CABC
Hope - Advent Sunday
CABC
Nothing Can Separate Us From The Love of Christ
CABC
Bethel - Its Significance
CABC
Giving - An integral Part of true worship
CABC
Thanksgiving - A Psalm of the Thankful

Our family together serving the Lord

Joshua 24:14-24 (NKJV)

14“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
19But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is  a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”
21And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”
22So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”
And they said, “We are witnesses!”
23“Now therefore,” he said,  “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”
24And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

A Pastor's Prayer for God's Precious People

Colossians 1:9-14 (NKJV)

9For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him,  being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Introduction: Paul was a missionary by calling but a pastor by heart. Nowhere is this truer than in the letters he wrote to churches. He sets an ideal of what it's like to be a pastor when he prays for God's people. in this passage, he reveals 3 things about his prayer:

  1. The Distinction of his prayer. A prayer that is
    • Focused
    • Thankful
    • Unceasing
  2. The Reason for his prayer
    • Saving faith
    • Supernatural love
    • Sustainging hope
  3. The Petition in his prayer
    • For spiritual wisdom
    • For worthy walk
    • For fruitful work
    • For joyful witness
    • For thankful worship

TIPS for prayer

  1. Set a time
  2. Don't be too ambitious 
  3. Use the words of others
  4. Be quiet and listen
  5. Use ACTS fashion
    A - Adoration
    C - Confession
    T - Thanksgiving
    S - Supplication

Good Stewards of God's Manifold Grace

1 Peter 4:7-11 (NKJV)

7But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Stewardship is the acknowledgement that all that we are have are from God and are to be used for the benefit, not only of ourselves, but also of others and for the glory of God. we are stewards of life, time, treasures and talents. the challenge for us is to be good stewards of God's grace. There are 3 truths to consider from this passage:

1. The universality of God's grace.

2. The variety of God's grace.

3. The responsibility for God's grace

If we are going to be responsible stewards let's do it:

i. Seriously
ii. Prayerfully
iii. Lovingly
iv. Sincerely