CHURCH4U2: Matthew 14:23 – After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

Daily Sermon ILLustration-Can’t Get Rid of the Holes

Can’t Get Rid of the Holes Someone tells the story of a boy who was rebelling against his dad constantly. This boy was destroying his own life by his rebellion, but he refuse to heed his father’s words. One day, the dad said to the boy, "I want to show you what you’re doing to your life. I’m going to put a wooden post in our front yard. Every time you rebel, I will put a nail in this post. Every time you obey, I will pull out one nail." The first thought from the boy was, "I’m going to do everything I can to fill that post with nails." And he did. In two months’ time, he filled that post with nails. But he also began to feel the damage he was doing to his own life and to his parents’ lives. With true remorse, the boy began to obey his father. One by one, the nails came out. When the last nail came out of the post, the boy both broke down in tears. The dad asked, "Son, why are you crying?" And the boy replied, "I got rid of the nails, but I can’t get rid of the holes." God the Father saw the nails and the posts of our lives, and He saw our helplessness against sin. So He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to gather the nails and the posts from those who would let Him. And because of His love for us, Christ allowed Himself to be nailed on the posts, where He willingly paid the consequence of our sin. Romans 6:23 tells us, "For the [consequences] of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." And this gift comes with God’s Spirit to train us to live holy lives. =(Church Iglesia) Added a new video to Church4u2TV "The Father's Song" http://WorldTV.com/Church4u2TV/?vid=3

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Matthew 14:23 – After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,

– Matthew 14:23 (NIV)

Today’s commentary

by Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org

Jesus was always connecting to his heavenly Father in prayer. The gospel accounts record that he would often be found in a lonely place praying. The pattern is pretty clear—Jesus found renewal in prayer. As Christians, why would we think any differently? We are quick to do bible studies—even studies on prayer—but do we pray? To walk in the ways of Jesus is to seek God in prayer.

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