2009-12-10 - Master Plan - Delegation (part 2)
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2009-12-21 - First the Kingdom - Spiritual Beggars Two words for "poor" in Greek:
Only through confession and humility - only by owning up to our sin Spiritual Beggars can have everything in the Kingdom of God | ||||||||||||||||||
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? | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-01-16 - 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 | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-01-20 - Kingdom First - Handle Prayerfully (part 2) Not like the hypocrites Jesus wants us to be real - not having our hearts far from him - Matthew 15:8 Are genuinely struggling with God in prayer? Are you honest with God when you do not want to do his will? Never let religious word/action define your prayer life In Your Room Jesus wants us to be isolated so we are without interruption We should feel freedom to be ourselves and to be deeply honest No Babbling Who babbles?
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2010-01-28 - Kingdom First - Personal Responsibility (part 2) When talking about removing the plank from our eye so we can remove the speck from someone else, there are two extremes:
A. Look daily into the mirror of God's word Foolish to just look at the word of God and not let it transform you - James 1:22-25 B. Pray fervently for God to open your eyes and give you insight into your heart and life An incredible prayer about searching our heart - Psalms 139:23-24 C. Be open with those in your life Be quick to confess sin - James 5:16 D. Have a humble attitude toward challenge in your life Let this be our goal - Psalms 141:5 | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-02-19 - One Another - Spurring One Another (part 1) Let us consider how we spur one another on toward love and good deeds - Hebrews 10:24 Two unfaithful extremes:
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2010-03-27 - Life to the Full - Crown not Frown (part 1) James address Christians under pressure Without pressure, the human body soon slows down and dies Pressure keeps the blood flowing James chooses to call himself servant rather than brother - James 1:1 He was a prominent leader in the early church but he kept a down-to-earth perspective Anyone in a leadership role needs to have the same attitude How are trials to be met? With pure joy - James 1:2-8 There are two options: continue in the process of becoming mature or walk away and do it our own way Maturity is not just spiritual longevity - it is how you react under pressure What do we do it we lack wisdom? Ask for it Not IQ but for knowing what to do in tricky situations It's a promise of God that he will enable you to live more intelligently What is last big trial you faced? How did you react? | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-04-03 - Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 3) God is just, his laws are just - this should give us great confidence God justice - does not guarantee life will be fair - James himself was executed in 62AD There is quite a difference between compassion and softness - James 2:8-13 The struggles to decide what to do, only God's perfect law can guide us:
Maybe the Ten Commandments? - If so, they would be wrong
A mark of true Christianity is adherence to these two laws Total commitment and total involvement As long these are two commands are the top priority, our focus will not be warped or unbiblical | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-04-10 - Life to the Full - Two Wisdoms (part 4) There are two sorts of wisdom: earthly and heavenly Do you have God's wisdom? - James 3:17-18
Is why the wise may turn out to be fools and the "foolish" may the wisest of all | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-04-14 - Life to the Full - Got to Pray (part 2) James 5:7-11 - Addresses patience in peace and in suffering Two examples of patience in suffering:
Jewish were very fond of oath-taking - Matthew 5:33-37 James may have been referring to rash oath-taking - Ecclesiastes 5:4-7 Rather than swearing (v12), we should pray (v13) No true disciple should need to take an oath since we must be men and women of our word Simply let our yes be yes and our no be no | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-04-15 - Life to the Full - Got to Pray (part 3) Am I a person of integrity? Question to ask myself:
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2010-04-22 - Life to the Full - In His Steps (part 3) 1 Peter 3:1-7... Submission, kindness is a two-way street Wondering God is not using you more? Look no further than your marriage! Questions for wives:
Questions for husbands:
Questions for both:
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2010-05-10 - World Hates Jesus (part 2) Ephesians 5:1-13
John 6:60-71
Matthew 10:34-38
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2010-05-12 - Desire's Journey - Our Heart's Deepest Secret But I still haven't found what I am looking for - U2 We have a secret desire for life as it was meant to be Again and again the yearning of our heart cries for this life Life comes to all of us as a mystery We long to live a life we are not sure where to find The greatest human tragedy is to give up the search for life. Nothing is of greater importance than the life of our deep heart To lose heart is to lose everything - Proverbs 4:23 Who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart's desire Our heart yearns for things to be right is so strong that it overrides the logic and hopes against hope every time The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of - Proverbs 20:5 There are two things that pierce the human heart:
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2010-05-21 - Desire's Journey - Good News? The promise of life has been lost in the focus of knowledge and performance Pharisee knew more about the Bible than we ever will - and it hardened their hearts There were two trees in the garden of Eden:
Each church has its unspoken list of what you should and should not do We are told this is the good news We don't need more facts We don't need more things to do We need life You have made know to me the path of life - Psalms 16:11 My soul pants for you - Psalms 42:1-2 My soul thirsts for you - Psalms 63:1 Why did Jesus appeal to desire? Because it was essential for life He who has the Son has life - 1 John 5:12 | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-05-26 - Desire's Journey - Faith as Desire First two servant doubled their investment and were rewarded When we bury our desires, we saying to God = 'I don't dare desire because I fear you; I think you are hard-hearted" Is our obedience more out of love or out of carefulness? Persistent widow - won he case because she refused to let up When Jesus returns, will he find faith? - Luke 18 To live with desire means:
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2010-05-30 - Desire's Journey - Assault on Desire Battle of desire is not something that just takes place with us or even between us - but against us Advirtisers play on our desire of creating an image that everyone who is anyone has the object for sale The evil one has two ploys:
Our addictions are our own worst enemies Like the rich, young ruler - we find we can not give up our treasures even though God has something much better | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-07-04 - Desire's Journey - The Grand Affair (part 1) To know and to be known. It is our deepest ache. Love makes us to crazy things for love. No union on earth like the consummation of love between a man and woman Becoming one - this is what God is seeking with us Bible is the greatest romance ever written | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-07-15 - Desire's Journey - Deeper Desire (part 2) Life is both a battle and journey Life in its fullness has yet to come So we must take serious care of our hearts now How awful to reach the end of life and we find we haven't bought our hearts along with us Two extremes: Life is full of striving and indulgence A long march of duty and obligation When considering the promises of God and nature of the rewards, we see that the Lord finds our desires much too weak We are far too easily pleased We believe that life is not going to offer what we truly want so we have reduced our desire to a more manageable size. Lets be honest and all it what it is: sin | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-07-28 - Desire's Journey - Letting Go (part 5) Grief is the antidote to the incessant possessive demand within Sow in tear = song of joy - Psalms 126:5 Two spiritual discipline we need
Making time to grieve may sound strange Beauty and affliction are the only two things that can pierce our hearts
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2010-07-29 - Desire's Journey - Letting Go (part 6) With beauty, we need not fear indulging here Beauty is the closest thing we have to fullness without possessing on this side of eternity Two kinds of losses in life:
Spiritual surrender is not resignation It is surrender with desire | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-08-10 - Waking Dead - Myths (part 1) Myth - sometimes thought of as not factual true Jacob saw earth in a whole new way in his dream - Genesis 28:12 | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-08-23 - Waking Dead - Life to the Full Christ died for us but he also raised for us His resurrection was as much for us as his death was Count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus - Romans 6:11 God made us alive with Christ - Ephesians 2:5 We received our sinful nature from Adam - now we receive a good and holy nature from Christ God plan is not to just forgive you but restore you Make a good tree and its fruit will be good - Matthew 12:33 The covenant has two parts: I will give you a new heart and spirit, remove the heart of stone and flesh - Ezekiel 36:26 I have come that they may have life and it to the full - John 10:10 | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-09-15 - God is love Preached by Richard Dixion on 1999-05-04 Psalms 25:10
Psalms 145:13
Hebrews 12:4-10
Romans 12:1-2
2 Corinthians 5:3
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2010-09-20 - Waking Dead - Christ's Great Works Son's three great works on our behalf 1. Cross accomplished many thing Forgiveness and the power to overcomes the constant attacks from the enemy 2. Resurrection Having put off the old self, we are to put on the new - Ephesians 4:24 It is life we were promised and it is life we need 3. Ascension All authority was given to Christ By the grace of God, we share that with him It was Adam who gave it away and it was Christ who won it back Lord of the Rings, Two Towers - Theoden (a king) who is reluctant to go to war Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not - Aragorn The primary reason most people do not know the freedom and life Christ promised is that they won't fight for it | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-09-23 - Waking Dead - It Must Be Intimate Most churches offer small group activities but they are usually short lived for two reasons: 1. Can't just throw a random group together and then it instantly become allies Closeness takes time - playing, working, helping, living together develops relationships All the believers were one in heart - Acts 4:32
You can study til you are blue in the face but it will not heal a broken heart A small fellowship needs to be a redemptive community and one that protects Idea: In a group - write down 5 words or phrases that captures your life right now Then find what stories or scenes or characters help you interpret those words | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-09-24 - Waking Dead - It Will Be Messy Going to a church service with hundreds of people will never expose you That is what most prefer - because community will It will bring you close and you will be seen and you will be known Therein lies the power and the danger The enemy hates this: he knows it can be powerful and God and his kingdom Remember divide and conquer? This is his way Most have settled for safety in numbers - a comfortable, anonymous distance An army that keeps meeting for briefings, but never breaks into platoons and goes to war Community is like camping together Stuff is scattered out there for everyone to see During fellowship there are two important things to remember 1. Know the heart is good - so much easier to trust and to forgive We are for one another 2. Know that we are at war The enemy is always trying to pull everyone away | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-10-08 - Contagious Christian - Attractiveness of Authenticity (part 2) Authentic Emotional life Expressing sadness or hurt or grief are not signs of low faith or shallow character There are two negative consequences when a person outlaws certain feelings
Remember what Jesus did when His friend Lazarus died? He wept Authentic Confession How Christian deal with their foul-ups and failures The thinking here is that our moral missteps will drive people away But actually, It is a powerful witness to the transforming power of Christ Zacchaeus' household was converted because he was very open with what he did wrong Today authentic confession cause a seeker in today's non-fault society to realize that only the living God would prompt a person to say "it is my fault and I am sorry" | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-10-11 - God and Your Money
QUESTIONS
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2010-11-29 - Trusting God - Samuel Preached by Rob Milner Read 1 Samuel 13 Following God's instruction is the key to our success 1 Samuel 10:8 - Go to Gilgal and wait for 7 days and then we will sacrifice Samuel was the judge before their were kings Saul waited for 7 days but did not wait to do the burnt offerings He did not follow God's instructions exactly How long before we stop waiting? Ever wanted to take matters into our own hands? There is nothing as good as trusting and then God fulfilling his promise There are two battles:
James 4:7-8 - God calls us to submit to him fully Trust in God and not your situation
Protect your blacksmiths or you will be found defenseless 1 Samuel 13:19-21 What are the blacksmiths of our lives?
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2010-12-02 - Mission - Taking Up the Cross Two questions to ask ourselves: Is the power of the cross producing real changes in my life? Are lost souls being radically converted as I preach? The message of the cross will seem foolish to those we are teaching if they do not see the daily demonstration of its power for us who are being saved Christians described in Romans 6
Our days are composed of countless choices and decisions Each step that Jesus took towards the cross he took willingly It takes 1000s of bricks to build a house, it takes 1000s of righteous choices to build a Christ-like character Our hearts - lost world needs to know how we feel towards our Father Our conversation - we should never get tired of telling our conversation story Our example - Our daily temptations and victories should be only shared | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-12-08 - Mission - Cannot Help Proclaiming (part II) What else compelled Peter and John? 3. Having a spiritual perspective of the plan of God God orchestrated situations so people will find him - Acts 17:26-27 Satan can lull us to sleep with his lies If I miss this opportunity, maybe God will use someone else, they don't look interested They apostles felt the burden of salvation They were convicted that they were the only hope of salvation If they stopped, hope was gone We must have a heartfelt conviction that we are God's vehicles to reach a lost and desperate world 4. Must understand that Satan's victory/defeat is determined by our faithfulness to proclaim the word of God boldly We have two God-given weapons:
He wins every time we do not open our mouth - we must not be silent | ||||||||||||||||||
2010-12-09 - Mission - Cannot Fail The harvest is plentiful; ask the Lord of the harvest - Luke 10:2 Those who have taken up the work must devote themselves to prayer What they get from him is something they can not find in themselves Prayer is not the only important thing needed, it is just the most important thing to the harvest Obstacles are many for those working in the harvest There is not one that cannot be overcome with prayer Efforts to bring the harvest often stop because the workers run into problems or frustration Problem begin to look larger than the mission They lose their fire and joy Jesus says there is a problem (workers are few) but there is not despair The problem is an opportunity for perseverance and faith Frustrations and challenges differ but two things remain the same
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2010-12-19 - Worlds Wisdom vs Gods Wisdom (part I) 1 Corinthians 1:18-20
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2010-12-25 - Saved by Grace through Faith (part I) Psalms 103:1-18
Luke 18:9-14
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2011-02-08 - Fearing God - Glorious Truth (part I) Christianity means a relationship with God How can you have a relationship with someone you fear? There was a time when committed Christians were known as God-fearing people God delights in those who fear him What is the fear of God? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom - Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge - Proverbs 1:7 Wisdom and knowledge are not the same Knowledge is the accumulation of information Two people can have the same knowledge and but do different times with them
Knowledge can lead to righteousness - Titus 1:1 | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-03-21 - God Is (part II) Day two of studying who God is:
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2011-05-26 - Fearing God - Slave or Son Two types of fear:
He went out and hid his talent in the ground - Matthew 25:24-25 The devil is the author of servile fear - he uses it to haunt and disturb Christians to make our lives uncomfortable Filial fear is loving fear of a child toward his father A mixture of reference, pleasure, joy, and awe which fills our hearts when we realize who God is and what He has done for us There are 150 references to the fear of God, most in the Old Testament Ones in the New Testament convince us that fearing God is an attitude of the heart | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-06-26 - Mind of Christ - Helping People (part I) We must gain the mind of Christ in regard to helping people Romans 15:1-3 - We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves His baptism and temptation prepared the way for helping people.
1. He possessed a great desire to work for and please God.
Compassion: Sympathetic conscious of another’s distress, together with desire to alleviate it, pity coupled with an urgent desire to aid or to spare. Examples:
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2011-06-28 - Mind of Christ - Helping People (part III) Attitude differences between a compassionate heart and one that is uncompassionate.
Which side of the table do I tend to say more of? | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-07-02 - Mind of Christ - Relationship with God (part III) The oneness Jesus had with His Father is revealed to us for two reasons: 1. It shows us the pattern for our relationship with God
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2011-08-11 - Daughter Needs - Loving Kindness A daughter needs a father's gentleness, protective favor to intercede for her against those who would do her wrong Two tendencies to limit their kindness:
Do you give your daughter far more positive comments then negative? Say something positive, then say "do better" next time? | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-08-25 - Fearing God - His Unseen Hand God's wisdom is not apparent to us None had the intention of caring out God's plan:
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2011-08-27 - Fearing God - Healthy Tension In the physical world, there are two opposing forces:
Centrifugal force helps us understand those attributes of God We are to hold our reverent distance because of his holiness and sovereignty Centripetal force represents the love of God His grace and mercy draws us to Him To exercise a proper fear of God we must understand the opposing forces of His holiness and His love Both the recognition of our weakness/sinfulness and the love and humble gratitude are displayed in our fear of God | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-08-28 - Fearing God - Awe and Gratitude Awe and Gratitude are two expressions of the proper way of fearing God With you there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared - Psalms 130:4 Neither awe nor gratitude alone can represent adequately show the meaning of the fear of the Lord At the same time:
More than God is loving, he is love This is love: He sent his Son as a atoning sacrifice - 1 John 4:9-10 God showed his love by sending His Son. | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-09-01 - Fearing God - Requirements for growth (part I) The first requirement of growing in fear is having an undivided heart Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name - Psalms 86:11 It dentoes singleness of purpose, aim, and affections Second requirement is regular, consistent exposure of our minds and hearts to His Word:
Saul fell down in fear before Christ
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2011-09-16 - Proverbs on Purity (part I) Proverbs 15:26 - Pure thoughts are pleasing to God We live in a time where we need Godly teaching about purity. Lets take a journey on the Path To Purity. #1. Lust leads to destruction Proverbs 7:21-23 - The Bible is clear that nothing good will come out of giving into lust. Ox going to slaughter, deer in a noose, bird in a snare, etc Proverbs 6:28-29 - To overcome lust in your life you must understand and believe that lust is not just sinful but wasteful also. Both the lustful look and the lustful act are wrong before God. What are some of the effects (consequences) of living a lustful life?
#2. Flee from Lust Proverbs 1:10-16 Illustration: In the movie Pinocchio, a wooden boy comes to life.
We must pick friends that will encourage us spiritually and not lead us down the path of destruction. | ||||||||||||||||||
2011-09-18 - Proverbs on Integrity (part I) Proverbs 19:22 - Poor person is better than a liar Proverbs 20:17 - Gains by fraud ends up being worthless The 1996 New York Times had a story on a golfer named Jeff Sluman.
When someone is a person of integrity he/she is someone that has wholeness about him either.
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2011-10-05 - Genesis 5 - Genealogies (part I)SummaryAdam's line was: Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah. Noah's sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. ObservationsGenesis 5:2 - He created them male and female and blessed them Personal ApplicationThe challenge for me is simple: To finish the race [Acts 20:24] with great faith and perseverance. But not just to get by but to have a relationship with God that shines before others. When people talk about me, do they stop and mention my relationship with God like the Bible does with Enoch? What does God say about my faith? |