Listen to the online sermon.
Please listen to the worship video
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Please listen to the message entitled
"You were Called to be a Blessing"
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You were Called to be a Blessing
You were Called to be a Blessing
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Home service details on 14th June 2020
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Introduction
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Recap: As God's people we are called to be blessed and to be a blessing upon the earth
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God's purpose is that we instigate 1000 generations of blessing upon our families, both our physical family and our spiritual family. Deuteronomy 7:9. At the very least, that's 40,000 years of blessing!
I. Every extended family upon the Earth to be blessed!
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God promises Abraham in Genesis 12:3 "And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" NKJV The Hebrew word for family here is mishpachah and means extended family, clan, tribe. It does not mean a nation. God wants people saved from every extended family upon the earth.
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God repeats this promise 3 times to Abraham in Gen 12:2-3, Gen 18:8, Gen 22:15-18. God will always repeat his promises to us!! And each time more of the promise progressively unfolds. eg Gen 22:18 "In all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice"
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God repeats the same promise to the generations that follow: to Isaac Gen 26:4, to Jacob Gen 28:14." and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
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Abraham's seed is singular ( Christ) and plural ( all believers in Christ, Galatians 3:7)
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The first thought is that we are blessed, receiving righteousness by faith (Gal 3: 8), receiving the Spirit of God within ( Gal 3:14), and blessed in all things along with Abraham (Gen 24:1)
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The second thought is that we are blessed to be a blessing, just as Abraham. Through Christ and Christ working through us, all families on earth will be blessed. Our calling is to be a blessing 1 Peter 3:9
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The third thought in Galatians 3:8 The essence of the Gospel is to be blessed!!!
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Challenge: What family has God called you to bless? The essence of blessing is shown in Matthew 5:44 NKJV " Love your enemies...bless those who curse you... do good...pray for those who spitefully use you"
II. The Challenge to live a life of constant blessing.
The reality in the Jerusalem church.
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James the brother of Jesus was the senior leader of the Jerusalem church. Acts 15
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He gives his church a reality check " Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing...Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter...no spring yield both saltwater and fresh"
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James is talking of the old sinful nature and the new, born again nature within each of us. By faith in Christ's work on the cross, we render powerless the old nature. But James is telling his Christian friends that they have allowed the old nature to revive once again.
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1. He lists the sins of their sinful nature: bitter envy, selfish ambition vs 14, envy and self seeking vs 16, quarrels and fighting Ch 4:1, lust and coveting vs 2, pride vs 6, speaking evil and judging of one another vs 11, fleshly decision making " we will go to such and such a city..."Vs 13, heaping up riches through injustice Ch5:4, living in pleasure and luxury vs 5, murder vs 6, grumbling against one another vs 9.
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2. He warns them that such thoughts and actions can draw in the demonic Greek ( diamoniodes Proceeding from demons 3:15.)
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3. He warns that such living results in curses and not in blessing. Ch 3:9. They are drawing water from the wrong spring.
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What is the reality is our life? So easily and so quickly we can begin to speak negatively, not positively, not reflecting the victory of Christ in our situation. Illustration.
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III. The Challenge: Let us take on James' advice and submit to God, resist the devil, cleanse our actions, cleanse our hearts, humble ourselves and live blessing from the new nature in our hearts. James 4:7-10
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We are called to be a blessing. Let us bring the Gospel to our family and others and start by blessing them.
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1. Let us spend a little time in self-examination. What spring/nature have we drawing from?
2. Let us spend some time blessing our extended family, both physical and spiritual.
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God bless, as we continue to be a blessing to others.
Robert