Suffering, Death, Redemption

As Good Friday approaches we should be thinking more about the way Jesus suffered for us and eventually gave up His life for us.

Jesus was tortured and humiliated.  He took the mocking, the crown of thorns, beatings, flogging, bearing the cross, and then came the crucifixion.

Then came the crucifixion: crude and jagged nails like railroad spikes were driven into his wrists and feet.    His body was lifted up on the cross so that he would hang and suffocate, and then have to inch his body up to catch breath.

The thought of the suffering and pain of our Lord helps us to appreciate the price paid for us.  But it is not just the physical pain that Jesus suffered.  It also speaks of a greater price of his soul.  We often think of the blood that he shed, but think now of the blood running through his heart which was broken and guilty of the sins of the world.

the price He paid was awesome.  If you want to listen to Sunday’s sermon in it’s entirety, you can visit the sermon page on the website or click the play below.

Below is from Spurgeon’s “Bought with a Price” that helped me (emphasis mine)

We speak of the drops of blood, but we must not confine our thoughts to the crimson life-floods which distilled from the Savior’s veins; we must think of the pangs which he endured, which were the equivalent for what we ought to have suffered, what we must have suffered had we endured the punishment of our guilt for ever in the flames of hell. But pain alone could not have redeemed us; it was by death that the Savior paid the ransom.

Death is a word of horror to the ungodly. The righteous hath hope in his death; but as Christ’s death was the substitute for the death of the ungodly, he was made a curse for us, and the presence of God was denied him. His death was attended with unusual darkness; he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” O think ye earnestly on this. The Ever-living died to redeem us; the Only Begotten bowed his head in agony, and was laid in the grave that we might be saved.

We love each other…we’re just not “in love”

Life is made up choices, and the book of Proverbs highlights that there are wise choices and then…there are bad choices.

One of the worst choices husbands and wives can make is adultery.

I say it’s a choice because no one just slips into adultery…it doesn’t just happen to us like it was completely out of our control.

However, we don’t always own up to the fact that we have decided to be unfaithful.  Rather, husband and wives create ridiculous blame-shifting excuses for their indiscretions:

• we fell out of love
• we grew apart
• we became different people
• we love each other, we’re just not “In Love”

Building a marriage that will stand has nothing to do with falling out of something or becoming different people.  It has everything to do with consistently making choices that God says are wise.

How do you get this wisdom?

1)  Learn what God calls wise:  read Proverbs again and again and again.

2)  Ask God for wisdom:  James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

If you’re not prepared for the temptation to committ adultery and divorce, then you may be underestimating that every marriage is at risk.  Every husband and wife are at risk…and not just because our feelings are fickle.  Adultery is a major temptation because  we have an enemy that seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

Take a listen to this week’s message which closes out the message series, “RelationSlips.”

You can hear the full audio below.

Click play below to stream message online, or right click here and “save as” to save audio to your computer.

You can also hear other message series by going to our sermon page on the website.

Husbands Afraid of Commitment

Sunday’s first point from “Practical Proverbs for Husbands” was that men must be COMMITTED–that there is never going to be even the slightest chance that you’ll ever run away or try to drive away your spouse.

You can hear the full audio below.  click play below to stream message online, or right click here and “save as” to save audio to your computer.

When I googled “Men and Commitment” it gave me a top ten list for why men feared commitment.  I suppose that fear is the most common connection between men and commitment.

High on the list is the idea that men fear having only one sex partner forever.  

Let there be no mistake…The Bible celebrates having one beloved for life.  There are plenty of Biblical examples where multiple wives are in the scene, but God never gives the impression that polygamy is His ideal.  Just as God doesn’t strike down people for other sins, He doesn’t strike people dead everytime they take another wife.  Thankfully, God is very patient with us, and yet we should not take for granted his mercy.  The book of proverbs teaches, as a whole, that there are choices that are wiser than others, including the choice to choose one partner for life.

Sunday night I watched Pixar’s “Up” with the family.  And here was an especially moving montage of the main character growing old with the wife of his youth.  Very touching.  I just love the way Pixar can tell stories so beautifully without dialogue.  If we had time during the Sunday service, I would love to show this in church.

Marriage models the kind of love Jesus has for His Church.  Jesus would never ever, ever, leave His Bride.  No chance.

Practical Proverbs for Husbands

This morning was part 2 of the Relationslips series. Once again, this is pretty touchy territory but I feel certain that these issues need to be discussed. God’s Word has some very powerful truths about sexuality and temptation; about marriage and purity.

Husbands are you destroying your marriage by looking at other women or making comparisons? Are you violating the trust of your one and only? Proverbs says that you must build your house on God’s wisdom. Listen to the sermon today to get some practical wisdom for building your home.

Here is the main text for today: Proverbs 5:15-20
15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? 17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. 18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

The audio from the sermon today for husbands is available below.

click play below to stream message online, or right click here and “save as” to save audio to your computer.  You can grab other sermons at our website sermon page.