25
October
2009
16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.
16:22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 16:23 And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. 16:24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’ 16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 16:26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 16:27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father – send Lazarus to my father’s house 16:28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 16:29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 16:30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 16:31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 16:19-31 NET
Key Point: The Kingdom will not be a result of extraordinary, overpowering revelation; it comes in often unseen, surprising ways to repentant people who become “participants in the world of resurrection”
Jesus’ Kingdom’s welcome to ALL = sign of resurrection living
Point of parable?
Jesus 1st sermon = “Repent & Believe!”
Repent = Re _____ _____ _____ _____
How to become a Muslim?
Outcome: Change!
New eyes & ears=see a need and try to meet it in Jesus’ Name
Poor = invisible e.g. the “wretched of the earth”
Next steps: Where do we “fit” in the parable?
>For “Lazarus” Trust Jesus
>For “Rich Man” Get new eyes and ears
>For “5 Brothers” Don’t wait until it’s too late
>For “long-time disciples” Be “home-bringers”
Be the “gloves for Jesus’ hands” reaching out to a lost world
rochcov 
Uncategorized, Pastor Gary Downing, 1st Service, Sermons 
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22
March
2009
Genesis 27, 29, 32
Key Point: If we are willing to submit our lives to God, He will use us to be a blessing to others in ways we never could in our own clever strength
1st person reflections
***********
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” [Genesis 28:15]
***********
What dreams have you had to postpone or abandon?
When/why have you struggled with God?
What “new name” identity have you received on your faith journey?
Where do you see evidence that you are becoming more trusting?
rochcov Uncategorized, Pastor Gary Downing, 1st Service, Sermons Comments (0) » |
24
November
2008
Translation from Bible.org
To hear it read, click here.
1 John 2
2:1 (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One,
2:2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.
Keeping God’s Commandments
2:3 Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments.
2:4 The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person.
2:5 But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him.
2:6 The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.
2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have already heard.
2:8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
2:9 The one who says he is in the light but still hates his fellow Christian is still in the darkness.
2:10 The one who loves his fellow Christian resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
2:11 But the one who hates his fellow Christian is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Words of Reassurance
2:12 I am writing to you, little children, that your sins have been forgiven because of his name.
2:13 I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered the evil one.
2:14 I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,
2:16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.
2:17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
Warning About False Teachers
2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.
2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.
2:20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
2:21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
2:22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.
2:23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
2:24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
2:25 Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
2:26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
2:27 Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
Children of God
2:28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.
2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.
rochcov Uncategorized, New Testament, 1 John Comments (0) » |
29
September
2008
Service including all spoken parts and sermon from Rochester Covenant Church’s 50th Anniversay service - September 28th, 2008
rochcov Uncategorized, 1st Service, 50th Anniversary Comments (0) » |
23
September
2008
Translation from Bible.org
To hear it read, click here.
2 Thessalonians 1
Salutation
1:1 From Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Thanksgiving
1:3 We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater. 1:4 As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.
Encouragement in Persecution
1:5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering. 1:6 For it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 1:7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 1:9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 1:10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed - and you did in fact believe our testimony. 1:11 And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, 1:12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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