Guarding Self-Respect – Part 1
Your world is wobbling. You’ve lost your job and can’t find another one. Or, your spouse has filed for divorce. The doctor says you have a tumor that could be malignant. Maybe it’s just that you’re getting quite a bit older and you wish you could turn back the clock. Whatever it is, the situation has shaken you.
I Am God’s Child
I recall driving down to the south side of Chicago over twenty years ago for Operation Push rallies. Jesse Jackson would preach every week to large crowds of blacks, many of them poor. To them Jesse represented hope. Often he would get the people to chant with him. “I may be poor,” he would lead out, and they would respond, I may be poor. “I may be on welfare,” he would continue, and they would repeat, I may be on welfare. “I may not have a job.” I may not have a job. “But I am…” But I am… “Somebody…” Somebody… “I am…” I am… “God’s child.” God’s child. Then everyone would clap because the truth was powerful and freeing. And it needed to be rehearsed over and over because too often the world shouted at these people, “You are nothing!”
In these changing times, many individuals—not just African Americans—need to be convinced of this truth. “I am somebody. I am God’s child.”
“Know,” writes the psalmist, “that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His” (Ps. 100:3). That truth seems so basic, you might think it hardly worth mentioning. Yet a lot of Christians don’t live in the reality of the psalmist’s words.
Actually, that’s the first truth taught in the Scriptures. It’s the doctrine of Creation. Men and women are not the products of mere time and chance. Rather, it’s God Himself who made us. As human beings we are the pinnacle of God’s handiwork. He has given us dominion over all the rest of His creation. The most complex of His creatures, human beings have great dignity in this world.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
