Sermon Title: Jesus, the Best Friend of Those in Need
On Sunday, Sept. 5th, we complete a series of messages entitled, "The Top Ten List of Principles for Christian Living." Here's a summary of that list:
10. It Works Better If You Plug It In!, Luke 18:9-14: The story is taken from the parable that Jesus taught about how a religious leader went to the temple to pray and said to God, "I am glad I'm not like other people - I am better!" and a tax collector went to the same temple and prayed, "Lord, have mercy on me, for I am a sinner!" Even though the religious leader looked like he was close to God, he was not plugged into Him. And so it is with you and I - we need not a form of religion, but a real relationship with God.
9. There Are No Perfect Situations, Psalm 118:19-24: This reminds us that no circumstances or people are perfect; every day and every person comes from God and we should rejoice in everything because of this fact.
8. You Can't understand If You Don't Know the Language, John 1:9-14: This means that we must understand the basic Christian terms of grace, mercy and salvation if we are to truly understand how God relates to us.
7. Remember Everybody Has an Empty Sleeve, Ephesians 4:25-32: This principle reminds us that everyone has a weakness or shortcoming and no one should demand perfection from others.
6. There Is A Land of Beginning Again, Luke 19:1-10: This tells us that God is a forgiving God and is always ready to forgive you and make you better than ever.
5. It's Important to Focus, Mark 8:22-26: This reminds us that there are some things more important than others, and living for God and others is what we should focus our lives on.
4. You Don't Have to Reinvent the Wheel, John 21:15-17: This means that God has taught us how to live and practice our faith and we don't need to recreate how we do this.
3. There is a Key to Unlock Yourself, Mark 10:17-22: This principle reminds us that God is needed in our lives if we are to experience life the way it was intended for us to experience it.
2. If You Catch the Wrong Bus, You End Up in the Wrong Place, Matthew 7:13-14: This tells us that we must be intentional in how we decide to live our lives otherwise we may end up doing something we didn't intend to do or become something whom we did not intend to become.
1. Love is the Best of the Best, I Corinthians 13: Love is the greatest attribute because God is love; without love, we cannot be the type of people intends for us to be.
This coming Sunday I will talk about how the Good Samaritan is like Jesus and He is better than religion or anything we can create apart from Him. Hope to see you (and one of your friends) on Sunday!
