Love Worth Finding | Audio Program

<p>Sermon Overview</p><p>Scripture Passage: Ephesians 6:10-20</p><p><br></p><p>Whether we realize it or not, we are part of a war between light and darkness, good and evil, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ and Satan. We cannot afford to be ignorant, and we cannot possibly be neutral.</p><p><br></p><p>Adrian Rogers says, “When you were born again, you were born from above. And you, being Heaven-born are Heaven-bound. You were born for the battle, and you were born to win.”</p><p><br></p><p>We’re not wrestling against flesh and blood. We’re wrestling against principalities and powers of darkness.</p><p><br></p><p>Ephesians 6:10-20 shows us how to prepare ourselves for this Christian Warfare.</p><p><br></p><p>In preparing for the battle, we must first remember our adversary. Satan is a decided fact; never underestimate him or count him out. He is a destructive force; systematic, spiritual, strong, and sinister. Yet, he is our defeated foe.</p><p><br></p><p>Adrian Rogers says, “Satan had his back crushed and broken at Calvary; soon his head is going to be crushed when Jesus comes again.”</p><p><br></p><p>We must remember our armor, which is specifically outlined in Ephesians 6:</p><p><br></p><p>The Belt of Truth</p><p>The Breastplate of Righteousness</p><p>Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, knowing nothing stands between our souls and the Savior</p><p>The Shield of Faith</p><p>The Helmet of Salvation</p><p>God wants us to enter the battlefield armed with integrity, purity, tranquility, certainty, and sanity. Don’t leave off any piece of the armor of God in this battle. Christian warriors must understand their point of attack. We have the victory. God has equipped us with three things:</p><p><br></p><p>The first is our stance.</p><p>We are called to be strong, to stand against these dark forces of evil with the blessed assurance of victory in Jesus.</p><p><br></p><p>Second, we recognize the power of our sword,</p><p>which is the sword of the Spirit and the Word of God. We must also remember the power of our prayers when prayed in the Spirit.</p><p><br></p><p>Finally, the Christian warrior must remember his allies.</p><p>“...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18).</p><p><br></p><p>We don’t fight alone; we need to pray for each other.</p><p><br></p><p>Apply it to your life</p><p>As you prepare for this spiritual battle, remember your adversary, your armor, your attack, and your allies.</p>

<p>Sermon Overview</p><p><br></p><p>Scripture Passage: Ephesians 1:2-14</p><p><br></p><p>As children of God, we have the privilege of knowing not only that we are saved but also that we can never lose our salvation. God has saved us by His grace, and He keeps us bound to Himself with a three-fold cord that cannot be broken.</p><p><br></p><p>Ephesians 1:2-14 describes the three-fold cord of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.</p><p><br></p><p>First, this passage reveals that our salvation was planned by God the Father.</p><p><br></p><p>“...to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).</p><p><br></p><p>We have been chosen to be saved. Adrian Rogers says, “You've been chosen in the past, predestined to the future, and accepted in the present.”</p><p><br></p><p>This does not mean that God chose one sinner above another sinner; it means that God had us in His heart and in His mind before He laid the foundation of the world. God gives everyone an invitation to come to Christ; we can only choose Him because He first chose us.</p><p><br></p><p>Our salvation was also purchased by God the Son.</p><p><br></p><p>“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…” (Ephesians 1:7).</p><p><br></p><p>In the Garden of Eden, Adam sinned and forfeited our inheritance to Satan; but at Calvary, Jesus redeemed us with His blood. We are freed by His blood and forgiven by His grace; we are filled with His wisdom and fixed with His wealth. We have fellowship and a full inheritance as we become like Jesus Christ.</p><p><br></p><p>Adrian Rogers says, “The greatest miracle in the world is not walking on water or changing water into wine; it is taking a Hell-bound sinner and transforming him, making him holy and blameless.”</p><p><br></p><p>Finally, our salvation is preserved by God the Holy Spirit.</p><p><br></p><p>“...you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).</p><p><br></p><p>Because of the Holy Spirit, our salvation is a finished transaction; our ownership has been transferred to God and we are secure in it.</p><p><br></p><p>Apply it to your life</p><p><br></p><p>If you are a Christian, your salvation is found in a three-fold cord that cannot be broken.</p><p><br></p><p>Do you recognize that you are chosen by God the Father, in fellowship with Jesus Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit?</p><p><br></p>

<p>Sermon Overview</p><p><br></p><p>Scripture Passage: Luke 1:13</p><p><br></p><p>The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). But so many times, we pray and seek God, ask according to His will; and yet our prayer seems unanswered.</p><p><br></p><p>At the beginning of the Book of Luke, we meet Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, both righteous before God, blameless, yet barren. They were well in their old age, and without any children, they had prayed for their whole lives. Verse 13 says, “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son…” We can learn three things from Zacharias and Elizabeth when prayer seems unanswered.</p><p><br></p><p>First, unanswered prayer could mean it has simply been denied.</p><p><br></p><p>God will not grant prayers that aren’t according to His will. Sometimes, we pray with sin in our heart, outside of the will of God. Remember, God wants to meet every one of our personal needs, but He will not enable our lust, pride, or selfishness.</p><p><br></p><p>An unanswered prayer could also mean it’s strategically delayed.</p><p><br></p><p>Adrian Rogers says, “With God, timing is far more important than time.” Answered prayers could be delayed to display His glory. As we see in Zacharias and Elizabeth’s story, God could wait until the situation is so difficult, there's no way we, ourselves, get the glory from it.</p><p><br></p><p>Or, our prayers could be delayed to dispense God’s grace.</p><p><br></p><p>As interested as He is in His glory, God’s also interested in our joy. In Luke 1, God was about to bring Jesus into the world. God planned the arrival of Zacharias and Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist, so he could prepare the way for this long-awaited Messiah. God knew what He was doing; He had a strategic plan to display his glory and to dispense his grace, in the fullness of time.</p><p><br></p><p>Finally, the answer to your prayer may be strangely different.</p><p><br></p><p>For Zacharias and Elizabeth, God gave them something better than they asked for; it was different. He was the forerunner of the Messiah. Their son filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.</p><p><br></p><p>Adrian Rogers tells us, “God gives the best to those who leave the choice with him.”</p><p><br></p><p>Apply it to your life</p><p><br></p><p>What do you do when your prayer seems unanswered? Check to make sure you are seeking the glory of God. Then pray without ceasing.</p>

<p>Sermon Overview</p><p>Scripture Passage: Matthew 19:1-6</p><p><br></p><p>Adrian Rogers says, “A home is the sweetest place on earth, the nearest place to Heaven. It’s the only part of the Garden of Eden that we have left.”</p><p><br></p><p>Matthew 19 discusses the importance of family faithfulness; first, by recognizing that marriage is made by Heaven.</p><p><br></p><p>And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, ‘For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?" (v. 4-5).</p><p><br></p><p>Marriage is the supreme commitment, overruling every other commitment we could ever make. The priority of marriage is to build a home, and we cannot build a home without God’s guidance. We raise children with the intention of them leaving home to build homes of their own.</p><p><br></p><p>Marriage is also permanent, and its purpose is to be one flesh, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Adrian Rogers says, “Marriage is a romance in which both the hero and the heroine die in the first chapter, and a new person comes into being: one flesh.”</p><p><br></p><p>But marriage can be marred by Hell; there is nothing wrong with romantic love, but we are deceived if we believe that is enough to sustain a marriage. We are commanded in Scripture to love our spouses unconditionally, as God has loved His church.</p><p><br></p><p>There is no fear in perfect love, only peace, security, and joy. We must be careful not to allow guilt to fester in our marriages; guilt turns to anger, and anger into bitterness.</p><p><br></p><p>When we experience trials, reconciliation and forgiveness are called for in order to put the family back together. If we seek restoration, we’ll find that the relationship can potentially be even stronger than before it was broken.</p><p><br></p><p>Finally, marriage is always marked by hope. No matter our circumstances, there is always hope because the grace of God covers all of our sins. God does not hold grudges; His forgiveness is always available for those who seek to honor Him in their relationships.</p><p><br></p><p>Apply it to your life</p><p>A godly home is the greatest testimony we have in this world. If you are married, make certain that Christ is the head of your home and continue to feed your love day by day.</p>