2008-03-01 - Power of Gratitude - Don't waste your sin Use the past to encourage others Paul did - chief of sinners - 1 Timothy 1:15-16 Joseph did:
Rejection leads to rebellion, which in turn led to failure We must become thankful rather than resentful or hurt - give the benefit of the doubt Key to a life of acceptance is develop a deep gratitude for what God has done through our challenges
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2008-03-10 - Be Still My Soul - Quiet Time Jesus deeply valued his time alone with God Jesus sought out quiet time Jesus found a quite place Jesus urged alertness How long? until a sense of peace and closeness with God How much time in prayer and study? mix it up; our relationship should not become stale "Remain in me, and I will remain in you" - John 15:4-8 |
2008-03-15 - Be Still My Soul - Exciting Personal Bible Study What happen to the days when you could not wait to learn more from God's word? When was the last time you regretted having to close your Bible and go on to other activities? Excuses:
The only way to a deep, growing relationship with God - which includes feeding on His word. Some are not put forth the effort required to dig deeper; have become lazy Some are satisfied with what they already know and are content being spoon-fed. "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity" (Hebrews 5:11-6:3) We need to train ourselves (1 Timothy 4:7; Hebrews 5:14) "This the one I esteem he who ... trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2) |
2008-03-17 - Be Still My Soul - Deciding What to Study How do we decide what to study?
Questions to ask yourself:
Commit passages of scripture to memory |
2008-03-18 - Be Still My Soul - How to Study God intends for every disciple of His to delight in His Word - Psalms 119:18 Ways to study:
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2008-04-01 - Falling in Love with God - How Bad It Can Get A mission of Satan is undermine my relationship with our Father Must ask all the time: How are God and I doing? Typical doing questions:
Relationship questions:
When we drift 1. Combative - Psalms 55:20-21 Presedes sin / sensual gratification
3. Hopeless - Job 3:11-13 Hopelessness is godlessness |
2008-04-17 - Falling in Love with God - Experiencing the Spirit What does it mean to NOT experience the Spirit? Paul had six questions (Galatians 3:15)
Our works will never validate our relationship with God Only relying on the Spirit, can we feel free to have deepening relationship with God Spirit helps with: Help not have a heart of stone - Ezekiel 36:24-27 Speak to us not to fear - Haggai 2:1-5 Encourage one to return to God - Isaiah 44:22 No phone calls, sermon, nor spiritual book can move my heart live the Spirit Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing - John 6:63 We are never alone on this journey - constant source of strength, wisdom, truth, and refreshment |
2008-04-19 - Falling in Love with God - Intimacy Dictionary definition of Intimacy:
"Quiet Times" OR "our time with God" assumes there is formal meeting / impersonal only Do we treat friends or co-workers this way? God desires to know who we are at the deepest level |
2008-04-21 - Falling in Love with God - Communication Talking to God is the best way to break the chains that our hearts captive Tempted to everything but talk to God Sometimes we feel that we need to get everything "just perfect" before going to God God listens to complainers - Job, Jeremiah, Jonah, Abraham, and Moses God prefers honest agreement to dishonest submission Psalms 42 - Half of psalms like David telling himself what he should be thinking and feeling Deepest parts of him longed to connect with what is deepest with God |
2008-04-25 - Falling in Love with God - Heaven in Focus In heaven every knee will bow Our hope and citizenship is there If we are in love with God, we will be ready God's idea of heaven may not be "recreational" Our purest motivation to going to heaven must be to be with God On the deepest level, he longs for us to be with him The goal of our faith is salvation that we might be with him Not just peace in heaven Not just the promise of no tears or no trials So many times we want heaven on earth - 2 Corinthians 4:13-18 Focus on the eternal - feel refreshed Focus on what is seen - feel unsure, clouded and drained |
2008-04-28 - Falling in Love with God - Forever Seeking Falling in love with God - is attainable We will find what we seek:
What are you seeking? Lord searches every heart; if you seek him, he will be found by you - 1 Chronicles 28:9-10 How many times have we tried to do something with seeking him first? None of us can be "strong" without seeking There are many decisions that you need make about your relationship with God:
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2008-04-29 - Falling in Love with God - Seeking Only Him If God's people will humble themselves pray and seek his face, he will hear from heaven and forgive us - 2 Chronicles 7:11-16 Even after the temple was built, God was concerned whether his people will still seek him God himself was often "felt" but not "found" - He has the same concern today Difference: being members / having a deep personal and individual relationship with God In his pride the wicked does not seek him - Psalms 10:1-4 One thing I ask: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, gaze upon the beauty - Psalms 27:1-9 Nothing will satisfy like seeking his face |
2008-04-30 - Falling in Love with God - God Finding Us When does seeking really start? Romans 3:11 - there is no one that seeks God Studying the Bible is simply allowing ourselves to be sought by God If it was our own effort - baptism may seem like the end of the quest We need to active learners When we were young, we understood obligation - "I gotta go to school"
Treasures are for those who will continue to seek forever; not for those who want tips and tricks for being "effective" If there were ever a moment to be a passive learner, it would be when you walk with Jesus Luke 11:1-13 - where would we be if the disciples had not asked about praying to the Father? - not know how to address the Father We need to take responsibilty to get deep and ask questions |
2008-05-11 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Escaping the Performance Trap Performance trap - termed as perfectionism (not measuring up = sin) Guilt and imagined guilt come from performance based - must learn to understand God's grace Good thing to do our best but when mixed with pride is a wrong turn Rejection (or fear of) - is the root of most of our insecurities Performance-oriented tries to conceal insecurities with a superimage of self Unless we are open about our negative points we will never reallty feel loved Paul opened up his life: 2 Corinthians 6:11-13
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2008-06-01 - Purpose Driven Life - The Heart of Worship (Part 1) Surrender is an unpopular word, implies losing Heart of a true worshiper of God is surrender Three barriers to 100% surrender are: fear, pride, and confusion Can we trust God? Trust is essential, you can not surrender to God if you do not trust him Fear keeps us from surrendering - God is love and love us deeply and casts out all fear God is willing to have his son die for us - Romans 5:8 Admitting our limitations The oldest temptation is want to be like God - Genesis 3:5 That desire wants complete control We want to be taller, smarter, anger, stronger, more talent, more beauty, and wealthier. When faced with our limitations we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. |
2008-06-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Protecting Your Church It is your job to protect the unity of the church Supreme model for unity is the Trinity Jesus' final moment was thinking and praying about the church's unity Make every effort to keep the unity - Ephesians 4:3 Focus on what we have in common We share the same life, salvation, and same future Conflict - focused on "disputable matters" Be realistic in your expectations People become disillusioned with church Should not be surprised - made up of sinners, including ourselves - 1 Corinthians 1:10 Reconciliation - not running away - road to stronger character and deeper fellowship If the church must be perfect to satisfy you, that same perfection will exclude you Choose to encourage rather than criticize It is always easier to stand on the sidelines than get involved Judge another believer:
Satan is the accuser of our brothers Other Christians are not the real enemy Any time spent for comparing and criticizing should be used for building others up Refuse to listen to gossip People who gossip to you will also gossip about you Great wounds usually come from other sheep, not wolves Practice God's method for conflict resolution Go to the person you are having issues with - Matthew 18 Takes a man of courage to speak the truth in love Support your pastor and leaders - Hebrews 13:17 No perfect leaders They are accountable but so are you You will give an account on how you obeyed your leaders |
2008-07-28 - 30 Days at the Cross - Life through Death Voluntary surrender is not easy; never comfortable nor enjoyable Rebellion comes from man's desire to be God Only when we are sick of our old nature will we be convinced to totally sell out to God Most of our cires are designed to produce our surrender So how do we go about taking up our cross?
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2008-08-17 - 30 Days at the Cross - Do not Come Down! Jesus was tempted with the words, "save yourself, come down from the cross If they understood the eternal significance of the moment, they would have cried "No, Jesus! Do not come down!" Jesus was tempted:
Our mission is the same (Luke 9:23) - must deny self and lose our life for others We must quit looking for some new,easy approach and decide to love The world is screaming out: "Save yourself! Come down from the cross!" Jesus cries: "Do not come down!" |
2008-08-29 - Teach Us To Pray - The God who Enjoys Hearing and Watching Us We enjoy accomplishment: meeting a deadline, A on a test Imagine the incredible feeling God must have experienced when he first viewed his own creation:
How would iy affect your prayer life if you had a deep conviction that God enjoys his relationship with you? God Enjoys Hearing Us Talking to Him God Enjoys Watching Us |
2008-09-10 - Teach Us To Pray - Alone and in Private Mark 1:35, Matthew 14:13, and Luke 4:42 - shows us that Jesus often went to solitary places to pray Solitude is essential in developing a deep relation ship with God Psalms 5, 38, and 42 are examples of how open and expressive David was with God We get fired up by sermons, fellowship, and music - Jesus went to be alone Prayer times make special memories Ideas for times with God:
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2008-09-13 - Teach Us To Pray - Sin and Transgression God both forbids and forgives Clearly forbids - Genesis 2:16-17 We must understand that sin hurts God deeply - Jeremiah 8:20-9:3 In his infinite wisdom, he found a way to forgive the unforgivable. Forgiveness is an undeserved gift |
2008-09-16 - Teach Us To Pray - The Church of Jesus Disciples must have a deep commitment to pray for the needs of the church:
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2008-09-26 - Teach Us To Pray - Our Eyes Are on You 2 Chronicles 20:5-7 When all goes wrong, it is time to pray Not just prayer, but a Jehoshaphat prayer (a prayer of desperation) - a deep-felt need for God He who fails on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed - Matthew 21:42, 44 Get Broken or get crushed - this difference is a matter of prayer |
2008-11-17 - Raising Awesome Kids - First Things First (part 2) When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength - Mark 12:30 Committed to God vs committed to a person Deeply loves God vs being religious
Were we one time zealous - before we got married and had kids? Where am I today? Have I allowed "life's worries, riches, and pleasures" to choke my relationship with God? - Mark 4:19 |
2008-12-08 - Raising Awesome Kids - Respect (part 2) How can we tell if our oldrer chidlren are disrepectful?
Our children honoring us is to show honor to God and his plan Claim your authority! Expect to respected! Children really want deep down inside - the confidence from knowing their limits |