Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church At Ellerslie

We are commanded to remember God's works. However, remembering is not a passive activity, but a very active one. We must labor to remember. We must discipline our mind to hold on to the wondrous works of God.

The God we serve is not random, He is not capricious. In fact, the Scriptures declare Him to be unchanging—always the same! But, if He truly IS always the same, what is He like? Because, whatever He is like—He will ALWAYS be that way. This message explores the nature of our God that is unbendable, unbreakable, unalterable, and inviolable. Oh, and is also, astoundingly wonderful!

Eric has been hitting on the theme of courage and bravery time again over this past year. And here he goes again. This is a powerfully practical message about “taking courage” in the midst of the harrowing and heart-stopping moments of life. "Playing the Man" doesn’t mean gritting and growling in your own natural manpower—it means allowing the courage of The Man, Jesus, to function as your courage in response to every curve ball life pitches your way.

As Believers, we are in the midst of a battle and we have an enemy that is seeking to devour us. And this is why it is imperative that we don’t just have a faith that is adept with the doctrines of Christianity, but one that is triumphant in the Person of Christianity—Jesus Christ. It can be easy to grow lazy in our souls and be lulled to sleep by the coziness of earthly comforts. But Christianity is active engagement in the art of total dependence on the Living God—and that’s how we stay alert in this battle and win this thing.

The Christian life is supposed to be all about Jesus. This message reminds us about the North Star of the Scriptures and shows us how to set our life compass as believers.

The Christian life is an abundant life, but that abundance is only found when the believer relinquishes everything in order to get it. The Cross is the starting point on the grand journey toward the wealth of the Kingdom, and yet, the Cross is a place of “giving up everything” and “surrendering all.” The yearning to hold on to the riches of this world, and the refusal to let the personal riches go, have proven to be the two soul actions most responsible for hindering the forward movement of faith. This message explores this critical aspect of spiritual momentum and shows the brilliance of entrusting everything to God.

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

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. 

This message functions as both a Sunday sermon and the very first episode in Eric Ludy’s spring Daily Thunder series, entitled Becoming Brave, that explores the mechanical construct of spiritual and moral bravery. This initial episode enunciates the biblical foundation for living with heavenly courage in a world gone wrong. To hear the other episodes in this series visit https://ellerslie.com/daily/.

Why is it that someone can doctrinally understand something out of the Bible, and yet, not seem to be able to grasp that truth in their own personal life? This is a more common problem than most people realize. However, there is an elixir for this strange phenomenon. This message refers to this elixir as, “the personal touch”. It is essential that a student of The Word of God have that the Text personalized to their understanding so that the Bible becomes living to them.

Our human propensity is to pick the seat of honor. But Jesus came to save us from our natural propensities and to establish a new and altogether different behavior pattern in our lives. And in this new Kingdom behavior pattern, He intends to, not just convince us of the value of the low seat, but also empower us to select it . . . every time.

Waiting is hard, but it is the thoroughfare through which God brings blessing and beauty into our life. So many of us lose the lustre and the wonder that comes through waiting well, because we drain it through complaint, through frustration, and through self-pity. But, when we wait, as God has asked us to wait, the blessing that comes is always more than worth the challenge inherent in the waiting process.

Weakness is deemed by many as the arch-nemesis of happiness. Most of us would go to great lengths to avoid it at all costs. But in God’s system, earthly weakness (of any kind) is a catalyst to the formation of heavenly strength. And when the believer finally grips this fact, they can begin to take pleasure in this weakness, instead of fight it, beg it to go away, and waste its virtue through complaining. To rightly appropriate the power of weakness is one of the cardinal secrets of a successful Christian life.

To get the fullness out of your cereal-eating experience, you need to be a man or woman of quick action. If you don’t act in the short window supplied after the milk touches the flakes, the soggy soupy saucy stuff follows. The similarities between cereal eating and following Jesus are profound, and many of us have approached our obedience to Jesus as if it doesn’t matter how long it takes us to act. But, like cereal, there is a window of time when grace for action is being supplied. Let’s learn, as the Body of Christ, to take advantage of that window and not be the Soggy Cereal Man. Support this podcast

The human tongue, untamed and unharnessed, is a dangerous thing and is the leading cause of much of the heartache this world currently endures. But as James chapter three states, “Who can tame the tongue?’ The Christian has an answer to that question. God can tame the human tongue. And the Christian's tongue is supposed to demonstrate this fact. The Christian boasts a new tongue set free by the saving power of Christ’s work on the Cross. But, the question is, how many Christians today are are wielding this redeemed tongue to speak words that heal, supply hope, and offer heaven’s invite?  Support this podcast

The pop-culture of our day prizes exposure and being noticed. One of the key ideas behind any successful business venture is the marketing plan, and strangely this same notion has crept into the idea of a successful life. It is deemed wise and judicious to "make a name for yourself" and broadcast “you” to the world. Social media is grounded in this entire mentality. But, Christianity is built on a completely opposite premise. It’s built on something known as “the secret place”. It’s founded upon the notion of giving up the approval, the applause, and the support of this world and hiding your life in Jesus Christ in order to make His Name known. Support this podcast