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River Church SermonsAuthor: Lewis Marsh
This is the place to listen to CCR's weekly Sunday morning sermons. Messages that are based on the Bible, seek to honor Jesus, are Gospel centered and filled with faith and hope. Language: en Genres: Christianity, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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07 Living In the Last Days - Hanging Tough
Sunday, 12 April, 2026
Living In The Last Days Pt. 7: Hanging Tough By Louie Marsh, 3-12-2026 You know you're in trouble when.... • Your accountant's letter of resignation is postmarked from Zurich. • You're taking a bus to the bank to make your car payment. • You take assertiveness training, but you're afraid to tell your wife. • You tell a barber what you think of his prices before he cuts your hair. • You see your stockbroker hitchhiking out of town. • The plumber floats by on your kitchen table. • Your pacemaker comes with a 30-day guarantee. • Your wages are paid out of petty cash. • The pest control guy crawls under your house and never comes out. IN TOUGH TIMES I NEED TO… 1) DECIDE to deepen my spiritual life starting NOW!. "3We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring." (2 Thessalonians 1:3–4, ESV) · Growing FAITH & LOVE are two signs my spiritual life is deepening. Paul uses a compound Greek verb meaning growth above expectations – huper from which we get hyper. Trouble Makes My Faith Grow By… · Making me face UNPLEASANT truths. · Testing to see if I'm LIVING a supernatural life. 2) TRUST GOD to bring about justice. "5This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels" (2 Thessalonians 1:5–7, ESV) 3) Compassionately REACH OUT to the lost. "8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed." (2 Thessalonians 1:8–10, ESV) Hell is horrible because it goes on forever – you are eternally brought to "complete ruin" as it says literally. Hell is even worse because you are shut away from God completely. That's why it won't be a party – ALL GOOD THINGS are absent from Hell. There is nothing there but evil and pain. This ought to motivate us! 4) FOCUS on giving Glory to Jesus! "12so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:12, ESV) 5) BELIEVE that God will fulfill His purposes in my life. "11To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power," (2 Thessalonians 1:11, ESV) 6) YBH – YES BUT HOW? · Pay attention to my HEART. "23Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23, ESV) Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 (NAS) Keep means to watch over and protect – what many of us do in the name of guarding our hearts is actually hardening and kill it! This doesn't mean to suck it up – be tough – shut down your emotions – and ACT okay when you are not. Rather it means to be authentic and open before the Lord on all occasions about everything – and as open with others as you can be. "34You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34, ESV) The heart "spurts out" good or evil according to the supply within. 1) as ejection by force throw out, expel, drive out; (2) as expelling or excluding without force repudiate, send away, let go. "18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." (Matthew 15:18, ESV) Out of the mouth. Spoken words come out of the heart and so are a true index of character. · An open heart to God is the KEY to real spiritual depth. "14Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: " ' "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive." 15For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'" (Matthew 13:14–15, ESV)
