From the sermon series "Family Business"
As we've been looking into this passage of Scripture on the biblical teaching of marriage and family, we've been using the analogy of a pair of scissors. We've seen Paul is very fair and balanced as he addresses the people involved in these relationships.
When people get married, they often say, "We have decided to "tie the knot." Given the numbers of people who are deciding not to tie the knot at the present time, I think that is an admirable decision.
I try to point out to them that when we think in terms of Christian marriage, it's not so much two people deciding to tie the knot as God deciding to join two people together. It's not so much a human decision as a divine action. Marriage is all about God joining two people together. I say this on no less of an authority than Jesus Christ Himself. In fact, He went even further, saying, "Whom God, therefore, has joined together, no man should separate!"
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh"(Eph. 5:31).
That statement comes in the middle of some teaching that the Apostle Paul was giving the Ephesian Christians on the whole subject of marriage and family. You'll notice, however, that the quotation that he gave is incomplete because it starts out by saying, "For this reason"
There are occupational hazards in being a Pastor. Let me mention two of them. One of them is that while people expect you to be pious, you can come across as a little too pious at times -- like the lady who came to a pastor at the end of a service, and was very effusive in her gratitude. She said, "That was the most wonderful sermon I've ever heard. That was absolutely fantastic! It was so powerful, it has changed my life!"
The Price of Freedom (May-June 2003)
2 Peter 2:17-19
Hard days, difficult days, many young men who left these shores went because they believed that there were certain tyrannies in the world. They felt that these tyrannies would rob people of their freedom, and they decided
There is a tendency for us to feel that when we're dealing with our own problems, that we really don't have time or energy to deal with anybody else's problems.
The story of Gideon, the story of a man brought by God from despondency to victory, provides a rich lesson for us. This sermon on faith examines Gideon's transformation and asks if we, too, have begun to realize that all God is asking is that we go in the strength that we have, and recognize that He is with us. That's all we need to do.