The Bible is filled with God’s promises. These promises are not primarily about God promising to provide for material things. It is about God promising to keep the covenant which He made to His people. However, it’s not just important to see how God kept His promises and will continue to keep them, but also realizing that even His children are called to be faithful to the covenant keeping God of the Bible.
God often gently convicts His people of their sinfulness and rebelliousness even when the sins of His people might seem like an insignificant sin, lest such a sin grow into fruition. But when a nation commits idolatry, God also does not withhold from punishing and rebuking them. In this passage, we learn how to avoid being in opposition or hostile to God and His ways in our daily lives.
Christians in the Bible and in general have often been convicted of the foolishness and evilness in being quick to practice what is prohibited by God. How can Christians be wise and understanding people? How can they prevent from making the same mistakes again and again? In other words, how can they be obedient to God? Listen to the sermon to find out.
We live in a culture which promotes freedom from accountability, regulations, rules etc. But in Christianity, the church cannot be sustained without certain organisational structure. The Lord has instituted His church with certain structure, operated through pastors, elders and deacons to counsel, guide, correct, rebuke and restore the congregation or an individual towards righteousness. This function is often referred to as Church Discipline. It is one of those essential marks of a healthy church. In this passage, we learn the nature of Church Discipline and why Christians need it.
We often define happiness based on how successful we are in our endeavors. If things in life are not as desired, then we will not be happy. But Jesus does not define happiness based on the good things that happen in our lives, he defines happiness even when bad things happen to us. He presents a counter-intuitive perspective on having a happy life. Listen to the sermon to find out.