Gleanings From Grace

John 4:1-15
Chapter three and four of the book of John provide us with interesting contrasts into the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 3Chapter 4
It named the man that was seeking the Lord.
The man was a respected ruler, a man of rank.
The man was moral.
The man was Jewish.
He was knowledgeable about religion.
He came by night in secret.
He had a serious, respectful attitude.
There is no mention of the results of the meeting with Christ.
We hear of this man again later in the Bible.
An un-named woman was sought out by the Lord.
The woman was an outcast of society, lower in rank.
The woman was immoral.
The woman was a Samaritan and despised by the Jews.
The woman was ignorant.
Her meeting with Jesus took place by day out in the open.
She was flippant, hostile, a debater, and then she was respectful.
The results of the meeting are given.
She fades into the silence of history. {Read More…}

HOW TO SERIES
#01 HOW TO READ YOUR BIBLE
TEXT: Psalm 119:15, 18, 33-34

You have heard it said that when all else fails, read the instruction manual. Today, I want to begin sharing with you an instruction manual for the Christian life. We preachers are notorious for telling you what you need to be doing in your Christian life, but I want to go a step further and not only tell you what you need to do, but also how to do it.
The first set of instructions I want to share with you is on how to read your Bible. We know that reading our Bible is very important to our Christian life. I think of what others has said about the Bible. {Read More…}

TEXT:1 Samuel 1:17
D.L. Moody said, “I’d rather be able to pray than be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught his disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.” Moody was well aware of the importance of prayer in the Christian life. I have often preached on how important prayer is, but today, I want us to think about how to pray.
When it comes to learning how to pray, I don’t think there is a greater example in the entire Bible than Hannah. We not only see her praying, but we also see her getting an answer to her prayer. We read in 1 Samuel 1:20 “Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.” She named the son she received from God, in answer to prayer, Samuel, which means “asked of God.” Her son was a testimony to how Hannah prayed and that God answers prayer. {Read More…}

Introduction: There is a plague in an old English Church that reads, “In the year 1653 when all things sacred throughout the land were demolished or profaned, Sir Robert Shirley built this church, whose singular praise is this, to have done the best of things in the worst of times.” {Read More…}

TEXT: PS 34 :19 ALSO 1 Sam. 22:1-2

Introduction: One afternoon a man was walking down a busy city street. He was lost in his own thought and didnt see that a live high voltage wire had fallen and was lying directly in front of him. Another man, seeing this one about to walk on the wire, tried to yell at him and warn him of the danger, but his voice was lost in the commotion of the city. Knowing that he could never get to the man in time to save him, he picked up a large stone and threw it at the man, striking him in the chest. The impact of the stone caused great pain and forced the man to stop just one step short of placing his foot on that wire. Had it not been for the pain of the stone, the man would have died. {Read More…}

TEXT:DEUTERONOMY 30:19, 20

INTRODUCTION: ILL.A certain lady went from village to village peddling her wares. Frequently on her journeys she would come to a fork in the road and would have to decide which road to take. She had a strange method for making her decision. She would take a stick, toss it into the air, and follow whichever path the stick seemed to be pointing to after it hit the ground. On one such occasion, the lady was seen tossing the stick into the air repeatedly. A curious passerby asked what she was doing. She explained her process and said, “The stick keeps pointing to the left fork and I wish to go to the right.” She had a choice to make, thought she had a method for making that choice, but in the final analysis, wanted to go the way she wanted to go, stick or no stick. {Read More…}

TEXT: (Luke 23:46 KJV) And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

INTRODUCTION: Having said this, he breathed his last breath. We are not really prepared to live unless you we prepared to die. Much of what goes on in this world is part of a continuous battle against death, but death wins in the end. Death is an appointment, not an accident, and only God knows the day and the hour when our life will end that’s whv it’s wonderful to be a Christian and know Jesus as your Savior, because Christians don’t have to be afraid of death. Jesus’ seventh statement from the cross tells us about death and how he died. Four characteristics of his death should encourage us and remove any fear of death that may lurk in our hearts. {Read More…}

READINGS: Matt. 27:33-50; 2 Cor. 5:17-21
SUBJECT: The Word of Anguish
TEXT: “…My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).

Introduction:  It is now midday. For three hours the body of Jesus has been exposed to the burning rays of the sun. The divine Sufferer has almost reached the point of exhaustion when a supernatural phenomenon takes place: darkness falls over the whole earth, and a cry is heard. ..”My God, My God, why has thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). This cry of anguish expresses: {Read More…}

TEXT: 1 Sam 15:14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? This service I wish to preach on “The Bleating Of A Defective Life” What is it in your life that is “COSTING YOU GOD’S PRESENCE” SAMSON:

Judg 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD WAS DEPARTED FROM HIM. {Read More…}

TEXT:  (Isaiah 9:6) Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

INTRODUCTION: Christians have struggled with war for centuries.

Before Jesus came, all good people wrestled with war and the existence of evil. The Bible is not silent on this subject. Many people have used the bible to give validity to their Understanding’s of war. {Read More…}