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Displaying results from "50" to "75". (77 found)
| 2012-01-30 - Ministry - Christianity or Christ? John 6:25-40 Jesus explains to the hungry crowds that their minds should be set on spiritual fulfillment, not on physical fulfillment. The bread that they are looking for is not a loaf of bread or even the manna that Moses' generation ate. The bread they needed was the bread from heaven: the Son of God. Having a relationship with Jesus is what will satisfy. Believing in him is what will change our lives. It is not Christianity but Christ. We chase spiritual fads, deep, theological issues, when all the Jesus wants is for us to be deeply dependent on him. This requires a radical change in how we have learned to exist. Some of us get burned out being Christians because having faith in God is not our focus. We spend a lot of time trying to do things and not time having a real relationship with "Christ who is our life." Questions/Followup:
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| 2012-02-11 - Ministry - Even While Suffering John 19:17-27 As we read the passage, particularly v25-27, it is compelling the even in the throes of pain, Jesus is taking care of his relationships. It would have been easy for him to neglect this as he was busying suffering and dying. It is easy for us as we are in transition spiritually or physically to forget to care of our relationships. This can really hurt people make them feel as though we do not care. Why did not Jesus take care of all of this earlier? Why did he get this done before everything got more harried? The scriptures are silent on this but maybe Jesus wanted to see which of his followers would remain near the cross right up until the end. Mary, formerly without her husband Joseph and now, witnessing the death of her eldest son, was sure to be hurting. Jesus saw in John the compassion and love that He knew his own mother really needed. I think he also knew that John would be for her the closest thing to her own son, Jesus. It is convicting about how much Jesus considered and thought about relationships, even while suffering on the cross. Questions/Followup
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| 2012-02-20 - Fear of Failure - Relying on God Never Fails by Jeremy Clark, San Francisco Church of Christ Jeremiah 17:5-10; Hosea 10:12-13 Often the failures in my life have felt devastating. They have made me doubt myself, made me doubt my purpose and made me doubt God. When I began to lead a ministry, I thought I could do it by myself. I was out to prove to myself that I was capable. As I began to lead I ran around all the time, I was exhausted, anxious, and worried about getting in trouble every day. I was miserable. What I didn't realize was that as I was trying to prove that I could do it, God was proving to me that I couldn't without him. My failure made me want to quit. I felt cursed; it seemed all the the work I did meant nothing. God was showing me my pride, but instead of praying more, I worried more and ran around more and was completely ineffective. My failure came because of my pride, my unwillingness to be open, and not getting the help I needed. I was relying on myself, and God was teaching me that he would not bless it. That lesson was hard to learn, but one so valuable to my life once I was willing to learn to rely on God and not my own strength.
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| 2015-02-06 - Racing for the Bottom What do you think you are doing, building a beautiful tomb for yourself - Isaiah 22:16 Some have a "do what ever it takes" attitude toward raising up the ranks Shebna discovered the quickest way to the bottom by using his high position to promote himself God gave him everything he needed to become a great servant but he used it for himself God wants to be the center of all your plans, God gave us gifts to exalt him not ourselves |
| 2015-02-19 - Spirit of Encouragement They sent Barnabas who was filled with joy and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord - Acts 11:22-23 Barnabas means "Son of Encouragement" He specialized in encouragement
Barbabas was drawn to those who needed a positive word How was he the source of encouragement? |
| 2015-03-16 - Going Golden Nabal Nabal was a crude and mean in all his dealings; his wife, Abigail, was a sensible and beatiful - 1 Samuel 25:3 Life will present you with countless opportunties to extend kindness David sent some men to ask for a few much-needed provisions Nabal: Who is this fellow David? Who does this son of Jesse think he is? - 1 Samuel 25:10 He proceeded to instul David's servants and sent them away. A few days after he refused to assist the Lord's servant David, Nabal died of an apparent heart attack |
| 2015-04-24 - Vows I will give the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me - Judges 11:30 As it would happen, the first to leave his house was Jephthah's daugther The Bible contains hundreds of God's conditional promises of blessings Jephthah's vow went terribiy wrong when he tried to set his own conidtions for blessing rather than appoarching God in faith Have you felt that you needed to offer God something to receive his promised blessing? You can't buy what God already wants to give you. |
| 2015-06-02 - Desparate Faith Jairus fall at Jesus' feet, pleading with him for his dying daughter - Luke 8:41-42 Desparation has a way of making people forget about themselves and take unusual risks Jarius knew the risks when he fell at Jesus' feet:
He needed more than faith to come to Jesus, he needed courage Being a synagogue leader, he had access to the very best health care Jairus had one final hope - Jesus, he knew Jesus could heal his daughter The Savior who never turns down a humble man gave him exactly what he needed Where do you turn when you're in desparate need? |
| 2015-06-27 - Path to Greatness We want to sit in places of honor next to you - Mark 10:37 Culture doesn't always value putting others' needs and desires first but that is exactly what is needed to achieve greatness James and John wanted Jesus to give them the two highest seats of honor when Jesus assumed his throne This did not set well with the rest of the disciples - likely wanted this too The path to greatness is found by serving others - this seems backward Your humility will be richly rewarded |
| 2015-07-04 - Infectious Faith Don't be afraid! Go ahead and do what you've said - 1 Kings 17:13 When you speak and demonstrate your faith openly, it is bound to infect others It seemed Elijah was the only man with faith in Israel but he didn't let that stop him speaking God's Word who desparately needed to hear it Drought had led to famine, God sent a woman with little money to feed Elijah didn't allow the lack of wealth affect his faith and persuaded the woman to share what little she had She never again lacked food for herself or her son Faith isn't real unless you put it to work, don't worry about running out - God will give you what you need |
| 2015-07-13 - God Won't Give You Up With his love, he will calm all your fears - Zephaniah 3:17 Zephaniah understood that God never "cuts his losses" with those who belong to him He approved of reforms but also wanted them to understand they needed changes within themselves In the book of Zephaniah, he:
God still loved his people and wanted more than anything for them to turn back to him God takes sin very seriously and will never look the other way when you fail him. He still will not give up on you |
| 2015-07-31 - Submission Jesus returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them - Luke 2:51 It is easy to ignroe the yield signs God puts up for us We enjoy God's blessing and protection when we heed the warning signs As the Son of God, Jesus knew his identity He understood that to grow into a perfect man of God, he needed to honor his earthly mother and father Everything Jesus did, said, and thought sprang from the fact that he had yielded his own will to his Father - John 5:30 Jesus built his life on a solid foundation of submission What foundation have you build your life on? |
| 2015-08-01 - Listen No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words - Job 2:13 Many men struggle with just listening - why God gave us two ears and only one mouth At first Job's friends were the exactly the kind of friends he needed After Job had spoken, they began speaking but instead of comforting him they tried to fix his problems - which made things worst Sometimes it is best to just listen instead of trying to fix things |
| 2015-08-13 - He Got It He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west - Psalm 103:12 Men who follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly often see more clearly how they have been forgiven David had plenty in his life for which he needed forgiveness He knew when he failed God, God's love would never fail him David did not choose his words randomly If get in a plane and head east and unlimited fuel you never stop heading east - endless love |
| 2015-08-16 - Unintended Consequences Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah; it became a trap for Gideon and his family - Judges 8:27 Sometimes our best-intended actions have negative consequences Gideon had just led Israel in a rousing victory over Midian and they elected him ruler He said thanks, but no thanks - he knew not to take an office that had not appointed him to Gideon asked everyone to gather up the gold colleced from the Midianite enemies so that he could make an ephod to server as a memorial to God's goodness for defeat the Midianites Instead of remembering God, the Israelites began to worship it instead Gideon provided leadership during the time of war but failed to offer it at a time when the people needed spiritual guidance When you set out to do something you see as important, seek God and his approval before moving forward
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| 2015-08-26 - Right Reasons May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God's gift can be bought - Acts 8:20 Intense self-examination is needed to know if we are doing things for the right reasons Simon the Sorcerer had a big problem with inappropriate motivation:
He had some very real power - people called him "the Great One - the Power of God" - Acts 8:10 Simon approached Peter and offered him money in exchange for the power to lay hands on people and give them the Holy Spirit He appeared to want God's power to make a profit Peter scolded him for believing money had anything to do with God power
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| 2015-09-25 - Encouragement Judas and Silas spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthing their faith - Acts 15:32 They were choosen to travel with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch Judas and Silas were chosen to deliver a letter that communicated what the apostles had decided about what Jewish laws the Gentile Christians needed to observe They did not just read the letter and head home - they took the time and went out of their way to speak words of encouragement and strength to the believers You can bless others as you go out of your way to encourage them |
| 2015-10-07 - Pressure is On I thanks and praise you, God, for you have given me wisdom - Daniel 2:23 Nebuchadnezzar had a strange dream and wanted to know what it meant When his advisors couldn't help, he had them all executed Daniel asked the king if he could take a crack at interpreting the royal dream The pressure was on - Daniel needed answers and soon Daniel asked his friend to pray for divine revelation and he received a vision that clearly explained the kig's dream God gave Daniel exactly what he needed to save his life and his friends lives When Daniel was squeezed, out came his faith in God who does his best work under pressure |
| 2015-10-16 - Courage to Act Bring out your son . He must die... - Judges 6:30 The Old Testament hero Gideon had the courage needed to champion his principles and God's name This was true even when risking his skin Tearing down the alter of Baal was no small offense to those in Gideon's home town When he did they were ready to inact revenge in the name of their god Joash kept the mob from killing Gideon Gideon looked beyond the surface of things and saw accommodating Baal amounted to treason against God |
| 2015-10-22 - Glimpse of Jesus He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree beside the road where Jesus would pass by - Luke 19:4 Zacchaeus understood his wretched condition well He understood more than anyone how despartely he needed forgiveness Zacchaeus sensed he obtain forgiveness by making contact with Jesus Many of us would have given up and gone home but Zacchaeus found a way Jesus recongnized Zacchaeus' willingness and desparation and his life changed forever How uncomfortable are you willing to be to spend time with Jesus? |
| 2015-11-08 - Humbled You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's - Mark 8:33 Peter must have felt great when Jesus publicly blessed him from understanding Jesus' true identity Then it was shown that he needed to be knocked down a peg Jesus stunned his disciples about him going to Jersulem and Peter scolded Jesus because of it Peter was out of line and Jesus would not allow him or any other disciple to act as roadblocks to the path God set for him Jesus knew Peter had failed to see things from an eternal perspective Jesus was the conquering Kig but he was also the suffering Servant Peter was to play a big part in Jesus' mission but he first needed to humbly trust in the Lord's plan |
| 2015-11-20 - Confirmation Then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised - Judges 6:37 Some move out courageously and say, "Lets get started!" while others need to test the waters before taking their steps of faith Gideon was a man of God who needed to be sure; was not a from a lack of faith He apparently wasn't sure of he heard God correctly he asked God twice for a sign of confirmation Gideon wanted to know without a doubt that he understood God's calling God wasn't angry when Gideon asked him to confirm his commands and he won't be angry with you either |
| 2015-11-22 - Eyes of Faith The Lord opened the young man's eyes - 2 Kings 6:17 The king of Syria had sent his army to the city of Dothan and surrounded it at night Elisha's servant saw the enemy's chariots, horses, and soliders had surrounded them Naturally, this fearful young man ran directly to his master who was a man of faith Elisha knew that prayer was just what was needed - the servant eyes were then opened Elisha already understood the situation he faced was just a chance for God to demonstrate his glorious power |
| 2015-12-04 - Need for the Holy Spirit Jesus returned to Galilee filled with the Holy Spirit - Luke 4:14 Any man who has accomplished something for the Lord owes his sucess to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit Jesus left us an example on how to depend on the Spirit for power, guidance, and encouragement Every wise word he spoke and every miraculous deed he performed grew out of the Spirt's prompting Jesus didn't began his public ministry until "the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove - Luke 3:22 If Jesus, as the perfect Son of God, needed the empowerment of God's Spirit, how much more do you need his power today? |
| 2015-12-16 - Pray, Plan, Act We will start rebuilding this wall - Nehemiah 2:20 God gives men the vision, the faith, and the ability to get things done - we must act on what we know Nehemiah first realized Jerusalem's walls needed rebuilding:
He knew he was faced with a daunting task:
Nehemiah approached the work with absolute confidence simply because God called him to the task Has God given you a vision of something he wants you to accomplish? |
| 2015-12-19 - Enemy of Self Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan - Judges 13:24-25 The man who learns to put himself aside is the one who makes a difference for God's kingdom From the time Samson was a boy, the Spirit began to stir within him That is when self got in the way Something went wrong between God's Spirit and Samson Samson didn't use the gifts of God had given him as a leader and deliever God called him to be He used his gifts for his own agenda:
God gave Samson all the strength he needed to succeed Samson squandered an opportunity for greatness and left a legacy of pride Will you use your gifts for his benefit or just for yourself? |
| 2015-12-30 - Not About Me I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen - 2 Timothy 2:9-10 Paul freely chose to suffer for Christ Despite opponents he faces, pain and suffering, he gladly continued to speak the name of Jesus Was he a masochist? No, he did not enjoy the pain but tried to move on where ever he could - Acts 26:29 Paul enjoyed anything that would help to get the gospel message preached to those who needed to hear it Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution - 2 Timothy 3:12 |
