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Displaying results from "25" to "50". (575 found)
| 2008-05-02 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Forgiveness, part 2 1 Peter 2:18
1 Peter 3:8-9
Taking the way of the cross accomplishes:
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| 2008-05-04 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Buy Now and Pay Later Many struggle with the route of least resistance - CHARGE IT Satan invented the mind-set: Sin now and pay later God is not short-term but long-term Pay up front and gain big dividends later Righteousness is an investment of life Without perseverance through hard time times we will not grow - Romans 5:1-5, James 1:2-4, Hebrews 12:5-14 God does not "zap" change into you: Change requires:
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| 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 | |||||||||
| 2008-05-07 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - In Touch and Out of the Pit Talking help condenses our thoughts but writing focuses our thoughts further in a more compact form David - controlled his emotions by pouring them out in writing Anguished spirit > Full of faith We need to work through our past by writing and talking about things that hurt us Our undealt-with hurts always result in anger and bitterness May also discover many forgotten positive memories Ultimately, blame goes to Satan - separate sin from the offender (some responsibility) By God's grace, healing can occur Be clear minded so you can pray - 1 Peter 4:7 | |||||||||
| 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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| 2008-05-10 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Money - Root of All Evil?, part 2 There are spiritual challenges for both those who have money and those who don't God promises to give us what we need, but not what we may want 1 Timothy - need for contentment with the basic of life Examine:
Seeking advancement or seeking to please God? How content are you with what you have? - Philippians 4:12 1 Timothy 6:9-12 - not just avoid but flee from the love of money - Some use people, and love money - God uses money and loves people Who is master in your life? God OR Money - Luke 16:13 Avoid the extremes of loving it and envying those who have more than you Use money to the fullest extend to serve him and bless others | |||||||||
| 2008-05-13 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Power of Negative Thinking They are stronger than we are; we seem like grasshoppers - Numbers 13:31-33
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| 2008-05-17 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Spiritual vs Doctrinal Thinking, part 1 Can major in the minors and minor in the majors Tendency to be doctrinal focused - 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:14-19; Titus 1:5-11; Titus 3:3-11 Can come from a desire to be leaders, takes focus off our personal lives Numbers 12:1-15
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| 2008-05-27 - Purpose Driven Life - Life is a Temporary Assignment Life is a temporary assignment It is descriped as a mist, a fast runner, a breath, a wisp of smoke Compared to eternity, life is extremely brief With this understanding. worries lost their grip on our lives In order to keep us from getting too attached God allows us to feel much discontentment and dissatisfaction in life
Some would consider them foolish and lost everything but they gained everything - God and heaven In heaven we will ask ourselves:
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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. | |||||||||
| 2008-06-02 - Purpose Driven Life - The Heart of Worship (Part 2) What it means to surrender Surrendering is not for cowards It is not repressing your personality Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience. To say "no, Lord"- can not call Jesus your Lord To trust God means doing without knowing where, when, how, or why Most difficult area to surrender is money Retirement is not a goal of a surrendered life Surrender is hard work - Warfare against our self-centered nature The blessing of surrender Blessings of surrender
Everyone surrenders to someone or something You are free to choose but not free from the consequences Nothing else works - All other approaches lead to frustration Must make it a daily habit (maybe more than 50 times a day) May be inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seem impossible | |||||||||
| 2008-06-03 - Purpose Driven Life - Best Friends with God God wants to be your friend God's ideal relationship - Adam and Eve (no rituals, ceremonies, or religion) Moses, Abraham, David, Job, Enoch, and Noah had intimate relationships with God Most in the OT had just the fear of God You are not longer servants but friends - John 15:15 Through constant conversations Make it a habit to have daily devotion time but it more than just that God wants to be included in every activity in your life (Some think you have to get away) Key to the friendship is not changing what you do but your attitude toward what you do Pray all the time - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray as often as possible Help me trust you You are here with me I'm depending on you You are my God How awesome you are! Pray as often as possible Your goal is not a feeling but an awareness of the reality that God is always present Through continual meditation Thing about His Word throughout your day - who God is, What he has done, and what he has said Meditation is simply focused thinking - Worry is a form of meditation Friends share secrets God told his secrets to Abraham, Daniel, Paul, his disciples, and others friends When you read your Bible or hear a sermon - develop a practice of review the truth in your mind | |||||||||
| 2008-06-04 - Purpose Driven Life - Developing Your Friendship with God You are as close as you choose to be to God Must work to develop your friendship Must choose to be honest ...about your faults and feelings No one in the Bible was perfect:
We may harbor resentment toward God He wants you to hold back nothing about how you feel Choose to obey John 15:14 - You are my friends if you do what I command We are not equals - We obey obey God because we love him True friendship isn't passive; it acts "Great things for God" - Great things come once in a lifetime; small things come everyday Must choose to value what God values What does God value the most? His lost children Must desire a friendship with God more than anything Longing, yearning, thirsting, hungering - that was David Nothing matters more NO: What is it worth to you? NO: What cost is too much? Problems are wake-up calls for you come back to him | |||||||||
| 2008-06-06 - Purpose Driven Life - When God Seems Distant Easy to worship God when things are going great God matures relationship by times of separation - Job, David, Jesus God promises to never leave you or forsake you Sin separates - Friendships are tested by separation and silence Sometimes distance from God is not because of sin - feelings may be off It is not a feeling, God will remove your dependence of feelings Tell God how you feel God can handle your doubt, fear, anger, grief, confusion, and questions Remember: God is unchanging: Job praised God in these ways:
His promises do not change despite circumstances Remember what God has already done for you Even if God will not do anything else for you (very unlikely) He gave his son | |||||||||
| 2008-06-08 - Purpose Driven Life - What Matters Most Life is all about love Most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love (have a lifetime to learn) Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task - runs counter to our self-centered nature God trains us by giving us "family responsibilities" Love cannot be learned in isolation You have to be around people - irritating, imperfect, frustrating Life without love is really worthless - 1 Corinthians 13:3 God says relationships are what life is all about
Love God and Love People - 2 greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) Busyness is a great enemy of relationships Love will last forever How you treat other people will be the most enduring impact you can leave on earth Final moments - we want people to surround us We will be evaluated on our love Spiritual maturity is measured by the quality of our relationships To love Jesus is to love his family by providing for their needs | |||||||||
| 2008-06-09 - Purpose Driven Life - The Value of Time The importance of things can be measured by how much time we are willing to invest in them Your time is your life Greatest gift you can give someone is your time Words alone are worthless - 1 John 3:18 Most desired gift of love is focused attention Give without loving, but you can not love without giving - God gave everything (John 3:16) Make the most of every opportunity Other and you are not guaranteed tomorrow Who do you need to spend more time with? What do you need to cut out of your day? | |||||||||
| 2008-06-10 - Purpose Driven Life - A Place to Belong You are called to belong Relationship with Christ is personal but not private Your organs are connected to other organs to fulfill a purpose Organ severed from the body will shrivel and die Christ loved the church and gave his life for it - Ephesians 5:25 Church is Christ's bride Can't say to Christ "I love you but I do not love your wife Why you need a Church Family? 1. Identifies you as a genuine believer 2. Move you out of self-centered isolation Lab for practicing unselfishness Learn to care about others If one part suffers, all suffer - 1 Corinthians 12:16 We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers - 1 John 3:16 3. Helps develop spiritual muscle Isolation breeds deceitfulness 4. Body Needs you 5. Share in Christ's mission - He works through us 6. Church family will help you from backsliding "Mind your own business" - not a Christian phrase It is your responsibility to help those who need help Difference between a church attender and a church member is commitment | |||||||||
| 2008-06-11 - Purpose Driven Life - Experiencing Life Together Life is meant to be shared Fellowship - now refers to casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun Jesus knew that 12 was the maximum size for a group for everyone to participate In real fellowship people experience... ... Authenticity
... Mutuality (Romans 1:12)
... Sympathy
... Mercy
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| 2008-06-12 - Purpose Driven Life - Cultivating Community Community requires commitment Only the Holy Spirit can create real fellowship between believers Cultivating community takes... ...Honesty Silent when someone sins - not loving thing to do Means caring enough to lovingly confront - Proverbs 24:26 A group will remain superficial because they are afraid to conflict It is where gossip thrives Corinth church was allowing sexual immorality because no one had the courage to say anything. ...Humility Pride builds walls between; humility builds bridges Being prideful is living in opposition to God - 1 Peter 5:5 Develop humility by: admitting weakness, being patient with other's weakness, being open to correction, pointing the spotlight on others ...Courtesy Nothing to do with compatibility Basis of our fellowship is our relationship to God - We are family ...Confidentiality Does not mean keeping silent about sin Means - stays within the group - Proverbs 16:28 ...Frequency You need to spend time - make it a habit - Hebrew 10:25 Community is not built on convenience - "Let's get together sometime" | |||||||||
| 2008-06-18 - Purpose Driven Life - Transformed by Trouble God has a purpose behind every problem God uses problems to draw you closer to himself God had the ability to kept:
... but he didn't Problem force us to look to God and depend on him Romans 8:28-29 (NLT) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.
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| 2008-06-20 - Purpose Driven Life - Defeating Temptation There is always a way out Refocus attention on something else By resisting, you actually reinforce it Reveal your struggle to a gold friend or support group If you fall, a friend can help you up - Eccelesiastes 4:9-10 Resist the Devil He will flee when you resist - James 4:7 Realize your vulnerabilities The heart is deceitful above all things- Jeremiah 17:9 Don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations, avoid them - Proverbs 14:16 | |||||||||
| 2008-06-25 - Purpose Driven Life - The Call and Commands to Serve You are called to serve God It is full-time position A "non-serving Christian" is a contradiction in terms You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God - 1 Peter 2:9 You are commanded to serve God For Christians, service is not an option Spiritual maturity is never an end in itself Maturity is for service, we grow up in order to give out Impression with expression cause depression Study without service leas to spiritual stagnation Galilee lake full of life - takes in water but also gives out Dead sea - takes in but the is no outflow Not who is going to meet my needs -> Whose needs should I meet? | |||||||||
| 2008-06-26 - Purpose Driven Life - No Excuse for Not Serving The Bible warns against living only for ourselves - Romans 2:8 Trying to save our life; we will lose it - Mark 8:35 What excuse have you been using to not serve?
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| 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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| 2008-06-30 - 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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| 2008-07-03 - Purpose Driven Life - Thinking Like a Servant (part 1) Service starts in the mind Servants think more about others than about themselves Not thinking less of ourselves, thinking of ourselves less Self-denial is the core of servanthood Servants think like stewards, not owners Remember the God owns it all
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| 2008-07-05 - Purpose Driven Life - Gods Power in My Weakness (part 1) God loves weak people and everyone has weaknesses We usually deny, defend, excuse, hide and resent weaknesses God wants to use our strengths and weaknesses - 1 Corinthians 1:27 Admit your weaknesses Might be a good idea to list them Two great confessions:
Be content with your weaknesses I am glad about my weaknesses, so the power of Christ may work - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Reasons to be content:
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| 2008-07-09 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 1) Your mission is both shared and specific Mission = Latin word for "sending" As the Father has sent me, I am sending you - John 20:21 Jesus understood he was on a mission:
We have been sent to speak for Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:20 Your mission is a continuation of Jesus' mission on earth He call us not only to come to him but go for him | |||||||||
| 2008-07-10 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 2) Your mission is a wonderful privilege
Telling others how they can have eternal is the best thing you can do If have the cure for AIDs, you would share it You just have to remember the hopeless you felt without Christ Your mission has eternal significance Impact the eternal destiny of other people Consequences will last for ever; consequences of your job will not All of us must quickly carry our tasks; all work comes to an end - John 9:4 | |||||||||
| 2008-07-11 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 3) Your mission give your life meaning The nest use of your life is to spend it for something that outlast you. My life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me - Acts 20:24 The is some people that only you can reach God's timetable is connected to the completion of our mission Some are focus on when Christ will come No one knows (or will know) the day or hour of the end - Matthew 24:36 It is not for us to know; it is up to us to witness - Acts 1:7-8 Jesus quickly switch the conversations from prophecy to evangelism Satan would rather have do anything besides sharing your faith Expect Satan to throw all kinds of diversion at you Anyone who lets themselves get distracted from God's plan is not fit for the Kingdom of God - Luke 9:62 | |||||||||
| 2008-07-13 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Lessons) David - "God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course" - Psalms 119:33 Here are some questions to help you remember the lesson God has taught us:
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| 2008-07-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Godly Passions) God passionately loves some things and passionately hates things other thing The closer you are to God - you will share these view Jesus - Man's heart determines his speech - Matthew 12:34 David - Zeal for God's work burn within him - Psalms 69:9 Jeremiah - Cannot keep silent - Jeremiah 20:9 Are defend the defenseless, those who can not speak for themselves Should not expect everyone to have the exact same passion as you It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good - Galatians 4:18 | |||||||||
| 2008-07-16 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 2) Shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking Stop thinking like children (thinking like only of self), and like like mature people (grown ups) - 1 Corinthians 14:20 Most advertising encourages selfish thinking To make the paradigm switch to mature thinking - need to dependence of God God has given us his Spirit so we don't think like the world thinks - 1 Corinthians 2:12 Shift from local thinking to global thinking God so loved the world... - John 3:16 God made all the nations and where they would be, so we would look for him - Acts 17:26-27 The world already thinks globally: business, competition, and news If you ask me, I will give you the nations - Psalms 2:8 What should we pray for?
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| 2008-07-17 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 3) Shift from "here and now" thinking to eternal thinking Eternal thinking will keep us from majoring on minor issues We fix our eyes on what is unseen - 2 Corinthians 4:18 Deal sparingly on things the world trusts on you - 1 Corinthians 7:31 Let's strip off anything that holds us back - Hebrews 12:1 Invest in the future (in heaven) Store up treasure in heaven - Matthew 6:20-21 Real treasure in God in heaven and the friends we can bring with us - 1 Timothy 6:19 | |||||||||
| 2008-07-18 - Purpose Driven Life - Balancing Your Life (part 1) God 5 purposes for your life:
Churches do the same thing Habits to stay on track: Talk it through in a spiritual group Helps you to internalize information Helps with accountability - Iron sharpens iron - Proverbs 27:17 Helps you put in the practice what you learned - Philippians 4:9 Helps encourage each other - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Give yourself a regular checkup Test yourself - 2 Corinthians 13:5 Take a look at the way you are living - Lamentations 3:40 | |||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||
| 2008-07-24 - 30 Days at the Cross - Freedom of Forgiveness True forgiveness - made possible by God Jesus forgave when it was most difficult by: Facing the truth Jesus didn't expect life to be fair He expected God to be fair He accepted everything from God without question (in the end) Judas only received kindness from Jesus Taught forgiving your brother should be limitless - Luke 17:1-5 Feeling the pain Jesus was totally honest with his feeling both God and man Greatest test was at the garden of Gethsemane Freeing his heart He trusted his Father and focused on him rather than on his own pain He yielded to God's sense of justice in the most unjust situation 1 Peter 2:23
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| 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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| 2008-08-06 - Questions and Answers - Part 7 Answered the following questions in the Q & A section:
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| 2008-08-07 - 30 Days at the Cross - Spectators or Sacrifices Sacrifice - we think of pain, suffering, loss, and the uncomfortable concept of denying self Sacrifice is a voluntary presentation of ourselves to God to be used for his purposes We can respond in serveral ways to the sacrifice of Jesus:
Christ love needs to compel us - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 What happens when you offer your body as a living sacrifice?
What types of sacrifices is God asking of you right now? | |||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||
| 2008-08-09 - 30 Days at the Cross - If the King is a Servant What Jesus rightly deserved and what he received while here on earth were quite different Jesus didn't resent or resist his role He had a desire and compassion to help others Greatest of humility and suffering for him to subject himself to the cruelest of deaths - Philippians 2:8 People who have a major impact are the ones who serve Nothing moves the human heart more than someone who puts the needs of another above his own need It is a rare and precious expression of love Jesus has called you and me to be like him and take on his attitude toward serving others Jesus' serving was not limited to his friends (but also his enemies) His people will do the simple acts of service for the "least" among us Easier to serve someone on a schedule; more difficult if unexpected or interrupting my schedule | |||||||||
| 2008-08-13 - 30 Days at the Cross - Lasting Impact We learn that we should pursue: fame, fortune, and material possessions from the world Jesus refutes all that we have learned - service, sacrifice, and spiritual power
Many of us spend more time at work than any other single place If we aren't living the cross here, how can we be living it at all Honest is required - may mean less money or advancement Time commitment - it is easy to get caught up at work Every disciple needs to work hard - but what is the reason?
How could a temporary ob on earth be more important than Jesus and his work? If we compromise at work, how will we ever overcome the world? | |||||||||
| 2008-08-16 - 30 Days at the Cross - Trusting in Trial Living by faith is not easy:
The cross was a test of faith for Jesus
Situations of life:
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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!" | |||||||||
| 2008-08-21 - 30 Days at the Cross - Never Forget Remembering is not easy God foresaw our tendency to forget:
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| 2008-08-22 - 30 Days at the Cross - Not Surprise by Joy Joy set before him endured the cross - Hebrews 12:2-3 Yet joy joy was still in the heart of Jesus:
When we try to take over God's role - there is no joy Even the violent scene of the cross brought about joy and hope | |||||||||
| 2008-08-24 - 30 Days at the Cross - United Hearts Unity has an immense impact on our lives What are the obstacles to unity?
Sin is the ultimate cause of all disunity. Forgiveness is the ultimate cure. It defies our nature Who do you need to totally forgive? | |||||||||
| 2008-08-31 - Teach Us To Pray - Hungry and Thirsty (part 1) True prayer is a yearning for God In the Bible a hunger for God always ends in prayer God invites us to find satisfaction in Him
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| 2008-09-01 - Teach Us To Pray - Hungry and Thirsty (part 2) We must Desire God Alone Many people fail to have satisfying prayer lives because they are double-minded when they pray Must do our best to rid ourselves of distractions Unless you passionately fight for time alone with God, it will not happen God Blesses the Hungry Heart When we pray righteously, it allows God to work powerfully in our lives
No hungry heart will ever be turned away |
