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Heart & Soul – Love, Marriage, Baby Carriage
2024/02/12
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Love
1. Put everything in its proper season
Song of Solomon 8:4 // Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
2. Become the person you’re looking for is looking for
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 // Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Marriage
1. Don’t confuse your spouse with your Savior
Colossians 2:9-10 // For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
2. Fight to kill unrealistic expectation
Expectation says “You Owe Me”
Love says “You Before Me”
Baby Carriage
1. We raise to release
Psalm 127:4-5 (NKJV) // Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them
2. You’ll never be a perfect parent but you can be a praying parent
Psalm 138:8 (NLT) // The LORD will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.
Proverbs 13:22 (ESV) // A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.
Financial Inheritance
Honorable Name Inheritance
Spiritual Inheritance
Heart & Soul – Who Has Your Back?
2024/02/05
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“Isolation is the modern day leprosy.” - Mother Teresa
Hebrews 10:25 (NLT) // And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
1 Samuel 14:1-15 // One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. 4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; 6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men.
Perhaps…
Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” 7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” 8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.” 11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” 13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre. 15 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.
Godly inspiration requires collaboration which cannot happen in isolation.
Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.
Good friends…
1. Challenge your Mentality.
2. Stretch you Spiritually
Hebrews 11:1 // Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
3. Support you Wholeheartedly
Insulation vs Isolation
Heart & Soul - Who has your back?
4. Help you think strategically
Proverbs 21:5 (NLT) // Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
5. Propel you Supernaturally.
Consumers & Contributors
Mark 2:1-13 // A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son…”
Revival Nights – The Finale
2024/02/05
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Nehemiah 1:3-4 // “They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’ When I heard these things I sat down and wept…
Nehemiah 6:15-16 // “So the wall was completed … in fifty-two days … with the help of our God.”
Nehemiah 2:20 // “The God of Heaven will give us success; We his servants will arise and build.’”
1. God CENTERED (God of Heaven)
Nehemiah 1:4-9 // “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’”
Self Centered - Insecure
Looks Centered - Unsatisfied
Failure Centered - Discouraged
Others Centered - Competitive
Problem Centered - Despondent
2. Faith FOCUSED (Will Give Us Success)
Nehemiah 2:20 // ‘The God of Heaven will give us success; We his servants will arise and build.’”
3. Servant-HEARTED (We His Servants)
Nehemiah 2:20 // ‘The God of Heaven will give us success; We His servants will arise and build.’”
Nehemiah 2:11-12 // “I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem ...”
4. Future ORIENTED (We Will Arise and Build)
Nehemiah 2:20 // ‘The God of Heaven will give us success; We His servants will arise and build.’”
Philippians 1:6 // being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Pray First – Dangerous Prayers
2024/01/29
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"Prayer is how we write history before it happens." - Mark Batterson
How many of us believe in the power of prayer?
Do we actually pray like it?
James 5:16 // The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Hebrews 4:16 (NLT) // So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
“The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.” - Mark Batterson
Following Jesus was never meant to be safe.
3 Dangerous Prayers
Acts 4:8-10 // Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
Acts 4:13 // When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Idiōtai - Ordinary
Acts 4:29 // Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
1. Lord, make me bold.
Acts 4:30-31 // Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Boldness triggers spiritual opposition
Boldness is often the prerequisite for a miracle
2. Lord, search me.
Psalms 139:23-24 // Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT) // “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”
What have I rationalized?
Psalm 51:10 // Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
3. Lord, break my heart.
We cannot fix what we cannot see.
Jeremiah 8:18, 21 // My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken... 21 I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief.
It’s better to hurt with a purpose than to exist without one.
ASAP vs ALAIT
Revival Nights – New Not Improved
2024/01/29
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Acts 9:10-18 // Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.
New Is Not Improved
Jeremiah 18 says the potter makes a new vessel with the marred clay.
Isaiah 43:19 // See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
1 Corinthians 2:9 // But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Amos 3:7 // Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
Transformation Is Required
Acts 9:18 // Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.
2 Corinthians 5:17 // Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Romans 12:2 // And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Leave Yesterday Where You Found It
Philippians 3:13-14 // Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Pray First – How to Hear God’s Voice
2024/01/22
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How do I hear the voice of God?
We serve a speaking God.
John 10:3-5 // “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Proverbs 3:6 (MSG) // Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
Luke 8:8 // “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
God doesn’t have a speaking problem, we have a listening problem.
Luke 8:5-8 // “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Luke 8:11 // “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.”
1. The polluted heart.
Luke 8:12 // Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
James 1:21 (NLT) // Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your soul.
Repent - Turn Around
2. The distracted heart.
Luke 8:13 (NLT) // “The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. They believe for a while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow.”
Luke 10:39-40 (AMP) // And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching. But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving.
3. The immature heart.
Luke 8:14 // “The seed that fell among weeds stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they don’t mature.”
Proverbs 12:15 // The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.
Maturity comes when we stop making excuses and start making changes.
4. The prepared heart.
Luke 8:15 // But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
How do we prepare our heart?
Repent.
Refocus.
Revive.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (MSG) // Let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let's make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.
God’s voice is clearest in a prepared environment.
Revival Nights – The Cost to Loving Your Church
2024/01/18
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Psalms 116:12-13 // How can I repay the Lord for all the good he has done for me? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
Luke 14:25-33 // Large crowds were traveling with Jesus and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Four things to confirm the real cost
The cost to Love the church doesn’t look for a bargain
The cost to love the church is daily not one moment in time
The cost to love the church doesn't attempt to negotiate
Luke 14:28 // Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough.
John 15:18-19 // If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love, you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you, out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
4. The cost to love the church is authentically studied
Luke 14:27 // And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Pray First – A Life of Prayer
2024/01/16
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1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 // Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT) // Never stop praying.
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” ― Martin Luther King Jr
“I never pray more than 20 minutes. But I never go more than 20 minutes without praying.” ― Smith Wigglesworth
Luke 18:1 (NLT) // One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
Prayer should be our first response, not our last resort.
John 15:4-5 // Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
1. The Priority of prayer.
Daniel 6:10 // Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
2. The Place of prayer.
Mark 1:35 // Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Third Place
3. The Plan of prayer.
Luke 11:1-2 (NLT) // Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus said, “This is how you should pray…”
4. The Persons of prayer.
2 Corinthians 13:14 (MSG) // The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.
The amazing grace of Jesus.
Hebrews 4:15-16 // For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
2 Corinthians 12:9 // My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
The extravagant love of the Father.
How you see God affects how you relate to Him.
Ephesians 3:14 // For this reason I kneel before the Father…
Psalm 103:8-13 // The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
The intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-17 // And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth.
Parakletos
Amazing Grace
Extravagant Love
Intimate Friendship
Pray First – Teach Us to Pray
2024/01/08
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2024 can be your best year, if it’s your best year spiritually!
Genesis 1:1 // In the beginning God…
Prayer should be our first response, not our last resort.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 // Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 // When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Luke 11:1 // One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray...’”
Matthew 6:9-13 // “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
1. Connect with God relationally.
“Our Father in heaven”
Romans 8:15 (NLT) // You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
2. Worship His Name.
“Hallowed be Your Name”
Proverbs 18:10 (MSG) // God’s name is a place of protection—the righteous can run there and be safe.
Righteousness
Healer
Shepherd
Provider
Sanctifier
Banner of Victory
Peace
There
3. Pray His agenda first.
“Your Kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
Matthew 6:33 // But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Luke 12:31 (TLB) // He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
4. Depend on Him for everything.
“Give us this day our daily bread”
Psalm 121:1-2 (NLT) // I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!
5. Get your heart right with God and people.
“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”
1 John 1:9 // If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
6. Win the war in the spiritual
“And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one”
Ephesians 6:12 // For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
7. Express faith in God’s ability.
“For yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.”
Jeremiah 32:17 // “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
Christmas at Access – The Center of It All
2023/12/24
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Luke 2:10 // But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”
All the people
2 Corinthians 5:15 // He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ
Colossians 1:15-18 (MSG) // We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible — everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.
Invite Jesus to take His rightful place.
Involve Him in every area of your life.
Ignite a fresh passion to know Him more.
Snow Globe – Forgiving God
2023/12/18
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God tricked me
Why does God do it for other people, but not me?
I gave up asking God
I know God can, but He doesn’t seem to care
What do you do with your hurt, frustration, and disappointment with God?
1 Samuel 1:6-7 (NLT) // So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the LORD had kept her from having children. 7 Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
1 Samuel 1:8 (NLT) // “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
1 Samuel 1:9-10 (NLT) // Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. 10Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:19 (NLT) // The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. …
A waiting season isn’t a wasted season.
1 Samuel 1:19-20 (NLT) // Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her plea, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the LORD for him.”
God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials.
Snow Globe – Forgiving Yourself
2023/12/10
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Forgiving Others
Forgiving Me
Forgiving God
I’ll never forgive myself.
There’s no way that God could forgive me.
I’m haunted by what I’ve done.
Haunted
Wraith
Wreath
Isaiah 1:18 (NLT) // “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me...”
What do we do with our shame?
If our thoughts can be twisted, they can be untwisted.
We can bury it.
Proverbs 28:13 // He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but
Whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
We beat ourselves up
Psalm 38:4, 8 (GNT) // I am drowning in the flood of my sins, they are a burden too heavy to bear. Because I have been foolish, I’m utterly worn out and crushed, my heart is troubled.
We can blame others.
Genesis 3:13 // The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
We can believe God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 // Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
1 Timothy 1:13-15 // Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.
How do I get past my past?
1. Stop trying to earn forgiveness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 // For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.
Matthew 10:8 // ...Freely you have received, freely give.
2. Defeat every lie with the truth.
John 8:44 // When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
1 Corinthians 1:30 (NLT) // Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
God doesn’t forget, he remembers no more.
Isaiah 43:25 // I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
3. Allow God to turn it around for good.
Romans 8:28 // And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Genesis 50:20 // You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Forgiveness won’t change the past, but it can change your future.
Snow Globe – Forgiving Others
2023/12/04
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Forgiving Others
Forgiving Myself
Forgiving God
Isaiah 1:18 NLT // “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me...”
Luke 17:1, 3-5 // Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come ... 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
How do you forgive when you don’t feel like forgiving?
Ephesians 4:32 // Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Matthew 6:14-15 // “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
FORGIVENESS IS NOT:
Forgetting
Holding on keeps us from moving on.
A Feeling
Choices lead. Feelings follow.
Fair
Psalm 103:10-12 // He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Reconciliation
Forgiveness is a one player game.
HOW DO I FULLY FORGIVE?
1. Pray for them.
Matthew 5:43-44 // “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
2. Bless them.
Luke 6:27-28 // But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Romans 12:14 // Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
3. Do good to them.
Romans 12:17-21 // Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
THE FIRST STEP
Ephesians 4:31-32 // Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Force Multiplier – The Amazing Faith
2023/11/27
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What amazes God?
Luke 7:1-10 (NIV) // When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
The Amazing Faith!
We can possess faith that amazes God.
Asks for God’s help without a guarantee of success
Luke 7:3-6a // The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them…
Amazing faith asks God for help, even though we don’t know the end result.
Asks for God’s help humbly
Luke7:6b-7a // He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.
Amazing faith asks for God’s help humbly.
Asks God for his authority
Luke 7:7b-10 // But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Faith in God’s authority is all that was needed.
Challenge: Amaze God This Week
Force Multiplier – Ridiculous Faith
2023/11/19
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Force Multiplier: Something that dramatically increases one’s impact
Ephesians 3:20 (LB) // Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.
Play it safe.
1 Samuel 17:32-33 (NLT) // “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” 33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
Am I Reasonable or Ridiculous?
Acts 3:1-3 (NLT) // Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
Expectation determines experience.
Sometimes it’s easier to exist than to expect.
Acts 3:4-6 (NLT) // Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Acts 4:7-12 // They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Acts 3:7-10 NLT // Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Force Multiplier – The Gospel of Permission
2023/11/13
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Mark 10:13-16 (ESV) // “And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”
The Gospel of Permission
We aren’t guaranteed outcomes, but we are guaranteed access
Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) // “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Permission should inspire persistence
Permission is potential that shouldn’t be wasted
1 Chronicles 4:10 (ESV) // “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!" And God granted what he asked.”
God is able, God is willing
Luke 5:12-13 (ESV) // “While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him.”
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NLT) // “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”
Force Multiplier – Faith vs. Fear
2023/11/06
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Force Multiplier: Something that dramatically increases one’s impact
Ephesians 3:20 (LB) // Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.
Hebrews 11:6 // Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Romans 1:17 // For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Faith
Faith is Seeing From God’s Point of View
Faith is not:
Desire
Pretending that something is true
A Feeling
Bargaining with God
Hebrews 11:1 // Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Faith is a way of seeing.
Ephesians 1:18 (NLT) // I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
2 Kings 6:15-17 // When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Fear or Faith
Shammua
Shaphat
Igal
Palti
Gaddiel
Gaddi
Ammiel
Sethur
Nahbi
Geuel
Joshua
Caleb
When see through the eyes of fear:
1. We exaggerate our difficulties.
Numbers 13:27-28, 31 27 // They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
2. We underestimate our abilities.
Numbers 13:33 // “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Projection
3. We get discouraged.
Numbers 14:1 // That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
4. We complain
Number 14:2 // All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!
5. We blame God
Numbers 14:3 // Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
When I see through the eyes of faith, it:
1. Shrinks my problems
Luke 1:37 // For nothing will be impossible with God.
2. Opens the door for a miracle
Matthew 13:58 // And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
3. Moves God to act on my behalf
Matthew 9:29 // Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”
4. Unlocks the promises of God
2 Corinthians 1:20 // For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.
5. Faith turns God-given dreams into reality
Ephesians 3:20 (LB) // Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.
Whack-A-Mole – Knocking Down Insecurity
2023/10/30
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Insecurity: Lack of Confidence
Judges 6:1 // The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Judges 6:6 // Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.
Judges 6:11-12 // The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Judges 6:15-18 // “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” 17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
Judges 6:21-23 // Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
Judges 6:36-40 // Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
Judges 7:2-4 // The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’
3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there.”
Judges 7:7 // The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”
4:1
12:1
400:1
Judges 7:16 // Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
1. We fight insecurity with proper identity.
Judges 6:12 // When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Identity —The truest thing about you
In Christ, your identity is given, not earned.
In Christ we are:
Chosen
Adopted
Redeemed
Marked
Purchased
2. Confidence from anything temporary is temporary.
Goalpost Syndrome
3. Confidence comes from obedience.
Whack-A-Mole – Knocking Down Anger
2023/10/16
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Anger comes when I feel my right have been violated.
Ephesians 4:26-32 (NKJV) // “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Anger leads to sin but is not a sin
Being angry is inevitable.
Living angry is a choice.
Ephesians 4:27 (NIV) // and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “place”).
“The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible” – Dwight L Moody
2 Kings 5:1; 9-15 (NIV) // Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
Exchange my anger for gratitude
Use my words
Proverbs 15:1 (NIV) // A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Practice same day forgiveness
Ephesians 4:27 // “…do not let the sun go down on your wrath
The day of our hurt can also be the day of our healing
James 1:19-21 (NIV) // My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
The answer to anger isn’t becoming BETTER, it’s becoming NEW
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) // Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Whack-A-Mole – Knocking Down Disappointment
2023/10/10
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“I’m disappointed in you.”
DISAPPOINTMENT.
Something
Someone
Things go from bad to worse.
Exodus 4:29-5:8 // Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
Exodus 5:22-23 // Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
When things go from bad to worse, God Hand is still working
Things don’t look like we think they should
Exodus 14:10-16 (NLT) // As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” 13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
When things don’t look like we think they should, God still has a plan.
Disappointment: the psychological reaction to an outcome that does not match up to expectations. The greater the gap, the greater the disappointment.
If God is silent, He is working on the solution
Things don’t change
Numbers 11:10-15 // Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”
When we are disappointed with things not changing, God still is in charge.
Turn To God For His Answer
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT) // Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Choose to have the right attitude
Philippians 3:13b-14 // But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
Whack-A-Mole – Knocking Down Stress
2023/10/02
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John 16:33 // “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Philippians 4:7 (LB) // If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.
1. Refuse to Worry
Philippians 4:6 // Don’t worry about anything…
Worry: To strangle or choke
Things Jesus said:
Worry is Unreasonable
Matthew 6:25 // “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
Worry is Unnatural
If worry is learned, it can be un-learned.
Matthew 6:26, 28-29 // Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
Worry is Unhelpful
Matthew 6:27 // Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
Proverbs 12:25 // Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.
Proverbs 14:30 // A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
Worry is Unnecessary
Matthew 6:30 // And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
2. Talk to God about Everything
Philippians 4:6 // Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need…
Ruminating
If you prayed as much as you worried, you would have much less to worry about.
3. Thank God in All Things
Philippians 4:6 // Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
You cannot be happy and ungrateful at the same time.
4. Think about Good Things
Philippians 4:8 // And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Isaiah 26:3 // You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
5. Be Content with Anything
Philippians 4:11-12 // Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
Philippians 4:7 // Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Influencer – Time of Our Lives
2023/09/25
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Daniel 5:1-7 // King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. 7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:13-16 // So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:23-24 // Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.
Daniel 5:25-26 // “This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. This is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.”
Warnings from God:
Don’t forget that your days are numbered.
Hebrews 9:27 // …people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Daniel 5:27 // “Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.”
Don’t allow your life to get out of balance.
Eat out 14,411 times (including 1,811 trips to McDonald’s).
Spend 13 years and 4 months watching TV.
Spend 5 years waiting in lines.
Spend 1 year looking for misplaced items.
Attend 35 weddings.
Drive 627,000 miles (25 times around the world).
Ecclesiastes 4:6 // Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil
and chasing after the wind.
Daniel 5:28 // “Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Stop ignoring the warning signs.
The risk of sinful choices increases
My emotions are inconsistent
I am less productive
I can’t hear God
Daniel 5:29-31 // Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
Live with a sense of purpose and urgency
Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT) // “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”
Put first things first.
Matthew 6:33 // But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Influencer – How to Be a Hero
2023/09/17
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How do you live a Godly life when culture shifts?
We’ll either set the culture or reflect the culture.
John 17:15-16 // My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Worship
Daniel 3:1-6 // King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Culture’s motivation for worship is fear.
Daniel 6:5-9 // Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” 6 So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.
You HAVE to pray to this God.
You CANNOT pray to your God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 // Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Goals of the Enemy:
1. Exalt man above God.
Daniel 3:16-18 // Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
2. Stop the worship of God
Daniel 6:10-12 // Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
What has my worship?
Mark 12:30-31 // Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Heart and Soul - Affection
What do I love the most?
Mind - Attention
What do I think about the most?
Strength - Abilities
What do I do the most?
Influencer – How to Have influence
2023/09/10
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How do you live a Godly life when culture shifts?
Daniel 1:1-6 // In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. 6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
Culture changes.
God doesn’t.
Daniel 1:7 // The chief official (Ashpenaz) gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
WHEN CULTURE SHIFTS:
1. It will try to rename you.
Daniel: God is my judge
Belteshazzar: Lady, protect the king
Hannah: Yahweh has been so gracious
Shadrach: I am fearful of God
Mishael: Who is what God is?
Meshach: I am despised, contemptible, and humiliated
Asariah: Yahweh has helped
Abednego: Servant of Nebo
WHEN CULTURE SHIFTS:
2. We must know who we are.
Daniel 1:8 // But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
Culture will ask you to compromise your standards.
Daniel 1:9-14 // Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
Culture will always create a confrontation.
When culture shifts, we must respond the right way.
GRACE & TRUTH
John 1:14 // The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
TRUTH: God’s standard
GRACE: God’s favor
Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT // God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Without truth, we are corrupt
Without grace, we are condemned
Grace invites us to be free.
Truth sets us free.
51%
Truth without grace is mean.
Grace without truth is meaningless.
Grace and truth is medicine.
John 8:1-11 NLT // Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Hold high God’s truth.
Freely give God’s grace.
All In – Shorten the Line
2023/09/05
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What would happen if I gave God ONE YEAR?
Matthew 28:19-20 // “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Mark 16:15 // He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
Luke 24:47 // “With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.”
John 20:21 // “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Acts 1:8 // “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Church is for more than our weekly GATHERING. It’s for our weekly GOING.
We cannot REACH what we cannot SEE.
John 4:27-35 // Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”
Spiritual Nearsightedness
If God answered all my prayers, would it change the world or just change me?
2,996
250,000
8 Billion
2.5 Billion
5.5 Billion
42
358,000
289,980
1. Open our eyes to where they are.
Psalm 37:23 // The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.
Proverbs 16:9 // In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
To change our world...
We need to connect before we correct.
2. Open our eyes to who they are.
Matthew 9:36 // When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
To change our world...
We don’t have to be like them, but we do have to like them.
3. Open our eyes to what they need.
To change our world...
We need to show people the same kind of love God showed us: Unconditional love.
All In – A Tale of Two Bowls
2023/08/28
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$288,094
$864,282
What is the most expensive property in the world?
1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-6 // Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
1. God CREATED you to serve.
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) // For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Poiema
1 Peter 2:9 (MSG) // But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work.
2. God GIFTED you to serve.
Spiritual Gifts
3. God CHANGES you when you serve.
Philippians 2:3-4 // Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
“Leave your crown in the garage.”
4. God USES you when you serve.
Body
5. God REWARDS your serving
Galatians 6:9-10 // Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
God CREATED you to serve.
God GIFTED you to serve.
God CHANGES you when you serve.
God USES you when you serve.
God REWARDS your serving
Matthew 27:24 // When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
John 13:3-5 // Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
You can wash your hands of the responsibility or you can pick up the responsibility.
Access Kids
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Building Prep Team
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Hospitality Team
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Matthew 20:26 // Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.
All In – Why Relationships Matter
2023/08/20
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Acts 2:42-47 // They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Authentic, Honest, Life-Changing Relationships.
Backbone
Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 (NIV) // There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”. . . Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Soul Sick
Types of Groups:
Season of Life
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Financial
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Message Application
Real life change happens in the context of relationships.
Romans 12:5 (NLT) // Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
1. ARENA: I know and you know.
Matthew 23:5, 7 (NIV) // “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
2. MASK: I know but you don’t know.
I’ll always stay as sick as my secrets.
2 Corinthians 4:2 (MSG) // We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’” - C.S. Lewis
John 3:16-21 // For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
James 5:16 // Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
3. BLIND SPOTS: I don’t know but you know.
Proverbs 27:6 (NKJV) // Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Hebrews 3:12-13 // See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
4. POTENTIAL: I don’t know and you don’t know.
Proverbs 27:17 // As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Everybody needs to be needed and known.
Social Prescribing
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All In – The Story of Our Hearts
2023/08/14
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What would happen if I gave God one year?
Money tells the story of our hearts.
Money Talks
Matthew 6:21 // For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If you’d like to change where your heart is, change where your money goes.
Matthew 6:24 // “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
How can you know if your love for money competes with your love for God?
1. You think your money belongs to you.
Psalm 24:1 // The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
2. Giving is what you do with your leftovers.
Stingy
Stealing
3. You think this sermon is stupid.
Deuteronomy 14:23 (TLB) // The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.
Me first living with a little giving
Luke 12:16-21 // And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Consumption Assumption: The assumption that everything that comes my way is for my consumption.
5 Things You Can Do With Money:
1. Spend It - ME
2. Repay Debt - ME
3. Pay Taxes - ME
4. Save It - ME
5. Give It - GOD & OTHERS
Matthew 6:33 // But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…
Matthew 6:33 // But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Flip the Script
5 Things You Can Do With Money:
1. GOD & OTHERS
2. ME
3. ME
4. ME
5. ME
Give
Save
Live
All In – Marked by the Presence of God
2023/08/07
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What would happen if I gave God one year?
Grow you
Grow the church
Here’s where we’re going
Here’s who we are
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NLT) // For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
I’ll never get the best of what God has to offer until I give God my best.
Country Club Christianity
Together
Exodus 33:1-3 // Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” If God gave you everything you ever wanted, but He withheld Himself, would you take that deal?
Exodus 33:4-18 // 4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” 6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb. 7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. 12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” 14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” 17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
What does it look like to be marked by God’s presence?
1. We’re growing in our awareness of His nearness.
Psalm 139:7-12 // 7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day
for darkness is as light to you.
2. We are growing in our hunger for God
3. We are transformed by His presence
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (MSG) // Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
4. We are people of power.
Ephesians 3:12 (NLT) // Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
I Promise – The Promise of Peace
2023/07/31
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"There are some things money can't buy; for everything else, there's Mastercard"
PEACE
The Absence of Trouble
More Money
Fame
The Right Circumstances
Shalom
Eirene
God offers us the promise of peace.
Peace with God
Romans 5:1 (NIV) // “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
True peace with God is found in Jesus.
John 16:33 // “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
My sins are forgiven
My soul is content
My song keeps playing
Peace with Others
Matthew 5:9 (NIV) // Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
True peace with others is the heart of God
Love them
Serve them
Peace with Ourselves
Philippians 4:6-7 (GW) // Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.
True peace with ourselves is possible through prayer.
Colossians 3:15 // Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
God offers us the promise of peace.
I Promise – The Promise of Direction
2023/07/24
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God offers us the promise of direction.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) // Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Trust God
Why don’t we trust Him?
Fear
Past Experiences
Never let the mistakes of people stain the majesty of God’s character
Who or what do we go to first?
Hard
Unknown
Hurting
Psalm 34:18 // The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Lonely
Lean not on your own understanding
Why shouldn’t I lean to my own understanding?
My perspective is off
We get things wrong
There’s a difference between my understanding and God’s understanding
Our understanding is a shaky thing to lean on
In all your ways acknowledge Him
When we acknowledge God in all our ways, we honor Him.
Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT) // “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”
He shall direct your paths.
His Word
His Holy Spirit
Prayer
Godly People
Circumstances of Life
Action Steps
Do your part
Watch Him fulfill His promise of Direction
Follow His Leading
I Promise – The Promise of Security
2023/07/16
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Limited Promises
Acts 1:4-5 (NIV) // “And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
General Promises
Conditional
Malachi 3:10 (NIV) // “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Unconditional
John 14:3 (NIV) // And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Promise of Security
God offers us the promise of security.
He Provides
Exodus 16:13 // That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
Exodus 16:18 // And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
God’s provision is security to us.
Exodus 16:15 // For they did not know what it was.
“Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided: great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Lamentations 3:22-23 // Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
He is Present
Matthew 28:20 // “...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
God’s presence is security to us.
Psalm 46:1 // God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
He is Patient
Psalm 103:8-10 // The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
God’s patience is security to us.
God offers us the promise of security.
Romans – Spirit vs. Flesh
2023/06/26
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No Condemnation
Romans 8:1 (NIV) // Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Condemnation is the opposite of justification
What would change for you if you lived like there was no condemnation?
Flesh vs. Spirit
Romans 8:5-6 (NIV) // Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Just because we are saved does not mean we don’t struggle with sin
Galatians 5:24 (ESV) // “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Galatians 2:20 (ESV) // “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Flesh wants to satisfy itself with legalism
Spirit takes surrender
What would it look like for you to live dead to flesh and alive in God’s spirit?
CHOSEN
Romans 8:14-17 (NIV) // For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
You are not condemned, you are chosen
What would look like if I lived like I believed I was chosen?
FILLED
Romans 8:9-11 (NIV) // You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Are you living like God’s spirit is in you?
What would change for you if you lived every day like the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead was inside of you?
ALL THINGS
Romans 8:28 (NIV) // And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Good doesn’t always look good
What would change for me if I lived like all the things were for my good?
Romans – Law & Grace
2023/06/18
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Gospel
6,763 days
Marriage should be:
1. Covenantal
2. Mutual
3. Total
4. Sacrificial
5. Fruitful
Is marriage good or bad?
Romans 7:1-3 ESV // Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
Are you married to the LAW or GRACE?
Romans 7:4-6 // Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
Marriage Language:
1. Holy moment
2. New legal status
3. New name and life together
Romans 7:7-13 // What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
Purposes of the Law
1. Names our sin
2. Aggravates our rebellious, sinful nature
TEN COMMANDMENTS
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
In Christ, I am dead to the LAW and alive in the SPIRIT.
Romans – Living Free From Sin
2023/06/12
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What is the purpose?
SPIRITUAL CLARITY
What is the central message?
THE GOSPEL OR GOOD NEWS
SIN
The goal of today is to move from sin MANAGEMENT to FREEDOM from sin.
Romans 6:1-2 // What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 5:20 // The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
So, let’s define sin:
1 John 3:4 // Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
SIN: Missing the mark
Sin is missing the MARK, whether intentionally or unintentionally, of God’s moral STANDARD or law as described in His word.
Five effects of sin:
1. Sin Separates
Isaiah 59:2 // But, your antiquities have separated you from your God.
2. Sin leads to death
“Sin always overpromises on fun and underdelivers on fulfillment”
James 1:14-15 // but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death
3. Sin keeps us from God’s best.
Galatians 5:19-21 // 9 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
4. Sin traps the sinner.
John 8:34 // very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
5. Sin is a counterfeit.
Everything God has for you, the devil has a counterfeit.
Genesis 3:1 // Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
How do we live a life free from sin?
1. Count yourself DEAD to sin.
Romans 1:1 // What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:11 // In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ
Dead people have no:
Desires
Galatians 5:6 // But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Opinions
Feelings
Jeremiah 17:9 // “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.
Practical Atheism - acknowledges God by mouth, but denies him through action.
Romans 6:3-7 // don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
God doesn’t call us to an improved life, but rather a NEW ONE!
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
How do we live a life free from sin?
2. You need a MAKEOVER.
Your identity changes when you become alive in Christ.
Romans 6:11 // In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ
IN SIN or IN CHRIST
Romans 5:12 // Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned
My identity is no longer in sin, it is in Christ.
How do we live a life free from sin?
3. Understand FREEDOM is meant for you.
Galatians 5:1 // It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Next steps to live free from sin:
Live in community
Cut it out
Repent often
What you feed grows, what you crave controls, but what starve dies.
Don’t walk around with the noose of shame and guilt.
1 John 1:9 // If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Romans 5:8 // But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans – Where Hope Comes From
2023/06/04
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“Romans is the true masterpiece of the New Testament.” - Martin Luther
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Rejoice
Happiness is an inside job.
1. Rejoice in God
Romans 5:1-2 // 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Justified: Moving from unrighteous to righteous
2. Rejoice in Hardship
Romans 5:3-4 // 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Character is forged through hardship
You cannot decide what happens to you, but you can decide who you become.
1. We rejoice IN our sufferings,
2. knowing that suffering produces ENDURANCE
3. endurance produces CHARACTER
4. character produces HOPE,
5. and hope does not put us to shame
Leadership is about increasing your pain threshold.
The greater the pain, the greater the impact.
3. Rejoice in Relationship
The most important stuff in your life isn’t stuff, it is relationships.
Romans 5:6-11 // 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
1.. Who you were
2. How you were saved
3. Who you are now
So what?
Romans – Real People, Real Faith, Real God
2023/05/28
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Real people can be in real right standing with a real God.
Faith - firm persuasion, belief
Justification - Acquittal and Acceptance
Righteousness - Right standing with God
Principles of Righteousness
Righteousness doesn’t come from good works
Romans 4:1-3 // What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Righteousness doesn’t come from the right circumstances
Circumstance of Circumcision (v. 9-12)
Circumstance of the Law (v. 13-17)
Righteousness comes by faith in God
Romans 4:18-25 // Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
God promised it. Abraham believed it. That settled it.
Romans – But Now
2023/05/22
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Romans 3:9 // Well then, are we [Jews] better off than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) are under the control of sin and subject to its power.
Romans 3:19 // Now we know that whatever the Law [of Moses] says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the excuses of] every mouth may be silenced [from protesting] and that all the world may be held accountable to God [and subject to His judgment].
Romans 3:20-26 // For no person will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin].
BUT NOW
But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets. This righteousness of God comes THROUGH FAITH in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion]. It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have FAITH in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].
Only those who know what it is to be lost can fully appreciate what it means to be found
BUT NOW
Romans 3:23 // For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 1:25 //. …they traded the truth of God for a lie
3 key words:
JUSTIFICATION
REDEMPTION
PROPITIATION
Justification: the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God.
Romans 3:24 // …and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus.
Justification = Acquittal AND Acceptance
Acquittal means we’re not guilty
Acceptance means we are accepted
Acquittal means we’ve been saved from hell
Acceptance means we’ve been made a child of God
When God looks at you he sees the righteousness of His son.
Redemption-deliverance or release by the payment of a price
Romans 3:24b // …justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Our ransom has been paid by the precious blood of Jesus
Mark 10:45 // For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many
Propitiation-averting the wrath of God by the offering of a gift
Hebrews 2:17 // Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people
1 John 2:2 // He [Jesus Christ] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world
1 John 4:10 // In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins
NOW WHAT? How does this glorious reality become ours today?
Not by works, but by FAITH
Romans 3:22 // This righteousness is given THROUGH FAITH in Jesus Christ to all who believe
Romans 3:25 // The blessings of propitiation are to be received BY FAITH
Romans 3:26 // God is shown to be just and the justifier of the one who has FAITH in Jesus
Romans 3:28 // For we hold that one is justified BY FAITH apart from works of the law
Ephesians 2:8-9 // For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] THROUGH FAITH. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].
Romans – Love & Wrath
2023/05/15
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Emotionally react
Bring it to the Word of God
The wrath of God
Romans 1:18-20 // The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
God’s wrath is a part of His character.
You cannot put God’s characteristics into human understanding.
Human Wrath: Emotional response that is irrational, uncontrolled, and cruel.
God’s Wrath: Righteous opposition to evil and those who choose it.
The opposite of wrath is not love, it is neutrality.
How do we better understand God?
Speculation - Us guessing who God is.
Revelation - God revealing who He is.
General Revelation - Common and available to all people
Special Revelation - Available to all some
The number one attribute of God mentioned in Scripture is His holiness.
Romans 1 - Passive
Romans 2 - Active
Romans 2:5 // But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 1:21-25 // For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Two most important questions you’ll ever need to answer: Who is God? Who am I?
Love and wrath were shown at the cross.
Romans 2:1, 5-6 // You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 3:23-25 // for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished
Romans – The Gospel
2023/05/08
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Who is the author? - Paul
Who is the audience? - The church in Rome
What is the purpose? - Spiritual clarity
What is the central message? - The Gospel
Gospel = Good News
Romans 1:16-17 // For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Unashamed: Acting openly without guilt or embarrassment.
Why should we live unashamed?
1. I am unashamed because the Gospel is from God.
Romans 1:1-2 // Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
1 Peter 1:20 (NLT) // God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
2. I am unashamed because the Gospel is about Jesus.
Romans 1:3-4 // regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
3. I am unashamed because the Gospel leads to obedience
Romans 1:5 // Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.
Genuine faith is marked by a desire to please God.
Matthew 5:16 // In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
4. I am unashamed because the Gospel is for Everyone
Romans 1:5 (ESV) // through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations
The gospel is good news because it is the only message that can transform any person in any location with any situation.
Romans 1:14-15 // I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
5. I am unashamed because the Gospel is powerful.
Romans 1:16 // For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Salvation - Wholistic Transformation
Keep the Change – Stones of Remembrance
2023/05/01
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The key to keeping good change in our lives is to REMEMBER
Joshua 3:5-8; 14-17 NIV // Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Joshua 4:1-7 NIV // When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
God wants us to remember 2 things:
1. WHAT was done
Deuteronomy 4:9 // Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
2. WHO did it
Joshua 3:7 NIV // And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.”
We keep the change when we create STONES OF REMEMBRANCE
1. Give THANKS
GRATITUDE is the key to REMEMBRANCE
God is given GLORY when we REMEMBER
2. Do the WORK
Joshua 4:5 // and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
3. Tell Others
Judges 2:10 NIV // After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.
Joshua 4:24 NIV // He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.
What stones do you need to set today?
Keep the Change – Embrace the Unknown
2023/04/24
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John 21:1-14 // Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
On scale of 1-5
Creature of habit
Fear of the unknown
We keep the change by embracing the unknown.
God wants to connect with us
Whats’s unknown to us is known to God
John 21:4-5 // Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.
Even in the unknown, God wants to connect with us
Romans 5:8 // But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God speaks in a way we can understand
John 21:5-6 // He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
In the unknown, God speaks to us in ways we can understand
“God speaks in the language you know best – not through your ears, but through your circumstances.” - Oswald Chambers
God helps us sustain the change
2 Peter 1:3 // His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
John 21:15-25
The unknown is the training ground to sustain change
Keep The Change – A Tale Of Two Name Tags
2023/04/17
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Identity: The truest thing about you.
Behavior flows from identity
Who you are determines what you do
The Early and Often Factor
Successes & Failures
In Christ
2 Corinthians 5:17 // Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Ephesians 1-3 – Identity
Ephesians 4-6 – Works
Ephesians 2:1-7 // As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Failures: You are not who you were
Successes: You are not what you do.
Ephesians 2:8-9 // For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
In Christ, your identity is given, not earned.
Philippians 3:3-8 NLT // We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
1. Pressure to perform
2. Fear of failure
3. Constant comparisons
4. Wrecked relationships
5. Fatigue and frustration
Ephesians 2:13 // But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Your identity is found in what Christ did for you
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT // Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Nakusa
“The 285 girls – wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair – lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets.” – Chaya Babu, AP, 2011
In Christ we are:
• Chosen
• Adopted
• Redeemed
• Marked
• Purchased
Easter at Access – Gardens
2023/04/10
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Eden - Pleasure and Delight
God’s goal was always closeness.
Genesis 2:8-9,15-17, 20-25 // Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil....15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 20…But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Shame never comes from God.
Genesis 3:1-13 // Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
3 Questions of Shame:
Did God really say? Where are you?
Who told you that you were naked?
Mark 14:32-36 // They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Gethsemane - Pressed
Luke 22:44 // And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Everything that was done in the Garden of Eden is undone in the Garden of Gethsemane
John 20:1-16 // Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
The greatest evidence of the resurrection is a changed life.
Dream Church – Until Lakeland Looks Like Heaven
2023/04/03
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Heaven
Revelation 21:4 // ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Until Lakeland Looks Like Heaven
Matthew 6:10 // Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10 KJV // Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Kingdom: A country, state, or territory ruled by a king or queen
Kingdom: Wherever the will of a king is carried out
Mark 6:1-6 // Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
If we understand what restrains Jesus, we’ll understand what restrains us.
We are…
1. High Honor
HONOR - Valuable, Precious, Weighty such as gold
DISHONOR - Devalue to treat something valuable as common.
We want to be know for what we’re FOR not what we’re AGAINST
2. Hope Dealing
“A record 78% didn’t think their children’s generation will live better than their own, up from 67% in 2019.” - WSJ/UChicago
1 Thessalonians 4:13 // Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
3. Party Throwers
Luke 15:7 // I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:10 // In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:22-24 // “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
We are High Honor, Hope Dealing, Party Throwers!
Access Church
https://access.tv/podcast-feed/
Listen to the weekly teachings of Access Church in Lakeland, Florida. Led by Pastor Jason Burns, Access Church is a church community designed for you and your family! To learn more, visit https://access.tv/
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