"follower of Christ" Tagged Sermons

Sunday Service August 2nd, 2020

We would like to share with you, the Sermon we had on August 2nd, 2020. The reading for this day was: Philippians 2:6 Though he was God,[a]     he did not think of equality with God     as something to cling to. The Call to Worship God of the prophets, call to us today, Call us into…

Matthew, love thy neighbour, love your neighbour, compassion, forgiveness, patience, temperance

Devotional: Love Thy Neighbour

In a world that is full of anger and frustration, it’s easy to allow our resentments to simmer. Nonetheless, Jesus reminds us that we are called to be peacemakers.

We are asked to love all neighbors, irrespective of their race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, and marital status.

Making peace begins within:

Until we have taken the sty from our own eye, we cannot say that we will make peace for others in our neighborhood or community.

So, consider for a moment: what triggers you? 

What makes you angry when you read the news? Who do you feel threatened by? Which neighbors are you struggling to love?

The TRUTH will set us free:

What resentment or anger am I feeling today towards another that I have not forgiven and dealt with?

This is our starting point! Feeling angry or fearful does not feel spiritual. You may be tempted to ignore it. Perhaps you tell yourself “I shouldn’t feel this way” – but failing to deal with the truth of your emotions leads to living a lie. ]When we ignore what we are truly experiencing and fail to do the inner work, there will be no fruit.

When we feel anger – or a certain person or situation triggers us – we have an opportunity to do the inner work of forgiveness and letting go. The first step in healing is to acknowledge the truth of what we feel. Then, we can ask for forgiveness.

We are promised that all this will be taken from us and we will be renewed! But in order for healing to take place, we have to be willing to let it go.

Loving God in order to love another

If we say that we love God, and we fail to love our neighbor, we lie to ourselves!

Loving God is seeing everyone else around us through the eyes of God. Because when we love God with heart and soul and mind – our heart connects to another through God’s heart. When we love Gop with all our minds – our mind thinks about others as God does. When we love with all our soul – we see their soul as God does.

Journal prompts:

journal prompts, love thy neighbour, love your neighbour

If you have time, sit down and journal these questions and answers for yourself.

  • What situations in the news recently have triggered anger, resentment, fear, or frustration in me?
  • What is the emotion that I am truly feeling?
  • Does this emotion or feeling remind me of any person or situation in my past?
  • Is there something or someone in my past that I have not yet forgiven, that I need to release and let go so that the truth can set me free at this moment?
  • Now that I have forgiven this person – how do I feel about the current situation and news?
  • Have I forgiven myself for holding onto these emotions all this time?
  • Is there someone I need to ask forgiveness from?
  • Are there any other emotions that I need to acknowledge and release?
  • How can I express love and compassion this week?

Matthew 22:36-40 King James Version (KJV)

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Thou shalt love thy neighbour, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, patience, kindness, compassion

love, neighbour, true love, neighbor, God, God's love

If you really loved me…

Lectionary: Acts 16:9-15 Psalm 67 Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9 If you really loved me… Recently I was listening to a presentation by Jim Rohn, where he was talking about measuring our personal progress – about how each of us, no matter how young or old, should be growing and progressing. We…

woman, women, helper, mate, partner, equal, gender rights, discrimination, equality, Bible, God, Jesus, Christians

A helper who is just right

Lectionary Genesis 2:18-24 A helper who is “just right” You’ve all heard the 10 reasons why God created, Eve, right? God worried that Adam would always be lost in the garden because He knew men would never ask for directions. God knew that Adam would one day need someone to hand him the TV remote…

words, tongue, gossip, truth, think, feelings, criticism, self-control, speak, control

We all stumble in many ways

If you asked me to name my favourite book of the Bible, I would be hard-pressed to choose between Proverbs and James.  This could be because James seems to be so knowledgeable about Proverbs.  The book of James is quite short:  it has only five chapters and is known for its practical wisdom and common sense.…

armor, armour, battle, ready, permanent, permanence, breastplate, belt, helmet, shoes, feet clad, righteousness, salvation, truth

Put on the full armour of God…

Lectionary: Ephesians 6:10-20 The Bible depicts countless battles. From Genesis to Revelation,  from the time Cain killed his brother Abel, right down to the present day and even into the predicted future and the Apocalypse. In fact, it is estimated that more than 14,500 wars have been fought from 3600 B.C. to present day. Think…

International Women's Day, March 8, women, Bible, Prisca, Priscila, Mary, Ruth, Naomi, godly women

International Women’s Day

Today, March 8th, is International Women’s Day, and I would like to take this time to celebrate women in the Church! I realise that throughout Church history, we have had leaders who have said: “What is the difference whether it is in a wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress that we…

rock, Peter, foundation, boasting, confidence, broken, grandeur, spirit

Peter, Peter

Lectionary Readings: Acts 5:27-32 Childhood memories, especially childhood memories from beach-houses and idyllic holidays, are usually the best moments etched in our minds. Well, not all of them… Our school year was the US one, not the Panamanian one – at odds with all my friends.   One of the benefits, was that whenever we’d spend…