A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Monday,
September 24, 2018
You
can't miss this mailbox at the Stoltzfus Pumpkin
Farm! The pumpkins gourds and squash make for an
exquisite fall barn decor below our message.
"The
Blessing Of Conviction Of Sin"
Daily
prayer:
Father, in the Scriptures we know
that obedience brings blessing and
disobedience bring discipline and
eventual judgment. The writer of
Hebrews tells us that You are
treating us as Your children when
we undergo discipline, that You
are showing Your love to us. You
want to bless us and make us a
blessing as we live out our lives
here on earth. Therefore You
convict us of that which dishonors
You and the kingdom of God. Your
desire is that we enter the
eternal dwelling place You are
preparing for those who walk in
Your ways. With the help of the
Holy Spirit we will not turn away
from conviction of sin, but
instead we will turn away from
that which is sin. Enable us to do
so in the powerful name of Jesus
we pray. Amen.
Message
summary:
"One of the greatest downfalls of the
Modern Church is we’ve replaced 'that
convicts me' with 'that offends me'."
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"When He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8).
About ten years ago I served as an interim pastor of a small country church. One Sunday I preached a sermon and the next week was informed that a college student who had come with a friend was very upset with me and would not be returning to the church. She told her mom, a regular attendee, that my subject matter had offended her and a friend she had brought, both of whom attended a "Christian" college in our area that is severely compromised.
The offensive point was on marriage and sexual morality and both had bought in to Satan's lies regarding the subject. A message proclaiming Biblical truth was offensive to them. Amazingly, illustrating the hastening departure from a Biblical worldview and standards that follow, this message would not have even been controversial ten years earlier!*
I just read an interesting quote that describes this well: "One of the greatest downfalls of the Modern Church is we’ve replaced 'that convicts me' with 'that offends me'."
We tend to use the word conviction in a theological context in two ways:
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"When He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8).
About ten years ago I served as an interim pastor of a small country church. One Sunday I preached a sermon and the next week was informed that a college student who had come with a friend was very upset with me and would not be returning to the church. She told her mom, a regular attendee, that my subject matter had offended her and a friend she had brought, both of whom attended a "Christian" college in our area that is severely compromised.
The offensive point was on marriage and sexual morality and both had bought in to Satan's lies regarding the subject. A message proclaiming Biblical truth was offensive to them. Amazingly, illustrating the hastening departure from a Biblical worldview and standards that follow, this message would not have even been controversial ten years earlier!*
I just read an interesting quote that describes this well: "One of the greatest downfalls of the Modern Church is we’ve replaced 'that convicts me' with 'that offends me'."
We tend to use the word conviction in a theological context in two ways:
- Your convictions are your core set of beliefs; that which you will not compromise. Sadly there are many who at one time spoke of having a conviction on a black and white matter dealt with in Scripture but, due to the trends of the world and political correctness, forsook their conviction.
- The other sense is the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting us of sin; He makes us aware, remorseful, and leads us to repentance. In this sense we use the phrase, "being under conviction". This is the type of conviction we are using in this message.
When
confronted with sin we have two choices:
- Being Convicted: When David was boldly approached by the prophet, Nathan, concerning his adulterous sin with Bathsheba he said, "I have sinned against the Lord". He was convicted of his sin and repented, though he still faced serious consequences the rest of his life.
- Being offended:
Herod, on the other hand, when
approached by John the Baptist
concerning his sin, was offended and
had him beheaded. Herod attempted to
silence the voice of the prophet whom
God was using as a conviction from the
Holy Spirit.
Jesus,
in His final teaching before He went to
the cross, spoke of the coming Holy
Spirit. "When He comes, He will
convict the world of sin,
righteousness, and judgment" (John
16:8).
Conviction of sin is a blessing. It may be uncomfortable, it may be politically incorrect, it may cost us, and it will humble us. But when we acknowledge sin we place ourselves on a path of blessing.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Conviction of sin is a blessing. It may be uncomfortable, it may be politically incorrect, it may cost us, and it will humble us. But when we acknowledge sin we place ourselves on a path of blessing.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, in the Scriptures we know
that obedience brings blessing and
disobedience bring discipline and
eventual judgment. The writer of
Hebrews tells us that You are
treating us as Your children when
we undergo discipline, that You
are showing Your love to us. You
want to bless us and make us a
blessing as we live out our lives
here on earth. Therefore You
convict us of that which dishonors
You and the kingdom of God. Your
desire is that we enter the
eternal dwelling place You are
preparing for those who walk in
Your ways. With the help of the
Holy Spirit we will not turn away
from conviction of sin, but
instead we will turn away from
that which is sin. Enable us to do
so in the powerful name of Jesus
we pray. Amen.* It
occurs to me that sadly, now some
ten years later after I preached
that message, that it would be
rare to hear this type of message
in many churches since so many
preachers have been muzzled in
fear of offending someone.
Furthermore at the direction we're
heading in ten more years (or
likely sooner) such a message will
be "hate speech" and will subject
the preacher to a different type
of conviction. (See 2 Timothy 3)
Yesterday
afternoon we went to a volunteer picnic
hosted by WJTL, one of our local Christian
radio stations. Brooksyne and Ester
volunteer at various concerts WJTL
sponsors such as the Jason Crabb concert
they served at last week. Lancaster County
has two Christian radio stations each
serving a different audience. WJTL is the
contemporary station while WDAC tends to be
more traditional.
After
the picnic we passed through the Lancaster
County countryside.
Yesterday
we passed the Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin
Farm along Landisville road. It was Sunday
so they roped off the produce market with
a sign that posts "Closed Sunday" with
smaller letters stating "please respect
this".
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Another
display at the Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin
Farm
Autumn
officially arrived this last weekend and
this Amish family was bundled up as they
traveled home from church yesterday
afternoon. Since it's still early in the
season why not put on extra wraps and still
enjoy the open buggy. There are many
beautiful views throughout Lancaster County,
even after the fall harvest.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Asleep in the Light"
Video
Keith Green
"Search
Me, Oh God" Video Steve Green
"Refiner's
Fire" Video
"What is the conviction
of sin?" From gotquestions.org
"The State of Our Hearts" Article by Alex
Mastrolonardo "If we’re not careful, we
can tune out God’s voice in Scripture with
the white noise of a hardened, unrepentant
heart. Repeatedly ignoring God’s warnings
and failing to turn from disobedience will
slowly numb the Spirit’s conviction like
white noise until you can sin and feel
nothing at all."
The Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin Farm is located here (Google map)
The Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin Farm is located here (Google map)
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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