother in Christ,
Steven Kendall
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Being a bold witness for Christ
My Pastor, Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church taught a Bible study class tonight that really resonated with me. Pastor Dalton discussed Acts 20:1-12 as part of our ongoing year long study of the book of Acts.
In this passage, Paul is preaching from sundown throughout the night to a receptive group in Troas. During his sermon, a young man sitting in a window falls asleep and out of the window, down three stories to his death. Paul threw himself on the man, much like the prophet Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:21-24 (read all of chapter 17 for context), and brought him back to life.
Pastor Dalton pointed out that throughout his missionary journey, Paul was preaching about the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus. When Paul resurrected the dead young man, it became a living example of the resurrection Paul had been preaching about.
What hit home most of all for me, was when Pastor Dalton told us that if we truly examine our lives, each of us can see God at work resurrecting our lives. We need to be bolder witnesses for Christ like Peter and Paul, said Pastor Dalton. The apostles Peter and Paul didn't let anything stand in their way when preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were constantly under threat, beaten and even jailed, but didn't let that stop them. "Each of us probably passed up and opportunity today to tell somebody about what Jesus has done for us," said the pastor. This statement is so true and inspired me to be a bolder witness, not only on the Internet, but
to the people I encounter in person.
We don't have to prove the resurrection of Jesus scientifically, but talk about the resurrection of our lives, thanks to Jesus. Resurrection is all around us in nature, pointed out the pastor. The fall brings leaves falling to the ground, followed by a dormant winter period for plant life, and spring brings about a resurrection of plants again. Pastor also reminded us that the reason why we worship at church is to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.
The theme of tonight's lesson taught by Pastor Dalton was resurrection. "God is still resurrecting us today," said Pastor Dalton. "You might be down," he continued, "but Jesus can resurrect you." Bravo, Pastor Dalton. No matter how bad our lives may be, if we believe in Jesus, confess our sins to help and accept Him as Saviour, he can bring about great changes in our lives. Lives of contentment with what we have and need and not focused on the things of this world that we want.
God bless you for reading my blog. I appreciate your time.
Steve Kendall
In this passage, Paul is preaching from sundown throughout the night to a receptive group in Troas. During his sermon, a young man sitting in a window falls asleep and out of the window, down three stories to his death. Paul threw himself on the man, much like the prophet Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:21-24 (read all of chapter 17 for context), and brought him back to life.
Pastor Dalton pointed out that throughout his missionary journey, Paul was preaching about the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus. When Paul resurrected the dead young man, it became a living example of the resurrection Paul had been preaching about.
What hit home most of all for me, was when Pastor Dalton told us that if we truly examine our lives, each of us can see God at work resurrecting our lives. We need to be bolder witnesses for Christ like Peter and Paul, said Pastor Dalton. The apostles Peter and Paul didn't let anything stand in their way when preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were constantly under threat, beaten and even jailed, but didn't let that stop them. "Each of us probably passed up and opportunity today to tell somebody about what Jesus has done for us," said the pastor. This statement is so true and inspired me to be a bolder witness, not only on the Internet, but
to the people I encounter in person.
We don't have to prove the resurrection of Jesus scientifically, but talk about the resurrection of our lives, thanks to Jesus. Resurrection is all around us in nature, pointed out the pastor. The fall brings leaves falling to the ground, followed by a dormant winter period for plant life, and spring brings about a resurrection of plants again. Pastor also reminded us that the reason why we worship at church is to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.
The theme of tonight's lesson taught by Pastor Dalton was resurrection. "God is still resurrecting us today," said Pastor Dalton. "You might be down," he continued, "but Jesus can resurrect you." Bravo, Pastor Dalton. No matter how bad our lives may be, if we believe in Jesus, confess our sins to help and accept Him as Saviour, he can bring about great changes in our lives. Lives of contentment with what we have and need and not focused on the things of this world that we want.
God bless you for reading my blog. I appreciate your time.
Steve Kendall
Saturday, November 03, 2007
New Bible Study Blog
I recently launched a new Bible study blog as
a companion to my Bible study site, BibleStudyCafe.com
You can reach my new blog at: http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/
I'll be posting to the Bible study blog daily.
This Helmet of Salvation blog will be used primarily for reviews of Christian books
in the near future.
a companion to my Bible study site, BibleStudyCafe.com
You can reach my new blog at: http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/
I'll be posting to the Bible study blog daily.
This Helmet of Salvation blog will be used primarily for reviews of Christian books
in the near future.
Friday, November 02, 2007
My New Site for Bible Study Resources!
Howdy everybody,
I'm launching a new Web site named BibleStudyCafe.com,
which will feature Bible Study Resources on a daily basis.
Content for the site is coming soon, but you're
welcome to pay a visit now!
God bless,
Steve
I'm launching a new Web site named BibleStudyCafe.com,
which will feature Bible Study Resources on a daily basis.
Content for the site is coming soon, but you're
welcome to pay a visit now!
God bless,
Steve
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