February 1st. 2004
Let us pray
Welcome......
God has been good to us? Has God done anything that makes you feel like
shouting?....elaborate...
Today is the first Sunday of Black History Month, and we are calling to remembrance what we have gone through over 350 years of history. Through out the Bi-ble, God continually called His people to times of remembering, times of recalling, and times of reflecting His moving in their lives. The month
of February has been set aside and used as Black History Month. As we celebrate, let’s not forget the goodness of God, and how God has brought us a
mighty long way........elaborate...I believe we all can say, God has brought us a mighty long way...
As we call to memory what we have gone through, let’s remind ourselves once again, what is our theme for this year; which is, Glorifying God. In
everything we do, everything we say, we are called upon to glorify God. Our key verse for the year is taken from Matthew 5 verse 16, Let say this verse
together, "Let your light so shine before men........" Each week we have a
verse of the week to memorize, and our verse for this week is taken from Matthew 6 verse 33, and is found on page 3 of your bulletin, let’s say this
verse together. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God................"We are called upon to seek God’s Kingdom first........
Our objective for this year is to improve our spiritual growth and personal growth and development. Last Sunday our topic was, It is time to grow up.
Last Sunday we said that there are people today who just like to remain young or just like to be babies, and just do not want to grow up. They like to
be babies all the time, just to eat, play, and sleep, and have nothing to worry about. I do trust over the past week that you have grown a bit, and that you
can say that you are growing up......
Today our topic will be, It is time for a fill-up. It is time for us to say to God and mean what we say, Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord! Come and
quench the thirsting of my soul; Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more - Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!.............elaborate...
Please turn with me to page 9 of your bulletin or in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1 verses 13 through 21. Let’s all stand and read together. Please tell someone,
Je-sus can fill you up.Just supposed the men were downstairs preparing a fellowship meal for our
black history month. As you sit in church you smell that sweet aroma of fried chicken, colored greens and black eye peas. While you are trying to worship,
and not thinking about downstairs, three men walked into the sanctuary, one is hungry; one is thirsty, and one is tired. As these three men take their seats
in the pew, and as they smell that aroma from downstairs, what do you think they would do?.......I believe the one who is hungry would find a way to get
downstairs, because there is a sweet aroma in the air, and there has to be some food downstairs. The one who is thirsty would also find a way to leave,
because if there is food downstairs there should be water too. The one who is tired would make the pew his bed, because he wants to sleep. All three men
would try to find a way to satisfy their need.
If you came here today hungry and thirsty for the things of God; tired for the way that you have been living, you are in the right place, because today your
needs can be filled. The Bible says in Matthew 5 verse 6, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst......Verses 13 through 17 of our text is a call to holiness; verses 18 through 19
is telling us that there is a cost or a price for redemption; and verses 20 and 21 talks about God’s foreordained plan.
As we consider our topic for today, It is time for a fill-up; have you ever found yourself driving, and you know that you are in need of gas, you are
driving on fumes; and you just keep putting it off until it is too late? Being stranded is not a nice feeling.......
It is quite possible that you are here today, and your spiritual gas gauge is saying empty, and it is time to stop and get refueled. Maybe you have been
running on empty for a long time; you know that you need a fill-up, but you have been putting it off. You have been living on your past experiences, but it
is time to get updated and say what God is doing for you right now. It is time to put some fuel in the tank, and get on fire for God..........elaborate.....
The poet T.S Eliot in one of his famous poems, spoke of people who are "hollow," inside. That word hollow means having an empty space, curving inwards. If we are true to ourselves today, sometimes we feel like hollow trees, "weakened by what is missing at the core of our being. It’s an emptiness that causes an ache deep inside," and it seems that ache never
goes away...........elaborate....
In verses 13 through 17 of our text, the apostle Peter is calling us as Christians to a life of sobriety and holiness. Verse 13 (read) "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind." Peter is
saying that as a child of God, as a Christian, you have a journey to go; you have a race to run, you have a warfare to accomplish, you have a great work
to do, and in order to do this work you must gird up the loins of your mind. The word gird means, to fasten with a belt, to surround, encircle, etc. Most
older men today wears a belt around their waste, and that belt is used to keep their pants in tact. Our younger men today don’t care too much about a belt,
they just let everything hang loose, and sometime I wonder what is keeping that pants from falling........elaborate...
As Christains we cannot afford to let our minds hang loose, we have to gird up the loins of our minds. We have to be careful as to what we are allowing
to come into our minds. We have to stay focus at all times on the Lord....elaborate.....Even when we are praising God, the enemy will bring
some strange ideas to our minds. The apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4
verse 8 as to how we should have our minds focus, and this apllies to all of
us, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely. whatsoever things are of good report; if
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
In order to gird up the loins of our minds; in order to be filled up, we have to
be sober. That word sober means, showing discretion and moderation;
subdued. We are called upon to be sober, be vigilant, be on the alert, be on
the look out for spiritual dangers, and be modest in our eating, drinking,
apparel, recreation, business, and in our entire behavior. We are called upon
to be sober and hope perfectly, trust without doubting to that grace which is
now offered to us by the gospel.
As we gird up the loins of our minds, we are called upon to live as obedient
children, as those whom God has adopted into his family, and has given new
life in Christ. Now that we have been saved, now that our lives has been
changed there is a standard to maintain, we are called upon to live holy. To
be holy means to be set apart for God to use. I want somebody to know
today, it is alright to live holy. The bilble says that we should live holy in all
manner of conversation. We can’t be holy and still be cursing and fussing. We
can’t be holy and be gambling and carousing. We can’t be holy and be
drinking and smoking. We can’t be holy and have bad attitudes. We can’t be
holy and hate our brothers and sisters, the Word of God says, Be ye holy, for
I am holy........elaborate... God is looking for a holy people, and if you need
a fill-up today, the fuel station is opened for you to get refueled. Everything
we do as a child of God must be holy. ..elaborate...One songwriter states,
take time to be holy........ I don’t understand it, but God can take a man, a
wo-man, a boy or a girl, who is vile and wretched, clean that person up, and
make that person a holy being. Holiness is God’s standard for every child of
God, Be ye holy; for I am holy. By the grace of God my desire is to live a
holy life. Saints sometimes it is not easy, but it is still God’s standard, be ye
holy.........
Let’s look at verse 17 of our text (read) If you own the great Almighty God
as your Father and your Judge, you ought to live the time of your sojourning
here in his fear. As Christians let’s not forget, this world is not our home, let’s
think of ourselves as pilgrims and strangers just passing through this world of
trouble and sorrow. As Christians we don’t have long to stay here. Our fore-
fathers when they were beaten and abused, would go off and sing, Steal
away, steal away home, I ain’t got long to stay here. Saints of God we
don’t have long to stay here.
God has no favorite son or daughter, the judgment of God will be without
respect of persons. All we are called upon to do is live faithful to our
God.......
Let’s look at verses 18 and 19 (read) To be redeemed, to be set free from the
bondage of sin, there is a cost or a price for our redemption. The apostle
Peter in these verses reminds us that many people in his day tried to fill their
emptiness with perishable things such as silver and gold. Now 2000 years
later, our society wants us to think that perishable things, these curruptible
things can fill the empty space in our lives. There is a false believe that
buying and spending can fill the empty space in our lives. It’s alright to buy a
fancy sports car, it’s alright to take a trip around the world; it’s alright to
invest in your stocks and bonds, but these things will not last forever. Our
redemption is not found in a fancy sports car. Our redemption is not found in
taking a trip around the world. Our redemption is not found in our stocks and
bonds, but I want someone to know today, our redemption is found only
through the precious blood of our Lord Je-sus Christ.
That emptiness you feel can only be filled by God, and if you are running on
empty, and if you need a fill-up, it is time to refuel, it is time to seek the
Lord..........elaborate...The price for your redemption has been paid, Jesus
paid it all. God’s spotless Son paid the price for our redemption, and if there
is an emptiness inside you, your heart is calling for God. Let’s look at 1 Peter
2 verses 21 through 25 (read) Thank God, the price for our redemption has
been paid..........
The blood of Jesus Christ is the only price for man’s redemption. This blood
is so powerful that Andrae Crouch caught the vision and penned these lines,
It reaches to the highest mountain, It flows to the lowest valley. The
blood that gives me strength from day to day. It will never lose its
power. Wher-ever you are, the blood of Jesus Christ can reach
you...elaborate... The redemption of man is real; the blood of Jesus
Christ is real......
We who are saved today can say that we have been bought with a price, and
that price is the precious blood of our Lord. The blood of the sinless, spotless,
unblemished Son of God, is the price for man’s redemption.........elaborate....
Peter having mentioned the price of redemption, in verses 20 and 21 of our
text goes on to speak of some things relating both to the Redeemer and the
redeemed.(read verses 20 & 21) Christ the Redeemer is not only described
as a Lamb without spot, and without blemish, but as one that was fore-
ordained before the foundation of the world. Before the world began, God
was thinking about you and about me. Before God said let there be
light.............elaborate....
The Great Almighty God did not only fore-knew; but God determine and
decree, that His Son should die for man, and this decree was before the
foundation of the world. Can we truly understand what God has done for us?
Before the world began, Christ the eternal Son of God was fore-ordained to
die for man, and this was manifested in these last days. Christ our Lord left
his home in glory, became God incarnate; God in the flesh; he lived with
man...................elaborate....
Because Christ our Lord paid the supreme sacrifice for our sins, we do not
have to be running around on fumes, we can be filled to the overflowing. If
you are not saved today, Christ wants to save you from all your
sins.................
If you are saved, but you feel there is a void in your life; you are running on
fumes, you can stop running on fumes, pull into the spiritual service station,
and get refueled by the Lord Je-sus. Today is your day to seek the Lord. It is
time for a fill up. I close with these words, So, my brother, if the things this
world gave you. Leave hungers that won’t pass away, My blessed Lord
will come and save you If you kneel to Him and humbly pray. Fill my
cup, Lord, I lift it up Lord! Come and quench this thirsting of my soul:
Bread of heaven, feed me ’til I want no more - Fill my cup, fill it up and
make me whole!
Let us stand
Closing song/prayetr
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