Gtcotr/ss092516
Our
nation needs healing and you can help. I’ll tell you how in a moment.
Acts 4 NKJV
32 Now the multitude of those
who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of
the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
33 And with great power the
apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace
was upon them all.
34 Nor was there anyone among
them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and
brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,
35 and laid them at
the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
People
from all walks of life need to experience a life changing conversion. There is
nothing that will change a person more than experiencing these three key
elements of life.
·
The Love
of God
o The love of God comes
from God through the congregation to each other and then to the lost world.
§ Saints
§ Sinners
·
The
presence of God
o The Presence of God
is found in:
§ Prayer
§ Praise
·
The power
of God
o The Power of God is
found in the Word and Witness
§ The Church
§ The World
Earlier
I said that our nation needs healing and you can help. Let me tell you how.
·
I
see a problem in our nation, a sickness that is captivating, torturing,
controlling, and killing people … it's called prejudice – pre-judging others.
·
We
can easily identify the problem because we can see the big picture.
·
We
can view the problem in the big picture but we can only solve problems in the
small picture.
·
You
are the only one who can do anything about the prejudices you were raised with,
adopted from others, or experienced in life.
o The government can’t
fix you and can’t fix the problem
o The police can’t fix
you or fix the problem
o The church can’t fix
you or fix the problem
o Only you can fix you
… and only you can heal this sickness
§ Not everyone will be
healed
§ Because not everyone
will change
§ But you can
I
see young children playing with each other on playgrounds without any
hesitation. They laugh and cry and give and take and hold hands and sometimes
hit each other without any consideration as to whether the other child is rich
or poor, Black, White or Hispanic, blonde or brunette, or better at math. They
do this until someone teaches them some other way to live. There is no natural
selection weeding out or pre-determining castes based on color, ethnicity, or parental politics in the human race.
You
can’t tell by the laugh or the cry if the child is from a particular race or
religion. You can’t discern what color a child is by the dream in their heart.
You can’t judge the value or contribution a child will make to society by their
ethnicity or the language they speak. What then happens to our children as they
grow? All too quickly they become like us!
Just
like the first Church in Jerusalem, we need to experience the love, the
presence, and the power of God. Our families, our communities, our nation and
the world cannot be healed unless and until it begins with us.
Join
me in making this declaration: As for me and my house, we will not allow
prejudice to rule our lives, take our children or destroy our nation. It stops
with me right here, right now – In the name of Jesus! (Joshua 24:15)
