Sunday evening Sermon: Praying for the Harvest

This YouTube video was supposed to be used as an introduction to last night's sermon.




Below is an audio recording of the sermon I preached last night at First Assembly of God, in Brookfield, CT.  Please click the 'x' in the upper right corner of the media player below, to remove the sponsor ad, if you would like it removed.

Future recorded sermons will be uploaded to http://sermon.net/kurtmichaelson.

Where is your sin now?

A woman once came to me who was very upset.  After many ineffectual attempts, she was at last able to unburden her heart.  Fourteen years earlier she had killed a man and had borne the memory of the act upon her conscience until it had almost driven her crazy.  When she told the story to another Christian and myself, we turned to Isaiah 53:6. 

After reading the verse carefully to her, I asked her what the Lord had done with her sin.  After a few moments of deep and anxious thought, she said, "He has laid it on Christ."

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

I took a book in my hand.  "Now," I said, "let my right hand represent you, an dmy left hand Christ, and this book is your sin."  I laid the book upon my right hand, and I said, "Where is your sin now?"

Are You Justified and Made Perfect in Christ?

One of my favorite devotional books to read on my Kindle is Charles Spurgeon's Morning & Evening.  A few years ago I won a hard copy of the book from WMCA 570 AM radio, revised and edited by Alistair Begg.

Spurgeon's Morning and Evening is filled with wisdom and is a delightful book to read as a daily devotion.  There are other great devotionals too, like Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest and David Wilkerson Today, daily devotions from the founder of Times Square Church in New York City.

These two devotional messages though from Charles Spurgeon that I read today really do pack a punch regarding the justification of sinners through Christ and the perfection that He has made in them.  Christians forget this quite often, but when reminded it is quite refreshing. 

Unbelievers however, have a difficult time with this that someone else, namely Jesus Christ, is the one whom deserves the credit for making them worthy of forgiveness, redemption and salvation. 

Unbelievers want God to say that their good works done for Him is worthy of receiving His forgiveness, grace and mercy upon their soul, but that is not what the Bible says.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV.

I hope you will find these two devotional messages refreshing to your soul and if you have still struggled with trying to find God's forgiveness and grace through your own efforts, stop and look to the finished work of Christ upon the cross.  You will see that it is through faith in Him that you have been justified and made perfect before a holy and just God.

The Master Builder

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127:1

“Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it.” The word vain is the key-note here, and we near it ring out clearly three times. Men desiring to build know that they must labour, and accordingly they put forth all their skill and strength; but let them remember that if Jehovah is not with them their designs will prove failures. So was it with the Babel builders; they said, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower”; and the Lord returned their words into their own bosoms, saying, “Go to, let us go down and there confound their language.” In vain they toiled, for the Lord's face was against them.

Happy Mother's Day to My Mother

My Mom and I dancing at my wedding last August (2009).

Happy Mother's Day to you Mom.

I love you.

Her children rise up and call her blessed - Proverbs 31:28

Chaplain’s Call – 25 April 2010

For the past two years I have served as the Chaplain for the Westchester Detachment of the Marine Corps League. During that time we have lost 14 members of our detachment and thankfully I have not had to visit funeral homes that frequently on average of those deaths. These Marines though are from the “Old Corps,” guys that served either in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and as recent as Iraq or Afghanistan.

Often though, I find out about the death of these Marines mostly via email and wish that I might have been able to visit some of these guys before they pass on into eternity. Of course, as a Chaplain, as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I want to help these men to know with certainty that their sins have been forgiven and that if their faith is in Christ, for the salvation of their souls and not in any of the works they have done, to think would earn them a place in heaven that is the hope of eternal life I wish for them.

Well, this post is about a visit to the family of one of our deceased members, William F. Decker. I received an email informing me that he had died and that family and friends could come to the Funeral home in Valhalla, New York on Sunday evening, April 25th.