Life With Jesus is Way Better (Acts 3:12-22)
Gary McManus, 05/04/2014Part of the Life With Jesus is Better series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
Life with Jesus is WAY better than life without Jesus.
And yet, Pastor hears about people turning to the Lord
because of the threat of death.
God is a God of the living (Mark 12:27, Luke 20:38)
Sometimes I get the feeling that most people think that it isn’t life with Jesus that is better but
Your life should be better with Jesus.
Your life in Christ should be an improved life.
Our life in Christ should be IMPROVING.
Happiness is not a Bible word. The closest word is
blessed or blessedness. You know the differences.
Gratitude is increased when you have a relationship
with Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:6-7, Philippians 4:6,
2 Thessalonians 1:3, Colossians 3:15-17)
Contentment. . .and the Apostle Paul? Yes.
Philippians 4:12
Contentment is a good goal to have.
Three people in the NT encourage contentment:
John the Baptist (Luke 3:15)
The Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:11-12)
and the author of the book of Hebrews (13:5)
With Jesus in our life, we can learn to be content.
In the ancient world one of the greatest
experiences was fear; especially fear of death.
Fear of the Lord is good
(see Luke 5:26, 7:16, Mark 4:41,
Matthew 28:8, Mark 16:8.
To WORLDLY fear Jesus says,
“Believe in me.” (John 14:1)
(See also Romans 8:15, 2 Timothy 1:7
and 1 John 4:18)
Focused on fears or focused on the Lord?
The Lord has provided a way to deal with fears
Love drives fear out of the heart;
it may remain in the mind but the
fear does not control us.
What life in Christ promises growth
in contentment
(reduce) fear
the love you have in your life.
The first gospel preachers dealt with the fear of death.
They said (Acts 3:19)
TIMES of
REFRESHING; breathing space, relaxation,
relief, reviving = live again
FROM the Lord Himself!
Life with Jesus IS WAY better than life without Jesus.
Isaiah 61:3 (HCSB, NIV, GNV)
Amen.
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