Sermons by Ysrael De La Cruz (Page 14)

Stop Tripping over Opinions

When the Restoration Movement began in our nation in the early 19th century their slogan was: In essentials unity, in matters of opinion liberty, in all things love.  This is the movement from which independent Christian churches, Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ emerged.  People wanted to restore the church back to the Bible.  The Bible would be the only creed.  They understood that when it comes to our Christian faith, we must be united in the essentials; but when it comes to matters of opinion there is freedom.  Today there are people who confuse their opinion with the essentials of theology.  As followers of Jesus, we must be able to know the essentials from the non-essentials of our faith.  The non-negotiable from what is negotiable.

Understanding our God-Given Mission Part 2

If we truly wish to understand our mission as followers of Jesus, we must take a closer look at Jesus and how he reached people.  Last week we talked about how Jesus is calling everyone to follow him, to become his disciple.  Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen.  Jesus said follow me and I will make teach you to catch people.  Jesus calls people to follow him and to learn from him how to reach others with the message of the gospel.

Understanding our God-Given Mission

One of the best ways for the church today to understand her mission is to take a closer look at the life of Jesus.  When Jesus came, he was all about fulfilling his mission for the glory of God the Father.  When you are not sure what your mission as followers of Jesus is in this world, look at Jesus.  The church is the incarnation of Jesus in the world.  The church is called the body of Christ; we are to let Jesus live through us, serve through us, love through us.  It is through the church that people will get to know God (Eph.3:10).  God has always been on mission and he has always used people to accomplish it.  It was to his disciples that Jesus said, “as the Father sent me, so I am sending you. John 20:21. God wants to reach every person in the world and he has chosen his followers (you and me) for this task.  We are God’s representatives in this world.

A Woman Worthy of Praise

Throughout the Bible, we get to know the names of women whom God used to accomplish his purposes.  There were some who were prophets, judges, queens.  There was one who was in a bad relationship, but God used her to save her family. Background: David had become a fugitive; he was running away from king Saul who was seeking to kill him.  David was in the dessert with about 600 men.  They had run out of supplies; then David sent ten young men to a man named Nabal, whose shepherds David and his men had protected in the wilderness.

Obedience Better than Sacrifices

A great number of people know that God loves them for he gave his own Son to save them.  However, there are lots of people who don’t know how to love God.  Jesus said that if you truly love him, you would obey his instructions.  This is how you show God that you love him.  You cannot love God whichever way you think or desire; you must do it in the manner he prescribed otherwise you may find yourself in violation to his word.
There was a man in the Bible, a king, who thought he could accomplish The LORD’s mission his own way.

The Key to Transformation

The Bible is the word of God; God uses it to transform us into the people he wants us to be.  Jesus prayed that his people be set apart by his truth. John 17:17 (Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth)
2 Tim.3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the people of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
For Christians to experience growth and transformation in their lives; they must not lose the hunger for God’s word.  As baby craves for milk, we must long for the Bible so we can truly grow.

Committed to Christ’s Mission

After the resurrection of Jesus, he began to appear to his disciples; they had expected Jesus to be a political leader.  When they saw Jesus alive, they thought that their plan was back on tract.  In fact, Luke tells us that they even asked Jesus if he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel now that he was alive and back with them.  The disciples of Jesus wanted to know that the plan was now; Jesus gave them the mission, which is the mission of every follower of Jesus.

My Lord and My God

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the foundation of the Christian faith. It is the reason Christianity exists today. The disciples were not transformed because the tomb was empty; they changed when they saw Jesus alive. Jesus began to appear to his disciples giving them evidence that he was truly alive. Jesus had predicted that their sadness would turn into joy.

Jesus is Risen

The gospel is not good news without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  It was a horrifying weekend for followers of Jesus.  Their hopes and dreams were shattered by a cross on Friday afternoon. Jesus was the one they thought would restore the kingdom to Israel, their expected messiah; whom they did not expect would die; neither they expected him to rise from the dead.  They thought everything ended with the death of Jesus. 

The Humble King

Today is Palm Sunday according to our calendar; we remember the time when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  Most people may know this when they hear the phrase “Palm Sunday.” This is the inauguration of what we know as passion week.  The week leading to Christ death and resurrection. This event is known in the Bible as the triumphant entry.  What was this about?

How Well do you Hear

The Bible is God’s Word; God’s message to the world.  It has the power to transform lives.  God uses it to change us; to train us and to equip us to be seasoned disciples. There are people who read it and listen to its message but still don’t experience transformation.  Have you ever wondered why that is?  Why is it that a person may have been brought up in church their whole life, but doesn’t show sign of maturity as a developed follower of Jesus?

Acting Like God’s Children

Kids make their parents happy and proud when they do things according to the standard of their parents; when they do well at school or perform well in the play or at the field. A father was devastated when he was told by his younger son that his brother had said the s word. Later, the father was relief to find out the s-word his son used was “stupid.”