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 David Servant ( - )
Read freely text sermons and articles by the speaker David Servant in text and pdf format. David Servant is the Founder of Heavens Family, helping the least of these world-wide. David Servant has been serving in ministry since 1979 as a church-planter, pastor, teacher and missionary. When David Servant read the results of his high-school vocational aptitude test, he laughed. The results told him that he was best suited for a career in ministry or in entertainment. At the time, David's future goal was to live in a log cabin in the wilderness and live off the land for the rest of his life. The Lord, however, had different plans for David Servant. God didn't intend for him to run away from the world, but rather to play a part in changing the world by building God's kingdom. David received his call to ministry during his (reluctant) freshman year at Penn State, and one year later was enrolled in Bible School.
David Servant is the author of eight books, including Forever Rich, and the The Disciple-Making Minister, a 500-page equipping manual that has been translated into more than 20 languages and is being distributed to tens of thousands of pastors.
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showing from 351 to 400 of 542 articles
Deception is an Election
In last month's e-teaching, There's a Sheep Born Every Second, we considered what we should do to avoid being deceived or misled by false spiritual leaders, those wolves in sheep's clothing of which Jesus warned us. Obviously, God doesn't want us, or anyo ... read more
Deeds that Determine Destinies
Agnostic and celebrity astronomer Carl Sagan used to keep a framed postcard near his shaving mirror—just so he could see it every morning. On the back was a penciled message to a Mr. James Day of Swansea Valley, Wales. It read:
Dear Friend,
Just a ... read more
Demons Must Obey Christ's Followers Luke 10:1-24
Today we read about Jesus sending out seventy-two of His disciples to preach in towns He planned to visit. His instructions to them were very similar to those He gave His twelve disciples when He sent them out to preach. The seventy-two were also sent out ... read more
Do I Believe Jesus or Paul?
In my article last month, The Limits of God’s Grace, I tried to show how God’s grace is frequently presented in such a manner that it nullifies the numerous scriptures that clearly speak of the absolute necessity of holiness if one is to ultimately ga ... read more
Forever Rich
Introduction
You are going to love this story. Jesus told it using just one sentence, but with a little imagination, it can easily be expanded without doing any harm to the lesson.
A man is walking across a neighbor's field early one morning when so ... read more
Four Fishermen Become Fishers of Men Luke 5:1-11
As we learned before, Andrew and his brother Peter had already met Jesus through John the Baptist. Both Andrew and Peter were from the Galilean village of Bethsaida, and worked together as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee with their friends, James and John ... read more
God's Lost and Found Luke 15:1-32
Today we read of another fault the Pharisees and religious teachers found in Jesus: He spent time with sinful people. This once more strengthens our belief that Jesus was sinless, because the only faults anyone could find in Him weren't faults at all, the ... read more
God's Love/Hate Relationship with the World
In last month's e-teaching, Christian Clichés that Contradict Christ, I questioned the truthfulness of six Christian clichés concerning God's "unconditional" love. There was one more cliché that I wanted to mention but didn't have enough space, the ver ... read more
God's Regrets
The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I ... read more
Greatest Salvation Sermon
About two thousand years ago, the Son of God, then living on earth in human form, spoke to a multitude of people who had gathered to hear Him on a mountainside along the Sea of Galilee. Today we refer to the words He spoke that day as the “Sermon on the ... read more
Hidden Treasures, Priceless Pearls and Fishing Nets Matthew 13:44-50
In the ancient land of Israel where Jesus lived and taught, on occasion, people accidentally found hidden treasures that had been buried hundreds of years beforehand by some wealthy member of a forgotten civilization. Naturally, if the fortunate finder di ... read more
How to Keep Poor People Poor
Back in the late '80s, I had an opportunity to travel inside the Eastern European nation of Romania, which at that time was in its fifth decade of communism. It was a country that was crumbling. I witnessed empty store shelves, food lines, and the dreary ... read more
Hurricane Jesus
Over the past few months in this article we've been taking a look at who God really is—as He has revealed Himself in Scripture—which is quite different than how He is often revealed in modern Christendom. We've not only considered His amazing love and ... read more
Hurricane Jesus, Part 2
With the ratio of favorable to not-as-favorable responses being so lopsided, I debated if I should address, in another e-teaching, the objections of those who disagreed with me. In the end, I decided to respond for at least three reasons. First, because t ... read more
I Could Be Wrong About Some Things
Do you remember Y2K? It was 14 years ago this month. Looking back, it is amazing that so many of us anticipated catastrophic events on January 1, 2000. Dr. James Dobson, a man I respect and who has been right about so many things, dedicated three radio br ... read more
Is Greed Only an Attitude?
"I'm glad God looks at the heart and not the bank account, otherwise, a lot of us Christians would be bound for hell." — A recent comment on a Christian discussion board
That quotation represents a very commonly-held belief among professing Christian ... read more
Is it Biblical to “Accept Jesus as Your Savior”?
My friend Bernie Koerselman is a retired attorney who now teaches the Bible like he used to practice law—relentlessly searching for the truth. His favorite topic is the nature of saving faith. He wrote a book on that subject that we often give to pastor ... read more
Is This It?
As we witness bank failures, unprecedented government bailouts, and wild swings in global stock markets, the current economic crisis has many Christians wondering. Is this the beginning of the end? Is America about to collapse? Is the stage being quickly ... read more
Jesus Again Claims to be God John 12:34-50
When Jesus told the crowd that He would die by being lifted up on a cross, they were confused. How could He claim to be the Messiah if He was going to die? Didn't the Old Testament promise that the Messiah's kingdom would have no end?
The problem was t ... read more
Jesus Answers and Asks a Difficult Question Mark 12:28-37
Because Jesus was God in the form of a human being, He had a right to judge which commandments were the most important. No one else has this right, yet even Christians sometimes seem to think they have that right. They take one commandment, verse, subject ... read more
Jesus Answers Two Trick Questions Mark 12:13-27
In Jesus' time, Israel was under the domination of the Roman Empire, led by a king named Tiberius Caesar who lived in Rome. In Israel, one of the men who represented the Roman government was Herod Antipas. Among other things, he was responsible to see tha ... read more
Jesus Appears to His Disciples in Galilee John 21:1-25
Luke tells us that, after His crucifixion, Jesus appeared to His disciples from time to time over a period of forty days, talking to them about the Kingdom of God (see Acts 1:3). Soon after His second appearance, Jesus' disciples left Jerusalem at His ord ... read more
Jesus Appears to His Disciples Luke 24:13-43; John 20:24-31
Both Jesus and the angels who appeared to various women on the first Easter morning had told them to tell Jesus' disciples to go to Galilee. There He would appear to them. However, because virtually none of the disciples believed the report of the women, ... read more
Jesus as a Young Boy Luke 2:41-52
One of the many laws that the Israelites were required to obey was to observe the yearly Passover festival in Jerusalem. It was a time to remember when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt over a thousand years before Jesus was born. God's d ... read more
Jesus Calms a Storm Mark 4:35-41
This story is a good illustration of what it means to trust God's Word. Jesus told His disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake" (Mark 4:35), speaking of the Sea of Galilee. At that point, they knew it was His will to go to the other side, an ... read more
Jesus Casts Out A Demon His Disciples Couldn't Mark 9:14-29
Jesus, Peter, James and John were just coming down from the mountain where Jesus had been transfigured when they found the other disciples engaged in an argument with some religious teachers. A man had brought them his son who was possessed by an evil spi ... read more
Jesus Changes Water into Wine John 2:1-11
If you've ever been to a wedding reception, you probably remember having lots of food to eat and wedding punch to drink. Can you imagine how embarrassed the bride and bridegroom would be if people were standing in line to get punch and were told the punch ... read more
Jesus Chooses Twelve Apostles Mark 3:7-19
As time went on, Jesus' fame spread far and wide. Curiosity seekers and spiritually hungry people journeyed as far as one hundred miles to see Him, which was quite a distance at a time when there were no cars, trains or airplanes. People had to walk or ri ... read more
Jesus Claims to be One With the Father John 10:22-42
The Jewish leaders who asked Jesus to tell them if He was the Messiah weren't asking so they could consider believing in Him. They wanted to hear Him plainly and publicly state what they knew He had already been claiming using other terminology. Then they ... read more
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers Luke 17:11-19
Leprosy is a terrible disease that causes a person's body parts to slowly rot away. Lepers often lose their fingers and toes, and eventually the disease kills them. It is very contagious and is spread by touch. For that reason, lepers in Jesus' day were o ... read more
Jesus Comforts His Disciples John 14:1-31
As Jesus' disciples listened to Jesus talk after their Passover meal, their hearts became troubled. He had told them that He would be leaving them very soon, and that they would not be able to go where He was going (see John 13:33). Keep in mind that they ... read more
Jesus Compares Himself to a Gate and a Good Shepherd John 10:1-21
Jesus was a great teacher, and that's why He used so many comparisons when He taught. In today's reading He compared Himself to a gate and a shepherd. Unlike many of us, the people Jesus taught knew all about sheep and shepherds, however, they didn't init ... read more
Jesus Compares Himself with Food John 6:22-71
After Jesus had miraculously fed five thousand people, He sent the multitudes back to their homes in the evening. That night was when He walked on water and rescued His disciples as they all journeyed to the other side of the lake. The next morning, the s ... read more
Jesus Continues His Conversation with Nicodemus John 3:17-21
Jesus really wanted Nicodemus to understand how he could have his sins forgiven and be born again. Nicodemus needed to know that salvation is not something that he could earn , but something that was earned for him by Jesus Christ and is therefore a free ... read more
Jesus Continues to Explain God's Standards of Holiness Matthew 5:31-48
During His sermon on the mountainside, Jesus continued to explain the difference between God's standard of holiness and the Pharisees' and religious teachers' standard of holiness. Today the first subject in our reading is divorce. Many of the religious t ... read more
Jesus Continues to Explain God's Standards of Holiness Matthew 6:1-18
During the first part of His mountainside sermon, Jesus told His disciples that they had to obey God better than the Pharisees and religious teachers, or else they wouldn't enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 5:20). After that, He began explaining th ... read more
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders Luke 11:37-54
Although the Pharisee we first read about today may have wanted to appear as if he was a hospitable person, you can be sure he wasn't being motivated by kindness when he invited Jesus to share a meal at his house. Rather, he was hoping to find fault with ... read more
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears the Temple Mark 11:12-25
Keep in mind that we are reading about the final week before Jesus' crucifixion. The Holy Spirit must want us to know more about that week than any other week of Jesus' life, because the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, devoted almost on ... read more
Jesus Delivers a Demon-Possessed Man Mark 5:1-20
As we read yesterday, not only did Jesus have authority over the wind, commanding it to stop, He also had authority over evil spirits. Remember John the Baptist said that God had given Jesus "authority over everything" (John 3:35). The demons that possess ... read more
Jesus Demonstrates His Authority Over Evil Spirits and Sickness Mark 1:21-39
For a while Jesus lived in Capernaum, a village on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and He frequently taught in the synagogue there. The people who heard Him were amazed at His teaching because He taught "as one who had real authority" (Mark 1:22). That m ... read more
Jesus Describes His True Followers Matthew 5:1-16
Many people came to Jesus seeking to be blessed, wanting to see a miracle or receive healing or deliverance. But Jesus didn't come to earth simply to attract large crowds of curiosity seekers or provide temporary blessings. He came to "call sinners to tur ... read more
Jesus Dines with Matthew and His Sinful Friends Luke 5:27-32
Apparently Levi, also known as Matthew, had been touched by Jesus' ministry in Capernaum. Perhaps he had listened as Jesus taught by the Sea of Galilee or heard the testimonies of people who had been healed. When Jesus called Matthew to be His disciple, h ... read more
Jesus Encourages His Followers to Trust Him for Justice Luke 18:1-8
In many places around the world over the last two thousand years, Jesus' followers have been persecuted. Some persecution is not too difficult to take, such as when someone lies about you to hurt your reputation as a Christian. But sometimes persecution c ... read more
Jesus Exhorts Everyone to be Ready for His Return Matthew 24:29-51
Today we continue reading Jesus' response to His disciples' question about the signs that will precede His return and the end of the world. After a time of terrible, worldwide tribulation, there will be some unmistakable signs that Jesus is just about to ... read more
Jesus Explains God's Standards of Holiness Matthew 5:17-30
As people listened to Jesus' new and authoritative teaching and heard Him frequently debate the Pharisees and religious teachers, some may have thought He had come to introduce a brand new religion, abolishing the Law of Moses and the writings of the prop ... read more
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand Mark 7:31-8:10
When someone is deaf, he normally will have difficulty speaking clearly and in an understandable way, even if there's nothing wrong with his mouth or vocal cords. The reason is because we learn to talk by comparing what we hear ourselves say with what oth ... read more
Jesus Finds Little Faith in His Hometown Mark 6:1-6a
After reading the past two days about people who received miracles from Jesus through their faith, today we read about an entire town that, for the most part, missed out on receiving any miracles from Jesus because of their lack of faith. This once again ... read more
Jesus Foretells His Death, Resurrection and Glorification Matthew 16:21-17:9
Peter was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God, but when Jesus announced to His disciples that He would soon die in Jerusalem, Peter politely took Him aside to correct Him. Surely Jesus was mistaken! What good would it do for God's Son to d ... read more
Jesus Heals a Blind Man Named Bartimaeus Mark 10:46-52
Bartimaeus must have heard about Jesus and the many people who were being healed by Him. It sparked a faith within him that he would be healed if Jesus would ever visit Jericho, and when he heard that Jesus was passing nearby, his faith went into action. ... read more
Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath Luke 13:10-17
When faultfinders want to find faults, they find them! Right before this synagogue leader's eyes, a woman who had suffered for eighteen years was instantly healed. And what did he see? He didn't see a woman who was healed, he saw a man who sinned by "work ... read more
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