Quiet Times Search

• Told his brothers to not be distressed or angry with themselves for selling him to slavery
• Purpose was to save the lives of his family - Genesis 45:5
• He saved himself a lifetime of bitterness and self-pity

• We must come to peace with the past
• Develop his perspective on the matters at hand
• Be gracious is your evaluation of others' roles
• Forgive yourself and others
• Never waste the impact that your past can have on others
• Be thankful

The ultimate goal is to give glory to God

God's glory = the expression of his goodness and all his other eternal qualities
Through history, God has revealed his glory
God's glory is best seen in Jesus Christ

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23
I have created them to bring me glory - Isaiah 43:7
Jesus brought glory to God by doing everthing he was told to do by God - John 17:4

1. We bring God glory by worshiping him - Use your body to the glory of God - Romans 6:13
2. We bring God glory by loving other believers - Accept others as Christ accepted you - Romans 15:7
3. We bring God glory by becoming like Christ - We become more and more like him, reflect his glory even more - 2 Corthinians 3:18
4. We bring God glory by serving others our gifts - Do it all with all that God has given you - 1 Peter 4:10-11
5. We bring God glory by telling others about him - Bringing people to Christ through his grace, God receives more and more glory - 2 Corinthians 4:14

Giving glory to God will require us to change our priorities, schedule, relationships, and everything else

• Abraham - allowed to question and challenge
• David - God patient during his accusations
• Job - allowed to vent his bitterness
• Moses - told God exactly how he felt

Honestly share your weaknesses

Paul modeled vulnerability:

• His failures: "When I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway" - Romans 7:19
• His feelings: "I have told you all my feelings" - 2 Corinthians 6:11
• His frustrations: "We were crushed" - 2 Corinthians 1:8
• His fears: "I was weak and fearful and trembling" - 1 Corinthians 2:3

The is an infinite number of needs in the world we can pray for

Decide on a series of issues and people you will pray for

Three things to pray for:

1. World hunger
2. World peace
3. World Evangelism
   1. Faithfulness
   2. Power
   3. Effectiveness

Jesus told the disciples that the would be preachedd in all the world and then the end would come - Matthew 24:14

• He went to parties
• He told jokes
• He nicknamed his guys
• He loved children and they loved him
• Pharisees even rebuked Jesus for letting his disciples get too happy

We want to be know but we keep a safe distance
Jesus has X-ray vision to our hear and see right our heart

John 4:39 - Samaritan women:

• She was minding her own business
• Ran into Jesus and was never the same
• Will you give me a drink he asked - the fact that he (a Jew) spoke to her told her (a Samaritan) that there was some very different about Jesus
• Whoever drinks from living water will never thirst again - John 4:13-14
• He confronted her sin and help her see the emptiness of her life
• He wanteed her to see who she was without God
• Due to her discomfort, the woman tried to change to subject
• Jesus skillfully drove out her fears with his love -  brought her back to the conversation of life
• She shared with others

We too can be afraid of seeing who we really are
When we opened up and were forgiven,  we couldn't wait to tell other either

To set people free, we must be like Jesus:

• Relate to them in deep ways
• Not studying the Bible superficially - not helping them see who they are without God
• Ask the difficult questions
• Expose sin so they will see their deepest need for Jesus

Jesus' love and acceptance allowed the woman/us to be real and to change

Expectation

Mark 1:1

• He expected a lot out of Himself
• He knew he was born to save the world
• Wallow in self-pity, to cower in fear, or simply giving up is inappropriate behavior

Mark 1:2-8 - People consistently live up to the perceptions others have of them

Encouragement

Mark 1:9-11

• He told him that he was special
• God is a god who initiates love
• How would we change if we realized the amount of love God has for us

Reinvestment of Dividends

Mark 5:18-20

• Jesus didn’t surround himself with people who owed him a great amount of debt.
• We viewed their gratitude to him to channeled to help others
• Few people are grateful for the Lord when He work powerfully, yet fewer accept their obligation to proclaim.

Tenderness

Mark 5:21-34

• The women was afraid that she had done an evil thing in touching Jesus’ clothes
• She had suffered from the effective treatments that the doctors had given her.
• Greek word for healed = saved.
• He didn’t babble but told the woman what she needed to hear.

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.

Mark 6:1-6

Patience

• Son of God spent about ten to fifteen years doing manual labor.
• Flowers bloom at different times; we must wait for our day to bloom
• We must “Carpe diem” - seize the day - When that day comes

Challenger

• “They took offence at him.”
• Jesus was disappointed at their response and he told them so to their faces.
• He didn’t hesitate to speak out.
• Late to bible study – would you be late to pick up a million dollars?

Taking the Offensive

Mark 10:2-12

• Jesus was tested the hostile audience.
• Instead of backing down or becoming apologetic, he answered questions with questions.
• Jesus told them that their hearts were hard. He always backed his answers with scripture (clear and definitive).
• He didn’t care if his answer offended some people.

Judgment

• God is more concerned with the spirit of the law than the letter of the law.
• God searches the heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.
• What people say and do is secondary importance to the condition of their hearts.

1. No battle to fight
   
2. No swords and castles
3. Without a great battle in which a man live and die - fierce part goes underground

1. world
2. flesh
3. devil

• Described himself as someone who could do nothing without God
  
• This poor man called and the Lord saved him from his troubles - Psalms 34:6
• God is his help and deliver - Psalms 40:17
• I am poor and needy - Psalms 109:22
• Modern thinkers might say he needed some self-esteem 
• God said he was after his own heart

• Woe to me, I am ruined for I am unclean - Isaiah 6:5
• Today we can go to church wanting to be told how good we are
• God forgave his sins and sent him on a life mission full of purpose

• Been there, done that
• Life sucks, then you die
• How is it going? "Same old thing"

• Friendship
• Marriage
• Children
• Holidays

• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
• Tree of Life

• by sin
• by others
• by the enemy