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RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
There's a lack of nuance in your reply, lots of detail (lots!) but missing the big picture. The church have questions to answer all over South America about their relationship with dictators but it's believed that Bergoglio tried his best to moderate the brutality of the regime. Don't forget he was in an incredibly difficult position.RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
You had a free and fair election.
One Belt and Road Initiative growing stronger
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with heads of parliamentary committees on foreign affairs from BRICS member states on April 11, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.According to her, the heads of BRICS parliamentary committees will arrive in Moscow to take part in such a meeting for the first time. They will also meet with the chairs of both chambers of the Russian Federal Assembly (parliament), the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added.
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Russia’s top diplomat is on a trip to China ahead of a potential visit by President Vladimir Putin; Israel and Hamas continue efforts to achieve a ceasefire amid contradictory reports from the Cairo talks; and a wildcard emerges that may take votes away from both Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the upcoming US election. These stories topped Tuesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
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Türkiye becomes 10th nation to join Chinese-Russian led International Lunar Research Station program
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SL looking to enter BRICS to expand economy
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5 Countries In Asia That Want to Join BRICS in 2024
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
'Oh my god.......what have I done'!!
RE: Useless trivia
Two women have been charged after leaving three young children unsupervised in a parking lot for hours while they went to a casino in Pickering on Monday, say police.According to Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS), the children, ages 10, 9, and 2, were located by casino security on the evening of April 8. Staff found the children playing on the roadway near Church Street around 7:45 p.m., police said.
Officers arrived at the scene a short time later after receiving a call for a check for well being, Const. Nicholas Gluckstein, of DRPS, said on Tuesday.
Police said that security footage showed that they had been left alone in a vehicle in the parking lot of Pickering Casino Resort, near Church Street South and Highway 401, for more than four hours.
Gluckstein said that the eldest child told police that he had been left alone by their mother so she could go to the casino.
Become an organ donor age is not an issue
Hi mimi, that list is long so I am sure you have body parts that are needed and can save the lives of others.I found out that older people can now also donate blood.
Good to see you again. ..........
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you called me. I was sick and you visited me. I was a prison. And you came to me. That's what he said, and then he said to the goats, in verses, 42-44 the opposite, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.I was a stranger and you did not welcome me naked. And he did not clothe me sick and in prison. And you did not visit me. Jesus says that love shown towards him will be the primary mark on the lives of those who are going to spend an eternity with him. It's a love for Jesus, which makes total sense to me. If you love Jesus in this life, you're really going to love the kingdom. You're really going to love eternity, because all we're going to do there is love him forever.
You love him now. You get to have the fulfillment of that love forever, perfectly in eternity.
But if you don't love Jesus in this life, why would you even want to enter his kingdom? Because all we're going to be doing there is loving him forever and ever and ever and ever. So if you can't stand Jesus guts now, what makes you think you're going to like heaven when it's all about him? Always and only? So it's all about loving Jesus, but we have a little dilemma here that we need to wrestle with. I don't know if you recognize this yet.
How can we feed Jesus, clothe Jesus, visit Jesus if Jesus is as we speak right now, physically in heaven and not physically here on earth, how is it possible to do the things that Jesus says he's expecting us to do towards them if he's not here?
It's actually really simple, according to Jesus, according to Jesus, love towards Jesus is evidenced by the love people show towards his brothers and sisters. To the sheep, says this in verses 37 to 40, then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you. And the king will answer them truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Again, he says the same thing to the goats, verse is 44-45, then they also will answer their perplexed Jesus how do we feed you, clothe you, do all the stuff they're perplexed to.
They will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying, truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. Who are Jesus brothers and sisters that he's referring to in this text? Well, he's already told us back in Matthew 12, there's a scene where Jesus biological family comes to him as he's ministering and they won't have an audience with Jesus.
He was inside. They were outside. And what does Jesus say? It's not on your outline. Let me just read it for you. Jesus says this.
Who is my mother and who are my brothers? The right side. And stretching out his hand towards his disciples, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
So according to Jesus, his disciples, which are Christians are his brothers and sisters, were part of his spiritual family. So how do we connect these dots? How is loving Jesus, brothers and sisters the equivalent to loving him, because if we just read his words plainly, that's what he's saying to us. Maybe an illustration of a hypothetical scenario in my life will help us understand how could we love someone by loving their family? This might not be a stretch, this hypothetical scenario, but if I went to prison one day for preaching the gospel and I go to prison for doing a 10 year stint, how would you show your love for me while I'm in?
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Living on the inside of them is love. What is love, what are we talking about when we say the word love, when I throw the word love out there because love is a tricky word is tricky, like the word Jesus. What are people talking about when we say that, when they say the name Jesus, we looked at this last week, remember that Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, atheists and Christians, all of them say they believe in Jesus.We all believe in Jesus.
It's just that the name Jesus means something different to each one of these people.
And so what do people mean when they say the word love?
Everyone talks about love all the time as being a priority in their lives, but when everyone talks about love, are they all talking about the exact same thing or does everyone use the same word, which is love, yet read different meanings into that word like people do with the name Jesus? So I want to give you a definition for love. Next, fill in on your outline, their love. We're talking, true love gives sacrificially of itself for the benefit of the object of its affection.
Love gives sacrificially of itself for the benefit of the object of its affection, the absolute best examples we have of what love looks like is the example given to us by the one who is love.
Twice in the book of First John, it says that God is love and here are a couple of plain demonstrations of what real love and action looks like.
Consider how the father loves us. Consider how the father loves you and me.
The most famous Verse 8 in the world, arguably, is John 3- 16, and it depicts this for us, it says, For God so loved the world. There's the object of his affection that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God loves sinners so much that he gave his son to go up on a cross and die in the place of them so that sinners could be forgiven and be brought into God's family, what love, what a gift, what sacrifice.
And you see our definition in this act that love gives sacrificially of itself for the benefit of the object of its affection.
That's the father's love towards you. But the sun he showed his love for us to Jesus didn't go unwillingly to the cross, he wasn't forced to go to the cross to die for us. He sacrificially gave up all of himself for us. We see this in John Chapter 10 Verse 8, where Jesus says this. He says, no one takes it from me, referring to his life.
But I lay it down of my own accord, I have the authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take it up again, this charge I've received from my father. So it's not just the father. Sending the son is a sacrifice. The son comes on his own to give up his entire life as a sacrifice for you and me.
He chose to give it all so that we could have eternal life. What love was love. That's it, right? Love gives sacrificially of itself for the benefit of the object of its affection. Now, this is love depicted for us by God himself, and it's still important for us to understand that we need more than just having love for and an object of our affection of various kinds.
It's not enough just to have a kind of love for any old random kind of object of our affection. Not is a different kind of love that marks the kingdom citizen. It's not love for the environment that will get you into the kingdom.
It's not a love of dogs that will get us in. It's not a love of celebrities that will get us in. It's a love for Jesus. It's a love for Jesus specifically. That's the ultimate mark of a kingdom citizen. In our text, Jesus says that the way people treat him will be the differentiating mark between those who enter the kingdom when he comes and those who won't listen to what he says. Again, to the sheep. He says this in verses 35 and 36, he says, for I was hungry and you gave me food.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
We will see the details of what a life will look like that has the oil of the Holy Spirit in it and has yielded up everything that it has in the service of the master. We'll see this in contrast to the life that doesn't so let me read a text for us with your Bibles, Open Hearts and minds open Matthew Chapter 25, Verse is 31 to 46. And this is Jesus speaking. He says when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne before him will be gathered, all the nations, and he will separate people from one another as a shepherd, separates the sheep from the goats, and you will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.Then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink, and when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you?
And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them truly. I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these brothers, you did it to me. Then you will say to those on his left, the part from me you coerced into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.
I was a stranger and you did not welcome me naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison. You did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you. Then he will answer them saying truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.
And these will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous into eternal life. That's God's word, and we see here in this letter, in this text that Jesus is done with parables now is just straight talk to his disciples and to us in these verse is. And he talks about the time when he comes back to set up his kingdom. And when he does, he's going to gather everyone who is still alive at that time. At his second coming, he will divide this entire group of people into two groups.
One group will be with him forever. One group will be banished from this presence forever. And in this text, we're going to see the ultimate mark that's visible on the life of a person who will enter the kingdom of heaven. Which begs the question, what is the mark, what's the distinguishing mark between these two groups of people? This has been our main question over the past two weeks.
We know they will have the oil of the Holy Spirit in them. We know that they will have been using the gifts they've been giving them in their life in order to serve their master Jesus. We know those two things. But what does this kind of Holy Spirit filled all in for Jesus kind of life look like?
Well, the answer is going to be the first fill in on your outline. Those who love Jesus will be the ones who enter into his kingdom when he returns, this love for Jesus will be evidenced by the way they love their brothers and sisters in Christ. Those who love Jesus will be the ones who enter into his kingdom when he returns, and this love for Jesus will be evidenced by the way they love their brothers and sisters in Christ. Love for Jesus is the ultimate mark of a kingdom citizen, love for Jesus is the ultimate mark of the life that has the presence of Jesus.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Marks of a Kingdom Citizen (Part 2)Date:9/27/20
Series: Matthew
Passage: Matthew 25:31-4..........Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
As we wrap up chapter 25, Jesus has already explained that those who are saved have the Holy Spirit (the "oil"). But how do we know if we have the Holy Spirit? There's a definitive behavior that shows up in the life of every true believer...
You have your Bibles with you, and I hope you do please grab them, open them or turn them on. Depends on what kind you have and turn to the Gospel of Matthew.
The first book in the New Testament in Chapter 25 tonight. And like Jeff mentioned, where we're not only wrapping up Chapter 25, we're we're wrapping up the section of Matthew that we're in and heading into Exodus next week. If you've been around the last few weeks, you know that as we've been diving into the Gospel of Matthew, specifically Chapter 25, we've likened it to this grand masterpiece that Jesus is painting for us all these incredible pictures for us and Matthew.
But he's not using any regular supplies that you can find at your local arts and crafts store to paint this picture. No, he's painting this picture on the canvas of our hearts and our minds.
He's not using any paintbrushes. He's using his words to paint this picture for us.
And he's painting this picture in layers, with each added layer in Matthew. 25, bringing us a deeper level of detail to the overall picture. So what's this picture Jesus is painting for us in this chapter? Well, it's this scene. The king is coming. Literally physically coming, and when he gets here, he's setting up his kingdom on Earth and some of the people who are alive when he comes will enter into this kingdom.
But some of the people who are alive at his second coming will not enter and they will be banished from it forever. Jesus is giving us this picture progressively in three layers back In verses one to 13, Jesus painted the first layer of his masterpiece where he gave us the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids. It was there that we saw that those who have the oil are those who will enter the kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the oil. In that parable, the Holy Spirit is given to those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins, which he made possible by his life, his death and his resurrection.
He Jesus is the only thing you need to have in your life in order to enter his kingdom. Those who have him go in and those who do not have them do not go in. That was layer one.
Then in layer two of his painting, Jesus begins to describe with the lives of these people will look like, how can we tell who has the Holy Spirit and who doesn't?
We saw last week in the parable of the faithful and wicked servants of Verse is 14 to 30, that when God comes to live inside a person by way of the Holy Spirit, that that life will change.
It has to change. It would be impossible for that life to remain the same when God comes inside of it. This is what the spirit will do. He will produce a life that takes everything that it's been given and use it to live exclusively.
For Jesu’s sake, we don't live for ourselves anymore. We live totally surrender to the will of our master. That was layer two, and this brings us to our message tonight in this message, we will see the third and final layer of this masterpiece that Jesus is painting for us of his second coming.
And we'll see the distinction between those who will enter the kingdom and those who will not.
Useless trivia
Female transgender athletes will not be allowed to compete in international women’s netball, the sport's governing body has announced.World Netball said that after a lengthy consultation process it had determined that the sport at international level was a "gender affected activity".
It said it had made the decision to ensure "fair competition" and "the safety of athletes".
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Secondly, here, I don't believe the faithful servants in our parable have the Midas touch, if you know what I mean. I don't think that everything he touched turned to gold. I don't think there is winning all the time and no losing ever, because that's not the way that life works. I don't think every decision that they made was a success. I think there would have been ups and downs in their life, too, as they used the towns entrusted to them to produce a return for their master.Our Christian life will be like that, too. It will be like that, ups and downs littered with imperfections.
And just because there are some downs, that doesn't mean you're not a faithful servant. There is only one perfect servant ever and you get one guest to know who's what his name was. Jesus, and none of us is him. But all we are doing is becoming more and more and more like him. So why don't more Christians live radical lives like this all in for Jesus with everything that they have? Big question. That's a big answer with lots of parts to it.
But let me give you what I believe. The one of the main reasons is the church in the West, in my opinion, is built upon a weak, incomplete, impotent gospel, which is really no gospel at all.
We don't tell unbelievers to turn their entire lives over to Jesus when we share the gospel with them. Historically, here in the West, we've just asked them to pray a nice little prayer to invite Jesus to come into their heart. And then we send them away and say, just continue to live, however which way you want to live. But now we send them away with a nice get out of jail free card, which is Jesus.
No power, no change, no sacrifice, no counting the cost, no nothing. And then they continue to proceed to live the very same life they lived before they became a Christian life that is focused on themselves rather than being focused exclusively on Jesus. And that's why I think many today think what I'm telling you here is extreme, because many people have never heard this part of the gospel before. He gave his all for us on the cross. We give up everything in order to follow him.
That's the gospel.
So let me leave with you. With a question.
What do you have in your life that you're not yielding up to the service of your master? And why aren't you? Why? Why aren't you? Let me encourage you to lay it all down at his feet, saying here, Lord, this is all I have. Take it and use it for your glory. Show me how to do that. I'm yours. Wherever you are on your personal journey of faith, wherever you are, turn all of your life over to him tonight.
When I ask. Just by show of hands, is there anyone here tonight who wants to give all of their lives to Jesus, either for the very first time or for the one thousandth time, this by show of hands, you want to live, you want to live totally surrendered. All in for Jesus. Praise God. I'm going to pray for a church in light of that. Father. God, thank you for your word.
Thank you, Jesus, for just shooting a straight, thank you for giving us the real gospel. Thank you for telling us.
It's rigged. You've saved us. You've made us. You've apportioned gift to us. You've given us the ability to use them.
All we have to do is say yes to you, live for you. And we're going to hear those words when you come back one day. Jesus. Well done. Good and faithful servant. Bolster our faith, increased our faith. Inspire us, encourage us. Help us, Lord, to live for you with everything we have until we see you face to face all these things in your name. Jesus. Amen.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Some live for themselves only, and this would be those today, I would suggest, who confuse the idea that attending a church service for one hour a week and tossing a few bucks into the offering, they confuse that with the idea of what it means to live for Jesus, like just those things and then the rest of their life. Then,, their time, their calendar, their pleasures, their decisions, then tossed Jesus a bone on the weekend.Appease them. But then it's all about us now, those are good things that Christians do keep coming to the fellowship, keep honoring God with your money and your tithes and your offering. But Jesus wants more than that from you.
He wants that one hour on the weekend every week. Yes. But he also wants all the other 23 hours of that day.
That same day.
He wants your twenty four seven sixty five. He wants it all. And some who professed Christ will give him all of it and some who profess Christ will not give him all of it. Your next fill in, that's your next fill in on your outline, only some of us who claim to be Christians will spend our lives looking for Jesus. The others will make up excuses to not live for him. Only some of us who claim to be Christians will spend our lives living for Jesus, the others will make up excuses to not live for him.
And this comes all the way back. Full circle to our main question, what marks the life of the servants who entered into the joy of their master when he returned?
And when we layer as this parable on top of the previous one from last week, how can we tell who has the oil of the Holy Spirit in them or not?
How can we tell who has the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit on the inside of them or not?
And the answer is those who have the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit in them, who have the oil will evidence that they do have him. By the way, by the way, they lived their lives, totally surrendered to their master Jesus, God in us, changes our lives, changes the way that we live. We live for him and not for ourselves. We use everything that's been given to us in the service of our master.
Jesus is not an add on to our lives is the whole thing the center that our lives actually revolve around. And you can only live for one master.
You will either live for Jesus or you will live for yourself or for some other master.
This is Christianity. This is Christianity, this is what having Jesus on the inside of us looks like, this is the distinguishing mark. They ask you, does this sound extreme to anybody, everything for Jesus? Does it sound radical even because it is.
It is. But I want to show you this, this is the life that Jesus died to save us into this kind of life and no other life. Your next fill in is this radical Christianity. Is the only real Christianity. Radical Christianity is the only real Christianity. A Christian, are you feeling at all heavy at this point in the message? I hope not. I hope not. But if you are, let me encourage you a couple of things.
Jesus has set you up to succeed. He has set you up to succeed. He's rigged it so that you can win, OK? He made you he gave you the abilities that you have. He gave you everything that you have in your life according to the abilities that he's given you. And he's come to live in you by way of the Holy Spirit, his power, living his life in you and through you. He is what you need in order to be faithful.
You have everything that you need. In order to be a faithful servant, you will be overwhelmed. On the other hand, if you think that you have to muster up what you need in order to be a good servant, if you live like that, you will be crushed because you don't have what it takes apart from Christ. So don't focus on you. Focus your attention on Christ. Philippians, one six says, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
RE: Heading back to the USA for Halloween 2025.
Don’t you think the souvenirs at the airports are a bit basic? I like the souvenirs at the major cities better. Like the touristy areas.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Some live for themselves only, and this would be those today, I would suggest, who confuse the idea that attending a church service for one hour a week and tossing a few bucks into the offering, they confuse that with the idea of what it means to live for Jesus, like just those things and then the rest of their life. Then,, their time, their calendar, their pleasures, their decisions, then tossed Jesus a bone on the weekend.Appease them. But then it's all about us now, those are good things that Christians do keep coming to the fellowship, keep honoring God with your money and your tithes and your offering. But Jesus wants more than that from you.
He wants that one hour on the weekend every week. Yes. But he also wants all the other 23 hours of that day.
That same day.
He wants your twenty four seven sixty five. He wants it all. And some who professed Christ will give him all of it and some who profess Christ will not give him all of it. Your next fill in, that's your next fill in on your outline, only some of us who claim to be Christians will spend our lives looking for Jesus. The others will make up excuses to not live for him. Only some of us who claim to be Christians will spend our lives living for Jesus, the others will make up excuses to not live for him.
And this comes all the way back. Full circle to our main question, what marks the life of the servants who entered into the joy of their master when he returned?
And when we layer as this parable on top of the previous one from last week, how can we tell who has the oil of the Holy Spirit in them or not?
How can we tell who has the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit on the inside of them or not?
And the answer is those who have the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit in them, who have the oil will evidence that they do have him. By the way, by the way, they lived their lives, totally surrendered to their master Jesus, God in us, changes our lives, changes the way that we live. We live for him and not for ourselves. We use everything that's been given to us in the service of our master.
Jesus is not an add on to our lives is the whole thing the center that our lives actually revolve around. And you can only live for one master.
You will either live for Jesus or you will live for yourself or for some other master.
This is Christianity. This is Christianity, this is what having Jesus on the inside of us looks like, this is the distinguishing mark. They ask you, does this sound extreme to anybody, everything for Jesus? Does it sound radical even because it is.
It is. But I want to show you this, this is the life that Jesus died to save us into this kind of life and no other life. Your next fill in is this radical Christianity. Is the only real Christianity. Radical Christianity is the only real Christianity. A Christian, are you feeling at all heavy at this point in the message? I hope not. I hope not. But if you are, let me encourage you a couple of things.
Jesus has set you up to succeed. He has set you up to succeed. He's rigged it so that you can win, OK? He made you he gave you the abilities that you have. He gave you everything that you have in your life according to the abilities that he's given you. And he's come to live in you by way of the Holy Spirit, his power, living his life in you and through you. He is what you need in order to be faithful.
You have everything that you need. In order to be a faithful servant, you will be overwhelmed. On the other hand, if you think that you have to muster up what you need in order to be a good servant, if you live like that, you will be crushed because you don't have what it takes apart from Christ. So don't focus on you. Focus your attention on Christ. Philippians, one six says, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And then Verse 30 happened. And cast the worthless servant into the darkness in that place where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.So let's apply this to our lives right now. Who's the master in our lives? And this next villain on your outline, the master of our life, is Jesus. The master of our life is Jesus. Once Jesus coming back, the master is coming back soon. Jesus is coming back soon. What's he going to do when he comes? You're probably just finishing the last fill in.
Here's the next one.
When Jesus comes back, he will set up his kingdom and he will divide up his servants into two groups
Group one will hear the same words that the servants heard in verse 21 and 23. Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little.
I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. So what we want to hear, but in group two, we'll hear what the third servant heard, Verse 8 28, so take the talent from him and give it to him, who has the 10 talents for everyone who has more will be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast, the worthless servant into the outer darkness.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Who are the servants in our parable, like we saw with the 10 bridesmaids last week, the servants are those who profess to be Christians, the servants of those who profess to be Christians in our texts, they're professing to be Christians in the time of the Great Tribulation, immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.
But in our day in the church, this is everyone who professes to be a follower of Jesus.
We are servants. We are servants. Now, what do servants, if you remember from earlier, what do servants own for themselves?
Well, let me ask you, let me ask you this question another way and make a little more personal. And it is not a trick question. I want you to think about everything that you have in your life, I want you to think about it all and I want you to ask I to divvy up all those things. How much of what you have is yours and how much of what you have is Jesus is.
And I want you to think of everything you have, everything you could possibly have even one day have a spouse or your signal singleness kids or an empty nest, clothes, food, body, home time, energy opportunities, hope future. Your life, your everything, everything. Think about it all. And how much of all of that in your life belongs to Jesus? All, yes, all, all, listen to the apostle Paul and Colossians, chapter one, verse 16 on your outline as well, for by him is Jesus.
All things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throne's or dominions or rulers or authorities.
All things were created through him and for him, for him, everything we have in our lives, including our very lives, everything belongs to the master, to Jesus.
He owns it all.
And for the time being, we are just using his stuff. Which is your next fill in, everything we have in our life belongs to Jesus, everything in our life belongs to Jesus. And has a servants', what are we supposed to do with what we've been given? Well, we are to use whatever we've been given to serve the purposes of our master, Jesus. We are supposed to spend our entire lives and everything in them for the sake of Jesus, for his sake, taking everything we've been given and yielded up to him and use it for his business, not ours.
But what do some of the servants do instead?
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And we see that Jesus highlights faithful stewardship in this parable, the master entrusts his possessions into the care of his servants, and he's expecting that they use what he gives them for his sake, not for their sake. The servants don't go with all their talents, all the money or the loot that they've been given by the the master. They don't get in a little circle and look at each other and say, oh, my goodness, we've never had this much money in our possession at one time ever.Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking? Vegas road trip, baby, that's nice, but it's not for them. It wasn't a gift for them to use for their own pleasure or their own benefit or to their own ends.
No, the towns are not theirs, not for their benefit before their masters.
Another thing you might want to notice here, the master doesn't entrust each servant with the same amount he did without his possessions, according to their differing abilities in Verse 8- 15 or in our text, it says to one, he gave five talents to another, two to another, one to each, according to his ability.
The master knows his servants. He knows exactly what to give to each one, he doesn't give too little to the one who would be capable with more. He doesn't give too much to the one who would be overwhelmed with that amount. He gives the proper amount to each servant. This tells us something very important about this parable. Each servant was set up by the master to succeed. Each servant was able to do with the talents when he was supposed to do.
All three of the servants could have succeeded with what their master gave them. Then we get to the point where there is judgment in this parable, the master eventually comes back one day, the first two servants come back and show their master what they did with what they were given. Notice the joy almost. You can tell, you can feel it and the anticipation of his return.
These servants aren't afraid of their master. They love him. You can tell it's like they want the master to see what they've done while he was away. They each used what they were given and produced a return and they each received the same commendation from their master, even though they both received differing amounts of talents versus 21-23, both say the same thing their master said to them each well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
I will set you overmuch, enter into the joy of your master. This shows us that it is not what we are given that matters, but what we do with what we've been given that counts and all three servants could have received at the same reward. But then the third servant comes along, he's lagging behind for probably a reason that we can all assume, and he digs up his master's talent that he had hid in the ground and gives it back to him.
I hope he cleaned it, at least gave it back to him. And the master was furious.
Why? Because the servant didn't use what was given to him, he didn't live for his master and said he was lazy. He lived for himself and he justified to himself that he was right in not doing anything for his master while the master was away.
He justified that to himself.
And then the master comes back and he blames the master for his own inactivity.
Listen to what he says, In verses, 26. I knew you to be a hard man, where you did not gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what's yours. It's really your fault. They are so harsh.
I would have done it if had more encouragement maybe or more joy. Now, what are the lazy servant do instead of using the town and working for the master? But we have no idea, we did go to Vegas, we don't know. Did he binge, watch a few series on Netflix? Did he take extended naps? We don't know what he did, but we know what he didn't do. He didn't live for his master. He didn't live for him.
Embroiled...
Trump no longer on Bloomberg Billionaires Index after Truth Social stock plummetsShares dipped 12% on Friday and 8% Monday. After sliding as much as 4.8% on Tuesday, the stock rallied to close at $37.47, up 0.8% for the day but down more than 50% from its peak in late March.
Link:
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
People have been saying Melania looks like a hostage alongside Trump bloviating. Her body language seems less than supportive. I get a sense she's thinking, 'Christ, what an a**hole..'
How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
If there was mass fraud who the heck would want a political party that was so useless hey couldn't prove the fraudulent activities took place?.It is hilarious that the very people who push the fanciful lies of fraud are the same ones who cannot provide a shred of evidence.
How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Your right to believe the lies, my right to follow the truth.Biden won the election, there was no mass fraud. Proven more times than a rabbit has sex in its lifetime.
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Nope! Trump it is. his policies worked. they will again if we can ever actually have a fair and honest election again.what trump really said concerning the constitution were in reference to the mass fraud of 2020.
In December 2022, Donald Trump was pushing the baseless claim that he lost the 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud.
"A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," Trump wrote on Truth Social on December 3, 2022. "Our great 'Founder' did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!"
of course some fact checkers, a fat politician that thought he had a chance of being "potus", the mouth pieces calling themselves reporters or journalists, and many more; left out the full context to push the brainwashing deeper among the sheep.
i urge america to get the current, real threats, to democracy out of the white house and as many as possible out of congress to save what's left.
imagine all the law fare against the people if we can never have a leader working for the citizens and country again. trump was the last one that did and look at all the character assassination and more that is taking place against him.
funny how they started it with the russian collusion hoax and it's only escalated while his actual works and policies are still ignored.
demonrats can expand government, kill an economy, education, open our borders, mandate what ever they want, pass bills to dole out tax payer dollars to their donors and causes. massive damages and spending. call out corporations about paying their fair share but none of the green industry pays anything because they're worthless. we pay them. all they needed was the plandemic to push the bulk.
nothing has gotten better any where. only worse. what war will be next? will we end up fighting iran? russia? china? all of the above and more? trump didn't cause or do any of that either.
trump 2024. even our judicial system failed us in 2020. maybe it's for the better because now more people see the differences in working policies vs. dictators still pushing and doing what ever they want and the people be damned.
How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
No one realised what Hitler was doing until it was too late to stop him.History often repeats itself, especially when many refuse to take notice of historical facts.
RE: How can anyone vote for Trump, when even his staff won’t support him.
Would you please stop engaging in the usual dishonesty you persist in uttering.Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio who's parents were Italian immigrants.
Jorge Bergoglio was head of the Jesuit order in the 1970s when the church backed the military government that overthrew the lawful Argentina's government during the "dirty war" of murders and abductions carried out by the junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 when thousands of people were disappeared. It is estimated that between 22,000 and 30,000 people were killed or disappeared, many of whom were impossible to formally document.
The Argentine Catholic church itself made a public apology for its failure to take a stand against the generals.
In February, a court noted during the sentencing of three former military men to life imprisonment for the killings of two priests that the church hierarchy had "closed its eyes" to the killing of progressive priests.
As head of the Jesuit order from 1973 to 1979, Jorge Bergoglio was a member of the hierarachy during the period when the wider Catholic church backed the military government. Bergoglio twice refused to testify in court about his role as head of the Jesuit order. When he eventually appeared in front of a judge in 2010, he was accused by lawyers of being evasive.
The main charge against Bergoglio involves the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests, Orland Yorio and Francisco Jalics, who were taken by Navy officers in May 1976 and held under inhumane conditions for the missionary work they conducted in the country's slums, a politically risky activity at the time.
RE: Speed dating
I've been turned down by striking up a conversation with women in a grocery store.In my experience, they aren't there for meeting men.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man Begin where you did not so and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have. What is yours. But his master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed.Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and that might come in. I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him as the ten talents for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance.
But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's God's word. Now, here's the main thing we want to understand for the sake of our conversation here tonight, what visible Mark differentiates the servants who entered into their masters, joy from the servant who doesn't enter or said another way, what marks a person today who will enter the kingdom verse is the person who will not.
And so let's see if we can understand the parts of this parable together, which takes place in a 1st century Jewish context, much like the marriage parable that we looked at last week did so. We have the master in this parable. He owns everything, including the very lives of his servants, this master. He goes away after delegating some of his possessions to his servants so that they can work to bring him a return on what was entrusted to them.
And when he comes back, he's going to settle his accounts with the servants to see what they've done with what they were given. The master has every right to bring them into his joy or to destroy them. This is consistent with a first century relationship between a master and his servants. Then we take a look at the servants in this parable.
When you hear the word servant, I don't want you to think on the face.
Tattered clothes, gaunt. I don't want you to picture like a scene from Oliver Twist. The servants are like, please, sir, I'm going to have some more.
Don't think that. Think. Valued employee who was entrusted with his master's possessions.
There were servants in those days who actually live better lives than some of their free counterparts.
Now, everything the servant has in their possession, everything belongs to their master, their spouse, if they have one, their kids if they have them, their clothes, their food, their own bodies, their dwelling, their hope, their future, their life, their everything is the masters.
The servants know what the expectation is of them. They are expected to work for the benefit of their master. Again, this is on par with what took place back then in the 1st century. The parent, this parable also talks about something called a talent, a talent is a confusing coincidence that our English word talent is used to translate the Greek word that's used here in our text. See, the talent is not a skill or a gift.
When you think about the word talent, the master didn't give special abilities.
When he gave up these talents, he didn't say, OK, I'm going to give you the ability to juggle. That's your talent and you're going to be able to do magic tricks and you can rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time. He didn't give out talents like that. This talent is a waste of money, depending on what was being weighed with silver or gold or other precious metals, the value of these talents would be in the thousands of dollars, very, very valuable possession.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
They hit me, and so I'm that's why I was late. That's why I was late. And if I was saying that to you and looking. Like, I'm looking now, what would you say to yourself? There's no way there's no way that that happens, there's no way that you, as frail as you are, would come into contact with something, with that kind of force and ferocity and power.And that would impact your life. And you would remain unchanged with not a scratch or a dent, it doesn't make any sense. Now, I want you to imagine your life and I want you to imagine the power that spoke words and the entire cosmos came into existence. I want you to imagine the power that was displayed with the ten plagues being levied on Egypt as judgment for what they were doing to God's people. I want you to imagine the power that when Jesus walked this earth opened, blind eyes loosened, paralyzed legs, cast out leprosy and demons.
I want you to imagine the power that would raise Jesus brutalized, tortured body and glorify him on the other side of death. That the jaws of death had Jesus. But there was a power that went in that opened up the grave and Jesus came out. And I want you to imagine a power that second to no other power in all of the ends of the universe, and that power comes into a person's life the moment they become a Christian.
And you're going to tell me that that happens. And nothing will change. And nothing will change. No way. No way I'd argue with you that it's impossible to become a Christian and to begin to live the same exact kind of life that you were living prior to your new profession of faith.
Impossible. Now, is this power that comes in, is it going to produce a perfect Christian life in you? Of course not. Of course not. It's not going to be perfection. We will not become perfect, but we will become different and we will be able and it will be able to be seen by others.
Others are going to be able to see the effect of Christ in my life and in your life. So way those four things always believe the right doctrine, they are the internal witness of the Holy Spirit, they have the external witness of the church validating your profession of faith. And do you live a changed life, not a perfect life, but a progressively changed life that's more and more looking like Jesus all the time. What is it specifically? That others will be able to see in a life that's changed because of Jesus, what should we be looking for?
This brings us finally, finally to our text for tonight's longest intro maybe I've ever done, Matthew. Twenty five Verse is, 14 to 30.
And it's here where we're going to see what marks the person's life, who will enter the kingdom versus who will not. So let me just read our text for us, Matthew, 25 versus 14 to 30. This is Jesus speaking. And he says for it, which is the kingdom of heaven, will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property to one. He gave five talents to another, two to another, one to each, according to his ability.
Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents, more so also he who had the two talents made two talents more, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them, and he, who had received the five talents, came forward bringing five talents, more same master you delivered to me five talents.
Here I've made five talents more, his master said to him. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I'll set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I've made two talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And know what we don't baptize anyone we don't believe is saved. We only baptize people we believe are saved. And then from that point on, for the rest of their life, inside the context of the local church, we together as brothers and sisters in Christ, teach one another how to obey Jesus.
We teach one another how to obey Jesus. That's what Jesus has commanded us in the great commission. The local church then affirms the salvation of believers in the local church by participating in the communion meal, together we bat, we get baptized one time and one time only, but we take communion as often as we're able to, as often as we're able to gather together. And that is exclusively for those who belong to the family of God.
If you have visitors coming in or people who are checking out Jesus, they're warm to Jesus.
They're asking they want to learn more, but they're not yet Christians. They don't participate in the meal that marks those who are saved. The local church, also no one's favorite stuff, but really important, administers church discipline to those who profess Jesus. But maybe begin to refuse to obey him. I didn't put this on your note, but you look at Matthew, Chapter 18, verses 15 to 20, and Jesus tells us how to love each other in the context of the local church.
Because if someone says, I love Jesus, Jesus is in me, I'm going to obey Jesus, you'd expect them to grow in their love and obedience and devotion to Jesus.
The local church says of its members, this one's a Christian, as far as we can tell, and that's a powerful mark on a person's life.
I'd be concerned if a person claimed to be a Christian and there was no local church also affirming that there are Christian. At the same time, I don't need anyone else to tell me my relationship with God.
I'm good with God. And like there's no one else actually think you're a Christian.
It doesn't matter what does matter. That's the point of the church. One of the reasons the church exists now. Does the church get it wrong? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we get it wrong.
And that's why we want all the marks of saving faith in our life, not just one of them.
Which brings us to our number for next fill in on your line. Do you have the evidence? Of a changed life. Do you have the evidence of a changed life? Once you become a Christian, does your life begin to look any different than it used to be before you became a Christian? That's the test.
And I'm going to give you one of my favorite all time illustrations is not one that I came up with as when I've stolen from a from a preacher, but it's my favorite anyway. So there's all the copyright stuff out of the way, not mine. I'm going to give it to you. Now, I want you to rewind in your mind a few moments, about 20 minutes in the past to the beginning of this church service where Pastor Jeff finishes leading us in worship.
He gives the announcements. And I want you to imagine that I'm not here. I'm no, I'm not in the building. I'm supposed to be preaching and I'm not here. I'm late. And he's doing a great job of stalling and giving some great dad jokes and keeping everyone kind of calm. And then I come through the door ten minutes late and I come in just looking like there's nothing wrong with me. But I come in and I apologize profusely.
But then I begin to give you a reason for why I was so late. And here's the reason that I give you. I was walking across the street on the way to on the way to church, on the way to preach and then out of nowhere pummeling down the road, going 100 miles an hour was a semi truck.
And I was crossing the street the moment that it was coming and it hit me.
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
That was last week's emphasis. But this week, I want to look at the flip side of it. This week's emphasis on rate doctrine is this is that you can't have anything less than rate doctrine.You need more than rate doctrine, but you can't have anything less than right doctrine.
Saving faith goes beyond it does go beyond simply believing the right thing, but it's never less than believing the right thing.
And here's an example. Someone who professes to be a Christian, they'll tell everyone at work, they'll tell their family whatever they say. I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian.
Yet that person doesn't believe that Jesus is God. Or that Jesus is the only way to eternal life or that Jesus didn't really die and he didn't really rise from the dead, this person, if they believe those things, is more than likely not a Christian. Christian in the word is this main root word, which is Christ, Ian, where Christ is Christ, we follow Christ and Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims all confess a belief in Jesus Christ.
They all do. But they're not saved. Why not? Well, because they don't believe in the actual Jesus, the one who has revealed to us in the Bible, they believe in a different Jesus, one that cannot save.
And so if you don't believe the truth about Jesus, then you can't be a Christian. But if you believe the truth about Jesus, what the Bible says about him, then that's the first way that will encourage you, that you actually know him.
You believe the right things about him. That's Mark. Number one. Mark. Number two. And it's going to be the next fill in on your outline. Do you have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit? Do you have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit? When you believe the gospel for the very first time, when you repented of your sins and you trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, his life, his death and his resurrection, when you believed that the moment that you did the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you, and guess what?
He's a person and he ministers to you. He speaks to you.
He's alive. He's not an impersonal force. He's not like lightning. He's a person dwelling on the inside of you. And he confirms that you belong to him. He says, you're my beloved child. He makes sure that you know that you are his. It's what the apostle Paul says in Romans eight, verse 16 on your outline, as well as says the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And that's so sweet. That's so sweet. When you can know the sound of God's voice and he speaks to you and that's all you need to hear to give you the assurance that you need.
Now, don't underestimate the power of this, of God speaking to you. God confirms to you that belong to him. A small number two number three is this do you have the external witness of the local church, the external witness of the local church? Belonging to a local church is so important for so many reasons, if you know anything about me, you know that I'm passionate about the local church and there's lots of reasons to be. But one reason one reason is that the local church affirms the salvation of those who are members in it, the local churches where you have your salvation affirmed by other people who are also filled with the Holy Spirit.
Here's how the process works. The church goes out and preaches the gospel to unbelievers. Many people don't believe, but guess what? Some people believe.
And when those people believe, they profess to believe the church, the local church baptizes those new Christians solely upon their profession, their right profession of who Jesus is and who they are in light of them
What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
And if there's ways that you and I can tell who's been born again, who can we if we can tell who has the spirit of Christ in them and we can tell who doesn't, we're not helping anybody by telling someone they're on a fast track to heaven if you don't actually think they are. Sit down with this person and you say, here are some reasons why I don't think you're safe, and you'd lay out those reasons for them gently, patiently, lovingly, with the hope that they would repent and turn and trust in Jesus.But the third reason we need to know here's the fourth reason we need to know is for the unbeliever in the mission field.
The scripture is going to be on your outline. It's my favorite all time. Like really. Like I have a life verse is Matthew.
Twenty eighteen to twenty post resurrection glorify Jesus comes to his disciples and he says, guys, all the authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.
Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe or obey everything I've commanded you. And lo and behold, I'm going to be with you always until the end of the age. These are our marching orders as a church.
But here's a really important question. If Jesus tells us to go and make disciples and we do that by going to people who don't have Christ and we preach the gospel to them, how do we know who to share the gospel with if we can't tell who's saved and who's not?
You go to a new town, you go to a new country, you go to a place. And the whole purpose is you're trying to lead people who don't know Jesus into a saving relationship with Jesus. How do you just take a stab at it? In the dark? You may find yourself telling the gospel to the same person over and over again. And they were saved twelve weeks ago.
If you don't know what to actually look for when they are saved, we need to be able to know.
We need to be able to discern this in order to honor Jesus and the commands and the commission that is given to us.
And so it's for all these reasons I've just given you that we have to be able to tell guys we have to be able to tell who has the Holy Spirit in them and who doesn't.
And so the next logical question is this, what are some of those marks? What can we look for in a person's life to see if Christ is in there? What can we look at the outside of their life to see if the invisible Jesus is on the inside of their heart?
I'm going to give you four marks, four marks of a life that has Jesus in it and a way to use all of all four of these for the supreme confidence, not just one or two or three.
Use all four to know with all assurance that you or people that you know are indeed in Christ. Mark. Number one, do you have the right doctrine? Do you have the right doctrine? Last week's emphasis on doctrine with a little bit different from the emphasis I'm going to make this week, because last week I said that you actually need more than just the right belief in order to be a Christian. If you're here with us.
Last week, we said that we need to go beyond simply believing that Jesus, Jesus exists or that he is God. We have to go beyond simply believing that he died and rose again. We have to go beyond simply believing that he's coming back again one day soon. Why do we have to go beyond all those things? Because the devil believes all those things, he believes them better than we do and trust me, the devil is not going to be in the kingdom with us forever.
So you can actually believe the right doctrine about Jesus and yet not be saved.
Useless trivia
Winter, apparently, is not coming back. Kit Harington has shut down talk of a Jon Snow sequel to HBO’s massive hit Game of Thrones.“There are no plans for it at the moment. It’s off the table for the foreseeable,” Harington told The Associated Press