Category: Discipleship

New Year 2023, What Now? Ask God to Change Your Heart

Posted on by Union Community Bible Church

 

 

Text: Deuteronomy 30:6

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!

Introduction: Shoes that do not fit. Do you change the size of your foot? Or replace your foot? No. We look for another shoe that fits our feet. Likewise, New Year offers the following perception: transition, change, renewal, and a better year. But it is not the year we change; it is our hearts, attitudes, and choices.

Deuteronomy 30:6 “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!”

Contextual Background: Deuteronomy 28; deuteronomistic principle: obedience and curses; Deut 29 states renewal of the covenant; then, Deut 30 offers prosperity, restoration, and promises

Main Idea:

The Predicament

  • Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But we are worse because we prioritize shallow, worldly things over God!
  • Google and Amazon, among others, can process our behavior to know what we want before we know it ourselves.
  • We cannot change our hearts by ourselves. We need someone to do it. And that someone is God. (Like creating a new year’s resolution).

The Promise

  • “conditional statement” in verses 1-5 of Deut 30. Ask God to change your heart.
  • The Maker of hearts also knows how to remake hearts.
  • I trust the next chapter because I know the Author.

Conclusion: Press Pause (from Daily Bible Devo)
10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 11 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. (NLT) ( Psalm 46:10-11 )

This week, take time to pause to remember who God is and what He has done for us. When our lives are hurried, we only have the chance to focus on our to-do lists. Making space in our schedules for prayer and meditation helps us to better see God at work in our lives and in our world. In our moments of reflection, we can begin to understand how God has shown up on our behalf throughout our life. We can see how he has acted as our fortress in times of stress or danger. We can thank him for who he is when we read the Bible and learn about his character. Press pause so you can begin to know God better.

 

Ptr. John Paul Arceno
UCBC New Jersey
January 1, 2023

 

Building Upon the Sufficiency of the Gospel

Posted on by Union Community Bible Church

 

 

Text: Colossians 2:6-7

Introduction: Hindrances of Not Evangelizing:

  • Disobedience
  • Lack of knowledge (clarity and definition)
  • Lack of prayer (faith and discernment)
  • Lack of confidence (fear of failure)
  • Lack of compassion (apathy and indifference)

Main Idea: Setting Up on the Gospel Foundation

  • Biblical Mindset:
    • > Agricultural Images: “Some sow the seed of the gospel, others water the seed others have sown, and even others reap where people have already sown and watered.” ~ Greg LaurieRead 1 Cor 3:5-9*
    • > Building Images: someone lays the foundation, and someone builds upon it. But Who already laid the foundation? Christ himself. Read 1 Cor 3:10-11*

Our Challenge: Many see serving others and obedience to God as a burden instead of joy. Others do it as virtue signalling than a model of faith. // The world’s religion (v. 8) vs the gospel (v 9; 13-15). We just need to point them to Christ. Lead them. And tell them about him.

  • Commit to “each one reach one” (write their names) next week we will give them books, gc, fellowship, more

Our Response:

  • Building Upon the Sufficiency of the Gospel of Christ (Col 2:13-15).

Our Takeaway:

  • Just do the first-step of obedience.
  • Let God show you the next steps after.
  • “Your job is to be faithful. Your job is to do your part and leave the results in the hands of God. // You cannot lead everyone to Christ, but by God’s grace you can lead someone to Him.” – Greg Laurie

Conclusion:

Don Whitney says, “Evangelism is a natural overflow of the Christian life. We should all be able to talk about what the Lord has done for us and what He means to us. But evangelism is also a Discipline in that we must discipline ourselves to get into the context of evangelism, that is, we must not just wait for witnessing opportunities to happen.” Later Whitney says, “Unless we discipline ourselves for evangelism, it is very easy to excuse ourselves from ever sharing the gospel with anyone.” Whitney believes that the point of disciplining ourselves for evangelism is to plan for it—for Christians to actually put it into their schedule.”

 

Ptr. John Paul Arceno
UCBC New Jersey
November 20, 2022