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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

  • Such a life is attractive
  • They will want to be like you
  • Will see something inside is real
  • Will see the difference

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

 

2008-11-23 - Raising Awesome Kids - Provision and Protection
If anyone does not provide for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever - 1 Timothy 5:8

Our families should never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from
Our Heavenly Father provides for all our physical needs - Matthew 6:25-34
We should not imitate him in caring for my children?

He works his land , will have abundant food - Proverbs 28:19
Get adequate medical insurance - so you do not burden your family will major costs

Takes care of things around the house
Do the repair jobs and maintenance work
Husbands who are lazy - kids will see this and either disrespect us or gladly imitate us in it

Fathers are protectors
If any family member is in a situation where they are being beaten down, overwhelmed - this is the time to act
Should not shield them from the realities of life, but from the forces from which they become helpless

2008-12-25 - Raising Awesome Kids - Gods Training Plan (part 3)

These commandments... are to be upon your hearts (v. 6)

Should train from the heart level
in their minds and on their minds - Hebrews 10:16

Impress them on your children (v. 7)

Training with the Scriptures must be done with great conviction, sincerity and earnestness
If you want it to stick, you will need to give all you have

Talk about them always (v. 7)

Train consistantly - everywhere, anytime, anyplace

About teaching our children how to live life - not nagging about their misdeeds

Make it fun, doable, effective

Most training should be spontaneous

Never underestimate how many times we will have to say the same things over and over again



2009-01-02 - Raising Awesome Kids - How to Nuture Confidence (part 3)
Teach them to appreciate and applaud the efforts and achievements of others

  • Children who learn to admire and encourage other will be confident
  • They will be strong enough to give credit where credit is due
  • Teach your kids to give their best and never blame anyone when they lose
  • Teach them to be like Jonathan - could have been jealous of David but became his best friend - 1 Samuel 18
  • John the Baptist became lesser so Jesus could become greater - John 3:30

Be basically encouraging
Be your children's biggest fan
If you are fundamentally positive - when you give correction it will be received with thankfulness rather than discouragement
Some say - 5 compliments to overcome one criticism
Human nature flourishes on a diet of praise

2009-01-03 - Raising Awesome Kids - Foundations of a Spiritual Family
Spiritual = to be on the inside what we trying to do one the outside: to be genuine, not to live a pretense of religious performance but to function out of a sincere relationship with God

A spiritual family is where:
  • God is honored
  • God's presence is sought and experienced in daily life
  • Prayer is an ongoing reality
  • The Bible faithfully read and obeyed
  • There is love for God's church and is fully involved in its fellowship and ministry
  • There is times of worship, praise, and study
  • The children have their own times of personal Bible study
  • The parents spend regular times with each child to disciple them to Christ
  • A group that is dedicated to helping other become disciples of Jesus
Much more than being good, nice, or church-going family - be those things and not be spiritual

We can not take our families where we have not gone
Children can spot a fake

We must be:
  • Genuine in our love for God
  • Consistent in our walk with him
  • Wholehearted in our dedication
Six areas to be discussed:
  1. Prayer
  2. Discipling times
  3. Family devotionals
  4. Devotion to Church
  5. Evangelistic lifestyle
  6. Children's Quiet Times


2009-01-05 - Raising Awesome Kids - Discipling Times
These are times set to spend alone time with your child to talk with them, teach them the Bible, and pray with them
Can begin as soon as your child can communicate fairly well

Never let discipling times become boring and burdensome duty
Try to go somewhere out of the house if possible
Try to have set hours

Select a topic and verse to share
Realize that there may be a different topic that need to be discuss depending on the situation
Compare notes with your spouse

Read verses together > Talk about them > Take action > Share with the rest of the family

These are incredible times to draw your children closer to God and you

2009-01-08 - Raising Awesome Kids - Evangelistic Lifestyle
Something the whole family should think about constantly
Each child has a role in reaching another family

Too many of us separate our families from our outreach to others
Our families are the brightest light that God can use to illuminate a dark world

  • Have people into your home
  • Draw people into your family life
  • When they see what there is - teach them where it comes from


2009-01-10 - Raising Awesome Kids - Close Family
Is there any place where our weaknesses are exposed more than in our own homes?

Most families are not that close
Many families merely exist together without any deep love or enjoyment of one another

  • Cain and Abel - murder by his own brother
  • Jacob and his twin brother Esau - folly from their parents' favoritism
  • Jacob's sons turning against their younger brother Joseph
  • Family of David - torn apart by lust, rape, incest, murder
God is showing us what will happen if we are disunited

Four keys to having a close family:
  1. Respect
  2. Openness
  3. Fabric
  4. Atmosphere


2009-01-12 - Raising Awesome Kids - Genuine Appreciation

Appreciation for one another does not come about by accident

Must teach it, talk about it, show it and confront the ways the kids are not expressing it - only way

Cultivate appreciation by creating as many situations as possible where it expressed in words
Build up one another sessions - each person encouragees every other person specifically
Thank you nights - give thanks for different things other family members have said and done

Encourage your family to begin expressing respect, appreciation, and encouragement - whole atmosphere will change

Pleasant words are sweet to the soul - Proverbs 16:24

Teach your older children how to lead and teach your younger ones how to follow
Children's weaknesses tend to come out more with each other than with us

 



2009-01-19 - Jesus with People - Through the Roof

When the paralyzed man came down through the roof - damaged the house of Peter and Andrew - how would you respond?

Jesus demonstrated his love for people in the way he deals with the crowds

Everywhere he went, Jesus drew a crowd
He spoke with authority, conviction because he deeply cared about people

We need to care enough to gather a crowd - People need to be our focus
They need to be in our homes, in our Saturday plans, and focus of our lunch hour

Jesus with the Religious
Their slavery to legalistic minutiae angered him - Matthew 23:23-24
Their stubborn hearts distressed him - Mark 3:1-5
Jesus desire was for them to be saved

Jesus with the Faithful
Jesus gets the greatest joy from interacting with people who believe
Centurion - the faith he was looking for - Luke 18:8
What fires Jesus up? Faith

If we follow Jesus, the smallest seed of faith that we see in others should encourage and excite us.

Who big is your crowd?
Do you see the faith of others?
Is Jesus amazed by your faith or your lack of it?



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?

  • Some irritation
  • Little mistrusting

He saw beyond the paralytic's phyiscal condition to his need for forgiveness - Mark 2:5
He saw the invaild's need for hope at the poolside - John 5:6

When we see a crowd who is harassed and helpless we see - problems, problems, problems
When Jesus sees a crowd who is harassed and helpless he sees - harvest, harvest, harvest

Wiser to evangelize the "suburbs" because there are less "problem" people - NNNNOOOO!!!!
Jesus was not swayed by this thinking

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
Compassion is passion that leads to action

Are you meeting needs or do you alwaysfind yourself reacting to the way people treat you?
Make a list of needs you see where you are - make a plan to meet those needs



2009-02-23 - Jesus with People - Will He Find Faith?

Luke 18:1-8 - Jesus tells of a parable about praying not giving up; concluding, 'will he find faith on the earth?'

After Jesus was crucified and resurrected he could have gone home to the Father but chose to remain with his friends again
Enter the scene on the road to Emmaus

He wanted to know their hearts. Where was their faith? - They still did not get it

He did not walk away in disgust and give up on them
He waited to see if their faith would revive



2009-03-12 - Promises of God - Carry and Rescue
Paul: My God will meet all your needs - Philiippians 4:19

God most certianly allows us to have needs
He allows situations where we are left to wonder how things will turn out
He has not promised to keep us free from need

As we grow older, all kinds of needs are created

I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you - Isaiah 46:3:-4

Old age and gray hairs = symbols of all the things we can not control and tend to worry us

I will rescue you: deliver us from danger - did not promis we wll never be in danger

From every evil attack and bring me to safety - 2 Timothy 4:18


2009-03-16 - Promises of God - Strength From Prayer

Jesus had to overcome unfathomable temptation - Matthew 26:36-36

If he chose to follow through with his Father's will: humiliting insults, excruciating beatings, and agoninzing crucifixion would follow

Jesus: If it's possible, may this cup be taken from me
He knew what we needed to do
He struggled to get his heart where it needed to be
He prayed until he found strength he needed to overcome

We should ask ourselves: How many hours have I wrestled with it in prayer?
We cannot expect to withstand tempation if we are not ready to wrestle in prayer until God gives us the strength

We must turn to God at the moment we are tempted - it may take hours but we will have great power to resist sin



2009-04-06 - Promises of God - Abrahams Faith
By faith Abraham, called to place even through he did not know where is was going - Hebrews 11:8

Obedience to God is the only thing that makes sense

Ludicrous to think that our limited and mortal minds can out smart an omnipotent and omnipresent God

We will never find the blessing of God if we constantly question the wisdom of God

How do you feel about the word of obey?

2009-04-18 - Why We Need God - He is Our Creator
GOD AS OUR CREATOR...
  1. Knows us better than we ourselves
  2. Even as the manufacturer knows his product better than anyone else
  3. Knows our weaknesses and our strengths
  4. Is the best source to find the answers to such questions as:
a.  Where did I come from?
b.  Why am I here?
c.  Where am I going?
d.  How should I live?


2009-04-30 - No one like him - Differences from Jesus and the prophets (part 1)
1. His words were from the Father
Prophets – “This is what the Lord says…”
Jesus – “I tell you the truth…”
2. Where to get help
Prophets - “Come to the Lord.”
Jesus – “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28-30)
3. Fulfillment of scripture
Prophets – Prophetic messages
Jesus –
  • “I have come to fulfill the scripture (Luke 4:18-19,21)
  • “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17)
  • “everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31)
  • “These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (John 5:39)


2009-05-13 - No one like him - Jesus and the Scriptures
How did Jesus view the scriptures?
  • Human writings/stories?
  • Significant?
  • Authoritative?
Some think Jesus’ view came from his culture:
Didn’t accept views about: Samaritans, Gentiles, women, leapers, tax collectors
Jesus hung around the wrong people, wrong parties, and wrong trainees

Jesus had great confidence found in the scriptures
11x in gospels (20x mores by gospel writers) in where Jesus said he was the fulfilling what had been written

2009-06-10 - One Another - Walking in the Light
What does it mean to walk in the light?

1 John 1:7-9
Living our lives with openness and transparency in response to the blood of Christ
Fellowship is both the practice and product of walking in the light

How central are our relationships to following Jesus?
  1. Coupled with loving God
  2. How we show we are disciples
  3. Something to devoted to as we come into Christ
  4. How we fulfill the principle of Christ
  5. How we live a life worthy of the gospel and the Lord
  6. Where walking in the light leads

"I need to get serious about my relationship with God" = Need to get serious with my relationship with other believers

2009-08-19 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 1)
Eve was created with the lush beauty of Eden’s garden
Adam was created outside the garden – wild from the beginning
    Men have an insatiable longing to explore
    When most men come alive
    Discover it when they first cross the street or when they first ride their bikes to the store
Adventure – all the danger and wildness (longing into the soul of men)
Man needs a place where it is not prefabricated
    Moses – in the desert of Sinai
    Jacob – wrestling with God (somewhere east of Jabbok)
    Elijah recovered his strength in the wild
    So did John the Baptist and Jesus



2009-08-20 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 2)
Deep within man there are some fundamental questions
    Who am I?
    What am I made of?
    What am I destined for?

Today’s man
    Endless hours at the computer
    Requires man to be efficient and punctual
    Is this what boys dream of?
    Where are the real men?
    Did you ever dream of being a nice guy?

We are told we don’t know how to:
    Keep our promises
    Talk to our wives
    Raise our children

Some women want passive men
    Wonder why they have no access to their heart

God made the masculine heart – Come live out what I meant you to be
    He does not make generic people – man/women



2009-08-21 - Wild at Heart - Intro (part 3)
What makes a man come alive?

    1. Need a battle to fight
  • Swords, camouflage, six-shooters, uniforms
  • Boys want to be powerful and dangerous
  • Aggression is part of man’s design – God’s image (Exodus 15:3)
  • They do not want to call and talk about relationships
  • Boys play is a rehearsal for a bigger drama
  • Life needs man to be fierce and fiercely devoted
  • Every man needs to know he is powerful – be the hero

    2. Needs an adventure to live
  • Fights the grizzly, wins the beauty
  • Recipe for fun with boys – add an element of danger
  • We may fear the test, yet we yearn to be tested and discover what it takes
  • If a man has lost this desire (says he doesn’t want it) does not know he has what it takes – believe he will fail the test.

    3. Needs a beauty to rescue
  • Nothing more inspiring to a man as a beautiful women
  • Make you want to charge the castle, slay the giant
  • Men going to war carry a photo of their sweetheart in their wallet
  • Paintings on side of airplanes
  • Lonely men fight lonely battles
  • Where would James Bond, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Indiana Jones be without their women
  • Man needs a battle to fight, he needs someone to fight for (someone in particular – women he loves)



2009-08-23 - Wild at Heart - Wild One whose image we bear

Where do we come from?

A man must know where he comes from and what he is made of both past and family fathers

Most men are trying not to be like their fathers

Who will they derive their sense of strength?

To men God is: Distant and weak (How they would describe their father)
Jesus has become – Mister Rogers with a beard
God – gives a reason and purpose to fight

Reminds us that life lived in fear is no life at all – all will die someday
Jesus = Mother Teresa or William Wallace? Both



2009-09-08 - Wild at Heart - The fathers voice (part 1)
A man needs to know his name - He needs to know he has got what It takes
Can not know who we are until we know God
Adam knew Eve intimately - this how we need to know God.

Deep knowledge comes from a process of initiation. You have to know where you come from.
Some try to get their identity from others – girlfriend/wife, friends, job, and hobbies
Who can we turn to for this need?

God could take him on that journey, provide what is missing

Who will give your name and mean something? God!
There is a terrible assault

Adam was created for adventure and battles; he created us for a unique place in his history
Abram becomes Abraham, Jacob becomes Israel, and Saul becomes Paul

2009-09-13 - Wild at Heart - False self (part 4)
A masculine journey always takes a man away from the women, come back to with his question answered
A man does not go to a woman to get his strength; he goes to her to offer it.
Addiction comes when we have taken our soul to her for validation.

What else are we looking for? God
Adam had God
God gave Adam Eve out of His humility
Eve eventually took the place of God

Adam was not deceived
Time where Eve had fallen but Adam had not
Adam choose Eve over God
Men without his true love, God, will try to find another

Why do you remain thirsty after you have had a drink… it is the wrong well
In God will only find the true healing of the wound

2009-09-19 - Wild at Heart - Healing the wound (part 5)
Until we are broken, our life will be self-centered, self-reliant, our strength will be our own.
So long as you think you are really something in and of yourself, what will you need God for?
Think of the poser you know – are they the kind of man you would call 2am, when life is collapsing around you?

Where a man’s wound is, that is where his genius will be.
Because the wound was given in the place of your true strength
Out of your brokenness that you discover what you have to offer the community
When we begin to offer not merely our gifts but our true selves, that is when we become powerful
That is when we are ready for battle

2009-09-23 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 4)
The world is a carnival of counterfeits, counterfeit battles. Counterfeit adventures, counterfeit beauties
Men should think of it as a corruption of their strength
Battle your way to the top says the world and you will be a man

World give a false sense of security
  • Where does your sense of power come from?
  • Is it your position?
Look to be the servant of all
Want to know how the world really feels about you – start living out your true strength
Say what you think, stand for the underdog, challenge foolish polices
Many of us have actually been afraid to let our strength show up because the world doesn’t have a place for it

2009-09-24 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 5)
Not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you
  • Where are those ideas coming from?
  • Where are those feelings coming from?
  • We are unaware of his schemes – 2 Corinthians 2:11
  • We look for a psychological or a physical explanation for every trouble we meet

Who caused the Chaldeans to steal Job’s herds – Satan Job 12,17
Anaias and Sapphira – Satan
Heartache keeps us from praying
Satan is behind that brutal assault on your on strength
There is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes of our lives than most of us have been led to believe

Behind the world and the flesh is an event more deadly enemy, one we rarely speak of and are even less ready to resist

2009-10-02 - One Another - Gifts
Nowhere in the NT does it tell us to "search" or "discover" what our gift is

Paul's teachings were directed toward how to use the gifts, not how to figure out what they are
To be focused on being part of the body

Romans 15:1-2 - bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves
  • We have an obligation to bear with others
  • We should seek to please our neighbor rather than ourselves - Romans 15:2-3
  • Pleasing = not satisfying a whim but helping other do well spiritually


2009-10-13 - Wild at Heart - A Beauty to Rescue
Evil power who holds her captive
Only a champion may win her
Every little girl knows the fable without ever being told
Little boys rehearse their parts
Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and so on
Strong man coming to rescue a beautiful women is universal and human nature

Why is it ten years later I wondered if I even wanted to be married to her anymore?
Why do most us get lost somewhere between “once upon a time” and “happily ever after”?

Our culture has grown cynical about the fable
We have not been poisoned by fairy tales

Many guys think that the biggest battle was asking her out
She is the special target of the Evil One
He turns most vicious malice against her
If he can destroy her or keep her captive, he can ruin the story

2009-10-18 - Wild at Heart - An adventure to live (part 1)
A man just won’t be happy until he’s got adventure in his work, in love and in his spiritual life
God is intimately personal with us and he speaks in ways that are peculiar to our own quirky hearts – not just through
the Bible, but through the whole creation

Don’t ask yourself what does the world need. Ask yourself what make you come alive and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive
I realized I was living a script written for me by someone else
To go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running the strongest

What would have happened if Moses had listed to his mother’s advice, “never play with matches”?
Paul didn’t leave his familiar group of Pharisees?
God took a big risk in making the world

2009-10-31 - Repentance - The Prophets (part 2)
Prophets
  • Repent and turn from your transgressions – Ezekiel 18:30
  • Bear fruit with keeping with repentance – Luke 3:8
Jesus
  • Unless you repent, you will perish – Luke 13:3
  • If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief – Revelation 3:3
Apostles
  • He commands all people everywhere to repent – Acts 17:30
  • Repent and turn to God – Acts 26:20


2009-11-05 - Repentance - Jesus Opens Our Eyes (part 3)
The Purpose of Parables
  • Parables offers an opportunity to slip a message past the defenses and filters
  • Kingdom parables
    • Parable of the Sower
      • watch out for Satan, he will try to rob you of the true and understanding of the kingdom
      • church needs to honest with how worldly cares (wealth, etc)
    • Parable of the Weeds
  • Repentance parables
    • Parable of the Lost Sheep
    • Parable of the Lost Coin
    • Prodical Son
      • Vivid picture of meanoia (when he came to his senses)
      • Data did not change, his thinking did
      • Younger son objectivity saw where he was with his father
      • Reoriented heart returns a reoriented life
      • Proves his repentance by his deeds


2009-11-12 - Repentance - Worldly Sorrow (part 2)
3. Excuses
  • Comes up with creative targets – upbringing, genetic makeup, society
  • Excuses are the clearest indicators of worldly sorrow
  • Excuses come right after the apology – I am sorry for forgetting our anniversary, it has been crazy at work
  • Where there is an excuse, there is persistent sin
  • Excuses rob us of the indignation that energizes our turn from self to Jesus
4. Selectivity
A repentant Christian embraces absolutions, even moral absolutes
5. Repetition
Repentance is no fragile state of mind that we barely notice entering and exiting
Questions
  1. What is wrong with defining repentance as “being sorry for your sins, so sorry that you stop them”?
  2. What is the root cause of worldly sorrow?
  3. In what ways have you exercised “damage control” rather than true repentance?
  4. What damage has your sin caused?
  5. Have you ever confused the tears of self pity for true repentance? What is the danger of this confusion?
  6. Why does the author assert that “excuses are the clearest indicators of worldly sorrow?” Would you rather have your excuses accepted or your sins forgiven?
  7. What’s the difference between cognitive dissonance and repentance? Why doesn’t cognitive dissonance prompt us to preach the good news to others?
  8. Have you been selective in your repentance? What does that indicate about your repentance?
  9. Why doesn’t metanoia accommodate the repetition of sin?


2009-11-20 - Repentance - Its Time To Go Home (part 2)
Where are you on this path?

Are you part of “all people, everywhere”?
Good, you quality for the command to repent – Acts 17:26-27; 30-31

Ignorance of Jesus perpetuates a self-focused paradigm
Jesus is Lord – changes our heart, mind-set, allegiances, purpose, and agenda

Subsequent repentance has lesser fan fare (like 2nd to the moon or Mt. Everest

Satan doesn’t want you to know that he created your dilemma
His scheme:
  1. Try this
  2. You are damaged goods
  3. Doing it again will not make you more unclean
  4. They don’t/won’t understand
  5. Never tell them about this

Shame is the greatest obstacle to post-baptismal repentance
How to escape? You already have – Trust god’s grace
Light is not a place of condemnation

2009-11-24 - Master Plan - Selection (part 3)
Few were converted in His lifetime.
  • Little more than 500 after the resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:6
  • 120 received baptism at the day of Pentecost - Acts 1:15
Strategy
  • Why not an army?
  • He needed leaders to lead the ministry after He left. Not all followers. It takes energy to produce a leader.
  • Not trying to impress the crowd but the usher in a Kingdom
  • Mass are like helpless sheep wandering aimlessly without a shepherds
  • Masses willing to follow anyone that came along with some promise for their welfare
  • Jesus was a realist. He knew he could not meet all the needs on His own.
Some concern themselves with baptisms and numbers more than power and love of God
Everything that is done with the few is for the salvation of the multitudes.

Modern Practicals
  • We are not even keeping with the growing population
  • We in an age where more rapid communication is now being seen than ever before
  • Must not be frantic to try to change the pattern overnight
  • Do like Jesus – start with a few lowly disciples and do as it was done by Jesus
    • Slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed at first
    • Not spiritual “junk-food” revivals
  • Which generation are you living for?


2009-11-25 - Master Plan - Association (part 1)
He stayed with them
  • Jesus made it a practice to be with them
    • No formal schooling
    • No periodic membership classes
    • No seminaries
    • No outlined course of study
    • No religious rituals or formulas of knowledge
  • Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation
  • “Come follow me” [no other explanation recorded] and learn how I (Jesus) am living
  • One living sermon is worth a hundred explanations
  • Ministry time lengthened in the second and third years.
  • He gave increasingly more time to the chosen disciples, not less.
  • Frequently He would take them with Him in a mountainous country where he was unknown.
    • Trip to Tyre and Sidon – Mark 7:24
    • Borders of Decapolis – Mark 7:31
    • Parts of Dalmanutha to SE of Galilee - Mark 8:10
    • Villages of Caesarea Philipi to the NW – Mark 8:27


2009-12-01 - Master Plan - Count the Costs
  • Those who did not go all the way fell by the wayside
    • Can not make excuses - Matthew 8:21-22
    • Greed will try to take us away (Judas) - Mark 14:10
    • Turn loose of the world - Matthew 27:3-10
    • Leave comforts of this world - Matthew 8:19
    • Those who want to turn are not fit to serve - Luke 9:62
    • Must love God above all else - Luke 14
  • Few want to pay the price
    • Jesus had only a few followers = Are you going to leave too? …Where shall we go? - John 6:68


2010-01-08 - Kingdom First - Light Gives Direction
You are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14-16

Without light we do not know where to walk
Don't know when to turn or how to reach our destination

God provided the direction for the Israelites when the left Egypt
Wise men were guided by light to find the Savior of the world

Your willingness to give help provides direction and light most do not have

Purity and integrity can shake the business world
Faith and joy in the face of trials can show others with God there is a way out of anything

2010-01-09 - Kingdom First - Light Drives Satan Away
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all - 1 John 1:5

Satan can not be where there is light
When the light comes, sin is exposed

The light will bring a reaction:
  • Some will run from it
  • Other will try to put it out
  • Still others will be drawn to it
Everyone does evil hates the light; whoever lives by the truth comes into the light - John 3:19-21

The light takes away Satan's power
The more we open ourselves to God's light, the more his light shines through us

2010-02-14 - One Another - Bearing With Another (part 1)
How are we to bear with someone sin?
  1. Action should be done with prayer
  2. Listen and understand as fully as possible - Proverbs 18:13
  3. Relate to them, gently - described as a surgeon realigning a broken bone
  4. Point to scripture, scripture needs to train, not you - 2 Timothy 3:17
  5. Help them evaluate their heart with Godly sorrow - 2 Corinthians 7:8-11
  6. Ask them what they see in needed to demonstrate repentance
  7. Take them all the way to the cross - to the place where sin dies, only way to be free
  8. Assure them of your support then give it to them


2010-02-26 - One Another - Forgiving One Another (part 2)
Other matters related to forgiveness:

Forgiveness is the ultimate 'one another' trump card

Love, which always forgives, can cover a multitude of sins - 1 Peter 4:8

Forgiveness must come from a grateful heart

If forgiveness comes from anything other than a grateful heart, we lack the purity of heart
Rid yourself of all bitterness, rage, and anger - forgiving each other as Christ forgave you - Ephesians 4:31-32

We must help one another forgive

When a person is not forgiving, they grow bitter
The sin of lack of forgiveness of someone may be greater than the actual offense
See that no one misses the grace of God and no bitter root grows - Hebrews 12:14-15

Pain and anger are not resolved in a moment, but let us never doubt where we must end up

2010-03-01 - One Another - One Another In Groups (part 3)
Work out differences; maintain unity - Ephesians 4:1-7

Do not be surprised when there are differences
See differences as:
  • Opportunity for the spirit to work
  • Opportunity for iron to sharpen iron
  • Opportunity for us to go to the cross and practice humility
Be sensitive to outsiders; seek to bring them in - Colossians 4:2-6

Need to make the most of every opportunity
Avoid lingo and behavior that make the visitor truly feel like an outsider

Stay at the foot of the cross


What makes a Christian group different from others is the cross
Where is your group in regard to the cross?
Are we dying and living a baptized life?

2010-03-02 - To Live is Christ - Partners in the Gospel
Philippians 1:16

Philippi was named for Philip of Macedon
It was a roman colony - not actually a place one would expect the message of Jesus to take hold
A roman jail is where you would expect Paul and Silas to be

Paul made a career of being with other and influencing their lives - reduced to visits from the guards
Through many hard times he had learned to overcome the most challenging of circumstances

Five lines into the letter, Paul remembers his relationship with God and other disciples:
  • First converts - Lydia and her household
  • The jailer and his house hold
  • God using an earthquake to bring unlikely people into the kingdom of God - Acts 16:22
Christianity is a personal experience but not a private one

Only when we have been in the trenches with others will we have relationships that are full of life

2010-03-21 - To Live is Christ - Joy and Crown
Paul: My joy and crown is you standing firm in the Lord - Philippians 4:1
For the Greeks, the crown was a symbol of victory or a token of honor

Paul's crown was changed lives
The legacy was lasting and the reward was eternal
Paul to Corinthians: Result of the ministry not written on tablets but on human hearts - 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

If other people's spiritual growth is not our concern, it will never be our joy
If others are not our joy in this life, they will never be our crown after this life

What brought Jesus joy, brought Paul joy
Where do we get our joy in life?

Self-centeredness is the greatest roadblock of joy
We can not be concerned about the things of God if our own things get in the way

The Philippians were Paul's concern,  his focus, his joy and his crown

2010-04-12 - Life to the Full - Macho Mist (part 2)
Spiritual adultery - How easy it is to flirt with the world if we fail to guard our hearts - Proverbs 4:23
In Jewish law, adultery is grounds for divorce

The Spirit cause to live within us envies intensely - James 3:5

The nature of God: He will tolerate no rivals for his love
God is a jealous God - Exodus 34:14

One of the quoted OT verse in the the NT is about pride - Proverbs 3:34
Much of the pride mention in the NT is bad: Pride goes before the fall - Proverbs 16:18
Pride mentioned in the NT is usually good: I take great pride in you - 2 Corinthians 7:4
It depends on where the pride is rooted and the attitude behind it

If you feel ineffective, frustrated, unproductive, opposed - it might be because God is opposing you because of your pride
He is trying to get your attention so you will turn back to him

2010-04-20 - Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone (part 1)

1 Corinthians 1:20-23 - Jesus came to bring salvation; to some he became a stumbling block

Romans 14:10-24...

  • We are free to do many things with our faith
  • Personal freedom must be balanced with personal responsibilty for others
  • Questions to ask: Will my personal freedom be a stumbling block to others?
  • v15 - brothers were distrussed by other's freedom - that is where is know we have gone too far with our freedom
  • Areas we say it is our right to control
    • Music
    • Dating
    • Contribution
    • Evangelism
    • Commitment to church

Which is better to have?

  • Win the battle of your rights or win the war of salvation for someone?
  • Your opinon or unity of Jesus' church?

 



2010-04-28 - Heart of Maturity (Motivation of Maturing)

Preached by John Lusk (2005-01-30)

How passionate are you about maturing?

  • Being a new Christian, it was easiler because everything was new. Now what?
  • We must have the correct motivation if we are to continue maturing in the long run.

Motivation of Maturing

1. To regain your identify

Genesis 1:26-27

  • We need to realize who we are suppose to be
  • Duck example
    • First thing it sees when it is born it assumes is its mother and will follow it around
    • If the baby duck follows something other than another duck, it will get frustrated because it can only do what duck do
  • Human example
    • We were made to be like God
    • We see other things and try to follow the world
    • We also get frustrated because worldly persuits are not what were designed for

2. To remian in Jesus

1 John 2:3-4 - This is a expectation from God

3. To be effective and productive

2 Peter 1:4-8

  • Must make every effort
  • It would be sad to find out in the end we were ineffective and unproductive
  • Others need you to grow!
  • Your growth rate will determine how much you are effective, not where you are right now

4. Secure salvation

2 Peter 1:8-11 - We have been given a new start

Wrong motivation - Pleasing people, selfish ambition



2010-04-29 - Heart of Maturity (Methods of Maturing)

Methods of Maturing

Self-Training with the Word

Hebrews 5:11-14 - Constant use of the word - for direction, correction, and guidance

With each other

Colossians 1:28-29

  • It is our responsibility to grow
  • We need small groups, large groups, and one another times

Imiatating others

1 Corinthians 4:14-17

  • Follow the qualities in people which are best examples of Christ
  • Collectively the best qualities show an example of Christ

Perservering in trials

James 1:2-4

  • Whenever (that means anytime) the testing of your faith comes
  • Consider it a pure joy - Many Trials
  • Perservering is where you mature


2010-05-01 - I am Innocent of the Blood of all Men (part 2)
Acts 22:6-21
  • Paul had an encounter with Jesus
    • Encounters with Jesus are significant
    • Paul understood he was living in opposition to Jesus - killing Christians (people following Christ)
    • Don't want to be on the opposite side of the battle from God
    • Where are you at today? Do you know?
    • Share
      • Grow up religious - Every Sunday - through High School
      • Ask to come to church, study the Bible
      • Saw life and heart wasn't matching; my sin was in opposition to God
      • Tried to make it personal - mean and angry (Hoping the standard would changed)
      • They were there to help
  • Paul had the humility to ask "What shall I do?" - v10
    • Paul had a heart of humility to be taught - Bible
    • Could have brought up his religiousness or accomplishments
    • Opened himself up to anything, Not "I'm sorry, won't do that again"
  • Paul was religious all this life and had the heart to immediately obey and be baptized - v16
    • Perhaps, God uses the life of Paul to prepare our hearts for surrender
    • What have you been holding on to instead of Jesus? What is stopping you?
We/your friend would like to share "the whole will of God".

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