Thinking Differently: Bringing Down The Strongholds Of Family Dysfunctions

Making Jesus Known and Loved

by: Rev. Leon Aguilera

Once again, I would like to discuss our vision for our Church.  At Lefferts Park Baptist Church, one goal should take precedence over all else: making Jesus known and loved.

The life of our church is based on the person and work of Jesus Christ. We want to share Jesus with the world around us, so that in knowing Him, they will come to love Him.

1. Making Him Known: through Evangelism & Education

To make Jesus known, we proclaim the free offer of God’s grace to sinners, urging them to repent and believe in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul has described our work as a ministry of reconciliation. We call men to make peace with their Creator by believing in His Son. There is no salvation apart from Christ, so if we desire to see men saved, we must preach Christ and Him crucified!

    We baptize new believers in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and then we follow the Great Commission by teaching them to be disciples. To be a disciple of Christ means to follow both His teaching and His example. Through our preaching and teaching, we set forth biblical doctrine, and through our ministries and worship service we offer believers the opportunity to bring glory to God by their obedient service.

2. Making Him Loved: through Obedience & Fellowship

To make Jesus loved, we follow His example. Jesus breaks bread with His disciples, and He calls them brothers.

To grow in love for our Savior and His people, Lefferts Park fosters a sense of community, bringing believers together for worship, fellowship, learning and spiritual growth. In all this we emphasize our Lord’s words when He said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).

Together, we study God’s Word and experience His goodness as we learn to be conformed to the image of His Son. We strive to make Jesus loved by loving one another and loving the people in our community to whom God has sent us as witnesses.

Let’s do our part to make Jesus known and loved today and every day.

Thinking Differently: Bringing Down The Strong Holds Of Family Origins

Thinking Differently: Why Is It So Hard?

Where Do You Live?

by: Rev. Leon Aguilera

Hebrews 12:22-24, “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

                                                                                                                                                                       

As God describes His children and their dwelling and their lives in this passage, He blends together the present and the future, and He forgets the past. I am so glad He does! God, who lives in eternity, looks at you and I as already being seated in the heaven beside Him. Our part is to live by faith, accepting and claiming what God has declared to already be true. No, we cannot see it yet with our eyes, but faith sees what is invisible. Let’s look at the privileges of those who live in Zion.

Sion – Lack of Prejudice. First, there is no prejudice to those who live in Sion. It is true that the book of Hebrews was written predominantly for Hebrew people, but the promises are for everyone who is a believer. God is not prejudiced. Sion is not simply for the Jew. Now, in Christ we are one. The Scripture says we are no longer Jew, Gentile, Greek, bond, free, male, or female; we are all one in Christ. (Galatians 3:28) That means all of us can enjoy all of the privileges of this relationship with God through faith in Christ. The world may be divided by racial and ethnic prejudice, but Jesus erased all of those divisions.      

Sion – Premier Location. Second, Sion offers us an incredible location. In the real-estate business, they say that the three most important factors in pricing a property are location, location, and location. Well, look at Sion’s location. Verse twenty-two says we are come “unto the city of the living God.” You cannot beat that! The Greek word for city means “a community with walls”. In Bible times, walls were vital to the defense of a city. Without them, you had no means of security or protection. Compare that to Sinai. In the wasteland of the desert, there were no defenses. It was wide open – every man for himself. There was no law, no order, no security, and no safety. Now, we have a home in the city of the living God.

Sion – Enduring Construction. Third, Sion offers us an enduring home. Buildings built here on earth are subject to decay. Over time, the elements and the wear and tear of use make our buildings grow old and decay. But, Sion is built with materials that will last. The Bible says that each gate of the Holy City is made from a single pearl. A thousand-year-old pearl is just as strong and beautiful as a brand new one. It does not age or decay. The street of Heaven is made with pure gold. If you have some 500-year-old gold that you want to get rid of because it is old, bring it by my house! Gold does not age or decay. All the materials used in the New Jerusalem are perfect, because everything in Heaven is perfect. By the way, if we keep that in mind – that we are heading for an enduring home – we will not get so bent out of shape about what’s happening in the here and now.

Sion – Wonderful Neighbors. Fourth, Sion provides us wonderful neighbors. Verse twenty-two says that in Heaven there is  “an innumerable company of angels”. Heaven is filled with angels praising and worshiping God. Oh, what wonderful neighbors! Verse twenty-three says, we will also live with “the general assembly and church of the firstborn”. In Bible days, the firstborn son received the greatest blessings and the largest share of the inheritance. What god is telling us here is the through His grace, we get to share in all the privileges of His firstborn Son. All the believers of all the ages will be our neighbors. Sometimes, Christians do not get along very well here on earth. But, there all of us will be perfect; we will get along wonderfully with all of our neighbors.

Sion – Presence of God. Verse twenty-four says, “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant”. Now, there are many different names and titles of Jesus, but here He is called the Mediator of the new covenant. The old covenant was the Mosaic Covenant – given at Sinai. God gave Moses the law, but the law never saved a soul and never brought peace to a broken heart. Jesus came to bring a new covenant. He not only provided for the covering of sins, which the sacrifices had done; He provided for the cleansing of sins, which animal sacrifices could never do. A mediator is someone who brings harmony between two parties there are at war. We were at war with God over our sins. We are sinners by nature, and we are sinners by choice. But Jesus stepped in and mediated between God and man. In Sion, we get to live in His presence. Why would anyone live in Sinai? Come live in Sion with its lack of prejudice, its wonderful location, its enduring construction, and its wonderful neighbors.

Christ Our Life

Why Sion Citizens Succeed

by: Rev. Leon Aguilera

Hebrews 12:17-22, “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.”

From Sinai to Sion. Sion citizens succeed because they move on from Sinai. What helps us transition from law to

grace, from works to worship, from struggle to success, and from burden to blessing? It is simply moving ahead. Sion is another name for the city of Jerusalem. You cannot get to Sion without first going to Sinai. You must understand and establish God’s holiness before you move on. Sinai educated us in God’s laws. It is there that we learn the vital importance of both personal and corporate worship. Once that is done, what is next? Your focus needs to be on developing a dynamic personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sion – A Place of Faith. Sion citizens succeed because they exercise their faith. Out of all the perhaps two or three million Israelites, only two adult men got in to the country where Sion is, Joshua and Caleb. Moses sent twelve men in to spy out the land. Ten of them came back saying that, while the land was blessed with abundant crops, the inhabitants were too strong to defeat. Only Joshua and Caleb trusted in God and believed that He would give them the victory. As a result of their lack of faith, the entire generation perished in the wilderness without ever reaching Sion. When the forty years of wandering were over, God brought them back to the border and placed another test in front of them. By the way, before you get to Sion, you can count on it that God will put impossibility in your path just as He did to them.

Sion – A Place of Sacrifice. Sion citizens succeed because they sacrifice. Sion has great historical significance. It was a place where God’s people came to offer sacrifices unto Him. Sion is where Abraham took his son Isaac, and they built and altar. There, Isaac lay on the altar; and Abraham willing to sacrifice his son, but God sent a ram, which was a picture of Jesus Christ. Sion is where David bought the threshing floor of Araunah to offer a sacrifice to God after he sinned by numbering the people. He said, “Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24) Most importantly, Sion is the place where the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was crucified. One of the reasons you continue to grow spiritually after arriving in Sion is that it is a place of making sacrifice unto God. If you want to be a citizen of God in the city of Sion, then you must be prepared to make sacrifices. There is no way you will ever endure the adversity unless you are a sacrificial giver. Sacrifice involves so much more than just money. We ought to tithe; we ought to give offerings unto the Lord, but we ought to live our lives sacrificially for God. It is only when we are willing to sacrifice that we maximize our potential for spiritual development and growth.

Sion – A Place Called Home. Sion citizens succeed because they make Sion their home. Verse twenty- two says, “But ye are come unto mount Sion”. That phrase in the language of the Bible is very precise. It is not talking about coming for visit; it is talking about moving in to a permanent residence. The idea is to decide that you are going to live in the presence of God. If you read John 15, you will see Jesus talking about abiding in Him. That is what this verse means. Coming to Sion means that we are living in the presence of Jesus. After a long day at work, I look forward to going home. That is a place of refuge for me. Roseann and I love each other, and so we want to spend time together. We often forget that while those of us who are saved have an eternal future waiting for us in Heaven, we also have the obligation and opportunity to live in Sion – “the heavenly Jerusalem” right now. Do not live in isolation from God. Do not view Him as being distant and unapproachable as the people did at Sinai. Jesus has opened the way into His presence through His blood. That means you and I can have the same kind of dynamic relationship with God here on earth that we will enjoy in Heaven. By the grace of God, we can live in Sion and be successful citizens in His country.