Righteous Remembrance
“I know that, whatsoever God does, it shall be forever; nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it—and God does it, that men should fear before Him.”
Ecclesiastes 3:14
He’s at work, even when we can’t see Him/it; that’s why we must “live by faith” (Hab. 2:4) and “give thanks in all things” (I Thess. 5:18).
Solomon certainly wouldn’t have been in-demand on the “Positive Thinking” speech-giving circuit when he penned Ecclesiastes. The book’s 12 chapters are quite dismal and despairing in tone, even though there are certain “gems of wisdom” (like today’s Manna) that cause us to pause and whisper, “Thank You, Lord.”
Lesson 2: Basic Elements Of Sermon Manuscripts
Sermon Manuscripts are simply your sermon “blue print”. It is more or less your copy for your sermon outlines and content. For the purpose of our study, we will need to learn how to make a sermon manuscript which is very useful to beginners like you.
Like all other ministries, Sermons has basic elements. Usually, these elements are very necessary so that our sermons can be clearly understood by our hearers. Thus, each element plays a very important role.
Theme
This is the main topic of preaching. In some books that I have read, Topic and Theme has been defined separately. Well to be exact, they are different from each other. Theme is broader while Topic is more defined in scope.
Theme stands for the scope of the whole program of the church. Let’s say the year theme of your church is all about “The Cost of Discipleship”. Under it, we can discuss about; “What are the cost of being a disciple”, “Who are the real disciples?”, “What are the things to do in being a disciple?”, “How to become a disciple?”, “Characteristics of a good disciple”.
When the Vision Fades
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities—all is vanity. What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?”
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
Seeing things as they are leads to despair; seeing things as they can be in Christ leads to delight (Heb. 11:1).
What are you focusing on today, Pilgrim? The economy? The latest headline? Your failing health or that of a loved one or friend? The foreboding future? The threat of terrorism or disease?
If so, do not be surprised if today’s Manna could have been written by you.
King Solomon was the wisest man (other than Jesus) who ever lived on this earth. Crowned as king around the age of 20 to succeed his father, David, the young ruler was blessed by God with great wisdom, riches and honor (I Kings 3:4-15). His Proverbs are filled with spiritually-sage sayings whose truths could only come from God.
Lesson 1: Introduction To Preaching
What is Preaching?
The dictionary defines it as: “To proclaim or publish tidings; specifically, to proclaim the gospel; to discourse publicly on a religious subject, or from a text of Scripture; to deliver a sermon.
[1913 Webster]”
The difference between preaching and homiletics is that preaching is the actual discourse of public speaking of proclaiming the gospel while homiletics is a form of pastoral theology where it is a branch of rhetoric that treats of the composition and delivery of sermons or homilies (Wikipedia).
There’s Still Time
“O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years—in the midst of the years make known: In wrath remember mercy.”
Habakkuk 3:2
Until He closes the door, we should continue living in hope (Ps. 16:9; Acts 2:25-26; Rom. 5:1-5; 12:12; 15:13; I Cor. 9:10).
Oh how quiet the heavens when it seems the Lord God has turned a deaf ear to us. Like Habakkuk, we cry “O Lord, how long shall I cry and You will not hear? I even cry unto You because of the violence and You will not save” (1:2). And, everywhere we look it would appear evil is escalating and soon His Hand of Judgment will fall upon us and our land (1:3-4).
And, it may be.
But, when such doubts and fears flood our hearts and minds, we must still feel the tugging of “the two-chained Anchor of the Soul” (Heb. 6:17-20) in the depths of our being. Truly, the hour is late—maybe 11:57 or 11:58 p.m. on the last days’ clock; however, just as those in Noah’s day could have gotten aboard the ark even in the final few seconds, so is our God merciful and will allow any (like the thief on the cross) to enter into His Kingdom if they’ll only believe.
Sports Clinic: A Way To Reach Your Community
Saturday, 4th of July, while America was celebrating their independence day, a group of 5 young college students came over to Ormoc to teach and reach the students of Ormoc. Aaron, Ben and Tommy were assigned to teach in Tambulilid Elementary School while Caitlin and Kendall taught in Ipil National High School. In the afternoon around 4-6pm all of them goes to the New Ormoc City National High School to play with the students.
One of These Days
Faith doesn’t look at things as they are, but sees them as they will be (Heb. 11:1).
It’s so easy to become despairing these days when we read the headlines, watch the evening news, hear of “wars and rumors of wars” (Mt. 24:6a). But, even as Jesus predicted they’d occurred, He also went on to say “see that you be not troubled (Grk. ‘throeo’—‘to clamor, frighten, wail, be afraid, terrified, etc.’)—for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (v.6b).
How Will I Know This?
“And he said, ‘Lord, God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it’?”
Genesis 15:8
Like gold being transformed into 24-karat status, so is faith in our daily lives.
Did you find it hard to believe that Abraham, the “father of faith,” would ask the question in today’s Manna right on the heels of his “believing in the Lord” and having that “counted as righteousness unto him” (v.6)?
Probably so.
You see, we want the “Heroes of Faith” in the Bible to be bigger-than-life with no warts. We want to see them “stopping the mouths of lions, quenching the violence of fire, escaping the edge of the sword, out of weakness made strong, waxing valiant in fight, turning to flight the enemies of the aliens, receiving their dead raised to life again, etc.” (Heb. 11:33-35a).
And, we have difficulty seeing those who were “tortured. . .enduring cruel mockings and scourgings. . .wandering around in sheepskins and goatskins. . .being destitute. . .afflicted. . . and living in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:35b-38) as also being victorious.
Somehow it just doesn’t compute.
Especially in this day of “health, wealth and prosperity” gospels.
But, oh, dear Pilgrim, all of the saints of old were human just like us. They had their “frailties of flesh” and “feebleness of faith” just like we do. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that Abraham was also a “work in progress” in his faith-development, although he “staggered notat the promise of God, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Grk. ‘diakrino’—‘to withdraw from, separate thoroughly, oppose, hesitate, contend with, waver, doubt, etc.’) ” (Rom. 4:20).
Living By Faith In A Faithless Generation
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, ‘Get you out of your country and from you kindred and from your father’s house unto a land that I will show you’. . .So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him”
Genesis 12:1, 4a
It may involve “going without knowing where we’re going” (Heb. 11:8), but it always involves knowing with Whom we’re going (Heb. 11:6).
The life of faith.
Abraham, whose name means “The father of a multitude,” is known as “the father of faith” and “the Friend of God” (James 2:23). His was not a perfect faith—as evidenced by his twice having his wife, Sarah, lie about her relationship with him (Gen. 12:9-20; 20:1-18) and his having a child by his handmaiden, Hagar (Gen. 16:1-4). However, it was a simple, persevering faith that took God at His Word and entrusted his life to Him (Gen. 15:6; Gal. 3:6).
Most likely, this patriarch of faith—to whom the Jews, Muslims and Christians look to as their model—wasn’t raised in a God-fearing home. Joshua’s command to the Israelites to “put away the strange gods of their forefathers” (Josh. 24:14-15), including those of Terah, Abraham’s father (Josh. 24:2), seem to validate this.
Archaeologists have unearthed ziggurats in the ancient city of Ur, Abraham’s hometown, in southern Iraq, which were used for offering human sacrifices to the moon god, Sin. Just to the north in the ancient city of Babylon the followers of Nimrod were worshipping the sun god (Gen. 10:8-10; 11:1-4).