What’s So Amazing about Grace? — A Free Sermon Outline! (Part 3)

You may read a lot of books this year, but one little booklet that will change your life is called Ten Specific Steps You Can Take to Make Your Sermons and Preaching Better.  Yes, I wrote it.  But that’s not the point. If you preach or know someone who does or wishes you didn’t have to listen to another sermon by __, you’ll want to get this booklet.  It is guaranteed to alleviate the preaching blahs, or I’ll write your next sermon outline for you! (available on Amazon).

I’m passing on some of my favorite sermon outlines in these posts — with a few comments added.  Let me know if you find these helpful.  We are continuing with a sermon I wrote on God’s amazing grace.

What’s So Amazing about Grace?
(a study of Titus 2:11-15).

We’ve seen that —

I. God’s Grace Is a Salvation-Bringing Grace (v. 11)

We’ve noticed secondly that —

II. God’s Grace is a Teaching Grace (v. 12)

Let’s see, thirdly, that —

III.  God’s Grace Is a Waiting Grace (v. 13)!

I don’t know about you, but I hate to wait.  There are two kinds of waiting:  (1) wasted waiting and (2) worthwhile waiting.  Wasted waiting is when my wife says those seven most feared words any man can hear, “Let’s go shopping at the mall, Dear!”  And I forget to bring a book with me.  Or there’s no coffee shop in the mall.  And I have to wait.

Worthwhile waiting is when she says those feared seven words to me (“Let’s go shopping at the mall, Dear!”) and she reminds me to take a book with me, points me in the direction of the coffee shop, takes my credit card and says, “I’ll be back in a day or two.  Dear.”  That’s worthwhile waiting.  Kind of.

God’s grace prepares us to wait.  For what?  Really the question is, for WHOM?  The text says we are waiting “for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (v. 13).  What a tremendous verse on the deity of the Lord Jesus!  For how many individuals are we waiting as believers?  For only ONE.  And He is “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”  HE’s worth waiting for, right?  And no credit card is involved. (to be continued)

 

 

 

 

Back to Basics (A Study of Titus 2): Part 10

We are learning a great deal about the Christian life from the Apostle Paul in Titus 2.  There he writes —

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. ¹⁵ These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

God’s grace not only saves us; it teaches us how to live.  And this Christian life involves both denying (ungodliness and worldly passions) and affirming (living soberly, uprightly, and godly in this present world).  Christians are not to impose their values on the world in some militaristic way, but to seek to influence culture as salt and light.

Today we move on and notice that God’s grace is not only a SAVING grace and a TEACHING grace.  It is also a WAITING grace.  Notice what verse 13 says, “while we wait for the blessed hope . . .”

I don’t know about you, but I hate waiting.  Unless the person or reason I am waiting on or for is worth it!  And Jesus is worth it!  We are waiting “for the blessed hope — the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”!

Whenever my wife says those four most feared words to me any husband can hear (“Let’s go shopping, Dear!”), she knows that I will be spending some time waiting for her.  She makes sure I take a book to read (maybe several), finds a coffee shop in the mall, takes the credit card, and says, “I’ll be back in a few days, Dear.”  I don’t mind waiting for her.  We Christians are waiting for our Savior to return.  And ours is not wasted waiting. It is worthwhile waiting, for He is coming back for us!

Ours is not wasted waiting!

By the way, for how many people are we Christians waiting, according to verse 13?  We are waiting for one Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice how He is described here: “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”!  What clearer statement of His full deity could there be?  Are you keeping busy for Him as you are waiting?

(By the way, the Apostle Paul is our example in godly waiting.  Take a look at Acts 17 for what Paul does as he waits for his companions). (to be continued)

 

 

Psalms of My Life (Psalm 27)

Psalm 27
Of David.

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked advance against me
to devour[a] me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.

4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.

6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
spouting malicious accusations.

13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

 

What on Earth Are We to Do about Unbelief? (Part 9b of 10)

Don’t you just HATE to WAIT?  As we look at the world around us, we believers in Jesus long for His Second Coming.  But we are to be waiting . . .

Jude has already said much to us in this one-chapter letter.  We are to notice the unbelief around us, but not to the point that we give up or drop out of the battle.

In fact, Jesus intensifies his challenge to these believers — and us — to get strong in our own walk with the Lord.  We saw in our last post that we are to build ourselves up in our most holy faith.

Let’s continue to look at a ninth part of our response to unbelief in our world and it is this —

Step #9b-  We must Take Responsibility for Our Own Spiritual Lives! (vv. 17-23).

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Jude then says that these believers are to “keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (21).  Can we do that?  Can we keep ourselves in God’s love”?  Some commentators suggest that Jude is not saying that we can keep ourselves in a condition in which God can love us, for we are sinners by nature and practice.  Rather, he may be saying, “Live in such a way that you show your love for God!”

Notice that keeping ourselves in that condition, that state of showing our love for God, helps us in our waiting!  We are waiting “for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring [us] to eternal life.”  (21).  Although the Bible teaches that eternal life is the present possession of the one who believes in Jesus (see Jn. 3:15-16; 3:36 [“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.]; 5:24; 6:47; 17:3), it also teaches that eternal life is a future reality awaiting the believer (Mt. 19:29; 25:46; Mk. 10:30; Jn. 6:40).

How’s the waiting going? (to be continued)

“I am convinced that the dearth of great saints in these times even among those who truly believe in Christ is due at least in part to our unwillingness to give sufficient time to the cultivation of the knowledge of God. We of the nervous West are victims of the philosophy of activism tragically misunderstood. Getting and spending, going and returning, organizing and promoting, buying and selling, working and playing–this alone constitutes living. If we are not making plans or working to carry out plans already made we feel that we are failures, that we are sterile, unfruitful eunuchs, parasites on the body of society. The gospel of work, as someone has called it, has crowded out the gospel of Christ in many Christian churches. In an effort to get the work of the Lord done we often lose contact with the Lord of the work and quite literally wear our people out as well.”

Questions:
1.  There is wasted waiting and there is worthwhile waiting.  How can our waiting for the Lord Jesus to return be seen as worthwhile waiting?

2.  If I am right that “keep yourselves in God’s love” means — Live in such a way that you show your love for God — what is one practical way that we can do that?