Seize the Moment – Day 352
The Witnesses of Jesus’ Worthiness!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday March 4.
How many witnesses are needed to determine if a matter is true?
Revelation 5 is a powerful witness to the worthiness of Jesus Christ. I pulled out of this one chapter, three quotes that attest to who Jesus Christ is and how worthy He is of our worship.
First, the four living creatures and twenty-four elders sang a new song, saying in verses 9-10, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Second, the angels, numbering beyond count (“myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands”) said with a loud voice in verse 12, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
Third, we hear the final testimony in verse 13, “And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.’”
Jesus is worthy to be worshipped! That is beyond a reasonable doubt.
How are you responding to these eye-witness testimonials?
Seize the moment and worship Jesus. Trust Him as your Lord and Savior. He is worthy!
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from 2 Corinthians 12:9a (NAS95), “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
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Seize the Moment – Day 351
The Fear of the Lord!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, March 3. You are invited to join us tonight from 6:15-7, in person or online, for our mid-week prayer service, which is intended to be an island of serenity in your week.
The fear of the Lord is the reverence and awe of God that happens when we see God for who He is and not for who we make Him out to be.
When is the last time you received a fresh revelation of God?
Revelation 4 moves me to a place of reverence and awe of God. Listen to verses 2-3, 5a,
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.
As the description continues it continues to invite us deeper. From verses 8-9, the scene unfolds around the throne with “four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.’”
What an exalted view of God as He sits on His throne with the four living beings in continual worship and twenty-four elders casting their crowns in absolute surrender to God because of who He is and what He has done. They proclaim in verse 11, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Amen!
Seize the moment and worship Jesus Christ alone with your life. Only He is worthy!
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Seize the Moment – Day 350
Overcomers!
Do you ever get discouraged by your circumstances?
No matter what you are going through, you can rest in the Lord and walk in His promises. You are an overcomer!
Listen to Jesus’ promises in His messages to the Seven Churches of Revelation, today focusing on the last three churches in chapter 3:
- To Sardis, Jesus says in verse 5, “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
- To Philadelphia, Jesus says in verse 12, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.”
- To Laodicea, Jesus says in verse 21, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Do you trust that Jesus is who He says He is and can do what He says He’ll do? Then, don’t bail before the blessing!
Seize the moment and get to know Him and to learn for yourself that He is trustworthy and true.
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from 2 Corinthians 12:9a (NAS95), “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
It is important to review all the memory verses. Remember, we are not memorizing words to pass a test, we are creating habits of grace to live a victorious life by hiding God’s Word in our hearts and meditating upon them day and night. God bless you as you walk with Him in the way!
God Bless you!
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Seize the Moment – Day 349
Unveiling Jesus Christ!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 1.
Listen to how Jesus is described to the first four of the seven churches of Revelation:
- To Ephesus in 2:1, Jesus is “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands.”
- To Smyrna in 2:8, Jesus is “the first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life.”
- To Pergamum in 2:12, Jesus is, “the One who has the sharp two-edged sword.”
- To Thyatira in 2:18, Jesus is, “the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze.”
Don’t skip to the later chapters of Revelation and miss out on the Revelation we receive about Jesus Christ in the first three chapters.
God has not hidden Himself from humanity, but rather He unveiled Himself to us through Jesus Christ. We found Jesus in the Gospel accounts, the early church history book of Acts, the 13 letters of Paul, and in every book of the New Testament.
Do you know Jesus? He has made Himself known; He desires for you to know Him personally.
Seize the moment and know Jesus. He is still revealing Himself to people today. Read your Bible, memorize God’s Word, and pray without ceasing.
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from 2 Corinthians 12:9a (NAS95), “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
It is important to review the first three memory verses as well. I keep my memory cards clipped to my prayer journal and have them typed into my Evernote workflow app so that I can review all of them throughout the day. Remember, we are not memorizing words to pass a test, we are creating habits of grace to live a victorious life by hiding God’s Word in our hearts and meditating upon them day and night. This is the way!
God Bless you!
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Live Like a Champion – Week 9
The Promise of Grace!
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NAS95)
In this sermon series, we are learning how to live like a champion by learning how to live according to the victory of the promises of God. Our guiding image for this series is being a member of an NFL team who wins the Superbowl.
Never forget, the victory is ours in Christ Jesus and we are invited to play like a championship team, today. We live like champions so that others will come to know the One who gave us His Victory—Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again!
The play of the week is the “Promise of Grace!” and the memory verse for this promise is 2 Corinthians 12:9a,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
STEP #1: Know God’s playbook—the Bible—by learning the promises of God. Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, the Bible passage from which our memory verse is found. It is important to keep it in context.
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! [Paul is referencing verses 1-6 after describing and defending his ministry in chapters 10-11] Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. [Paul then continues to describe the authenticity of Christian ministry—the charis of God, not the charisma of man!]
Grace is the essential power source of the Christian life. Grace is the “divine power” referenced in the foundational scripture of this entire sermon series, listen again to 2 Peter 1:2-4,
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Just as we learned that covenant is the framework of the promises, so grace is the power of all the promises.
STEP #2: It is not enough to know this truth about God’s grace, we must experience it for ourselves and train it into our deepest places. If we don’t learn grace, we will simply live out of our own natural strengths and not out of our weakness. Listen again to 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 and its counter-cultural reality.
From What’s So Amazing About Grace, Philip Yancey famously wrote, “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.”
This is God’s perfect love expressed to us through grace. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
This teaches us that our status before a holy God is not dependent on our works, but because of God’s perfect love made visible to us in Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary and extended to us by grace through faith.
We see grace clearly in key elements of Paul’s gospel presentation in his letter to the Romans:
Romans 3:23-24,
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Do you see how God expresses His grace to us in these passages?
We move this from our head into our hearts when we learn to receive this free gift of God’s love and stop working for God’s approval. Get off the performance treadmill because there is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make God love you less. It’s all grace!
STEP #3: Grace is not just a reality that we must move from our head to our hearts, it’s the play we are to play in both the private and public arenas of our lives. How would the Coach [Coach = God!] have us run the play of grace in our everyday lives?
Grace is often pigeonholed by Philip Yancey’s above definition, because as helpful as it is, it is not complete. Grace is more than a statement of our status before God (our positional holiness), grace is the means by which we live out and make visible our salvation (our personal holiness). Grace is the presence of God in us (through the indwelling Holy Spirit!) to walk in the good works of our salvation. Reference back to Ephesians 2:8-10 and highlight how verse 10 manifests through the same grace that saves in verse 8.
“to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.”
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (cf. Philippians 2:12-13).
Grace is the promise of God that determines both your position before Him and your power to live out your faith and make Him known. There are no Christians and there is no Christian life or witness without grace!
STEP #4: It is God’s grace that makes us members of His body, the family of God, the Church. Grace is how we experience God in union with Christ and how express God’s life to the world through our ministry!
I conclude with Paul’s teaching for the church about the promise of grace from Ephesians 3:14-19:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
May you now receive and walk in the grace of God so freely lavished upon you for the glory of God. Amen.
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Seize the Moment – Day 347
Grace Greater Than All Our Sin
“ And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
The daughter of a Presbyterian minister born in 1849, Julia Harriette Johnston grew up to be faithful to the ministries of the church, serving as teacher, Sunday school superintendent, writing Sunday school lessons and several books for David C Cook Publishing. She was also prolific as a writer of 500 hymn texts, most known for “Grace Greater than Our Sin” with Daniel B. Towner composing the tune.
Grace is a key concept in our Christian faith. If it weren’t for grace, then none of us would qualify for heaven. She wanted to make sure that we knew that God’s grace would cover each and every sin.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Wake up and hold on to this promise of God! It is more than enough, for He will supply the power that we need in our times of weakness, for it is greater than ALL our sin!
YOUTUBE:
Grace Greater Than Our Sin
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured–
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater– yes, grace untold–
Points to the Refuge, the mighty Cross. [Refrain]
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? [Refrain]
https://hymnary.org/text/marvelous_grace_of_our_loving_lord
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Seize the Moment – Day 346
Introduction to the Revelation of John!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, February 26. Please join me in wishing a happy birthday to Topanga Cole, Ella Oakes, and Tesla Sullivan.
Are you walking in the promises of God?
The Revelation of John is a message from God to give His people a persevering faith and an overwhelming hope. As we face difficulties in this life we must stand in the victory of God, which is on the promises of God!
God has revealed to us in Revelation 1:7-8, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
We are invited to stand with the Victorious One as we share in His Victory—this is the work of the Alpha and the Omega, who is the beginning and the end. It is done! This is the key to our victory!
Based on this, Jesus commands our fear away in verses 17b-18, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Fear has once and for all been swallowed by the eternal life of God! This is the love of God!
Seize the moment and walk in faith, hope, and love. This is the promise of Revelation—the promised fulfillment of God’s covenant with humanity!
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from Genesis 9:12-13 (ESV), “God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.’”
God Bless you!
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Seize the Moment – Day 345
Pray the Prayers of the Bible!
The ending of the short letter of Jude is one of the most beautiful benedictions in all the Scriptures. The Bible is filled with prayers of blessing!
Listen to Jude 24-25, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
Allow me to pray three more prayers from the New Testament:
- “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen” (Romans 15:33).
- “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).
- “Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:4-6).
Seize the moment and pray the prayers of the Bible! You will be blessed! And you have been blessed to be a blessing!
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from Genesis 9:12-13 (ESV), “God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.’”
God Bless you!
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Seize the Momvent – Day 344
Be Holy and Healthy in Every Respect!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, February 24. Please join us for the in-person or online Prayer Awakening mid-week prayer service tonight at 6:15 pm—it is a time of worship, prayer, and Scripture reading.
3 John is another short, but powerful little book of the Bible. Listen to John’s opening thoughts in verses 2-4, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”
John is speaking of his spiritual children—those the Lord brought to Himself through John. Just as any loving father, John cares for the growth and development of these children into adulthood.
John cares about their holiness and their wholeness:
1) John celebrates their holiness unto the Lord—they not only testify to the truth, which means they believe right things about God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, but they also walk in the truth, which means they are living a holy lifestyle unto the Lord. We cannot simply say that we love God and His Word, we must obey God and do what Jesus commands.
2) John cares about their wholeness. He wants them to be healthy people as they walk with Jesus. John cares that we are healthy in all respects—emotionally and relationally, physically and socially, so that we prosper and not just in our souls.
Seize the moment and be holy and whole—it is for this reason that God has saved you and sent you into the world to shine His light and love.
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from Genesis 9:12-13 (ESV), “God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.’”
God Bless you!
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Seize the Moment – Day 343
Chosen Children!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, February 23.
I want to emphasize to you the heart of John’s short letter, called 2 John, from one congregation to another, from one part of the family to another.
Listen to John at the beginning of the letter in verses 4-6,
I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.
Now listen to how he finishes the letter in verses 12-13, “Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full. The children of your chosen sister greet you.”
John’s letter is a masterpiece that teaches us how we should relate to one another as members of the one church of Jesus Christ—we should see one another as fellow children of God.
His letter also emphasizes the heartbeat of Christianity—the love of God which is the commandment of Jesus Christ which we are to walk in and in doing so, find joy in God and one another. What a beautiful life God has chosen us for!
Seize the moment and walk in love today so that your joy may be made full.
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from Genesis 9:12-13 (ESV), “God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.’”
God Bless you!
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