Qohelet Web Ministry Sermons 2 John D Telgren

(1 Thess 5:18) Thanksgiving is not just a holiday, but a disposition that we should have that is directed especially toward God, because the opposite, grumbling and complaining, tears down and will destroy. However, a disposition of gratitude builds ourselves and others up and acts as a shield against discouragement, bitterness, and grumbling. So, we need to develop a heart of gratitude by doing such things as enumerating specific blessings and specifically giving thanks to God rather than just being thankful, and giving generously in order to share the blessing of God with others.

(Ex 11-13) God has given us various physical things, such as ritual, tradition, and liturgy, in order to vividly remember and pass on the meaning of our identity and heritage as the redeemed people of God. For the Israelites, this was the Passover and Exodus. But for us as Christians, it is the Lord's Supper and the freedom from bondage to sin through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

(Ex 4-12) God works all things together for his redemptive purposes, which involves demonstrating the futility of trusting in what is not god so that we can know him, the only true God, and build our life on him and his promises, which are trustworthy.

(Ex 3-4) God calls each of us to serve his purposes, which means there are no excuses to not do so. Whether we, like Moses, think we are of no account, or that we really don't know what to say, or that we may not produce results of we try, or that we do not have the skill or the ability, what matters in the end is that we are faithful to God because he provides what we need to serve him.

(Mt 7:21-27; 5:3-16)The Sermon on the Mount is a model for our attitudes and actions as Christians. It shows us that the Christian life is not merely about doing good works, but about doing the will of God, and that God expects us to do great things in the world.

A picture is worth a thousand words. The Bible gives several pictures of Hell which indicates that Hell is endless emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual anguish that comes from being eternally cast away from the presence of the Lord. But God has provided a way of escape at great cost through the Gospel, the death and resurrection of his son for our sins. If we believe and accept him as our crucified and risen Lord and savior, we can be saved.