Three Truths About Powerful Prayer

Sunday Evening Sermons

Three Truths About Powerful Prayer

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Prayer; Intercession; Faith; Importunity / Luke 11:5–13

 George Mueller was known for his powerful prayer. In the course of his ministry to the orphans of England, he never asked for financial assistance from men – only God… and he constantly received what was needed to the penny.

Once while on his way to speak in Quebec for a engagement. On the deck of the ship that was to carry him to his destination, he informed the captain that he needed to be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon.

As the captain related the story, he said “’It is impossible,’ I said. ’Do you know how dense this fog is?’”

“’No,’ he replied, ’my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of life. I have never broken an engagement in 57 years; let us go down into the chart room and pray.’

He knelt down and he prayed one of the most simple prayers. When he had finished I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. ’As you do not believe He will answer, and as I believe He has, there is no need for you whatever for you to pray about it.’

“I looked at him and George Mueller said, ’Captain, I have known my Lord for 57 yrs. and there has never been a single day when I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door and you will find that the fog has gone.’

“I got up and the fog indeed was gone, and on that Saturday afternoon George Mueller kept his promised engagement.”

Wow! How cool would it be to be a person of prayer like George Mueller was? When we hear of that kind of powerful prayer it seems like results like that are reserved for Heaven’s superheroes. In our text this evening we see Jesus teaching some powerful yet simple things to help us understand and practice powerful prayer.

Importunity Works When A Relationship Doesn’t

Sometimes a need goes beyond normal friendship.

Luke 11:5–8 KJV

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 

For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 

And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 

I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

 • Sometimes we have not developed an intimacy with God where we feel comfortable expressing some needs.

Importunity bridges the gap of incomplete relationships.

Luke 11:8 KJV

I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

(importunity wheel)

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words Importunity

anaidia (or anaideia) (????????, 335), denotes “shamelessness, importunity” (a, negative, n, euphonic, and aidos, “shame, modesty”), and is used in the Lord’s illustration concerning the need of earnestness and perseverance in prayer,

Jesus taught that we should “always pray and not give up”

· Not because God is hard of hearing

· Not because God needs to be pestered into answering our requests

· Not because God doesn’t want to answer us

NO… Jesus taught us always pray and not give up because, when we pray, our prayers carry weight. EVERY TIME you and I pray we unleash more and more power from the throne of God

· Are you praying for someone in your family to become a Christian?

Every prayer you pray puts more and more pressure on that person to listen to God…

· Do you pray for your friends in their daily struggles

Every prayer you pray imparts to them more and more power from God

· Do you have difficulties with someone at work

Every prayer you lift up to God’s throne brings God’s power to bear on difficult people and situations.

Prayer is not a passive act on our part

Prayer is AN AGGRESSIVE, ACTIVE MINISTRY. You are putting your shoulder to the wheel and moving the forces of heaven.

SOURCE: Jeff Strite in “The Power of Persistent Prayer” on www.sermoncentral.com.

Actions Lead to Results

Luke 11:9–10 KJV

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

 • Ask more than once

 • Seek in more than one place

 • Knock more than one timid rap on the door.

“Prayer is surrender-surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.”

SOURCE: E. Stanley Jones, in Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73

Daddy Loves You!

Luke 11:11–13 KJV

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 

Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Matthew 7:11 KJV

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

James 1:17 KJV

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

During the height of the Depression, Hill’s real mother, who had five children of her own, didn’t have enough food to go around, so she sent four-year-old Ed to live with a friend in a small country town called Sweet Home. Ed just called her Mama. As he was growing up in Sweet Home, Mama displayed remarkable faith which led her to have big plans for young Ed. Against nearly insurmountable obstacles, Mama helped Ed graduate from high school (the only student to graduate that year from the country school) and even insisted that he go to college.

She took Ed to the bus station, handed him the ticket and five dollars and said, “Now, go off to Prairie View College, and Mama is going to be praying for you.” Hill claims that he didn’t know much about prayer, but he knew Mama did. When he arrived at the college with a dollar and ninety cents in his pocket, they told him he needed eighty dollars in cash in order to register. Here’s how Hill describes what happened next:

I got in line…and the devil said to get out of line…but I heard my Mama saying in my ear, “I’ll be praying for you.” I stood in line on Mama’s prayer. Soon there was [another new student ahead of me], and I began to get nervous, but I stayed in line…Just about the time [the other student] got all of her stuff and turned away, Dr. Drew touched me on the shoulder, and he said, “Are you Ed Hill?”

I said, “Yes.”

“Are you Ed Hill from Sweet Home?”

“Yes.”

“Have you paid yet?”

“Not quite.”

“We’ve been looking for you all this morning,” [he said].

I said, “Well, what do [you] want with me?”

“We have a four-year scholarship that will pay your room and board, your tuition, and give you thirty dollars a month to spend.”

And I heard Mama say, “I will be praying for you!”

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:19 AM May 3, 2020.

CARantine Worship Service Sunday May 3

Announcements

Ephesians 3:20–21 (KJV): Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.Refrain:
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the precious blood of the Lamb.Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow;
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

What though wars may come,
With marching feet and beat of the drum,
For I have Christ in my heart;
What though nations rage,
As we approach the end of the age,
For I have Christ in my heart.
God is still on the throne, Almighty God is He;
And He cares for His own through all eternity.
So let come what may, whatever it is, I only say
That I have Christ in my heart,
I have Christ in my heart.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
He made the trees
He made the seas
He made the elephants too
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
The mountains are his
The rivers are his
The skies are his handy works too
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
There’s nothing my God cannot do
There’s nothing my God cannot do

Though man may strive to go beyond the reach of space
To crawl beyond the distant shim'ring stars
This world's a room so small within my Master's house
The open sky's but a portion of His yard

How big is God? How big and wide His vast domain
To try and tell, these lips can only start
He's big enough to rule His mighty universe
Yet small enough to live within my heart

As winter's chill may cause the tiny seed to fall
To lie asleep till waked by summer's rain
The heart grown cold will warm and throb with life anew
The Master's touch will bring the glow again

Invitation Hymn

  1. All to Jesus I surrender,
    All to Him I freely give;
    I will ever love and trust Him,
    In His presence daily live.
    • Refrain:
      I surrender all,
      I surrender all;
      All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
      I surrender all.
  2. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Humbly at His feet I bow;
    Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
    Take me, Jesus, take me now.
  3. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
    Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
    Truly know that Thou art mine.
  4. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Lord, I give myself to Thee;
    Fill me with Thy love and power,
    Let Thy blessing fall on me.

The Difference Maker

Sunday Morning Sermons

The Difference Maker

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Impossible; Prayer; God: Power; Salvation / Luke 18:22–27

I was driving down the road at about 75 mph on the interstate the other day and something happened that happens a lot unfortunately. There was a fly in my car. You know how annoying that can get with the fly just buzzing back and forth in the car. I was annoyed at first but than I became intrigued. I began to think that how lucky this fly was. You know it’s impossible for that fly to go 75 mph no matter how hard it flaps. The fastest fly ever clocked was going 24 mph. So this fly is going 3 times as fast as it ever could but the funny thing is he’s not doing anything in fact he’s playing and having fun in my car oblivious to the things around it.

That’s just like us with God when we get inside of Him we can do things we never thought we could’ve done.

Now it was interesting thinking about that for a while but than he became annoying again so what I did was roll down my window and push him out. Do you ever wonder what happens to a fly when it is going down the road about 75 mph and than all of a sudden stops.

Well we don’t have to worry about that with God because He has no windows that can roll down once your inside Jesus you can’t get out.

We finally made it to May 2020! It seems as though it took three years to get through April! The current COVID crisis has caused many to fall into fear, anger, frustration, and hopelessness. It almost seems impossible that we will ever return to sanity and normalcy. That is the subject of today’s message… impossibility. You see even though mankind tends to be problem solvers. Even tough we have managed to do many things… there are some things that are just impossible.  

Facing impossibility is not the same thing as apathy or giving up. It is recognizing the laws of nature and the universe and learning to live within them. There is another thing we can do when we confront the reality of an impossibility. Once we realize we have hit a dead end we are able to surrender control enough to seek the face of God. With God nothing is impossible. He is the Difference Maker.

In our opening passage we read about a rich man who thought there was a special law he could keep in order to merit Heaven. He was pretty sure that he had kept the 10 commandments and thus secured his eternal destiny. Jesus exposed the weakness of the law by telling him to sell everything and give it to the poor, his covetousness was exposed. The rich man went away sad and lost, not because he didn’t do what was required, but because he did not have the power on his own to merit eternal life.

Jesus goes on to muse how impossible it is for folks who have riches to enter the kingdom. The disciples were amazed and frightened… who then can be saved? Jesus answered with the gracious words that echo a principle through out scripture.

Luke 18:27 KJV

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

There are things that indeed are impossible with man, but God is the Difference Maker!

There Are Things That Are Impossible With Mankind.

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words Impossible

1. adunatos (????????, 102), from a, negative, and dunatos, “able, strong,” is used (a) of persons, Acts 14:8, “impotent”; figuratively, Rom. 15:1, “weak”; (b) of things, “impossible,” Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27; Heb. 6:4, 18; 10:4; 11:6; in Rom. 8:3, “for what the Law could not do,” is, more lit., “the inability of the law”; the meaning may be either “the weakness of the Law,” or “that which was impossible for the Law”; the latter is perhaps preferable; literalism is ruled out here, but the sense is that the Law could neither justify nor impart life

It is impossible to be saved my works.

James 2:10–11 KJV

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 

For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Romans 3:19–21 KJV

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Romans 8:3 KJV

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

D.L. Moody was an American evangelist (February 5, 1837 – December 22, 1899 – 62 years). Moody said: “Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live. The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.”

He also said: “It is well that man cannot save himself; for if a man could only work his own way to Heaven, you would never hear the last of it. Why, if a man happens to get a little ahead of his fellows and scrapes a few thousands of dollars together, you’ll hear him boast of being a self-made man. I’ve heard so much of this sort of talk that I am sick and tired of the whole business; and I am glad that through all eternity in Heaven we will never hear anyone bragging of how he worked his way to get there.”

Create Something From Nothing

Romans 1:20 KJV

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Circumvent the Laws of Nature to Provide Healing

Matthew 11:3–5 KJV

And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 

Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 

The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Please God Without Faith

Hebrews 11:6 KJV

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

When Facing Impossibilities, God is the Difference Maker

Deliverance is Possible

Matthew 17:18–21 KJV

And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Salvation is Possible

Luke 18:26–27 KJV

And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? 

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

All Things Are Possible

Matthew 19:26 KJV

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Mark 10:27 KJV

And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

There is Nothing That is Impossible.

Luke 1:35–37 KJV

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

 • Your loved one hopelessly lost can be saved… God is the difference maker

 • Barren wombs can bear fruit… God is the difference maker.

 • The Unemployed and unemployable can find work… God is the difference maker.

 • The fearful can be brave,

• The anxious can be calm

 • The wayward can be found

 • The impossible is not as impossible as it sounds! God is the difference maker!

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:16 PM May 2, 2020.

Conficence Builders

Sunday Evening Sermons

Confidence Builders

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Today we are living during an unprecedented amount of fear, angst, distrust, and doubt. The world around us is afraid. They are afraid of death. They are afraid of poverty. They are afraid of oppression. Most of all they are afraid of the unknown. What in the world is going to happen next? Can we fix this? Who can we believe? Whom can we trust. If we are not careful, we as believers can get pulled into this same pit of anxiety, fear, and despondency.  

In our text verses, the Apostle John suggests that we as believers can possess a rare gem in these troubled times. We as believers can and must build a wealth of confidence. Really? Confidence now?

Believe it or not the Greek word translated confidence in your King James Bible comes up several times. Tonight we are going to study what the word means and how to find and implement Biblical Confidence builders.

????????, ?? f: a state of boldness and confidence, sometimes implying intimidating circumstances—‘boldness, courage.’ 

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 306.

Confidence Starts With Saving Faith

1 John 5:13 KJV

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

John 3:16 KJV

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Hebrews 3:6 KJV

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Confidence is Built By Prayer

1 John 5:14 KJV

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

 Several years ago one of the astronauts who walked on the moon was interviewed and asked, “What do you think about as you stood on the moon and looked back at the earth?” The astronaut replied, “I remembered how the spacecraft was built by the lowest bidder.”

We as Christians can rejoice that the work of salvation did not go to the “lowest bidder” but was performed by an infinite God. There will never be a deficiency in his work. Our salvation is as sure as the architect of that salvation, Almighty God.1

1 Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 310–311.

Confidence is Built By Abiding in Christ

1 John 2:28–29 KJV

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 

If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

Confidence is Built By Showing Love to the Brethren.

1 John 3:19–21 KJV

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Confidence Brings Perspective to Temporal Loss.

Hebrews 10:34–35 KJV

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. 

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

 • Preventing us from making hasty pragmatic decisions.

Confidence is Built Throughout A Lifetime of Serving the King.

Acts 28:30–31 KJV

And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, 

Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

An English woman had two daughters, one of which had died. She was on a ship bound for America for a visit with her other daughter. In a storm at sea it was feared that the ship might sink. All the passengers save this woman were in a state of near panic. When asked why she was so calm, she said: “Well, I have two daughters, one in America and one in heaven. I am on my way to see my daughter. If the ship survives, I will see the one in America. If not, I will see the one in heaven. So either way, I will see my daughter.”1

1 Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 143.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:19 AM April 26, 2020.

Sunday April 26, 2020 Song Lyrics for CARantine

Uncategorized

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17, KJV)

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

  3. Encamped along the hills of light,
    Ye Christian soldiers, rise,
    And press the battle ere the night
    Shall veil the glowing skies.
    Against the foe in vales below
    Let all our strength be hurled;
    Faith is the victory, we know,
    That overcomes the world.
    • Refrain:
      Faith is the victory!
      Faith is the victory!
      Oh, glorious victory,
      That overcomes the world.
  4. His banner over us is love,
    Our sword the Word of God;
    We tread the road the saints above
    With shouts of triumph trod.
    By faith, they like a whirlwind’s breath,
    Swept on o’er every field;
    The faith by which they conquered death
    Is still our shining shield.
  5. On every hand the foe we find
    Drawn up in dread array;
    Let tents of ease be left behind,
    And onward to the fray.
    Salvation’s helmet on each head,
    With truth all girt about,
    The earth shall tremble ’neath our tread,
    And echo with our shout.
  6. To him that overcomes the foe,
    White raiment shall be giv’n;
    Before the angels he shall know
    His name confessed in heav’n.
    Then onward from the hills of light,
    Our hearts with love aflame,
    We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
    In Jesus’ conqu’ring name.
  1. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
    Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
    Mold me and make me after Thy will,
    While I am waiting, yielded and still.
  2. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
    Search me and try me, Master, today!
    Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
    As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
  3. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
    Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
    Power, all power, surely is Thine!
    Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
  4. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
    Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
    Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
    Christ only, always, living in me.

Final Hymn

  1. All to Jesus I surrender,
    All to Him I freely give;
    I will ever love and trust Him,
    In His presence daily live.
    • Refrain:
      I surrender all,
      I surrender all;
      All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
      I surrender all.
  2. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Humbly at His feet I bow;
    Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
    Take me, Jesus, take me now.
  3. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
    Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
    Truly know that Thou art mine.
  4. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Lord, I give myself to Thee;
    Fill me with Thy love and power,
    Let Thy blessing fall on me.
  5. All to Jesus I surrender,
    Now I feel the sacred flame;
    Oh, the joy of full salvation!
    Glory, glory, to His Name!

Belief That Changes You

Uncategorized

Belief That Changes You

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Salvation; Offend; Blindness / 1 Peter 2:6–8

 Have you ever tried to explain your passionate belief to someone who is not yet saved only to have them shake their head and wonder what in the world is wrong with you? Perhaps you try to give them a book by Lee Stroebel in order to have an expert explain why it is logical to believe the way we do. Perhaps if folks could just see what we see, or experience what we experience. We wonder what we are doing wrong… perhaps if only we could explain our faith better folks would believe.

As we continue our study through 1 Peter, we see the Apostle explaining that it is belief in Jesus that opens our eyes and changes our very foundation of understanding and interpretation of everything. Once we have trusted Christ and seen Him through the eyes of faith. We are no longer citizens of this country because we have become members of a celestial kingdom and it is the belief in Christ that changes you.

Belief Does Not Change The Truth.

King James Version Chapter 2

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious:

Isaiah 28:16 KJV

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: He that believeth shall not make haste.

Ephesians 2:20 KJV

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Psalm 118:22 KJV

The stone which the builders refused Is become the head stone of the corner.

 • Truth IS whether or not you believe it.

 • It is foolish to refuse to believe something because you do not like some of the implications of it. Your unbelief does not make it go away, it just makes you wrong.

Belief in Christ Changes Your Perspective.

You will not be confounded.

and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

(translation wheel)

The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), 1 Pe 2:6.

25.194 ??????????: to cause someone to be much ashamed—‘to humiliate, to disgrace, to put to shame.’ ?? ???? ??? ?????? ????????? ? ???? ??? ?????????? ???? ?????? ‘God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to put wise men to shame’ 1 Cor 1:27.1

1 Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 309.

1 Corinthians 1:27 KJV

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

Christ has precious to you.

King James Version Chapter 2

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious:

1. time (????, 5092), primarily “a valuing,” hence, objectively, (a) “a price paid or received,” e.g., Matt. 27:6, 9; Acts 4:34; 5:2, 3; 7:16, rv, “price” (kjv, “sum”); 19:19; 1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; (b) of “the preciousness of Christ” unto believers, 1 Pet. 2:7, rv, i.e., the honor and inestimable value of Christ as appropriated by believers, who are joined, as living stones, to Him the cornerstone; 1

1 W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 310.

Unbelief Poisons One’s Perspective

1 Peter 2:7–8 KJV

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 

And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

If you are disobedient (unbelieving)

The word “disobedient” is the translation of a word literally meaning “disbelieving.” “Disallowed” has the same meaning as in verse 4, which please see1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 54.

What could be the foundation is instead is a stone of stumbling

The words “a stone of stumbling” are the translation of lithos (?????), “a loose stone in the path,” and proskommatos (????????????) meaning “to cut against,” which altogether mean “an obstacle against which one strikes.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.

-stumble at the word

proskomma (?????????, 4348), “an obstacle against which one may dash his foot” (akin to proskopto, “to stumble” or “cause to stumble”; pros, “to or against,” kopto, “to strike”), is translated “offense” in Rom. 14:20, in v. 13, “a stumblingblock,” of the spiritual hindrance to another by a selfish use of liberty (cf. No. 1 in the same verse); so in 1 Cor. 8:9. It is used of Christ, in Rom. 9:32–33, rv, “(a stone) of stumbling,” and 1 Pet. 2:8, where the kjv also has this rendering.¶ Cf. the Sept. in Ex. 23:33, “these (the gods of the Canaanites) will be an offense (stumblingblock) unto thee.” 1

1 W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 441.

rock of offence

6.25 ?????????a, ?? n: a trap, probably of the type which has a stick which when touched by an animal causes the trap to shut—‘trap.’ ???????? ? ??????? ????? … ??? ????????? ‘let their table become … a trap’ Ro 11:9. In Ro 11:9 ????? (6.23), ???? (6.24), and ????????? would all seem to be completely parallel in structure and meaning. As a result, in a number of languages the three terms are reduced often to two, for example, ‘snare’ and ‘trap.’ If there are three different kinds of traps, then, of course, three terms can be used. In some cases, however, it may be preferable to use verbs to express the catching and trapping, and thus one may translate ???????? ? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ??? ????????? as in tev, “may they be caught and trapped at their feasts; may they fall.”1

1 Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 55.

 The words “rock of offence” are from petra (?????), “a ledge rising out of the ground,” and skandalou, “a trap set to trip one.” Our word “scandal” comes from the latter word. These who are disobedient (the literal Greek has it “non-persuasable”) are appointed to stumble at the Word, which is the penalty for refusal to believe it. “By faith we understand” (Heb. 11:3), is the God-ordained way. Thus, unbelievers find the Living Stone, which is precious to believers, an obstacle against which they strike, and a scandal, that which offends them.

____________

Some time ago I was reading about the 18th century German sculptor Johann Heinrich von Dannecker. His skills were impressive. He could bring stone to life with his tools. At the height of his powers, he wanted to do something special with his gifts — he wanted to shape a statue of Christ that would stand out as a witness to his world. For two years he chiselled and scraped and polished the marble, till he was certain that it carried the likeness of his Lord. But he wanted to test his work on eyes that wouldn’t lie. So he went out to the street, and brought in a young girl. He took her into his studio, and he set her down in front of the shrouded stone. Uncovering it, he asked her, Do you know who this is? No, sir! she replied. But he must be a very great man. And Dannecker knew that he’d failed. The statue was good enough for kings and nobles, but it wasn’t good enough to speak the word about Christ.

He was discouraged. He was disheartened. He was depressed. But he knew that he had to try again. So he set his hand to the task. Six years it took him this time! Every day, painstakingly, shaping and carving. Finally it was done. And again, he brought in a child as his first critic. He took off the shroud, and asked her gently, Who is that? Legend has it that tears came to her eyes as she recognized Jesus. It was enough. Dannecker had finished his task. He had created his masterpiece. He had given visible shape to his faith. And later, to a friend, he told the secret of those last six years. It was as if, he said, Christ had joined him daily in his little room. He felt the nearness of his Lord. He sensed the glory of his Presence. All Dannecker had to do, really, was to transfer the vision of Christ that he received to the block of marble.

It’s a powerful story, isn’t it? But there’s more to it. There’s another chapter that comes later, one so striking that it actually makes John’s vision come alive.

Some years later, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte saw Dannecker’s work. He was very impressed. He sent for the sculptor, and he had a commission for him — Make me a statue of the goddess Venus for the Louvre! he said. Quite an honor! To be chosen as the creator of a work of art like that! Who could refuse? But you know what?! Dannecker did! He refused the commission. He gave up that honor. And you know why? This is what he told Napoleon:

“A man who has seen Christ can never employ his gifts in carving out a pagan goddess!”

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 6:27 PM April 22, 2020.

Sunday Morning Hymns April 19, 2020

Uncategorized

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7, KJV)

  1. The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide,
    A Shelter in the time of storm;
    Secure whatever ill betide,
    A Shelter in the time of storm.
    • Refrain:
      Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
      A weary land, a weary land;
      Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
      A Shelter in the time of storm.
  2. A shade by day, defense by night,
    A Shelter in the time of storm;
    No fears alarm, no foes afright,
    A Shelter in the time of storm.
  3. The raging storms may round us beat,
    A Shelter in the time of storm;
    We’ll never leave our safe Retreat,
    A Shelter in the time of storm.
  4. O Rock divine, O Refuge dear,
    A Shelter in the time of storm;
    Be Thou our Helper ever near,
    A Shelter in the time of storm.
  1. Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
    Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
    In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls
    O’er my soul like an infinite calm.
    • Refrain:
      Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
      Coming down from the Father above!
      Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
      In fathomless billows of love!
  2. What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
    Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
    So secure that no power can mine it away,
    While the years of eternity roll!
  3. I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
    Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
    For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
    And His glory is flooding my soul!
  4. And I think when I rise to that city of peace,
    Where the Author of peace I shall see,
    That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing
    In that heavenly kingdom will be:
  5. Ah soul, are you here without comfort and rest,
    Marching down the rough pathway of time?
    Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark;
    Oh, accept this sweet peace so sublime!
  1. Tempted and tried, we’re oft made to wonder
    Why it should be thus all the day long;
    While there are others living about us,
    Never molested, though in the wrong.
    • Refrain:
      Farther along we’ll know more about it,
      Farther along we’ll understand why;
      Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
      We’ll understand it all by and by.
  2. Often when death has taken our loved ones,
    Leaving our home so lone and so drear,
    Then do we wonder why others prosper,
    Living so wicked year after year.
  3. “Faithful till death,” saith our loving Master;
    Short is our time to labor and wait;
    Then will our toiling seem to be nothing,
    When we shall pass the heavenly gate.
  4. Soon we will see our dear, loving Savior,
    Hear the last trumpet sound through the sky;
    Then we will meet those gone on before us,
    Then we shall know and understand why.

God is so Good, God is so Good, God is so Good, He’s so Good to me.

Final Hymn

  1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
    Let me hide myself in Thee;
    Let the water and the blood,
    From Thy wounded side which flowed,
    Be of sin the double cure,
    Save from wrath and make me pure.
  2. Not the labor of my hands
    Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
    Could my zeal no respite know,
    Could my tears forever flow,
    All for sin could not atone;
    Thou must save, and Thou alone.
  3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
    Simply to Thy cross I cling;
    Naked, come to Thee for dress;
    Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
    Foul, I to the fountain fly;
    Wash me, Savior, or I die.
  4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
    When my eyes shall close in death,
    When I rise to worlds unknown,
    And behold Thee on Thy throne,
    Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
    Let me hide myself in Thee.

Jesus’ Parting Gift

Sunday Morning Sermons


Jesus’ Parting Gift

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Peace; Anxiety; Trust / John 14:27

Alcohol consumption is up over 50%. Suicides, domestic violence and crisis calls are also on the rise. Last weekend I was driving through a residential neighborhood in Torrington and heard two separate domestic disturbances that had spilled out the door into front yards. Around another corner I saw police officers with a combative person flattened down on the ground face down with their knees in his back. The longer folks endure this COVID trial, the shorter fuses seem to be getting.

I must confess that I have had some dark moods this week as well. As I was praying for the right message to share with you this week during these troubled times, the Holy Spirit directed me to our text for this morning. In John chapter 14, Jesus was preparing His disciples for the events of Calvary and beyond. In the midst of conflict and uncertainty, Jesus left a parting gift for His disciples, and leaves that same gift for believers today. The gift of peace.

John 14:27 KJV

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Peace – The Absence of Conflict.

john 14 27

Peace I leave with you…

No more conflict with God over our Sin.

Romans 8:6–7 KJV

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Romans 5:1 KJV

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

No more condemnation of the Law.

Ephesians 2:15 KJV

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

The message of the Gospel is peace.

Ephesians 6:15 KJV

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Peace – The Presence of Tranquility.

Jesus gives HIS peace.

John 14:27

my peace I give unto you…

The legacy of legacies:—The Earl of Dundonald fought with his solitary ship a line of formidable forts in South America, whose fire proved so raking that his men could not be got to stand to their guns. Calling his wife, he asked her to fire one of the guns, and show these men how to do their duty. She did so. Instantly they returned, burning with shame, to their posts, and soon the victory was theirs. The lady, in rehearsing the circumstance, said that the thing that was felt by her to be the most terrible, was not the din of battle, not the raking fire, but the awful calmness that sat fixed on her husband’s countenance, as it seemed to carry in itself the sure presage of victory. This we can all understand. Every moral nature feels that settled calmness in the face of dangers and deaths is the loftiest example of the sublime. Of this we have one peerless example in the man Christ Jesus, who, on the eve of His agony, utters these words.1

1 Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator: St. John, vol. 2 (London: James Nisbet & Co., n.d.), 584.

Jesus’ peace is genuine, not just a distraction like the World gives.

John 14:27

…my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you

Not as the world. 1st. Not as the objects which men commonly pursue—pleasure, fame, wealth. They leave care, anxiety, remorse. They do not meet the desires of the immortal mind, and they are incapable of affording that peace which the soul needs. 2d. Not as the men of the world give. They salute you with empty and flattering words, but their professed friendship is often feigned and has no sincerity. You cannot be sure that they are sincere, but I am. 3d. Not as systems of philosophy and false religion give. They profess to give peace, but it is not real. It does not still the voice of conscience; it does not take away sin; it does not reconcile the soul to God. 4th. My peace is such as meets all the wants of the soul, silences the alarms of conscience, is fixed and sure amid all external changes, and will abide in the hour of death and for ever. How desirable, in a world of anxiety and care, to possess this peace! and how should all who have it not, seek that which the world can neither give nor take away!1

1 Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Luke & John, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 334.

Peace- Protection from Trouble and Fear.

John 14:27

…Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

John 14:1–2 KJV

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

When I was a struggling new student pastor, one night I was too stressed to sleep. I got up and went to watch dairy farmer Hall Phillips milk his dairy herd. There in the barn at 4:30 AM, that brand new Christian gave me help getting through the various crises causing stress in my life. Hall commented, “Leo, Stress is when we try to control, what we should let God control.”

Do you tremble over what will happen next? Jesus has offered a parting gift to be used in times of trouble. He has offered Peace: An Absence of conflict, The Presence of Tranquility in the midst of a storm, and the protection from Trouble.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:33 PM April 18, 2020.

The New Testament Temple

Wednesday Evening Sermons


The New Testament Temple

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Temple; Body of Christ / 1 Peter 2:5

Have you ever shopped at Home Depot? Lowes? Or some other home repair-improvement type store?

If you have you’ve inevitably seen the piles of lumber tossed aside that are broken, cracked, warped, crooked, or just plain look bad. These piles of lumber go ignored as faithful builders go for the ‘perfect’ building materials. After all, who in their right mind would ever use “bad” materials to build a house? You just don’t do that – you don’t start with a bad foundation because you know it won’t last.

So it’s funny that Jesus builds a very different way. He uses the crooked sticks, the broken sticks, the lame lumber, the stuff that everyone else is looking past and in many cases tosses aside. It’s almost like he DELIGHTS in using materials that everyone else thinks are ‘useless’. It’s almost like he’s loading up his proverbial cart with all the crooked, broken, and warped wood that he can and he’s parading it around – inviting others to question his decision making.

“How are you going to build a house with THAT!?!”

“Are you blind? That wood is warped, you’ll never pass inspection!”

“There is a huge pile of perfectly good material over there, use that.”

You can almost hear Jesus’ voice, “No, I’m going to build my house. And nothing is going to stop me.”… “These crooked, warped, broken pieces of wood are perfect and they’re are all mine.” And off he goes, building the spiritual house, one broken stick at a time. One warped 2×4 at a time. One rotten floor joist at a time. And believe me, IN CHRIST we will all pass the inspection as we stand redeemed and justified in HIM alone. What a beautiful picture of the grace of God through the redemption of His son.

Last week we talked about Jesus Christ being the Living Stone that was rejected only to be the foundation upon which He built the Church. Tonight as we continue Peter’s letter to the sojourners, strangers in a strange land, we see that we as believers not only have a foundation stone, Jesus, but we are living stones used by the Master Builder to make a beautiful Spiritual Temple. In that Spiritual Temple we are not only living stones but also believer priests offering sacrifices of praise in order to introduce the whole world to the One True God. We are the New Testament Temple.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Believers are Living Stones

 The Christians are not naturally “living stones,” but become such as they are joined to Christ in conversion and baptism (cf.), for it is only as they come to him that this building is possible.

2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Nor are they pictured as individually stones, lying apart in a field or building site, but collectively as part of God’s great temple. It is God, of course, who is building them together into this edifice of the end times; thus the verb (“are being built”) is descriptive, not imperative (“be built” or “let yourselves be built,” neither of which fits smoothly into the context).

Ephesians 2:1 KJV

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Believers Together Are Built Into The Spiritual Temple.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

 • Built on the foundation of Jesus

 • Empowered to life by Jesus

 • Built together Believers interdependent upon each other.

Ephesians 2:20–22 KJV

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Hebrews 3:6 KJV

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Believers Are A Holy Priesthood.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

But they are not only the stones that form the house, but also the priesthood that serves in it. The term for “priesthood” is found in the NT only here and in 2:9. The latter reference shows clearly that Peter sees the church in terms of Israel’s priestly function, for it alludes to Exod. 19:6. And other NT authors pick up the theme using different words (e.g., Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6—such language is used elsewhere only of Christ as a priest in Hebrews and of the Aaronic priesthood in Jerusalem, e.g., Luke 1:9; Heb. 7:5). That Christians are a holy priesthood likely refers to their consecration and separation to God (similar to Aaron in Lev. 8–11) by their conversion and baptism (as in 1:15–23) rather than to their moral qualities per se, which would be implied secondarily. 1

1 Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 87.

Exodus 19:5–6 KJV

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The “spiritual sacrifices” themselves are surely praise and thanksgiving (Heb. 13:15–16) and practical loving service to one another (Rom. 12:1; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18). 

Hebrews 13:15–16 KJV

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.