in between bites & sips ...

thanks for stopping by! here's where i put various thought, quotes or stories. most will be brief, some may be extended - but all will be somehow connected to my world. enjoy your stay!



Sunday, August 16, 2009

The 4th point of the sermon.

I preached on 'Nothing' this morning. As soon as its available online, I'll add the link so you can hear it if you like. But, as I was getting up to the 4th point of the sermon, I really felt like I was done, so I ended the sermon.

There still is a 4th point - and it's a good one - so, I thought I'd post it here.

1. do NOTHING our of selfish ambition - Phil 2:3
2. worry about NOTHING - Phil 4:6
3. there is NOTHING God can't do - Luke 1:37

and ...

4. halfhearted Christians accomplish NOTHING - Revelation 3:17

Revelation 3 deals with the message to the church in Laodicea. This church was famous for being 'lukewarm'. Another word for lukewarm is halfhearted. Basically, if you only 1/2 your heart into anything (especially related to God-things), then NOTHING is accomplished. In the referenced verse, the Laodiceans thought they had need of NOTHING, when in fact God tells them that in reality they are wretched, blind, etc, etc, etc - essentially, that they have NOTHING.

As Christians, we need to realize that God gave His ALL for us when He sent Jesus - so is it any surprise if we need to give Him our ALL? We can't be playing both sides - we need to choose to be on the Lord's side. Anything less is meaningless and worth nothing at the end of days.

Otherwise, we will be among those who say to God one day, "but I helped the sick & visited the lonely & cast out demons", and He will say "depart from Me, for I never knew you". We need to do EVERYTHING as unto the Lord (or - to keep with the theme - do NOTHING that we only put 1/2 our heart into!).

Today's sermon was fun, yet important. We need to embrace the absolutes God has given to us - there is NOTHING we should worry about, there is NOTHING that is too hard for God, there is NOTHING we should do for selfish reasons & there is NOTHING we should do halfheartedly for the Lord.

Click on the link to be directed to the audio of this sermon.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen!!! Thank you Pastor Rob....I admit that I haven't checked your blog in a while and when I did to read the 4th point I was excited that there were 2 posts that I had not read. I enjoy reading your blogs. I was saddened by the previous one. I have learned that sometimes we just can't understand the real motivation behind others actions or lack thereof. You are a great pastor and leader; do not doubt yourself!!!
Darleen

Rob Morris said...

Thx Darlene! I don't know HOW so much time passed between blog entries. I think I'm back in the routine again and should be good for approximately 1 blog post per week (that's my goal).

I appreciate the encouragement & hope I can continue to be an encouragement to you! (kinda sounds like the way the church is supposed to be, eh?!)

Anonymous said...

I think that often we as Christians have good intentions when it comes to serving the Lord. We want to do it wholeheartedly, but we get sidetracked and don't do the best that we can or should. I guess when we sign on for a task, we need to have tunnel vision until the job is done, realizing that we are doing it for Him and none other.
I, too, am saddened to hear about some leaving our church. We don't know what is in the hearts of others, but all that we can do is strive to keep our hearts pure and do what He is calling us to do.
MJB