2008-02-28 - Power of Gratitude - Thank God Im a Country Boy What ever background we have, we can not change it Cultural heritage - Jesus from Galilee and Nazareth Job - Jesus was a carpenter son's Appearance - Jesus "nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2) Speech - Disciples "are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?" ( Acts 2:7 ) Why? "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise" (1 Corinthians 26-29) Jesus understands and sympathizes - No one knows more about temptation than he. Let he happy for how God made us and use it for his glory |
2008-03-29 - Be Still My Soul - Praise Thanksgiving is praise made practical
Never known a person who habitually expressive of gratitude to be afflicted with continual discouragement and depression Good idea to start and keep a gratitude list |
2008-05-20 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Heaven Can Wait 2 Corinthians 12:2-7 - Paul longed for heaven but was willing to wait in order to fulfill his purpose Death held no fear for him because heaven was so real Life goes by so quickly - Psalms 90:10 All are destined to become distance memories for those we leave behind 2 Corinthians 4:16 - we are wasting away outwardly but being renewed day by day It is far too easy to become attached to this life - hardship changes this. As beautiful as all of God's creation is, God made it as throwaway It is destined to be burned up and to pass away - 2 Peter 3:10 |
2008-05-23 - Purpose Driven Life - You Are Not an Accident God planned:
God was thinking of you even before he made the world, that is why he created the world God's purpose even took in account sin and human error. If there was no god, we would all be accidents The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us - Romans 12:3 |
2008-06-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Protecting Your Church It is your job to protect the unity of the church Supreme model for unity is the Trinity Jesus' final moment was thinking and praying about the church's unity Make every effort to keep the unity - Ephesians 4:3 Focus on what we have in common We share the same life, salvation, and same future Conflict - focused on "disputable matters" Be realistic in your expectations People become disillusioned with church Should not be surprised - made up of sinners, including ourselves - 1 Corinthians 1:10 Reconciliation - not running away - road to stronger character and deeper fellowship If the church must be perfect to satisfy you, that same perfection will exclude you Choose to encourage rather than criticize It is always easier to stand on the sidelines than get involved Judge another believer:
Satan is the accuser of our brothers Other Christians are not the real enemy Any time spent for comparing and criticizing should be used for building others up Refuse to listen to gossip People who gossip to you will also gossip about you Great wounds usually come from other sheep, not wolves Practice God's method for conflict resolution Go to the person you are having issues with - Matthew 18 Takes a man of courage to speak the truth in love Support your pastor and leaders - Hebrews 13:17 No perfect leaders They are accountable but so are you You will give an account on how you obeyed your leaders |
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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2008-07-12 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Testimony) Your message includes testimony Tell other of the difference he made for you - 1 Peter 2:9 Witnessing = simply sharing your personal experiences regarding the Lord In court witness are NOT expected to:
You will be my witnesses - Acts 1:8 Personal stories:
Four parts of your testimony:
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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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2008-07-24 - 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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2008-07-27 - 30 Days at the Cross - Who Gets the Credit? How quick human nature is to accept credit for certain accomplishments I will not boast about myself, except my weaknesses (Paul) - 2 Corinthians 12:5 Why boast about our weaknesses?
Who would want the power of God? A person that truly boasts in the cross does not:
Jesus could keep a full record of your credits and debts - but do you want that? sin and all? Are you trying to earn your salvation |
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 |
2008-08-10 - 30 Days at the Cross - Surprise of Serving Two types of serving: Hired and Bond (no rights nor wages) Bond servants included: thieves, unable to make restitution, and the poor Jesus willfully and purposefully became a bond servant - Phillippians 2 Character changes need to be made and preceded by suffering:
Are you know as a servant? Will others quickly turn to you in their time of need? |
2008-08-23 - 30 Days at the Cross - Consumed with Reconciliation Bible makes it clear: God is consumed with reconciliation At the cross: it reconciles us to God, then reconciles us to each other There must be humility on both sides: God humility (did not need to go the human level but he did for our sake) - Philippians 2:5-8
Do you want to resolve a conflict in a relationship? Do it Gods way:
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2008-09-15 - Teach Us To Pray - Changes in Character Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place - Psalms 51:6 Character can grow if we take a sober gut-level check look at who we are Too often we pray:
When we aim at nothing, that is what we hit The word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart - Hebrews 4:12-13 Like a mirror reflecting how we look spiritually - James 1:23-25 We also learn the truth about ourselves from other people in our lives - Proverbs 20:5 Ask God to help you see what you need to change Ask others what things they see in your sinful nature How badly do you want to change? It will show by the way you pray My power is made perfect in weakness - 2 Corinthians 12:9 |
2008-09-19 - Teach Us To Pray - Direction for Decisions Most difficult decision are not so much a question of right and wrong but rather what is good, better, and best When ask according to God's will, he hears us - 1 John 5:14-15 God give wisdom in prayer (James 1:5) and through his Word (Hebrews 5:14) He will give us wisdom to discern what is best God also gives wisdom to men and women in his kingdom It is would be foolish and arrogant to not actively seek out wisdom God has made available Should imitate leaders faith - Hebrews 13:7 |
2008-11-25 - Raising Awesome Kids - Model of Masculinity In the image of God he created male and female - Genesis 1:27 Kids are extremely aware of the difference World is so mixed up - men want to be women; women wanting to be men Unnatural relations - Romans 1:24-27 The answer - the real thing will outshine the twisted Homosexuality is not natural No young boy was made that way by God A great relationship with a strong, affectionate father reduces to virtually zero Mama's boy or sissy:
Needs sense of approval If you are kind, strong and have a close relationship with your daughter, she will want to marry someone like you |
2009-01-23 - Jesus with People - Touching the Untouchable Jesus had compassion and healed the man with leprosy - Luke 5:12-18 Jesus was different:
What Jesus did we can also do (beside healing):
Society shrinks back - hospitals are not our favorite place Somehow, we think that the person is responsible for his or her condition Job "friends" did not understand what God was doing How can I imitate Jesus by "reaching out" in compassion to the sick? |
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? |
2009-01-30 - 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? |
2009-02-15 - Jesus with People - Widows Financial Sacrifice Mark 12:41-44 Without ever speaking to her, he made her gift he biblical standard for financial sacrifice She gave all she had to live on - Luke 21:4 Being a widow at that time, she likely had no income Probably hungry and surely without financial hope He faith in God was evident in her action Bible does not tell us what happened to her - we can know that GOd took care of her needs - Matthew 6:25-26 |
2009-02-18 - Jesus with People - Doing What We Ought 1 Timothy 6:13-14 Compared to previous struggles, the "Jesus dilemma" made the governor's worries look minuscule Jesus was accused of
Masses that had given homage were the same crowds asking for his death Jesus always did what was right Pontius Pilate knew what he ought to do and what he wanted to do but did not do it |
2009-02-19 - Jesus with People - What is Truth? Upon hearing the charges made by his fellow Jews, Jesus did not even rely to a single charge - Matthew 27:14 Governor was amazed; Jesus' self-control stumped Pilate Ill-fated Jews were forcing Pilate to face "truth" head on All he wanted to do was avoid another political blunder; he responded - What is truth? Jesus stood before him as the truth For this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth - John 18:37 Everyone on the side of truth listen to me - John 18:37 |
2009-02-27 - Promises of God - Standing on Promises For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all "Yes" in Christ - 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 Promises from others and one we have made > can make us highly skeptical about promises They represent efforts to pacify us at the moment; the promiser does not usually have to fulfill the promise immediately Does he promise and not fulfill? - Numbers 23:19 God fulfills his promises - every last one of them God is:
A promise from God is as good as fact |
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 |
2009-04-17 - Why We Need God - He is The Creator GOD IS THE CREATOR...
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