Posts with the category “sunday-follow-up”

2 Corinthians 12:11 – 13:14“The heart of a disciple”For those of us who have been saved, we often refer to ourselves as Christians, followers of Jesus, or believers. But one thing we can’t forget is that we are disciples of Jesus. Here is a definition of a disciple:A disciple is one who follows Jesus, is being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus. As a result, a disciple love...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 8 – “A biblical view of giving”When it comes to giving to the Lord financially, believers generally fall into one of several camps.One camp is comprised of those who see giving as a duty. They give because that is what Christians do. They give their ten percent because Christians are called to tithe.A second camp is comprised of those who are indifferent. They underst...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 7:2-16 – “Mending relationships”All believers have a relationship with one another. Whether we are acquaintances, friends, or loved ones. Regardless of the closeness of our relationships, we are all part of the family of God. Our relationships are not immune to being wounded, damaged, or broken. Sometimes wounded relationships are self-inflicted. Sometimes they happen...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 6:3-13 – “Faithful servants”If you are a follower of Jesus, you are likely familiar with the parable of the talents where the master says to two of his servants – “well done good and faithful servant”. I don’t know what rewards await me, but my heart longs to hear Jesus say to me – “well done good and faithful servant”.What does faithful mean and what does a faithful ...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 5 – “Followers with a mission”In Matthew 4:18-20 we are told this - 18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ”Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.Not only w...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 4 – “Why perspective matters?”Perspective is how we choose to see things and our attitudes toward those things. Holbrook, AZ is located in the high desert. Not much in the way of vegetation. Some people’s perspective of the desert is that it is ugly. Their preference is for lots of trees and grass. Others look at the desert and see beauty. Neither perspective is right...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 3 – “The beauty of the gospel”Yesterday I shared two things from 2 Corinthians 3 that demonstrate the beauty of the gospel. The first is the ability of the gospel to transform a person’s life. Paul is a wonderful example of how one can be transformed by the good news of Jesus when they respond to the truth of who He is and what He has done.Since the day I heard the go...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 2:5-17 – “We know how the story ends”Upon Jesus’ death and resurrection, sin and death were defeated. The war was won. For those of us who have put our faith in Jesus, His victory became our victory.Though the war has been won, there are still many battles to be fought. These battles may show up in health issues, financial issues, or relationship issues. One area that...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 1:12 – 2:4 – “Showing that our God is trustworthy.”The greatest day of my life was on the day that I received God’s gift of salvation. The day that I decided to follow Jesus. And if you are a follower of Jesus, I am guessing that was the greatest day of your life as well. On that day we placed our trust in God. We declared that we believe and trust what the bible says...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up2 Corinthians 1:1-11 – “Declaring God’s glory through our lives”I want you to imagine living in a home where you can sit down anywhere in the home and look out a window to a beautiful scenic view. Now what would happen to that view if winds were to blow in smoke from a neighboring forest fire? All of a sudden those beautiful views would become obscure.As followers of Jesus, every d...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 16 – “How are you doing spiritually?”We live in a time when people seem to be more concerned and aware of their health than before. This includes believers. But shouldn’t we have the same concern and awareness of our spiritual well-being?Sometimes people go to the doctor because they are not feeling well only to find out through a series of tests that they have cancer...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 13 – “The way of love”Yesterday's focus was on understanding God’s way of love. The way of love is a way of life for the follower of Jesus. We are told in John 13:35 that others will know that we are Jesus’ disciples by our love for one another. In chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians Paul said this about love:1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (ESV) Love is patient and kind; love does not ...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 12 – “Do you know why you are important to your church family?”Human nature is such that we can fall into the trap of believing that certain spiritual gifts are more important or have greater value to our church family than other spiritual gifts. Why do we sometimes think that way?Could it be because some spiritual gifts are more readily seen when they are used? Or be...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 10 – “What we need to understand about temptation”There are some portions of roads in Scottsdale Arizona, where there are road signs that say – “Do not enter when flooded”. These signs were put in place because people would try and cross those sections of roads when they were flooded. This resulted in their vehicles being stranded in the flood waters. Even after the s...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 9 – “What are we willing to sacrifice for others?”I would imagine each of us has made sacrifices for others. It may have been for our spouse, our children, our parents, our siblings, etc… When it is people we care about, we tend not to mind as much. What about those who are just friends or acquaintances? Or those who are in your church family? What about people who ar...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 8  -  “How to live for Jesus with others in view”All believers have the freedom to do things that are not sinful, but not all believers possess that knowledge. What one believer may feel free to do could potentially be a snare for another believer. One believer may develop a conviction that certain things are wrong to do, but another believer may not share that same c...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 7 – “A proper perspective of marriage”If you are a young unmarried person, you need to be praying for your future spouse. If you have been divorced, learn from your mistakes and try again. If you are a widow, give yourself time to heal and start the search again. This is the wrong kind of thinking some have. If you are not married, should one assume that it is God’s w...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 6:12-20 – “Choose wisely”If you want to know what God has deemed to be sinful, read the Bible. Anything God has declared sinful, we are not free to do. Yet some in the church in Corinth believed it was lawful (or that they were free) to commit sexual immorality. I think we can all agree that when Paul said “All things are lawful” he did not mean that the Corinthians w...  Read More

Sunday follow-up1 Corinthians 6:1-11 – “When you have conflicts with other believers”I’ve had my share of conflicts with other believers in the time that I have been following Jesus as an adult.  Some have been with my wife. Some have been with those I served with. Some have been with those who were part of the same church family as I was. No matter what the reasons were for those conflicts, I am ...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 5 – “Are you looking for the perfect church?”As a follower of Jesus, I know that on this side of eternity, I will not be perfect. When I say perfect, I mean sinless. However, at times the word perfect in the Bible refers to spiritual maturity. My goal as a follower of Christ is not to reach a state of sinlessness, but to grow and mature in my walk with Him.Part of our...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 4 – “How do we want to be judged?”If you have ever been misunderstood, criticized, or judged by other believers, then you are in good company with the Apostle Paul. He too was criticized and judged by other believers including some in Corinth. He stated in 1 Cor. 4:3 (NIV) – “I care very little if I am judged by you”. Why did Paul say this? Because the only judgment t...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 15 – “Does the resurrection matter?”There was a teaching floating around in the church of Corinth that said there was no resurrection of the dead. A belief held in Greek culture and was most certainly perpetuated by unbelievers in the church. But for some reason, a few of the believers in Corinth decided that it must be true.  What they did not consider were the ramif...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 3 – “Keys to Spiritual maturity”Spiritual maturity is not something we obtain upon our spiritual birth, nor does it happen automatically. Spiritual maturity comes through spiritual growth and it is something that we have to be intentional about. There are things we can do to facilitate our spiritual growth thus allowing us to mature in our walk with Jesus.But what is ...  Read More

1 Corinthians 2"The Spirit of God, working through the word of God, using servants of GodI have a brother-in-law who is very forthright in sharing the gospel with others. It doesn’t matter where he is or what the situation is, if there is an opportunity to share Jesus with someone, he will. I know there are other believers like him, but there are many more who are not.Found this from Lifeway resea...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 1:10-31   “It’s the message, not the man”If you are a follower of Jesus, I want you to think back to the moment you were born again.  The day that your life was forever changed. You made a response to the gospel message. It was a message that may have been conveyed to you by a friend or family member, a pastor during a church service, or listening to someone speak of ...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up1 Corinthians 1:1-9   “Introduction and Foundation”Yesterday we began our study of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth known as 1 Corinthians. Paul begins with a greeting. I believe this greeting lays the foundation for the rest of his letter. In today’s follow-up, I want to focus on one aspect of yesterday's teaching and that is the authority of God’s word. When we write someon...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 16 – “How you can make a difference”I want you to think of believers you know fairly well, especially those in your church family. When you think of them, what comes to your mind? Paul closes his letter to the church in Rome by asking them to greet different individuals. Some of the individuals, Paul will add a brief thought about them. For Paul, these were things that came ...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 15 – “How to have an effective ministry to others”If I were to ask you what is your ministry, what would you say? Some of you might say I work in the children’s ministry. Some might say I am a missionary. Some might say I have a prison ministry or homeless ministry. Some of you might say I don’t have a ministry or I don’t know what my ministry is.Here is what you need to und...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 14 - "When believers have differing convictions"Yesterday I taught on how believers should handle situations where one believer has a conviction about something that another believer does not share. A conviction is a firmly held belief or opinion about something. Each of us has varying convictions including beliefs that are based on Biblical truths and principles. We need to...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 13 – “How to be a good witness”Yesterday after service, Tim & Tina Dixon shared about their mission trip to Thailand. Tim & Tina have been doing outreaches in the village where Tina was raised as well as in the surrounding area. This is something they try to do whenever they can go to Thailand. Because of Covid, this recent trip was the first time they were able to go in abo...  Read More

February 5th follow-upRomans 12:3-21 – “Do you want to know God’s will?”At various times throughout my walk with Jesus, I have found myself praying and asking God what I should do.  In essence, what I was praying was – God, what is your will for me in this?  I would imagine you have been in that place many times as well. The heart of every believer, whose heart is right with God, is to do God’s wi...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 12:1-2 - “A life worth living”Most of my adult life has been lived for Jesus. Someone might ask – “has it been worth it?” The short answer is yes. I could point to the fact that God has blessed me with a great wife whom I have been with now going on 35 years. I could point to how God has blessed me with the privilege of pastoring Calvary Chapel of Holbrook for almost 20 year...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 11 – “Is God done with Israel?”Knowing the mind of his fellow Israelites, Paul realizes there will be those who will wonder if God was done with Israel since the Jewish people as a whole had rejected God’s offer of salvation thus leading God to turn His focus onto the Gentiles. Paul responds in 3 ways.First, though it may not seem like it, many Jews were coming to Christ and...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 10 – “There is God’s way and no other”Why did the Israelites as a whole reject Jesus? I think you could point to different things. They were unwilling to accept that Jesus was God who took on human form. The salvation they were looking for was not the salvation they needed. They were looking for a Messiah to deliver them from their bondage to the Romans rather than their bon...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 9 – “Is God unfair – Part 2”The book of Romans can be divided up into 3 sections. The first section is comprised of chapters 1-8. The 3rd section is comprised of chapters 12-16. In between these 2 sections are chapters 9-11. The question that needs to be considered is – “what are chapters 9-11 about?"In chapters 1-5 of Romans, Paul explains how one is saved and how salvation...  Read More

Sunday FollowRomans 8 – “The hope we live with each day”The life of a follower of Jesus is one of hope. When I was born again, I was set free from my slavery to sin, but I still find myself battling sin. When I woke up this morning, I was another day older. With each new day, my body feels the effect of growing older. Not only do I find myself fighting against my sinful nature, but fighting daily ...  Read More

Sunday-follow upRomans 7 – “The problem is with me”Human nature is such that we want to blame others for our sinful choices. We see this in many ways in society. We want to blame our choices on the environment we were raised in. If I was raised in a different environment, I would have made different choices. What we fail to see is how corrupt and sinful our old nature is. In the Millennial kingdom...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 6 – “No longer slaves to sin”Most of us would agree that a person who has become addicted to something has become a slave to that addiction. A couple of definitions of a slave are as follows:1.       One who is subservient to or controlled by another2.       One who is subject to or controlled by a specific influence.In Romans 6:17 Pauls says this – “But thanks be to God tha...  Read More

Sunday Follow-up“Benefits of being made right with God”Yesterday we looked at 4 benefits that come with being made right with God. Benefits I believe are important for us who are followers of Jesus to know and to understand.The Bible tells us that those who are not saved are at enmity with God. They are actively opposed to the truth of God and Jesus. But the moment a person accepts by faith who Je...  Read More

Sunday Follow-upRomans 2 – “The thinking of the self-righteous”Let me begin with a definition of a self-righteous person. “Someone who is convinced of their own righteousness, especially in contrast with the actions of others”. I do not consider myself to be a self-righteous person. But I do believe that I am capable of exhibiting self-righteous thinking.Paul turns his focus from the unbelieving G...  Read More