Tuesday, October 26, 2010

This Week's Sermon

Due to some technical difficulties, there will be no podcast from this Sunday's (October 24) sermons.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Daily Bible Readings October 11- October 16th

Monday- Matthew 6. 25-34
Meditation:  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out for us what life is like in the kingdom of God. It is a life filled with prayer, fasting, love, obedience, evangelism. But there is one thing he says has no place among God’s people: anxiety. Are you an anxious person? Do you often find yourself worrying? That is a sin that in this week, we will learn the Christian cannot and must not accept in their life.

Tuesday – Matthew 6.26-30; Psalm 139.13-16
Meditation: Why should we not be anxious? Jesus gives us two reasons: who God is and who we are. We don’t have to anxious because God is our heavenly Father and he wants to and will take care of us. We also should never anxious because our anxiety can’t accomplish anything. Whether we worry needlessly or not, you and I can’t change anything in our lives. If we will remember God’s great strength and our complete weakness, we will know why anxiety makes no sense for the Christian.

Wednesday – Matthew 6.30-32
Meditation: What is the problem with anxiety? Jesus shows us three things. First, it demonstrates how little faith we have in God. It also shows us where our vision really is. Worrying about these things happens when our eyes are on these things rather than God or his kingdom. Lastly, anxiety is a problem because it means you don’t really trust God. He knows you need these things, why don’t you trust him to give them to you?

Thursday – Matthew 6.33-34; Philippians 4.4-7
Meditation: So what are we supposed to do? Anxiety fills out hearts the easiest when we are idle. Jesus doesn’t tell us to just relax. He tells us seek the right things and everything else he will take care of. We are to seek God’s kingdom. That is where our eyes should be. That should be our worry. If we will fix our eyes on him, then he will give us all that we need and give us a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Friday – Matthew 6.25-34; Matthew 7.7-11
Meditation: This was obviously a problem for Christ’s followers then and continues to be a problem today. So what do you do if you struggle with being anxious? First, believe him. We must understand where anxiety springs from. God tells us that he will take care of us, we worry because we aren’t sure if he really will. We need to start believing what he says. Second, we need to trust him. We can know that whatever God gives us, it will be used by him for our good. Third, we need to repent. Anxiety isn’t just a personality quark, it is sin. As sin, we must hate it. We must run from it and pray that God will protect our weak hearts.

Saturday – Matthew 6.25-34
Meditation: Would you have considered yourself an anxious person?  God helps us here to see that you and I have no reason to be anxious, and that we have no right to be anxious.  We live a blessed life led by our heavenly Father.  Let's live that way.

Podcast Now Available!

This Sunday's sermon (October 10th) is now available on our podcast!

http://fbcbeggs.podomatic.com

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Podcast now available!

This Sunday's sermon (October 3rd) is now available on our podcast!

http://fbcbeggs.podomatic.com

Daily Bible Readings: October 3-9

Monday – Daniel 4.28-37
Meditation: Thomas Watson says, “Pride is the mother of hell.”  Pride is an obvious sin that all Christians know is to be avoided.  However, pride is something that is a struggle for all.  This week we will look at pride to see the heinous nature of this sin.  Pray that God would reveal to you areas of pride in your life.

Tuesday – Daniel 4.28-30; 1 Corinthians 4.6-7
Meditation: Nebuchadnezzar was a man who was filled with pride.  He looked at all he had accomplished and credited himself instead of giving glory to God.  Pride at its core is vertical in nature.  When we fail to recognize God’s hand in our successes but rather take all the credit for ourselves, we are being proud.  We must realize that everything we have is a gift from God, and he is the ultimate source of all our successes not ourselves.

Wednesday – Daniel 4.31-33; Proverbs 16.5; Proverbs 18:12
Meditation: Living in pride is a great danger.  Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that God opposes the proud.  His entire world was stripped from him, and he became like a madman until he learned that God alone was King.  The reason that pride is so dangerous is that God explicitly says the proud person is his enemy.  We do not want God as our enemy.  Thus, let us be wise and forsake pride.

Thursday – Daniel 4.34-37; Isaiah 66.2; 1 Peter 5.5-6
Meditation: What is the cure for a proud heart?  A big helping of humble pie.  Once Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity was restored to him, he immediately confessed that God alone was the ruler of the universe.  He had learned his lesson well.  No longer did Nebuchadnezzar take praise and glory for himself but now extolled the glory of God.  Ask yourself today  if there is any success or accomplishment in your life that you take the credit for?  If so, do not praise yourself but praise God instead.

Friday – Daniel 4.34; Isaiah 40.1-31
Meditation: One way we can promote humility in our lives is by having a view of God’s greatness.  Those in the Bible who encounter the Living God find themselves humbled before his majestic splendor.  So often, pride rises in our hearts because we forget just how great God is.  Today, think about the greatness of God and be humbled before him.

Saturday – Daniel 4.35; Psalm 8.3-4; Ecclesiastes 3.18-20
Meditation:  Another way we can keep pride at bay and promote humility in our lives is by having a proper view of self.  Whenever we begin to think great thoughts about ourselves, we must contemplate just how little and insignificant we are.  Remember that we are made from the dust, and we will one day return to it.  Remember that we are little more than a vapor, here for a moment then gone.  Be humbled because of your own finitude.