Sermon Central
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The Past - The Present - The Future : Experiencing God At All Times
Contributed by Dr. Stanley Vasu on Mar 15, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: THE PAST - THE PRESENT - THE FUTURE : EXPERIENCING GOD IN THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF TIME NAMELY 1. EBENEZER - GOD IN THE PAST 2. EMMANUEL - GOD IN THE PRESENT 3. HOLY SPIRIT - GOD IN THE FUTURE
THE PAST - THE PRESENT - THE FUTURE : EXPERIENCING GOD IN THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF TIME
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OUTLINE
1. EBENEZER - GOD IN THE PAST
2. EMMANUEL - GOD IN THE PRESENT
3. HOLY SPIRIT - GOD IN THE FUTURE
THE MESSAGE
THE PAST - THE PRESENT - THE FUTURE : EXPERIENCING GOD IN THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF TIME
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1. EBENEZER - GOD IN THE PAST
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The Lord has been our Ebenezer helping us thus far. We must praise Him with a grateful heart for all the blessings that we have received from Him. The Lord wants us to remember every miracle that He has performed for us and He wants us to share it with our future generations so that they too would put their faith in Him. We should not be ungrateful to the Lord after we have received answers to our prayers. We should be diligent to offer our praise and thanksgiving to Him. We must realise that we would have perished if the Lord had not stood by us in our time of danger and distress.In our time of prosperity we should remember the Lord who helped us in our low estate and lifted us high.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,
and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'
tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel say-
if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,
when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive;
the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,
the raging waters would have swept us away.
Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
