Once we are born again, we are converted, become a new creation in Christ Jesus, it is necessary that we grow in our new life, mature to the full stature of Christ Jesus.  And to that end, if I had to make a recommendation for a spiritual goal that you could make which would have the greatest possible impact in your life, not only for yourself, but also on your church, your family, friends and coworkers, I would suggest that you resolve to be a better man or woman of prayer.  That doesn’t mean that I think reading your Bible

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I want to focus our attention this morning on the last few hours before Christ’s death.  And in that timeframe, Jesus was detailing His plan and purpose not only for His life, but also the life ahead for His disciples.  We have been looking for weeks now at this last evening of Jesus’s life, in the passage known as the Upper Room  Discourse.  We are now down to the last few sentences.  And Jesus makes five statements in these last 9 verses of chapter 16 that I want to look at today.  Each one of them is so pregnant with

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Today’s message is entitled “Authentic Christianity.”  This is a subject that I feel very strongly about, and I believe the Lord feels very strongly about it as well.  The meaning of  the word “authentic” is of undisputed origin, genuine, true, the real deal.  And as we study John’s gospel I believe this theme is emphasized over and over again. I believe authentic Christianity is very important to God.  And so it should be very important to us.   God doesn’t want superficial Christianity.  He is not moved by lip service.  He is not interested in rituals and ceremonies and observing

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Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.”  So Jesus is the way to God, He is he truth of God, and He provides life from God to those who believe in Him.  This is the gospel in a nutshell.  You either believe the truth as presented in Christ, or you don’t believe the truth, and what you are believing is a lie.  That’s the choice that we have; believe the truth, or believe the lie of the devil.   Now to those who have

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Christians have been the object of persecution by many nations and many regimes for centuries. In the years following Christ’s death, Nero the Roman Emperor declared Christians to be the enemy of Rome and began an empire wide persecution that if not for the grace of God would have eradicated Christianity.  In the nineteenth century  the Ottomans massacred about two-and-a-half million Christians. In the twentieth century, it’s estimated that the Soviets killed half a million Christians; and the Germans under Hitler, another quarter of a million. In the last 70 years in China, it is possible that those numbers have

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The most desired ambition of the popular culture is that of love.  Love is the theme of more songs, more books, more poetry, more art and more movies than any other theme.  And I believe this is so because it is the most essential need of the human condition.  It is as fundamental to life as food and water, if not more so. God declared at creation that it was not good for man to be alone.  It is an essential component of the human psyche.  Everyone wants to know love. However, human nature is not satisfied with unrequited love. 

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Not long ago I was listening to a Christian radio broadcast as I was driving.  I won’t say the name of the pastor, but doctrinally he is considered sound and he seems to be relatively popular.  And at the end of the sermon, the announcer came on and gave a commercial for the opportunity to go on a luxury cruise with the pastor to some exotic destination which I think was in the Caribbean.  I found myself feeling a little jealous, I guess.  I had just spent a few hours talking with my wife about her twin sister that was

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The goal of the gospel is not just to provide us with an insurance policy from heaven.  But to provide us with a new way of living, a new life.  Jesus said, I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.  Before we can have the life that Christ wants for us, we must be first justified, our sins atoned for, made righteous before God, and that is only possible through faith in the cross of Christ.  But the ultimate purpose of that atonement is that we become sons of God. As Jesus said in vs.17 of

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The two biggest themes of the 60’s generation, aka, the hippie movement, were peace and love.  When you look at images from that era, whether they be concerts or sit ins, or protests, or whatever, you often see them holding signs professing their desire for both. In fact, it was trendy in those days to espouse both of those as ideals.  I remember very well as a teenager holding up two fingers in a peace sign and saying “Peace, man,” in place of the usual hello and goodbyes. It was the thing to do. Young people drew peace signs everywhere.

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