Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church at Ellerslie Eric Ludy

There are two ways to build a house. One is with human ingenuity, human strength, and human determination. The other is with God-ingenuity, God-strength, and God-determination. Psalm 127:1 makes it clear that all house-building labor done in the human mode is vain. None of us wishes to waste our best energies on something that doesn’t hold eternal significance. And when you translate this same house-building truth to home-building, it becomes especially crucial. Because when it comes to something as sacred and precious as family — we really REALLY want to build it right.

There appear to be two seats in which the Christian can choose to sit. One of them, like the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, promises limitless earthly fulfillment while simultaneously accusing God of being a big bummer for prohibiting access to it. Psalm 1:1 describes this first seat as the “Seat of the Scornful”. But, there is another seat. And this second seat is a heavenly seat. And when we choose it over the first seat, God promises to indubitably supply all the fulfillment that He created us to discover. However, the glory of this second seat is only found when we let go of all the world’s promises of fleshly satisfaction derived from sitting in the first seat. And it is over this key decision in each of our lives that the spiritual realms wage their great war.
NOTE: We apologize for the sound issues in this episode. We almost didn't post this message due to sizable problems in the first 18 minutes. But, after trimming off the first 18 minutes, we felt like it was clear enough to still work as a solid, edifying message.

Jesus declared that just as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so also would Jesus be a sign to His generation (Luke 11:29-30). This message explores the meaning of the unique phrase, “The Sign of Jonah” and unpacks how this sign works in bringing people unto a dynamic faith.

Inconvenience is something that, as humans, we specialize in avoiding at all costs. And yet, the entire make-up of the Christian life is based upon not just being available to God-orchestrated inconvenience, but wholeheartedly embracing these amazing grace-endowed inconveniences. For in the lustrous folds of these challenges, weights, financial drains and directional detours is the rich consolation of Heaven.

Many Christians are stuck in “observation-mode” and have a difficulty putting their Christian beliefs into actual practice. They stay seated in the very moment that standing up is most needed. Action-mode is the operationally successful position to have the Christian life in. But, action, in and of itself, doesn’t lead to success. In fact, action absent the love of Christ can wholly undermine the Kingdom cause just as much as non-action can. It is action governed by love that changes the world. So, though getting up out of our seat is an important start, finishing the “rising up” action with love is essential. Are we ready for our Oscar Moment?

It is our human instinct to people-please. And some of us are more vulnerable to this strange phenomenon than others. But it is NOT our human instinct to God-please. Yet it essential for every believer to access the grace to rise above the pressures of the lowercase “t” they and learn to live for the pleasure of the capital “T” They. We are supposed to be avid, love-driven, grace empowered God-pleasers.