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Sunday Sermon Preview - Join Us for a Heartfelt Sermon on Love and Resilience - October 20, 2024
Join Pastor Josh as he previews the upcoming Sunday morning service at Middletown Baptist Church on October 20, 2024. The central theme of the sermon, titled "Open Your Heart," comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 6, emphasizing the importance of opening our hearts to God’s love and the opportunities it brings. Pastor Josh reflects on the challenges of focusing on life's difficulties, encouraging us to fix our eyes on what God has done for us. He highlights the Apostle Paul's message to the Corinthians about the need to be open-hearted and to let go of self-centered affections. Micah, Pastor Josh's son, shares his thoughts on God's love, reinforcing the idea that when we love Him, He is able to work in our lives. Tune in to discover how understanding God's love can transform our relationships with Him and others.
Pastor Josh shares an enlightening preview of the upcoming Sunday morning service at Middletown Baptist Church, focusing on the theme of love and endurance as laid out in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. The sermon, titled 'Open Your Heart', emphasizes the importance of maintaining a wide-open heart to God's love, especially during life's challenges. Pastor Josh reflects on how easy it is to become bogged down by difficulties, urging listeners instead to fix their eyes on the unwavering love of God. He references Paul's message to the Corinthians, encouraging them to open their hearts not only to God but also to others around them, fostering a community rooted in love and understanding. A special moment in the episode features his son, Micah, who shares insights about the reciprocal nature of love between God and believers, highlighting that God can work powerfully in our lives when we embrace His love. As the episode concludes, Pastor Josh invites everyone to join the service, whether in person or via live stream, reinforcing the message that understanding and sharing God's love is the path to spiritual growth and resilience.
Takeaways:
- This Sunday's sermon will focus on opening our hearts to God's love and opportunities.
- The theme is based on 2 Corinthians chapter 6, emphasizing endurance through faith.
- Pastor Josh encourages us to look beyond life's difficulties and focus on God's love.
- Paul's message to the Corinthians reminds us that we must not constrain our hearts.
- Understanding God's love allows us to love Him and others more fully in our lives.
- Join us this Sunday, either in person or through our live streams, to connect.
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Transcript
Pastor Josh here.
Pastor Josh:I would like to give you a preview of our Sunday morning service on October 20 here at Middletown Baptist Church.
Pastor Josh:We're going to continue on in our study in the book of second Corinthians.
Pastor Josh:We're going to be in two corinthians chapter six, and we're going to be looking at a sermon entitled open your heart.
Pastor Josh:The Bible tells us that there's going to be times in our service to the Lord where we're going to go through ups and we're going to go through downsitive.
Pastor Josh:And sometimes it's easy to get focused on the difficulties and get overwhelmed with those difficulties.
Pastor Josh:But the Bible says when we keep our eyes fixed on what God has done for us and his love and we enlarge our hearts.
Pastor Josh:As two Corinthians chapter six says, when we open our hearts to the love of God and we're open to the opportunities to see his work in our life, we are able to move forward with that endurance that we talked about last week.
Pastor Josh:Our theme verses are going to be really found in two Corinthians chapter six, verses eleven through 13.
Pastor Josh:Paul says this in the inspiration of scripture, o ye corinthians, our mouth is open unto you.
Pastor Josh:Our heart is enlarged.
Pastor Josh:So what Paul is saying here is that, hey, we've opened our mouths to you.
Pastor Josh:In the truth of God, our hearts are open to you.
Pastor Josh:Our hearts are open to the Lord.
Pastor Josh:Now, you have to remember, the Corinthians were against Paul.
Pastor Josh:They were actually challenging him on his love for them.
Pastor Josh:But what Paul says is, hey, you can't blame me.
Pastor Josh:He says, ye are not straight, straightened or constrained or constricted in us, but you are straitened in your own bowels or your own affections.
Pastor Josh:Meaning it's not our fault that you are falling down from the pains of this life, but it is really, ultimately, you have turned your heart to the love of your own flesh, your love of your own Materialism in this world.
Pastor Josh:And so he says, now for recompense, in the same I speak as unto my children, be ye also enlarged, meaning widen or open your hearts to the love of God and to the love of others that God calls us to have in our lives.
Pastor Josh:And so I'm joined here with someone that I really love in my life.
Pastor Josh:That is my son, Micah.
Pastor Josh:Micah, go ahead and say what you want to say about love.
Pastor Josh:What is a good thing about God's love in your life?
Micah:He can.
Micah:If we love him, then he can do stuff for us.
Pastor Josh:Yeah, well, he can do stuff for us all the time.
Pastor Josh:But when we love him and we understand the Bible says that we love him because he first loved us and so we can love him more by understanding his love for us and our lives.
Pastor Josh:So Micah and I would love to see you on Sunday morning here at Middletown Baptist Church.
Pastor Josh:If you're not able to make it to us here in person we are going to be posting this on the podcast stream on Monday morning but also we live stream on Facebook and YouTube and we would love for you to be a part of the service in some way here this Sunday.
Pastor Josh:So remember, open your hearts to the love of God, understand what he has done for you and as we understand that love we can turn around and show that love back to him and to others and so looking forward to seeing what God can do with us as we submit ourselves to him.
Pastor Josh:Well hope you have a great weekend.
Pastor Josh:We will see you Sunday.
Pastor Josh:God blessed.
