GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE - Friday, April 7th, 2023 | 12:30 PM
The House of Faith Church – Rev Bruce A. Shields
214 Adams St., East Tawas, Michigan 48730
The House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
Online Audio Files | HOF Church Facebook | Truth Digest Facebook
This document is a Sermon Outline. You may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this and other Full Sermon Audios. For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth Digest on Facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on Facebook at House of Faith Church.
Y THE WORK OF THE CROSS (Rev. Kris Kappler)
INTRODUCTION
Rev. Kappler made reference to many scriptures speaking of what our Lord Jesus Christ willingly faced, to do the Will of the Father, and bring reconciliation between God and man.
Jesus was betrayed, deserted, denied, accused. He suffered, and was crucified on this day for our transgressions.
In life there are but two states of a sinful man. Those who are lost and without Christ, and those who belong to Him. You are either one, or the other. There is no third choice for humankind.
In light of what Jesus suffered for our sake on this day, let us take a few moments and ask ourselves, which man are we?
Do we truly belong to our Lord and Savior in the manner in which He has called us? Or do we yet resist the tug of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts to repent?
Have we truly surrendered ourselves to the one we call Lord?
Or are we deceiving ourselves with names and titles, occasional prayer and even less often reading of God’s Holy Word?
The question is not “have we submitted to our master”, rather, “who IS our master to whom we submit”?
Who is like the Lord? None.
Who is righteous and holy as He? None.
I. TO THE MEASURE OF CHRIST’S HOLINESS, WE WILL FAIL
a. Because no man is righteous – Romans 3:1 LSB
i. Apart from Him, we can never measure up to the standards of God.
ii. He makes our need for a savior evident in His Commands.
iii. And we need but to call on His name, and He will begin a work in us – Philippians 1:6 LSB
b. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings
i. There is none greater, and no one can compare
c. Lord, there is NONE like you!
i. The only one able to save a lost soul
ii. The only one capable of reaching through the veil of time and space and placing His holy garment about us, cloaking us in His Holy Spirit so that we may be looked upon on that Great Day of Judgment and be seen, not for our righteousness which is as filthy rags, but as clean and holy with the covering of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.
II. TO WHICH MASTER DO YOU SERVE?
a. For no one can serve two
i. Jesus made it clear He served the Will of the Father going to the cross
ii. You cannot go left and right
iii. You cannot remain upon the narrow path while traversing the broad road which ONLY leads to destruction.
iv. You cannot serve two masters
v. Though there are many who wish to be your master in this fallen world
1. God our Savior desires all men to be saved – 1 Timothy 2:4 LSB
a. However, God is not the only one desiring to be your master
2. Satan, devils, demons
3. Idols
4. Money
5. Material things
6. Even yourself. Your desire. Your will.
vi. But the Lord makes it simple for us. There are only two options
vii. Call on the name of Jesus and be saved, or deny Him and remain lost.
b. Ask yourself, whom do I serve?
i. How can I know? I do this and that, and I do it all in His name.
1. Cain served the Lord his way, and was rejected.
2. There are those in Matthew whom Jesus said He never knew.
ii. Test yourself!
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”
c. Is Jesus Christ in You?
i. For you, He was betrayed, deserted, denied, accused, suffered and was crucified.
If Christ is indeed in you, and you belong to Him, and He is your master, when you test yourself to see if you are in the faith, when you examine yourself, you will see Jesus Christ
Not to say you are perfect, but that you are striving for perfect submission to Him.
Examine whether you are in the faith.
Have you been betrayed, or have others deserted you because of your faith?
Or do you desert your faith to keep others?
Do you deny the sinful cravings of your flesh, with its lusts and desires,
or do you deny Him who can strengthen you and keep you pure?
Do others falsely accuse you because of your faith,
or do deny the Word of God in the face of accusation and persecution?
Have you suffered for His names sake,
or do you suffer Him?
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit who calls you to repentance. Do not deny the only name which can save.
We need to die to this world and the things in it created only to satisfy the desires of sinful flesh, and hold tightly to the cross of Jesus.
Mostly, we need to die to self and its desires which work to draw you onto the broad road, away from salvation and into destruction.
But its hard, you don’t know what I’ve been through in life.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 LSB
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 LSB
Your cross may seem insurmountable, and you may feel no one could understand its weight.
However, it was for this very reason Christ offers Himself, to bear the weight for you, if you will just go to Him, call on Him, surrender to His love.
Is your burden in this world great? Does the world pull you in ever direction but the narrow path? Do you find yourself heeding every voice but the voice of God’s Holy Spirit?
Have you picked up your cross,
or do you still look upon His crucifixion without reply?
Galatians 2:20 LSB “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
We must choose, which master we will serve.
Do we choose Christ but once, and go on with our lives,
as if we have a master who expects nothing from His servants?
There are many parables Jesus tells about faithful servants.
He also tells of wicked ones as well.
However, He promises for the faithful, He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
III. HOW OFTEN MUST WE CHOOSE TO PICK UP OUR CROSS?
a. You must pick up your cross, daily. For every day brings new challenges.
i. Luke 9:23 LSB (Jesus Said) “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
ii. We do not choose the Lord once, and live out our lives oblivious to our Masters desires and Will.
iii. We make the choice to follow Jesus DAILY!
iv. Some days we may have to pick up our cross multiple times
b. Allow the work of the Holy Spirit to conform you
i. Do not quench the Holy Spirit
ii. Allow it to change you from the inside out
iii. Christ will strengthen you
iv. And you will become a NEW creation!
c. Each day
i. Choose to pray
ii. Choose to read the Holy Word
iii. Choose to pick up your cross, whatever it may be
iv. And follow Christ as your Master
v. Be His good and faithful servant
Jesus died to the world and Himself long before He died on the cross.
We too must die to the world
Jesus said in Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
We must also die to self as Jesus did before the cross.
“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.” Luke 22:42-43
Trust in the Lord. Give Him the troubles in your life. Take up your cross daily and He will make your burdens light, and strengthen you for your walk in faith.
Prayer
AMEN
INTRODUCTION OF IOSCO MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION (Rev. Bruce A. Shields)
· IMA is licensed ministers from various denominations working together to share and show the love of Christ to our congregations and community.
· We have a three-fold mission which you can read more about at www.IoscoMA.org
· We focus on ministers, churches and community.
· One of the valuable services we offer for free to the community is our nursing home chaplain Lori Ulman
· I would like her to take a moment to talk about her ministry in the four Nursing Homes in Iosco county
· Afterwords we will be taking an offering to help the Iosco Ministerial Association
Y OFFERING FOR IOSCO MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION (Chaplain Lori Ulman)
PRAYER FOR THE OFFERING (Chaplain Lori Ulman)
CLOSING HYMN: CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY
Y CLOSING (Chaplain Lori Ulman)
If you are visiting with us, we hope you will attend this Sunday’s service to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Resurrection Sunday Easter Service will be at 11:00 AM on April 9th.
First and foremost, a heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to the Lord for the great thing He has done and to you, the community who chose to come together and worship our Lord and Savior. Also, to the Iosco Ministerial Association for their tireless work, both in ministry and church leading, but also for their work in IMA supporting each other as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, each other's churches, and for their participation within our community and various community programs to bring the truth of God’s Holy Word and the forgiveness and Salvation of our Lord to the beautiful community in Iosco County, Michigan.
BENEDICTION (Rev. Bruce A. Shields)
This and other Sermon Audios can be found for free at
https://www.ps127.org/online-audio-files
No comments:
Post a Comment