Heidelberg Catechism asks “From where do you know your misery?” I would like to add sin. From where do you know your sin and misery? The Word of God says “. . . by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is knowledge of sin.” In other words, “no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying (Rom 3:20 NLT).” Furthermore, I am convinced that we are not able to obey the Law of God. This leaves us with nothing. Humanity is in a horrible state before God because he has declared us sinful; therefore, our misery is great. We know this from the Law of God. Yet, lest we be mistaken, the Law of God is not evil. Paul makes this clear when he says “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not know lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet (Rom 7:7 KJV). For this reason we need a savior because God expects us to perfectly obey his Law. This is why I thank God every day for the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord because he obeyed God’s Law perfectly over several hundred years ago and God accepted his deeds as adequate enough to cover our inability to perfectly obey his Law. Christ lives in the believer by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bears witness of the righteousness of God through us for the glory of Christ. When we do obey the Law of God it is a testimony of the power of God.

• God is a simple and spiritual Being
• God is eternal
• God is incomprehensible
• God is immutable
• God is infinite
• God is almighty
• God is perfectly wise
• God is just
• God is good
• God is the fountain of all good

The Word of God says that the nature of humanity is depraved. The nature of humanity is morally corrupt before God and all of heaven and earth. The Word of God confirms that the earth is corrupt in God's sight and is full of violence because of the sinfulness of humanity (cf. Gen 6:11). The point of the matter is that the human race is estranged from God with only one way to be reconciled to him. This is a topic that I will be discussing in the days that are coming.

While all who are concerned about the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech scramble to understand why did such a tragedy happen, we send our deepest heart felt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased and surviving victims. As parents of five children, we pray that you will find comfort in our Lord Jesus Christ who heals even the deepest wounds of humanity. God please bless all of us this day. God please comfort those who are downtrodden and heal those who are hurting. Father, only you know why this has happen and only you can ultimately bring salvation to all those who trust in Christ. In Jesus name we ask from thee. Amen.

Today I have learned that the only person who truly loves me in this world is Jesus Christ our Lord. He loves me just the way that I am. I am weak but he is strong. I am torn but he is wholly divine; that is, he is a mighty God that is one. I may at times feel insecure, but he is always whole and secure. When I am hurt and broken he comforts me even while I am unworthy of his love. I may feel socially and mentally like a midget sometimes, but God loves me anyway. I may not be able to cut it in the local denominations, but I can in heaven. I may sometimes feel like an outcast in this world, even among those that call me their brother, father, husband, or warrior, but God loves me anyway. Even as a citizen of the state, country, or United Nations it may be that I am simply a numberless head, but in the Kingdom of God I am his child and he loves me like a son that is his very own. If you are a Christian he loves you too like a son or daughter who can never do any wrong because we belong to Christ. Christians belong to God, but only temporarily live in this world. We are like pilgrims that are only passing trough to be with our Lord; furthermore, the Bible says that we will never return to this world ever again as we know it. Our future belongs to our Lord in the new heaven and the new earth(Isa 65:17;66:22). It will be a place were we will live with God and God will shine like the noon day light. So, today, let us praise God for his tender love and mercy that he has revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nobody loves you like Jesus. Amen.

The engine that drives Christianity is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Christian's responsibility to proclaim the life, death, resurrection, ascension and the future return of Christ Jesus our Lord through the God ordained means of grace. Every household has a head and that head is the first God ordained authority in his or her home. The priestly head of every Christian household must give an answer for their behavior in their headship role to God Almighty. Organized church is a place where the heads of the household with their family, friends and relatives assemble to worship God in the presence and cover of the Holy Spirit. The organized church should be a place of refuge for Christian households.  

Introduction: Historically it would seem that humanity will live forever. Yet, it is the individuals of humanity that live and die. The average life span of an individual varies because it is based on the geographic location of a particular population in which the individual lives. Some live longer than others because their geographic location provides greater resources that thwart early death for longer living. Yet, there is a particular commonality which pervades amongst humanity that each must experience: life and death. Each of us must enter into the world and exit from the world the same god given way and in between these monumental moments how each one copes with the stark realties of life and death is what peaks my interest. Coping with life and death can be devastating often times. So, naturally as Christians we should be interested in what should be our only comfort in life and death in this world and the world to come. Each day we are given a small reminder about the fact that death is imminent for all of us. We all must face the reality that our lives will not last forever, but the world as we know it will continue to exist until that great and glorious day when our Lord Jesus returns again from heaven. So, what should be our only comfort in life and in death? Return for a complete answer tomorrow.

Body

First, Our only comfort in life and death should be that we belong to Christ.

Secondly, Our only comfort in life and death should be that Jesus Christ will keep us forever. He will keep us for the Father's sake.

Thirdly, Our only comfort in life and death should be that we have been given the Holy Sprit for our ultimate comfort. The Holy Spirit is the guarantor and deposit.

Conclusion

Let it be known that the God who created the heavens and the earth is Lord over all creation. God is Lord over the heavens and the earth. There is no greater authority than he; however, what you do not see here is that God is a Triune God. This means that God has revealed himself in three persons and he has revealed that these three persons are one God. Being that they are one God, they are one Lord as well. How is this? This is a mystery, but it is the truth. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is Lord over the universe. Jesus plans to once and for all restore the universe because it is in a corrupt state from the fall of humanity. Adam and Eve, the first great authorities upon the earth, sinned against God. These two disobeyed God and caused humanity to become estranged from God. Yet, Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary reconciled back some of humanity to God by absorbing the wrath of God towards humanity. 

Have you ever asked yourself this question, especially in light of the Scriptures? Did you know that the term Lord is used over seven thousand times in the King James Version (KJV)? With this many time mentioned in the Bible, you should ponder this question daily. The term Lord is a translation of the Hebrew word Yehovah (yeh-ho-vaw'). Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary (Strong's) says that Yehovah means "(the) self-Existent or Eternal." In addiction, Strong's says that it is the "Jewish national name of God." In the KJV Yehovah or Jehovah (take your pick) is rendered as LORD. The first time that the term LORD is used is in Gen 2:4. This author says "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground (Gen 2:4 - 5). Return tomorrow and join in with me as I comment on these verses and continue to answer the the question: Who is your Lord?

Christians' primary focus in life and death should be the glory of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Each day we should seek to glorify God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The confession of our lips and the actions in our lives should reflect the glory of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It appears that to some Easter is the Christian festival commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the day on which Easter is celebrated, the Sunday following the full moon on or after March 21; also it is called Easter Day or Easter Sunday. Moreover, it is the Easter weekend which is the period from Good Friday to Easter Monday. All of this sounds odd. It sounds odd because no where in the Bible can you find any account of early Christians celebrating Easter. This may explain why there are so many competing traditions of Easter in America. I am unsettled about Easter because it seems to be misleading. I am not sure that Easter was formed in order to deliberately mislead anyone, but it is likely to confuse people. I say this because Diarchy Leigh Richardson, a local newspaper writer for Today's Localnews, wrote an article titled "Easter is annual celebration of rebirth for Christians" (dated: Sunday, 040907). In this article Richardson had some credible things to say. I especially appreciated her willingness to comment on Luke 24:5. She says that "The message, recorded in the Gospel of Luke, continues to be celebrated on Easter as one of hope, rebirth and the triumph over death."

Even more insightful, was her comments on the activities of the celebrants of Easter. She wrote that "Celebrants will attend church services, sing hymns, eat meals with family and cheer on their children at Easter egg hunts." All of this sounds nice. Yet, is this the best that Christians can do in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus? I say this because every Sunday we do all of the above except the egg hunts. I think that Easter should be celebrated for what it really is which may be found in its name. Although the exact origin of Easter is unknown, scholars ". . . believe it probably comes from Easter, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts" (taken from Encarta Premium Reference Library, s.v. "Easter"). Let the world have their false gods, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

If we must celebrate Easter, then glorify God by giving him thanks for resurrecting Jesus from the dead because he promised that he would. Also give thanks to God because God has given to us the hope of a future glory in the return of Christ Jesus our Lord. This hope is an everlasting hope because it is the hope that we too will be resurrected to eternal life just like our Lord. God promises that we will live forever with our Lord Jesus Christ and that we and all his glorious saints that have preceded us in death will glorify God forever.  Amen.

Presently I can not come up with a good reason for why I should celebrate Easter. According to Fred A. Grissom, the author of an article title "Easter" in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, the term Easter is the ". . . special celebration of the resurrection. . . ." In other words it is a Christian festival that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ; however, I have asked this question because the Bible does not give any account of a special celebration of the resurrection and Grissom in his article supports my observation. Furthermore, Grissom believes that Easter was not fully established in most churches until A.D. 300. Fred has attributed the origin of Easter to the first Jewish Christians. He believes that ". . . the first Jewish Christians probably transformed their Passover observance into a celebration of the central events of their new faith. In the early centuries the annual observance was called the pascha, the Greek word for Passover, and focused on Christ as the paschal Lamb." At this time I am not really positive that I should celebrate Easter. Nevertheless, I will attend church service Sunday as I commonly do, because it is the day that I have chosen to celebrate the life, death, resurrection and ascension to Heaven of Christ Jesus the Son of God.

Previously I wrote an article that began to answer the question "why should you care about the Gospel of Jesus Christ." I stated that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ this question especially pertains to you because you belong to the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Kingdom of God belongs to the Son and all those whom God has given to the Son. The Kingdom of God is eternal; yet, it has boundaries. These boundaries have been established by God in order to keep the unfaithful believers outside and the faithful delivers inside. No one can enter the Kingdom of God without the eternal power of God. It is the power that belongs to the Triune God. It is the power that transforms all things that are visible and invisible.  To which kingdom do you belong? More updates are coming, please come again.

Often we think of sermons as religious talk. The pastor or speaker talks on a religious or moral subject which is part of a religious service. However, especially if you listen to radio or television sermons, a sermon often times sounds more like a long and tedious talk; especially one that tells somebody how or how not to behave. I may sound old fashion in what I am about to say, but a sermon should excitedly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It should proclaim all the riches and the glories of what God has done in Christ Jesus our Lord. It should cause its hearers to focus less on self and more on Christ. You should be able to answer the following questions after listening to a good sermon (I borrowed the following from Pastor Danny Hyde of Oceanside United Reformed Church):

· What was the point of the sermon?

· What did you hear about your sin?

· What did you hear about the Gospel?

· What has Christ done for you?

· Parents should encourage children to listen closely so children can answer these questions after the sermon.

If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about us, but about what God has done in Christ Jesus our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit to redeem and judge sinful humanity, then why should anyone really care? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, this question posed pertains to you because you belong to the Kingdom of God. If you are a nonbeliever, this question pertains to you because you belong to the kingdom of Satan. Satan is the enemy of God, the lord of evil, and the tempter of human beings. He is sometimes identified with Lucifer, the leader of the fallen angels. By answering this question, it will be easier to follow my arguments as I proceed in defending my thesis. I belong to Kingdom of God. To which kingdom do you belong?

• A really good sermon is clear, relevant and precise.
• A really good sermon will express and explain God's thoughts on sin
• A really good sermon will express and explain the Gospel of Christ
• A really good sermon will express and explain what God has done in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit
• A really good sermon will encourage and edify believers and convict the conscience of nonbelievers.

Why should this question matter to anyone? This question should matter to everyone. Why? It helps to know who made you because it is a very likely chance that the person who made you will probably be the one who accepts the most responsibility for your survival and well-being in a way that is far greater than anyone else. I am married and I have five beautiful children under my care. I will do all within my power to ensure that each of my family members have enough sustenance and other necessities in order to live to see the next second, minute, hour, and day as long as they have breath. This is what any responsible parent should be willing to do in order to ensure the survival and well-being of their progeny.

Well, I think that first we need to look at my previous statement in the light given by the Bible. I understand that this is unpopular venture these days, but the Bible is the only place that a Christian should learn how to love and obey God. If you are a Christian, then you can relate to what I am saying. If you are not a Christian, then you will surely take issue with trusting in the Bible as the primary authority about the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially as it pertains to God. I fully understand the mind of humanity because for several years I have studied the mindset of unbelieving humanity at Westminster Seminary of California (WSC). Trust me, at WSC, even I have had to question the reasons why I believe in the gospel. To this day, I must admit that I have no rational belief in the sense of scientific evidence. The only evidence that I have is an inward (relating to or existing in the mind or spirit) confidence that has been thoroughly expressed on the pages of the Holy Scriptures by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Next, I would like to take time out to reflect on previous comments and to invite any comments on anything previously expressed or unexpressed because I appreciate and respect you as God's special creation - in other words I love you. I pray that God would bless you and keep you always and forever.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about you, nor is it about me, but it is about what God has done in Christ Jesus our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit to redeem and judge sinful humanity.