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2008-03-21 - Be Still My Soul - The Pattern (Part 1)
What are we to pray about and in what order?
God has not left such crucial issues to guesswork

Matthew 6:9-13 - Above all other scripture on prayer - understand this one

Things to remember:
  • Pattern, not a formula - not meant to be recited, rebuked by Jesus
  • May seem awkward at first - stick with it
  • Be prepared to spend more time in prayer when you use this prayer - wider range of subjects
  • The structure reveals the genius of God - Begin looking to God; then deal with ourselves; once again focus on God
  • Notice the use of "us" - personal, but not self-centered


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

  • Too focused on positional goals in the church
  • Excel at work or school - not working for the Lord but working for self - Colossians 3:23
  • Too much pressure for a child to succeed - Train a child in the way he should go - Proverbs 22:6
  • Allowing secondary motivation become the primary motivation
Examples of primary and secondary motivations:

Subject Primary Secondary
Job Glorify God Make money; Career
Following God Love God with everything we have Learning Bible facts, being disciplined, spiritual goals


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
  • v1 - Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses
  • v2 - Hasn't God also spoken through us?
  • Had a personality conflict but did not want admit it - fought over doctrine
  • v9 - Lord anger burned against them and left them
Unity of believers is the acid test of whether we are really his disciples - John 17:20

2008-08-28 - Teach Us To Pray - Strength and Shield
The closest solar system is 3.5 light years away or 21 trillion miles
Some galaxies have 10 trillion stars
Countless are the stars but has no trouble
Our visible universe is 15 trillion by 6 trillion miles across

We need to learn to trust God's ability to meet our daily needs:
  • He was washed the feet of his betrayer
  • His disciples did not suspect Judas because of Jesus' perfect love for him
  • He healed the leper with a word
  • Fell asleep during a ragging storm from serving the people
  • Went out of his way to encourage the disciples that would in a few hours later betray him
  • Despite Peter's denial, Jesus left him the keys to the kingdom
  • He promised heaven the thief that moments earlier was abusing him


2009-02-03 - Jesus with People - Give or Take?
World seem to be divided into givers and takers
Usually we feel as though we are the givers and everyone else is a taker
We can draw back and become cynical - before long we cling to possessions, our rights or our feelings
At that point we have become takers
We would never admit it - and many of us do not see it

Jesus meet a man that was a taker - Matthew
Matthew was no different than us - he probably had a family with mouths to feed

As he left the office and crept closer toward the crowd surrounding Jesus
He heard the words - You must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me
Jesus then walked up to Matthew and said "Follow me"
His life changed forever - became a disciple of Jesus

How did Jesus know? do it? Jesus knew that he was sick and need to get well - Mark 2:17

We need to see people as they ready are and what they can become
Is there some in your life you can share with but haven't because you don't think they are open?

2009-02-06 - Jesus with People - Closeness

Jesus, knowing he would have to face the cross alone - would be have been easay to maintain his distace
He didn't; he threw himself into life completely

Closeness reuires spending time together
Jesus was the initiator and he wanted to be with John and John want to be with him

At the last supper, John was seated to Jesus' left - John 13:23-26
Jesus confides who the betrayer without the others noticing



2009-02-10 - Jesus with People - Heart Determined to Preach
Jesus did not avoid his persecutors; he confronted them.
  • He challenged their traditions and hypocrisy
  • He warned his disciples to beware of the "yeast" of the Pharisees - Luke 12:1
  • He challenged people to obey what he taught - Matthew 23:1-3
  • He spoke in parables were surely was going to offend - Matthew 15:12
  • He gave them answers to trick questions that left them silent - Matthew 21:23-27
Why was Jesus so confrontational? He hated their sin

2009-02-12 - Jesus with People - The Better Choice
Martha and Mary - Luke 18:29-30

Jesus and his disciples were passing through the village when Martha opened her home to them - Luke 10:38

Jesus didn't  stop to correct Martha in her preparation
Martha - Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work myself?

With compassion - Martha, Martha
Explained that Mary's choice was right and a lasting one
What Jesus wanted most was to see her have a single-minded desire to know him and his teachings

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in preparing to server others that we are either too distracted or too exhausted to server them when they arrive

2009-03-12 - Promises of God - Carry and Rescue
Paul: My God will meet all your needs - Philiippians 4:19

God most certianly allows us to have needs
He allows situations where we are left to wonder how things will turn out
He has not promised to keep us free from need

As we grow older, all kinds of needs are created

I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you - Isaiah 46:3:-4

Old age and gray hairs = symbols of all the things we can not control and tend to worry us

I will rescue you: deliver us from danger - did not promis we wll never be in danger

From every evil attack and bring me to safety - 2 Timothy 4:18


2009-04-10 - Promises of God - How We Are to Give?
Do not give as the world gives - John 14:27

Give to :
  • Whomever asks
  • Whenever we are asked
  • Freely and from the heart
  • Expect nothing in return
  • Anonymously
How does one give graciously? Death to world passions and desires; Cannot freely give that you are convinced is essential for your personal goals and ambitions

Fear may cause questions:
  • What if someone takes advantage of me?
  • Will there be anything left for me?
  • What if I do not get anything in return?
  • What possible difference can I make?
Comes back to our faith in the providence of God

2009-06-01 - No one like him - Words from the Cross
1. Forgive them
a. Choose to pray for other first
b. Living what he preached – Pray for your enemies
2. Here is your mother
a. He wanted to make sure other were taken care of before he left
3. Be with me in paradise
a. Show he was generous with the undeserving
b. Similar to the parable about the servants being paid the same with different lengths of service
4. Why have you forsaken me?
a. Felt his need for God and separation from him
5. I am thirsty
a. Jesus was aware of his limitation
b. Hebrews 4:15-16 – Jesus can sympathize with our pain
6. It is finished
a. Foundation of his work was finished
b. Some thought this was the end of his ministry
7. Into your hands I commit my spirit
a. Conforms Jesus unswerving commitment


2009-06-11 - One Another - Correction Needed

There were a lot of relationship issues that needed to be corrected in first book of Corinthians:

  1. They were divided into cliquish groups - Chapter 1-3
  2. Became arrogant in their relationship with Paul - 1 Corinthians 4:18-19
  3. Lawsuits with each other - Chapter 6
  4. Left their spouses just because they were not Christians - Chapter 7
  5. Offending other's conscience - Chapter 8
  6. Acted insensitively toward the poorer members - Chapter 11
  7. Who had the greatest gift (selfish competition) - Chapter 12-14

 



2009-06-18 - A Life of Impact - Compassion

Compassion

Mark 1:40-45

  • He did not minister from a safe distance.
  • We can have a powerful and lasting impact on someone else if we willing to go deep.
  • There was no room left in Jesus for fear, disgust, or apprehension.
  • His emotional state was righteous because he did not hesitate to reachout and touch the diseased man.
  • How many of us reach out and pull back abruptly because of fear of personal rejection?

Humility

  • Jesus foresaw His popular curtailing His ability to spread His word.
  • People interested in personal glory don’t usually get very far in enlisting others in their cause.


2009-06-20 - A Life of Impact - Selfless Authority

Abandon

Mark 2:6-12

  • Jesus didn’t walk on eggshells when he was around those who opposed him.
  • We are often so careful not to offend anyone that no frankness and no power is left our speech.
  • We need to be constantly ready to withstand opposition

Selfless Authority

  • People who seem apologetic about authority they have or hesitate to exercise it are not very impressive
  • Reason: they see it as a means of gaining something for themselves for themselves rather than a means of achieving a goal
  • People that abuse power act the same way as those who do not use
  • Pilate failed because he did not understand why he was in power
  • We should not hesitate to make use of this authority and we should be unashamed
  • How can disciples of Jesus not be bold and assertive? We must be forceful people!


2009-07-15 - A Life of Impact - Prudence

Prudence

Mark 8:11-13

  • Sometimes Jesus simply did not bother to deal with his adversaries – he just up and left.
  • Sometimes we need to be able to determine when the best thing to do is walk away.
  • Sometimes arguing is just a waste of time – shake the dust off your feet.

Moving On

  • Farmer – plants across the fields not just around the farmhouse
  • If we focus all our attention on one problem one goal, or one person’s needs - lose sight of the field
  • Jesus kept moving on in order to keep his and work fresh vibrant and spontaneous.
  • Momentum is an invisible yet critical element in any type of movement


2009-09-02 - Wild at Heart - The wound (part 2)
Adam receives his name from God
Abraham names Issac
Jesus needed to hear those words

God renames Jacob and Paul

Racheal names son “son of my sorrow”. Jacob renames him “son of my right hand”
It took intervention by the man, it always does

A boy is brought into the world by his mother
There comes a time for the shift when he begins to seek out his father’s affection – Hard for a mother

Dad coming home is biggest event in a boy’s day
Women try to fill void that an absent father has left
Father calls his son “tiger”

Turns to mom for comfort and dad for adventure
If a mother will not allow her son to become dangerous, if she does not let the father take him away, she will emasculate him.

2009-09-06 - Wild at Heart - Battle for a mans heart (part 2)
Boys are in plentiful supply, but it seems fewer and fewer men

Two reasons
  • We do not know how to initiate boys into men
  • We are not sure we really want to
Needed
  • slavery stopped
  • Nazis were stopped
  • Who gave up their seats on the Titanic?
Men are being taken out left and right
They have lost heart
Becoming a Christian is like being called to the front lines

Wounds are far too consistent to be accidental
Do you know why there’s been such an assault?

2009-09-07 - Wild at Heart - The enemy fears you
If you ever really got your heart back, lived from it with courage, you would be a huge problem to him
Many men have not been shown how to fight from the heart.
Failure of fathers and left men without direction
If you want the wound healed and your strength restored and to find your true name, you re going to have to fight for it.

Notice your reaction at these words.
Does another come in and caution you to stop
We need to know who we are and if we have what it takes

A man’s core question does not go away
We search for the answer of validation
  • Career
  • Belonging
  • How well he plays sports
  • Yes, even women


2009-10-21 - Wild at Heart - An adventure to live (part 4)
The problem with modern Christianity is it’s obsession with principles
Real test of a man comes when all his resources fail
Living and loving – jump in with both feet

Ask your wife what is wrong? Dangerous – very much a mystery
She does not want to be solved; she wants to be known

We know how to be nice but we really do not know how to fight

Christian life should not be chaotic or be flagrantly irresponsible.
Break away from it all and head off into the unknown God
Adam - No formula for how he was to handle mess
God honored and did not hold his hand

Was not left alone to face life
The only way to live in this adventure – is in an ongoing relationship with God
Control we crave is an illusion – it in exchange for God’s relationship
Moses and God knew each other
David was after God’s own heart
Jesus made God known – John 15:15
What are you teaching me here, God?

What are you asking me to do or let of?
What in my heart are you speaking to?

2009-11-24 - Master Plan - Selection (part 3)
Few were converted in His lifetime.
  • Little more than 500 after the resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:6
  • 120 received baptism at the day of Pentecost - Acts 1:15
Strategy
  • 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.
Some concern themselves with baptisms and numbers more than power and love of God
Everything that is done with the few is for the salvation of the multitudes.

Modern Practicals
  • 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?


2009-11-30 - Master Plan - He Required Obedience
  • Jesus required and expected obedience
  • They were disciples, learners, pupils (“Christian”) did not even come until later - Acts 11:26
  • Being smart was not a requirement for His students, but loyalty was.
  • No statement of faith made at the beginning but they believed that he was the Messiah (Luke 1:41, 45, 49; 5:8)
  • Jesus was obedient to His Word and expected others to do the same.
  • People do not follow hypocrites – Jesus lived it
  • Way of the Cross
    • Meant more than a joyful precession: it meant a surrender of one’ whole life and of His sovereignty.
    • God or Money - Luke 16:13
    • Do not conform to the world = new life - Matthew 5:1-7:29
    • Love was found in obedience (John 14:21)
    • Cross – willingness to die to self so that other may live
  • Strong Teachings
    • Not many followed (many left) - John 6:66
    • Jesus did not go running after them to get them to stay
    • Must be willing to pay the price


2010-01-08 - Kingdom First - Light Gives Direction
You are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14-16

Without light we do not know where to walk
Don't know when to turn or how to reach our destination

God provided the direction for the Israelites when the left Egypt
Wise men were guided by light to find the Savior of the world

Your willingness to give help provides direction and light most do not have

Purity and integrity can shake the business world
Faith and joy in the face of trials can show others with God there is a way out of anything

2010-05-10 - World Hates Jesus (part 2)

Ephesians 5:1-13

  • Being open pleases God
  • Sin enslaves us.
Hebrews 10:26-31

  • Our sins killed Jesus
  • Not oops...Deliberate!
  • Two ways to look at it
    • Bad Bad = Guilty/No change
    • Good Bad = Repentence/Change
  • Only 72 left to follow Jesus when he ascended
  • Today:
    • God is the same.
    • People change.

John 6:60-71

  • Jesus' message offended people
  • They my have said:
    • You are going to lose some members
    • You are not going to be popular
    • This might start a controversy

Matthew 10:34-38

  • The message is going to cause friction
Matthew 7:13-14
  • The road is narrow:
    • Hard to get on
    • Not easy
    • Few will be on it
  • Are you on the narrow road?


2010-06-05 - Desire's Journey - Ultimate Blow

How are we to bet our arranging a good life in the face of death?

Even after the fall, the wickedness of the human heart seems out of control
People lived 700, 800, 900 year - can you imagine the arranging of lives that could be done during that time?

So God set our years shorter - Genesis 6:3
Death is never natural - it wasn't meant to be

Those left behind experience such pain
Each death can begin to understood only within the larger story God is telling

 



2010-08-05 - Waking Dead - Arm Yourselves (part 2)
God intends for you to have eternal life

When someone gets married, it isn't just a marriage to help them in retirement but their whole lives

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living - Psalms 27:13

No one who has left everything will fail to receive many times as much in this age, in the age to come, eternal life - Luke 18:29-30

Jesus talks about a life available to us in this age
Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come - 1 Timothy 4:8

When we hear eternal life, most think a life that waits for in eternity
But eternal means "unending" not "later"
Eternal life can start now

Jesus was raised from the dead, now we also may live new lives - Romans 6:4
Coming fully alive is what he was committed to

What a different it would make if we really knew that our lives and God's glory were bound together
Things would start looking up


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