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2008-03-11 - Be Still My Soul - Time Away

Jesus often withdrew

  • Jesus often withdrew - Luke 5:16
  • Spent the night praying - Luke 6:12
  • Jesus was praying in private - Luke 9:18
  • Jesus... took Peter, John, and James .. to a mountain to pray - Luke 9:28
  • Withdrew to mountain by himself - John 6:15

When was the last time you withdrew an entire night, day, or week?
We wonder why we are stale, unmotivated, joyless, and weary and have not grown
It takes awhile to detact from the world

A retreat can be unforgetable, life-changing time
You have to plan it to make it happen, Satan will try to stop you



2008-03-12 - Be Still My Soul - Time Outdoors

Do you realize that nearly all of the people we read about in the Bible spent most of their time outside?

  • Star-studded evening would tell how many descendants Abraham would have - Genesis 15:5
  • Looking at God's creation - humbled Job's pride - Job 38:4-7

FInd park, trails, and open spaces.
Open your eyes, listen, breath the realivily clear air

When is the last time you:

  • Took in a sunrise or sunset
  • Watched the changing cloud formations
  • Listen to the songs of the birds
  • Strolled through the leaves of fall
  • Listen to the snow fall as they gently fell to earth
  • Took a good look at the flowers of spring
  • Stopped to watch the a powerful thunderstorm
  • Stood in awe of the sparkling  stars

Psalms 19:1-4; Psalms 65:8-13

Time outside with God is just what many of us need and nothing else will suffice



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?
  1. Opportunities to witness - Colossians 4:3
  2. Courage to speak up - Ephesians 6:19
  3. Rapid spread of the gospel - John 17:20
  4. More workers - 2 Thessalonians 3:1


2008-07-22 - 30 Days at the Cross - Hating Sin

We can feel pain because God feels pain
By his wounds you have been healed - 1 Peter 2:24

Questions:

  • Have you loved someone wholeheartedly and they stopped loving you?
  • Has someone take advantage of you?
  • Have you ever been neglected, forgotten, or rejected?

Amazing grace cost amazing pain

Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? - James 4:4-5

How does God feel about:

  • Lack of trust?
  • Sexual sin?
  • Lack of care?
  • Being pushed aside because of school or business?
The greater capacity to love, the greater the capacity to feel pain

Imagine that you can home from work and you found a dog that just kill your child
We killed Jesus with our sin, how should we be treated?
  • How do you feel about sin? Do you hate it?
  • Do you allow sin to stay around?
Your hatred toward sin is in proportion to your love for the one who died for you
Resist the devil and he will flee; Come near to God and he will near to you - James 4:7-10

2008-08-18 - 30 Days at the Cross - Turning the Tables

Jesus came to turn the tables on Satan
He came to deal with the greatest of all questions and fears - death

  • He spoke about it in great length - John 5:21-30
  • He claimed to be the only solution for death - John 6:53-57
  • He raised the dead - John 11
  • He believed his death would bring others life - John 12:23-25

When he died, almost everyone thought evil won

Satan pulled out all the stops.
Jesus was in his deadly sights at all times - waiting for a bad day

7 moves to turn the tables:

  1. Pray - he is listening - Hebrews 5:7
  2. Read - he is speaking - Luke 4:1-13
  3. Believe - he is able - Hebrews 2:18
  4. Trust - he is willing - Hebrews 4:15
  5. Fight - he knows what you can bear - 1 Corinthians 10:13
  6. Seek - he has provided a way out - 1 Corinthians 10:13
  7. Find - he gives grace in time of need - Hebrews 4:16
Jesus death turned the tables on Satan

2008-11-24 - Raising Awesome Kids - Training and Teaching
Fathers, bring up your children up in the training and instruction of the Lord - Ephesians 6:4
We, as fathers, teach and train non-stop

Do not underestimate the importance of teaching
The worst mistake you can make is to do nothing

Children love to learn
Why else would God let us keep them for almost 20 years, but to train them

2009-01-14 - Raising Awesome Kids - Fabric

Refers to the building a structure and rhythm into our famiy schedule
Times when the whole group gets together

Mealtimes
Everyone is there for dinner - someone is missing, there is a very good reason
Talk about significant things that happened during the day
It is the simple things that build fabric

Stop letting people read the paper, watch TV or do homework during dinner
Disallow running off to different rooms
Stop making appointment that take you away
Allow no phone calls
Make dinnertime an event - work hard to keep it special

Create family traditions - do things that uniquel to our family
Make birthdays a big deal - does not have to be expensive



2009-01-16 - Raising Awesome Kids - Atmosphere (part 2)

If we can laugh together, then we like being together, which adds up to unity

Idea: have a "joke night" - everyone tell jokes

Happy heart makes the face cheerful - Proverbs 15:13

Cheerful heart has a continual feast - Proverbs 15:15

Cheerful look brings joy to the heart - Proverbs 15:30

Cheerful heart is good medicine - Proverbs 17:22

The phyical environment need to be pleasant
Dirt, filth, and clutter do not create an atmosphere of closeness

The environment says, "we don't care", then people stop caring about each other



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:
  1. He obeyed her - Luke 2:51
  2. He allowed her to influence him when he performed his first miracle - John 2:1-11
  3. He did not allow his devotion to Mary make him sentimental - Mark 3:20-35
  4. Protected and provided for her needs as he died on the cross
He was not too "spiritual" that he neglected the needs of others

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
No problem is beyond Jesus - can meet any need natural, physical, spiritual, life or death

  • It was not just a sick woman - an incurable woman
  • It was not just a dying girl - she was stone-cold dead
  • It was not just a deamon possessed man - was a leagon of demons

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?



2009-01-29 - Jesus with People - God Come Looking
John 9:25 - One thing I do know, I was blind and now I see
  • Many people would have not stopped to chat
  • Most would have averted eye contact
  • Jews saw blindness as punishment for some sin - John 9:2
  • Jesus saw an opportunity to heal and teach - so God might be displayed in his life - John 9:3
  • Jesus acted but not predictably - felt something moist and hear go wash
  • Blind man simply went - true blind obedience
Man's responses:
  • Simple honest - I was blind but now I see - John 9:25
  • Childlike innocence - Do you want to become his disciples too? - John 9:27
  • Boldness - John 9:27
Jesus did more than just open the blind man's eyes that day; he open his heart as well

2009-02-12 - Jesus with People - The Better Choice
Martha and Mary - Luke 18:29-30

Jesus and his disciples were passing through the village when Martha opened her home to them - Luke 10:38

Jesus didn't  stop to correct Martha in her preparation
Martha - Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work myself?

With compassion - Martha, Martha
Explained that Mary's choice was right and a lasting one
What Jesus wanted most was to see her have a single-minded desire to know him and his teachings

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in preparing to server others that we are either too distracted or too exhausted to server them when they arrive

2009-02-26 - Jesus with People - Doubtful Thomas
Jesus was not going to stop until Thomas was back, until he had been given an opportunity to put his doubts to death

Jesus was all what he said earlier, leave the 99 to look for that 1 - Luke 15:1-7

John 20:24-29 - not necessarily a rebuke, but a reminder

When do you find yourself doubting God's love for you?
Do you believe God still wants to purse a relationship with us even when we;re not that strong?

2009-03-15 - Promises of God - Convictions from scriptures
Satan furiously went after Jesus - Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus countered the enemy's temptations with Scripture

The Word must deep into our hearts so we recall the scriptures when needed
We rarely have the opportunity to open the Word when being tempted

Not just "stop that" or "start doing this"

Bring to mind specific scriptures
Hearing ourselves quoting the appropriate scriptures, it brings conviction during the battle of sin

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


2009-08-01 - A Life of Impact - Anger
Anger

Mark 11:11-19
  • He was furious about the fruitfulness of another “tree” that he had planted, watered, weeded, fertilized.
  • Jesus cleared the temple at the beginning of His ministry and also here at the end of His of His ministry
  • There was no fear of God.
Restraint
  • Jesus knew the right place and the right time the do the things needed.
  • He was disciplined and self-controlled for just the right time.
Relentlessness
  • What made Jesus angry was the stubborn refusal of most to change.
  • A willingness to change is a precious and seemingly rare behavioral characteristic.
  • Become exceedingly insecure and defensive when we are awakened to the existence of personal deficiencies.
  • We must also get angry about obstinacy in our own lives and other people’s lives.
Fearsomeness
  • Why didn’t anyone try to stop Jesus as he was taking over the temple? (Only one person and many of them)
  • They knew that they were in the wrong.
  • Teachers of the law and chief priests feared Jesus
  • If people consider you a “nice guy” and are not in awe of you, you probably won’t have much impact.


2009-09-01 - Wild at Heart - The wound (part 1)
There comes a time when we simply have to face the challenges in our lives and stop backing down Men rarely praise each other directly - by way of accomplishments (“you are a wild man”, “what is up stud”

The question – Do I have what it takes? Am I powerful? Until a man knows he’s a man he will forever be trying to prove he is one, while at the same time shrink from anything that might reveal he is not

Boy learns who is he and what he’s got from a man
  • can not learn it from any other place
  • can not learn it from other boys
  • can not learn it from women


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?

2009-09-07 - Wild at Heart - The enemy fears you
If you ever really got your heart back, lived from it with courage, you would be a huge problem to him
Many men have not been shown how to fight from the heart.
Failure of fathers and left men without direction
If you want the wound healed and your strength restored and to find your true name, you re going to have to fight for it.

Notice your reaction at these words.
Does another come in and caution you to stop
We need to know who we are and if we have what it takes

A man’s core question does not go away
We search for the answer of validation
  • Career
  • Belonging
  • How well he plays sports
  • Yes, even women


2009-09-09 - Wild at Heart - The fathers voice (part 2)
When we see Jesus, Joseph is out of the picture – true father God – he had to learn who he really was and made of.
Initiation involves a journey and a series of tests.
We try to make our lives easier.

What are you trying to teach me here?
What issues in my heart are you trying to rise through this?
What is it you want me to see?
What are you asking me to let go of?

Men are taught that a wound that stops you from playing is a girlish wound.
No wonder we walk with our guts hanging out
Most men minimize their wound
David did not act like this at all - openly - “my heart is wounded within me” - Psalms 109:22
Suck it up, as the saying goes

God is fiercely committed to you
Wound that goes unacknowledged and unwept is a wound that cannot heal
You’ve embraced and deserve is a would that cannot heal
Whatever is denied cannot heal
Certainly denial that it’s shaping the way they live today.

2009-09-11 - Wild at Heart - False self (part 2)
Enemy always tempts us to take back control and to recover and rebuild false self
We must remember that it is out of love God stops our imposter
God disciplines those he loves, do not lose heart - Hebrews 12:5-6
We must walk away from the false self
Simply accept the invitation to leave all that we’ve relied on and venture out with God

No clue to what your false self may be?
  • What is my effect on you?
  • What am I like to with?
  • What don’t you feel free to bring up with me?
If you never ever say a word in a meeting because you fear you might say something stupid, well then it’s time to speak up
If you dominate meetings - sense of worth
Do you face fears head on?

Losing false self is painful
Like losing a close friend
Journey has pain but is toward freedom, healing, and authenticity

2009-09-12 - Wild at Heart - False self (part 3)
Waling away from the false, we will feel vulnerable and exposed
Tempted to turn to our comforters for relief
Stop looking for women to validate you

Passive men tiptoe around their wife for years, never wanting to rock the boat
Violent men release anger on her

Some dating men make her the sun of their universe but man needs a bigger obit than that
He needs something to invite her into
Many men do not offer her strength, but do drink from her beauty and are unable to commit

2009-09-17 - Wild at Heart - Healing the wound (part 3)
Wound unfelt is wound unhealed
Door may be your anger – perhaps from a girl, failure
The way to God is stopping the false self
It may a simple prayer – Jesus, take me into my wound

Jesus never seems to heal the same way twice
There are no formulas with God
Insists on working personally
Masculinity is bestowed by masculinity
Healing never happens outside of intimacy with Christ

It begins with surrender; until you have given yourself to him you will not have a real self
…to set you free – What? Your heart
So take him at his word – ask him in to heal all the broken places within you
But you can’t do this at a distance

I simply allow myself to say that the loss of my father mattered
Important for us to grieve our wound
Grieving we admit the truth, we hurt by someone we loved
Few men are ever so vulnerable as to simply let themselves be loved by God
Why don’t you just let God love you?
The imitate union with Jesus and with his Father is the source of all healing and all our strength
Unforgiveness and bitterness can wreck our lives and the lives of others – Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15
Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free and then discovering the prisoner was you.

2009-09-22 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 3)
Walk right into those situations you normally run from
Speak right to the issues normally remain silent over
If you want to grow in masculine strength, then stop sabotaging yours.

Being wronged and saying that is OK, but furious inside
This will push your strength down and eventually you will believe you do not have any.
When you deny your anger, it turns to fear
Sabotage also happens when we give our strength away
Taking a bribe, refusing to confront an issue, sexual sin
Sexual struggle is sin and a battle for his strength

Start choosing to live out your strength and you’ll discover that it grows each time
Stand your ground and begin to taste your true strength and you’ll want more
Our strength is will and fierce and we are more than unsettled by what may happen if we let it arrive
“I’m afraid I will do something bad if I let all this show up” – You will do something bad if you don’t
Man’s addictions are a result of his refusing his strength
Let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it

2009-09-29 - One Another - Differences (part 2)

Conviction and Acceptance

How we blend conviction with an equally deep level of acceptance?

We need to understand that some convictions can be disputable matters
Paul does not get into a discussion what is right and wrong

Accept those whose faith is weak - Romans 14:1

Accept one another in order to bring praise to God - Romans 15:7

Example: It is OK to treat one day more special to worship God than another day - Romans 14:5-6

Even if the conviction is misguided - we sin if go against it

Great questions in these verses:

  • Who are you to judge some else's servant? - Romans 14:4
  • Why do you judge your brother? - Romans 14:10
  • Why do you look down on your brother? - Romans 14:10
On the day of judgment:
  • No "I'm right" or "Your wrong" on that day
  • Rightness will be perfectly obvious to all
Therefore lut us stop passing judgment on one another - Romans 14:13

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