Just last week I had the great privilege of attending the National Baptist Fellowship Meetings in South Australia. The meetings were such a blessing and I came away challenged and encouraged in the Lord. Over the next few months I plan to share some of the notes I took during the messages in the hope that they will be a blessing to someone else. And as the audio files get uploaded to the internet, I will put a link to them in my post so that you can go listen to the sermons for yourself. :)
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There were so many good messages, it is hard to decide which one to share first; so I will start with a message from one of my favourite sessions from the week (although all of them were excellent, there was quite a bit in this message that was really encouraging & challenging!)
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3/10/2013 {2nd Morning Session}
Not Ashamed - Pastor James Herringson
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
God has called each one of us to serve Him.
Paul is a great example of someone who was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. In Romans 1:15 he said he was ready to go wherever the Lord wanted him to go, even though he knew he would be persecuted for it! And this is because he was not ashamed of the gospel and he understood the power of the gospel.
Are we ashamed of the gospel? Do we fear rejection of the world?
The problem is, when we fear rejection from the world, our focus is on ourselves. When we focus on Christ and what He has done for us we won't be ashamed of the gospel.
3 Things Paul realized that helped him not be ashamed of the gospel
1) Paul was not ashamed because he knew the power of the gospel He was preaching! (Romans 1:1-4) The gospel has power, we have the treasure and precious message of salvation! (Isaiah 53:5)
a) 1 Corinthians 4:13 - One point Pastor Herringson made was the fact that Paul would have had every excuse and reason to be ashamed... everywhere he went the gospel & he was hated for preaching it! Yet he was not ashamed! And this is because he knew that he had God's message, and he knew the power of that message! We need to have faith in the power of the gospel.
2) Paul knew that souls would be saved when the simple gospel was preached. (Acts 17:32-34)
v 34 - certain men clave unto him and believed.
We will face opposition when we preach the gospel, but that does not mean we should try and package the gospel with the world. Souls are genuinely saved through the simple gospel of Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:12)
3) Paul knew that it was the will of God for him to preach the gospel. The will for our lives is the gospel. God has called us to be witnesses wherever we are. Knowing this gave Paul boldness. He knew what was in store for him, but none of this moved him because he knew that God's will was more important than the trials he might have to face. We need to know where God wants us to be. We can have boldness in His will.
God wants you and I to be a witness for Him. Do you know what God's will for your life is? Where does he want you to be a witness? (it could be in your school, workplace, church, or even on the mission field!) Ask God what His will for you is.
We need not be ashamed of the gospel. We don't need to fear the reproach if we fix our focus firmly on the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I have tried to put my incoherent sermon notes into some kind of order, so hopefully they made sense! :) This session was such a blessing! (as were all of the meetings!)
Here is a link to the official skydrive where the NBF 2013 sermons are. This sermon was Session 10 by James Herringson. NBF Sermons 2013
Link to National Baptist Fellowship page : baptist-church.com.au/nbf
Link to National Baptist Fellowship page : baptist-church.com.au/nbf
Hope you have a blessed week!!
Hannah
