Words of Life|Pastor Balan Swaminathan|HIPM

Faith Hall of Fame | Abel

Hebrews 11:1 says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Abel just believed in God. He was considered as a man of faith.

Even though Abel died as a martyr, his life still speaks today of his faith - knowing God, trusting in Him and moving along with God.  Abel believed it was God who created him, everything in the past was God and the hope for the future is God. 

 

Christian Character | Pillar 8: Contentment

Here is the summary of what was said:

- Contentment is the state of being happy and satisfied
- It is an inner sense of rest or peace that comes from being right with God
- Discontentment takes my focus away from God
- A mature Christian says, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” 
- Discontentment is a great loss
- We can develop contentment by remembering the cross, forgetting the past, by living one day at a time and by doing God’s will.

Listen to the sermon to know more about this important Christian Character.

Christian Character | Pillar 7: Compassion

- Compassion is feeling sympathy for the hurting
- Compassion also means to suffer with Our God, who is a compassionate God. Jesus demonstrated His compassion, so we as Christians have the choice of either being like the Priest or like the Levite or like the Samaritan
- Let showing compassion be a part of our daily life
- The world is looking at the body of Christ to move with compassion over the crises

Listen to the sermon to know more about compassion as a Christian Character.

Christian Character | Pillar 6: Joy

Here is the summary of what was discussed:

- Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control
- Joy comes by reading His word and by Holy Spirit
- Joyous Christian has the ability to attract others
- We can experience joy by: 
   - Realizing that joy is a gift from God
   - Relying on God
   - Having people around
   - Setting the same joy before us
   - Fighting against spiritual depression

Listen to the sermon to really hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Christian Character | Pillar 5: Forgiveness

Here is the summary of the sermon:

- Forgiveness literally means “to let go”
- Christ forgave, we are also expected to forgive
- We all need the gift of forgiveness
- We are expected to forgive other unlimited time
- Forgiveness is a powerful gift
- Five aspects of forgiveness
– Forgiveness of God, forgiveness of others, forgiving ourselves, forgiving God and forgiving others 

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Christian Character | Pillar 4: Love

Summary of what was discussed:

- Love is not feelings, emotion, attraction and liking others, but love is how we behave and treat others
- This study is important to keep unity among believers, protect marriage & children and to show Christ to others
- The first and the great commandment is to love God, the second one is to love your neighbor as yourself
- Love towards God, self, family, others and the lost
- all 5 must be presented in a Christian
- God is going to judge us if we are not loving those who do not have Christ in them

Listen to the sermon to well understand the topic.

Christian Character | Pillar 3: Humility

This is what we covered during this sermon:

- Humility defined as a Christian character
- Jesus - the model of humility
- Ways to humble ourselves
- Learning humility from the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
- and a lot more

Listen to the sermon to understand what God expects in you.

Christian Character | Pillar 2: Obedience

Here are the contents of the sermon:

- Obedience – Defined
- Obedience – A Christian Character
- To whom should we obey?
   - Children, obey your parents
   - Servants obey your masters
   - Obey to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
   - Obey your spiritual authorities
   - Obey to your husband

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Christian Character | Pillar 1: Faith

Some of the areas we covered under this sermon topic are below:

- Faith – A Christian Character
- Doubtful believers
- Not having Faith is life-threatening
- Develop Faith, a fruit of the Spirit
- Habakkuk’s Faith in God

Listen to the sermon to know more.

Christian Character | Introduction

Sermon outline:

- What is Christian Character?
- What we need is “Change”
- Why is the development of Christian Character important?
- How Is Christ-like Character Developed?
- Developing Godly Character
- Practical challenges for Character Development
- Practical Character Development
- How teachable are we?

Listen to the introductory sermon of this series.