2008-07-18 - Purpose Driven Life - Balancing Your Life (part 1) God 5 purposes for your life:
Churches do the same thing Habits to stay on track: Talk it through in a spiritual group Helps you to internalize information Helps with accountability - Iron sharpens iron - Proverbs 27:17 Helps you put in the practice what you learned - Philippians 4:9 Helps encourage each other - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Give yourself a regular checkup Test yourself - 2 Corinthians 13:5 Take a look at the way you are living - Lamentations 3:40 |
2008-07-19 - Purpose Driven Life - Balancing Your Life (part 2) Write down your progress in a journal We remember what we record Writing helps clarify what God is doing in your life Moses kept a written record of their progress - Numbers 33:2 (NLT) Moses recorded the stages in their journey - Numbers 33:2 (NIV) Don't just record the good things David recorded his fears, doubts, and struggles with God Write down for the coming generations what the Lord has done - Psalms 56:8 Pass on what you know to others He who blesses others is abundantly blessed - Proverbs 11:25 Paul told us spiritual things so we tell others - 2 Timothy 2:2 Knowledge increases responsibility - James 4:17 Teaching other followers = a good servant of Christ - 1 Timothy 4:6 We learn for God's glory and the growth of the kingdom |
2008-07-26 - 30 Days at the Cross - Wisdom and Power of God Will the cross ever make sense to the world? Will all the wisdom of the world, no one has found God Jews sought a miracle worker general ignoring scriptures like Isaiah 53 God's plan was never to impress prideful scholars or to find acceptance among the rulers of the ages Some things never change:
Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing God didn't come to impress the world. Are you? |
2008-08-13 - 30 Days at the Cross - Lasting Impact We learn that we should pursue: fame, fortune, and material possessions from the world Jesus refutes all that we have learned - service, sacrifice, and spiritual power
Many of us spend more time at work than any other single place If we aren't living the cross here, how can we be living it at all Honest is required - may mean less money or advancement Time commitment - it is easy to get caught up at work Every disciple needs to work hard - but what is the reason?
How could a temporary ob on earth be more important than Jesus and his work? If we compromise at work, how will we ever overcome the world? |
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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2008-09-15 - 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 |
2008-09-25 - Teach Us To Pray - Warriors Who Change the World The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge and and ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse! Prayer is the difference between being spiritually dynamic and spiritually dead; between being victorious over Satan and being victimized by him Three wasy to pray that makes a powerful difference: Pray according to God's purpose Pray in Praise of God Pray for the Passion to Produce We must understand how important prayer is in the eyes of God |
2008-09-29 - Man of Prayer - Pattern Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11
Each will be addressed in detail in later chapters
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2008-09-30 - Man of Prayer - Father (part 1) Dads should constantly aware of how how their character impacts their child God is the perfect Father |
2008-10-03 - Man of Prayer - Relationship After asking for help from the Holy Spirit, then focus on the relationship with Pater (greek) = father Holy Spirit in our lives is a spirit of adoption by which God give us our spiritual birthright (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6) He delights when we come to Him as our Father, Abaa, Daddy:
The closer you are, the better responce you will get This relationship is critical to a healthy and vitaul prayer life |
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 |
2008-10-14 - Man of Prayer - Into His Court Focusing on God - source of incredible joy in our lives Psalms 100:4 - his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise Focus is a vital part of an effective prayer life
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2008-10-18 - Man of Prayer - Praying for our personal lives Jesus has given us permissions to seek divine intervention He delights in our desire to experience His intervention Part our our prayer time should be devoted to our needs: What do you want? Sometimes we do not have because we do not ask - James 4:2 OR because our motivation is not proper Asking for God's favor can not be self-centered because God is infinite: David asked to be the apple of God's eye - Psalms 17:8 He was a man after his own heart - Acts 13:22 Spiritual needs may include:
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2008-10-19 - Man of Prayer - Praying for our family There is no greater privilege and responsibility than to pray for our spouse and children Powerful spiritual forces of evil try to undermine God's foundational institutions like the family Bible clearly teaches that our struggle come from the spiritual forces outside conscious perception - Ephesians 6:12 Each of us need to realize that how we pray for our spouse is limited only by our creativity When we have been faithful in praying for my children, we have a great sense of peace about their lives |
2008-10-20 - Man of Prayer - Praying for the church leaders Should pray for the influence and empowerment of the leadership in the church (full-time staff and elders) They are the primary targets in the spiritual war If Satan can effectively compromise the the leadership in the church, he may keep believers from being effective The more a leader brings to the truth of God to the church, the more problems surface Actually creates greater demand on the staff - pray for refreshment and protection Pray for leaders to experience:
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2008-10-21 - Man of Prayer - Praying for the church body Should pray for:
Pray for dreams for the church that will stretch our vision for the church and city How are you praying for your church? - Its your church
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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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2008-11-02 - Man of Prayer - Sinning against each other Part of prayer needs to be focused on remembering who has offended us and then making a conscious decision to forgive them When our sin has caused emotional, spiritual, or physical damage to another - we need restitution - asking forgiveness Forgiveness:
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2008-11-03 - Man of Prayer - Developing Spiritual Protection World is filled with unknown and dangerous supernatural enemies - the battlefield is out there Not against flesh and blood - but the spiritual forces of evil - Ephesians 6:12 We are part of a war of epic and eternal proportions that effect every area of our lives Many men are casualties of a war they don't know is being waged We are to prepared and equipped to wage this spiritual war One of the seven major components of prayer is developing spiritual protection Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one - Matthew 6:13 |
2008-11-04 - Man of Prayer - The Flesh (part 1) Two enemies we needed to be protected from - Flesh and Satan I know that nothing good dwell in me - Romans 7:18 Almost every internal struggle we face in our spiritual lives is a product of this fallen dimension of our being Activities of the flesh - Galatians 5:19-21
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2008-11-06 - Man of Prayer - The Flesh (part 3) Three other ways to fight the battle aginst our flesh (nature) Resist temptation - 1 Peter 5:9 Most effective - avoidance - Lead us not into temptation Prayer becomes our spiritual "dressing room" for the battle of the day - Ephesians 6:13-17
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2008-11-07 - Man of Prayer - Deliverance from evil Literally - Deliverance from the evil or the evil one - Matthew 6:13 First law of spiritual warfare - Satan hates you and has a diabolical plan for your life Jesus has given us the authority in prayer for overcoming the schemes and attacks One of the greatest privileges and responcablities we have |
2008-11-12 - Man of Prayer - Perfect Pattern (part 2) Continued for yesterday's review of the book 3. Where Do I need divine intervention? Ask Him to bring the power of His kingdom to:
Many of our anxieties in life are related to wants rather than needs Learn to live in God's kingdom provision with contentment 5. Where have i failed/sinned? - confusion 6. Have I developed spiritual protection?
7. What do I need to remember today? |
2008-11-14 - Man of Prayer - Meditation One may ask, where is the quiet listening part of prayer in this book God encourages us to be still and know that he is God - Psalms 46:10 Mature prayer is not intended to be a monologue, but a dialogue Christian meditation and Eastern meditation has to do with is in our minds as meditate Biblically based contemplation and meditation seeks not to empty the mind but fill it |
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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2009-01-04 - Raising Awesome Kids - Prayer We should pray for our children continually To protect them, guide them, save them, and one day take them to heaven Paul - Prayed day and night to Timothy - 2 Timothy 1:3 Most powerful weapon available in their spiritual defense and offense We must pray with our children as well Regular times such as bedtime and mealtime to start Praying while going to place like church are also helpful In times of difficulty and great challenge - we can do nothing without his blessing What if they do not want to pray? Talk about how God wants to be close to them Do not do other activities are bedtime either, too tired for prayer than to tired for _______ |
2009-01-06 - Raising Awesome Kids - Family Devotionals Family worship is an abolute must if we are to build a spiritual household Two or three come together in my name, there am I with them - Matthew 18:19-20 Shouldn't be anything but a boring or irrelevant hour Plan devotionals with your spouse - select relevant to the current needs Last about 45 mins |
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 |
2009-01-18 - Jesus with People - Grateful Son Mary and Jesus - no greater pain than for parent to bury a child and live with that memory Jesus stops the process of redeeming humanity to focus on one final moment with him mom All excuses for neglecting our families die with Jesus - spends final moment and thinking how to provide for her Jesus submitted himself to being human - learned the lesson to honor your mother - Exodus 20:12 4x in the gospels - Jesus relates to Mary:
Busy disciples - often neglect the needs our immediate family? Husbands - too busy to listen to our wives? Parents - too busy to invest in our relationship with our children? When we neglect to provide for our relative - we deny the faith - 1 Timothy 5:7-8 Jesus won Mary's soul with a relationship |
2009-01-25 - Jesus with People - Call of the Wild Read Mark 4:35 - 5:43 - No one and nothing is beyond the reach of God
Nothing and no one intimidates Jesus How often have we given up on or stopped praying for others too soo? Have you ever wondered if someone or something was beyond God's reach? |
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? |
2009-03-01 - Promises of God - Practical and Powerful Promises Since the promises of God can relied on, it can have powerful affect on how we view life and how we live it Psalms 119 - Shows us the relationship of God to spiritual life Psalms 119:50 - God's promises enable him to press on and not give into dispair Psalms 119:140 - Again and again he has relied on God's promises and has come to value them Psalms 119:148 - Deep conviction about focusing on the promises, keep him up Psalms 119:154 - When he is threatened and in danger, remind the Lord of his promises Psalms 119:162 - Promises of God is a treasure to him |
2009-03-25 - Promises of God - Rest in Gods Comfort Elijah's collapse and recovery - 1 Kings 19 After great victory with God, he fell into physical, emotional, and spiritual burn-out God used a powerful three step plan:
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2009-04-16 - Promises of God - Never Give Up Never give up - Hebrews 10:35-39 Why?
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2009-04-21 - Why We Need God - He is The Provider GOD IS THE PROVIDER...
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2009-04-22 - Why We Need God - He is Our Provider GOD AS OUR PROVIDER...
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2009-06-08 - One Another - They Will Know You John 13:24-25
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2009-06-19 - A Life of Impact - Opportunism Opportunism Mark 2:1-2
Commendation Mark 2:3-5
Forgiveness
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2009-06-28 - A Life of Impact - Discernment and Productivity Discernment Mark 4:14-20
Productivity
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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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2009-07-11 - A Life of Impact - A passion for truth Mark 7:14-23 - He had no stomach for the misdirection spread by the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law High Expectations
Blame
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2009-08-04 - A Life of Impact - Higher Plain Higher Plain Mark 12:13-17
Unity
Contentedness
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2009-08-14 - A Life of Impact - Emotional Transformation (part 1) Emotional Transformation Mark 14:32-42
In touch with His feelings
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2009-10-02 - One Another - Gifts Nowhere in the NT does it tell us to "search" or "discover" what our gift is Paul's teachings were directed toward how to use the gifts, not how to figure out what they are To be focused on being part of the body Romans 15:1-2 - bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves
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2009-10-04 - One Another - Teaching One Another With all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another - Colossians 3:16 Teaching translated from the word "didasko" = to give instruction, to impart information or wisdom In Christianity to applies to spiritual development
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2009-10-08 - Wild at Heart - The Strategy (part 1) 1. I am not here Satan says, “ I am not here, it just you” You cannot fight a battle that you don’t think exists Satan prowls around like a roaring lion - 1 Peter 5:8-9 Assume you are under spiritual attack When you ignore the enemy, he wins He simply loves to put everything on us Get us to feel hurt, misunderstood, suspicious and resentful Before an effective military strike, must take our the lines of communication Marriage is a living example – Satan loves to divide and conquer Sends a message – you are blowing it – “I thought you were disappointed with me” They did not send this message Most of all the Enemy tries to jam communication with Headquarters Commit yourself to prayer every morning for two weeks and just watch what happens Satan tries to make our mind wonder and cause interferences |
2009-10-18 - Wild at Heart - An adventure to live (part 1) A man just won’t be happy until he’s got adventure in his work, in love and in his spiritual life God is intimately personal with us and he speaks in ways that are peculiar to our own quirky hearts – not just through the Bible, but through the whole creation Don’t ask yourself what does the world need. Ask yourself what make you come alive and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive I realized I was living a script written for me by someone else To go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running the strongest What would have happened if Moses had listed to his mother’s advice, “never play with matches”? Paul didn’t leave his familiar group of Pharisees? God took a big risk in making the world |
2009-10-20 - Wild at Heart - An adventure to live (part 3) We pay attention to our desire. Often the clues are in our past, in the moments when we found ourselves loving what we were doing To recover his heart’s desire a man needs to get away When a man thinks that what will really make him come alive is something unholy – ask what is the desire beneath this desire? The greatest obstacle to realizing our dreams is the false self’s hatred of mystery Most important aspects of any man’s world – his relationship with his God and with the people in his life, his calling, the spiritual battles he’ll face To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways There are no formulas with God God is a person and not a doctrine Joshua blowing trumpets for a week – only did it once Gideon’s plan of attack 32000 to 300 and torches and water pots Jesus healing not the same way twice |
2009-10-26 - Repentance - What It Is (part 3) Dictionaries of Biblical Greek - Repentance
Questions:
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2009-11-03 - Repentance - Jesus Opens Our Eyes (part 1) No one comes to Jesus without a preconceived paradigm about God Our only hope for overcoming our blindness is repentance – only way to see the kingdom Cursed Be The Pride that Blinds
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