Live by Faith - not by sight...

This past Sunday May 26, 2013 we had a guest speaker in our church. Name is Allen Kehler. He spoke on 2 Corinthians 4:18 - 5:10.


Here is a summary of his sermon.


 Pastor Kehler started his sermon by showing a picture of a Coffee Crisp bar on the large screen. Then he proceeded to show us a real Coffee Crisp bar, he unwrapped it and took a bite. Coffee Crisp bars are really delicious and at this point everyone in the congregation is wishing he or she were eating one too! This all played perfectly into his sermon.



We Live By Faith - Not By Sight

Why go for the picture when you can have the real!!

The Coffee Crisp bar was real, why would anyone go for the picture when you can have the real thing?
We become blinded by what we see, when we can have the real.

What are we living for?
Often we are blinded by what we see and fail to get the real! We need to live for the real - the eternal
Verse 18 from our text -  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

We see that the unseen is actually the real - while what we see is actually temporary.

In your daily life you choose to travel from point A to point B.
You need to follow directions and may use your GPS.
*GPS uses satellite
*the satellite sees me
* and knows where I am going

In our lives we also need direction as we live by faith.
Sin makes us directionally challenged.
*God is our Guide
* He gives us a new starting point through the cross and providing the Holy Spirit to reside in us
* Our destination is Heaven - God guides us to our new destination!

You can be sure that with the Lord - YOU WILL ARRIVE!

Too often we allow things around us to block us from seeing our eternal destination!
Verse 16 from chapter 4 -  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

We are moving from the temporary to the permanent - to the Eternal place.
In dying we leave our temporary bodies.
Death is not pleasant, but we must view it as a doorway to our eternal destination.
It changes our attitude - where we are going.
Our goal in life is not dying but we must remember that in dying we get our upgrade.
Verse 2 from our text -  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven

Getting older and dying is not pleasant but we see death as a doorway to heaven.
We are focused on our destination - not so much on the journey.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us.
To live is Christ - to die is gain!

Many preachers today preach the health and wealth gospel. It is a false message. It is not based on faith.
In this life we are burdened and we are groaning - we look forward to the permanent. We have the Holy Spirit living within us. We walk by faith not by sight.

God has not abandoned us!
Verse 5 from our text -  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 

This is eternal. The Holy Spirit is deposited in out hearts.
We walk by faith.
We want the real - not just a picture.
We live by faith - not by sight!

Verses 8-9   We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

We long for Jesus to come and get us!

Verse 10 -  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

We have an appointment with our Savior. Keep focused to live for Him and He will reward you!

We know the most meaningful words will be " WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!"

Stand up and be counted as a Christian in your school.

Forgive people who hurt you.

Pray and read your Bible.


No matter how it looks on the outside - We live by faith!

2 Corinthians 4:18-5:10

King James Version (KJV)

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

5 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Sunday Sermon - Worshipping Alone

Sunday Sermon Review - August 12, 2012  " Worshipping Alone"

This is a sermon review from my home church that I attend regulary.
The service began with singing several songs - "Pharoah Pharoah", and "How Deep the Father's Love for Us".
The worship leader came up and read Ephesians 3:14-21
This was followed by a two short videos on Worship - what it is and what it is not - again reminding us that it is not the entertainment by the music group that leads in the singing. The second video had young children explaining that to worship God by yourself you can pray, read the Bible and sing.

Pastor Frank came up to preach. The topic listed in the bulletin was entitled "Worship in Family" but Pastor Frank changed it to Worshipping Alone.



He began by reading Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Here is more of what Pastor Frank said:
You live your life in your head - that is in your mind. Our life consists of what we think about in our mind throughout the day. Our mind thoughts should be a continual awareness of God's presence.
Often times we spend most of our headspace either regretting the past or worrying about the future.
Instead of these regrets and worry, we need to learn to consider Scripture.
Phillipians 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Regarding our future, the Bible tells us to not worry about tomorrow.
Matthew 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Pastor Frank continued - Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight.
We need to keep a continual awareness of the presence of God in our every moment and keep in converstaion with Him. He is the vine and we are the branches, so we need to keep connected with the vine.
John 15:5  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The time of our day that we spend in which God is not in our thoughts, we are living as athiests.
The question we should ask is not - did I surrender my life to Christ years ago?" but we should rather be asking - Am I living a surrendered life in this moment?
Practical Ways
- when the phone rings or while driving you come to a stop sign - quote Scripture.
-when you speak with another person, think about how much Jesus loves that person.
-with every breath, breathe in Jesus love and exhale compassion.
- use fridge magnets to remind yourself of Scripture verses.
The Battle is for your Mind
You are in charge of what is in your mind, in your thoughts.
"the dog you feed is the dog that grows bigger"
The closing song was " Mighty to Save".

Next Sunday the topic will be Worship in Relationships.
Note from me: I would just like to add a few thoughts of my own here. Pastor Frank spoke about the battle for our minds. It is important to remember to keep our eyes focused on the Lord Jesus and His coming for us - His bride. When we take our minds and thoughts off the pleasures and things of this world, and set our minds on Christ and His returning and our being with Him - we lose all interest in thinking lustful, worldly thoughts. Our interest are now with Christ and we long to please Him and to be with Him. The things of this earth ( even non sin type things) lose  their color and "grow strangely dim", just like the old song says.
Titus 2:13-14 says:

The question we must ask in not so much "Did I surrender my life to the Lord years ago?" but the question that we must answer is " Is my life surrendered to the Lord at this very moment?"

Some practical ways we can fill our mind with God honoring thoughts are:

- when the phone rings, or while driving you come to a stop sign - quote a Scripture

- when speaking to another person, imagine how Jesus loves that person

- with every breath you take, breathe in the love of Jesus and exhale compassion

- use fridge magnets

The Battle is for our Mind

You are in charge of what is in your mind and responsible for it

"the dog we feed is the dog that grows bigger"

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ

The closing song was - "Mighty to Save"

Next Sunday the topic is Worship in Relationships.

Note: I would just like to add a few thoughts here:  Pastor Frank was speaking on the battle for the mind. It is important to remember that this world and all that it's pleasures are passing away. What we really need to do is to focus our whole mind and thoughts on Christ Jesus our soon coming King. He is our Blessed Hope. If we will seriously set our minds on Christ and our being with Him as the bride of Christ, then all this world has to offer becomes very small in comparison and we realize the foolishness of devoting ourselves to the pleasures of this world. I encourage anyone reading this to set your mind fully on the Blessed Hope - that is on Jesus!

Titus 2: 13-14

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

¹⁴ Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

When Will Jesus return to Earth?? - your thoughts??

The last couple of weeks I have been asking the question - Do you think Jesus will return to earth during your lifetime? in a poll here on my blog. Well time is up and the results are in. Five people voted to answer my question and 100% gave the answer Yes, it could well be.

I remember when I was a teenager in youth class at my church, my Dad (being the pastor at our church at that time ) was asked his opinion on when he thought Christ would return to earth. Dad was always studying Biblical prophecy and such and he had a good understanding of what is to come including the tribulation etc. His answer to the class (back 30 years ago ) was that he did not really expect it to happen in his lifetime considering what events must all take place prior to the Lord's coming but he stressed that he believed that Jesus would return in our lifetime - that is in the generation of the youth in his Bible class. So it is an interesting question to ask and I also believe that the coming of Jesus - His return to earth is very near and could most certainly happen in my lifetime, in my generation. So thank-you to everyone who participated in answering my question. Thanks very much.