2008-06-27 - Purpose Driven Life - Shaped for Serving God Before God created you, he decided what role he wanted you to play on earth You were made for a specific ministry. Created in Christ to do good works - Ephesians 2:10 God does not make junk God never wastes anything - he did not give you talents and gifts unless he intended for you to use them for his glory God shapes us: Spiritual Gifts Heart Abilities Personality Experience We will look at spiritual gifts and heart today: SHAPE: Spiritual Gifts He alone decides which gift each person should have - 1 Corinthians 12:11 If you had them all, you would not need others; teaches us to love and depend on each other Given gifts for the benefit of others Gift given as a means of helping the entire church - 1 Corinthians 12:7 Two gift problems:
Heart = desires, hopes, interest, ambition, dreams, and passion Heart reflects the person - Proverbs 27:19 You may have interest that no one else has - from God Don't ignore your interest; consider how they might be used by God Serve the Lord with all of your heart - Deuteronomy 11:13 How do you know if you are serving the Lord with all of your heart?
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2008-06-29 - Purpose Driven Life - Using Personality and Experiences Personality You are very unique 102,400,000,000 in DNA terms It is obvious that God loves variety It is easier to work with the grain than against it Experiences
Greatest ministry comes from our most likely come from your greatest pain When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the comfort God has given us - 2 Corinthians 1:4 Paual was honest with his bouts of depression If Paul kept his experience to himslef, millions of people would have never benefitted from it Don't waste your pain, us it to help others
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2008-06-30 - Purpose Driven Life - Using What God Gave You Begin by assessing your gifts and talents Take a long honest look at what you are good at Experiment with different areas of service Consider your heart and personality Examine your experiences and extract lessons you have learned Remember today what you have learned about the Lord - Deuteronomy 11:2 Were rarely see God's good purpose - John 13:7 Run with patience the particular race that God has set before us - Hebrews 12:1 Satan can steal our joy by:
Avoid comparisons, resist exaggerations, and seek only God's commendations - 1 Corinthians 10:12-18
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2008-07-21 - 30 Days at the Cross - Unconditional Love Feels good to feel loved - insecurities come from not being sure or for some reason other than unconditional love In our worst shape, God demonstrated his love for us - Romans 5:8 Love you enough to have his son killed for you - while you (and me) were enemies of God If God loves us this much, we should as love this way - 1 John 4:11 Paul - Christ came to save sinners and I am the worst - 1 Timothy 1:15
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2008-07-22 - 30 Days at the Cross - Hating Sin We can feel pain because God feels pain Questions:
Amazing grace cost amazing pain Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? - James 4:4-5 How does God feel about:
Imagine that you can home from work and you found a dog that just kill your child We killed Jesus with our sin, how should we be treated?
Resist the devil and he will flee; Come near to God and he will near to you - James 4:7-10 |
2008-07-23 - 30 Days at the Cross - It Keeps on Cleansing The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin - 1 John 1:7 His blood was the only thing that could possibly attain forgiveness for me - Ephesians 1:7 Imagine the priest persuading an Israelite to trust God's ways and offer the lamb Jesus' sacrifice for our sins must be accepted first for the joy of our sacrifical life to make sense Where does your value come from? As a blood-bought sinner or my ability to produce a perfect life
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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? |
2008-07-27 - 30 Days at the Cross - Who Gets the Credit? How quick human nature is to accept credit for certain accomplishments I will not boast about myself, except my weaknesses (Paul) - 2 Corinthians 12:5 Why boast about our weaknesses?
Who would want the power of God? A person that truly boasts in the cross does not:
Jesus could keep a full record of your credits and debts - but do you want that? sin and all? Are you trying to earn your salvation |
2008-07-30 - 30 Days at the Cross - Heights of Humility World often assumes humily with being quite, soft, weak, a loner, apathetic and without convictions Does this sound like Jesus to you? With humility, you give up yourself, but in the process you find God and yourself Questions and answers about humility:
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2008-08-02 - Questions and Answers - Part 3 Answered the following questions in the Q & A section:
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2008-08-03 - Questions and Answers - Part 4 Answered the following questions in the Q & A section:
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2008-08-08 - 30 Days at the Cross - Problems or Possibilities Suffering is a problem for us:
We spend too much time asking questions:
We should:
The issue is how you respond and how you will respond in the future |
2008-08-14 - 30 Days at the Cross - Not for Adults Only Even when Jesus was on the cross he had concern for his mother Why didn't he protect her from the experience? She needed to understand how far we must go to save the lost Being a Christian parent does not mean you try to spare your children the cross: show them how to get on it As parents, it is often harder to teach or to call our children to sacrifice than it is to call ourselves to sacrifice Are you teaching?
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2008-09-07 - Teach Us To Pray - Honesty and Openness Honest communication is crucial element to any great relationship: God, spouse, children. Consider how ludicrous it is to not be real with God:
Moses:
It is in our openness that we hear our faithlessness and can turn away from it. God wants a relationship with you He wants to know our longings, aspirations, problems, anxieties, doubts, and even our sin |
2008-09-18 - Teach Us To Pray - Courage and Boldness Prayer reminds us God is in control It is his battle, I belong to God, and God will make me successful God will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear - 1 Corinthians 10:13 To pray for boldness and courage:
God's work cannot be done in this world without courage |
2008-10-10 - Man of Prayer - YHWH-jireh YHWH-jireh means "the Lord will provide" Our God is a provider God saw Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, God provided a ram "My God will meet all your needs - Philippians 4:19 He is a good provider Every good and perfect gift comes from His hand - James 1:17 No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly - Psalms 84:11 |
2008-10-15 - Man of Prayer - Understanding the Kingdom In the New Testament, kingdom is used from the Greek word basileai Refers to "realm" of a king Westerners think "kingdom speaks of geography Biblical times emphasized "reign" or "dominion" = wherever the king reigns The kingdom is within you - Luke 17:21 Seek first His kingdom (not a piece of real estate) - Matthew 6:33 God ultimately reigns over the entire universe but for the moment God does not reign everywhere on earth Until then we must pray to advance God's kingdom everywhere |
2008-10-25 - Man of Prayer - Praying for Provision (part 2) God provided manha day after day for 40 years to the Israelites It was to teach them that man does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord - Deuteronomy 8:2-3 It is NOT inapproprate to ask God to provide for our needs God delights in our dependence on Him as the source of our provision
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2008-11-23 - Raising Awesome Kids - Provision and Protection If anyone does not provide for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever - 1 Timothy 5:8 Our families should never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from Our Heavenly Father provides for all our physical needs - Matthew 6:25-34 We should not imitate him in caring for my children? He works his land , will have abundant food - Proverbs 28:19 Get adequate medical insurance - so you do not burden your family will major costs Takes care of things around the house Do the repair jobs and maintenance work Husbands who are lazy - kids will see this and either disrespect us or gladly imitate us in it Fathers are protectors If any family member is in a situation where they are being beaten down, overwhelmed - this is the time to act Should not shield them from the realities of life, but from the forces from which they become helpless |
2008-12-21 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 3) What does the Bible say about spanking? He who spares the rod hates his son - Proverbs 13:24 Message is clear - Spanking is vaild, employed with wisdom and love
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2008-12-28 - Raising Awesome Kids - Nurturing Confidence (part 1) Early life is a long struggle for self-esteem Kids can be viciously cruel to one another If not watchful, we will be completely oblivious to difficulties our children are facing Wrong Foundations of Confidence Physical Appearance If we make it a big deal, we are setting u our children for problems They will gauge their self-worth on appearance and judge others that same way
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2008-12-29 - Raising Awesome Kids - Nurturing Confidence (part 2) Athletic prowess Very quickly, kids notice who is faster, stronger and more coorinated It is important for children to develop physically but they must not judge the worth of themselves Intelligence - good grades are of valuable but we must appreciate great effort even more Material possessions - man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions - Luke 12:15 |
2009-01-01 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 2) Help them improve in areas of weakness Encourage your children to be well-rounded Academics are too important to neglect just because it does not come easy Examples:
Help them form upbuilding friendships All young people need to belong to a group If they are generally outsiders:
If you can't help someone be better or if either one of you makes the other a worse person, then you can not be friends |
2009-01-12 - Raising Awesome Kids - Genuine Appreciation Appreciation for one another does not come about by accident Must teach it, talk about it, show it and confront the ways the kids are not expressing it - only way Cultivate appreciation by creating as many situations as possible where it expressed in words Encourage your family to begin expressing respect, appreciation, and encouragement - whole atmosphere will change Pleasant words are sweet to the soul - Proverbs 16:24 Teach your older children how to lead and teach your younger ones how to follow
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2009-01-14 - Raising Awesome Kids - Fabric Refers to the building a structure and rhythm into our famiy schedule Mealtimes Stop letting people read the paper, watch TV or do homework during dinner Create family traditions - do things that uniquel to our family |
2009-01-17 - Jesus with People - Humility in Action Jesus and John the Baptizer were very different - ie one preached in the desert and one in the cities and villages John called the people not to focus on him but the one who was coming Jesus came to be baptized by John - Matthew 3:11 John responds - I need to be baptized by you John submits to Jesus' submission and baptizes Jesus Satan hated it - they kept humbling themselves before one another - the bond of unity grew tighter and tighter This humility continued through out their lives - John: He must become greater; I must become less - John 3:27-30 Jesus did not grasp his equality with God - Philippians 2:6 Humility kept them bonded together, even when Satan was working to divide Pride: Keeps people from being united Humility: Bring people together When unity does not exist among believers: People are not willing to pay the price Pride means too much to them What relationship do you have that would be greatly changed if you show humility and not pride? |
2009-01-20 - Jesus with People - Harassed and Helpless Jesus was always able to look beyond people's outward behavior to the need within How does a person who is harassed and helpless behave?
He saw beyond the paralytic's phyiscal condition to his need for forgiveness - Mark 2:5 When we see a crowd who is harassed and helpless we see - problems, problems, problems Wiser to evangelize the "suburbs" because there are less "problem" people - NNNNOOOO!!!! Jesus saw the potential in people, not the problems - why see inspired such change People need a shephard and Jesus responded and raised up other shephards - Matthew 9:38-10:4 Are you meeting needs or do you alwaysfind yourself reacting to the way people treat you? |
2009-01-27 - Jesus with People - Rich Young Ruler Luke 18:22-24 Sell everything and follow him = It's not what you do but who you are Jesus did challenge him but he also loved him Jesus does not get into a lengthy theological debate Each of us lacks that "one thing" deep down that we must give up and following Jesus |
2009-02-13 - Jesus with People - Jesus Wept Upon hearing about the death of his close friend Lazarus, Jesus wept... Jesus really felt the emotions that we feel Why did he cry? Scripture does not say. Could be because:
Who are your deepest relationships in the church? |
2009-02-14 - Jesus with People - Jesus Won When Jesus first heard the news about Lazarus, Jesus declared that his illness was not going to be fatal - John 11:4 When Lazarus died, the disciples probably thought that he really blew it this time Good thing Jesus called lazarus by nameotherwise every corpse in cemetery may have come out The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead foreshadows Jesus' own resurrection after three days in the tomb Jesus is a victor over death While some could not pay taxes for a while; no one but Jesus can conquer death Do you fear death? How does your relationship with Jesus change the way you once thought? |
2009-02-15 - Jesus with People - Widows Financial Sacrifice Mark 12:41-44 Without ever speaking to her, he made her gift he biblical standard for financial sacrifice She gave all she had to live on - Luke 21:4 Being a widow at that time, she likely had no income Probably hungry and surely without financial hope He faith in God was evident in her action Bible does not tell us what happened to her - we can know that GOd took care of her needs - Matthew 6:25-26 |
2009-02-25 - Jesus with People - Faithful Thomas John 20:24-29 - Thomas with Jesus Thomas selection as a disciple was solid:
Yet something happened to his faith during Jesus' death... |
2009-02-27 - Promises of God - Standing on Promises For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all "Yes" in Christ - 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 Promises from others and one we have made > can make us highly skeptical about promises They represent efforts to pacify us at the moment; the promiser does not usually have to fulfill the promise immediately Does he promise and not fulfill? - Numbers 23:19 God fulfills his promises - every last one of them God is:
A promise from God is as good as fact |
2009-03-02 - Promises of God - Give and it will be given to you God is faithful. He will meet all our needs He desires to meet our every need - to the point of sacrificing his own son - Romans 8:32 In Philippi, church sacrificed financially to support Paul (only church to do so) - Philippians 4:14-18 The more we are focused on his will, the more our needs will be richly met What must be true in our lives in order for us to claim the promise that God will meet all our needs? |
2009-03-03 - Promises of God - Remember Your Sins No More Remember Your Sins No More - Hebrews 8:12 God wants to forgive God's nature is to forgive Psalms 103:
God doesn't need forgiveness
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2009-03-04 - Promises of God - Forgiving Others By the time we are old enough to understand, we have hurt and been hurt so many times - we need forgiveness and so do others The definition of a dysfunctional relationship: the inability to solve conflict and forgive Hugh obstacle: We can not truely forgive until we have experienced forgiveness Once we are forgiven, we are obligated to forgive others - Matthew 18 Our sins against each other pale in comparison to our sins against God |
2009-03-13 - Promises of God - Faith vs Doubt Doubt: God has forgotten about you and does not care Faith: He knows the way you have served - Hebrews 6:10. He knows notices and cares when a sparrow falls - Matthew 10:29 Doubt: He remembers but he remembers others more than you; Doubt fills in the blanks and customizes to your hopes and desires. Faith: God shows no favoritism; He moves at different time for different people; He has given everything we need for life and godliness Doubt calls into question the faithfulness of God Faith tells us it is impossible for God to lie When Doubt comes calling, we must turn away Faith says yes to God's promises |
2009-03-26 - Promises of God - Hearts at Peace God makes clear his offer of peace Does God promise pleasing circumstances to those who trust him? No Paul, from a prison cell, said the Philippians could "peace of God which transcends understanding" - Philippians 4:7 Peace came from trusting in God - Isaiah 26:3 Trust is essential Must imitate childlike humility - Matthew 18:3-4 Children are generally are at peace They do not worry about the mortgage, stock market, bills They are content to let mom and dad tackle those issues We have to believe that God is in charge and he knows what he is doing |
2009-03-30 - Promises of God - God Sees and Cares When feeling that no really understands.... Did God cause this situation? Is here angry with me? Is he disappointed in my reactions? Does my fear mean I don't trust him? David displayed many of these emotions Even with these emotions, we also see a firm trust in God God so aware of the pain David was suffering that God kept a record of every tear that was shed - Psalms 56:8 |
2009-04-05 - Promises of God - Noahs Faith Confidence in God's promise must be so great that we obey "even though" we don't understand and it does not make sense By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen - Hebrews 11:7
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2009-04-10 - Promises of God - How We Are to Give? Do not give as the world gives - John 14:27 Give to :
Fear may cause questions:
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2009-04-13 - Promises of God - God Passes the Test God Passes the Test:
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2009-05-18 - No one like him - The Kingdom of God First time God said the time has come Something had come upon us Something within us Kingdom is like:
Kingdom is so different that it requires us to change What does new kingdom person look like?
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2009-05-19 - No one like him - Church the Kingdom? Luke 17:20-21 - Kingdom does not come through carefully observation Kingdom is a state of mind/heart Kingdom forcefully advancing from John the Baptist until now (Matthew 11:11-12) Preaching the good news of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23) Mark 9:1 - will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God Matthew 16:15-20 - only scripture with both kingdom and church How does this all fit? Kingdom can not be put in a box, mentioned:
All in the church PART of the kingdom? YES |
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 |
2009-06-05 - No one like him - Count Cost (part 2) Every effort Must give up everything God not as concerned about material as your heart Everything must be under the Lordship of Christ For all people Message for all people – young and old Spoke to the large crowds – Luke 14:25-33 Supreme Concern Jesus was concerned about the people becoming disciples Common belief is to believe - Christians vs Disciples Just because you think are a disciple does not mean you are – Luke 6:46; 7:22-23 |
2009-06-06 - One Another - Center of the Target Many people look at everything in God's will is the same weight - this leads to endless controveries over smaller details Jesus looked at God's will as a target Ex. Pharisees gave 1/10 of their spices but neglected the more important maters of the law - Matthew 23:23-24 Scriptures does not spell out what the second and third rings are Made it very clear what was at the center of the target |
2009-06-08 - One Another - They Will Know You John 13:24-25
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2009-06-10 - One Another - Walking in the Light What does it mean to walk in the light? 1 John 1:7-9 Living our lives with openness and transparency in response to the blood of Christ Fellowship is both the practice and product of walking in the light How central are our relationships to following Jesus?
"I need to get serious about my relationship with God" = Need to get serious with my relationship with other believers |