ROM-53-141026 - length: 66:34 - taught on Oct, 26 2014
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
Does God really love you? Is God really gracious toward your mistakes? These are really great questions to ask ourselves in the midst of our look at unconditional love and grace in the opening verses of Romans Chapter 5. Or how about this question for reflection? Does God want you to go on vacation? What prompts this question is an expression that some “Christians” use that has always irked me a bit. Recently, I asked a friend who has a tendency toward “workaholism” about the certainty an upcoming vacation. He answered with that statement that makes my flesh crawl. “God willin’ brotha!”
His response prompted this thought…how certain is God? If God is not certain, then you have every reason to question whether God loves you, or if God is really gracious toward your mistakes. As a Christian, all you have to do to rattle your certainty is to avoid contact with the Word of God. But if you study the Word of God of God you’d be hard pressed to be confused about any subject. Does God want you to go to hell? A part of Second Peter, Chapter 3 Verse 9 says no…
…the Lord is not wishing for any to perish…
Does God want you to go on vacation? John, Chapter 16, Verse 23…
Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask God the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.
Is God willin’ brotha? You bet He is!
Ask any question. Does God want you to be saved? Does God want you to know the truth? Second Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 3 and 4…
This is good and acceptable in the sight of the God who is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who desires all men to be saved and who desires all men to come to the knowledge of the truth.
In today’s lesson we’ll learn the importance of a God who is black and white…a God who is clear and definite in every matter. Welcome to bible study where you can learn about what God thinks on every subject.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM
As God prepares our souls for learning, let’s hear June Murphy worship our Lord in song. The opening song is CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…
Help us to know you through Your Word…show us what You think and how You feel about the subjects that are most important to us…about the subjects You want us to know about…help us to see the Word of God from Your perspective and not through the perversion of human viewpoint.
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
God Loves Clarity
First, a few announcements…
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration
November 9, 2014
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
No Face-to Face Teaching
November 16 - December 7 - December 28
Lessons will be provided on line.
Conversational Bible Study
Resident Congregation
Wednesday, October 29
7:00PM-8:30PM
Conversational Bible Study
Non-Resident Congregation
Thursday, October 30
5:00PM - 6:30PM MST
We had to move this to this week due to scheduling issues. If you would like to participate, please send a request to pastor@barahministries.com.
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HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY
Alyssa Lopez
October 25
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
Let’s take the offering. This is the time when you get to make a sacrifice on behalf of all the people around the world that can’t afford to pay to study the Word of God. Your generous contributions make it possible for them to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ free of charge via the internet or through face-to-face teaching.
Let’s remember to give with the motivation suggested in Scripture
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful (grace oriented) giver.
Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall.
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though we are sanctioned by God to charge for the many things we provide so you can worship God, we choose not to exercise our right. Therefore no price appears on any material from Barah Ministries so that anyone who desires biblical teaching may have it free of charge.
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though the materials we provide are free of charge, they are not free of cost. We appreciate it when the Word of God motivates you to give financial support so as to provide biblical teaching, both for yourself and for others. Please be generous in your support of God’s work through this ministry.
OFFERING VERSE
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
OFFERING SONG
Voice of Truth
TODAY’S STUDY
God Loves Clarity
God loves clarity. Unfortunately, however, human beings don’t. Is God going to help you with your problems? Think about it for a moment. Fill in this blank…
The biggest problem that besets me in my life right this moment is…
Fill in the blank.
Do you ever come to bible study wondering if today’s bible lesson will answer the question concerning how you should handle your most pressing problem of today? Said another way, “What are you worried about?” Will God come through for you on your biggest problem and will God remove your worry? If you come to the Word of God, the source of unmistakably clear answers to your most pressing problems, you’ll get a clear answer. Why? Because! God loves clarity. First Corinthians, Chapter 14, Verse 33…
…for God is not a God of confusion but He is a God of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Maybe, sometimes, you don’t come to God with the right questions! I think, quite often, we love being confused, especially about biblical subjects. I have found God the Holy Spirit to be an answerer of well-asked questions. Does God want you to worry about your biggest problem? Philippians, Chapter 4, Verses 6 and 7 say “fah-ged-a-bow-dit…”
Be anxious for nothing (stop worrying about anything), but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God the Father.
And the peace of God the Father, a peace which surpasses all
comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in union with Christ Jesus.
Hand over your biggest problem to God right now, and He will handle it right now. God loves solving your problems. Does God really love you? Of course He does. John, Chapter 15, Verse 13…
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
Does God really give you grace in times of your mistakes? How can you be sure? Ephesians, Chapter 2, verses 8 and 9…
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that grace, faith and salvation is not of yourselves, all is the gift of God; it is not as a result of your works, so that no one may boast.
You can be sure about all matters because God is sure about all matters. He is always definite…always absolute…always sure…always clear.
He detests confusion. Turn in your bibles to Revelation, Chapter 3, Verse 15…how does God feel about confusion?
‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.’
To what is God referring? God so detests confusion that He would rather you be an atheist than an agnostic!
ATHEIST AGNOSTIC CHRISTIAN
There are the three things you can be. Atheists say there is no God. Agnostics say the truths concerning God can’t be known. Christians say there is a God, and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. According to the analogy used in Revelation, Chapter 3, Verses 15 and 16, an atheist is cold, a Christian is hot, and an agnostic is lukewarm. The Lord would rather you be cold or hot…no lukewarm. Why? Because! God loves clarity.
Take a five-minute break.
BREAK
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Welcome back!
Throughout the bible God demonstrates a desire for definiteness…Joshua, Chapter 24, Verse 15…
JOSHUA 24:15
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods of Ur which your fathers served which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Whose team are you on? The Lord Jesus Christ is always insisting on a clear choice. The Lord hates “wishy washy…” First Kings, Chapter 18, Verse 21…
Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is god, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
Vacillation. The Lord hates vacillation. Who vacillates? People who are wrong, who know they are wrong, and who want others to doubt their wrongness…who want others to think they might be right when they are not.
BLACK GRAY WHITE
Vacillation, the gray of this world is an invention of Satan and the kingdom of darkness designed to inspire doubt. Even Yoda of Star Wars fame was against it in The Empire Strikes Back…he said to Luke Skywalker, as he expresses the frustrations of a coach…
Yoda:
“Always with you what cannot be done. Do you nothing that I say?”
Luke Skywalker:
“Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.”
Yoda:
“No! No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Luke Skywalker:
Okay…I’ll give it a try.
Yoda:
“No! Try not! Do or do not. There is no try.”
Try is a lack of commitment with a pretty dress on. Gray is black with a pretty dress on. If we are to think like God thinks we have to think in black and white. God does not vacillate. Can you imagine a God who vacillates? John, Chapter 16, Verse 23…
Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask God the Father for anything in My name, He will try to give it to you.
We do not want to worship a God who is confused. We do not want to worship a God who vacillates between two opinions. Yet we let Satan sew the seeds of doubt in our minds about God’s definiteness. In Second Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 17…Paul braces the Corinthians…they accused him of vacillation because he did not come to Corinth when he said he would come…here is Paul’s response…
Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?
But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.
For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us-by me and Silvanus and Timothy -was not yes and no, but is yes in union with Him.
Our God loves clarity. When we doubt, we reject clarity in favor of confusion like the fathers in Israel…Psalm 78, Verse 8…
And not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Confusion is not faithful to God…there is never a reason to be confused about God or His Word…James, Chapter 1, Verse 17…
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from God the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants you to be saved…Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9…
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness (as some accuse Him of), but is patient toward you (unbelievers), not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about the Lord Jesus Christ).
God loves clarity…especially in the matter of your salvation. John, Chapter
10, Verse 28…
…and I (the Lord Jesus Christ) give eternal life to them (believers in Christ), and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and (everyone in) your household (who also believes).”
Is that clear enough for you? Why does God hate confusion?
Because confusion can cost you your salvation. Confusion is paralysis. Vacillation between two opinions is indecision. God detests it. Revelation, Chapter 3, Verses 15 and 16…how does God feel about confusion?
‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.’
In the city of Hierapolis, hot springs were famous. People came from great distances to bathe in those waters, believing they had medicinal powers.
Another city named Colossae was known for its cold waters. Just as people journeyed to Hierapolis to bathe in the hot springs for health purposes, people would travel great distances to vacation in Colossae, where they could invigorate themselves by taking frequent dips into the famous, refreshing, cool-to-freezing waters of that city.
Laodicea, probably the biggest and richest city in the area, lay between the two cities, but it had neither hot nor cold water. Therefore, the people of Laodicea had to leave their luxurious homes and travel to Colossae if they wanted to enjoy fresh, cool water. On the other hand, those who desired to soak in the hot springs had to travel six miles north to Hierapolis.
In an attempt to bring the hot water from Hierapolis to Laodicea, a huge construction project was commenced. The goal as to build pipes that would channel the hot water six miles from Hierapolis to the city of Laodicea. The pipes effectively delivered the water - a real feat of construction at that time. But the water lost its heat along the way. By the time the water reached Laodicea, it was not only lukewarm, but it had developed a sickening, nauseating taste. The taste was so revolting that no one wanted to drink it!
So it is with a God who is indecisive…so it is with a Christian who is indecisive. When we lose our passion…when we lose our heat for God…if God were to ever lose His heat for us…our Christianity would be meaningless.
The sacrificial love of Christianity demands that we be loving and gracious to others and dead to the world. Most of all, we must never be confused or confusing…about our God, about His word, or in ourselves.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
When God makes a promise…
it’s a guarantee!
“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today…”
He gives strength to the weary, to him who lacks might He increases power.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God the Father, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
CLOSING SONG
God is Faithful
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of Your unconditional love, Your person, Your thinking, Your work, and Your essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
www.barahministries.com
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1220 S. Alma School Rd. Suite 201 Mesa, AZ 85210 |
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(480) 237-9903 |
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