Sabbath 3/18/17 Seventh Day Baptist Edgewater, FL Pastor John sermon “To Be Continued”

Sabbath 3/18/17 Seventh Day Baptist Edgewater, FL Pastor John sermon “To Be Continued” Phil 1:3-6, Mark 8:22-26


The church meeting house was on flame and by the time the volunteer fire department arrived, it was burned down. The church people said “what are we going to do?” They were afraid that their church would have to close like other churches had done. Afterwards they started meeting in a converted barn. Some visitors and past members came to the church and a few weeks later a community outreach began for the church. After a year and a half, the little Genoese congregation had a new church building dedication. They had decided that God had a future for them and their church. Their life would be continued.

In our scripture, “to be continued” is for us. We all would like to think that we are completed but we are never completed. We, in our Christian life, are “to be continued”. It’s helpful to not be discouraged about bad situations. We should look to what is the finished project that we will be to God. We may be unfinished but we are His workmanship and He sees us as the masterpiece that we will become. We need to be thankful for what God has done for us but realize that He is not done with us yet.

When we get knocked down or detoured from God’s path, He can put us back on the right way. We should pray for the irritating boss at work and for the people who are not complete. As they change, we will change too. We are to share the Good News. The Good News is that Jesus is our Savior. This is the Gospel we need to tell ourselves and others. We should want a quiet, consistent lifestyle in Jesus Christ. We need to be “gospel thinking” people. We should associate with “gospel thinking” people who know that Jesus is with us all. “Gospel thinking” people know that God is in control of the week ahead of us.

We need to be on the “right” side of the river. Being on the “right” side is being on Jesus’s side. Lots of water has gone under the bridge since we were first saved but we must stay on the “right” side with Jesus. Apostle Paul says that He which started the good work in us, will complete it. We need to have confidence in the fact that God and Jesus will stay with us forever. We need to thank God that He is still working on us and still has more for us in the future. Have confidence in the God of the Future!

*** Questions to Ask Yourself:

  1. Are you saved? What side of the river are you on?

  2. Are you able to understand that God’s good work is not complete?

  3. Are you letting stuff get in the way? (friends, TV, bad habits)

  4. Are you going to remove what stands in the way of God doing His work on you and perfecting it?
I Corinthians 3:6-15

God lays the foundation and only Jesus can build on it. We need Jesus to help us build and be laborers with God. We are God’s buildings. What we put on the foundation in Jesus’s name, will stand in Jesus’s name. All else will burn in the fire. We are still saved thru the Grace of God. We need to let God work on us to our “completion” until Jesus come comes back in His Glory.

AMEN
 
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