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(Courtesy of Voice of Prophecy)
Children’s Story (Feb 6, 2021)
/in Pastoral, Sermon, VideoWednesday Revelation Study Part 7
/in Pastoral, Sermon, VideoUnity
/in Pastors BlogUnity
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
John 14:7-8
What Jesus says here is a powerful testimony of the relationship he had with his father. As people got to know Jesus they were also getting to God the Father. Jesus was a perfect representation of his father.
Can you say the same about your parents or your family? Do you represent them in all things or are there big differences between the people in your home?
People might think that Jesus’ words mean that he wasn’t unique or had his own mind but that is not true. You can be a unique individual and still be a representation of your family. Paul was very different from Peter or John and yet all three were representatives of Jesus.
As church members we are all different and unique. We all have different skills and characteristics but that doesn’t mean we can’t be united in our representation of Christ. Think of it this way. Jesus is the Son of God and therefore infinitely more complex than any one of us. Jesus is actually more actually represented by the joining and unity of our differences than any single person by themselves.
What’s interesting is that Philip was with Jesus for so long and still hadn’t seen the connection between Jesus and the Father. We too, even after many years in church, can be blinded to the representation of other members to Christ. We believe Jesus is just like us and not like other members who are different from us. To this, Jesus has a response.
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
John 14:9-11
We cannot judge people who are different as lower than us. Just as there are four gospel stories, each unique and yet all representing Jesus, so to in the church. Each of us should be a living gospel to who God is. Let us not see differences between us but simply different faces of Christ.
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto
Hard Choices
/in Pastors BlogHard Choices
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible about choice. They are powerful words from a leader who is completely sure of his choice. He will serve the Lord. If you look closely at the statement you realize that Joshua is doing something very important and clever.
There are three groups that he highlights- three types of ‘gods’. The first are those from the past ‘from the other side of the river. It’s not by accident that he uses the words ‘which your fathers served’ because they truly were slaves, who served those on the other side of the river, in Egypt.
The second group that is mentioned is the here and now, the gods ‘in whose land you dwell’. Again he perfectly chooses his words. He tells them that they are the gods of the Amorites, the same people that they conquered and took their land from.
Without saying it outright, he is calling all the people there fools for their choices in gods. Why would you worship the gods of your slave owners? What did you ever gain in Egypt except broken backs and poverty? Why would you want to worship the gods of such horrible people?
Likewise, why would you want to worship the gods of a conquered people, especially if you were the ones doing the conquering? They lost and proved their gods worthless. Why choose what the losers have?
Then there is the third choice. Notice he says, ‘if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD’. What was going on at that time that Israel, the people of God would think it evil to worship him? It’s amazing how we can become so confused in what is right and wrong, good and evil.
If they truly listened to the words of Joshua, they would see that God is the one that delivered them from Egypt and he was also the one who helped them conquer the Amorites. God is not the loser or the evil one. He is the winner and the good and only God.
Joshua knew this and that is why he could stand up without wavering to his devotion to God. How about you? Are you completely sure in who your God is and what he’s done for you? If you are, stand up and proclaim it, just as Joshua did.
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto
Wednesday Revelation Study Part 6
/in Pastoral, Sermon, VideoOur Daily Acts
/in Pastors BlogOur Daily Acts
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
This verse is usually used by people to explain why they eat and drink outside of the Bible’s guidelines. This verse is used as an excuse to put our own desires and habits over the laws and regulations that God created for us. Oddly enough, the purpose of this verse is the exact opposite. When you look at the context of the verse, you realize that even if there is freedom to go outside of God’s laws, we shouldn’t for our good and for those around us. Just look at verses 23 and 24.
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Paul is making it very clear that God’s laws were created to be helpful and to edify us. To go against that for our own fleshy desires is both harmful and destructive.
What verse 31 really is trying to say is that our relationship with God should go far beyond what we do in the sanctuary, when we pray or read the Bible. It should be intertwined with every aspect of our lives including the most basic like eating and drinking. The simplest acts should be done to the glory of God.
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:32-33
The two verses after 31 are very much connected and actually a continuation of the verse. Not only should our daily lives and actions be a glory to God, but so much so when it involves others around us. We should be even more careful and purposeful with how we glory God when we are talking or in communion with others.
We should always try to give offense to no one, even when they deserve it, because we are in that situation to perform a job for God. Every interaction we have with people, from all backgrounds, is an opportunity to give light and the Light to them.
This Sabbath the sermon will be about praying for, reaching out to and bringing God to 5 people in our lives. This will only succeed if we realize that we are on this job not just when we pray, speak or invite them to something but in every second of our lives. What we do all day, and how we accept the Holy Spirit in our day, will be just as important to those 5 people as any interaction you have with them personally.
Let’s remember:
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto
Children’s Story (Jan. 23, 2021)
/in Pastoral, Sermon, Video