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Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11

1. Our Father in heaven (Matthew 6:9) - Getting Started
2. Hallowed be your name (Matthew 6:9) - Getting Focused
3. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) - Experiencing Divine Intervention
4. Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:11) - Praying for Provisions
5. Forgive our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us (Matthew 6:13) - Experiencing Forgiveness
6. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13) - Developing Spiritual Protection
7. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glry forever. Amen.  (later manuscripts of Matthew) - Final Issues

Each will be addressed in detail in later chapters

• Satan would be destroying himself
• Or He was telling the truth

• protection
• fruitfulness
• effectiveness
• faithfulness

1. Pray for God's influence and intervention in the leadership of our country
2. Pray about the moral condition of our country and ask God to be merciful and forgiving
3. Pray about specific issues our nation is facing
   

By nature, fathers are designed to be providers

Jesus instructed the disciples to pray "Give us this day our daily bread"

Father knows our needs already - Matthew 6:32
Preoccupation with our needs reveas a lack of trust in God as provider - Matthew 6:25-32
Our priority is God's kingdom - Matthew 6:33

First phrases of the prayer all point to God:

• Hallowed be your name
• Your kingdom come
• Your will be done

Then topics having to do with us:

• Give us this day
• Forgive us
• Lead us

• Search me
• Know my heart
• Test me
• Know my anxious thoughts
• See if there is any offensive way
• Lead me to the way of everlasting

• God can discern our errors
• Forgive our faults

Two enemies we needed to be protected from - Flesh and Satan

Flesh - lead us not into temptation - there is an internal struggle

I know that nothing good dwell in me - Romans 7:18
Our tenency to be self-centered (our old nature)

Almost every internal struggle we face in our spiritual lives is a product of this fallen dimension of our being

Activities of the flesh -  Galatians 5:19-21

Three other ways to fight the battle aginst our flesh (nature)

Resist temptation - 1 Peter 5:9
Turn and flee from temptation - 2 Timothy 2:22

Most effective - avoidance - Lead us not into temptation
He guides me in paths of righteousness for hos name's sake - Psalms 23:3

Prayer becomes our spiritual "dressing room" for the battle of the day - Ephesians 6:13-17

• Lacked confidence - 2 Timothy 1:8
  
• Could lose motivation - 2 Timothy 1:6-7
• Got ill frequently - 1 Timothy 5:23
• Tended to be lazy - 1 Timothy 4:13-15
• Need someone to believe in him

• He went to parties
• He told jokes
• He nicknamed his guys
• He loved children and they loved him
• Pharisees even rebuked Jesus for letting his disciples get too happy

Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them - Mark 10:15-16

Jesus could have blessed the children from afar
His way was closeness and affection

Unaffectionate families are cool, aloof and distant
Children raised in such an atmosphere develop into hard, nasty edge of anger and meanness

Examples:

Prodigal son - Luke 15:20
Greeted with a holy kiss - Romans 16:16
Paul and church leaders in Ephesus embraced and kissed - Acts 20:37

• Women of Proverbs 31 - skills ranged from homemaking to business and management
• David - shepherd, soldier, political leader, songwriter, and musician

• Teach your children to act differently - to not turn people off
• Or steer them to toward another group

Love the brotherhood - 1 Peter 2:17

If you have a positive, loving attitudes about the church, your kids will too
If we love God's people, more likely to love to be at the church activiities

If you notice that things were not done excellently - pitch in and help make it better

Teach your kids to respect their Bible class teachers
If a conflict with a leader or classmate, solve it quickly

If you have problem with someone - don't speak inappropriately in front of your kids
You will undermine your children's love for God's kingdom

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
Build up one another sessions - each person encouragees every other person specifically
Thank you nights - give thanks for different things other family members have said and done

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
Children's weaknesses tend to come out more with each other than with us

Overall tone of a home
For a family to be close, the atmosphere must be great

What do we need to do to make the atomsphere great?

Basic attitude of being positive and joyful
God is with us, life is great, and no matter what happens, we're going to come out ahead

As leaders of the family, parents must set the tine
Don't let a sour, negative child ruin the atmosphere

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?

• Some irritation
• Little mistrusting

He saw beyond the paralytic's phyiscal condition to his need for forgiveness - Mark 2:5
He saw the invaild's need for hope at the poolside - John 5:6

When we see a crowd who is harassed and helpless we see - problems, problems, problems
When Jesus sees a crowd who is harassed and helpless he sees - harvest, harvest, harvest

Wiser to evangelize the "suburbs" because there are less "problem" people - NNNNOOOO!!!!
Jesus was not swayed by this thinking

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
Compassion is passion that leads to action

Are you meeting needs or do you alwaysfind yourself reacting to the way people treat you?
Make a list of needs you see where you are - make a plan to meet those needs

1. A sound concept of repentance - God's kindness leads to repentance - Romans 2:4
   
2. Understanding of the purposes of God's gifts - point of the blessing is the blessing themselves but the ultimate outcome of our lives
   
3. Understanding of God's timetable - God's goal is always our repentance - 2 Peter 3:9

• To please him
• To change
• To serve him better

1. God's promises and faithfulness should inspire repentance
2. We need to rely on the promises even as we commit to repentance
3. Truly become repentant
4. We refrain from taking personal credit because we understand we are being recused

• Career
• Car
• House

1. Good Shepherd (John 10:11)
2. Living Bread (John 6:51)
3. Great Physician (Matthew 9:12)

• Jesus - error for not knowing
• Some modern religious leaders - scriptures are in error

1. Coupled with loving God
2. How we show we are disciples
3. Something to devoted to as we come into Christ
4. How we fulfill the principle of Christ
5. How we live a life worthy of the gospel and the Lord
6. Where walking in the light leads

Assertiveness

Mark 5:35-43

• He took charge of the situation and his surrounds
• Why have we not acted as Jesus did?

Fear Sensitivity

• Jesus didn’t say a word to those who doubted
• Assertiveness without sensitivity can be offensive and counterproductive

A Simple charge

• “Don’t be afraid, just believe”
• He didn’t burden him with lots of words
• Excessive amount of teaching may cloud the main issue

Privileging

• Peter, James, and John were closest to Jesus
• Jesus narrowed his focus to help the build leaders to their full potential.

Consideration

• A little consideration can go a long ways
• Ideas: buy someone lunch, remember people’s birthdays
• Be alert to meeting other people’s needs

The Sending

Mark 6:7-13

• He gave them very specific instructions
• He taught them how much they needed encouragement, accountability, and support.
• It is the responsibility of the sender to ensure that those sent on a mission be adequately prepared for it.
• An unprepared person who is sent can gather discouragement more than victories.

Forcefulness

• Forceful leader gives specific direction and then fully expects his followers to carry them out.
• Jesus did not apologize for strong leadership; he promoted it
• Strong leadership is offensive to many these days
• People resist because of pride or because they simply do not want other to tell them what to do.

Toughness

Mark 6:45-46

• Worked harder and longer than anyone else
• Expected more from himself than from his disciples
• The one leading the way must pay the greatest price

Unwavering Excellence

Mark 6:47-56

• Fruit was only harvested what another had sown - what Jesus had sown
• He directed the efforts of many followers but did not become an administrator behind a desk.
• He had an unbelievable schedule with
  • frequent interruptions
  • time conflicts
  • people clamoring for his attention

Sounding the Alarm

Mark 7:1-13

• Living by traditions = living in vain, a waste of time.
• Jesus was not afraid to rebuke people, to “lay it out” when it was necessary.
• When stirring up things, some people wake up to discover a true relationship with God or they will become furious
• People of impact do not hesitate to raise their voices in order to shake people out of their slumber.
• They are not afraid on how people react when they are disturbed from their sleep.
• It is wrong to be silent and leave people comfortable in their false sense of security

Protectiveness

• He stood up for his followers.
• Jesus took responsibility for his disciple’s actions
• When a leader stands up for and protects his followers, a strong loyalty is forged

Caterer

Mark 8:1-10

• He had no warm-up band, laser light show, not even a sound system
• He was dynamic and charismatic.
• The crowd was not there for his benefit; he was there for the benefit of the crowd.
• He wasn’t performing but serving.

Delegator

• The art of delegation is essential in order to free a leader’s time to do more important tasks.
• Do not mean dumping unwanted chores.
• Effective delegation: communication of expectations, thoughtful assessment, performance, and constructive criticism.

Timing

Mark 8:31-33

• He did not reveal things prematurely.
• There is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him. – Ecc 8:6

Approachability

• Peter and the other disciples knew that they could say anything to Jesus and he would continue to accept them.
• A leader must be approachable.
• Approachability is not the product of timidity.
• People won’t open up to someone they perceive as being weak and unable to help them.
• Approachability is the fruit of those who have the ability to listen completely before responding.
• Confidentiality: Public offenses demand public discipline. (What goes around comes around)

Hardline

Mark 8:34-9:1

• Attitudes generally do not float in isolation – whistling teapot principle
• Jesus chose the most challenging words spoken by any leader.
• Words used:
• "If anyone…"
  • "…he must…"
  • "…deny himself…"
  • "…take up his cross…"
  • "…whoever wants to save his life will lose it…"
• His primary concern was for their immortal souls. No wonder he had such impact!!

Affirmation

Mark 9:2-13

• People are encouraged when they realize that we are indeed in line with the expectations of our superiors.
• They will also be inspired when they understand that their support for us is essential for the overall success.

Retreats

Mark 9:30-32

• Sometimes the only way we can truly give ourselves to the few is by making ourselves unavailable to the many.
• Retreats are a change in routine to ponder perspective to help in our personal growth.

Openness

• Jesus was very open with his disciples about difficult challenges and troubles that lay ahead for him.
• Through his openness, Jesus led the way for his disciples to be open with each other.
• Hiding produces shallow relationships and weak bonding – leads to dissolution of the group
• Few are open with troubles to someone who has never been open to them.

Tough love

Mark 10:17-31

• This young man was secure in his own material goods.
• Are we willing to lay such tough, “make or break” challenges before people? Even when it puts your relationship on the line?
• Are you willing to let people walk away? · Allow people to make their own decisions?
• If we compromise our standards, our standards are meaningless.

Reassurance - Leaders need to first overcome his own negative thoughts and feelings in order to help his followers avoid becoming discouraged.

• Known as the Jesus cult.
• They spent night and day with His disciple and they were always astonished.
• Some people astonish us when we first meet them but after getting to know them we grow accustomed to their usual actions. 

• James and John expected to pull this one over on Jesus
  
• He didn’t correct them for being manipulative or disrespectful

• There is a great difference between lording leadership and servant leadership.
• It is hard to see politicians as servant leaders.

• Explained very practically how they could pray.
• A person can be effective at almost anything by simply mastering the basics.
• Answered prayer will only amaze those who are not themselves faithful in prayer.
• He taught them whatever they lacked; his teachings were very flexible.
  

• Forced them to choose between exposing their heart toward John or their unresponsive hearts toward the Word of God.
• How do you handle confident and aggressive people?
• How would you react to a public put down in front of friends and co-workers?
• Make a decision not to buckle when things get hot.
• Remember those over us (bosses, leaders) are only mere men and women.

Emotional Transformation

Mark 14:32-42

• Jesus’ friends provided him with absolutely no support at all during this spiritual struggle.
• All are overwhelmed with losses, failure, challenges, frustrations, by life
• If you are a leader, you cannot afford to be “down” for any significant length of time.
• The ability to make a quick and complete emotional turn-around is invaluable for the man or woman who wants to have an impact.

In touch with His feelings

• A person unfamiliar to their own emotional nature is a slave to it, while the person who is familiar with their weaknesses is in a position to master them.
• A spiritual man, through humility, has become acquainted with his own emotional self, and armed with that knowledge, has learned to turn his negative emotions around quickly.

1. To caution, advise or counsel against something
2. To reprove or scold in a goodwilled manner
3. To urge to a duty
4. Not to rebuke

• I did not cease to admonish each one with tears - Acts 20:31
• We proclaim Him, admonishing every man - Colossians 1:28
• Admonish one another - not just something for leaders - Romans 15:14
• Admonish the unruly - 1 Thessalonians 5:14

• Paradigm - describes the way that scientists work within a model for making sense of the world through observed data
• Shift/meta – changing one’s thoughts of the world
• Since paradigm shifts represents drastic changes to the rules of game – it is rarely done by scientists

• Man/earth was the center of the universe.
• As we found for planets, it was more complex to think the earth was the center
• Copernicus (1530) put the sun in the center – leading astronomers rejected the new paradigm

• The great love for surveys and polls
• We can not repent if we do not know that we have drifted – It takes a prophet of God
• See how different the prophets in your life live.

• Metanoia happens internally, fruit happens externally
• Sometimes we say, “You need to repent” – which may have meant “get it together” (a heart bypass)
• Becomes “need to” instead of “want to”
• It is easier to disciple the behavior than it is to address the mind and heart
• Consider things above – instead of considering behavior, consider the kingdom of God
• Metanoia is no technique; it’s an inside-out transformation

1. How have you broken your covenant with God?
2. Are scriptures sufficient for your repentance?
3. Do you agree with the author’s assertions that repentance isn’t something we do in order to return to God, it is our return to Him? Why or Why not?
4. How does fear play a positive role in our repentance?
5. Do your standards for morality reflect a biblical standard or simply a modern one?
6. Why do prophets go after the leaders of a society?
7. How does metanoia differ from the fruit of metanoia? How does this distinction help you repent?

• Matrix – do you know what this is, Neo?
• Feeling we have all had – there is something wrong with the world
• Blue Pill – You wake up and you believe what you wan to the believe (Jewish leaders chose this one)
• Red Pill – you are only offered truth
• Without repentance, we will remain blinded
  • How could a kingdom transcend geographic boundaries?
  • How could a kingdom be within us?
  • What sort of kingdom has no capital, no government, no army, and no temple?
• Longed for a tangible kingdom rather than a spiritual kingdom

• Many Christians the kingdom of God as something the future holds
• Some wish to avoid the kingdom commitment here on earth
• Kingdom expect allegiance ahead of all others
• Any real government expects this type of loyalty

• King exerted seasonal influence
• Three levels of subjects:
  • Disciples – treated him a Lord
  • Christians – little bit naughty, gave mainly to friends and family, on rear occasions to the poor
  • Unbelievers – little bit naughty, did not believe, not Hitler or other really bad people
• Most indirectly believe in this theory of the world
• If I abandon this paradigm, I would have to admit I am wrong.

1. How does the church represent the “destination of repentance”?
2. How did the early church help sinners to repent? How did it safeguard true repentance from compromise?
3. How did the walls of the early church stand steadfast against the assaults of the world?
4. What does it mean to be of “one mind” with your brothers and sisters?
5. How were early Christians both non-conformists and conformists?
6. Why has church discipline gotten a “bad rap”? Is it warranted?
7. Why do so few churches practice the Biblical mandates to discipline its members?
8. How can a church best practice church discipline?
9. Have you ever been disciplined by your church? Did God’s plan lead you to repentance – why or why not?
10. Over 85% of the Biblical references to repentance address groups rather than individuals. Thus, how can you help your fellowship - at various levels – repent?
11. How can you spark repentance – even revival – in your church and in your community? Are you willing to walk its path of selfless commitment?

• Started with only a few men.
• He was not concerned with programs to reach the multitudes but with men whom the multitudes would follow.
• Initial objective was to enlist men who could bear witness to His life and carry on His work.
• Early effort at soul winning had little to no effect on the religious.
• Turned out that the early convert became great leaders of His church.
• Who were they?
  • Common labors
  • No academic degrees
  • From the poor side of Galilee (Judas only exception)

• Bad character traits of His disciples:
  • Impulsive
  • “Unlearned and Ignorant”
  • Their abilities were limited
  • Temperamental
  • Easily offended
  • Often mistaken in their judgment
  • Slow to comprehend spiritual things
  • Had many prejudices.
• Good characteristics traits of His disciples:
  • Teachable
  • Willing to confess their need
  • Hearts were big
  • Sincere yearning for God
  • They were fed up with the hypocrisy of their leaders

• Little more than 500 after the resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:6
• 120 received baptism at the day of Pentecost - Acts 1:15

• Why not an army?
• He needed leaders to lead the ministry after He left. Not all followers. It takes energy to produce a leader.
• Not trying to impress the crowd but the usher in a Kingdom
• Mass are like helpless sheep wandering aimlessly without a shepherds
• Masses willing to follow anyone that came along with some promise for their welfare
• Jesus was a realist. He knew he could not meet all the needs on His own.

• We are not even keeping with the growing population
• We in an age where more rapid communication is now being seen than ever before
• Must not be frantic to try to change the pattern overnight
• Do like Jesus – start with a few lowly disciples and do as it was done by Jesus
  • Slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed at first
  • Not spiritual “junk-food” revivals
• Which generation are you living for?

• Church is the practice of Jesus in a larger dimension.
• The group of believers ministry to each other individually and collectively
• Jesus must be the leader, with leaders that follow Him
• Preaching to the masses will not suffice in preparing leaders for evangelism
  • Not occasional prayer meetings
  • Not Christian training classes
  • Not confirmation classes
• Building men is not easy (baby learns all the time)
  • Requires constant personal attention
  • Children are not raised by proxy
  • Requires sacrifice of personal indulgence and time
  • Requires frequent contact not just weekly church services and Sunday School