Colossians 3:9-15

Genesis 1:27 – “God created man in His own image.”

• Genesis 3:20

• We are all part of the human race. Racism is wrong!

• Romans 10:12-13

• Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14; 4:4-6 – Christians are to be united in Christ.

• I John 4:20-21 – You cannot love God and hate your brother.

• Acts 10:34-35 – God shows no partiality.

• Acts 11:3, 17 – They had to get over the ideas they were raised with to align with God’s will.

Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”

• Romans 12:17-21

• The answer to sin is never more sin!

• James 3:9-10

• The only way we can be a positive light in this world is to start by looking in the mirror. Matthew 7:3; 15:18-20

• No law from any human government will ever be as transformative as the law of Christ.

• Ephesians 6:4

I John 2:6 – “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

• Love

  • Matthew 5:43; 22:39

• Righteousness over popularity

  • John 4:7-9

  • Matthew 9:10

  • Luke 10:25-37

• Forgiveness

  • Luke 22:32

  • There has to be forgiveness all around, because we have all sinned.

I Corinthians 14 – We do not have spiritual gifts now, but the principles here still apply.

The saved

• We one hears the gospel (Romans 10:17), which is God’s power to salvation (Romans 1:16), believes it (Hebrews 11:6) sufficiently to repent as God demands all men (Acts 17:30), confesses Jesus as Christ unto salvation (Romans 10:10), and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), the Lord adds Him to the church – saved relationship (Acts 2:47). He is now a new creation in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:17)

The church in Philippi is a good example of how a local church should function.

• Philippians 1:1 – The organization of the local church.

• Philippians 4:14-15 – Supporting preaching of the gospel.

Online worship cannot replace the physical gathering of the saints to edify and teach. Hebrews 10:24-25.

God wants us to come together.

• To edify and teach each other.

• To partake of the Lord’s Supper. I Corinthians 11:20-29

  • Matthew 26:29

• To sin. Colossians 3:16

• Online services, although necessary for a while, are not ideal. Certainly, we should not become complacent because of the convenience of online worship.

Introduction

• Personal remarks

  • David is starting his 17th year preaching at Benchley. He started on June 1, 2003.

• Hebrews 9:14

• Hebrews 10:19-23

Three things I need to do with my conscience:

• Train it.

  • Acts 7:58-8:3

  • Acts 26:9 – Paul thought he was serving God in persecuting Christians!

  • Acts 23:1

  • Our conscience is a valuable tool, but it is not an authority on its own. It must be trained.

  • Galatians 1:11-12

  • Acts 20:26-27, 31 – Paul had trained his conscience between Acts 7 and Acts 20.

• Use it.

  • Acts 2:36-37 – The people’s conscience kicked in and demanded action!

  • I Peter 3:21 – In baptism, we appeal to God for a clean conscience.

  • Matthew 21:28-32 – I should use my conscience to spur me in the right direction.

  • Luke 22:61-62 – Peter felt guilty but was spurred on to better service.

  • Matthew 27:3-5 – Judas failed to effectively use his conscience.

• Protect it.

  • Jeremiah 6:13-15; Ephesians 4:19 – We can’t become callous to sin!

  • I Timothy 1:5

  • Titus 1:14, 15 – Beware of false teaching that can train your conscience incorrectly.

  • We can’t stay away from all sin because we must live in a sinful world, but we must not take pleasure in sin.

  • Hebrews 13:18

  • I Peter 3:16

Introduction

• Citizens of the kingdom

  • Matthew 5:19-20; 6:33; 7:21

• Matthew 5:1 – Jesus goes up on the mountain. Thus, the sermon on the mount.

  • Matthew 8:1 – Jesus descends.

Citizens of the kingdom are to be …

• Genuine

  • Matthew 5:3-10

  • Jesus is getting us to look at the inner person.

  • Matthew 5:27-28

• Negative (toward sin)

  • 27 times in this sermon Jesus tells us how not to behave.

  • Matthew 5:20

  • Matthew 6:16-18 – Don’t fast to be seen of others.

  • Matthew 6:24

  • Matthew 7:26-27 – The sin of inaction.

  • Matthew 7:13-14 – This is the greatest tragedy of the universe.

  • Matthew 7:21-23

• Spiritual

  • Matthew 5:38-48 – We must love even our enemies and be mature and complete.

  • We must let go of how we think things should be on earth. Eternity will be perfect!

  • Matthew 6:19-21

  • Matthew 6:25-34

  • Matthew 7:28-29

Personal introduction:

• Jesse Jenkins started work with the Benchley church of Christ May 15, 1996. This year marks his 25th year of work with the congregation.

Psalm 84:10 – “I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God …”

• Can we sincerely make this statement?

To sincerely and objectively make this statement demands at least four things:

• Knowledge

  • Isaiah 2:2-4

  • Ephesians 3:15 – House of God = family of God

  • I Timothy 3:14-15

  • Matthew 16:18

  • Acts 20:28

  • You must have knowledge of the house of God to distinguish from the tents of wickedness.

• Discernment

  • Hebrews 5:12-14

  • As we grow year by year, we should be applying what we learn from our studies and growing in discernment.

• A positive choice

  • One can know what is right and choose to do wrong.

  • We won’t be judged on the sins we don’t commit, but on the ones we do commit. We must make a positive choice to serve God.

  • Matthew 23:11

  • Philippians 2:4

• Humility

  • II Kings 5 – Naaman wanted Elisha to do some great thing to cure him.

  • Many of us don’t have the ability to do great things, but we can be doorkeepers in the house of God.

  • I Peter 5:5-6

  • John 13 – Jesus taught us a lesson in washing the disciples’ feet.

Is it worth it?

• Psalms 84:11 – Yes, it’s worth it!