I am currently preaching a series called “The Truths We Hold Dear.” We are looking at core Biblical doctrines that the church believes. Here is the sermon on the Person of Jesus:
Tag: Jesus
Sermon Songs: Hebrews 11:17-22
In this world we will face hard testing
Sometimes God’s Word is hard to obey
Faith in God’s promises now helping
Us to endure and follow each day
Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son
Teach God’s promises to your children
Trust God with their lives and your future
One day you’ll be with the Lord and then
Resurrection, God’s promise is sure
(Repeat Chorus)
© 2023 Brian J. Mikul
(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)
Spring Is Coming
As I write this, the snow is melting in northern Michigan. The weekend promises days in the 50’s. The hope of Spring is in the air.
And yet by the time you read this, it is supposed to be cold again. Back in the 30’s. Chances of snow. Winter isn’t over quite yet.
Jesus has come, and with Him the hope of a new world. He healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead. He died for our sins and gave us a new life in Him.
And yet sickness and evil and death remain. We still sin and fail to live as God has recreated us to live. This fallen world isn’t over quite yet.
But just as we know winter will eventually give way to Spring, so we know that this fallen world will one day give way to a new world. Jesus is coming. Sickness and death will end. Evil will be defeated forever. One day we will no longer sin.
In the final days of winter, as you look forward to Spring, set your gaze a little further to the promise of a new world.
Saturday Strands
Here are some loose strands to ponder:
What Makes Christian Prayer Christian? – Joel Beeke and Paul M. Smalley (Crossway)
We must confess our prayerless praying to God and plead for the renewal of our souls. Prayer is the thermometer of our souls. Let us then take practical steps toward prayerful praying.
Missiles and Moments of Clarity – Ryan Currie (TGC)
It’s strange how moments of crisis bring clarity. Each defensive burst clarifies realities I was already aware of but had hidden under the hum and drum of everyday life. These missiles provide moments of clarity into what’s most important.
Those Already Present and Those Who Have Not Yet Arrived – Tim Challies
As I heard the announcement, it occurred to me that when it comes to delays, there is a world of difference between those who are already seated on the plane and those who are still rushing to it.
No Life in God’s Service Is Wasted: Three Lessons from a Brief Ministry – Matt Rhodes (DG)
How will we invest our years, our wealth, our energy, our reputations, and our relationships? The choices we make in this short life show how fully we trust Jesus to give us everlasting life.
Flashback: Stand Firm In His Love
God offers us great compassion. Not just a little. Not just some. Not just the leftovers. God offers us great compassion.
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping God with your local church!
False Desires
In Christ, we become new creations, called and able to reject false desires.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
(II Corinthians 5:17)
In Christ, God has made you new. Your old sinful way of life is gone. You have a new life in Christ, so you don’t have to follow false and deceptive desires. His Holy Spirit enables you to reject fleshly desires (Galatians 5:16). His grace trains you to reject worldly passions and live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life (Titus 2:11-12). In Christ, you can overcome.
Indeed, He calls and enables all of us to reject deceptive desires like lust, coveting, greed, gluttony, and selfishness. He calls and enables all of us to reject false feelings of hopelessness, despair, and worry. He calls and enables all of us to reject wrong self-perceptions of superiority, self-righteousness, and worthlessness.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(Romans 12:2)
Instead of conforming to the false desires of our world, we are to renew our minds with God’s truth that we might discern what is good and follow that.
Rejecting false desires isn’t easy. God never said it would be. Indeed He tells us that it is a war:
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
(I Peter 2:11)
These false desires are at war with you to destroy you. We must fight. But God not only calls us, but also enables us, to reject false desires. May we live in His strength!
Sermon Songs: Hebrews 11:7-10
God’s judgment for our sins is coming
Believe God’s warning, your sins confess
Look to the cross now for your saving
Become a true heir of righteousness
Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son
Believe God’s promise of a city
Live by that faith and His Word obey
Go where He leads though you cannot see
Look to your hope as you live each day
(Repeat Chorus)
© 2023 Brian J. Mikul
(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)
Sermon Songs: Hebrews 11:1-6
Faith is assurance of things hoped for
The conviction of real unseen things
Live by faith in God’s promised reward
And in God’s unseen daily workings
Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son
We believe God made the world and us
Show it by how you treat each person
By faith we’re commended as righteous
Through the saving work of God’s own Son
(Repeat Chorus)
Faith is the means of walking with God
Draw near to Him and please Him each hour
There is reward for those who seek God
And hope in death through God’s greater power!
(Repeat Chorus)
© 2023 Brian J. Mikul
(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)
Jesus Is Coming
The Old Testament was filled with promises in great detail about the coming of Jesus, and He came just as was promised. The New Testament is filled with promises of the return of Jesus, and we believe that Jesus is coming again just as was promised. We are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
And Jesus is coming again to bring forth the final fulfillment of God’s Kingdom. In the Gospels, Jesus declared that the kingdom of God was at hand. Jesus the King has come, and He cast out demons and healed the sick and raised the dead and multiplied food and calmed the storm to show what His kingdom would one day be like. Satan will be defeated, and there will be no more sickness or death or lack or destructive chaos. And He died on the cross for our sins and rose again to make for Himself a people, His subjects, who will turn from their sin & believe in Him, and begin to follow Him.
One day the King is coming again, and He will bring about the final fulfillment of the Kingdom. He will bring peace and justice and righteousness forever (Isaiah 9:7). He will set up His throne on the New Earth, and He will bring forth His kingdom filled with life and healing and light. There will be no more darkness, and nothing accursed. And His people will be forever in presence of the Lord (Revelation 22:1-6).
So let us carefully prepare for His return. Too many people don’t prepare, don’t even think about being ready for His return. They have no interest in Jesus, no interest in the salvation He offers. But if there is even a chance that what we are saying is true, shouldn’t you carefully explore it? If your eternal destiny rests on what you do with Jesus, shouldn’t you consider it? Jesus might return today. You could die today. Turn from your sin and trust in Him today. Carefully prepare for His return.
He is coming. Are you ready?
And if you are, rest in the amazing certain hope that you have in Him!
Sermon Songs: Hebrews 10:26-39
Be careful that you don’t turn away
How could you treat Christ with such disdain?
Vengeance is the Lord’s, He will repay
Without Christ, only judgment remains
Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son
Now call to mind how far you have come
All the trials you had to endure
Don’t quit now for your reward will come
Look to your hope, glorious and sure
(Repeat Chorus)
© 2023 Brian J. Mikul
(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)
Remember
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are designed to picture and so remind us of Christ’s saving work for us.
Baptism pictures and reminds us of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and how in Him we have spiritually died and been buried to our old sinful way of life and been raised to a new life with Him (Romans 6:3-4). Baptism also pictures and reminds us that in Christ our sins are washed away (Acts 22:16).
The Lord’s Supper pictures the broken body and shed blood of our Savior, which we are specifically told to remember (I Corinthians 11:23-25). The same passage also reminds us that the cup is the New Covenant in His blood – it pictures our new relationship with God made possible through Christ in which are sins are forgiven and His Word is written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10-12).
And so both baptism and the Lord’s Supper picture and remind us of Christ’s sacrifice, and how in Him our sins are forgiven and we are now able to follow Him.
So let us remember and rejoice. I tell people when I prepare them for baptism, that it is a celebration.
Sometimes we talk about celebrating Lord’s Supper, because it should be a celebration. As we remember Christ’s saving work for us, how could we not celebrate? As we consider forgiveness of sins and a new life in Christ, how could we not rejoice? Remember and rejoice!
Let us also remember and rest. And in two ways: rest in Christ’s love and rest in His finished work.
First, rest in Christ’s love that brought Him to the cross to die for your salvation. Everyone is looking for love, and as Christians we have found an undying, unselfish, unending, amazing love. No matter what others think of you, no matter how they may reject you or mistreat you or ignore you, the God of universe, your Creator and Savior, loves you and will not reject or mistreat or ignore you. As we witness a baptism or gather for the Lord’s Supper, we remember His saving work for us and rest in His love.
Second, rest in Christ’s finished work. Jesus died and rose again to cleanse you of all your sins. In Christ, you are clean. There is nothing you have to do but believe. It is not of works, so no one can boast. No penance, no earning, no striving – just rest in His finished work. Again, He died and rose again to change you, to give you a new life – something you could not do on your own. You cannot fix yourself. He has already done it – just rest in His finished work. As we witness a baptism or gather for Lord’s Supper, we remember His saving work for us. It is finished, so we can rest.
As you witness a baptism or gather around Christ’s table, remember His saving work for you. And as you remember, rejoice and rest.
Brian J. Mikul 