Am I A Blessing?

What is the Church?

Should I Be A Member of A Church

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4  

We are bound to thank God always for you , brethren, as it is meet, because that you faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

Churches are made up of people!  By definition a church is:  A visible assembly of called out believers who have been baptized and who have covenanted together to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Every true Christian ought to be a member of a local church!

I.  CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD BE SAVED.

One of the biggest problems with Christianity today is that churches all over America are filled with members who aren't saved!

A) A lot of people don't even know what it means to be born again!

They are like Nicodemus in John 3, "How can a man be born when he is old?"

They think just joining a church makes them saved.

B) Listen at what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5!

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 

II.  CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BIBLICALLY!

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

A)  Baptism is a picture of Christ's death, burial and resurrection!  It identifies you as who you are and who you belong to!

B)  Baptism is a picture of the new birth!

C)  It shows to others that you are no longer the person you used to be!

God gave only 2 commandments to a sinner:  Repent and be baptized.  (Acts 2:38)

What does the bible say about going to church? 

Where do you fit in God's house?

III.  CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD ATTEND THEIR CHURCH FAITHFULLY. 

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

IV.  CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD BE CONSISTENT

There are too many so called Christians who have no consistency in life. 

They are in and out, up and down, no consistency in any facet of life.

2 Corinthians 6:14 -18

14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?  and what communion hath light with darkness? 

15  And what concord hath Christ with Be'-li-al? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16  And what agreement hath the temply of God with idols?  for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I WILL DWELL IN THEM, AND WALK IN THEM; and I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

17 Wherefore COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEPARATE, saith the Lord, AND TOUCH NOT THE UNCLEAN THING; AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU,

18  AND WILL BE A FATHER UNTO YOU, AND YE SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, saith the Lord Almighty.

We should be careful who we hang out with!

We should be careful about the things that we do!

We should be careful about our music, our language, and our appearance!

We are most certainly a reflection of the Body of Christ!

V.  CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD BE GENEROUS WITH THEIR RESOURCES. 

2 Corinthians 9:7  God loveth a cheerful giver.

Acts 3:6 but such as I have, give I thee:  KJV

*All bible verses are from the King James Version

VI.  CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD BE COMMITTED!

1.  To the cause of Christ

2.  To the well-being of the Church

3.  To the furtherance of the Gospel

4.  I Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable,

5.  To give your all to Christ!

Assistant Pastor:  Dale Brewer - Wednesday Evening Bible Study Handout

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High School Senior's Graduation Advice

 Christian Graduation Messages

Graduation Blessings from the Bible

Pastor Stoney Kiser spoke about graduation blessings from the Bible on Sunday.  He wanted to honor high school/college graduates of 2023 at the morning service. He wanted to talk to them about the Lord.  He gave them some instruction and some help along this pathway that we call life.

It was good to be in the house of the Lord.  Do you love the Lord Jesus with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind? 

All that We have Belongs to Him.

Everything we have belongs to him, doesn’t it?  Jesus said it like this, Psalm 50: 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.  12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. KJV

He owns it all: it all belongs to him.  Do you know even hell itself doesn’t belong to the Devil?  It does not.  God hath made all things for himself even the wicked for the day of evil. So, God made it all for himself for his purpose..that includes you, this morning. 

David Learned a Hard Lesson.

In the book of Psalms 16:8:, Psalmist David was a man after God’s own heart.  We know David from the story of Uriah, the Hittite’s wife.  David was on the housetop and saw her bathing in the water.  He went as far as to send her husband out into the front line of the battle so he could be killed.  Then, David could take his wife.

Life is full of temptations and battles…things that are going to come our way. When we become Christians and start walking for the Lord.  Satan’s going to try his best to destroy your soul.  He is going to try his best to take everything that you desire, love and turn it somewhat against you.  But if he can do something to discourage you, it will make him happy. If he can do something to hinder you on your journey, that is what he is going to do.  We are our brother’s keepers.   

We Are Our Brother's Keepers.

Today, it is our responsibility to lift each other up.  It is our responsibility when we see somebody down to reach them a helping hand and to pull them back up on the straight and narrow.  Psalmist David made a mistake and did something most people would never give him the air in a jug for afterward.  David said like this, Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. KJV

There is a path this morning.  I wanted to speak a little bit about that message to our graduates at Sunday’s service.I remember a time in my life, (it has been quite a while back, I recently turned 58), and I’ll say that there are still moments when these things pop up.  

I Have Set the Lord Always Before My Face.

I have to really put my focus back on God.  I wanted the Lord to show me how to go…what’s next…how do I take what I have learned and put it to use.  How do I help somebody else along the way.  God show me my life.  Put it in front of me.  Show me the path that I need to take.  That is what David was saying here.  He said, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 

I’m going to tell you something especially the graduates coming out of high school/college.  There are going to be temptations.  There are going to be battles that you fight.  There are going to be times in your life when you feel like maybe just throwing up your hands and quitting.  Perhaps you will think, I didn’t learn enough…I don’t remember them telling me about this in high school.  Why am I facing this now?  I don’t remember learning about this in college. 

Let me tell you something this morning.  There are going to be times in your life that the things you have obtained in the last 12 years or so (if time lasts) that you graduates have learned, you will have to put into action.  Right?  I am going to help you through life.  If there is one thing that you can learn today, you need to learn what Psalmist David said right here, “I have set the LORD always before me:.

The Amount of Doctorates is not What Matters.

I don’t care how smart you are or how many doctorates you have.  When it comes time for you to face death, everything you know is not going to do you any good if you don’t have Christ in your life.  Even if you save every dollar that you have obtained, you are not going to take it with. That doesn’t mean that we don’t take those things that God gives us, learn from them, and use them when needed.  We use things that God has given people the ability to teach us but without Christ in our life, none of that is going to do you any good. 

Psalm 16:8, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”  You want to know about the path of life I’m about to show you?  I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad,. KJV

"Therefore My Heart Is Glad."

That’s one right there for you: “Therefore my heart is glad,”.  We have Christians all over the world today that are happy with very little money in the bank.  Some of them have no money in the bank but they are happy because they know Jesus.  Their heart is glad because they know the Lord. 

To view the sermon in its entirety, watch on YouTube.com/DaltonServices 

 "Consider what we say, and the Lord will give you understanding in all things." 

For more information about our church [visit]...lookupnlive.net

Be Ye Followers of Me

BE YE FOLLOWERS OF ME

A Good Leader

LEARN HOW TO FOLLOW

A lot of people want to be leaders, but you know, you can’t be a good leader if you don’t know how to follow.  A lot of people want to lead but not many know how to follow.  Right?  

God has been good to us, hasn’t he?  Can we give him just a little bit of praise…could we just honor him?  Yes.  How thankful we all should be.

I noticed in the song, “Victory in Jesus”...you know if you have a problem or a battle…anything we the church is fighting as a whole…things we are going through, anything we have to deal with…the only way we will ever win is through Jesus. 

Overcome Battles

FOCUS ON JESUS

The only way we will overcome the battles, the hardships and the things maybe we don’t understand…all that comes our way…the only way you are going to win that is through Jesus Christ. The more we realize that, the more our focus can get on him.  We can get our focus off of the trials in life and things of that nature.

I am very excited about serving the Lord. The title for a Sunday’s sermon sometime back was “Be Ye Followers of Me”.  A lot of time we want to lead.  We want to give direction.  We want to show paths but we are not willing to listen or learn from anybody else from anything that is going on. 

Examine What You Are Listening To

BE ON THE RIGHT PAGE

I will say this if you would take the time to examine what you are listening to, you may find out somebody else knows a little something.  You may not be exactly on the right page.  It pays sometimes to find out what you are talking about before you go all “gun ho”. 

Luke 9:23, And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, (boy that’s a tough one isn’t it) and take up his cross daily, and follow me. KJV  

Do you want to follow the Lord Jesus?  Anybody want to follow the Lord?  We want his will to be done in our life.

Up above the 23^rd verse, reading in Luke the 18^th verse: And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? 19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, E-li’-as; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  Peter answering said, The Christ of God. KJV

Now, Peter could have told him, “You are the man who came and showed me this is the way I need to go”.  He could have said, “You are just Jesus, the son of Joseph”.  He could have looked at him in many different ways.  But Peter had his eye on him because he was the Christ of God.   

That’s why we look to Jesus today.  He is the Christ…he is the Saviour…he is the one we look today to help us through all of our trials…all of our hardships…everything maybe we don’t understand.  Some things we do, and we know that God has us in a place that we are having to fight these battles. 

Have you ever been through a battle and you thought you knew what was going on?  And, when you got to the end of it you looked back and said, “Oh, that’s what that was all about”.  Anybody ever been there?  I have.  I have come through some fights, and some battles.  I get to the end of it and the Lord gives me the victory.  I think back over what he brought me through and I am like, “I didn’t see that at the time but thank you for being there for me.  Amen?  That is the way we are a lot of times.

I will be honest with you, the day I drove down S. Hamilton Street (Dalton, GA), God laid this work (being Pastor at Dalton) on me.  I didn’t know what was going on then either but God had a plan.  I may not like it…you may not like it but God had a plan.  As long as we follow him…follow his will and his way. 

Don’t you know Peter would have loved to have just kept fishing?  Evidently, he really liked to fish.  Evidently, when the Lord was crucified, the bible said Peter went a fishing.  He went right back to where the Lord had found him, didn’t he.  But the Lord said, “Follow Me”.

Now, how many knows what Peter was in Acts the 2^nd Chapter?  Was he not a great leader?  Did he not lead those people?  In Acts 2:36, he told them, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” KJV

He preached one of the greatest sermons ever heard…that was ever recorded but he had to know how to follow Jesus first.  If we want the Lord to use us, we have to know how to follow him. If we want to be a good leader, we have to know how to follow. 

21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; 22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, (he told them not to tell anybody who he was at that time because there was a reason behind it) and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. KJV

The songs that the family and the choir sang on Sunday, all lead us to the remembrance of Christ, his suffering and how that he had rose victorious over death, hell and the grave.  How thankful we ought to be. 

The Church of God, we ought to be the most happiest people in the world…even through persecution, through distress, through disagreement…through everything that we go through, we still should be happy.  You may say, “Well, I don’t get that”.  There is a joy that comes with serving the Lord.  There is a calling on your life. 

You may not know this but you have a calling and a purpose on your life to do something particular.  God don’t just have each and every one of us here just by circumstance or by chance.  We all have purpose in life.  We have been called to do a particular work. 

One of the prettiest things that I could image is in Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. KJV 

I want you to take that home. 

You can watch the Sunday, April 16, 2023 Morning Service in its entirety via YouTube/DaltonServices with Pastor Stoney Kiser.

Be Ye Followers of Me via YouTube.

We hope you received a blessing from this sermon.

To find out more information about our church, [visit] - lookupnlive.net.

 

"Consider what we say, and the Lord will give you understanding in all things."