Tag: sermon

“Reflecting Jesus” (available on itunes – podcast/brainerdcorps)

Sermon Podcast – Check it out!

 

John 4:7-26 (NIV)
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

 

 

“Reflecting Jesus” (available on itunes – podcast/brainerdcorps)

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Sermon Podcast: “Living for God” by Captain Scott Strissel

New Sermon Podcast is up follow it here: http://scottstrissel.podomatic.com/entry/2013-06-23T11_08_34-07_00

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1 Peter 4:7-11 (NIV)
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Sermon Transcript:

Living For God

How to live consistently as a Christian:

1) Be Clear__ Minded__ (v7)

Clear minded implies that we can’t be of two minds about our faith in Jesus…it’s either all in or nothing!  Peter is reminding us that our commitment to God is complete not just a portion but everything…body soul and mind.

Do you have doubts?  Do you struggle with worry?  Are you fearful that you aren’t good enough for this cause of Christ?  Wrong…don’t let second guessing hold you back either!   The mind can be a battle ground that Satan likes to prowl, but if we allow him access he will give you doubt, give you uncertainty of your mission and cause you to doubt you were even called in the first place!

2)Be  Self-Controlled (7b)

Secondly in order to live for God you have to be disciplined.  That’s what self-control means.  How do you control what you put into this body of Christ? How do you maintain your devotion life with God?  How do you continue to live for Him and be clear-minded? You have to exercise self-control and be disciplined.  Our lives can be chaotic at times, we may get so busy that we forget to pray or read His word and that’s when we can starve our spirit.  Did you know that our spirits require sustenance?    How else can we continue to live for God if we’re not reading what He has said to us?  How else can we continue to live for God if we aren’t feasting on his promises and finding peace with His still small voice?  Why are we to be disciplined?

  • Why?  so that you can Pray!(v7)

We some- times doubt prayer…and its effectiveness.  We sometimes doubt that prayer is really THAT vital.  Have you ever had someone tell you that they would pray for you?  Have you ever felt the effects of people gathered together to pray for you?  Sometimes we treat prayer as if it is a secondary after thought.  We pray to get ourselves out of trouble…we pray when times get difficult, but do we actually treat prayer as a primary weapon?

Do you consider prayer to be a primary weapon?  IF you haven’t before I would like for you to consider the potency and power of prayer!  Prayer is vital but it shouldn’t just be used as a reactive weapon…you know what I mean by reactive don’t you?  Prayer shouldn’t be something we just do when something bad happens to us…or happens to someone else.  Prayer ought to be a proactive discipline we should strive to hone in our own life.  Instead of prayer being a reactive thing that we do, we should instead pray over every area of our lives… “Lord thank you for my family, how blessed I am that you have given me this group of dysfunctional people…” Ok maybe not quite like that…but you get what I’m saying?  Pray for people and reflect on the blessings that God has given you!  When we arm ourselves with proactive prayer…do you know what takes place?  We have placed everything already at God’s feet!  We essentially are saying the Lord’s prayer when we do this in that we’re stating in our actions “Lord, thy will be done…in all of my life!”  Living for God implies that our conversations with God are not just reactionary prayers of petition…but we are arming ourselves with His might and His power.  This type of prayer life creates too in us a disciplined lifestyle.  We begin to expect His responses, we begin to converse with Him as freely as if we were talking to a good friend.  We begin to find His hand in our lives and through the things that we experience.  He guides us into a deeper relationship with Him which is holiness.

3) Love_______Deeply_ because it brings

  Forgiveness and Acceptance_(v8)

3rdly in order to live a godly life we ought to love deeply.  When we love deeply and without any kind of hidden agenda or selfish motives we begin to experience Agapa love.  Agappa love is godly love.  Love that permeates who God is…that’s the kind of love that sent Jesus to the cross for us.  That’s the kind of love that doesn’t want us to remain in a state of sinfulness but wants a right relationship with us.  Godly love is something that far too few possess.  When we fulfill that first command to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”  What we are saying is I no longer put the needs of myself first.  I no longer wish to be God in my life…but I am giving God his rightful place in all things.  And in the same breath I am then saying I will also love others as I love myself.

How can this be?  People are tough to love aren’t they?  Especially if those neighbors are seemingly unloveable people.  Yet we are called to love them as we love ourself.  DO YOU?

If we get this love of God right…the rest falls into place.  If we can worship our Lord with all of our hearts instead of just a portion, then we can do this other thing regarding loving our neighbors.

When we love deeply as this scripture passage says we begin to focus less on the transgressions of our neighbors and instead focus more on the grace and love of God who first loved us in our awful state.

This passage says love covers over a multitude of sins…let me ask you…has someone sinned against you?  Has someone wronged you so painfully?  Has someone hurt you to the point that you can seem to find it in your heart to forgive them?  Let God help you…You can’t possibly do this on your own.  You aren’t supposed to.   But when we love as God first loved us this paves the way for healing.  This paves the way for forgiveness and reconciliation.  It won’t be easy, but His grace is enough!  His power can do the impossible!  Do you believe that?

4) Use the Gifts  God_ has given you!

            (V.11)

“Living for God” 1Peter 4:7-11

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Sermon Podcast: A Mother’s Heritage

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Sermon Link via Podomatic:

http://scottstrissel.podomatic.com/entry/2013-05-12T13_07_09-07_00

Also podcasts are a available free by download via iTunes: key word: brainerdcorps
Sermon Scripture Passage:

2 Timothy 1:3-8 (NIV)
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,

3 Marks of Love (A Mother’s Heritage to pass on to her children):

1) Knowledge of a Savior

2) Knowledge of the Scriptures

3) A Passion to Serve!

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Check out the audio podcast below in the link or download our podcasts for free @ itunes (key word: brainerdcorps)

“Jesus the good shepherd”

John 10:1-21 (NIV)
1 “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.
3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.
13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
19 At these words the Jews were again divided.
20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Sermon Podcast: “Jesus the good shepherd”

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Jesus, Zombies & Humanity – Sermon

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Sermon Link is below:

Jesus, Zombies & Humanity – Sermon.

John 6:44-69 (NIV) 
44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus spoke in the temple…about Zombies…”Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day..”(54)

I.  Jesus taught a difficult message (v60)

He declared himself the only way to the father and also that He was the bread of life that had come down from Heaven.  He was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum…many came to listen and he had his disciples there which number way more than 12 at this time. 

 

II.  The of God will sometimes offend (v61)

 

III.  Do we have faith or doubt? (v64)

 

IV.  Declare who Christ is correctly!  (67-69)

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