2020 0628 Carry on Blessing
Love in Action • Sermon • Submitted
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Action So far
Action So far
Action Plan 1 = Serve the Lord = never grow tired of doing good
Action Plan 2 = Everyday Habits = joyful in hope, Patient in affliction, Faithful in prayer
Action Plan 3 = Real Genuine Love = true love from Jesus through us to Others
Action Plan 4 = Practice Hospitality = sharing yourself with others
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Three Key Words
Persecute
Bless
Curse
Persecution leads to a choice - bless or curse
Definition of Persecution
hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs; oppression.
Similar: oppression victimization maltreatment ill treatment mistreatment abuse ill us age discrimination tyranny tyrannization punishment torment torture pogrom witch hunt red-baiting harassment hounding harrying badgering teasing bullying molestation persistent annoyance or harassment.
Persecution
usually involves a systematic, persistent and prolonged time of bad behaviour
spiritually this is my suggestion
it is an opposition to the spiritual peace that you have in Jesus Christ
it is the way of the world, the influence of the Kingdom of darkness or the manifestation of the sinful man within you
persecution is when YOU GET HURT somewhere in your being and your response may not be godly
Strength of Persecution
it is the ongoing and directed negativity toward you
it can be minor or very serious
it can be emotional or verbal or physical or psychological
it could be against your personality
it can be deliberate or incidental
not here to highlight persecution but to strengthen you to become the child of God
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
walk as you should in the power of Jesus Christ
Our Initial Response to Bad Things
are you offended?
are you hurt?
do you want to run away or hide?
do you want to get revenge or pay back?
do you quietly acquiense and pretend it did not matter?
does it become worse no matter what you do? turns into bullying or harassment (physical or sexual)
do you get belittled or insulted or shame?
do you think like a victim or a loser?
We have a choice to be godly or not. to bless or to curse
Longyard Pub
last night Parra vs Canberra
some fellows drinking
one bloke called me 2 different names due to my time at Farrer
no recognition who who this bloke is
not a pleasant EXPERIENCE
COMPLAIN TO THE STAFF, they talked to the guy no action but he left 10 minutes later
hard to stick up for yourself
hard to enjoy the moment of watching the footy and having dinner
all these wonderfully witty comebacks going through my head
the devil had set this moment up simply because I am preaching a message of freedom tody
Our Choice - bless or curse
we can decide to do godly and bless
we can decide to do ungodly and curse
forgiveness is the most basic form of blessing there is
forgiving someone opens the floodgates of Christ’s grace and mercy
Blessing is essentially forgiveness
a big statement - the best type of blessing is forgiveness
forgiveness is the starting point of a Christian’s walk
Christ has forgiven us our sins, our shortcomings, our turning away from God or not coming to him
forgiveness may initiate a godly response but there is a fullness associated with the blessing
to bless is to actually apply a good or positive outcome upon the person
Curse is the Devil’s Outcome
2 Corinthians 12:20 (NIV2011)
I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
to bless is the way of Christ
any other response must be considered a curse
bless and do not curse
do not repay evil for evil
Luke 6:28 (NIV2011)
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.