2008-02-26 - Power of Gratitude - Uncommon Peace What enables us to have such uncommon peace? - Commonality
Stay committed to God with the mission and discipling firmly in place, our unity will remain Three warning signs, if not doing: A. Daily diet
C. Lack of discipling |
2008-03-08 - Power of Gratitude - Is This All There Is? Most of the physical pursuits of life (Ecclesiastes) are substitutes for what we really need - a relationship with God "Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ" - Philippians 3:7-11 The answer - to be totally immersed in my relationship with God through Christ To know God in such a way and at such a level that all else pales into comparision When this level is reached, nothing else will matter:
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" - Philippians 1:21 Thankful books Do it just before going to bed every night God is too good for us not express gratitude Ideas: come up with 7 areas of gratitude and incorporate one area into your prayers each day
|
2008-03-21 - Be Still My Soul - The Pattern (Part 1) What are we to pray about and in what order? God has not left such crucial issues to guesswork Matthew 6:9-13 - Above all other scripture on prayer - understand this one Things to remember:
|
2008-05-16 - Power of Spiritual Thinking - Color-Appreciative Unity Church with one only one race stand in stark contrast to the early church Rich and poor Educated and uneducated Young and old Black, Asian, Hispanics and white Only God could bring such a group together in love and harmony Our unity is a demonstration of true disciples - John 13:34-35; 17:20-23 Being Color-blinded is an absence of prejudice Color-appreciative is making us a family |
2008-08-12 - 30 Days at the Cross - Mistreatment but Not Misery No way to be righteous enough, wise enough, or loving enough to avoid persecution The world can not hate you, it hates Jesus - John 7:7 We never see a hint of retaliation, bitterness, or self-pity When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate - 1 Peter 2:22-23 On the cross: heaped insults (Matthew 27:44) and he is asked God to forgive them - Luke 23:34 How did he get through the cruel and vicious attacks with such grace?
|
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:
|
2008-11-17 - Raising Awesome Kids - First Things First (part 2) When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength - Mark 12:30 Committed to God vs committed to a person Deeply loves God vs being religious
Were we one time zealous - before we got married and had kids? Where am I today? Have I allowed "life's worries, riches, and pleasures" to choke my relationship with God? - Mark 4:19 |
2008-12-05 - Raising Awesome Kids - Love with your touch Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them - Mark 10:15-16 Jesus could have blessed the children from afar Unaffectionate families are cool, aloof and distant Examples: Prodigal son - Luke 15:20
|
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 _______ |
2009-01-20 - Jesus with People - Harassed and Helpless Jesus was always able to look beyond people's outward behavior to the need within How does a person who is harassed and helpless behave?
He saw beyond the paralytic's phyiscal condition to his need for forgiveness - Mark 2:5 When we see a crowd who is harassed and helpless we see - problems, problems, problems Wiser to evangelize the "suburbs" because there are less "problem" people - NNNNOOOO!!!! Jesus saw the potential in people, not the problems - why see inspired such change People need a shephard and Jesus responded and raised up other shephards - Matthew 9:38-10:4 Are you meeting needs or do you alwaysfind yourself reacting to the way people treat you? |
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 |
2009-03-27 - Promises of God - Living By Faith Habakkuk complained to God about what he saw happening God basically said, "You are right, life is hard" The idea that life is not fair robs us of our peace Solution? God assurance to Habakkuk, "the righteous will live by faith" - Habakkuk 2:4 Then came incredible faith and peace - Habakkuk 3:17-19 Even if upheaval and uncertainty exist in every area of our lives, we can have peace Why do our circumstances sometimes have such an impact on our peace? |
2009-04-18 - Why We Need God - He is Our Creator GOD AS OUR CREATOR...
a. Where did I come from? |
2009-04-23 - Why We Need The Bible - Salvation By Faith from the Word Salvation By Faith from the Word
|
2009-04-28 - Why We Need Jesus - He Guides Us By His Words and Actions WHO GUIDES US BY WORDS AND ACTIONS... His words provide a solid foundation upon which to build our lives
|
2009-07-20 - A Life of Impact - Hardline and Affirmation Hardline Mark 8:34-9:1
Affirmation Mark 9:2-13
|
2009-07-28 - A Life of Impact - Tough love Tough love Mark 10:17-31
Reassurance - Leaders need to first overcome his own negative thoughts and feelings in order to help his followers avoid becoming discouraged. |
2009-09-05 - Wild at Heart - Battle for a mans heart (part 1) Jesus told us to turn the other cheek. We can not turn a cheek we do not have. Church full of such men Many have their soul hanging in the balance because no one invited them to be dangerous and to know their own strength or to discover they have what it takes I feel like I have to ask for permission Nearly every blow ends up falling in the same place - against our strength Life takes one vertebra at a time until he has no spine at all Boy are 3-4 times more likely to be diagnosed as suffering from ADD Society teaches to be a nice guy -– to be soft Women are often attracted to wilder men, but once have caught him they settle down to task of domesticating him How do I get my husband to come alive? Invite him to be dangerous Women don’t start wars Violent crimes aren’t really committed by women. Our prisons aren’t filled with 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
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? |
2009-11-29 - Master Plan - Church is the continuing fellowship (part 2)
|
2009-12-26 - First the Kingdom - Mourning Misunderstandings Two extremes to mourning: 1. Mournful mourning
We will have to face the mourning someday - it is be now and God's way or it will be later and God's way Are you postponing? Are you ignoring? |
2010-01-12 - Kingdom First - Radical Righteousness Jesus says to just throw your Christian checklists away - Matthew 5:27-30 We can pass many of our checks and be far away from God Boundaries and lists without the heart make a hollow shell Continual sin such as impurity is used by Satan to destroy our spiritual appetite We are filled with guilt and our faith to overcome is damaged - compounding the problem by hiding the sin We are robbed of the victory that Jesus wants us to have How do we gorge out sin?
|
2010-01-16 - Kingdom First - Above and Beyond (part 2) If someone forces you to go one mile; go two - Matthew 5:41-42 3. Addressed going to the extra mile Roman law said you were required to carry a certain amount of baggage to another place Such a law and its frequent use of it cause great resentment among the Jews Jesus said we should go beyond what our authorities required Message condemns any resentment we may feel against a legitimate authority If reform seems necessary, we should seek it - 1 Corinthians 7:21-23 Should be done with lawful means God demonstrates his own love for us He gave up revenge, rights, and his energy for us While we were sinners, Christ died for us - Romans 5:6-7 |
2010-03-17 - To Live is Christ - Considered Rubbish Not only did Paul give up his religious past and performance, he gladly counted everything else a loss too He would give up any claim of such things so he could gain justification by grace He considered them rubbish - Philippians 3:8-9 skubala = human waste or dung (KJV) He was saying the same thing as Isaiah - all righteousness acts are like filthy rags - Isaiah 64:6 The good we do is not rubbish but it is if those works are seen as the source and trusted in Our obedience, which is imperfect, does not make us right with God Christ's righteousness saves by faith The message of the cross calls us to sacrifice everything to Christ, who sacrificed everything for us Without his sacrifice, our sacrifice would be worthless to God and to man |
2010-03-24 - To Live is Christ - Mind Change Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable - think of such things - Philippians 4:8-9 It is all about the focus Focus on the mess or you can change your mind and focus on:
Jesus saw the increase in wickedness - Matthew 24:12 While pessimistic about the world's chances, he was totally optimistic about the future with God You will have trouble in this world but Jesus has overcome the world - John 16:33 |