Pastor Rick Hudgens |
Healthy Relationships
Sunday/May/2009 13:07
Peter says in verse 15 of Chapter 3: "Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope that you have." Peter knew
from experience how important and difficult those
moments could be.
Remember the night of Jesus' arrest and crucifixion?
Three times Peter had been asked to give an answer
concerning his relationship with Christ. Three times he
blew it. He didn't know what to say. He was afraid and
ashamed to speak of Jesus. It was his lowest moment as
a disciple.
Here is a current example: A man named Al Braca worked
on Wall Street as a corporate bond trader. He really
didn't like his job. As a follower of Christ, he often
felt out of place in the cutthroat, competitive
environment in which he worked. But he stayed on,
believing that God wanted him to be a light in the
darkness. On the morning of September 11, he was
working in his office on the 105th floor of Tower One.
After the plane hit, Al began ministering to his
co-workers on the floor. E-mails and voice messages
describe Al praying with people and comforting them.
When it became clear that they weren't going to get
out, he gathered about 50 of his colleagues together
and shared the message of Christ's love and eternal
life with all of them. Moments later, the tower
collapsed, and Al was ushered into heaven. Perhaps he
brought some people with him.
Al was ready to give an answer for the hope that was
within him. Most of us, Lord willing, will never find
ourselves in such an awful moment. Every day we rub
shoulders with people who are hurting, who are far from
God, who are not prepared for eternity. Are we living
such good lives that people are prompted to turn to us
in a time of need, to ask us to share our secret with
them? And when they do ask, are we prepared to give an
answer? To speak of Christ and our faith in him? To
invite them to church or Bible study? You don't have to
know all the answers; you just have to be willing to
say something, to tell what God has done in your life.
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Pastor Rick Hudgens | A
Healthy Spiritual Appetite
Sunday/May/2009 13:14
Do you feel like the pressures of today’s
lifestyle have poisoned your life? An antidote is a
substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. Join
us for this series as we continue to study how we can
find God's antidotes in scripture. Today we look into 1
Peter chapter 2.
I wonder if you’ve heard the true story of a duke
named Raynald III? In Thomas Costain's history, The
Three Edwards, he described the life of Raynald III, a
fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly
overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin
nickname, “Crassus,” which means "fat."
After a violent quarrel, Raynald's younger brother
Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward
captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he
built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and
promised him he could regain his title and property as
soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not
have been difficult for most people since the room had
several windows and a door of near-normal size, and was
locked or barred. The problem was Raynald's size. To
regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. But
Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a
variety of delicious foods. Instead of dieting his way
out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Duke Edward
was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: "My
brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so
wills."
Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn't
released until after Edward died in battle. By then his
health was so ruined he died within a year...a prisoner
of his own appetite.
In today’s study, Peter challenged the believers
to have a healthy spiritual appetite. They were to
desire the word of God. So I ask today, how is your
appetite? What are you hungry for? How is your desire
for the word of God?
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Pastor Rick Hudgens | From
this Day Forward
Wednesday/May/2009 18:04
During the late 19th century, many Americans
romanticized about distant and unexplored lands; the
more exotic a place seemed, the more exciting it was.
Newspapers and magazines covered the fascinating story
of Admiral Richard Byrd's second trip to the South Pole
in 1935. In his journal Byrd wrote about the 180th
meridian.
The 180th meridian is an imaginary but important
marker. It is the International Date Line. When a
traveler crosses it, he either adds a day or subtracts
a day, depending on his direction.
Admiral Byrd spoke of his experience of flying
southward to the pole: "All the time we continued
flying as closely as possible along the 180th meridian.
Even without wind drift–for which adequate
correction can be made–it is obvious that no
navigator can fly exactly along a mathematical straight
line. Consequently, we were zigzagging constantly from
today into tomorrow, and back again into yesterday."
This describes a condition of the church today. We tend
to drift toward what is comfortable and familiar when
we need to be facing our future with faith and
confidence. The Apostle Paul stated it like this:
“one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead”. (Philippians
3:13b) The prophet Isaiah says it with clarity: "Forget
the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
(Isaiah 43:18)
Pastor Rick brings another landmark message as he
reveals the results of the recent refocus process and
presents our newly designed core values and mission
statement for North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene.
Today’s message is to be a declaration of the
future of our church!
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