15 Sermons Tagged "Gifts"

When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, he responded, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you." Does that mean your faith is weak if you aren't able to do this literally?

Do you ever find yourself focusing on the negative things in your day or life, even if things are mostly going well for you in general? Psalm 103 is a great antidote for that negative mentality; it explains, often through wonderful imagery, all of the blessings the LORD gives to us. But the opening verse says "Bless the LORD, O my soul," so how do we bless the LORD?

The apostle John records in the book of Revelation that many angels were saying in a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." Why were the angels saying this about the resurrected LORD?

God has given spiritual gifts to all members of the invisible church of all believers according to what the visible churches need for their congregations and communities, so we should remember thank God for our gifts and use them to praise and glorify Him.

As we get into the season of Epiphany, we look at the baptism of our LORD and savior Jesus and see the many ways in which his baptism by John the Baptist was the same as, and different than, our own baptism.

We have a unity (a strong relationship) both with God and with our fellow believers because we are called through the good news of salvation in Christ. We should conduct our lives out of thankfulness for the holiness God credits to us by serving others with the gifts God has given to us.

Jesus gave the binding and loosing keys to the church after his resurrection when he appeared to the disciples and other believers. We use the binding key (the Law) when someone is embracing a sin to show them they are damned to Hell and need a savior, and we use the loosing key (the Gospel) when they repent to forgive them of that sin and tell them Jesus is their savior.

Jesus told us that no one knows when he will come again, but still he instructed us to keep watch and be ready for his return. Unfortunately, today many people, even who profess to be believers in Christ, do not. But we can keep watch by being aware of what we cannot know, by hearing and reading God's Word, by using our spiritual gifts for God's glory, and by using the binding and loosing keys when reaching out to others.