Everyone has an inner desire to draw near to God, but not everyone is drawn by faith. The people in our passage were drawing near to Jesus to get food for their stomachs. Like Simon the magician in Acts 8, they wanted to be a part of the spectacle. John 6:26 Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Why do we draw near to God? Is it because we think church attendance will magically make our life better? Many people who used to go to church can tell you that isn’t true.
Do we seek God so He will bless our business, our family, our marriage, and our life? Are we seeking the blessing or are we seeking to draw near to Jesus?
Going to church to seek a better life for yourself will leave you empty and cynical. I know this from personal experience while in college. John 6:27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.
Jesus is stamped with the Father’s own divine seal of approval. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Believing and living for Jesus constitutes doing the work of God.
This is a broad definition and very liberating. Everyone can do God’s work wherever they find themselves. We seek Jesus first, and then in faith we do our labors in this world as unto the Lord and not unto men. Our own talents and interests lead us into our hobbies and employment, but our faith in Jesus enables us to do these things for God’s glory and not our own.
My dad used to tell his three sons, “find what you love and learn to make a living at it.”
Jesus would say, “find what you love and by faith glorify and enjoy God with it.”
2010 03 07
Do You Believe This? John 11:17-27 Reverend Anthony R. Locke March 7th, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker John 11:17-27 English Standard Version 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of…
Stories of Faith (Nicodemus) — John 3:1-15
The Bible is filled with people who are apart of God’s redemptive story. What is your story? Do you see yourself in this book? Are you born into God’s family? Are you part of His new creation that He began in the resurrection?
Maybe you have been churched your whole life but never repented and trusted Jesus to save you. Maybe you harbor self-reliance in your heart because of your own good works or religious activities that you hope will be enough to get you into heaven. This false security is no security at all, but rather religious pride. How would you know if you are good enough to see God? When is being good, good enough? When will you be as good as God? Never.
Stop trusting yourself. Jesus has done enough for you to be forgiven. Trust His redemptive work alone.
You don’t need to remain unsure today about your eternal destiny. John the Apostle says that the Bible was written that we might know that we have eternal life. God wants you to know.
Begin your life of faith right now. Say, “Lord, I believe! Help me to believe more.” Chose today to trust the work of Christ to make you ready to live in His heaven forever more. This will be the beginning of your faith story as your life is united with God’s story of redemption.
2010 03 21
Reckless Adoration John 12:1-11 Reverend Anthony R. Locke March 21st, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker John 12:1-11 English Standard Version 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served,…
A House of Prayer — John 2:13-17
In Isaiah 56:7 God says that He will use our prayers to bring in the unchurched. these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Our world is in desperate need to be connected to God. Our effectiveness to connect others to God will only happen when we are fervent in our prayers.
We cannot reach out redemptively without the anointing of God’s Spirit which comes through prayer. We must pursue the Father’s business using the Father’s ordained and blessed methods.
God says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 that though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
If by faith we will pick up prayer as one of our chief activities as a church, then God promises divine power to pull down strongholds and establish His kingdom.
The Appeal of the King — John 12:12-19
The Appeal of the King John 12:12-19 Reverend Anthony R. Locke March 28th, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker Psalm 118:26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! John 12:12-19 English Standard Version 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to…
Removing the Shroud of Unbelief — John 20:1-8
Removing the Shroud of Unbelief April 4th, 2010 (Easter) at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker Reverend Anthony R. Locke John 20:1-8 Matthew 27:57-60 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then…
God CAN'T Leave Your Salvation to Chance
God can’t keep Himself from knowing the future and determining it’s outcome. It’s an unstoppable consequence of His sovereign power and omniscience.
And don’t begrudge God’s electing love. Don’t criticize God’s sovereign mercy which saves. 
Without God we won’t come to faith. God makes the difference. We should thank Him, not criticize His choices.
Christians need to stop grumbling about election.
To Live, Move and Have Being
If women have a right to predetermine the value of the life inside them, then what was wrong with slave owners removing liberty and freedom from a slave baby before it was born?
No one has the right to diminish the value of a life.
God is the source of life. We have person-hood by the power of God. To kill a baby is to kill a child of God.
We are not talking about a political issue or a single item in a list of topics discussed by the moral majority. We are talking about genocide. Abortion is genocide. The genocide isn’t focused on a race or religion. It’s an age based discrimination of the helpless, those without a voice and those without a defender. God is their defender. We need to join with God in the defense of His children.
Is Inerrancy A Bible Doctrine?
Inerrancy is not an intellectual construct that we build in our mind after we make a careful analysis of the data. Jesus considered the Bible to be without error. Inerrancy is a Bible doctrine.
To not embrace the doctrine of inerrancy is to pervert the Gospel and put your soul in danger.
We do not prove the Bible to be God’s word by labeling it inerrant as a matter of reason or logic. The Bible claims this for itself.
We should close the debates and refocus our collective energies.
Can We Ask Our Children to Pay Our Debt and Still Call Ourselves The Greatest Generation?
Every time Christians elect politicians willing to spend more in taxes than we collect, we cosign our good names to the generational theft from future generations. This is a great sin.
What is the role of the Church? We need to preach against stealing.
Is our national debt really stealing? It is no different than taking a credit card out in our child’s name. If we borrow for our own comforts, and borrow more than we can every hope to pay back, then we are shifting the responsibility for that debt to them. Regardless of our good intentions, that’s white collar crime.
The Greatest Generation will be known, by future generations, as the Morally Bankrupt Generation. We are borrowing money to give charity (Welfare, Medicaid and Food Stamps) on the backs of our grand-children. It will be known as the Greatest Crime in a Thousand Years.
Nehemiah tells us how to fix it if we are willing to get involved.
Why Use the ESV Bible?
From WTSBooks.com The ARP Denomination has selected the English Standard Version (ESV) as the translation of choice for Synod Christian Education materials. The First Presbyterian Church of Tucker has also embraced this Bible version. Below is a page from http://www.wtsbooks.com/content/about_esv which explains the benefits of this English version. Blessings to you as God transforms your life with His…
A Lament for the PC USA Church
Why did the ARP Synod call the PCUSA Church to repent? Because they have formally opened the door for practicing homosexuals to be ordained.
This is the last call for repentance as the ARP has now officially removed all connections between our denominations and severed our fraternal communications with the PCUSA. All of our military Chaplains are officially removed from the PCUSA endorsing board and have been transferred into the RPCNA.
We no longer recognize the PCUSA as a collection of believers being led by Christ. The PCUSA Church is being led by another spirit which is not the Holy Spirit. We no longer believe that Jesus is the head of that denomination.
We are calling on the faithful Christians left in that denomination to leave it. This sermon explains these issues.
Did Jesus Really Descend into Hell? — John 20:24-31
Confessing that Jesus descended into Hell tells us what really happened in the darkness. It is the real story told from God’s perspective. Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of the Christ” tells the story from Man’s perspective, but Jesus descended further. Jesus descended into Hell.
We all learned this in grade school. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It’s like saying, “step back from the trees and see the forest.”
The Apostle’s Creed provides the visible pieces to the puzzle. Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.
Not step back and get the big picture from God’s perspective — Jesus Descended into Hell.
This sermon also explains John Calvin’s position
Commissioned to Share the Gospel
By Rev. John Kimmons “Theology is worthless unless we live it.” Erick Metaxas says he learned this in his study on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was from a wealthy family of prominence and chose to go against popularity and the liberal theologians of his day. “The Cost of Discipleship for resisting Nazi…
Sowing the Seed for Church Growth
Rev. Sam Roper Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God, using two parables. We see Jesus employing farming imagery in order to teach us that the kingdom of God is a growing kingdom. The kingdom of God on earth is imperfect and incomplete, so growth is very important. The analogy of farming, then, is…
What Love Is This?
R.C. Sproul Love is something often talked about in today’s culture. There are countless love songs played on the radio each day. Many magazines claim on their covers to contain the magic formula for lasting love. The daily news often contains stories of the latest love interests of the rich and famous. Most of…
A Sanctity of Human Life Sunday Prayer
Rev. Matt Miller As your church celebrates Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, we recall a special prayer from one of our ARP ministers whose wife was pregnant when he delivered his January 2011 sermon and this prayer. Rev. Matt Miller (Greenville (SC)ARP Church) and his wife, Lindsay, are now the parents of a beautiful…
Synod Resources
Belief & Practice The Standards of the ARP Church (PDF) – Our Constitution Confession of Faith – PDF Larger Catechism – PDF Shorter Catechism – PDF Form of Government – PDF Book of Discipline – PDF Directory of Public Worship – PDF Position Statements Statements on Stewardship Abortion Homosexuality Scripture Women in the Life of…
What Day is Evangelism Day?
scroll all the way down for the answer =) By now you have been through a blitz of various holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years – and now you’re looking towards Easter. But when is Evangelism Day? The obvious answer is: every day is Evangelism Day, because we have an opportunity to celebrate the grace,…
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