Matthew

Full of Purpose

September 14, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

Steven J. Lawson said, “The greatest knowledge is to know Christ. The greatest adventure is to follow Him. The greatest privilege is to serve Him.” What a fantastic backdrop against which to live our lives! If we ingest this and use it as a guide, our lives will be full of purpose, full of meaning, and devoid of regrets. Read the first line again. Doesn’t that excite you? We have the privilege of knowing the Son of God on a personal level.

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Incredibly, He invites us to follow Him and to partner with Him in His mission of declaring the gospel to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Somehow, someway, He deems us worthy to be His disciples. He regards us worthy to be His servants, His hands and feet in this world. We’re talking about the Creator of everything and the King of the Universe. That’s astonishing!

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Surrender to Jesus

September 4, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

We are sadly mistaken if we believe we can live however we want in this life and still spend eternity with Christ. Saying a scripted prayer or responding to an invitation given at the end of a church service may signify your first steps to living a life solely devoted to Christ, but they are not your ticket to eternity in Heaven.

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Only those who truly repent of their sins–and that means you turn away from them in sorrowful contrition and acknowledge you have trespassed against the standards of the Holy King–and surrender to Jesus as the Lord of your life, only those will find their life in Him. No one who claims to love Jesus but lives in allegiance to this world will be saved (1 John 2:15).

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A Foundation of Truth

August 21, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

These days may not be the most evil the world has ever seen, but they certainly must rank as some of the most wicked in history. As the prophet Isaiah wrote centuries ago, the world is calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). The truth is under assault, and without a foundation of truth, we have no anchor. We will drift aimlessly and hopelessly into eternity.

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For years, the church would stand in the gap of evil and false teaching, but no longer. In some revolting instances, the church has become complicit in many of the lies being told by our culture. Just as disturbing is the apathy of professing Christians to what is happening around them.

Read Slowly

August 14, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

The more I study the Bible, the more I recognize when it comes to God’s Word, we should read slowly. Scripture is replete with admonitions to meditate on the words of God. Meditating and delighting on God’s instruction is a regular theme throughout the book of Psalms (Psalm 1:1-2, Psalm 19:7-14, Psalm 77:12, Psalm 119:15, Psalm 119:23, Psalm 119:27, Psalm 119:48, Psalm 119:78, Psalm 119:97, Psalm 119:99, Psalm 119:148, Psalm 143:5)

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and many other places throughout scripture (Joshua 1:8, Jeremiah 15:16, Nehemiah 8:1-3, Matthew 7:24-25, James 1:22-25, Philippians 4:8, Colossians 3:16). The Bible is not a book meant to be read like other books. We don’t read God’s Word to get through it, but to let it marinade our souls. When we read too quickly, we often miss the details and subtle nuances. There is no part of scripture we can afford to miss or gloss over (2 Timothy 3:16).

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What are You Afraid of?

August 10, 2023 by Tim Sherfy

What are you afraid of? There are a multitude of things in this world that make us fearful. Natural disasters, violence, death, tragedy, injustice, job loss, lack of food or shelter… the number of things we could list is almost endless. The more pervasive sin becomes, the scarier and riskier this world appears.

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No one is safe from the depravity of man, but Christians have historically been singled out for some of the worst abuses this world dishes out. While many minority groups have experienced long periods of horrific mistreatment, it is Christians who have most consistently been persecuted for the past two thousand years. This is because Satan’s war is against anyone who calls on the name of Jesus.