2008-04-15 - Falling in Love with God - Holy Spirit with us What else should I be conscious of regarding the Holy Spirit:
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2008-06-12 - Purpose Driven Life - Cultivating Community Community requires commitment Only the Holy Spirit can create real fellowship between believers Cultivating community takes... ...Honesty Silent when someone sins - not loving thing to do Means caring enough to lovingly confront - Proverbs 24:26 A group will remain superficial because they are afraid to conflict It is where gossip thrives Corinth church was allowing sexual immorality because no one had the courage to say anything. ...Humility Pride builds walls between; humility builds bridges Being prideful is living in opposition to God - 1 Peter 5:5 Develop humility by: admitting weakness, being patient with other's weakness, being open to correction, pointing the spotlight on others ...Courtesy Nothing to do with compatibility Basis of our fellowship is our relationship to God - We are family ...Confidentiality Does not mean keeping silent about sin Means - stays within the group - Proverbs 16:28 ...Frequency You need to spend time - make it a habit - Hebrew 10:25 Community is not built on convenience - "Let's get together sometime" |
2008-06-19 - Purpose Driven Life - Growth Through Temptation Happy is the man who does not give in - will be rewarded with the crown of life - James 1:12 Every temptation is an opportunity to do good through the path of maturity How does the Holy Spirit produce fruit in our lives? - Galatians 5:22-23 By allowing you to be tempted by the opposite opportunity
Temptation follows 4 steps:
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2008-07-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Godly Passions) God passionately loves some things and passionately hates things other thing The closer you are to God - you will share these view Jesus - Man's heart determines his speech - Matthew 12:34 David - Zeal for God's work burn within him - Psalms 69:9 Jeremiah - Cannot keep silent - Jeremiah 20:9 Are defend the defenseless, those who can not speak for themselves Should not expect everyone to have the exact same passion as you It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good - Galatians 4:18 |
2008-09-16 - Teach Us To Pray - The Church of Jesus Disciples must have a deep commitment to pray for the needs of the church:
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2008-10-15 - Man of Prayer - Understanding the Kingdom In the New Testament, kingdom is used from the Greek word basileai Refers to "realm" of a king Westerners think "kingdom speaks of geography Biblical times emphasized "reign" or "dominion" = wherever the king reigns The kingdom is within you - Luke 17:21 Seek first His kingdom (not a piece of real estate) - Matthew 6:33 God ultimately reigns over the entire universe but for the moment God does not reign everywhere on earth Until then we must pray to advance God's kingdom everywhere |
2008-11-05 - Man of Prayer - The Flesh (part 2) Sinning is easy; it comes naturally Fruits of that new nature - Galatians 5:22-23 Jesus fought the battle with scripture - He said "It is written" many times while responding to others God promises that we will not be tempted more than we can bear - 1 Corinthains 10:13
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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? |
2009-05-18 - No one like him - The Kingdom of God First time God said the time has come Something had come upon us Something within us Kingdom is like:
Kingdom is so different that it requires us to change What does new kingdom person look like?
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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 |
2009-09-09 - Wild at Heart - The fathers voice (part 2) When we see Jesus, Joseph is out of the picture – true father God – he had to learn who he really was and made of. Initiation involves a journey and a series of tests. We try to make our lives easier. What are you trying to teach me here? What issues in my heart are you trying to rise through this? What is it you want me to see? What are you asking me to let go of? Men are taught that a wound that stops you from playing is a girlish wound. No wonder we walk with our guts hanging out Most men minimize their wound David did not act like this at all - openly - “my heart is wounded within me” - Psalms 109:22 Suck it up, as the saying goes God is fiercely committed to you Wound that goes unacknowledged and unwept is a wound that cannot heal You’ve embraced and deserve is a would that cannot heal Whatever is denied cannot heal Certainly denial that it’s shaping the way they live today. |
2009-09-16 - Wild at Heart - Healing the wound (part 2) David, THE WARRIOR, writes
The father treats like his son
False self is an elaborate defense against entering our wounded heart – chosen blindness |
2009-09-17 - Wild at Heart - Healing the wound (part 3) Wound unfelt is wound unhealed Door may be your anger – perhaps from a girl, failure The way to God is stopping the false self It may a simple prayer – Jesus, take me into my wound Jesus never seems to heal the same way twice There are no formulas with God Insists on working personally Masculinity is bestowed by masculinity Healing never happens outside of intimacy with Christ It begins with surrender; until you have given yourself to him you will not have a real self …to set you free – What? Your heart So take him at his word – ask him in to heal all the broken places within you But you can’t do this at a distance I simply allow myself to say that the loss of my father mattered Important for us to grieve our wound Grieving we admit the truth, we hurt by someone we loved Few men are ever so vulnerable as to simply let themselves be loved by God Why don’t you just let God love you? The imitate union with Jesus and with his Father is the source of all healing and all our strength Unforgiveness and bitterness can wreck our lives and the lives of others – Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15 Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free and then discovering the prisoner was you. |
2009-09-20 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 1) Any castles? Any great battles? Are there any great dragons? A man needs a battle to fight Early death of a man’s warriors keeps the boy in him from growing up If we can reawaken that fierce quality in a man – higher purpose, release the warrior within, then the boy can grow up and become truly masculine Every man is a warrior inside but the choice to fight is his own A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet transcends even home and family. He must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death – in the fabric of our being That is why God created you. Your whole life is in preparation for The lie from the enemy is that your role is insignificant No other man can replace you You are the hero in your own story - the main man A warrior has a vision Root of all our woes and false self was this: We are seeking to save our life and we lost it “Who ever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” – Mark 8:35 For years all my daily energy was spent trying to beat the trails in my life and arrange for a little pleasure. Mercenary fights for pay, for his own benefit, his life is devoted to himself |
2009-09-21 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 2) A warrior is cunning. When to fight and when to run Three enemies:
We want the easy way out Your flesh is a weasel, a poser, and a selfish pig. And your flesh is not you. Paul knew the struggle within – my sin is not me – this not my true heart - Romans 7 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you - Ezekiel 36:26 There is a war within us, but it is a civil war. There is a traitor within who wars against our true heart fighting alongside the Spirit of God The real you is on the side of God against the false self. The man who wants to live valiantly will lose heart quickly if he believes that his heart is nothing but sin We are never told to crucify our heart We are never told to kill the true man with in us Never told to get rid of those deep desires for battle and adventure and beauty |
2009-10-16 - Wild at Heart - Offering our Strength (part 2) Cycle of a man is that he goes away from a woman to yet return to her after finding strength Most men want the maiden without any sort of cost to themselves Nature of pornography - Uses her to get a feeling that he a man (false) Strength then came from an outside source rather than deep within Self-center man angers the Lord - Genesis 38:7-10 What happens when we refuse to spend their strength on a women - Genesis 38:25-26 Pretty women endure abuse this abuse all the time They learn to offer their bodies but never their souls Many men marry for safety Why don’t men offer what they have to their women?
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2009-10-28 - Repentance - Illustrations (part 2) Paradigm Shift
Solar system
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2009-10-29 - Repentance - Illustrations (part 3) Like all paradigms, everything depends what you put in the center We put us in the center, it is impossible to satisfy a self-centered man In order to shift our paradigm to the truth:
Questions:
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2009-11-04 - Repentance - Jesus Opens Our Eyes (part 2) The Red Pill and the Blue Pill
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2009-12-17 - Master Plan - Reproduction (part 4)
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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? |
2009-12-28 - First the Kingdom - At Ease Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth - Matthew 5:5 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace - Psalms 37:11 Meekness is strength under the control of God Being meek is being at ease before God and man One looks outside himself for the power of life Totally open with God, God will work in all things for his good To be meek is not to be afraid... 1. Is at ease with God Someone who worries and has anxiety reduces them to practical atheists A child is at ease with their father/mother (in most cases) I have stilled and quieted my soul; child with mother is my soul within me - Psalms 131:2 2. Is at ease with himself Jesus knew exactly what authority he had been he had been given by God - John 13:3 3. Is at ease with others Neither inferior nor superior No longer deceived by pride, he is free to learn from anyone At ease with God and himself - has nothing to prove and nothing to fear |
2010-02-21 - One Another - Reconciling with One Another (part 1) Bible is clear - Jesus came to break down divisions - Ephesians 2:14 Worldly divisions
Can ONLY be done at the foot of the cross Only way a holy and righteous God can be reunited with his unrighteous enemy (us) - Romans 5:6-11 Reconcile = to become friends again Not to politely tolerate one another or a ceasefire The goal of Jesus is to be one - John 17:20-21 Only way Jews and non-Jews could form the church of God What Paul had is mind when writing - Ephesians 3:20 "...him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think" |
2010-02-24 - One Another - Reconciling with One Another (part 4) Some things that depend on us We can always have a gracious attitude Paul choose to focus on the result - Christ is being proclaimed - Philippians 1:15-19 We can always be humble Consider others better than ourselves - Philippians 2:3-4 We can always be positive - Philippians 2:14-15 We can always listen - James 1:19-20 We can always control our anger - James 1:20 Some things are our of control when to comes to reconciliation but they are many things within our control to build a relationship |
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 |