2008-09-12 - Teach Us To Pray - In Marriage and Family Unless the Lord builds, its builder labor in vain - Psalms 127:1-2 Powerful benefits of daily prayer with one another:
Prayer in family life:
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2008-09-17 - Teach Us To Pray - The Harvest Is Plentiful Jesus promises a great harvest but the worker are few (Matthew 9:35-38):
Fruitfulness limited primarily by one thing - God himself Gratitude control the harvest Luke 9 - The charge was to preach the kingdom and heal the sick They gave to everyone who had need - Acts 2:43-47 Salvation wasn't just a doctrine rather a reality in their lives Jesus spent much of his time meeting physical needs, feeding, comforting, healing, serving As a result, people spread the word even more Reflects the power of meeting needs and our heart as a worker To acquire this heart, we need to pray:
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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 |
2008-09-21 - 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 |
2008-09-27 - Man of Prayer - Introduction 10% of those who don't believe in God still pray - just in case 55% of those who do pray, pray less than 5 minutes That is not much time for fellowship and communion We end up doing the thing that we are highly motivated to do Quality of prayer is low when the only motivation is obedience Matthew 26:36-46 - Jesus asked them to keep watch while he prayed Could we keep for even one hour? How is your prayer life Is it satisfying, effective, fulfilling, productive? |
2008-10-26 - Man of Prayer - Principles of Provision It is important to understand certain principles apply to receiving our daily bread
Haggai 1 - we need to consider our ways
Because of there repentance, they were rewarded:
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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 |
2008-11-18 - Raising Awesome Kids - Second Thing Second Assuming God is first, who is next on our list? Our spouse Devotion to our lifetime companion must be the greatest earthly love of all Kids are our flesh and blood, but we are one flesh with our spouse Some make up for the affection by pouring all their love into their children Makes them arrogant and/or insecure Bag the excuses, example: too busy, take an honest look at your marriage Little eyes and ears are fine-tuned to our frequency and they know They love it when we love each other - it gives them a sense of peace, happiness, and security Much of the anger and rebellion issues in kids can be traced back to marriage problem |
2008-12-06 - Raising Awesome Kids - Teach them to love others Kids who are showered with love must be taught to give it away Love and concern for others should be talked about often We can do far too much for them - creates self-centeredness The whole family is an instrument of God - God will use in us is a dark and lost world |
2009-01-03 - Raising Awesome Kids - Foundations of a Spiritual Family Spiritual = to be on the inside what we trying to do one the outside: to be genuine, not to live a pretense of religious performance but to function out of a sincere relationship with God A spiritual family is where:
We can not take our families where we have not gone Children can spot a fake We must be:
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2009-01-17 - Jesus with People - Humility in Action Jesus and John the Baptizer were very different - ie one preached in the desert and one in the cities and villages John called the people not to focus on him but the one who was coming Jesus came to be baptized by John - Matthew 3:11 John responds - I need to be baptized by you John submits to Jesus' submission and baptizes Jesus Satan hated it - they kept humbling themselves before one another - the bond of unity grew tighter and tighter This humility continued through out their lives - John: He must become greater; I must become less - John 3:27-30 Jesus did not grasp his equality with God - Philippians 2:6 Humility kept them bonded together, even when Satan was working to divide Pride: Keeps people from being united Humility: Bring people together When unity does not exist among believers: People are not willing to pay the price Pride means too much to them What relationship do you have that would be greatly changed if you show humility and not pride? |
2009-01-22 - Jesus with People - Finding Faith Jesus was in ahuge crowd and suddenly a Roman centurion walks up to Jesus - Matthew 8:5-10 NT centurions are often mentioned with honor:
Lord, my servant lays paralyzed and in terrible suffering - Matthew 8:5-6 Jesus was moved by the man's heart - I will go and heal him Lord, I don't deserve to have you under my roof - Matthew 8:8 Say the word and he will be healed - Matthew 8:8 Jesus did not find anyone in Israel with such faith |
2009-04-02 - Promises of God - Work That Is Worth It An old criticism of Christians: Too heavenly minded that they are no good on earth Seem to spend so much dreaming of heaven and not working on solving the earth's problems This was never God's idea Prepare your minds for action - 1 Peter 1:13 Setting our minds on the amazing blessings is a powerful encouragement for us to work hard and give our best effort now Is it worth saying "No" to sin? Just consider heaven! Worth it to giving to the poor? Just consider heaven! Worth staying in the race when it gets difficult? Just consider heaven! Worth blood, sweat, tears to help other to know God? Just consider heaven! Your labor in the Lord is not in vain - 1 Corinthians 15:58 |
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 |
2009-04-11 - Promises of God - Satan Tries to Create Doubt Satan uses his energy and his demons to break down our trust in God: Eve in the garden - Genesis 3:1-7 Moses at the burning bush - Exodus 3:1-4:17 Tried it will Jesus in the desert - Luke 4:1-13 Do you really think his strategy with us will be any different? Satan will attempt to get us to doubt God so much that we will trust a stranger more than him Problem is not that we do not know how to trust
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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 |
2009-05-29 - No one like him - Conflict and Controversy (part 2) Like the earlier prophets, Jesus spoke bluntly to the religious leaders Ungodly religion must be rebuked; Nice words will not drive the point home; Too much is at stake Jesus did not enjoy the rebukes but wept over cities (Luke 19:41) Jesus made sharp contrasts between traditions and the word of God (Matthew 15:3) Religion that avoided sinners at all cost vs a religion that seeks after sinner at all cost The goal of a physician is not to spend time with the sick but to help the sick get well |
2009-06-30 - A Life of Impact - Dream Shared Dream Shared Mark 4:26-32
Choice words Mark 4:33-34
Actions speak louder
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2009-07-06 - A Life of Impact - Forcefulness The Sending Mark 6:7-13
Forcefulness
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2009-07-08 - A Life of Impact - Shepherding Shepherding Mark 6:30-44
Work Ethic
Crowd Appeal
Visible Sincerity
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2009-07-30 - A Life of Impact - Popularity Popularity Mark 10:46-52
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2009-08-01 - A Life of Impact - Anger Anger Mark 11:11-19
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2009-08-10 - A Life of Impact - Romantic Romantic Mark 14:3-11
Accepting Praise Graciously
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2009-08-22 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 4) Women want to be fought for She wants to be wanted She wants to be pursued Knight n shinning armor – core of the feminine heart and the life she knows she was made for She wants an adventure to share – part of the adventure She wants to be caught up into something greater than herself Every woman wants to have her beauty revealed “Do you see me?” “And are you captivated by what you see?” World kills woman’s heart – be tough, efficient, and independent No one is fighting for her (no adventure to swept up in) – doubts very much that she any beauty to unveil. Man must know he is powerful and know what it takes Woman must know she is beautiful and she is worth fighting for |
2009-08-28 - Wild at Heart - Question that haunts every man (part 2) Every man knows there is something wrong, but can not figure out what it is Man’s deepest fear is being found out – discovered as a impostor and not really a man Every man feels that the world is asking him to be something he doubts very much he has it in him to be How do you see yourself as a man? Are words like: strong, passionate and dangerous word you would choose? Do you have the courage to ask those in your life what they think of you as a man? Manly to – hunt, fix cars, survive in the wild Why don’t men play the man? Why don’t they offer their strength to a world that needs it?
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2009-10-11 - Wild at Heart - The Strategy (part 4) 3. Cutting a deal When did king David fall? When David was not a warrior He sent other to the fighting for him Weapons of war If you saw your life as a great battle and you knew you needed time with God for your survival, you would have “quite times” It’s about connecting with God Whatever brings you back to you heart and the heart of God If you do not have God and have him deeply, you will turn to other lovers Men devote hours to finances to retire Rigorous training for a marathon How much do we strive to for our relationship with God? The body is built to endure hardship Put on the armor of God everyday We walk in the authority of Christ Do not attack in anger and do not swagger forth in pride Do not even think about going into battle alone Don’t make that a lifestyle of isolation |
2009-10-16 - Wild at Heart - Offering our Strength (part 2) Cycle of a man is that he goes away from a woman to yet return to her after finding strength Most men want the maiden without any sort of cost to themselves Nature of pornography - Uses her to get a feeling that he a man (false) Strength then came from an outside source rather than deep within Self-center man angers the Lord - Genesis 38:7-10 What happens when we refuse to spend their strength on a women - Genesis 38:25-26 Pretty women endure abuse this abuse all the time They learn to offer their bodies but never their souls Many men marry for safety Why don’t men offer what they have to their women?
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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? |
2009-11-14 - Repentance - Godly Sorrow (part 2) Aganaktesis – Indignation Conducts a search-and-destroy mission for every potential excuse for sinPhobos – Alarming Fear Although God hates sin and not the sinner – still it is the sinner that goes to hellEpipothesis – Longing Through fear, we recognize that sin alienates us from God |
2009-11-21 - Repentance - Its Time To Go Home (part 3) There is no perfect repentance, but wholehearted repentance David – search me (Psalms 139) Spirit’s conviction Good – overcome blinding pride Bad – Satan will try to stop you Sometimes easier to see our sin than think about loved ones salvation (passed away) What would they want you to do? Questions
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2009-11-29 - Master Plan - Church is the continuing fellowship (part 2)
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2009-12-07 - Master Plan - Demonstration (part 1) He showed them how to live
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2009-12-18 - Master Plan - The Plan (part 1) Life has a plan
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2009-12-23 - First the Kingdom - The Only Door (part 2) More examples of spiritual beggars: Mary
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2010-01-17 - Kingdom First - Not Kidding His challenge to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors His message totally defies world standards Consider the alternative: responding like the world We become enslaved by how other treat us Regardless how much we love the brotherhood of believers, if we hold any bitterness or resentment - we are simply reduced to the level of the world No matter how unjust or painful the treatment, God's grace is sufficient - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 He expects us to have Because he call to a life of righteousness which will produce enemies Are we willing to go all the way and suffer for him - Philippians 1:29 He expects us to love and actively pray for the people who oppose us How much do we persevere with people? Do we answer back kindly when spoken to unjustly? |
2010-01-18 - Kingdom First - Giving in Secret Giving should be done without even our closest friends and family knowing - Matthew 6:1-4 God blesses are many time unknown or unseen to many people He gives because he wants to Are you content when no one sees your sacrifice? Do you give without wanting anything in return? Jesus' life was full of sacrifical giving and he expects us to do likewise
God loves a cheerful giver - 2 Corinthians 9:7 |
2010-01-27 - Kingdom First - Personal Responsibility (part 1) Things have not changed much since the begging of time The woman you put here gave me some fruit - Genesis 3:12 We crave a scape goat:
Must confront the planks in our own lives Instead should admonish one another - Colossians 1:28-29 Build each other up through contructive challenges - Ephesians 4:29 |
2010-02-25 - One Another - Forgiving One Another (part 1) Matters related to forgiveness: Forgiveness often is not easy Pain creates lasting memories The more deliberate the sin or the more we have invested in a relationship, the greater the pain Greater the pain = harder it is to forgive Forgiveness may be hardest in the church When we see sin in our brothers and sisters, there seems to be a much greater temptation of bitterness Satan's top-ranked scheme may be to lead us not to forgive Paul: I have forgiven in order that Satan might not outwit us - 2 Corinthians 2:9-11 If he can get us to forget the cross and create a different standard for our brothers and sister = victory for satan Sin can blemish the church but there is no uglier blemish than one cause by the lack of forgiveness |
2010-02-27 - One Another - One Another In Groups (part 1) Small groups were in the center of Jesus' ministry - spent much of his time with the 12 Principles of small groups Focus on belonging and being devoted - Romans 12:5 All belong to one another - members of one another These who have been united with Christ - this is your spiritual family Be a giver, not just a taker Always need great listeners (not just being quite) - ask questions, draw people out Do your part to make the group warm, loving, supportive, open, etc "I'm not getting much out from this group" - check your heart and actions Appreciate, affirm, and encourage the different gifts - 1 Corinthians 12 God has given our brothers and sisters for our enjoyment Give special focus to those who may feel marginalized by illness/disability |
2010-04-12 - Life to the Full - Macho Mist (part 2) Spiritual adultery - How easy it is to flirt with the world if we fail to guard our hearts - Proverbs 4:23 In Jewish law, adultery is grounds for divorce The Spirit cause to live within us envies intensely - James 3:5 The nature of God: He will tolerate no rivals for his love God is a jealous God - Exodus 34:14 One of the quoted OT verse in the the NT is about pride - Proverbs 3:34 Much of the pride mention in the NT is bad: Pride goes before the fall - Proverbs 16:18 Pride mentioned in the NT is usually good: I take great pride in you - 2 Corinthians 7:4 It depends on where the pride is rooted and the attitude behind it If you feel ineffective, frustrated, unproductive, opposed - it might be because God is opposing you because of your pride He is trying to get your attention so you will turn back to him |
2010-04-25 - Heart of Friendship (part 1) Preached by John Lusk (2005-01-23) Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Christ is the key to having true friendships Friendship with Christ John 15:14-15
Matthew 11:28-30 - Jesus yoke is easy and he will give you rest Hebrews 4:15-16 - Jesus understands and have been in your situation 2 Peter 1:3 - He given everything we need in life |
2010-04-28 - Heart of Maturity (Motivation of Maturing) Preached by John Lusk (2005-01-30) How passionate are you about maturing?
Motivation of Maturing 1. To regain your identify Genesis 1:26-27
2. To remian in Jesus 1 John 2:3-4 - This is a expectation from God 3. To be effective and productive 2 Peter 1:4-8
4. Secure salvation 2 Peter 1:8-11 - We have been given a new start Wrong motivation - Pleasing people, selfish ambition |
2010-05-17 - Desire's Journey - The Beast Within Years of living in an indifferent hostile world creates a deep sense of unsettledness with in us Battle of good and evil within us - Romans 7:20-23 Sinful desires are contrary to the Spirit They conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want - Galatians 5:17 There is a nagging awareness warning us not to feel our hunger too deeply or it will undo us We wouldn't want to do anything crazy or desperate We want what our unmet desire wants but our sinful nature wants what is contrary We try everything - TV, sex, relationships, drugs, etc - going one to another We don't know what we want because we're so unacquaninted with our desire We try to keep a safe distance between our daily lives and our heart's desire - because it causes us too much trouble Do we really want to open Pandora's box? Dare we awaken our hears to their true desires? Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Our dilemma is this: we can't seem to live with desire, and we can't live without it |
2010-05-25 - Desire's Journey - Man who Wanted Nothing A faithful church attender, never missing a Sunday, serving on a committee and offered help to those in need - but why is there something missing? Why are we a Christian? What is that we want? To abandon desire is to say, "I don't really need you or want you. I will live with you because I am suppose to" Your heart desires, duty reduces the dance to a drill The real dilemma of desire is that it humbles us |
2010-05-27 - Desire's Journey - Language of Desire Jesus offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry to the one who could deliever him - Hebrews 5:7 Strong desires make strong prayers Children are often not embarrassed by desire Why are we embarrassed by our desire? Why do we pretend?
We don't pray like Jesus because we don't allow ourselves to nearly alive Pretending seems a much more reliable road to Christian maturity Without a deep and buring desire of our own, we will be ruled by the desires of others |
2010-05-30 - Desire's Journey - Assault on Desire Battle of desire is not something that just takes place with us or even between us - but against us Advirtisers play on our desire of creating an image that everyone who is anyone has the object for sale The evil one has two ploys:
Our addictions are our own worst enemies Like the rich, young ruler - we find we can not give up our treasures even though God has something much better |
2010-06-01 - Desire's Journey - Futility and Failure Men's punishment and curse hits man where it hurts most - in the field - Genesis 3:17-19 We drawn our sense of worth from work Man's deepest desire always relates to his strength Man's worst fear is not meaursing up |
2010-06-03 - Desire's Journey - Hardest Lesson to Learn God promises evern man futility and failure We spend much of our time attempting to end these curses It can not be done Will life ever be what I so deeply want it to be? We must have life - we can not arrange for it People avoid the lesson:
...rather than facing the truth - Isaiah 57:10 Some have seen that this will not work, yet they have faded into resignation, bitterness or dispair How do we accept that it can't be done with an open heart? |
2010-06-22 - Amazing Grace - how fearful the sound Preached on 2003-11-13 There is nothing we can do or not do to change it Psalms 103:8 - Grace is not a new concept for God Luke 9:51-56 - the disciples struggled with grace What fears do we have about grace? 1. Grace - produces lazy Christians We cannot control the freedom of others Acts 4:33 - much grace given and produced committed disciples 2. Grace - produces sinful Christians Grace exposes our hearts and gives us the responsibility to respond Romans 5:15-19 - Regulations is not grace - Grace is a mature concept What has grace produced in you? 3. Grace - produces weak convictions John 6:28-29 - Must believe - Belief is a work you must do Luke 13:2-9 - Repent or perish - Level of repentance and faith may be different for each person but baptism is the same for all. |
2010-06-24 - God does not change (part 2) Genesis v1:1 - Not much of the world v2:1 - What a change in a few weeks v2:20-25 - God created companionship - Adam's life changed v3:23-24 - Punished, banished, and moved out of the garden v6:11
v37:17-28
Genesis 45:4-8
God will never change |