Jesus had a radical message! You can only enter in at the narrow way, narrow passage or narrow gate to follow me. A narrow gate would only be about the width of your shoulders. You cannot carry any baggage with you when you go through it. Following Jesus through the narrow gate requires focus with no distractions in the way. The broad road or gate leads to destruction. Jesus does and did not go this path. It is a dead end road. Few people choose the narrow gate. American culture is more Christ resistant than anytime in our history. To follow Christ today is more costly than in previous generations. We are considered radicals by our culture and ridiculed. We are considered on the outer fringes like space cadets. Did you ever notice the on-line surveys always give you a way out. You are never committed to a yes or no answer. Kind of like politics today. Christ gave His disciples no third choice. It was either Heaven or Hell. The same holds true for us today! Yes or no? Easy or difficult. Matthew 5:1-2. Jesus real audience was more than the crowds it was His disciples. They had already made up their minds to follow Him but their trust level was low. It takes time to figure out if you can trust someone. Jesus told them the Kingdom of God is right now! It was not yesterday or tomarrow. Living right now is Monday through Saturday working, school and difficult schedules. Jesus said let Heaven break into your boring day to day world. Jerusalem has 12 gates. The wide gate is the most used gate. Examples today are convenience stores, shopping malls, fast food, ect. We like the best paved roads with the fewest traffic lights. They even have drive through churches today. Just hear a message on the internet or television. Why go to church? Studies have found that women like to shop on the internet after 9:00PM. Why? Convenient! We like to choose the easy way over the difficult. Going through the wide gate we can take along as much baggage as we want. No constraints, no sacrifices, easy choices, no boundaries, no commitment applies to all who travel the wide gate. Taking this path leads to ruin. Jesus took a narrow path from The Judgment Hall to Calvary. It was also a steep climb carrying your Cross! He took your unforgiveness, hurt, pain and all your sin. Jesus was a teacher of virtue. Creativity exits between boundaries. Whether it be inventions, music, poetry, sciences, discoveries or even the work of a humble farmer. All great work is done within constraints and boundaries. Jesus had to be sinless to fix your sin. Because of the discipline of constraints and boundaries we have very few great people. People do not like boundaries. Live together why get married? Why study? Why work? Get on welfare. Pregnant? Get an abortion. Vote for the political party that offers you no constraints or boundaries. Revelation 7:9. Heaven is not sparsely populated but has a great multitude. Salvation belongs to our God! It is a free gift like a Christmas gift under a tree and is easy to find. Jesus is easy to find but very difficult to follow. Weddings are exciting but then the couples have to learn to live together. Marriage goes from easy to difficult. The wide gate is to get a divorce or just live together unmarried. To remain in covenant is a miracle from God and requires His Grace. To stay married is hard work and a challenge. Getting pregnant is easy but raising children is hard work. The family under the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman is God’s only plan and design for relationships and for the security of future generations. Worship even requires constraints and boundaries. All people will make one of the following four choices in their life. 1. Secularism- autonomy, it’s my life, live for yourself, no boundaries, no restraints. Not Jesus way. No! 2. Moralism- Follow the rules and get the life I deserve. Entitlement. Steeped in religion that says it is all about me. I deserve to be rich and famous because I am a moral person. 3. Religion- I owe my life to God. Obligation. Things better go right with me because I am serving God! Bad exchange. Problems come! Death and disease comes to all! 4. Grace- Jesus says your life for my life! Wonderful exchange! Great Exchange! My nothingless for His everything. Give God your life and He gives His life back to you! Stop living for yourself. It is a dead end. Let Christ come in. Welcome the Holy Spirit! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. What needs constraint in your life? Do you eat food for comfort? Do you have a drug or sex addiction? Do you feed your senses to no avail. Let Christ increase and you decrease. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and He will add to your life that will help you to victory. Source: Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given Sunday September 1, 2013.
Tag: school
Stay Focused!
When i was in grade school back in the 1950″s we attended this small Methodist Church in a little town named Pilger Nebraska. It was Vacation Bible School time and my brother Tommy who was 2 years younger and my cousin Bill who was 2 years older all attended the same VBS class. Cousin Bill spent 2 years in the 3rd grade and he still says it was the best 2 years of his life. It was a hot muggy day in the Nebraska heat and no air conditioning in the church! Our teacher was patient for us and she tried her best to teach us something about the Bible. After our teacher completed the class she asked us what we learned? The county morgue was louder than our response? Suddenly cousin Bill spoke out and said, ” Wow! Look at that big fly on the wall!” Our teacher seemed to move into depression! She kept teaching and lived by Faith and taught her students for many more years! Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
How many times did Jesus talk about money?
Jesus talked more about money than heaven and hell combined! Jesus talked more about money than anything else except the Kingdom of God. Facts; In 11 of 39 parables he talked about money. In 1 out of every 7 verses in the Gospel of Luke he talked about money.Why? We will cover these reasons as we explore James Chapter 5 in our Sunday School class this Sunday. I will post this class on YouTube. Just Google Youtube and then type in IndiaJesusLovesyou’s channel. Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Children’s Sunday School!
Little Isaiah came out of Sunday School carrying his papers and his coloring pages. I asked him if I could see them? I told him his work looked very good! This one creature he drew looked like a low profile dinosaur with thick legs and a very thick tail. There was also a plume of something coming out of his mouth? Isaiah said this figure drawn was a dragon with fire coming out of his mouth! I talked to Sharon our children’s church teacher and asked her if she could change the curriculum a little and try to get little Isaiah to draw an angel! Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Christian American Foundations
Who Was the Most Christian American President? If all you ever knew about this was what you were taught in a public(government) school in the United States you would not have a clue! You might think Lincoln or Washington but the most out spoken president about his Faith in God was Theodore Roosevelt! He was running for president in 1912 which is exactly 100 years from this year. He walked softly and carried a big stick! He was a rough rider horse calvary kind of guy. His favorite Bible verse was Micah 6:8. What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Roosevelt was of the Dutch Reformed Church. He participated in missions work with his father, a noted philanthropist. He taught Sunday School classes during his four years at Harvard. He wrote for Christian publications. He called his bare-the-soul speech announcing his principles when running in 1912, “A Confession of Faith.” Later he closed perhaps the most important speech of his life, the clarion-call acceptance of the Progressive Party nomination that year, with the words, “We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord!” He titled one of his books, Foes of Our Own Household(after Matthew 10:36) and another, Fear God and Take Your Own Part. He once wrote an article for The Ladies Home Journal, Nine Reasons Why Men Should Go to Church.” After Theodoore left the White House, he was offered University Presidencies but refused all and chose to become a Contributing Editor of The Outlook, a relatively small Christian weekly magazine. He lectured at many Christian Theology School across America. Source: Mondayministry.com/blog2012/02/19/who-was-the-most-christian-president