Riches of Gods Grace - The Buckler of Faith

Who Are We?

My name is Dr. Mike Letterman and I am an evangelist. I preach into 166 countries and a listening audience of 1.6-1.7M every Sunday morning. But that’s not me. That’s God. Pastor Mike is just not that good. I’m not the one people come to hear. They come to hear the Holy Spirit and that is what I am proud to be part of. Now my daddy had a sayin’ about a lot of things and one of these was about titles. Daddy had a sayin’ about a lot of things, like looking down a fence row and only seeing one fence post (unless you liked taking them out and doing them over). He used to have some sayin’s about not fallin through the outhouse seat. Other than my relationship with God he had two dreams for me. He wanted me to have dinner with the President of the United States and never forget what that black dirt felt like as it squashed between your toes from a freshly ploughed field. I’ve done both and I never forgot. One of Daddy’s sayin’s was about titles. He used to say titles on a man was like trying’ to put socks on a pig. Just doesn’t fit. So I’m just Mike or Pastor Mike, which I think is one of the most revered titles a man can strive for. As to the socks on a pig, there is truth to that as my cousin and I had to find out after we heard it. The pig won and mama skinned me alive for crawling in that hog pen full of mud and other less savory material with my good clothes on. Dad’s other sayin’ was that you just can’t put a grown man’s head on a boy’s shoulders. Daddy was right about a lot of things. Mama’s sayin’ was spare the rod and spoil the child. I’m just plain Mike. I just finished 28 lessons from the book of Ephesians and I’d like to cover a few things with you today. Intro: To understand the book of Ephesians, you must understand the concept of the church as the body of Christ. The revelation that the redeemed are the Lord’s body in this world is the essential key for understanding this great book. Ephesians 1:3-6 King James Version 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. As you know, God utilizes many metaphors to describe His people. He calls us a bride, a family, a household, a kingdom, a flock, a vine and branches, and a building. In Ephesians, Paul introduces the idea that the church is also a body. This descriptive term most completely describes what the church is all about. The word body brings to mind images of unity, diversity and mutual dependence. In our human body, every muscle, every bone, every nerve and every fiber is essential to a proper functioning of this body. The same is true in the body of Christ.

Gods Answers for Mans Excuses

Ex. 3:1-12 GOD’S ANSWERS FOR MAN’S EXCUSES 3 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Intro: Imagine for just a moment that you are God. You are the Creator of the Universe and you possess all power within yourself. All right, your people are being held as slaves and the time has come to deliver them. Who would you choose to do this great work? Perhaps you would send a great military leader? What about sending a skilled politician? Maybe you would send some great orator; a man who could give heart-stirring speeches that would grip the hearts of men. If you had the population of the world at your disposal, would you have sent Moses? Probably not! After all, he was 80 years old. He was a fugitive from justice, wanted for murder in Egypt, the very place you wanted to send him! Yes, he was well educated, but that was over 40 years ago. Yes, he had been well connected in the political circles of the day, but that too had been a long time ago. Yet, when it came time for God to send a deliverer to Israel, this is exactly the person He chose for the job. To us humans, it doesn’t make much sense, but to God it was all part of a great plan.

A Firm Family Foundation

Psalm 127:1, Genesis 2:18-25 A FIRM FAMILY FOUNDATION Intro: There may be some people listening to these sermons and you wonder if there is anything here for you. You may think that since your children are grown and gone that these messages do not touch your life. If you are single or living alone, you may believe that sermons about the home and family have nothing to say to you. No matter where you are in life you still have family. The things we are going to discuss today will apply to everyone here, whether you have children or not, or whether you are married or not. We are going to our time today in Genesis 2 and talk about building A Firm Family Foundation. We are going to talk about what our families need to be strong in the Lord.

The Achievements of a Successful Father

Genesis 6:1-13 THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL FATHER Intro: If you were to make a list of great Bible fathers, you might include men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You might include Solomon, who wrote many of the Proverbs for his sons. You might include Joseph, the husband of Mary, who raised Jesus as his own Son and provided him with a godly home. There would surely be many others who would make the list of the great dads of the Bible. However, most of us would not include the man who is the object of the text before us today: a man by the name of Noah. 6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. When they think of Noah, people always remember his work on the ark. They see that as his greatest achievement. Many would question his successfulness as a dad because of some of the failures that occurred later in his life. People remember when Noah got drunk, Gen. 9:20-21. They also remember the business with his grandson Canaan and Canaan’s father Ham, Gen. 9:22-27. But, think about this, Noah’s great success as a father was in the fact that he saw every member of his family saved. What greater accomplishment in life could there possibly be?

The Footsteps of Faith

Abraham: Following In The Footsteps Of Faith Sermon #1 Genesis 11:27-12:3 27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. 12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Series Intro: few men, outside of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself have has such an impact on the history of the world as did the man introduced to us in this passage of scripture. This man is revered by over one-half the world's population. In our day, Abraham is held in high esteem by Jews, Muslims and Christians. In ancient times the Jews considered Abraham to be almost worthy of their worship. In the Bible, Abraham is presented to us as a great example of a man who lived his life by faith, Heb. 11:8-19. James 2:23 records the fact that Abraham was called the "Friend of God." This man's life was a special life and a great portion of the first book of the Bible is devoted to it. Tonight, we are going to begin a study of the life of this man named Abraham. Now, some may ask, "Why take the time to study a man who lived 4,100 years ago?" My answer to you is that, first, the Bible takes the time to speak about him, so we should take the time to study him. The second is that the life of Abraham teaches us much about the matter of walking with God by faith. That, after all, is the goal of the Lord for all His children. God is calling every one of His children to live a life of faith. This man teaches us how.