Why Did Jesus Have To Die??

Sometimes you may think that God could have figured out a better plan of salvation. Something less bloody, something that didnt involve his Son on a slab. But the Bible gives us a few clues about possible reasons for this plan of salvation.

Sin Is A Capital Offense

Webster defines "capital offense" as the penalty of death for the commission of a crime. It has been like this from the beginning. God told Adam that if he broke the one and only law--eating for bidden fruit--"you are sure to die" (Genesis 2:17). The apostle Paul said, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

Life Is In The Blood

Leviticus 17:11 tells us "The life is in the blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible".

Jesus' Death Fulfilled The Death Penalty Requirement For Everyone

Hebrews 10:12,18 tells us "Our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time.... When sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices".

Jesus' Death Set The Stage For The Resurrection

It was the Resurrection of Jesus Christ that finnaly convinced Jesus' deisciples that he was God's Son. They were convinced enough that most of them died as martyrs. After seeing Jesus risen from the dead, and hearing him promise the same future for them, they died expecting that "everyone who believes in him will not perish byt have eternal life"(John 3:16)

What An Awesome Wednesday Night Service

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

That scripture means so much to me. Over the past few months, I have been praying that God would save one of my best friends. I told him how God can do a great work in someones life! I am so excited about what happened tonight. That young man got saved. The presence of the Lord was felt all through out the sermon. But not only did one person give there life to God, TWO young men did. It is so great to see people give there life to God. And it feels great to witness to someone. Bro. Johnny then gave the call that if anyone wanted to be prayed for because of something that is going on in there life or really anything! The response was great. One young lady came down to the altar with a broken heart calling on the Lord. She has been through so much, it made me so happy to see her come down. The presence of the Lord was so strong. As I laid hands on her she gave it all to God, if I have ever seen a young lady have an experience with the Lord it has to be this one. The service was great!! I am so proud of the young men that came down to the altar and gave their life to God. I just could not go without telling about these great things that God is doing in our youth group.

Exodus 40:34-35
Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled it. Moses was no longer to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the LORD.

Glory to God!! I believe that it is safe to say the the LORD sent a cloud to us tonight. And that cloud filled our Youth Chapel with the awesome glory of the LORD. This is just the beginning of what I believe is going to happen in our youth group. The LORD is doing a great, great, great, great work in our youth group. We have an awesome Praise and Worship Team, and the Lord is leading me to preach the Good News!! The Lord has turned my life around 360 degrees. And I thank him for that. But not only do I thank him for changing my life I thank him for the awesome group we have, and for the awesome Youth Pastor that we have, and for the change that he is doing in young men and womens lives everyday just like this evening...and the changes that he will do in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!

"He Will Come Through For You"

Jeremiah 26:1-16
This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. The Lord said, "Stand out in front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word. Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will be able to withhold the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins. "Say to them, `This is what the Lord says: If you will not listen to me and obey the law I have given you, and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets-for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you would not listen to them- then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth.' " The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the Lord's Temple. But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the Lord had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at the Temple mobbed him. "Kill him!" they shouted. "What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord's name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed?" And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple. When the officials of Judah heard what was happening, they rushed over from the palace and sat down at the New Gate of the Temple to hold court. The priests and prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people. "This man should die!" they said. "You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city." Then Jeremiah spoke in his own defense. "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this Temple and this city," he said. "The Lord gave me every word that I have spoken. But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will cancel this disaster that he has announced against you. As for me, I am helpless and in your power-do with me as you think best. But if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true that the Lord sent me to speak every word you have heard." Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets, "This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."

So just as Jeremiah, we are often facing with the choice to do what God tells us or to do what we want to do. Jeremiah had to know that the people would turn against him. But he did it anyway. He went and done what the Lord told him to do. As I was reading this I couldn’t help but to think how we are faced with an important choice. The Lord may lead us to go somewhere and tell the good news. We may sometimes be afraid that we will be laughed at, or people won’t want to hang out with us anymore because of our decision to follow Christ. But it doesn’t matter what people say about us, it doesn’t mater if they laugh at us! Just as long as we are right with God, if we are doing what the Lord tells us to do we will be okay. When we die and face God, our “friends” won’t be there to laugh at us; they won’t be there to mock us. Our parents won’t be there to defend us. It will just be us and God. No matter what may happen to us on this earth, we need to let our lights shine so that the non-believers will see that there is a God. So Jeremiah went out that day knowing that the people would most likely turn against him. Knowing that they would want to kill him. But he did it anyway. He trusted in the Lord. Even when he was in court and the priests and prophets were saying he should die, he still didn’t apologize. He could have said that he was sorry; he could have bowed down to the priests and prophets. But he didn’t. He knew that the Lord was with him. After Jeremiah spoke in his own defense, the priests and the prophets said “This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” I’m sure that Jeremiah had all kinds of thought going through his head, I’m sure he was worried, but he knew that he had done what God wanted him to do. So just like this, we may be doing what God wants us to do. We may find ourselves being laughed at, being mocked. But just as Jeremiah stood up for what he believed in, we need to stand up for what we believe and know is true. Just as the Lord came through for Jeremiah, he can and will come through for us!!!

"God In The Bushes"

Exodus 3:2
"The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush."

Elderly Moses is walking around in his father-in-laws field near Mount Sinai. A bush comes up in fire but doesnt burn up. Some people say this might have been a "natural phenomenon". But even if the fire is natural, the talking bush isnt. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." The voice came from inside the fire. Its either an angel or God himself. In either case, the message comes from God. "You will lead my people, the israelites, out of Egypt." Moses isnt so sure about this. He makes three excuses for not going back to Egypt. Excuse number 1----"Who am I to appear before Pharoh?"
God said "I will be with you!"
Excuse number 2----"They wont believe me."
God promises to give Moses miracle working power that will convince everyone that God has sent him.
Excuse number 3----"Im clumsy with words."
God answers with a question: "Who makes mouths?"
Then Moses and his wife and son head for Egypt.

No matter what the problem may be God has an answer for you this afternoon!!!!

"Prayer"

Luke 11:9-10
"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, recieves. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks."

Some people wonder why God doesnt answer their prayers. In reality, this often means they have hardly given God a chance. They may have prayed a few times and not gotten what they wanted. Jesus tells us that "everyone who asks, recieves", but he EXPECTS us to keep asking. Prayer should be a huge part of our lives, not just when we need something. We should thank God for everything that he has done in our lives. We should get prayer in our lives!!!!!!!! We need to make talking to God a habit. Tell him about everything, at any time of the day. The God that we serve is there for us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

“Living Waters from the River of Life”

“Living Waters from the River of Life”
John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would “flow” from within believers like “rivers of living water.”
Ezekiel 47:1-12
The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.... [3] As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. [4] He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. [5] He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in — a river that no one could cross. [6] He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. [7] When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. [8] He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. [9] Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. [10] Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds — like the fish of the Great Sea. [11] But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. [12] Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
This is a river of life-giving water flowing from God’s altar into his temple.
-- Think of God’s temple as being us, his children. And if we believe in God and if we are rooted deep in God’s word the life giving water will flow from him or his altar, into us!
** The key verse (vs. 9) says: “Where the river flows everything will live”
-- Remember Jesus’ words comparing the Holy Spirit to “rivers of living water.”
In verses 3-5 it describes the depths of the river.
I believe that a person can take 5 approaches to this “living water”
1.A person can stay on the bank forever and never step into the living water. This results in the person never being saved. And never being able to enter into the Kingdom of God.
2.You can step into the living water ankle deep.(vs. 3) If a person steps into the living water ankle-deep, that person receives the initial presence within the Holy Spirit at Salvation; but it stops there, they don’t go any further.
3.Wade in knee-deep (vs.4) -- That person can minister as best as they can with the Holy Spirit in them from salvation, but without the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
4.If a person wades into the living water waist deep (vs.4); they will receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit and begin to feel the “flow” of the river.
5.A person can enter into the living waters that are over their head (vs.5), and they will o longer control things; the Holy Spirit is fully in charge.
When a person is baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, we are fully yielded and following the Spirit.
** Verse 9 “Where the river flows, everything will live” The river is God’s Spirit.
** Verse 8 “When it empties into the sea, the water there becomes fresh”. The sea in this case is a dead sea. The Dead Sea is stagnant, stale, and lifeless. But what is now stagnant, stale, and lifeless can be brought to fresh and vibrant life by the Holy Spirit!!!!
** (vs.9) “Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows.”
--As in the 3000 at Pentecost!!
---Acts 2:1, 41
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”
“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
---So “swarms” come to the Lord when the living water is flowing.
(vs.10) “Fisherman will stand along the shore”
-- Jesus wants us, the spirit filled people to be effective “fishers of men”.
(vs.10) “The fish will be of many kinds.”
-- We shouldn’t limit our vision. The living water can bring life to “many kinds” of people. This means non believers, people that worship other people….
(vs.11) “But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh.”
--This is a warning not to let our living waters get stale. We should keep our spiritual life alive, fresh, and vibrant!!
-- You may ask how to keep your living waters alive, fresh, and vibrant.
First of all we need to get rooted deep into the word of God. Times are getting hard. It is going to get to where our faith is going to be tested. But we have got to be an example to everyone. We need to let them see our light shine.
(vs.12) “Fruit trees of all kinds…will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them”
You may say how do I bear fruit??
1.Wade in the Holy Spirit’s waters over your head.
2.Yield yourself totally to God’s flow.
3.Let those waters flow to others.
4.“Where the river flows everything will live”
The Holy Spirit can flow from you as living waters, as a river of life, that brings the life-giving touch of God to those around you.