Rating Sermons

Rating Sermons

1 Thessalonians 5: ¹⁹ Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; ²⁰ do not despise inspired messages. ²¹ Put all things to the test: keep what is good ²² and avoid every kind of evil.

 

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It had been years since I set foot into a church. Something pulled me back. I don’t know if it was loneliness or regret for where I was in life, I just knew I had to go to church. I went to one and did not like the message or the way it was delivered. I tried others and ran into similar thoughts. “What good is church!?” I said in frustration.

 

• I felt all preachers were scammers trying to protect their salaries.
• I listened intently to messages to see if it was “wrong.”
• I noticed more flaws in the delivery person than the message.

 

Paul. Silas and Timothy provided a few urgent warnings to help the people grow. “Put all things to test” was said to probably provide the people with a filter versus a way to combat. They knew some people would say “things” that were inspired by GOD, yet their delivery may be too coarse or too soft or somewhere in between. Despite imperfect people, the message could be sound.

 

My Observations

• GOD provides the HOLY SPIRIT to live inside me and others who believe in JESUS so I can hear HIM trying to reach me with HIS love.
• GOD inspires men and women to speak about HIM and wants me to embrace HIS loving message, while avoiding evil from men, or women or myself.
• GOD wants me to hear from others and plant what is good in my heart.

 

Hearing the message that “GOD loves” is difficult to hear from imperfect humans. I mean, when I look at what he or she did or is doing, it is hard to hear the love GOD is intently trying to convey. Somehow, HE uses imperfect people to speak about HIS perfection.

 

HE desires that my heart become a malleable place that can be stretched to house the HOLY SPIRIT. When my heart is ready to be filled with HIS love, I can hear messages that are truly inspired by GOD. I can also discern and avoid all kinds of evil. I appreciate and welcome others to speak about GOD the way HE inspired him or her to do.

 

Challenge

• What is the warning of the writers?
• Have you ever heard a sermon or read a message from someone who seems inconsistent with GOD or from a hypocrite?
• Will you overlook the sin of hypocrisy and listen to the HOLY SPIRIT so your heart can be softened to hear HIS message of love today?

Noble Character

Noble Character

Acts 17: ¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

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“We checked your references and what you said was true” the hiring manager told me. Although I had told them the truth and they were excited to have me on board, they wanted to make sure I really had performed the things I claimed to do.

• Many times I have had background checks.
• Many times I have had my actions questioned.
• Many times I have had to prove what I was saying was true.

Paul and Silas spoke to the Berean Jews, who were of more noble character than those at Thessalonica. While they were excited about what Paul and Silas preached, they check the Scriptures every day to see if what they spoke was true. This resulted in many people believing in JESUS as their Savior.

• GOD wants me to speak the truth about JESUS.
• GOD wants me to receive the message from HIS messengers with eagerness.
• GOD wants me to check the Scriptures to be sure the messenger is telling the truth.

Noble character means living by the truth. When someone claims to speak about JESUS, they should not mind if someone says “wait a minute… let me check the Scriptures to see if what you are saying is true.

GOD wants me to validate what I am saying by using the Scriptures, avoiding twisting the meaning to make it say something that gives me personal gain. I am glad GOD gave the scriptures so I can speak the truth.

• Are you mad because someone checked up on what you are saying?
• Did you speak the truth?
• Will you be excited about what you hear about JESUS and check the Scriptures for yourself to make sure the messenger is speaking the truth?

Check It

Check It

Acts 15: ¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

¹⁶ “‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
¹⁷ that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
¹⁸     things known from long ago.

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Going with my gut, I began to assemble the complex item. I mean, I had put a lot of things together before, what would be so hard about this thing? While I had a good start, somewhere towards the middle of my assembly, I discovered I did not have the right parts available. I had to take everything apart and look at the instructions. I had used the wrong parts too early.

• There were times when I went with my gut feelings.
• There were times when I did what I “thought” was right.
• There were times when I acted on something before checking to see if I was doing it correctly.

Barnabas and Paul explained how they began to speak to other races about JESUS. They also explained how amazing GOD worked through them. James explained how Simon, also known as Peter, had also been charged to speak to other races. James checked what they were doing by looking at what the prophets wrote.

• GOD wants me to check my actions to see if they align with HIS desires.
• GOD wants me to understand I may think of things that seem right but they are not.
• GOD wants me to follow HIS ways by reading HIS word first.

There is a way that seems right humans but its end is death. GOD wants me to check the thought that seems so right, so comfortable and so pleasurable, against HIS word. If the thought conflicts, HE wants me to have enough fear of HIM to obey what HE wants me to do rather than what I want to do.

Obedience to GOD may mean I am stretched to speak to people who do not look or act like me. The person may vote a different way or listen to music that I may not understand, BUT GOD wants me to reach the person anyway. I am grateful JESUS gave me purpose from long ago.

• Is GOD telling you to expand your heart to speak to other people?
• Do you see hurt across every nation?
• Will you allow GOD to give you abundant life by caring for the people HE sends to you today?

Where Advice Comes From

2 Kings 1: ² Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’

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“Should I…” are the words I have said on many occasions. The problem with these unsure words is that they were pointed in the wrong direction. “Should I sneak out of the house?’ was pointed at other teens who had done this and “gotten away with it.”

• Sometimes I seek advice from those who are not following GOD in order to join the crowd.
• Sometimes I seek advice from the fearful and they add their worries on me.
• Sometimes I seek advice from the rich and powerful in order to be more like them.

GOD’s way is definitely not my way. HE does not want me to bow down to gods of money, power and fame so the source of my advice should be different.

• GOD wants me to seek HIS kingdom first so HE can say “No” or “Yes” to my request.
• GOD wants me to ask HIM for everything since HE owns everything.
• GOD wants me to see if I am following HIS plan, not my own.

Even the tiniest decision can be run by GOD. HE can handle it. HE wants total dependence on HIM and reliance on HIS power. Authority is given once I ask GOD “what should I do in this situation?” When HE has first right of refusal then HIS guidance is far better than any human advice.

• Whose advice are you seeking?
• Do you check “churchy” advice by comparing it to what GOD says?
• In your prayers for situations and stuff, do you ask GOD “what do you want?”
• Can you seek what GOD wants for you today?