2008-08-20 - 30 Days at the Cross - I Am Not Alone Stress, word for the modern world, everyone has too much of it Synonymical cousins: worry, frustration, and impatience Vacation sometimes causes it Sociologists and Psychologist make a lot of money because of it Jesus never was described as stressed Jesus was tempted in every way as we are - Hebrews 4:15 How did he conquer stress? He was not alone - John 16:31-32 Allowing stress to overwhelm us is sin - focus on ourselves It tempts us to let our emotions lead over our convictions Worry - always be thousands of reasons to worry - still sin Frustration - thing don't go the way we think it should - we need faith We too can overcome stress - we too are not alone |
2008-08-21 - 30 Days at the Cross - Never Forget Remembering is not easy God foresaw our tendency to forget:
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2008-08-27 - Teach Us To Pray - Savior and Redeemer The Cross is enough, then, now, and always Hebrews 7:25-27
God wants his children to be abolutely confident that we can draw near to him with freedom and assurance Without seeing the cross, David understood his Savior and Redeemer - Psalms 69:13
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2008-09-03 - Teach Us To Pray - Surrender Not what I will, but what you will - Mark 14:35-36 Surrender means to put oneself and one's future totally into the hands of God Surrender is unconditional and total - nothing is held back Worst scenario possible and is still willing to pay that price What can we learn from Jesus is this most difficult night of surrender?
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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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2008-09-16 - 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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2008-09-18 - 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 |
2008-09-21 - Teach Us To Pray - Friends and Loved Ones To intercede or pray on someone else's behalf is a privilege Our prayers are sacrifices which are pleasing to him - Hebrews 13:15 Paul: I want you to know how much I am struggling for you - Colossians 2:1 Who do you struggle for? How about people you have never meet? Far be it that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray to you - Samuel to King Saul - 1 Samuel 12:23 Jesus intercedes for us - Romans 8:34 Like a good friend, he adds or subtracts from what you are missing or need Jesus makes us complete in God's sight |
2008-10-12 - Man of Prayer - YHWH-nissi Means "the Lord is my banner" Given when Moses built an alter after Israel defeated the Amaleties - Exodus 17:15 Recognize God as the source of victory and success in our lives We no longer need to fear, he has broken the curse of the law - source of our fear of failure He has shown us how to live a life of spiritual prosperity and success - Joshua 1:8 |
2008-10-28 - Man of Prayer - Experiencing Forgiveness Being a Christian is a no-lose proposition Athlete - performance dictated opportunity to participate Student - achievement is based off of grades and advanced degrees Every area in which we perform we are eventually bound to fail We become a Christian on the basis of my failure and Jesus' performance By grace we have been saved - Ephesians 2:8 Much more than just an initial experience of grace but a transformation of justification - we need daily bread (grace) Jesus taught his disciples to confess their sins - Luke 11:4 |
2008-11-10 - Man of Prayer - Final Issues If there was a medicine that could:
It still takes work and self-discipline - Pain = Gain We must translate our desire into action Exercise 3 days a week = too easy to make excuses Exercise 5 days a week = develop a habit 5 days can then become 7 days more easily because it is so ingrained Prayer needs to be everyday |
2008-11-24 - Raising Awesome Kids - Training and Teaching Fathers, bring up your children up in the training and instruction of the Lord - Ephesians 6:4 We, as fathers, teach and train non-stop Do not underestimate the importance of teaching The worst mistake you can make is to do nothing Children love to learn Why else would God let us keep them for almost 20 years, but to train them |
2008-11-27 - Raising Awesome Kids - Compassion and Caring God cares! Nothing too great or too small can escape his notice We also some be available to meet the needs of our family Otherwise, because they have given up trying to reach us, they will have no desire to talk to us anymore "Why can't I reach my kids?" - we weren't there when they reached for us God hurts for us and with us He looks for and has compassion for us - Luke 15:20 We need forgiveness and we need to grant it Our children are.... children Expect a lot, let them be kids - God is patient with us |
2008-11-28 - Raising Awesome Kids - Encouragement and Inspiration Fathers deals with his children with encouragement, comforting, and urgency of lives worthy of God - 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 Life is hard, especially for kids - easy to lose heart There is a immense power in a father's encouragement Young Timothy -
By his encouragement, Timothy became the dynamic leader of the huge and powerful Ephesus church It is our jobs as fathers to assess our children's talents and gift and help them to excel in them Be a great inspirer and encourager of your children Let it be you who thinks they are great and who picks them up when they fall |
2008-11-30 - Raising Awesome Kids - Have Fun, Be Hip What is wrong with having fun? Nothing! Jesus was a fun person:
If we are fun people, our kids will have fun If we let them have fun they will love our leadership You need to be hip to what is happening We show love when we are interested in someone else's world Be coming all things to all men - 1 Corinthians 9:22 Take a look at the current youth scene and not ridicule it Confront the sin but accept the style |
2008-12-14 - Raising Awesome Kids - Defiant Disobedience It starts with 'No' The key is to break their defiance with crushing their spirit |
2008-12-15 - Raising Awesome Kids - Disarming Disobedience They crack you up laughing while he or she is disobeying you Never let them do whatever just because they are cute or charming |
2008-12-19 - Raising Awesome Kids - Power of Discipline (part 1) vWhat are we to do when our children disobey us?
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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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2008-12-26 - Raising Awesome Kids - Specifics Character
Beliefs and faith in God - Trust God in prayer / stand for the truth Attitudes
Values - good morals - honesty and purity - if learned young - they will not abanon them Personality, demeanor, and mannersTrain them to have a pleasant personality traits
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2008-12-27 - Raising Awesome Kids - Work Ethic and responsibility Hard work and a sense of responsibility can be trained into a child Laziness is a flaw Sluggard finds nothing at harvest time - Proverbs 20:4 Sluggard says there is a lion road - Proverbs 26:13 Sluggard is a door on hinges - Proverbs 26:14 Stress loving hard work School work is character issue
Instead, make diligence and excellence the issue It helps immensely if the oldest child is well trained Give appropriate jobs and responsibilities around the house
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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 |
2008-12-30 - Raising Awesome Kids - Mistakes Parents Make 1. Being basically critical If you mostly see the negative things about your kids - what they will see about themselves 2. Failing to teach Teach the basics - throw a ball 3. Failing to express praise and admiration Say what we love, like, respect, and appreciation 4. Spending little or no exclusive time Always too busy - then you are too busy They will conclude that they are unimportant and worthless 5. Showing favoritism Comparing to each other - will breed frustration, jealousy, and bitterness 6. Pushing too hard, too soon Let them be kids 7. Parental self-degradation Downgrade yourself in front of your children Will hurt their view of life and of themselves 8. Living our lives through our children End up pushing your kids into things they don't really care about |
2009-01-05 - Raising Awesome Kids - Discipling Times These are times set to spend alone time with your child to talk with them, teach them the Bible, and pray with them Can begin as soon as your child can communicate fairly well Never let discipling times become boring and burdensome duty Try to go somewhere out of the house if possible Try to have set hours Select a topic and verse to share Realize that there may be a different topic that need to be discuss depending on the situation Compare notes with your spouse Read verses together > Talk about them > Take action > Share with the rest of the family These are incredible times to draw your children closer to God and you |
2009-01-11 - Raising Awesome Kids - Repect: Eliminate Critical, Harsh Talk Reckless words pierce like a sword - Proverbs 12:18 A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor - Proverbs 11:12 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your months - Ephesians 4:29-32 So thing we just plain need to get rid of: Harsh words Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken - Matthew 12:36-37 Name calling Would you use the same words if Jesus was in the room? Let that be the test. Rudeness Love is not rude - 1 Corinthians 13:5 Get rid of all actions, looks, and expression related God hate haughty eyes - Proverbs 6:16-17 These are signs of disrespect Recognize > Confront > Eliminate from their behavior |
2009-01-13 - Raising Awesome Kids - Openness Instead, speak the truth in love - Ephesians 4:15 An open family is a close family Children should believe that we care enough to give them our full attention; will not fly off the handle Openness is not limited to parents and children - includes the children with one another King Saul - filled with jealousy and envy and held in his feelings Parent should be concerned for a child that holds everything in |
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 |
2009-01-15 - Raising Awesome Kids - Atmosphere (part 1) Overall tone of a home What do we need to do to make the atomsphere great? Basic attitude of being positive and joyful As leaders of the family, parents must set the tine |
2009-01-26 - Jesus with People - Nic at Night Some people's needs could be quickly dealt with: "Heal my blindness" or "Let me just touch your garment" But not Nicodemus, Jesus knew it would be a long night - John 3:1-3 Nicodemus, was a man looking for something:
Could this be right? Could Jesus be the Messiah? Jesus was straight to the point: I tell you the truth, you must be born again - John 3:3 Nicodemus knew he could get time with Jesus and he did Who was intrumental in answering your questions and healping you see the truth? |
2009-02-01 - Jesus with People - The Bleeding Woman The crowds followed him to point of his exhaustion Why did Jesus' life draw a crowd? Jesus was willing Jesus was not just a servant but was a selfless servant We get caught up with the duties of Christianity - serving the weak and the lost With more responsibility we have, the easier it is to administer rather than minister. Consistent delegation cause our hearts to harden - just organizing and managing If you are not seeing the crowds, develop the heart of selflessness After she touched his cloak, he could have let the woman leave anonymously, but her called attention to her so he could lift he up He was concerned not only for her sickness, but her emotions as well Jesus had forceful faith and expected it of others |
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 Closeness reuires spending time together At the last supper, John was seated to Jesus' left - John 13:23-26 |
2009-02-07 - Jesus with People - Openness Jesus opened his heart to his friends Jesus completely bared his very soul to his three closest friends - Matthew 26:38 All the while knowing that they were unworthy of his trust and fell sleep when he needed them the most |
2009-02-08 - Jesus with People - Trusting In his torment, he sees the need of his mother and he entrusts her to John's care - John 19:25-27 Jesus let John know that he trust him and needs him to take care of his mother John was transformed from "son of thunder" to "Apostle of Love" The problem with not feeling close, real, or trust is our issue How close, real, and trusting are your relationships? What do your relationships with people tell you about your relationship with God? |
2009-02-20 - Jesus with People - People Pleasing Pilate After having found Jesus innocent of the charges, three times Pilate "appealed to them" In the end surrender Jesus to the will of the crowd - Luke 23:13-24 Jesus still let Pilate know that he was guilty of sin - John 19:11 Instead of seeking an escape, Jesus testified to the truth about God He was still preaching and reaching out the lost - even his executor Jesus had an impact - from then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free - john 19:12 Pilate lived and kept his job - for a little while, but his name was written in infamy How do you fare under negative chatter about your Christian conviction? |
2009-02-22 - Jesus with People - Daily Unconditional Love Jesus was tempted in every way we are but was without sin - Hebrews 4:15 How could he put up with this day after day? Jesus was in complete submission of God's will:
How Jesus' heart must have ached when teaching:
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2009-03-05 - Promises of God - Forgiving Ourselves When we accept God's forgiveness, we are compelled to forgive others including ourselves Some people spend years trying to figure out how to forgive themselves God has promised to forgive - let us experience forgiveness, rejoice in his forgiveness and express his forgiveness in all our relationships
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2009-03-07 - Promises of God - Lord of the Unexpected One of our greatest test of faith comes when we face the unexpected We forget Psalms 91 - His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart We often rely on our own understanding of situations and then ask God what we think we need It is important to let God give us the answer since he knows what is best for us This trouble you're in is not punishment, it's training, the normal experience of children - Hebrews 12:17
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2009-03-14 - Promises of God - Not tempted Beyond What You Can Bear He will not let be tempted beyond what yo can bear - 1 Corinthians 10:13 God has not promised that we will not be tempted - James 1:13-15 No situation will ever be too difficult. God simply will not allow it. There is never an excuse for sin. Jesus is our ultimate example He himself suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted - Hebrews 2:18 |
2009-03-23 - Promises of God - Run to God's Word Like sin, the very nature of weariness is hostile to radical change Running is the last thing I feel like doing with I lethargic and tired - but it is exactly what I need to do Our spirits often resist the Word when we need it the most. There is power in the Word and it can revive us over and over again I lie prone in the dust; revive me according to your - Psalms 119:25 |
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 |
2009-03-31 - Promises of God - God is All-Powerful Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate - Psalms 142:6 Emotional needs of the brokenhearted can be met completely by our all-powerful God You are my refuge - Psalms 142:3-5 Describes how God provides protection, security, strength, and unfailing kindness |
2009-04-07 - Promises of God - Labor that is in Vain Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because your labor in the Lord is not in vain - 1 Corinthians 15:58 Labor that is in vain:
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2009-04-08 - Promises of God - Tireless Labor Satan works quickly to wear us down Fatigue and discouragement are his greatest tools Do you realize God can give you energy? Luke 17:7-10 and Galatians 6:9 -> gives energy to never quit Focusing on how hard something is will never product the desired fruit Focusing on God and letting others help us product tireless labor Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands Ester needed Mordecai to carry out the plan to save the Israelities Jesus needed Simon to carry his cross God provides helps when we labor tirelessly for him |
2009-04-09 - Promises of God - What Are We to Give? We are to give ourselves completely to:
Give whatever we have to whomever asks - our hearts, affections, and desires to the benefit to others When do I take care of myself? Trust God to give back to you a hundred times as much in the present age - Matthew 19:29 |
2009-04-12 - Promises of God - God is Still Faithful You gave into the temptation again, you sinned It is the same one and you have never been able to completely conquer this one area of your life What are your options?
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2009-05-02 - No one like him - His dependence on God (part 1) No one claimed to be able to do what he did He knew the result would be if he completely depended on God – gave confidence Dependency can have negative connotations; those who are dependent sometimes are looked down on. Bible says not to depend on ourselves or other men … but on God.
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2009-05-03 - No one like him - His dependence on God (part 2) Jesus’ dependency on God: 1. Can not do anything by myself. – opposite is pride
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2009-05-12 - No one like him - Joy Most of the first 1,000 years’ pictures were of Jesus not smiling – common view Jesus never felt bitterness, negative thinking, or despair [Cheer-up] I have overcome the world – John 16:33 We can have complete joy – implementing the teaching of Jesus drew near to God (Joy) – John 16:21-24 Joy in enduring the cross – Hebrews 12:2 |
2009-06-09 - One Another - Fellowship and Carrying Burdens Fellowship - bring to mind casual conversation or other lightweight associations Greek word for fellowship is koinonia = to partnership and deep involvement Word also defined as "sharing together in the common life" Word used outside of NT to describe marriage The root word - Koinon = "common" or "in common" Galatians 6:1-2
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