Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church at Ellerslie Eric Ludy

America is an amazing country, with an amazing heritage. And yet, somewhere along the journey it lost its compass. America’s north star used to be God’s glory. Now it’s self-entitlement. Modern America is now officially ruled by its stomach, its appetites, and its desires. And we are baiting the rest of the world to follow suit. How does a country so set-apart and different in its origins — so godly and good natured in its disposition, become like all the rest?
The sad tale of America’s fall from grace is not supposed to be our sad tale, too. This message was originally given nine years ago, but, Ellerslie is re-releasing it now in hopes that its timely and salient message will hearten the Body of Christ in this hour and encourage us to remember the value of self-relinquishment and throw overboard these toxic notions of self-entitlement . . . before it is too late.
Take this message even deeper with our https://ellerslie.com/americanized-self-at-the-center/ (Daily Thunder discussions on this message). Learn more at https://ellerslie.com/daily/ (ellerslie.com/daily/)

The “double-life” has become all to common amongst the leaders of the church today. Many are upright, pure, and morally sharp when in the public eye, but then behind closed doors, become something altogether different.
Simply put, this duplicity destroys the witness of Christ and it undermines the Church. It’s a hazardous, toxic lifestyle that is not a part of true Christianity. The Church cannot and must not shrug its shoulders at this dangerous trend toward a passive acceptance of hypocrisy.
While Eric Ludy is out of town on a speaking trip, Ellerslie is freshly releasing this sermon classic from the archives. Originally delivered nine years ago, it is our prayer that its re-release proves a timely exhortation to the Body in this hour of compromise.
Take this message even deeper with our https://ellerslie.com/pastor-lives-a-double-life/ (Daily Thunder discussions on this message). Learn more at https://ellerslie.com/daily/ (ellerslie.com/daily/)

Weakness is sort of like manure.
According to most people manure is generally considered a stinky thing — something to get rid of and purposely avoid stepping in. But there are some that look at manure and don’t think “stinky” when they see it — they think “valuable”. A gardener searches high and low for manure, and even is willing to pay top dollar to get it. Why? Because it is an amazing fertilizer. It’s turns struggling gardens into flourishing gardens.
The same is true with weakness.
When weakness is cherished as opposed to complained about, it transforms the lives of those that embrace it. And strangely, contrary to its name, it makes one stronger. Just as stinky manure makes a flower garden more fragrant, so situations of weakness, dependence, and humility cultivate serious strength into the life of the believer in Christ. It’s God’s brilliant pattern for building might into the life of His children. But, this grand secret of strength is often missed by Christians because they spend their life strategically avoiding this catalyst of power instead of joyfully tilling it into their soul garden. God deliberately chose weakness as His thoroughfare by which His heavenly strength enters this earth. Let’s embrace His brilliant plan.
Take this message even deeper with our https://ellerslie.com/the-brilliance-of-weakness/ (Daily Thunder discussions on this message). Learn more at https://ellerslie.com/daily/ (ellerslie.com/daily/)

It would seem that Christianity has gone milk-toast. It’s soggy in the very places it should be stout, and it is timid in the very sectors of culture that it must be bold. So many modern Christians have not been constructed for trials and tribulations and, as a result, their unsteady and uncertain foundations are beginning to show in this hour of testing. But God has a remedy for this. His Holy Spirit was given to the Church to bring a deep soul-level certainty of faith that removes all milk-toast behavior and, instead, builds in a rousing courage and bold conviction. In an age of shrinking wafflers, we need the return of bravehearted confessors. For this to happen, we need to unabashedly live out and shout out the Truth of God’s Word. We must step out of our spiritual diapers, spit out our pacifiers, set down our sippy cups, and start behaving as the grown up Church of Jesus Christ.
Take this message even deeper with our Daily Thunder discussions on this message. Learn more at https://ellerslie.com/daily/ (ellerslie.com/daily/)

The enemy is working overtime attempting to discourage the saints of God. His disinformation campaign is loud and incessant, beckoning believers to lay down their spiritual weapons and accept imminent defeat. And this is why a message like this is critical for this hour of need. We, as the Church, must be reminded that our God specializes in impossible situations and has a perfect track record throughout history in turning the enemy’s boastings into eaten crow. Our God is a winner. He won at the Cross and that victory is sure — even today. This means that, contrary to the enemy’s propaganda, our God is actually the One who is going to pull out the victory in this hour. The Church may indeed suffer in this season, but every bit of that suffering WILL BE converted into a powerful advantage for both the cause of Truth in this world and for the glory of our illustrious King forever.

Human propensity leads us to attempt to do marvelous things for God . . . but without the enablement of God. This mistake is likely the one most often made in the life of the Christian — having great intentions to live triumphantly for Jesus without the necessary power to perform any of these great intentions.
In the book of Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven we see God’s pattern for constructing His heavenly army. At the start of chapter thirty-seven, we see an army in a useless condition, then as the chapter progresses, we see it matured and built soundly but still without the power to perform. And finally, we see the necessary supernatural impetus enter the story — we see the Holy Spirit enter into that army and activate it for real battle.
The Church of Jesus Christ is in desperate need of the very same infusion of power. This is a message about the impelling strength of the Holy Spirit in the life the Church. God intended us to have heaven-sized vision, yes, but with the heavenly empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
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