James Merritt

Oct 29, 2023 • 46 min

One of the greatest problems we have in the church is that we have too many people who have made decisions, but too few people who have become disciples. What we have in the church more often than not are not disciples; we have cultural Christians. These are people who proudly bear the label of Christian, but they don’t truly live the life of a disciple. The only cure for cultural Christianity is discipleship. In Luke chapter nine, Jesus tells us what it takes to become a disciple in just one sentence. I am going to reverse engineer what Jesus said and show you four marks of a cultural Christian. As I do, I want you to decide whether or not you are a true disciple or a cultural Christian. Free Sermon Guide for This Series: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-this-is-your-captain-speaking Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 Travel overseas with James and Teresa Merritt: https://connect.touchinglives.org/travel Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Sep 24, 2023 • 47 min

We are talking about hell today, because we are in a series that we are calling, “From Here To Eternity.” We are going through what the Word of God says about when we die, where we are after we die, and at the end of time when no one else will ever die physically. Though everybody dies, not everybody goes to spend eternity in the same place. There is a real heaven and a real hell, and we need to know what each of these final destinations entails so that we might have a sense of urgency to share the message of Jesus with those who have not secured their eternity in heaven. Free Sermon Guide for This Series: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-this-is-your-captain-speaking Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 Travel overseas with James and Teresa Merritt: https://connect.touchinglives.org/travel Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

May 7, 2023 • 45 min

In today’s message, we are going to look at the church in Thyatira, or as I like to call them, the church that failed the tolerance test. The way you fail the tolerance test is by tolerating what should not be tolerated. This church was tolerating something that it should not tolerate. It was putting up with something that it should have put out and put down. They thought they were broadening their thinking, but what they were really doing was stretching their conscience. They were choosing compromise over conviction. They were choosing comfort over confrontation. They were choosing peace over principle. In light of this, we are going to learn that when you tolerate what is wrong, you will always contaminate what is right. So in order to help us not fail the tolerance test, the Lord does three things that we need to know how to respond to correctly. Free Sermon Guide for This Series: https://connect.touchinglives.org/ser... Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/you... To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/073... Travel overseas with James and Teresa Merritt: https://connect.touchinglives.org/travel Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/dai... Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter:https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Apr 9, 2023 • 46 min

Today, we are going to look at the seventeenth chapter of the book of Acts. In our key passage, the Apostle Paul is in one of the greatest cities of the world at that time, Athens, and while he was there, he had the same challenge of sharing the truth of the resurrection that we have today. He wanted to bring the sunshine of Easter into the darkness of a lost city that is so much like the lost one we live in today. As we study his words, are going to learn why that empty tomb has such grave significance and how we can most effectively present the gospel to the world. Free Sermon Guide for This Message: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-grave-significance Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 Travel overseas with James and Teresa Merritt: https://connect.touchinglives.org/travel Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Feb 12, 2023 • 47 min

There is no greater illustration in the Bible of a complete and total conversion than of a man by the name of Paul. In fact, it may be the most famous conversion in history. His conversion is well documented. It is talked about in detail three times in the Book of Acts. In fact, the story of Paul’s conversion occupies more space in the New Testament than any other event except the crucifixion of Jesus. It may be the most intense, in-your-face, radical encounter with Jesus in all of the New Testament. But even though Paul has one of the most talked about conversion stories of all time, that doesn’t mean our own stories of conversion are any less miraculous. With that in mind, I want us in today’s message to look at three things that happen anytime someone experiences conversion. Free Sermon Guide for This Message: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-lost-in-translation Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 To Join James and Teresa Merritt in Egypt in 2023: https://signature.rezdy.com/496370/touching-lives-with-james-merritt-11-day-journey-to-egypt-may-22-june-1-2023 Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Jan 15, 2023 • 46 min

In today’s key passage of Scripture, we see a picture of a defendant in God’s courtroom. This courtroom has everything you would imagine. There is a judge. There is a defendant (that’s you). There is a prosecuting attorney. And as the defendant, you’re facing the question: will the verdict be “guilty” or “not guilty?” The answer to this question all depends on who you are and where you stand with the judge (God) before you enter that courtroom. Standing before the judge, we learn who our prosecuting attorney is going to be (Satan) and who our defense attorney will be (Jesus). So as we dive into this message and study this passage of Scripture, we are going to see how you can make sure when you stand before the supreme judge, you will hear the words, “Not guilty! Case dismissed.” Specifically, three things must happen for that to be the case. Free Sermon Guide for This Message: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-get-off-the-guilt-trip Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 To Join James and Teresa Merritt in Egypt in 2023: https://signature.rezdy.com/496370/touching-lives-with-james-merritt-11-day-journey-to-egypt-may-22-june-1-2023 Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Nov 27, 2022 • 46 min

So far in this series, we have talked to husbands, wives, and fathers. Today, we are going to talk to and about mothers. I know from both having one and being married to one that the dad may be the head of the home, but the mother is the heart of the home. I read one time where someone said, “A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.” That being said, it’s a tough task to be a mom, but thankfully Scripture gives us a great picture of what it looks like to be a model mom. In this message, we’re going to look at this example and learn from this model mom how to navigate through the tough times of life in such a way that the peace of God will comfort you, the joy of God will bless you, and the power of God will strengthen you. Free Sermon Guide for This Series: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-family-ties Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 To Join James and Teresa Merritt in Egypt in 2023: https://signature.rezdy.com/496370/touching-lives-with-james-merritt-11-day-journey-to-egypt-may-22-june-1-2023 Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Oct 30, 2022 • 46 min

Marriage is tough. Marriage is hard work. Dating reveals the best in you; marriage can reveal the worst of you. But that doesn’t mean marriage isn’t worth pursuing. Marriage was God’s ideal idea. It was His creation, and therefore it is meant for good. Does that mean it doesn’t come with challenges? Absolutely not. But it does mean that marriage can be an incredible tool of sanctification and a beautiful model of God’s relationship with us if we will lean into learning how God intended marriage to be. So with this in mind, let’s take a look at three principles of love and marriage we need to recapture in the present day. Free Sermon Guide for This Series: https://connect.touchinglives.org/sermon-booklet-family-ties Learn How to Share Your Faith: https://connect.touchinglives.org/your-best-news To purchase Dr. Merritt's New Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736985344/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i0 To Join James and Teresa Merritt in Egypt in 2023: https://signature.rezdy.com/496370/touching-lives-with-james-merritt-11-day-journey-to-egypt-may-22-june-1-2023 Take advantage of the free Christian resources from Touching Lives: Free Daily Devotional: https://connect.touchinglives.org/daily-devotional Free Mobile App: https://subsplash.com/touchinglives/app Free Monthly Bible Teaching Letter: https://secure.touchinglives.org/forms/account

Jun 19, 2022 • 45 min

The God we have been talking about throughout this entire series knows you better than anyone or anything. Just like He knew Moses, and He knew the Israelites, He knows you too. But the question of the day is this, “Do you know God?” Now the question is not, “Do you know about God?” The question is not even, “Do you believe in God?” The question I am asking is, “Do you know God personally?” Then I would follow up that question with this one, “How well do you know God?” I can answer that question for all of us. You know God as well as you want to. As we wrap up this series with today’s message, we are going to take a look at how we can come to know God deeply and personally.

Jun 12, 2022 • 46 min

The people of Israel had been treating God like a heavenly bellhop expecting Him to be at their every beck and call and give them everything they wanted when they wanted it. When Moses had lingered on that mountaintop meeting with God, they decide they would just take matters into their own hands. They would make a god more to their liking. The truth is, we all have “idol hands” that tend to either make the God we worship the God we want or make the god that we want the god that we worship. We’re going to learn today that if you are for God, you won’t put anything before God. You may not think that you have an idolatry problem. You may not even understand why we even have to discuss this issue, but when we see how we do choose false idols and what happens when we do, my prayer is it will cause all of us to give our total loyalty, complete love, and full life to the only true God there is.

May 29, 2022 • 45 min

We have been studying a man by the name of Moses in a series we are calling, “Red Sea Moments.” This great man of God was facing a Red Sea moment when he came to his own level of stress. He is leading two million of his people through wilderness and desert and they are burning up at times at the way he is doing it, and he is burning out trying. In the 18th chapter of Exodus, Moses had a moment and a meeting that didn’t just change his life, but it literally saved his life and helped him complete his tasks. It is not only very practical, but it is very spiritual. If you feel overworked and overwhelmed, now’s the time to admit it, because you will never be the father, the mother, the husband, the wife, the employee, or even the Christian that you should be as long as you stay there. Moses took three simple steps that kept him from burning out that you can take as well.

Dec 5, 2021 • 45 min

Christmas is a time for making plans. Everyone always seems to know exactly what they’re doing for Christmas. But I don’t think most of us know what we should do with Christmas. In his gospel, John tells us in the first chapter exactly what we should do with Christmas. He is not concerned about the where and the when of Christmas. He is more concerned about the who and the why behind Christmas. He looks at the birth of a king through the eyes of God. He is telling us the story behind the story. And in doing so, John tells us three things we should do with Christmas that we can also do every other day of the year.

Nov 28, 2021 • 49 min

One of the greatest problems we have in the church is that we have too many people who have made decisions, but too few people who have become disciples. What we have in the church more often than not are not disciples; we have cultural Christians. These are people who proudly bear the label of Christian, but they don’t truly live the life of a disciple. The only cure for cultural Christianity is discipleship. In Luke chapter nine, Jesus tells us what it takes to become a disciple in just one sentence. I am going to reverse engineer what Jesus said and show you four marks of a cultural Christian. As I do, I want you to decide whether or not you are a true disciple or a cultural Christian.

Jul 25, 2021 • 48 min

There are two sides to everyone’s life: the visible side and the invisible side, the side that everybody sees and the side that nobody sees. And what happens on one side can determine the success or failure of the other side. More specifically, how you deal with temptation on one side determines the success or failure of the other side. But we’re going to learn in this message is that temptation can be tamed. To do that, let’s look at what Paul has to tell us about temptation and see what we need to keep in mind so that we’re not overtaken by temptation.

Jul 11, 2021 • 47 min

The challenge we all face every day is confronting the things in life we can change and making the right decisions about those changes. Life really comes down to making decisions. You are who you are today, what you are today, and where you are today because of the decisions you have made in the past. Nobody understands the importance of being able to make wise decisions more than a king. As one of the greatest kings who ever lived, he clearly understood the value of decision-making and made a decision that, in turn, made him the great king that he was. God did something for this king that He will do for us, and if we will follow this king’s example, we can make decisions fit for a king.

Oct 4, 2020 • 46 min

Interestingly, work was not a human invention, it was actually God’s idea from the beginning. The very first command that God ever gave a human being was to work. Adam and Eve had barely taken their first breath when God said to them, “Your job is to be fruitful, to multiply and you are to subdue the earth. You are to rule over it and make it productive.” In fact, the very first time the word “work” is ever used in the Bible is used at the beginning of the biblical story, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Nobody is exempt if they are able from work. Even the Son of God came to do the work that God had given him to do. At the end of his life, Jesus said this, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). So it shouldn’t surprise us that the Word of God has something to tell us about work and how we should work. With that in mind, Paul showed people then how to live within that economic system and gave principles that apply to us today for those of us who work.

Sep 13, 2020 • 47 min

Let’s be honest. Forgiveness doesn’t come naturally, and it very rarely comes easily. It may be because of what the word means. The word “forgiveness” literally means “to let go” or “to send away.” It is a financial term that refers to the cancellation of a debt. When someone hurts you or does you wrong, they are in your debt. Forgiveness is your willingness on your own to simply write off cancel the debt. It is the willingness to simply say to a person who has done you wrong and really does owe you, “You don’t owe me anymore.” Sin is a debt that is owed. When you sin against someone you owe them. When they sin against you, they owe you. The only thing that pays the debt off is forgiveness, but when somebody is forgiven somebody has paid. Many of you need to become debt-free today. If you will take three simple steps, you can become just that.

Aug 30, 2020 • 46 min

You can tell a lot about your spiritual maturity with God by what you pray for and how you pray for it. But let’s be honest, we don’t always handle prayer the right way. In fact, there are two problems when it comes to prayer: we don’t know how to pray, and we don’t know what to pray for. At times our prayers are like throwing stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks. We are going to learn today that the greatest prayer you will ever pray and the prayer that you will know always makes a direct connect with God is the prayer that comes from God. God always answers every prayer that is according to His will, and any prayer that God tells you to pray reflects His will. We don’t always get what we pray for, but we always get what God wants us to pray for. From Ephesians 3, we get a one size fits all prayer that you can pray for anybody, anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances. Once you read it, you’ll realize you can’t pray a better prayer than this one.

Apr 19, 2020 • 47 min

You will discover there are two situations you cannot avoid. It is a situation that befalls all of us no matter how good a person you may be, no matter how hard you try, and no matter how nice you are you will be in one of these two situations. You will need to be forgiving or you will need to be forgiven. One of the reasons why the Bible is so valuable is because it gives us real life examples and shows people who faced real hurt and heartache just like we do. Rather than becoming victims they became victors. Rather than sinking into the quicksand of bitterness, they were able to get to the oasis of forgiveness. The poster child for forgiveness is a man named Joseph. How did Joseph keep from being burned by the fire of bitterness? Avoid drowning in a sea of bitterness? Becoming immune to the poison of bitterness? It is because he refused to do four things that even though stated negatively will bring a positive result for you if you will refuse to do them as well.