A. The reason for obedience (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2-3)
B. Do you still love Him, or are you going through the motions? (Revelation 2:1-7)
II. Does the story of the cross still move you?
A. What is the gospel message? (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 1:21-25; Romans 1:16; Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 26:28; Acts 4:12)
B. For too many, the cross is little more than academic knowledge
III. Does the church bore you?
A. Have you ever thought, “I just don’t get anything out of services?” What are you putting into the church?
B. Worship is participatory (John 4:23-24; Acts 12:5; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Ephesians 5:19; Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 11:26)
A. God shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9)
B. We will be judged by our own work (2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12-13)
C. Reverence for God (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
II. The price of redemption (1:18-19)
A. Redeemed from aimless conduct (contrasted with the reverent conduct enjoined in v.17)
B. Not redeemed with corruptible, temporary things
C. Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:15-20; Hebrews 10:28-29)
III. The eternal plan (1:20-21)
A. Foreordained from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-11; 3:10-12)
B. The power of God raised Him (Ephesians 1:19-21)
C. The faith and hope that results from the resurrection (Romans 6:4-6)
A. “He who has an ear, let him hear!” (Revelation 2-3)
B. This is the first step in God’s gospel plan of salvation, and it is such an important step because without hearing, we cannot grow! (Romans 10:17)
C. Think about how the Scriptures impact you personally – yes, someone else can benefit from the message, but how can you benefit from it? (2 Corinthians 13:5)
D. Hearing was a part of the first post-resurrection gospel sermon preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37) – but they didn’t stop at hearing; Peter told them to do something (2:38) and 3000 did it (2:41)
II. Be a doer
A. Hearing without doing is pointless (James 1:22-25)
B. “Faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17) but we must “add to our faith” (2 Peter 1:5-9)
C. Wisdom is shown in doing what Jesus says (Matt. 7:24-27)
III. Be a bringer
A. Andrew brought his brother Peter (John 1:40-42)
B. Philip brought his friend Nathanael (John 1:43-46)
C. The Samaritan woman brought her neighbors (John 4:29-30)
A. Man’s relationship to the Almighty (1 John 2:3; John 12:48)
B. Self-deception (1 John 2:4; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 John 1:6,8,10; Titus 1:11,16)
C. Perfected love of God (1 John 2:5; Matthew 5:43-48)
II. Do you abide in Him?
A. Walk just as He walked (1 John 2:6; John 8:12; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 5:1-2)
B. The old commandment, made new (1 John 2:7-8; John 13:34-35)
III. The Danger of Darkness
A. Is it possible to follow Christ while in darkness? (1 John 2:9; John 8:12; Romans 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:5)
B. Our love of man (1 John 2:10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a; John 15:9-10; 13:34; Philippians 2:3)
C. Hatred causes blindness (1 John 2:11)
A. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) – opinions and politics have no place in the pulpit
B. God’s Word produces salvation (Romans 1:16; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:22)
C. God’s Word is God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
D. God’s Word must be proclaimed (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
E. The danger of false doctrine (1 Timothy 6:3-5; Titus 1:10-11)
II. Respect for God’s family
A. The church is God’s family, and we must all love and respect each other as family (1 Timothy 5:1-2)
B. Encouraging each other to live godly lives (Titus 2:1-6)
III. Respect for God’s lifestyle
A. “Be an example” (1 Timothy 4:12-16)
1. v.13 – the preacher’s focus should be on study, encouragement, and preaching
2. v.14-15 – he should use his talents (and improve them as far as possible) under the eldership’s authority (2 Timothy 2:15)
3. v.16 – he needs to watch himself and what he preaches so that he can be saved, and those who follow his example and preaching can be saved as well
B. “Be a pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7-8)
C. Don’t get involved in things that hinder the church
1. Do not “share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22)
2. “Youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22)
3. “Foolish and ignorant disputes” (2 Timothy 2:23, 16; 1 Timothy 4:7; Titus 3:9)
4. “Love of money” (1 Timothy 6:9-11)
I. A family dispute over inheritance (Luke 12:13-15)
A. The man’s demand – not a request! (12:13)
B. Jesus’ concern was not for the physical (12:14)
C. Neither should our concern be primary for the physical! (12:15; Ecclesiastes 5:10)
II. The farmer’s fortune (Luke 12:16-19)
A. The rich get richer (12:16)
B. The farmer’s focus on self (12:17-19)
C. His thoughts resulted in self-centered actions (12:18)
D. Your soul’s satisfaction cannot be purchased (12:19)
III. God’s warning (Luke 12:20-21)
A. “Fool” (12:20)
B. “Then what?” (12:20)
C. This man’s greed resulted in his condemnation (12:21; Ecclesiastes 5:13)
A. Mary Magdalene had already visited once (John 20:1)
B. The others were concerned about the stone (16:1-4)
C. The angel in the tomb (16:5)
II. The angel’s pronouncement (16:6-8)
A. “He is risen!” (16:6; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
B. “As He said to you” (16:7; 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 14:28)
C. The shock of this news (16:8)
III. The appearances of Jesus (16:9-14)
A. Mary Magdalene (16:9-11)
B. The disciples on the road to Emmaus (16:12-13)
C. The apostles (16:14)
IV. The Great Commission (16:15-18)
A. What makes the Great Commission so great?
1. The message preached – the gospel (16:15)
2. The reach of the message – “all the world”… “every creature” (16:15)
3. The simplicity of submission (16:16)
B. The gift of the Holy Spirit (16:17-18; Acts 2:38)
V. The ascension of Jesus; obedience of the apostles (16:19-20)
A. “Sat down at the right hand of God” (16:19; Colossians 3:1-4)
B. “They went out and preached everywhere” (16:20; Acts)
C. The word confirmed with miracles (16:20; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13; James 1:25)
A. Is any man’s standard infallible? Could all agree on the same standard, if such were devised by man? (Proverbs 12:15; 14:12)
B. Devastation is caused by man’s imperfect standards (Judges 17:6; 21:25)
C. Without God’s standard, we cannot know good or evil (Romans 7:7)
II. The reality of free will
A. God created all things—including man—“very good” (Genesis 1:26-27, 31), and gave man the freedom to stay that way (Genesis 2:16-17)
B. Man chose to disobey (Genesis 3:6)
C. The choice remains today (Revelation 22:17)
III. Evil, pain, and suffering are caused by poor choices
A. Sometimes our own bad decisions (Prov. 11:19; 1 Pet. 4:15)
B. Sometimes the sinful choices of others (Romans 5:15; Jeremiah 25:10-11)
C. Natural disasters (Genesis 6:5; 3:17-19)
IV. Suffering can be beneficial
A. God can use even painful situations for our good (Romans 8:28)
B. Suffering may be a form of discipline (Hebrews 12:6, 11)
C. Suffering leads to greater reliance upon God (Ps. 119:71)
D. Suffering helps us to focus on eternity (2 Cor. 4:17)
A. Jesus had predicted this (Mark 14:27-31)
B. Peter denied being a follower three times (Mark 14:66-72)
II. “Not my problem” (Pilate)
A. Pilate marveled that Jesus refused to defend Himself against false accusations (Mark 15:1-5)
B. He saw that Jesus was not guilty (Mark 15:6-14)
C. Pilate had no backbone and refused to do what was right (Mark 15:15; Matthew 27:24)
III. Hatred (chief priests and the crowd)
A. Envy of the chief priests (Mark 15:10)
B. Bloodlust of the crowd (Mark 15:11, 15)
IV. Mockery (soldiers, passersby, and scribes)
A. A parody of worship (Mark 15:16-26)
B. Made fun of His words (Mark 15:29-30)
C. Denied His power (Mark 15:31-32)
V. “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (the centurion)
A. Prophecy fulfilled (Mark 15:27-28)
B. Scripture cited (Mark 15:33-34; Psalm 22:1)
C. Power recognized (Mark 15:37-39)
VI. Love (the women and Joseph of Arimathea)
A. The women who had ministered to Him in Galilee (Mark 15:40-41, 47)
B. The secret disciple (John 19:38) who took courage (Mark 15:42-46)
A. The creation of man (Genesis 1:26-27)
B. All things were good when created (Genesis 1:31)
C. The fall of man (Genesis 3:1-15; Ezekiel 18:20; Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 3:23)
II. “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1)
A. The Deity of Jesus is declared (John 1:1)
B. “And the Word became flesh…” (John 1:14) – God became man! The Creator became the creation!
C. “…the form of God…equal with God…coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5-7)
III. Why did the Word become flesh?
A. He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Lk 19:10)
B. He came to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15)
C. He came “to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
D. He came to taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9; Philippians 2:8 “even the death of the cross”)
E. He came to be “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:7-9)
F. This was all a part of God’s plan “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:3-4; Ephesians 3:11)
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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