Sermons by Daniel Kendall (Page 46)
The End Result: Evangelism
It is interesting to note that Jesus’ commands for evangelism and missions come at the end of His ministry. Also of note is that the end result of the church’s continuance in doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer, hospitality, sharing possessions, praise of God, unity, etc. was that people were saved on a daily basis. Added to this is the fact that commands to evangelize are very scarce in the New Testament. What are we to make of this? The…
Esther
While the children of Israel are in captivity, God continues to send prophets to bring them to repentance. Even in the midst of judgment God is still moving among His people. Esther is a great story of God’s redemption, grace, mercy, and sovereignty. Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not mention God at all; however, the story of Esther is about God and His redemption of His people. The King becomes angry with his queen and…
The Reality of Prayer
The early church continued steadfastly in prayer. Prayer was such a vital part of the church that the apostles appointed deacons to care for the widows so that they might give themselves to prayer. Why was prayer such a huge part of the early church? The answer is throughout all of Jesus’ teachings, but we will focus on John 15. All life and power belongs to Jesus We are the branches, Jesus is the vine. Separated from Jesus we are…
The Prophets
Samuel is widely held to be the one who ushered in the era of the prophets. There were prophets before him, but they were largely sporadic until Samuel. Prophets were men who heard from God and spoke to the people for God. They were largely concerned with bringing the people to repentance to avoid the coming judgment of God for their sins. Throughout the years the prophets began to point more and more to a coming Messiah Who would ultimately…
Making Disciples Who Make Disciples
Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations and teach them to observe everything that He had commanded. The command is to make disciples We live in a day where we judge the success of churches by baptisms, buildings, bodies, and bucks. Unfortunately this means that Jesus’ command is neglected. Jesus wanted the disciples to be disciple makers. He desired for each believer to mature in their faith until they could make disciples of others. This…
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes means “the preacher,” and is about Solomon trying to find meaning in life. It is a great book that points to the whole reason for the Bible. Solomon seeks to answer, “What is the point of life?” The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth…
The Lord’s Supper
After doctrine and fellowship the early church was marked by “breaking of bread” (observing the Lord’s Supper.) This seems odd to us, but if you study Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 11 you will find that the early church held a far different view of the Lord’s Supper than we do today. The Lord’s Supper was prominent When describing the church the third thing mentioned is the Lord’s Supper. If you were to describe a church today how far down…
Proverbs
Before we look at the Prophets, we need to discuss several other books, namely the books of Poetry. We will begin with the book of Proverbs, a book that is filled with wisdom that mostly comes from Solomon. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young…
The Church is a Family
As we look at the Church in Acts 2 and following, we see a very tight-knit community. They are marked by: Constant fellowship The Church was constantly together. They were daily in each other’s homes. They were constantly gathering for worship and fellowship. They were a distinct community. Sharing of possessions The Christians freely shared their possessions. This was done without any compulsion. It is clear from Acts 5:4 that this sharing of needs was completely voluntary. They gave to…
Kings and Chronicles
David, the man after God’s own heart, has now been established as king. He has been told that the line of the Messiah will come through him, and that His kingdom will last forever. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and…
The Heart of Christian Community (John 17:20-24)
The second characteristic of the Christian church that we see in Acts 2 is community or fellowship. Almost instantly the people of God united together as one in hospitality and service. What brought about this change? A heart changed by the power of the Gospel. Fellowship cannot truly take place until the heart is changed. In John 17, we see Jesus praying and describing what His followers would be. The Church is One Jesus Christ only has one bride. The…
Saul and David
And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh; And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said…