2008-02-27 - Power of Gratitude - Free at Last MLK - as bad as slavery was - there a slavery that last for eternity 2 Corinthians 5:21 - Jesus might become sin for us As existence of righteousness does not ensure we receive it Satan tries everything to help us miss this opportunity Jews after saw their failures in the past - created many regulations so they would not sin
Religion that is performance based is doomed
Romans 7-8 - Focus is not on themselves but on him who died for them; Because they are saved James 1:23-25 - Law points out their sin clearly / making them feel more indebted to God Motivation to last a lifetime - Our love responding to his grace Other motivations:
YES: I'll accept you, now let's walk together in my strength | |||||||||
2008-02-29 - Power of Gratitude - Bon Appetit Satan works to both deceive us and accuse us - People tend to have a deceived or an accused conscience Too many of us seem to think that God turns away from us when we are doing bad and turns back when we repent Fathers are much more engaged when their kids are not doing well God ran to the Lost Son - Luke 15 Gave his only Son when we were not doing well - John 3:16-17 Christ died for the ungodly - Romans 5:6-11 At the point the mind changes - our conscience should be cleared Sin is serious - that is what the cross is all about Feel the burden of sin long enough to be convicted and move to repentence | |||||||||
2008-03-04 - Power of Gratitude - It is so Hard and but I Love it Marriage - hardest year of a good marriage is the first one and the hardest year of a bad marriage is the last one God brings opposites together - rigid and let it go types Because God is trying to work off the rough edges If we are to grow through trials, we must learn to view them correctly First comes hurt, then can come anger or try to ignore it Other turn to "grin and bear it" or "this too must past" - blocks us from growth Garden of Gethsemance - Jesus expressed and dealt with emotional pain with prayer - Hebrews 5:7-10 If Jesus had to suffer, how much will we need to be perfected - Colossians 1:24 Trial both mature us and attract others at the same time Rejoice in the sufferings - 1 Peter 4:13 Must have heaven's perspective in every situation Even when can not figure out what God is doing - requires a child-like response Why me? > Why not me? | |||||||||
2008-04-13 - Falling in Love with God - Our Perception We must wafe through our fog of experience and except the truth about God We can not love a God who is created in our own image God's timing doesn't always make sense to us:
Some of us have bad days, maybe years. How do we return to God? Our only hope is to believe in his promises more than we believe in our own perceptions | |||||||||
2008-04-22 - Falling in Love with God - Listening Whose voice should I listen to? There are many voices:
To deal with these other voice we need to memorize scriptures - to not be swayed and know the correct voice to listen to | |||||||||
2008-05-05 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - The Easy Way Out Taking the easy way out is as normal as breathing. We love labor saving devices - medicine, cars, wash machine, lawn mower, tools Not bad for life, but there is button pushing when it comes to overcoming our sinful nature
God is determined to raise us up to maturity, despite our wailing and weeping through the rod of discipline Sooner we cooperate, the sooner our trials may end Do you want Joy? > Become spiritually mature Do you want to mature? > Pray for God to help (suffering will most likely be involved) Reject the temptation to desire the easy way That way will lead to death - Proverbs 14:12 | |||||||||
2008-05-08 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Ambition: from God or Satan Depending on the motive: There is positive ambitions - Romans 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:11 There is negative ambitions - Galatians 5:20 There is pure spiritual ambitions with bad motives: Matthew 20:20-28 - wanted their shot at the left and right seats of Jesus We often want the right things for the wrong reasons
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2008-06-22 - Purpose Driven Life - It Takes Time There are no shortcuts to maturity - it takes us years to mature physically While we worry about fast we, God is concern how strong We arrive to spiritual maturity when have gained the fullness of Christ - Ephesians 4:13 Why does it take so long to learn?
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2008-07-26 - 30 Days at the Cross - Wisdom and Power of God Will the cross ever make sense to the world? Will all the wisdom of the world, no one has found God Jews sought a miracle worker general ignoring scriptures like Isaiah 53 God's plan was never to impress prideful scholars or to find acceptance among the rulers of the ages Some things never change:
Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing God didn't come to impress the world. Are you? | |||||||||
2008-08-18 - 30 Days at the Cross - Turning the Tables Jesus came to turn the tables on Satan
When he died, almost everyone thought evil won Satan pulled out all the stops. 7 moves to turn the tables:
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2008-09-15 - Teach Us To Pray - Changes in Character Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place - Psalms 51:6 Character can grow if we take a sober gut-level check look at who we are Too often we pray:
When we aim at nothing, that is what we hit The word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart - Hebrews 4:12-13 Like a mirror reflecting how we look spiritually - James 1:23-25 We also learn the truth about ourselves from other people in our lives - Proverbs 20:5 Ask God to help you see what you need to change Ask others what things they see in your sinful nature How badly do you want to change? It will show by the way you pray My power is made perfect in weakness - 2 Corinthians 12:9 | |||||||||
2008-12-02 - Raising Awesome Kids - Teach Them About God's Love They should be taught from infancy that:
It shapes their whole view of life and reality Continue teaching, do not foist your past (if bad) on your child: They have been assigned a personal angel to look after them - Matthew 18:10 | |||||||||
2009-01-28 - Jesus with People - Full of Grace and Truth John 8:10-11 - When they were going to throw stones - Jesus just didn't say no
Was she being used by the Pharisees? Yes Sin enslaved us - John 8:31-34 Sometimes we think repentance is more difficult than it is - Jesus called for immediately Is it hard for me to confront others in their sin? | |||||||||
2009-01-31 - Jesus with People - No Dogs in Heaven Matthew 15 - The Canaanite Women Jesus was silent and by his silent he tested and revealed both the hearts of his disciples and the heart of this woman Perhaps the instructions given earlier by Jesus send then to find the lost sheep of Israel was still in their mind Maybe thought: "he sent us to find the lost Israelite. too bad, she is a Gentile. Send her away." Jesus did not send her away but said - I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel - Matthew 15:24 Jesus - it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their gods - Matthew 15:26 Savior was willing to be misunderstood in order to flush out faith or faithlessness in the heart of this woman In the end, Jesus affirmed her faith and admired her grit He did not see the woman as unsubmissive or rebellious or undeserving; he saw her as full of faith Jesus was more concerned about helping someone grow in their faith than he was keep up the nice-guy image | |||||||||
2009-03-19 - Promises of God - For your Good In all things God works for the good of those who love him - Romans 8:28 Regardless of what happened, we must be convicted - God is intimately aware and involved in all of it We have two choices: To trust - brings peace To doubt - brings anxious, temptation to take matters in our hands, sin God is conforming us to the image of his Son - Romans 8:29-30 Examples of those in "bad" circumstances:
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2009-03-20 - Promises of God - Lord Delivers May have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all - Psalms 34:19 Three types of trouble:
Our job is to trust God - John 14:1, 27 He may deliver us from trouble or he may deliver us by using the trouble to teach us important lessons Our eternal glory far out weights our momentary troubles - 2 Corinthians 4:17 | |||||||||
2009-04-12 - Promises of God - God is Still Faithful You gave into the temptation again, you sinned It is the same one and you have never been able to completely conquer this one area of your life What are your options?
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2009-05-15 - No one like him - Jesus believed scripture settled issues Parable of the Tenants - Mark 12:10 Haven't you read the scriptures? - quoting Psalms 118:22-23 In error because they did know the scriptures; badly mistaken - to religious leaders - Mark 12:24;27 Thinking:
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2009-05-21 - No one like him - Kingdom Attitudes (part 1) New Moses, on a different mountain Attitudes God does bless - free us to receive more blessing and generosity Attitude help us more clearly see what God is doing Poor in Spirit Poor or Beggar Luke 18:9-14 - Pharisee prayed to himself vs tax collector - in touch with his failures Our culture: think highly of yourself; never feel bad about yourself; do not think negatively; be nice We have the debt of sin | |||||||||
2009-06-04 - No one like him - Count Cost (part 1) Not a question of how hard or difficult but if it is true Not all struggling is bad Jesus calls us to:
Jesus was not out of touch – Matthew 9:36 Jesus had a clear view of love and generosity – John 10:33 Kingdom now in the present age Fix our eyes on Jesus We need to deal with OUR heart Jesus did not just come to amaze He came to call people to change their lives He was upfront with commitment level Must deny self | |||||||||
2009-06-16 - A Life of Impact - Initiative and Authority Initiative Mark 1:21
Authority Mark 1:22-28
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2009-08-17 - A Life of Impact - Mark 15 Unforgettable Words Mark 14:66-72
Mark 15:1-32
Mark 15:33-47
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2009-08-31 - Wild at Heart - Question that haunts every man (part 5) We pick battles that are easily won, rescue only the beauties we are sure to rescue Strength gone bad Violent men and passive men - Cain kills Abel Men say the most awful things to their wives or they kill them with their silence Type-A personalities – casualties tend to be the family Abraham - Always hiding behind his wife’s skirt - tells Pharaoh that Sarah is his sister Isaac does Rebecca the same way - he is a coward What if I offer her all I have as a man it’s not enough? | |||||||||
2009-09-22 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 3) Walk right into those situations you normally run from Speak right to the issues normally remain silent over If you want to grow in masculine strength, then stop sabotaging yours. Being wronged and saying that is OK, but furious inside This will push your strength down and eventually you will believe you do not have any. When you deny your anger, it turns to fear Sabotage also happens when we give our strength away Taking a bribe, refusing to confront an issue, sexual sin Sexual struggle is sin and a battle for his strength Start choosing to live out your strength and you’ll discover that it grows each time Stand your ground and begin to taste your true strength and you’ll want more Our strength is will and fierce and we are more than unsettled by what may happen if we let it arrive “I’m afraid I will do something bad if I let all this show up” – You will do something bad if you don’t Man’s addictions are a result of his refusing his strength Let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it | |||||||||
2009-10-07 - One Another - Admonish Questions Who can best admonish or coach someone?
To help another person grow and change and be transformed more fully into the image of Christ
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