Quiet Times Search

How do we decide what to study?

• How do I need to grow?
• What is my greatest spiritual need right now?

Questions to ask yourself:

• Do I need to see Jesus? - Gospels
• Do I need to be more spiritual? - Sermon of the Mount
• Do I need more faith?
• Do I need to learn to others more? - Jesus, John, Peter, Paul examples
• Do I need to be more grateful? - Psalms/Topical study
• Do I need to become more evangelistic?
• Do I need to know God better? - Abraham or Moses
• Do I need greater assurance of salvation? Grace topical study
• Do I need to learn how to lead? - Moses, Joshua, Nehemiah, David, Timothy/Paul, and Titus
• Do I need to renew and revived as an older disciple? Hebrews
• Do I need to a greater conviction of sin? - David's sins account, acts of the sinful nature, the cross
• Do I need to repent of sin? Godly and worldly repentance, Paul's repentance, David's repentance
• Do I need a deeper prayer life? Jesus, Moses, Ahraham, Nehemiah, and Daniel
• Do I need help as a husband, wife, or parent? Ephesians 5:21-6:4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Peter 3:1-7
• Do I need help in dealing with suffering or persecution? Early church's persecution in Acts
• Do I need inspiration or encouragement?  Joshua, Joseph, Peter, Elijah, Elisha, and Daniel

Commit passages of scripture to memory

• Lost a position
• Lost his wife
• Lost a wise counselor
• Lost a friend
• Lost self-respect

• 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
  

Get Out of Here

Sometimes the first step in restoring our hearts is simply to get out of the house
Why go outside?

• Quiet - able to meditate
• Parents - able to get up before the kids do
• Nature is full of inpsiration
• Much more freedom outside

Turning back the clock

 Rewrite the sins and people I sin against; what I was forgiven of (not an exercise in guilt but gratefulness

Secret Scriptural Weapon

You have to work at understanding the cross
Insights of yesterday about the cross need to be consistently refreshed
God never spoke louder than he did on Calvary

Memorizing scriptures and writing them on index cards

Ephesians 3:20 - When each word is accented, the scripture can have new meanings

Best for Last

Create a treasure chest:

• Baptism photos
• Special note from friends
• Wedding Vows
• Memorabilia from children being born

Scrapbook of the heart of God - testament to God

The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin - 1 John 1:7
"Purifies" = present tense as in a da by day, constsant cleansing

His blood was the only thing that could possibly attain forgiveness for me - Ephesians 1:7
Blood make atonement for one's life

Imagine the priest persuading an Israelite to trust God's ways and offer the lamb
Do we have more faith in our weak, self-invented sacrifics than we do in God's plan fo grace?

Jesus' sacrifice for our sins must be accepted first for the joy of our sacrifical life to make sense
His blood is keeping us cured as we openly confess, repent, and appeal to God for our forgiveness - 1 John 8:2-6

Where does your value come from? As a blood-bought sinner or my ability to produce a perfect life

The Cross is enough, then, now, and always

Hebrews 7:25-27

• He is able to completely save
  • Never too short
  • Never too weak
  • Never worn out
• He always lives - Prepared to recuse me until the day I die
• Once for all - One death sufficient for all my sins, for all time

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

God both forbids and forgives

Clearly forbids - Genesis 2:16-17
We know well what sins and God says no
He forbids to protect - we choose to transgress his infinitely perfect plan

We must understand that sin hurts God deeply - Jeremiah 8:20-9:3

In his infinite wisdom, he found a way to forgive the unforgivable. Forgiveness is an undeserved gift

Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11

1. Our Father in heaven (Matthew 6:9) - Getting Started
2. Hallowed be your name (Matthew 6:9) - Getting Focused
3. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) - Experiencing Divine Intervention
4. Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:11) - Praying for Provisions
5. Forgive our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us (Matthew 6:13) - Experiencing Forgiveness
6. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13) - Developing Spiritual Protection
7. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glry forever. Amen.  (later manuscripts of Matthew) - Final Issues

Each will be addressed in detail in later chapters

We must love the truth, accept the truth, live by the truth, and tell the truth
Truth will set you free - John 8:32

Will perish if we refuse to love the truth and be saved - 2 Thessalonians 2:10

If children learn to accept the truth as children - they will be able to face their sins, repent of them, and be saved when they are older

Satan is a liar and the father of lies - John 8:44

Remember Your Sins No More - Hebrews 8:12

God wants to forgive
God has spent all of his time since man's fall working out our forgiveness - it cost him dearly

God's nature is to forgive
If God kept a record of sins, who could stand? - Psalms 130:3-4

Psalms 103:

• v3 - He forgives all
• v13-14 - He is compassionate and gracious
• v8 - He is slow to anger
• v9 - He doesn't hang on to his anger forever
• v10 - He does not treat us as our sins deserve

God doesn't need forgiveness
He commited no sin - 1 Peter 2:22
We are the ones who sinned - Romans 3:23
The most foolish thing in the world is to have this attitude toward God

By the time we are old enough to understand, we have hurt and been hurt so many times - we need forgiveness and so do others
We can become resentful and bitter - only way out the vicious cycle is to learn how to forgive

The definition of a dysfunctional relationship: the inability to solve conflict and forgive

Hugh obstacle: We can not truely forgive until we have experienced forgiveness
Once we are forgiven by God can we forgive as God does

Once we are forgiven, we are obligated to forgive others - Matthew 18
Forgving others as in Christ God forgave you - Ephesians 4:32

Our sins against each other pale in comparison to our sins against God

• God has pledged to save us for all eternity - Revelation 21:1-7
• Forgive our sins - 1 John 1:5-2:2
• Provide us with all we need for life and godliness - 2 Peter 1:3-4
• Give us great friends and huge spiritual family - Mark 10:29-31
• Show us a way out when tempted - 1 Corinthians 10:13
• Comfort us in our troubles - 1 Corinthians 1:3-7
• Equip us for any challenge, any work, any time - 2 Timothy 2:20-21

1. Makes it possible for us to start anew - Psalms 103:1-5
2. This He did by sending His Son, Jesus - Galatians 4:4-5; Titus 2:11-14
3. He offered His Son's blood to redeem from our sins - 1 Peter 1:17-19

1. There is but one mediator between God and man - 1 Timothy 2:5
2. God sent Christ to reconcile sinful man back to Him - 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
3. This God did this by offering Christ as the sacrifice  for our sins - 1 John 4:9-10
4. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins - Ephesians 1:7
5. Jesus is the only way to God - John 14:6

Prophets – God can forgive your sins
Jesus – He said their sins were given by him
To the paralytic - “…may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10)
To the sinful women – “her many sins have been forgiven” (Luke 7:47)

Prophets – God saves
Jesus knew he was the one to save the world from sin
“…Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45)
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28)

Prophets – God judges
Jesus - “…my judgment is just” (John 5:30))
On the last day - “Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord…” (Matthew 7:22)

1. How to live
2. Be committed to him
3. Should love him

Amazing Speech

Mark 6:1-6

Suspicions and fear can evaporate because of love and openness

1. Deep Conviction

• Listeners who put his words into practice were wise
• How convicted are you about what you’ll be saying?
• Think about what to say instead of how it will come across

2. Passion - If the speaker isn’t moved by the message, how can he expect it to move anyone else?

3. Integrity - Speaker must take plank out of their own eye before one can challenge other on the same topic

4. Person to person

• Speak at their level mean not “to talk down to” or “to talk up to” an audience.
• Apologizing without reason, belittles himself
• Jesus was above us, but he came down to our level

5. Inspirational

• Conservative and low-key he will have no impact
• We all want our lives to count for something

6. Practical

• Message must be practical and applicable
• He specifically addressed the sins in their lives
• He gave them direction, and at times He told them exactly what to do

7. Meet the Need - Out of touch with the needs on the audience can actually make things worst then they are.

Unconditional Love

Mark 14:17-26

• Jesus knew yet did not treat Judas any different than he treated the other eleven.
• Conditional love puts an unbearable strain on relationships
• Unconditional gives security, wipes away fear, builds confidence, adds hope, teaches perseverance, and erases discouragement and doubt.
• The key is not to love if or because of, but to love in spite of. In-spite-of love cannot fail to make a lasting impact.

The Memorial

• Jesus died for us as individuals
• It is the forgiveness of sins, my sins.
• People need frequent reminders
• We soon forget what is important.
• The activities of life so easily distract us and we so quickly lose our convictions.

• from French word, repentir – to feel regret for sins or crimes
• from Latin word, penitire – to regret

• “Change your life” – The message
• “Change your hearts and lives” – New Century Version
• “Turn away from your sins” – Good News Translation
• “Turn from your sins and turn to God” – New Living Translation
• “Reform…” – Young’s Literal Translation