Hello all, this is the most recent sermon that I gave for Columbus First Church of the Nazarene. I believe that this prayer of Jesus is important for us to understand today.
Dear Reader, If you are reading this letter, you may have walked away from the church at some point. I understand, because I have been there, too. I once left the church, and later came back. Today, I am glad that I gave the church a second chance. If you have walked away from the church, I want to meet you where you are at in this letter. At least, I want to do this for as many of you as possible. The reasons why people have left the church are varied, and it is not possible for me to talk about everything in a single letter. It is my hope that the conversation that I am trying to start does not end at this letter. It is my hope and prayer that this little letter simply serves as a beginning to a bigger, and longer, conversation. Some of you grew up in the church and walked away when you reached adulthood. Some of you came to church as an adult, but left after a short time. Some of you may have attended church once and never looked back. No matter what your situation is, I want ...
Did you know that there are good Christian magazines out there that you can get for FREE? If you like to read, but are looking for something to read in addition to books, then it may be worth your time to check out these free Christian magazines. Some of them are hard copies, and some of them are pdf versions of their magazine. Either way, they are free, and they are chock-full of good information. 1. The Voice of the Martyrs The Voice of the Martyrs was founded in 1967 by Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand. After the USSR took over Romania in 1944, Wurmbrand worked with the underground church, which eventually led to his arrest and 14 years of torture and persecution in Communist prison. Eventually, Wurmbrand was ransomed out and came to the United States. Since Wurmbrand founded the organization, it has worked tirelessly to keep Christians in the Western world informed about the persecution that our brothers and sisters around the world are going through, as well as providing ...
Atonement describes the act that Christ took on our behalf to reconcile us to God by Christ's death. Every orthodox Christian believes that Christ's sacrifice atoned for our sins. While discussions on this topic tend to lead to lengthy debates on topics such as the extent of the atonement, the goal of this article is not to explore every argument on this topic. However, it is difficult to adequately explain the Church of the Nazarene's Article of Faith on the Atonement without at least some reference to some of these discussions. Therefore, while the main point of this article is on the Church of the Nazarene's view of the Atonement, references will be made to other, related discussions. The Church Of The Nazarene's Sixth Article Of Faith The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene outlines the denomination's understanding of the atonement. Our sixth Article of Faith states, We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, a...
. Peter Ruckman is best known for his view that the 1611 King James Version of the Bible is the perfect Bible in English. He held the view that the 1611 King James Version was so perfect that it could be used to correct the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. We have explored some of this in a previous post . In short, Ruckman believed in a type of "re-inspiration" of the King James Version such that it was rendered superior to even the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts from which it was translated. Ruckman's work consistently makes it clear that it is the 1611 KJV that he believes was "re-inspired," and not a later update to the KJV (we will look at these in a minute). It is the 1611 KJV that he defends with his arguments from crown authority and lack of copyright. 1 It is the 1611 KJV that Ruckman argues was re-inspired when he claims that the Holy Spirit urged the King James translators to write. 2 It is the 1611 King James Version that Peter Ruckman defended through...
Dear Jesus, We adore You. We adore You because of who You are. We also adore You because You have given us great gifts. Lord, You have given us these gifts, not as individuals, to use them for our own sake. Rather, You have given us these gifts to build up one another. You have given us fellow believers to build us up with the gifts that You have graciously granted to us. We adore You, Lord, because everything that comes from You hand is good. You graciously give good gifts. Lord Jesus, we confess that some have not always used the gifts that You have given them in a way that glorifies You. Lord, we also confess that, more often than should be the case, we have been far too tolerant of those who abuse Your gifts. Lord, both of these problems have caused damage to Your Name and reputation, and for that, we are sorry. Forgive us, we pray, and give us the grace to do the right thing from here on out. Lord, we thank You for the gifts that You have given for the building up of Your...
Comments
Post a Comment