Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 10/25/09:
1. From Genesis 47:28 to the end of Genesis 49 we have what constitutes Jacobs last instructions to his family. He extracts a promise from Joseph to bury him in the Promised Land rather than in Egypt; he adopts Joseph’s sons born in Egypt as his own; and he addresses his sons concerning blessings and their futures.
2. By obtaining Joseph’s solemn oath that he would bury Jacob in the land of Canaan, promised to his family by God, Jacob was demonstrating his own belief in the future fulfillment of God’s promises, and he was pointing his family in the right direction, the direction of God’s word. Despite the way they were prospering in Egypt they were not to look upon Egypt as their home. Their future lay in Canaan according to God’s promise. Jacob was keeping their focus on God’s word and God’s will. That’s what a Christian father and mother do for their children.
3. “The primary purpose of God in creation was to prepare moral beings spiritually and intellectually capable of worshiping Him…. We are saved to worship God. All that Christ has done for us in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end. There is a necessity for true worship among us. If God is who He says He is and if we are the believing people of God we claim to be, we must worship Him.” (A. W. Tozer)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Holding Fast To The Promises of God, Part 2
Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 10/18/09:
In addition to the six qualities essential to good leadership we looked at last week from Oswald Sanders’ book Spiritual Leadership (Discipline, Vision, Wisdom, Decision, Humility, and Humor) are six more qualities: Patience, Biblical patience is victorious endurance not just passive acquiescence to the foibles of life, it is the essential leadership ability of being able to be patience with the weak and the slow learner; Anger, Jesus exhibited holy anger on several occasions (Mark 3:1-5 & Matthew 21:13 for example), “righteous anger is no less noble than holy love,” holy anger is anger that is free from selfishness; Friendship, helps to draw out the best in others, Paul had a wide network of cohorts who shared his vision and his zeal for the Lord; Tact and Diplomacy, they are twin qualities, tact, from tactile, is the ability to have a feel for the proper words, “diplomacy is skill in managing affairs especially in a confused and explosive situation,” both are required of a leader who must often reconcile opposing points of view; Inspirational Power, “the trait of inspiring others to service and sacrifice,” Nehemiah is a great Biblical example of this quality, inspiring the Israelites to complete the wall around Jerusalem which would give them security and more importantly allow them to worship without fear; Dependence on the Holy Spirit, “the other qualities are desirable, this one is indispensable,” “however brilliant a man may be intellectually, however competent an administrator, without this essential equipment he will be incapable of providing truly spiritual leadership.”
Recap of 10/18/09:
In addition to the six qualities essential to good leadership we looked at last week from Oswald Sanders’ book Spiritual Leadership (Discipline, Vision, Wisdom, Decision, Humility, and Humor) are six more qualities: Patience, Biblical patience is victorious endurance not just passive acquiescence to the foibles of life, it is the essential leadership ability of being able to be patience with the weak and the slow learner; Anger, Jesus exhibited holy anger on several occasions (Mark 3:1-5 & Matthew 21:13 for example), “righteous anger is no less noble than holy love,” holy anger is anger that is free from selfishness; Friendship, helps to draw out the best in others, Paul had a wide network of cohorts who shared his vision and his zeal for the Lord; Tact and Diplomacy, they are twin qualities, tact, from tactile, is the ability to have a feel for the proper words, “diplomacy is skill in managing affairs especially in a confused and explosive situation,” both are required of a leader who must often reconcile opposing points of view; Inspirational Power, “the trait of inspiring others to service and sacrifice,” Nehemiah is a great Biblical example of this quality, inspiring the Israelites to complete the wall around Jerusalem which would give them security and more importantly allow them to worship without fear; Dependence on the Holy Spirit, “the other qualities are desirable, this one is indispensable,” “however brilliant a man may be intellectually, however competent an administrator, without this essential equipment he will be incapable of providing truly spiritual leadership.”
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Holding Fast To The Promises of God
Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 10/11/09:
1. Attention in Genesis 47 turns once again to Joseph’s superb leadership.
2. He did his job with:
-Integrity. Though he handled great sums of money and property, he didn’t abuse his power or his authority. A great test of leadership is the use of power (1 Peter 5:1-4)
-Wisdom. He discerned what was needed, established a plan, and carried out the plan.
-Discipline. He had mastered himself, before seeking to master others.
3. Oswald Sanders in his book Spiritual Leadership talks about the qualities essential to good leadership. They are: Discipline; it is the quality which is essential to all other qualities, “the man who has conquered himself makes the best leader;” Vision; faith is vision and imparts vision, it includes optimism and hope, and imparts venturesomeness; Wisdom; is more than knowledge, it is the “right application of knowledge in moral and spiritual matters, in meeting baffling situations, and in the intricacies of human relationships;” Decision; a spiritual leader accepts full responsibility for both failure and success of decisions; Humility; self-effacement not self-advertising; Humor; which can diffuse a tense situation or meeting, it must be appropriate.
4. Genesis 47:11-27 is a good example of the Abrahamic covenant in action (Genesis 12:2,3). God promised Abraham that those who blessed the Jews (Abraham’s seed) would themselves be blessed. God blesses Pharaoh with great wealth and the people of Egypt with life because they received the Jews.
Recap of 10/11/09:
1. Attention in Genesis 47 turns once again to Joseph’s superb leadership.
2. He did his job with:
-Integrity. Though he handled great sums of money and property, he didn’t abuse his power or his authority. A great test of leadership is the use of power (1 Peter 5:1-4)
-Wisdom. He discerned what was needed, established a plan, and carried out the plan.
-Discipline. He had mastered himself, before seeking to master others.
3. Oswald Sanders in his book Spiritual Leadership talks about the qualities essential to good leadership. They are: Discipline; it is the quality which is essential to all other qualities, “the man who has conquered himself makes the best leader;” Vision; faith is vision and imparts vision, it includes optimism and hope, and imparts venturesomeness; Wisdom; is more than knowledge, it is the “right application of knowledge in moral and spiritual matters, in meeting baffling situations, and in the intricacies of human relationships;” Decision; a spiritual leader accepts full responsibility for both failure and success of decisions; Humility; self-effacement not self-advertising; Humor; which can diffuse a tense situation or meeting, it must be appropriate.
4. Genesis 47:11-27 is a good example of the Abrahamic covenant in action (Genesis 12:2,3). God promised Abraham that those who blessed the Jews (Abraham’s seed) would themselves be blessed. God blesses Pharaoh with great wealth and the people of Egypt with life because they received the Jews.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Out on the Ledge with God
Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 10/4/09:
1. It seems that Jacob’s focus for 22 years, since the loss of Joseph (Genesis 37:34,35) was death and fear. Life had become bitter for him. As one scholar said he was at the “end of hope.”
2. God restores hope to him by reassuring him of His promises, by reunion with his beloved son, and by making provision for him in a new home.
3. Jacob ultimately understood that he was a pilgrim (an alien) and a stranger here, his real home was a heavenly home provided by God (Hebrews 11:13,14). As expositor Matthew Henry said: “He calls his life a pilgrimage, looking upon himself as a stranger in this world, and a traveler towards another world. This world his inn, not his home.” (emphasis mine)
4. In 1 Peter 2:11 calls believers “aliens and strangers” in this world. A recognition that our real home is heaven. Do we think and live as if this place is temporary or have we driven out tent pegs deep into the earth.
Recap of 10/4/09:
1. It seems that Jacob’s focus for 22 years, since the loss of Joseph (Genesis 37:34,35) was death and fear. Life had become bitter for him. As one scholar said he was at the “end of hope.”
2. God restores hope to him by reassuring him of His promises, by reunion with his beloved son, and by making provision for him in a new home.
3. Jacob ultimately understood that he was a pilgrim (an alien) and a stranger here, his real home was a heavenly home provided by God (Hebrews 11:13,14). As expositor Matthew Henry said: “He calls his life a pilgrimage, looking upon himself as a stranger in this world, and a traveler towards another world. This world his inn, not his home.” (emphasis mine)
4. In 1 Peter 2:11 calls believers “aliens and strangers” in this world. A recognition that our real home is heaven. Do we think and live as if this place is temporary or have we driven out tent pegs deep into the earth.
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