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Searching for "lost" in the Quiet Time Archive
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2008-02-26 - Power of Gratitude - Uncommon Peace
What enables us to have such uncommon peace? - Commonality

  • Relationship with God
  • Decision to make Jesus Lord of our lives
  • Basic mission - to seek and save the lost
If we in a battle together, we are unlikely to attack one another

Stay committed to God with the mission and discipling firmly in place, our unity will remain

Three warning signs, if not doing:

A. Daily diet
  • Time in the Word daily - Acts 17:11
  • Daily prayer - Luke 11:1-4
  • Share our faith daily - Acts 17:17
  • Open with our lives daily with one another - Hebrews 3:12
B. Lack of commitment
C. Lack of discipling

2008-02-29 - Power of Gratitude - Bon Appetit
Satan works to both deceive us and accuse us - People tend to have a deceived or an accused conscience

Too many of us seem to think that God turns away from us when we are doing bad and turns back when we repent
Fathers are much more engaged when their kids are not doing well

God ran to the Lost Son - Luke 15
Gave his only Son when we were not doing well - John 3:16-17
Christ died for the ungodly - Romans 5:6-11

At the point the mind changes - our conscience should be cleared
Sin is serious - that is what the cross is all about
Feel the burden of sin long enough to be convicted and move to repentence

2008-04-02 - Falling in Love with God - Bitterness

An emotional response (along with fear) that succeed at undermining our love for God

A result of an uncard-for emotional wound

Matthew 18:15-17 - can resolve most issues
Sometimes we are just called on to forgive
Not forgiving is like allowing a physical cut become infected

Examples

  • Esau wept bitteryly when he failed to receive the blessing - Genesis 27:34
  • Israelites incrediblity harsh and treatment from the Eyptians - Exodus 1:14
  • Naomi changed her name to Mara, meaning "bitterness" (losted husband and sons) - Ruth 1:21
  • Hannah wept "in bitterness of soul" because of her infertility - 1 Samuel 1:10
  • David's men because of the loss of their children - 1 Samuel 30:6
  • Job while not understanding the discipline of God - Job 7:11
  • Missing the grace of God cause bitter root - Hebrews 12:15
  • Envy becomes bitterness - James 3:14

Bitterness will actively oppose any attempt to restore our love for God

Bitter or better - a channel of curses or blessings

Disciples need Jesus' example to overcome the pain of the cross

Jesus wants us to have his attitude toward suffering

  • What form do we expect our Christian suffering to take?
  • Are we looking for a Christianity that does not involve suffering?

Bible command us to get rid of all bitterness
Two ways to overcome bittereness:

  • Forgive - Ephesians 4:32
  • Trusting God is at work in all things for our good - Romans 8:28


2008-04-06 - Falling in Love with God - Rediscovering each other
Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him - Luke 24:13-32

They did not see Jesus because they lost hope and did not see him in a new light

There is no joy like rediscovery - ex. rediscovering your spouse

Some today:
  • "We are not compatible anymore"
  • "We have both changed"
  • Think about an old boyfriend or girlfriend
We need to "rediscover" our spouse if we have lost hope

We need to "rediscover" Jesus if we have lost hope of connecting with him again
  • Because of Jesus we can be one with Him
  • He has not changed
  • He is thinking of me, I am I thinking of him?


2008-04-07 - Falling in Love with God - Dashed Hopes
We had hoped to become leaders
We had hoped not to move again
We had hoped that people would understand our needs
We had hoped overcome sins
We had hoped husband or wife would make changes

On the road to Emmaus - they did not see Jesus in their walk until Jesus' lit a fire under them

It is not until lost it all - that we will listen to God

David (1 Samuel 18-22)
  • Lost a position
  • Lost his wife
  • Lost a wise counselor
  • Lost a friend
  • Lost self-respect
The purpose is rediscover him
  • Lost hope in your relationships - God may want you to rediscover how He can meet all your needs
  • Lost hope in financial stability - God may want you to rediscover how to totally depend on him
  • Lost hope in someone changing - God may want you to rediscover his expectations for you


2008-05-24 - Purpose Driven Life - What Drives Your Life?

What shouldn't drive our life (will miss God's purposes for your life):

People are driven by guilt

Allows the past to control their future
God's purpose is not limited to our past

God turned a murder (Moses and Paul) into a leader and a coward into a hero

God specializes in giving people a fresh start

People are driven by resentment and anger - Resentment always hurts you more than it does the other person

People are driven by fear - from unrealistic expectations and high-control situations

People are driven by materialism - Your value is not determined by your valuables

People are driven by the need for approval - those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it

Living a purpose driven life, knowing your purpose:

  1. Gives meaning to your life
    • I have laboed to no purpose - Isaiah 49:4
    • My life drags by - day after hopeless day - Job 7:6
    • My life makes no sense - Job 7:16
  2. Simplies your life
    • You have just enough time to do God's will - too much to do means you doing things you shouldn't be doing
  3. Focuses your life
  4. Motivates your life
  5. Prepares you for eternity


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
Earth is only a temporary residence
Christians should carry spiritual green cards

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
It is a fatal mistake to assume God's goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success

  • Paul was faithful - ended up in prison
  • John the Baptist was faithful - was beheaded

Some would consider them foolish and lost everything but they gained everything - God and heaven

In heaven we will ask ourselves:

  • Why did I place so much importance things so temporary?
  • What was I thinking?
  • Why did I waste so much time on thing that will not last?


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:
  • Abraham - allowed to question and challenge
  • David - God patient during his accusations
  • Job - allowed to vent his bitterness
  • Moses - told God exactly how he felt
God listens to the passionate word; bored with predictable
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

2008-06-15 - Purpose Driven Life - Created to Become Like Christ
You are created to become like Christ

Jesus' mission is restore the full image that we have lost
God's ultimate goal for your life on earth in not comfort but character development
If we forget this, you will become frustrated by your circumstances

You exist for God's purpose, not vice versa

Only the Holy Spirit has the power to make the changes God wants to make in our lives - Philippians 2:13

We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work

Obedience unlocks God's power
God waits for you to act first
Make every effort - Luke 13:24; Romans 14:19; Ephesians 4:3; 2 Timothy 2:15

Ephesians 4:22-24 - Responsibilities in belonging like Christ:
  • Choose to let go of old ways
  • Must change the way we think
  • Must put on the "character of Christ by developing new, godly habits

God uses his Word, people, and circumstances to mold us
  • Truth we need to grow
  • Support when we need guidance or when we fail
  • Environment we need to practice Christ-likeness
In many religions, the mature isolate themselves, not those who are being like Christ

Being like Christ is a long, slow process of growth - You are a work in progress

2008-08-11 - 30 Days at the Cross - Seeing It Through
It is not hard to start something but it takes character to finish

What did it take for Jesus to reach his goal? Nothing less than a relationship with the Father and death

With dull disciples - could have become impatient
Exhausted after a long journey - could have become selfish
He never gave in

How did he stay so determined to overcome?
Offered prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears - Hebrews 5:7

Jesus shed tears for:
  • the lost
  • the people he met and healed
  • his disciples to stay faithful
  • his family who thought he was crazy
  • the children
Knowing that God heard his cries, he found victory over discouragement, anxiety, doubt, and loneliness
We are aware of our ineffectiveness, we focus on what we should be doing but neglect our relationship with God

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?
  • Love for enemies and pray for them - Luke 6:27-28
  • Sacrifice of sleep for someone
  • Be flexible and inconvenienced for others
We are entrusted to be an example for the very souls of our children

2008-09-06 - Teach Us To Pray - Praise and Thanksgiving
God's plan is a blessing and not a burden - 1 John 5:3
Once we lose our gratitude, we have lost everything

Growing in Gratitude
  1. Realize God has chosen you - Choose you for the purpose of telling the world about him - 1 Peter 2:9
  2. See God in everything - Train your mind to look at God and not self - Colossians 1:11-12
  3. Express and verbalize your gratitude - Psalms 39:4-5
Challenge: Pray for 30 minutes just thanking God for specific details in our your life

2008-10-04 - Man of Prayer - Authentic Encounter
Must be an authentic encounter, not just a religious experience
Imagine a small Aramaic child calling for his daddy
Imagine Jesus holding you

We live in a noisy culture
Noise becomes background noise and without it, we can feel lost or anxious
No wonder we do not allow God to speak to us

When the disciples prayed, Hallowed be your name, it was to focus on God above all else

Second section of prayer taught by Jesus in Luke 11, starts tomorrow

2008-12-06 - Raising Awesome Kids - Teach them to love others

Kids who are showered with love must be taught to give it away
Otherwise they will become selfish, aloof, and arrogant
God commands us to love hime in return

Love and concern for others should be talked about often
Children learn to love by helping - capable of so much more than we think

We can do far too much for them - creates self-centeredness
They way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus - Matthew 25:34-40

The whole family is an instrument of God - God will use in us is a dark and lost world



2009-01-30 - Jesus with People - Greatest in th Kingdom
I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom  of heaven - Matthew 18:1-4

Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost - Matthew 18:12-14

We need to become like children in a very specific way
Our human nature wants to be first and to have control
Matthew 18 were driven by the same desire - they asked Jesus "Who is the greatest?"
When become like little children, we become like Jesus

Paraphrase - Because of your power-hungry pride you guys are not even in the kingdom of God, and nothing will change this fact unless you start imitating this child

After Jesus' sacrifice, all his teachings made sense
Having a child's humility is impossible until we understand the cross
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends - John 15:13

Must see other brothers and sisters in Christ as God's little spiritual children who must be cared for
God's heart is that not a single person be lost
Do we feel the personal responsibility for others?

Who do you know who is struggling spiritually? What can you do to help them?

2009-01-31 - Jesus with People - No Dogs in Heaven
Matthew 15 - The Canaanite Women
Jesus was silent and by his silent he tested and revealed both the hearts of his disciples and the heart of this woman

Perhaps the instructions given earlier by Jesus send then to find the lost sheep of Israel was still in their mind
Maybe thought: "he sent us to find the lost Israelite. too bad, she is a Gentile. Send her away."

Jesus did not send her away but said - I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel - Matthew 15:24
Jesus - it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their gods - Matthew 15:26
Savior was willing to be misunderstood in order to flush out faith or faithlessness in the heart of this woman

In the end, Jesus affirmed her faith and admired her grit
He did not see the woman as unsubmissive or rebellious or undeserving; he saw her as full of faith

Jesus was more concerned about helping someone grow in their faith than he was keep up the nice-guy image

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


2009-02-20 - 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?

2009-04-09 - Promises of God - What Are We to Give?
We are to give ourselves completely to:
  • the Lord
  • the lost
  • the poor
  • our fellow disciples
Romans 9:3; Romans 10:1; Matthew 19:21; 1 John 3:16

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


2009-05-20 - No one like him - Extravagant Generosity
Jesus about the insanely generous love of God

God wants to do more than we can ask or imagine

God's radical giving - Luke 15
Parable of lost coin, lost sheep, lost son

Our radical response - Matthew 13:44-46
We must the same as God has for us
We must give up all we have for the kingdom

2009-05-23 - No one like him - Kingdom Attitudes (part 3)
Those Who Hunger and Thirst

We see our lostness, we see our need to be learners; pursues what comes from God
Righteousness less about perfection, and more about the relationship

The Merciful

First four about relationship with God; Next have to do with our relationship with others in the light of God
Matthew 18:23-27 - forgiven will love much

2009-05-25 - No one like him - Kingdom Lifestyle (part 1)
Sermon not a code of law but a higher calling

NOT what is the law so I do not break it
IS was lost but now found; I will seek him with all my heart

Call to perfectionism is burden vs imitating our Father; being radically different

Different Attitudes – Beatitudes – Matthew 5:1-12

Different Effect – Matthew 5:13-16
Salt – stops decay
Light – for those who are humble, help to find the way


2009-08-16 - A Life of Impact - Powerful Self-Control

A Powerful Presence

Mark 14:43-52

  • Fearsome spectacle - all the disciples fled
  • John 18:4-6 – He was forceful and in control of his decision

Self-Control

Mark 14:53-65

  • Remember, for these men to act this way must have seemed completely out of character.
  • What is your standard of self-control? – They lost control of their anger (built up over several month and years)


2009-08-21 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 3)
What makes a man come alive?

    1. Need a battle to fight
  • Swords, camouflage, six-shooters, uniforms
  • Boys want to be powerful and dangerous
  • Aggression is part of man’s design – God’s image (Exodus 15:3)
  • They do not want to call and talk about relationships
  • Boys play is a rehearsal for a bigger drama
  • Life needs man to be fierce and fiercely devoted
  • Every man needs to know he is powerful – be the hero

    2. Needs an adventure to live
  • Fights the grizzly, wins the beauty
  • Recipe for fun with boys – add an element of danger
  • We may fear the test, yet we yearn to be tested and discover what it takes
  • If a man has lost this desire (says he doesn’t want it) does not know he has what it takes – believe he will fail the test.

    3. Needs a beauty to rescue
  • Nothing more inspiring to a man as a beautiful women
  • Make you want to charge the castle, slay the giant
  • Men going to war carry a photo of their sweetheart in their wallet
  • Paintings on side of airplanes
  • Lonely men fight lonely battles
  • Where would James Bond, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Indiana Jones be without their women
  • Man needs a battle to fight, he needs someone to fight for (someone in particular – women he loves)



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?

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