Genesis 3

Pain and hurt is a reminder of the trade man made in the Garden of Eden.

We need to answer the question “why” the way God answers “why.”

It was never God’s plan for you to have pain or to go to hell.  It was God’s plan for youto be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and enjoy the earth and have dominion over it.  What happens is that a messenger of satan or a thorn in the flesh shows up every time we experience God’s blessings. 

A messenger of satan will offer you things to take away your peace, joy, and love.  Satan would rather have you cowered in the corner fearing death than loving others and enjoying life.  He knows the bondage of fear will keep you from glorifying God.

2 Corinthians 12 

When the messenger of satan comes, we are to glory in our infirmites that the power of Christ may be made manifest.  Satan offers something you think will bring life, but all that blooms is death.  God comes that you might have life, and thatmore abundantly.  When you let go and say that Christ is your life, then you can rejoice when satan comes.

2 Corinthians 2

We need to answer the question of “why” with faith and forgiveness in Christ.  If you do not respond this way you are giving satan an advantage over the life you have left.

Realize when people need space.  Glory in your infirmities.  Forgive people when bad things happen.  Does satan have an advantage over you?  He does if you’re asking “why?”  The only answer that will work is faith and forgiveness.

Bring your “why” to the alter and lay it down.  Respond in faith and forgiveness.  A “why” is a result of unforgiveness in your heart for a person or situation.

John 14 & Colossians 3

You can spend time with people and not know them.  You can spend time with God, and have no idea who He is.  Phillip didn’t know Christ.   Relationship is knowing the other person.  Most of the time, we have relationships for the advantage.  We marry someone because we believe they’re going to be an advantage to us.  We don’t marry them to know them. 

We don’t need to strive for God’s favor.  We need to be confident in our relationship with God in Christ.  It’s not about what you do. It’s about being in Christ.  A real relationship is one that will endure suffering.  There has to be a relationship that overrides every aspect of your existence.  What you set your affections on in private will be what controls your life.  If you set your affections on things above, you will recognize Christ in your life.

To some people, Jesus is nothing more than a t-shirt.  You really know God when you set your affections on things above.

Acts 16 

When you get scared, you lose all control.  Fear can make you do some weird things.

If you allow it, fear will kill you.  The world today is motivated by fear.  People are scared to death of not being pretty enough, cool enough, strong enough, smart enough. 

The reason why we’re so scared is that we’re scared to die.

We are all going to die someday.  We do not have to face God alone.  You need to meet Someone who’s never been scared.  You need to meet Someone who has looked the devil in the eye.  You need to meet Someone who has faced death, and won.

There is only ONE like that—the Lord, Jesus Christ.

PREACHER: Joe Aldridge

Sermon Outline: Questions and Answers about How to Live

You have to willingly surrender your appetites to God, and your life will be changed.Your spiritual habits have to overtake your fleshly habits.

1. PROBLEM: “I cannot forgive _______, no matter how hard I try.” (II Corinthians 2: 10-11)

a. Satan gets an advantage over us when we do not forgive.

b. You don’t have to trust, but you have to forgive them by not carrying the burden of their wrong-doing. Forgiveness is not forgetting. When someone stops justifying what they’ve done, then they can regain your trust.

c. Some people can’t forgive because they don’t understand forgiveness.

d. We forgive because of what Jesus has done, not because people deserve it. They don’t.

e. Living in the flesh of unforgiveness will destroy a person.

f. Habitually be quick to forgive, but slow to trust.

ANSWER: “Dear Father, thank you for forgiving me and for giving me the forgiveness to forgive ______.” –Make a prayer like this a habit.

2. PROBLEM: “I cannot do anymore. I just can’t do it.” (Philippians 4:13)

a. Most of the time, the reason we get into this state is because we don’t understand the difference between what God wants us to do and what man wants us to do.

b. Humanity will wear you out. If you live to please men, you will be exhausted.

c. YOU CAN’T PLEASE MEN. God never expects you to.

ANSWER: “Dear Jesus, thank you for giving me the strength to go on, to do what I cannot do. I will continue because of you and your victory.” (Galatians 1:10, Philippians 4:11-13)

We can do all the things that Christ strengthens us to do. There may be some things that God never intended for us to do. He will not give us strength to do that which He has not intended for us to do. Christ didn’t die so that you could do whatever you want to do. The main thing that Christ will strengthen us to be is content. Don’t wait on God to circumstantially prove to you that He is able. Stop allowing the flesh to control you. Start being content in the Spirit. We have taken the Christian life out of context, and have made a habit of living for God in the flesh.

3. PROBLEM: “I do not know what to do. What am I going to do?” (John 16:13-14)

ANSWER: “Holy Spirit, lead me and give me wisdom. I’m asking you to guide my path.”

Some people would rather reason and argue with God than make statements about truth. Allow God to stop proving Himself to us and just start believing.

a. The reason we sin is because we allow ourselves to get hungry.

b. We don’t continually feast on what God has given us.

c. Be in a habit of constantly asking God for His wisdom and leadership in your decisions.

d. This will keep us from getting hungry and making us choose to do the wrong thing.

e. Our living has to be spiritual. We’re feasting on the junk-food of the world instead of feasting on the spiritual food that God has given us. We are unfulfilled because we have a spiritual hunger that the world cannot fill.

4. PROBLEM: “I am going to give her/him a piece of my mind. I’m just going to tell him/her off.”

a. Telling people off and blowing off steam is not godly. IT’S PRIDE.

b. It’s from a desire to prove that we are right.

ANSWER: “I yield my mouth and mind to you, Holy Spirit. Control me from myself.” (Ps. 19:12-14)

Don’t allow your mind to have a habit of any improper thinking. We need to get as upset about our private sin as we do about our public perception.

It is my responsibility to make sure that what my heart is chewing on is acceptable to God.

5. PROBLEM: “I am naturally that way. It’s just the way we are.”

ANSWER: “Dear God, change the way I am. I want to be like your Son.” (Romans 12:1-2)

a. We need our minds renewed to know what we should and should not do.

b. Don’t waste your time doing things that do not matter.

APPETITES ARE HABITUAL. TRUE CHANGE ONLY COMES ON THE HEELS OF CONSISTENCY. DON’T ALLOW YOURSELF TO CONTINURE TO LIVE THE SAME WAY. STOP LIVING IN THE FLESH. CHURCH SERVICES ARE NOT ENOUGH. CHRIST-LIKE CHARACTER IS CONTINUING. IT HAS TO BE CONSTANT.

If we’re going to surrender our appetites to God, and truly be changed, we have to ask,

“What is standing in the way of my private Bible study?”

“I don’t have enough time.” You make time for what you believe is important. You make time for something you value. You need to create a taste for Scripture over television.

“What is standing in the way of me praying privately?”

A true relationship has to involve active listening.

OUR APPETITES ARE WHAT HINDER US FROM OUR BIBLES, PRAYER, AND CHURCH.

Have an appetite for investing in your God-given relationships.

Make a habit of sharing Christ. Not just soulwinning. Christ needs to become such a big part of our lives that we cannot have a conversation without Him. Live in a way that you introduce Christ into your life in every aspect.

Text: I Thessalonians 5

This sermon is a study of the end of I Thessalonians chapter 5.  Bro. Aldridge takes an honest look at how to apply this passage to our lives, and at the average Christian’s shortcomings.  This sermon covers topics such as:

Sometimes we need to get out of the way and let God work.  Sometimes when you yield to the Holy Spirit of God, He tells us to be still and quiet.

 Pray constantly.  Don’t cling to what people say.  Evaluate things in the light of the Bible.  One person can hinder the Spirit of God and stop blessings from coming to a group of people.

Listen to God’s voice in your life, and don’t quench the Spirit’s leading.

Sermon Title: The Case for Surrendered Appetites

Text: Romans 8

If you have decided to surrender your appetites to God, you have given over the authority of them to God.  You are no longer going to decide what you want.

Have you ever wanted to have sexual intercourse with someone other than your mate?  The Bible says that lust is committing adultery in your heart.  Have you ever hated someone?  The Bible says that hate is committing murder in your heart.  Have you ever stolen?  You are a thief.  Have you ever disobeyed your parents?  Have you ever put anything in front of God?  That’s idolatry.

You are in trouble.  Your flesh has gotten you in such a fix that you don’t know what to do.

We’ve watered down the gospel to make it acceptable to the world.  We’ve removed the schoolmaster of the law from the gospel to get people to pray a prayer.  No one gets under conviction or tastes repentance anymore because we remove the concept of how terrible sin is.  Don’t be more interested in a paper decision than in a spiritual salvation decision.  The law is good because it teaches us that we are un-righteous and deserve hell.

Hell is a place of eternal separation from God.  It’s not just a word to “amen” over.  When someone says yell, we need not get excited.  We have made the gospel a PLAN instead of a PERSON.  If you don’t understand that you need Christ, then you will not receive Christ.  Most people get saved because they want to go to heaven, not because they’ve met the Savior.  People need to understand their depravity without Christ. 

The law destroys people so they’ll need Jesus.  We present the gospel as if it is something to make their lives better.  Bad things happen to saved people.  We have to submit ourselves to the law before we can experience the freedom that is in Christ. 

There are 2 laws:  the law of the Spirit of life, and the law of sin and death

THE LAW CANNOT SAVE YOU, BUT IT CAN TELL YOU THAT YOU’RE NOT SAVED AND THAT YOU NEED JESUS. 

The law was not given to be obeyed to become righteous, but to reveal to them how much they needed a Messiah.  We need to be reminded that we were the prostitute, the pot-head, the murderer, the adulterer, the thief.  Sin is the transgression of the law.  If we are guilty of one sin, we are guilty of all.  We were born into sin. 

Jesus Christ came to the flesh’s battleground and won.  He became sin for us.  But we don’t appreciate it because we’ve trusted a manufactured Jesus that is a “buddy” who is going to pay our bills and give us a nice house.  Jesus was spit on, reviled, rejected, and scorned.  He’s not the Jesus that everyone paints Him to be.  Jesus was the one who came and presented the kingdom knowing that it would be rejected.  We’ve created a Jesus that is acceptable to the world that they can recognize because we’ve made Him the answer to all problems.  That’s not what He is.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.  The Deliverer, the Savior.  Your flesh is not going to go to heaven.

If we are going to submit our appetites to God, we’ve got to understand something.  The Word of God puts an expectation on people after salvation.  We are to be a walking fulfillment of the law.  What the flesh could not do, Christ can do.  Our flesh is capable of any atrocity.  But, there is not condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. 

The sin in our lives has already been whipped by Jesus. There is no more expectation on us to satisfy the law because Jesus did it for us.  If we live under the law of sin and death, we are condemned.  We cannot be found innocent in front of God’s judgment if we represent ourselves.    If we operate under the law of sin and death (in the flesh, or based on a guilty conscience), we cannot please God. 

You cannot see the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ if you are living in sin.  If you have accepted Christ, you have already paid all your dues to the flesh, but you’re still sending in payments if you choose to give in to it.  We need to live life like we owe the Spirit of God.  We deserve to suffer for sin.  But when we give our appetites to God, we can no longer live like our flesh wants.  We have to live like we owe the Spirit.  If we are beyond conviction, then we are beyond repentance.

Empty vs. EquityII Corinthians 10:12-13

Taking credit where it does not belong to you will get you into trouble.

A lot of us are living empty lives because we’re constantly trying to take credit for something that is not our fault.  (Good or bad)

Ignoring simple solutions places us in the midst of complex problems.

The last thing you want to do is live empty.  Live equal.  Do not try to stretch yourself beyond your measure.  When you’re driving, the only vehicle you have control over is your own.  We get upset because we are frustrated about things outside of our control controlling us. 

Live a life of being exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Psalms 17:14

Many have emptied their lives because they’ve refused to mentally stay in bounds.  They worry, are anxious, and constantly wonder if they measure up.  What is the purpose of your life?  What is the meaning of your existence?  What is your substance?  You can have all the wealth and materialism in the world and still lack substance.  Substance is you awaking in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That which finds its beginning and ending in Christ is what has meaning.  When you are full, you will get emptied.  When you are fulfilled, you will be satisfied.  What good is something if you don’t receive any satisfaction from it?  An addiction creates an inner void.  If we do not take the pleasure that God ordained us to experience, we will look for something to fill that void.  We will be empty.  The devil always counterfeits God’s pleasures.  There’s pleasure in sin for a season, but it brings bondage. 

Evaluate Your Appetites:

                              What are your natural desires right now?

                              What are you after?  Good or Bad.

       How strong are you when it comes to your wants?  We need to    
       practice saying “no” to sin.  People do wrong because they  WANT to, not because they have to.  Is there victory in Christ or not?

                              How far are you willing to go to be full?

  Are you willing to manage your appetites in order to be fulfilled?  Until people begin to manage their own appetites, noting will ever be good enough for them.  Nothing will bring them joy.  People would rather be full than be fulfilled.

  Will you surrender your appetites to God?  Until you do, you will never experience true fulfillment.  Sin does NOT hold the answer. 

Live in balance.  Stop trying to do more than you can do.  Stop comparing yourself with others.  Remove “that’s not fair” from your vocabulary.  Never say “If only…”  Be content with what you have.  If you want everything you have, then you can have everything you want.  The more balance in our lives, the more harmony there is in our lives.

God is not asking more of us than we can give.  His expectations are reasonable.  Stop trying to impress Him and thinking more of your-self than you ought to think.  Realize that you are who you are.   

 The life you’re living is the one that God made for you.  It’s the one that God will bless and use and define.  Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the LIFE.  If you have Christ, you have the best life that anybody could ever have.  Stop taking the God-given gift of life and soiling it with your own complaints and criticisms. 

You will not experience true pleasure until you experience fulfillment.  You will not experience true fulfillment if you go out of bounds.  Stop your sin.  Don’t ask God for fulfillment while you still seek to fill up on the things of the world.

  Do what is reasonable with your life: Give it back to God.  Be content.  Love your life. 

ARE YOU WILLING TO SURRENDER YOU APPETITES TO GOD?

Sermon Outline: “Walking in the Light”Ephesians 5:8-10, II Corinthians 2:10-11, I John 1:8, Psalms 130, Colossians 3:8-9

It’s our responsibility to walk in light.  What do you say to justify your sin?  If you are justifying anything and making excuses, you’re not walking in the light.

As we walk in the light, there is going to be more and more exposure of us.  You can’t live in light without being exposed.  Allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and mind.  Responsibility comes with knowledge. 

You will not do right in the big things if you refuse to do right in the small things. 

Darkness is ignorance.  We are no longer children of darkness.  We have the Holy Spirit of God (if we’ve trusted Jesus as Savior) to guide us.

Forgiveness—We cannot have revival because we are too dark/ignorant to forgive.  Forgiveness is not an option.  If you are going to walk in the light, you have to forgive.  If you believe that Jesus purchased you and that God should accept you, then you have to forgive, or live in the dark.  There are no excuses for unforgiveness in our hearts.  The only way to forgive is in Christ.  Unforgiveness puts you in the darkness of the offender’s sin.

God has been far better to us than we deserve.

We need to forgive:

a.       God (for being better to us than we appreciate)

b.      Others

Forgiveness does not mean trust.  Forgiveness means that you will not carry the burden of sin.  You cannot experience God’s working in your life if you refuse to accept the simplest of God’s foundational truths—forgiveness.

c.       Ourselves

The reason we are not being illuminated and seeing God is because we have acted ignorant of Satan’s devices.  We have justified our unforgiveness.  That gives Satan an advantage over us.  If you will allow it, unforgiveness will ruin your life.  Living miserably will not rectify the situation.  No one has the right not to forgive.  It is a sin not to. 

Jesus didn’t die so that we would be able to avoid hardship.  He died because we deserve to die and burn in hell for eternity.  Stop blaming everyone else.  It’s not the preacher’s fault, the youth pastor’s fault, the secretary’s fault, or anyone’s fault.  The child of God is not the victim.  The child of God is the victor.  Stop making excuses.

Realize your right relationships.  Don’t let a wrong relationship rob you of a right one.

Sermon Outline: “A Firm Foundation” Romans 5:1-5

When you’re dealing with having a revival, everyone thinks it will happen suddenly.  That is not the case.  It is incremental, not sudden.  There have to be preparations made.  The main reason that we are in churches today is because we want to experience peace with God.  The majority of people are in something, but they have no idea what is going on.  You do not make great leaps spiritually.  You must grasp the foundational truths of the Word of God to experience revival.

Performance-based Christianity is riddled with guilt. 

You are justified by faith, not by any work that you’ve done.  God even had to give you the faith to believe.  The Holy Spirit of God provides the faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is not anything in and of ourselves that will bring salvation.  People don’t initiate anything with God.  People respond to Him drawing and leading them.  We simply have to respond to what God is doing in every aspect of our lives. 

Don’t take something that God has given you and compare it with someone else.  We did not cause God’s gifts to happen.  They are up to Him.  Don’t take pride in what God has or hasn’t given you.  The moment you take responsibility for God’s blessings, you step out of faith and into sin.  If you live in the flesh, you’ll never have peace with God.

DO YOU WANT PEACE WITH GOD?

If you have peace with God, you will never live in pride or comparison.  You have an identity in God through Christ.  There is a vacuum in Christianity that is sucking the world’s ways into it.  That is because there is a vacuum where the peace of God is supposed to exist.  Someone who has peace with God cannot be offended.  Christianity is not politically correct.

When we have peace with God, we’re not constantly looking to others for our security.

Stop just believing in your head, and start understanding in your heart what God has done.

Grace is not getting what we deserve.  Our place to stand is not in performance.  We’ve got to begin to operate not on the hope of a performance, but on the hope of a finished work. 

Religion equals guilt.  Faith equals grace.  Where are you standing?  In confidence?  If so, it better be in Christ.  We cannot hook our wagon of rejoicing onto circumstance.  Our rejoicing is in the hope of the glory of God.  We need to rejoice in the things we have instead of constantly worrying about what we don’t have.

Tribulation equals patience.      Face tribulation with faith.  Understand that no matter what you go through, you shouldn’t hinge whether you’re right with God by how things turn out.  If you’re right with God, you’ll still get flat tires.  You’ll still have problems.  We are going to have tribulations.  Patience only comes over time.  If you are going to get patience, you must face tribulations in faith. 

Patience brings experience.  You need experience because the only way you can help others is for you to know how to go through similar problems. 

Experience brings hope.  Hope maketh not ashamed.  Are you ashamed of who you are or what you’ve done?  People are ashamed today because they are worried about their identity—a result of not enjoying their relationship with Jesus Christ.  They’re not living in love. 

We’ve got to live in love.  Jesus died for you!  Love Him because He’s yours!