November Pastor's Challenge

God is worthy! The things of which God are worthy, from Revelation 5:12, have challenged us this year: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” Thus far, we have focused on what God is worthy of, but have not focused on the name of God in this verse. In this coming month of Thanksgiving let us focus on our God who is the Lamb.

This Lamb is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ whom John the Baptist identified as such in John 1:29 when he saw, “Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Thanksgiving and love should well up in our hearts toward our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who bore our sin on the cross of Calvary as the Lamb of God ( I Peter 1:18-21). We who have been forgiven much should love much (Luke 7:47). But do we?

Do you sometimes sense a lack of love and thanksgiving in your heart toward Christ? My friend, I call you to remembrance! Remember your sin before a Holy and Righteous God. Remember the times you unwittingly and wittingly broke his commands. The Lamb, Jesus Christ, died for your sins. O praise Him! Thank Him! Stand in awe of the Lamb of God. It is by looking to our Savior that we can be delivered from the penalty of sin and the practice of sin. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” May God richly bless you as you look unto Jesus as the Lamb of God this coming Thanksgiving season!

With love and prayer, Pastor Mark

Selected Bible Verses on "The Lamb of God"

Genesis 22:8, “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

John 1:36, “And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!”

I Peter 1:18-21, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

Acts 8:30-35, “And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Revelation 21:22, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”

Revelation 21:23, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

Revelation 22:3, “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.”

Links to Recent sermon download from FBC

Title: The Foundation of Marriage
Text: Matthew 19:1-6
http://sermon.net/download.php?c=18884-count_audio_download-2254256

Title: The Enemy of Marriage
Text: Matthew 19:7-9
http://sermon.net/download.php?c=18884-count_audio_download-2258073

Title: The Alternative to Marriage
Text: Matthew 19:10-12
http://sermon.net/download.php?c=18884-count_audio_download-2266639

Title: The Blessing of Children
Text: Matthew 19:13-15
http://sermon.net/download.php?c=18884-count_audio_download-2270870

Title: Eternal Life
Text: Matthew 19:16-26
http://sermon.net/download.php?c=18884-count_audio_download-2275000

Mini-Series on Marriage from Matthew 19:1-12

The response from these messages have been encouraging. I have tried to preach the truth from Matthew 9:1-12 in love and compassion. One dear lady said after sermon two, “Pastor, I almost did not come to church today because I knew you would be preaching on the divorce passage. But boy am I glad I came; you preached a message of encouragement and hope even for us who have been divorced.” Praise God! It is only by His grace!

Sermon one: The Foundation of Marriage. Matthew 19:1-6

Sermon two: The Enemy of Marriage. Matthew 19:7-9

Sermon three: The Alternative to Marriage. Matthew 19:10-12

You can down load the messages by clicking on the titles. Please feel free to share these messages with others if they have been a help to you.

Pastor Mark's Podcast Feed

This past Sunday we began a series of messages on marriage and divorce from Matthew chapter 19. We covered verses 1-6 and entitled the message, "Foundations of Marriage." You can download the message for a listen at the following feed:

http://sermon.net/pastormarkworden/rss

Responding to God's Call - Moses as an example

I can sure relate to Moses and his response to God's call on his life. God's callings are often unexpected and a shock.

Romans 15:4, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

As a pastor I find great comfort from the Scriptures that gives me hope in finding God's help to fulfill His calling in my life. O Lord help me to be completely dependent on you and walk by faith moment by moment of each day!

Down load the message entitled Responding to God's Call.

A Message on Forgiveness

The struggle of forgiveness or the poison of unforgiveness, the choice is yours!

Download the message!

We often talk about God's blessing but what about blessing God?

September Pastor's Chat:

We have come to the last item that Christ deserves to receive from us as mentioned in Revelation 5:12—blessing! What does it mean to bless the Lord?

The word bless, according to Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary, when used in reference to God means “to praise; to glorify, for benefits received,” or “to praise; to magnify for excellencies.” Certainly there are many benefits which we receive each day for which we should bless God. If we spend time in the Word of God reflecting and meditating on God’s Excellencies, how can we not break forth in verbal praise and tell others about the Excellencies of our God that we have beheld? God is worthy of blessing! Are you blessing God with your praise and adoration simply for who He is, as well as for his wonderful gifts to men? Or is there something in your heart that just isn’t comfortable about a God who wants to be worshiped? We certainly don’t look kindly upon men who set themselves up as someone great and display a desire to be worshiped and idolized by others. Does the question, “What makes it right for God to want to be worshiped?” lurk in the deep recesses of your heart and cause you not to abandon yourself in wholehearted worship of Him? Well, God is not a man! He was never a man who became a god! He is! He is eternal! He is great! He is perfect! He is creator! He is the one who sustains our very life! He holds this world together! He is all powerful! He is all knowing! He is present everywhere! My friend, God is worthy of our praise simply because of who He is. He is God! We will never experience true satisfaction until we find it in blessing God as Psalm 103 and 104 reveal. Please read them soon.

With prayer, Pastor Mark

The best sermon I have ever heard on worshiping God from the heart. I hope that you will listen and grow in your ability to simple take pleasure in God simple for who He is. Click hear to listen!