The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. Matthew 13:20

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10  

"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.  Luke 6:23 

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name." Luke 10:17

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure. Luke 10:21

Then they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Luke 24:52 

I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  John 15:11

Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.  John 16:22

Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.   John 16:24 

So there was great joy in that city. Acts 8:8

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.  Acts 13:52 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Romans 14:17 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!  Romans 15:13

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you.  Romans 16:19

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.  Galatians 5:22

Now! Don’t let the next topic steal your joy. Rather, listen to the Holy Spirit so that we may find ways to help others share our joy.

This morning we will touch on a very controversial subject… homosexuality. No matter what our personal feelings are, it is an issue that will not go away, and at some point each of us will be forced to take a look at what we believe. The subject has come up enough in my conversations with members that it is time to address the subject from the pulpit.

In addition to living a joyful life, Jesus wants us to walk in love.

1. "The most important commandment," answered Jesus, "is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."  Mark 12:29-31

2. Resist sin; walk in Godly courage. Too often we just cave in to temptations and say, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” For instance, some people are born kleptomaniacs. They love to steal stuff! Well, it’s rough, but they have to learn to overcome that temptation, or it’s off to jail!

Hebrews 12:4.  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

3. Love… everybody!   Matthew 5:43-44.  "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

4. Dump fear!

1 John 4:18-21.  “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because He first loved us.  If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Our church’s website says that this church is: “Proclaiming the transforming power of the living God!”

What does that mean?

1.     Do we want God to make everyone just like us?

2.     Is this a reaction to the extreme liberal agenda?

3.     No, instead it is a true statement of love.

“Everyone is welcome to worship with us! This church is here to minister to the entire community.”

Having said that, we expect those who come to accept us as we are! We are a conservative group of Christians who believe that God welcomes everyone. Our goal is to build others in their faith.

We do our best to follow God’s Holy Word. While we do not claim to understand everything in the Scriptures we are committed to learning and growing in our understanding. We believe that the entire Bible is God’s Word, but everything has to be kept in the setting in which it is placed.

Thus, our requirement for membership reflects a biblical lifestyle.

1.     Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior

2.     The sacrament of Water Baptism

3.     Receiving of communion.

4.     Tithing

5.     Regular church attendance.

6.     Living a holy, sanctified life.

Where the Bible is clear, we proclaim the message with authority. Where it is not an essential doctrine, we are tolerant.

We acknowledge that everyone sins periodically and has their struggles. (“If we say we have no sins we make God a liar and the truth is not in us.”)  1 John 1:8

We believe that we are to be as loving and kind as Jesus was. We have to remember that He was criticized for hanging out with sinners.

We believe that miracles happen today… and we know that God accepts us just as we are!

But we also understand that God expects us to mature in our faith and seek to model our lives after Jesus!

What should be our stand on the issues that divide the church today? First of all, we need to reach out to the sinners. Jesus allowed a prostitute to wash His feet with her tears.

Christ gave every thing He had for everyone who will believe:

Christ died for the ungodly.  Romans 5:6

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8 

Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.  Romans 14:9

If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Romans 14:15 

So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8:11

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:21

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. Pet 3:18

If Christ died for everyone, then we must reach out in love to them.

Actually, homosexuality is a symptom of a deeper problem. The deeper problem is how scripture is treated.

Ordaining a homosexual or marrying a homosexual couple, in our view is contrary to scripture. This does not make us homophobic, by the way!

Anger and hatred are not appropriate responses. We are not to judge one another.

I believe that their attraction to that lifestyle is genuine.

If they want to receive help from our church, we are here to serve. We will pray with them for deliverance and counsel them in the scriptures.

However, we anticipate that by uniting with us they will accept our doctrine. This is only common courtesy.

Learn the proper role of Anger.

Anger is a “normal” emotion. All emotions move us to action “energy – motion.”

Uncontrolled anger is dangerous – like a loaded gun. In searching the scriptures it is obvious that God got angry in the Old Testament and Jesus got angry in the New Testament. There is a valid place for anger.

When Jesus saw sin taking place in the Temple He got angry! He took a rope, made it into a whip and cleansed the Temple in short order! He overturned their tables and chased them away. He said, “God’s house is to be a house of prayer! You have made it a den of thieves.”

Was He wrong? No! To have tolerated such a practice would have been a sin!

You and I need to have this holy anger. When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath He looked at the crowd with anger and then healed him.

It is time you and I got angry with sin!  But for us to get all excited about homosexuality in Loyal is more of a distraction then anything else. We should get angry with the fact that drugs and drinking are destroying lives. We should get angry at the things that keep people from serving God.

We are not recommending you grab a whip and start out cleansing churches. We are merely recommending that all of us seek the Lord and walk obediently with Him.

“Love the sinner, hate the sin” is still good advice. Seek ways to minister to the hurting!

That is pretty serious stuff! Let’s back up and look at our own situation for a moment. Are we experiencing the joy of the Lord or are we worried about things? If you are not experiencing “Love, Joy, and Peace” in your heart and life right now, we want to pray for you!

PRAYER:

            Almighty God, at this very moment we quiet our hearts before you. We ask you to move among us and comfort any that are going through a time of trial or pain. May the peace of God that passes all understanding minister to their hearts and lives!

            If they need healing, please heal their bodies; if they need finances, may money flow to them; may their expenses be kept in check.

 If there is fear, please send peace. Your scripture teaches us that God will meet all of our needs… so wherever the hurt, pain or loss is, please minister to that need according to Your Holy Word. In Jesus’ name we pray. AMEN

With joy,

Pastor Leon