One of the most beautiful pictures of unselfishness is found in this poem:
One Solitary Life
By Rev. James Allan Francis
A photo of Christ on the Cross
How would you define SELFLESSNESS? I asked this question on the computer and the first four answers that came up were interesting:
Not so long ago I told a story about a soldier who during war stood up to warn his comrade about enemy fire. As a result of warning the other man he was killed by a sniper. When his company returned home, he met the family of the man who lost his life by making himself a target to the enemy. He spoke with them after the award ceremony and the son of the man who gave his life for him asked him a searching question, "Mister, was it Worth It?"
Have you ever read Hebrews 1:9 in light of our message?
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
What is the key to JOY?
JESUS WAS BORN 100% UNSELFISH. JESUS DIED BECAUSE THERE WAS A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR SIN.
SIN WILL TAKE YOU FURTHER THAN YOU WANT YOU TO GO
SIN WILL KEEP YOU LONGER THAN YOU WANT TO STAY
SIN WILL COST YOU MORE THAN YOU WANT TO PAY
"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7-8
100% MEANS TO GIVE ONE'S LIFE. LET THE BIBLE SPEAK:
The Bible tells us: that life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:14).
Hebrews 9:22 says, "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission [forgiveness]."
FOUR VERSES, THAT OPENS OUR EYES TO THE SEPARATION THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE FALL:
I NEED TO AMPLIFY THIS:
4 For if God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but threw them into hell and sent them to pits of gloom to be kept [there] for judgment; 5 and if He did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought [the judgment of] a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was tormented by the immoral conduct of unprincipled and ungodly men 8 (for that just man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by what he saw and heard of their lawless acts) - 2 Peter 2:4 (AMP)
"YEARS I SPENT IN VANITY AND PRIDE
CARING NOT MY LORD WAS CRUCIFIED"
Song 157 in the song book "SONGS OF PRAISE"
Pastor Cleddie Keith
One Solitary Life
By Rev. James Allan Francis
A photo of Christ on the Cross
He was born in an obscure village,
a child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village
\where he worked in a carpenter shop
until he was thirty.
Then for three years
he was an itinerant preacher.
He never had a family.
Or owned a home.
He never set foot inside a big city.
He never traveled two hundred miles
from the place he was born.
He never wrote a book or held an office.
He did none of the things
that usually accompany greatness.
While he was still a young man,
the tide of popular opinion
turned against him.
His friends deserted him.
He was turned over to his enemies.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While he was dying
his executioners gambled
or the only piece of property he had, his coat.
When he was dead,
he was taken down
and laid in a borrowed grave.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
and today he is still the central figure
for much of the human race.
All the armies that ever marched,
All the navies that ever sailed
And all the parliaments that ever sat
And all the kings that ever reigned
Put together
have not affect the life of man
Upon this earth
As powerfully as this
One Solitary Life.
How would you define SELFLESSNESS? I asked this question on the computer and the first four answers that came up were interesting:
- Donating a kidney to a stranger in need of a transplant. WE HAVE AND EXAMPLE OF THIS IN OUR CONGREGATION.
- Serving in the military to protect the freedoms of others. WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IN THE VETERANS IN OUR CONGREGATION.
- Volunteering time and resources to help those affected by natural disasters. WHEN THE HURRICANES TORE THROUGH LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI WE HAVE AN EXAMPLES OF THAT IN OUR CONGREGATION AND ALSO THERE ARE THOSE THAT WERE THERE IN MEXICO CITY THE DAY THAT THOUSANDS DIED IN 1986.
- Adopting and caring for children in foster care or orphanages. WE HAVE A FAMILY THAT HAS ADOPTED AND CARED FOR OVER 100 CHILDREN IN THEIR HOME OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS AND THEY STILL HAVE FOSTER CHILDREN IN THEIR HOME TODAY.
Not so long ago I told a story about a soldier who during war stood up to warn his comrade about enemy fire. As a result of warning the other man he was killed by a sniper. When his company returned home, he met the family of the man who lost his life by making himself a target to the enemy. He spoke with them after the award ceremony and the son of the man who gave his life for him asked him a searching question, "Mister, was it Worth It?"
Have you ever read Hebrews 1:9 in light of our message?
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
What is the key to JOY?
Jesus FIRST
Others SECOND
You THIRD
JESUS WAS BORN 100% UNSELFISH. JESUS DIED BECAUSE THERE WAS A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR SIN.
SIN WILL TAKE YOU FURTHER THAN YOU WANT YOU TO GO
SIN WILL KEEP YOU LONGER THAN YOU WANT TO STAY
SIN WILL COST YOU MORE THAN YOU WANT TO PAY
"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7-8
100% MEANS TO GIVE ONE'S LIFE. LET THE BIBLE SPEAK:
The Bible tells us: that life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:14).
Hebrews 9:22 says, "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission [forgiveness]."
FOUR VERSES, THAT OPENS OUR EYES TO THE SEPARATION THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE FALL:
"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" -- Isaiah 14:12
"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings." -- Ezekiel 28:17
"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." -- Revelation 12:7-9
"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment." - 2 Peter 2:4
"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings." -- Ezekiel 28:17
"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." -- Revelation 12:7-9
"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment." - 2 Peter 2:4
I NEED TO AMPLIFY THIS:
4 For if God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but threw them into hell and sent them to pits of gloom to be kept [there] for judgment; 5 and if He did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought [the judgment of] a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was tormented by the immoral conduct of unprincipled and ungodly men 8 (for that just man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by what he saw and heard of their lawless acts) - 2 Peter 2:4 (AMP)
"YEARS I SPENT IN VANITY AND PRIDE
CARING NOT MY LORD WAS CRUCIFIED"
Song 157 in the song book "SONGS OF PRAISE"
Pastor Cleddie Keith