2008-02-24 - Power of Gratitude - Badly out of Focus Children - they notice the one toy they do not have even with having a dozen other toys - how do we do? Gratitude and ingratitude are based on our focus in life
Philippians 4:8 - think about these things Philippians 4:12-13 - secret to being content in any and every situation Being content is a decision - 10% what happens to us; 90% how we react to the situation Romans 8:38-39 - nothing can separate us from the love of God | ||||||||||
2008-03-03 - Power of Gratitude - Another Kind of Adoption Gordon tells a story about a new disciple that was rejected by her father and her quest to understand God as a father | ||||||||||
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?
FInd park, trails, and open spaces. When is the last time you:
Psalms 19:1-4; Psalms 65:8-13 Time outside with God is just what many of us need and nothing else will suffice | ||||||||||
2008-03-23 - Be Still My Soul - Pour Out Your Heart We can to one of a few things in challenging times:
Pour out your hearts - Psalms 62:8 I pour out my complaint before him - Psalms 142:2 How can we be close to someone if we have not poured out our hearts God is all-knowing but unless we tell him our feelings we will never draw close Everyone has feelings; it may be difficult at first Jesus: offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears - Hebrews 5:7 Suggestions:
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2008-03-30 - Be Still My Soul - Psalms You Sing Nothing is quite as effective as music in improving our moods and softening our hearts
Frees us from a mere intellectual approach Humbles us, especially those of us who are vocally challenged Get a songbook and start singing during your quiet times If your relationship with God seems dry and lifeless, music may be the missing element | ||||||||||
2008-04-21 - Falling in Love with God - Communication Talking to God is the best way to break the chains that our hearts captive Tempted to everything but talk to God Sometimes we feel that we need to get everything "just perfect" before going to God God listens to complainers - Job, Jeremiah, Jonah, Abraham, and Moses God prefers honest agreement to dishonest submission Psalms 42 - Half of psalms like David telling himself what he should be thinking and feeling Deepest parts of him longed to connect with what is deepest with God | ||||||||||
2008-04-22 - Falling in Love with God - Listening Whose voice should I listen to? There are many voices:
To deal with these other voice we need to memorize scriptures - to not be swayed and know the correct voice to listen to | ||||||||||
2008-05-28 - Purpose Driven Life - The Reason for Everything The ultimate goal is to give glory to God God's glory = the expression of his goodness and all his other eternal qualities All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23
Giving glory to God will require us to change our priorities, schedule, relationships, and everything else
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2008-06-06 - Purpose Driven Life - When God Seems Distant Easy to worship God when things are going great God matures relationship by times of separation - Job, David, Jesus God promises to never leave you or forsake you Sin separates - Friendships are tested by separation and silence Sometimes distance from God is not because of sin - feelings may be off It is not a feeling, God will remove your dependence of feelings Tell God how you feel God can handle your doubt, fear, anger, grief, confusion, and questions Remember: God is unchanging: Job praised God in these ways:
His promises do not change despite circumstances Remember what God has already done for you Even if God will not do anything else for you (very unlikely) He gave his son | ||||||||||
2008-06-13 - Purpose Driven Life - Restoring Broken Fellowship Relationships are always worth restoring God has given us the ministry of restoring God gave everything (his son) for restoring relationships Does not mean avoiding conflict or appeasement Talk to God before talking to the person God may change your heart or their hear - James 4:1-2 Tell God your frustrations Most conflict is rooted in unmet needs; some needs can only be meet by God Always take the initiative God expects you to make the first move - Matthew 5:23-24 Abandon your offering at the alter and go make things right first Acting quickly reduces the spiritual damage Bitterness is only hurting yourself Sympathize with their feelings Use your ears more than your mouth - Philippians 2:4 Focus on feelings and not facts Start with sympathy, not solutions Confess your part of the conflict Ask "Am I the problem?" - Matthew 7:5 The way you handle a conflict creates a bigger hurt Attack the problem, not the person How you say it is important as what you say Cold War - country decided on weapons that should never be used Cooperate as much as possible - Romans 12:18 Sometime it cost our pride, self-centerness Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution Reconciliation focuses on the relationship Takes a lot of effort to restore a relationship | ||||||||||
2008-06-25 - Purpose Driven Life - The Call and Commands to Serve You are called to serve God It is full-time position A "non-serving Christian" is a contradiction in terms You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God - 1 Peter 2:9 You are commanded to serve God For Christians, service is not an option Spiritual maturity is never an end in itself Maturity is for service, we grow up in order to give out Impression with expression cause depression Study without service leas to spiritual stagnation Galilee lake full of life - takes in water but also gives out Dead sea - takes in but the is no outflow Not who is going to meet my needs -> Whose needs should I meet? | ||||||||||
2008-07-01 - Purpose Driven Life - Real Servants (part 1) We server God by serving others How can you know if you have the heart of Jesus? Real Servants make themselves available to serve Like a soldier, always by for duty - 2 Timothy 2:4
Real servants pay attention to needs Always looking out for ways to help others Real servants do their best with what they have Servant never make excuses, procratinate, wait for better circumstances | ||||||||||
2008-07-10 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 2) Your mission is a wonderful privilege
Telling others how they can have eternal is the best thing you can do If have the cure for AIDs, you would share it You just have to remember the hopeless you felt without Christ Your mission has eternal significance Impact the eternal destiny of other people Consequences will last for ever; consequences of your job will not All of us must quickly carry our tasks; all work comes to an end - John 9:4 | ||||||||||
2008-07-12 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Testimony) Your message includes testimony Tell other of the difference he made for you - 1 Peter 2:9 Witnessing = simply sharing your personal experiences regarding the Lord In court witness are NOT expected to:
You will be my witnesses - Acts 1:8 Personal stories:
Four parts of your testimony:
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2008-07-15 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 1) Your choice: Worldly
Go everywhere in the world and tell the good news - Acts 14:15 Experience is a little piece of what heaven might be like Many opportunities today: missions, easy travel, and "e-vangelism" (email, facebook, chatting, etc) | ||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||
2008-08-15 - 30 Days at the Cross - Nothing but the Best Do what comes naturally. Get in touch with who you are. Do what feels right. Be true to yourself. - These are the ideas the world tells us. Do they really change our lives? Jesus' blood shed challenges us to reconsider our empty way of life What a person is willing to give reveals a lot about the person Jesus was the perfect Son and an exact representation of God - Hebrews 1:3 God's precious and costly sacrifice seeks and demands a response. Make every effort is the only appropriate response - 2 Peter 1:5-7 Motivated by God's grace and example, we can increase our faith Sin weakens our character, steals our energy, and undermines our determination | ||||||||||
2008-08-26 - Teach Us To Pray - Abba Father Three verse opened a whole new way of understanding Jesus:
Prior to Jesus it was never used as a reference to God; even scandalous if used | ||||||||||
2008-09-06 - Teach Us To Pray - Praise and Thanksgiving God's plan is a blessing and not a burden - 1 John 5:3 Once we lose our gratitude, we have lost everything Growing in Gratitude
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2008-09-08 - Teach Us To Pray - Reasoning with God Reasoning with God in prayer is an expression of great faith Persistent widow reasoned with the unjust judge - Luke 18:1-8 We cannot change the eternal purposes of God but we can change his mind on how his purposes will be accomplished Abraham was a man who reasoned with God - his Son being sacrificed - Genesis 18:23-33 Moses was too - God decided to destroy the disobedient Israelites and start a new nation True humility is the key to the prayer of reason - not telling God what to do | ||||||||||
2008-10-02 - Man of Prayer - Empowerment Paul tells us that we don't know how to pray like we should - Romans 8 God will answer this prayer Do not have because we have not asked - James 4:2 | ||||||||||
2008-10-05 - Man of Prayer - Name In Jesus' day, a person's name reflected one's character God had powerful encounters with an individual, he would change the person's name with the change in them Halllow mean to treat with great reverence Focusing our thoughts helps lead to a response of worship Many focus on telling God their needs, need to focus on God Seek first his kingdom - Matthew 6:33 In interpersonal communication, remember a person's name is very important Moses asked God, "Who shall I say sent me?" God answered, "Tell them I AM has sent you" YHWH (Yahweh) is the proper name of the living God God is the God who is, who causes to be, and who will be who He will be Thinking about God in this way gets my focus on Him | ||||||||||
2008-10-16 - Man of Prayer - Then and Now People of the OT knew there was going to be a incredible upheaval - know as the Day of the Lord Jesus changed our understanding of the Kingdom of God Some religious leader rejected Jesus and his message They said Jesus was from Satan when he was casting out demons - Matthew 12:26-28
NT understanding
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2008-11-29 - Raising Awesome Kids - Humility and Approachability Clothe yourself with humility toward one another - 1 Peter 5:5 Our families know how imperfect we are Most responsibility = most mistakes Powerful and enduring leaders are those without pretension Paul said he was the chief of sinners Apologize bluntly Apologize quickly Ask "Is everything all right? Is anything else bothering you?" Wallowing in guilt or losing self-confidence over your mistakes is not true humility - it is selfishness and lack of faith People in our family should feel free to come to us and tell us whatever is on their mind Our responsibility is to create a feeling of freedom and openness in our households If we do not, we are headed for a day of bitter reckoning | ||||||||||
2008-12-07 - Raising Awesome Kids - Respect (part 1) Honor you father and mother so it may go well with you - Ephesians 6:2-3 The issue of respecting authority is critical - opposite is arrogant, haughty, cocky attitudes How can we tell if our chidlren are disrepectful?
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