Open Door Christian Fellowship Sermons

May 17, 2009 - Katz, Howard - Discipleship Part 28 - The Discipline of Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door Christian Fellowship) — Mon, 1 Jun 2009 22:15:00 -0400

The message was preached at the London City Music Theatre by Howard Katz.

This is part 28 of the Discipleship series.

Click here for the mp3 file.

Following is the notes from this sermon:

Discipleship

Part Twenty Eight

The Discipline of Sound Doctrine

The Doctrine of Christ – The Discipline of Joy

Here are the notes from this message.

Psalm 103:7 (NKJV)
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

Psalm 103:7 (New Living Translation)
7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.

Psalm 103:7 (The New English Bible)

7 He taught Moses to know his way and showed the Israelites what he could do.

Genesis 3:24 (NKJV)
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 6:12 (NKJV)
12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

For us to enter into the discipline of joy we must not only know God’s acts but be taught in His ways and His character.

To see God’s acts requires little effort while to know His ways is a life long pursuit of the Lord Himself.

True disciples are the ones who will learn to know His ways and His character.

Luke 8:14 (NKJV)
14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

God has not called us to live sheltered lives but to go out and pursue the journey that we have entered into.

Exodus 19:4-8 (NKJV)
4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

Luke 8:14 (NKJV)
14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

Choking is a picture of a restriction around the neck affecting the connection between the head and the rest of the body. ****

The result of this choking is not the death of the plant but stopping it from bring forth fruit to maturity.

Disciples are those that bring forth mature fruit.

The three things that choke out fruitfulness in our lives are:
The cares or worries of this life
The riches of this life
The of the pleasures of this life

Christ’s Suffering, Death and Resurrection are to hold the central theme in our lives.

The Discipline of Joy Begins at the Revelation of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us.

In the Old Testament service unto God centered around the sacrifices.

Picture of Tabernacle showing outer court and brass altar.

Picture of Holy Place showing the golden altar – altar of incense.

The central theme in the Old Testament was the sacrifices.

The central theme of our lives as followers of Christ is His sacrifice.

The central theme in heaven is Christ’s sacrifice.

Revelation 5:6 (NKJV)
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Revelation 5:11-14 (NKJV)
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

We are going to look at the solution from the point of view of the joy of our salvation.

THE CARES OR WORRIES OF THIS LIFE

God considers worry as destructive as any other sin.

Of the three areas that choke out fruitfulness worry is named first.

The great sin of worry is not just unbelief but unbelief in the character of God.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We musts believe that God is good and faithful and can be trusted.

Hebrews 11:8 (Amplified Bible)
8 (Urged on) by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go.

“Probably the single biggest problem we have in the Body of Christ today is the fact that we simply don’t trust God’s goodness.”

How far can God lead us without showing us His will before we stop trusting Him?

Hebrews 3:8-11 (NKJV)
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

Hebrews 3:18-19 (NKJV)
18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Psalm 4:5 (NKJV)
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lord.

Faith is the sacrifice of righteousness.

The cares or worries of this life The pride of life Faith

The solution is surrender and this deals with our will.

We must humble ourselves (the pride of life) and put our faith in Christ and trust Him.

1 Peter 5:6-8 (NASB95)
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Vs 7 tells us to cast all our anxieties on Him.

Vs 8 tells us that we need to be alert to the devil as a roaring lion who wants to devour us with fear.

Vs 6 tells us the process that brings freedom from anxiety – humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

Psalm 85:9-11 (NKJV)
9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Where has mercy and truth met? At the cross of Christ.

Where has righteousness and shalom kissed? At Christ’s resurrection.

Romans 4:25 (NKJV)
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Revelation 19:6-8 (NKJV)
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Discipleship - Part 25 - Christ the Chief Cornerstone.

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door Christian Fellowship) — Sat, 30 May 2009 05:55:00 -0400

Sermon preached on April 12, 2009 by Howard Katz. Part 25 of the discipleship series.
NB - The audio is in bad condition, and the sermon is truncated.

Click here for mp3.

Following is the notes from this sermon:

The Doctrine of Christ – Christ the Chief Cornerstone

Isaiah 28:15-18

Vs 15 The ungodly in Israel had a foundation of trusting in death, Hell, lies and falsehood.

What does it mean they have made a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell?

Vs 16 The Lord promises to lay a True Cornerstone for His people.

Christ is a Tried Stone.

We need to remember that it is Christ Who is that tried and proved cornerstone not any other person.

Christ is the Precious Cornerstone.

1 Peter 2:4-8 Illustrates the principle as Christ as that Precious Cornerstone.

1 Peter 2:8 - Christ will either be our chief cornerstone or a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.

Leviticus 19:14 – We are to be sure that we are not stumbling blocks.

How can we tell when we are the cause of stumbling not Christ?

When our ways are pleasing to God then God’s enemies come against us. Matthew 5:10-12

Persecution produces pruning which results in greater fruitfulness. That is why Matthew 5:12 speaks about us having a great reward in Heaven:

Is our conflict because of self or because we are walking in righteousness?

Getting back to Isaiah 28:16

Vs 17 Christ as our cornerstone will keep everything square and level.

Vs 18 All the false foundations will be swept away and become nothing.

Romans 9:30 – 10:4

Vs 31 Israel stumbled because they were seeking to be justified by the Law instead of what the Law was pointing to.

Vs 32 Israel stumbled because they did not seek righteousness by faith.

Vs 33 Paul again points out that they stumble over chief cornerstone – Christ.

Romans 10:3-4 - Israel replaced Christ as the chief cornerstone with a false cornerstone and they have built a structure based on man’s works instead of Christ’s

Hebrews 9:22 The sacrifices were central to the Law

1 Timothy 4:1-5

vs 1 departing the faith and heeding deceiving spirits and doctrine of demons

1 Timothy 3:16 - The Great Mystery of Godliness.

2 Corinthians 11:3 Our hearts are to be singly upon Christ.

Leonard Terry - He Calls You By Name

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door Christian Fellowship) — Fri, 8 May 2009 02:22:00 -0400

This sermon was preached on April 19, 2009 at Open Door Christian Fellowship (940 Dundas Street, London, Ontario, Canada) by Leonard Terry.

Click here for mp3 (96 kbs).
Click here for ogg vorbis.

Discipleship - Part 26 - The Doctrine of Christ - No Other Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Open Door Christian Fellowship) — Mon, 4 May 2009 22:45:00 -0400

This sermon was preached on Sunday April 26, 2009. It is part 26 of Howard Katz's ongoing series on discipleship. This message is entitled "The Doctrine of Christ - No Other Foundation."

Click here for mp3 format (96 kbs)
Click here for ogg vorbis format.