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9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[b] but on God, who has mercy.

ROMANS 9:9-16

UNFAIR?

“I don’t think the way you think.

The way you work isn’t the way I work.”

God’s Decree.

“For as the sky soars high above earth,

so the way I work surpasses the way you work,

and the way I think is beyond the way you think.

ISAIAH 55:8-9 (MSG)

MACRO-THEMES IN ROMANS 9-11

ISRAEL
WHO IS SAVED? (God’s choice, my choice, both, neither?)
FAITH

ISRAEL

God chose to bless the whole world through a Jewish family; not a gentile family.

Three Kinds of Offspring:

Physical (biological) descendants: the Jews
Physical and spiritual descendants: Jews who share a mutual faith in the God of Abraham, Jesus Christ
Spiritual descendants: Gentiles (non-Jews) who share a mutual faith in the God of Abraham, Jesus Christ

10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

ROMANS 9:10-13

“The word ‘hate’ does not bear the same weight as our English translation. Words, like colors, have hues and ranges. Hate may be interchangeable with rejected, did not accept, did not choose, did not prefer, or passed over. God chooses one brother to bring Jesus into the world, but He does not despise the other brother.”

Mark Driscoll

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

LUKE 14:26

God is chooses certain people for certain outcomes, for certain reasons that we may never know, and that’s okay.

“A woman once said to Mr. Spurgeon, ‘I cannot understand why God should say that He hated Esau.’ ‘That,’ Spurgeon replied, ‘is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob.’”

Newell

Israel = “God Prevails”

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:9-13

Paul deals with the problem associated with the condition of Israel. What does it mean that Israel has missed its Messiah? What does this say about God? What does it say about Israel? What does it say about our present position in God?

The question goes something like this: How can I be secure in God’s love and salvation to me when it seems that Israel was once loved and saved, but now seems to be rejected and cursed? Will God also reject and curse me one day?

David Guzik

WHO IS SAVED?

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

ROMANS 11:33

DO WE CHOOSE GOD, OR DOES GOD CHOOSE US?

Universal Damnation: no one chooses God, and God chooses no one. No one is saved, and everyone is damned, like the demons. There is no mercy and non grace - only justice.

Universalism: everyone goes to heaven. No one goes to hell, though you might go to purgatory to suffer for a short time.

Pelagianism: We are not sinners by nature. We have a free will, and we are good people who can freely choose God.

Arminianism: We are sinners by nature and by choice. At some point, God gives everyone a free will opportunity (a moment to choose) that allows them to make a decision toward God. He does this by His prevenient grace.

Double Predestination: before time, God decided to damn most and save come. “These people are going to heaven, and those people are going to hell, and there’s nothing any of them can say or do about it.”

Single Predestination: Everyone chose hell, and God singularly predestined some of us by overriding our decision with His decision. God doesn’t make anyone go to hell - we make ourselves go to hell. He chooses to save some, though not all.

When Charles Spurgeon was once asked if he could reconcile free will vs. predestination and he replied, “I don’t even try. I never reconcile friends.”

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 PETER 3:9

“Lord, save the elect… and then elect some more.”

D.L. Moody

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh.

ROMANS 9:1-3

You will be delivered from petty worries if you are concerned about the souls of men… Get your soul full of a great grief, and your little griefs will be driven out.”

Charles Spurgeon

PERSONAL FAITH

The line into the Kingdom of God is single file.

Mark Driscoll

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

ROMANS 10:10-13

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In rabbinic tradition, every word of Scripture is considered to have seventy faces and 600,000 meanings!

PETE GREIG

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”…

… For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

ROMANS 3:10-18, 23-25

UNLIKELY CONVERT.

“It is the chief part of the New Testament and the perfect gospel… the absolute epitome of the gospel.”

Martin Luther

“The [book of Romans] compendium of Christian doctrine.”

Philip Melanchthon

“When anyone understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him to the understanding of the whole Scripture.”

John Calvin

“The cathedral of the Christian faith.”

Frederick Godet

“Romans is beyond question the most dynamic of all New Testament letters even as it was written at the climax of Paul’s apostolic career.”

Richard Lenski

“The most profound work in existence.”

Samuel Coleridge

Because of all this, Romans is different than many of the other letters Paul wrote churches. Other New Testament letters focus more on the church and its challenges and problems. The Letter to the Romans focuses more on God and His great plan of redemption.

David Guzik

“God is the most important word in this epistle. Romans is a book about God. No topic is treated with anything like the frequency of God. Everything Paul touches in this letter he relates to God. In our concern to understand what the apostle is saying about righteousness, justification, and the like we ought not to overlook his tremendous concentration on God.”

Morris

The word “God” occurs 153 times in Romans; an average of once every 46 words – this is more frequently than any other New Testament book. In comparison, note the frequency of other words used in Romans: law (72), Christ (65), sin (48), Lord (43), and faith (40). Romans deals with many different themes but as much as a book can be, it is a book about God.

The people of Rome were tolerant of most religious expressions. However, that tolerance was largely limited to religions that were polytheistic -- meaning, the Roman authorities didn't care who you worshiped as long as you included the emperor and didn't create problems with other religious systems.

Sam O’Neal

“It’s easy to hide a good thing when the world violently says that good thing is a bad thing.”

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,[e] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”[f]

ROMANS 1:16-17

This is why Paul is not ashamed of a gospel centered on a crucified Savior. He knows that the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ – has inherent power. We do not give it power…

David Guzik

“The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves. It is power. It lifts them up. Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is power, and God’s power at that.”

Morris

It’s only hard to walk with boldness when you think that you’re the one that gives the gospels its power.

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at 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 instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

23 When many days had passed, the Jews[a] plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,[b] lowering him in a basket.

26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.[c] But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

ACTS 9:1-31

THREE TENETS OF THE GOSPEL:

GOD PURSUES…

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,

ACTS 9:9

He wasn’t seeking Jesus when Jesus sought him. We might say that Saul was decided against Jesus when Jesus decided for Saul.

David Guzik

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

PSALM 139:7-8

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

GENSIS 3:9

2. …UNLIKELY, UNRIGHTEOUS, AND UNGODLY PEOPLE….

21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?… 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

ROMANS 3:11-12

Saul’s conversion reminds us that God finds some who, by all appearance, are not looking for Him at all. Seeing how God reached Saul encourages us to believe that God can reach the people in our life that we think are very far from Him.

David Guzik

3. …THROUGH GRACE THAT SAVES AND REDEEMS

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

ROMANS 3:23-25

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HOT TAKES: DOUBT AND FAITH DON’T MIX

24-25 But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”

But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”

27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”

JOHN 20:24-27 (MSG)

YOU WILL ENCOUNTER DOUBTS.

Adam and Eve doubted God’s wisdom and intentions in the garden
Moses doubted his calling to lead the Israelites out of slavery
Gideon doubted his title by God as a “mighty man of valor”
Elijah, AFTER seeing fire fall from heaven, doubted God’s protection
Jeremiah doubted that God could use him because of his young age
Abraham and Sarah doubted God could give them a child because of their old age

“There is no road to spiritual maturity that does not walk straight through doubt.”

JON TYSON

“We experience a dryness or loss of joy in our relationship with God. We question ourselves, God, the church. We discover for the first time that our faith does not appear to ‘work.’ We have more questions than answers as the very foundation of our faith feels like it is on the line. We don’t know where God is, what He is doing, where He is going, how He is getting us there, or when this will be over.”

PETE SCAZZERO

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It [pain] is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

C.S. LEWIS

“The reason many of us do not ardently [strongly] believe in the gospel is that we have never given it a rigorous testing, thrown our hard questions at it, faced it with our most prickly doubts.”

EUGENE PETERSON

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

LUKE 23:13-21

Doubt: a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction

Diakrino (doubt): to withdraw from; or (reflexively) hesitant

“Doubt isn’t the absence of faith, it’s just misplaced faith.”

J.A. Wilson

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

LUKE 23:21-35

“In fewer than twenty verses, the Lord communicates in at least five different ways: conversationally “as they talked and discussed these things with each other”; exegetically when he explained “all the Scriptures concerning himself”; sacra-mentally when he “took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them”; prophetically when “their eyes were opened”; and inwardly when he spoke directly to their hearts, which were “burning . . . while he talked.”

PETE GREIG

“When two saints are talking together, Jesus is very likely to come and make the third one in the company. Talk of him, and you will soon talk with him.”

CHARLES SPURGEON

REASONS FOR DOUBT:

Broken trust through disappointment
Broken trust through hypocrisy
Broken trust through unfortunate circumstances

HOW WE TEND TO DEAL WITH DOUBT:

Spiritual bypassing

“We don’t operate out of what we wish, we operate out of what we are…”

JON TYSON

Extra-biblical truth-seeking
Deconstruction

Jesus says: “If you love me, you’ll keep MY commandments.”

Deconstruction says: “God, if you love ME, you’ll keep my commandments.”

HOW JESUS DEALS WITH DOUBT:

He deals with doubt honestly

18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?”

LUKE 23:18-19a

“In saying this, Jesus skillfully played along with the conversation, encouraging the men to reveal their hearts. Even though He knew their hearts, there was value in them saying it to Jesus.”

DAVID GUZIK

He deals with doubt biblically

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

LUKE 23:27

He deals with doubt personally

26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”

27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”

JOHN 20:24-27 (MSG)

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Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.

GALATIANS 6:1

It is fitting that love be the first mentioned because it [love] encompasses all of the following. It may even be said that the following eight terms are just describing what love in action looks like.

DAVID GUZIK

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him…

GALATIANS 6:1

Our mission is to RESTORE.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

GALATIANS 6:1

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

LUKE 9:1-2

51 As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. 53 But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. 54 When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up[j]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 So they went on to another village.

LUKE 9:1-2

Their offense – even on behalf of Jesus – was not appreciated.

DAVID GUZIK

Roughness: power that is out of control; caused by the inability to see something/someone as valuable or fragile.

REASONS FOR ROUGHNESS

1.) MISUNDERSTANDING JESUS

51 As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

LUKE 9:51

For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.

ISAIAH 50:7

Jesus hardened His face; not in the sense of becoming a hard or angry man, but in the sense of having focus, and having focus through a difficult time. They saw the flint-face of Jesus and thought it meant mean or tough. They didn’t understand that it meant focus and being more focused on love than ever before. That flint-like face will end up on the cross in the ultimate demonstration of love, not the ultimate demonstration of anger.

DAVID GUZIK

God's seriousness against sin is not from a place of ROUGHNESS or anger; it's from a place of DEEP LOVE for the sinner to be made RIGHT.

2.) MISUNDERSTANDING WORTH

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

MATTHEW 10:39-31

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

PSALM 139:13-16

Gentleness: power under control

GENTLENESS SOFTENS MY WORDS

Evil words destroy one’s friends; wise discernment rescues the godly.

PROVERBS 11:9

“Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

PROVERBS 11:9

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

PROVERBS 18:21

“A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.”

PROVERBS 18:4

GENTLENESS ISN’T SURPRISED WHEN PEOPLE MISS THE MARK AND HELPS THEM GET BACK UP

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11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. 12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten [e]minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

15 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ 19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

20 “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. 21 For I feared you, because you are [f]an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

24 “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

LUKE 19:11-26

vs11 "because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately "

vs12 "a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return"

vs13 " so he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them 'do business till I come.' "

vs14 "but his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him saying: ' we will not have this man reign over us'"

en ho: "in which"; to do something in which it is consistent with it; because

vs15 "and so it was when he returned having received the kingdom...he called the servants to him..."

16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’

Faithfulness: steadfast in affection or allegiance. Firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty.

Steadfast: firmly fixed. Not subject to change. To be firm in belief and determination

Compromise: accept standards that are lower than desirable. A concession

Compromise happens when you have a distorted view
Compromise occurs when promise is questioned
Compromise occurs through redefining
Compromise occurs through impatience
Compromise costs. Faithfulness fulfills

Lamentations 3:22-23 "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Hebrews 10:36 "for you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet in a little while, he who is coming will come and not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition(sin) but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

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He [Jesus] wants fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. In His parable of the sower, He spoke of seed bringing forth thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. He wants us to bear much fruit. Now the fruit is produced by the Lord Jesus using the Spirit of God in our lives. He wants to live His life through us. That is the reason I keep saying that you are never asked to live The Christian life. You are asked to LET HIM live through you. No believer can live the Christian life himself. The old nature cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit.

J. VERNON McGEE

THE WAY OF GOODNESS VS. THE WAY OF BROKENNESS

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b] 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

EPHESIANS 2:2-10

Goodness (agathōsynē): uprightness of heart and life; morally honorable, and pleasing to God; beneficial to other people

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

EPHESIANS 2:10

38God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

ACTS 10:38

The Lord is good,

a refuge in times of trouble.

He cares for those who trust in him.

NAHUM 1:7

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

PSALM 37:3

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

ROMANS 12:21

“We are told to prove the goodness of God, cleave to it, do it, work it, follow after it, be zealous about it, imitate it, and overcome evil with it.”

“It is quite striking that virtually all of the basic words describing salvation in the Bible imply a return to an originally good state or situation.”

AL WOLTERS

“The notion of good cannot be separated from the idea of the object’s purpose.”

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

GENESIS 1:31

THE OPPOSITE OF GOOD IS NOT BAD. THE OPPOSITE OF GOOD IS BROKEN.

The Fall broke every single part of our humanity; SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY.

Brokenness: having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or working order.

WHAT DOES BROKENNESS LOOK LIKE?

1. A BROKEN SPIRIT

4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been saved

EPHESIANS 2:4-5

2. A BROKEN SOUL

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

EPHESIANS 2:10

A BROKEN SOUL TRIES TO BE IN CONTROL

4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

GENESIS 3:4-6

A BROKEN SOUL TRIES TO HIDE

A BROKEN SOUL TRIES TO DEFLECT

“God cannot change who you are pretending to be.” - Jon Tyson

WHAT DOES GOODNESS LOOK LIKE?

Goodness is restoring broken things back to God’s good design.

GOODNESS LOOKS LIKE HELPING PEOPLE KNOW GOD.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

EDMUND BURKE

GOODNESS LOOKS LIKE PRACTICING THE WAY OF JESUS.

GOODNESS LOOKS LIKE SERVING, GIVING, AND PRAYING FOR HEALING OVER PEOPLE.

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J. VERNON McGEE

THE WAY OF GOODNESS VS. THE WAY OF BROKENNESS

EPHESIANS 2:2-10

Goodness (agathōsynē): uprightness of heart and life; morally honorable, and pleasing to God; beneficial to other people

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

EPHESIANS 2:10

38God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

ACTS 10:38

The Lord is good,

a refuge in times of trouble.

He cares for those who trust in him.

NAHUM 1:7

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

PSALM 37:3

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

ROMANS 12:21

“We are told to prove the goodness of God, cleave to it, do it, work it, follow after it, be zealous about it, imitate it, and overcome evil with it.”

“It is quite striking that virtually all of the basic words describing salvation in the Bible imply a return to an originally good state or situation.”

AL WOLTERS

“The notion of good cannot be separated from the idea of the object’s purpose.”

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

GENESIS 1:31

THE OPPOSITE OF GOOD IS NOT BAD. THE OPPOSITE OF GOOD IS BROKEN.

The Fall broke every single part of our humanity; SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY.

Brokenness: having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or working order.

WHAT DOES BROKENNESS LOOK LIKE?

1. A BROKEN SPIRIT

4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been saved

EPHESIANS 2:4-5

2. A BROKEN SOUL

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

EPHESIANS 2:10

A BROKEN SOUL TRIES TO BE IN CONTROL

GENESIS 3:4-6

A BROKEN SOUL TRIES TO HIDE

A BROKEN SOUL TRIES TO DEFLECT

“God cannot change who you are pretending to be.” - Jon Tyson

WHAT DOES GOODNESS LOOK LIKE?

Goodness is restoring broken things back to God’s good design.

GOODNESS LOOKS LIKE HELPING PEOPLE KNOW GOD.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

EDMUND BURKE

GOODNESS LOOKS LIKE PRACTICING THE WAY OF JESUS.

GOODNESS LOOKS LIKE SERVING, GIVING, AND PRAYING FOR HEALING OVER PEOPLE.

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19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

JAMES 1:19-21

32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

LUKE 6:32-36

“A new study finds nearly one in two people believe they’re the best person they know.”

COMPARED TO WHAT?

LUKE 6:32-34

NATURAL KINDNESS IS EARNED NICENESS

LUKE 6:32-33

Harshness: the quality of being unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses; the quality of being cruel or severe.

IF WE SEE KINDNESS AS SOMETHING TO BE EARNED, THEN WE WILL VIEW HARSHNESS AS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DESERVED

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil[a] has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

JONAH 1:1-3

A pyramid of heads I reared in front of his city. Their youths and maidens I burnt up in flames.

KING SHALMANESER II

I pierced his chin with my keen hand dagger. Through his jaw I passed a rope, put a dog chain upon him and made him occupy a kennel.

KING ASHURBANIPAL

He [Jonah] goes around the city preaching a one-sentence message: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” That’s it. No three-point sermon. No cute story about his kids. No altar call. One sentence: Yahweh is going to kill all of you.

JOHN MARK COMER

1. HARSHNESS CAN BE JUSTIFIED

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

JONAH 3:10

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

JONAH 4:1-5

2. HARSHNESS ISOLATES US

3. HARSHNESS IS FORGETFUL

10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

JONAH 4:10-11

Most of us want mercy for ourselves - and justice for everybody else. But it doesn’t work like that. God shows mercy to all.

JOHN MARK COMER

GOD’S STANDARD OF KINDNESS IS DIFFERENT

Kindness: compassionate, others-centered generosity.

The writers of scripture defined kindness as the virtue of the person whose neighbor’s good is as dear as his own.

MAXIE DUNNAM

34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

LUKE 6:32-36

1. KINDNESS STARTS WITH GOD AND LOOKS LIKE GOD.

2. KINDNESS RECOGNIZES THE REAL ENEMY

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

EPHESIANS 6:12

3. KINDNESS STEPS INTO THE MESS

The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about Him, His deepest impulse, His most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it.

DANE ORTLUND

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PATIENCE VS. HURRY

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

JAMES 1:2-4

5-7 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

JOHN 11:5-7 (MSG)

17-20 When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.

21-22 Martha said, “Master, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died…

JOHN 11:21 (MSG)

“I want a shortcut to life - I was raised on the microwave and VISA and Amazon Prime and instant messaging and TV and on demand. The world at my fingertips. I want it all, and I want it all right now. But there are no shortcuts to life. You can’t microwave character. It’s more like a tree that you grow slowly, one season after another. There are summer-like seasons where you can pluck joy off the limbs, where your life is dripping with growth and abundance. And there are winter seasons, where life feels slow and empty. The best trees are the ones that stay rooted and just keep at it.”

JOHN MARK COMER

OUR CULTURE CELEBRATES HURRY

Hurry Sickness: a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness.

A malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time, and so tends to perform every task faster and to get flustered when encountering any kind of delay.
A continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time.

Burnout: a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.

Every single person has to rest. You’ll either rest because you chose to or you’ll be forced to slow down through burnout.

The average age of burnout in America is 32.

GOD IS NOT IN A HURRY.

15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.

1TIMOTHY 1:15-16

“God is more concerned with your long-term character than your short-term happiness. And he’s more willing to sacrifice the one to get the other.”

JOHN MARK COMER

HURRY REACTS
HURRY BLURS OUR JUDGEMENT

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

GENESIS 25:32-34

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

DALLAS WILLARD

“For many of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.”

JOHN ORTBERG

Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Hypomone (patience): steadfastness, constancy, and endurance; in the NT, it is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings

BIBLICAL PATIENCE IS NOT WAITING, IT’S TRAINING.

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

PATIENCE RESPONDS PRAYFULLY

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

JOHN 5:19

PATIENCE TRUSTS THERE’S A PURPOSE

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

JAMES 1:4

PATIENCE SEES PEOPLE
Because God will never be able to use people who are too busy for people.

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PATIENCE VS. HURRY

JAMES 1:2-4

JOHN 11:5-7 (MSG)

21-22 Martha said, “Master, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died…

JOHN 11:21 (MSG)

JOHN MARK COMER

OUR CULTURE CELEBRATES HURRY

Hurry Sickness: a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness.

A malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time, and so tends to perform every task faster and to get flustered when encountering any kind of delay.
A continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time.

Every single person has to rest. You’ll either rest because you chose to or you’ll be forced to slow down through burnout.

The average age of burnout in America is 32.

GOD IS NOT IN A HURRY.

1TIMOTHY 1:15-16

“God is more concerned with your long-term character than your short-term happiness. And he’s more willing to sacrifice the one to get the other.”

JOHN MARK COMER

HURRY REACTS
HURRY BLURS OUR JUDGEMENT

GENESIS 25:32-34

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

DALLAS WILLARD

JOHN ORTBERG

Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

BIBLICAL PATIENCE IS NOT WAITING, IT’S TRAINING.

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

PATIENCE RESPONDS PRAYFULLY

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

JOHN 5:19

PATIENCE TRUSTS THERE’S A PURPOSE

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

JAMES 1:4

PATIENCE SEES PEOPLE
Because God will never be able to use people who are too busy for people.

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This week, Maddy Brown continues our series looking at the way of PEACE vs. the way of ANXIETY.

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This week, Maddy Brown continues our series looking at the way of PEACE vs. the way of ANXIETY.

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This week, Pastor David continues our series on the Fruit of the Spirit by talking about JOY vs. DESPAIR

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Galatians 5:16-26

THE WAY OF LOVE VS. THE WAY OF SELFISHNESS

LOVE VS. SELFISHNESS, JOY VS. DESPAIR, PEACE VS. ANXIETY, PATIENCE VS. HURRY, KINDNESS VS. HARSHNESS, GOODNESS VS. BROKENNESS, FAITHFULNESS VS. COMPROMISE, GENTLENESS VS. ROUGHNESS, AND SELF-CONTROL VS. APPETITES.

DANGER O1: THE FRUIT OF A GOOD PEOPLE

DANGER 02: THE FRUIT OF GOOD PEOPLE AND THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ARE THE SAME

FRUIT GROWS

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident:

GALATIANS 5:18-19

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is…

GALATIANS 5:22

Fruit isn’t achieved by working, but is birthed by abiding, and sustained through connection.

David Guzik

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

MATTHEW 15:5

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

ROMANS 8:5

FRUIT SHOWS

Fruit shows US what/who were are connected to and shows OTHERS what/who we are connected to.

FRUIT FEEDS

This fruit is grown IN US, but it’s grown FOR OTHERS.

WORLD-SHAPED LOVE

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self,

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5

THE FRUIT OF WORLD-SHAPED LOVE IS SELFISHNESS

“We don’t worship Satan, we worship ourselves using the metaphorical representation of the qualities of Satan. Satan is the name used by Christians for that force of individuality and pride within us.”

ANTON LAVEY (Founder of the Church of Satan)

THE ROOT OF A WORLD-SHAPED LOVE: “I NEED LOVE.”

Back in the thirteenth century, the king of Sicily, Frederick II, conducted a diabolical experiment intended to discover what language children would naturally grow up to speak if never spoken to. He thought it would be either Hebrew, Greek, Latin or Arabic. Some things are just obvious, right? So King Frederick the Great took babies from their mothers at birth and placed them in the care of nurses who were forbidden to speak in their hearing. But a second rule was imposed, as well: the nurses were not allowed to touch the infants. To his great dismay, Frederick’s experiment was cut short, but not before something tragically significant regarding human nature was revealed. As you may have guessed, the babies grew up to speak no language at all because they died. In the year 1248, an Italian historian named Salimbene di Adam recorded, with an air of scientific observation, “They could not live without petting.” The babies literally died for want of touch.

Astounding! Modern medicine calls this phenomenon, “failure to thrive.” For some reason, we humans flourish under the influence of love and we gradually die without it.

Modern science is now proving through controlled studies that human beings are literally engineered for love. We are made for love, as if our DNA contains the message, “You must love and be loved in order to survive.”

THE FREDERICK EXPERIMENT

CHRIST-SHAPED LOVE

To love well in a time of selfishness, we have to be loved well.

JON TYSON

THE ROOT OF CHRIST-SHAPED LOVE: “I AM LOVED.”

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 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.

1 JOHN 4:8-10

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.

EPHESIANS 3:17-19

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

ROMANS 5:8

THE FRUIT OF A CHRIST-SHAPED LOVE IS SELFLESSNESS

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

EPHESIANS 5:1-2

“The Biblical concept of agape love involves giving of yourself for the benefit of another, even at your own expense. Biblical love is defined by passionately and righteously seeking the well-being of another. Biblical love is an act of the will and not just a fuzzy feeling in the stomach. That’s why God can command us to love one another. Love really has nothing to do with whether you feel loving at a particular moment. It has to do with the need of the person being loved, not the feelings of the one doing the loving.”

TONY EVANS

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Spiritual Integrity: is the quality of being honest and having strong biblical principles, or biblical uprightness. It is a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent biblical standards.1. Spiritual Integrity is Foundational to the call on our life.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.2. Spiritual Integrity is whole and complete.
Proverbs 11:3 The Integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.3. Integrity protects transparency over image.
1 Samuel 16:7 Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the Heart.
Proverbs 10:9 Whoever walks in Integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths gets found out.1. Have an up-to-date personal walk with God.
Hebrews 4:12- For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Romans 12:2- And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.2. Be accountable to the authority over your life.
Hebrews 13:17- “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not grief, for that would be unprofitable to you.

Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

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Do YOU Know?

39 Now from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to [m]Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.”

JOHN 4:39-42

“We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure.

JOHN 4:42

“There is a difference between believing in Jesus based off of what someone has told you about Him, and you experiencing a relationship with Jesus for yourself.”

42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.”

JOHN 4:42

God is not interested in a relationship with you based off of what OTHERS HAVE SAID

DO YOU KNOW JESUS FOR YOURSELF

MYTH #1: JESUS CAME TO MAKE MY LIFE EASIER.

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

15 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.

JOHN 4:13-14

The response of the Samaritan woman was logical, yet not spiritual. She wanted to avoid the work of coming to the well every day. It was as if she responded, “Jesus, if you want to make my life easier and more convenient, then I’m all for it. Give it to me!”

DAVID GUZIK

MYTH #2: JESUS DOESN’T HAVE STANDARDS

15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” 16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. 17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

JOHN 4:15-18

MYTH #3: I NEED TO CLEAN UP MY LIFE FIRST

JESUS SEEKS YOU

JESUS EXPOSES SIN

JESUS COVERS ALL SIN

JESUS ASKS FOR ALL OF YOU

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2 CHRONICLES 2:14, “Then if my people who are called

by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek

my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear

from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their

land.”

POINT 1: HUMILITY IS THE FIRST STEP IN HEALING

•

1 Peter 5:5, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the

humble.”

POINT 2: REPENTANCE IS THE SECOND STEP TO HEALING

nition of

repentance

intransitive verb

to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life

to feel regret or contrition

to change one’s mind

•

Acts 3:19, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that

your sins may be wiped away.”

•

John 16:23-24, “At that time you won’t need to ask me for

anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly,

and he will grant your request because you use my name.

You

haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will

receive, and you will have abundant joy.

WHEN YOU PRAY AND ASK IN JESUS NAME, YOU GET INSTANT

ACCESS TO THE THROWN OF JESUS, THE THROWN OF OUR

HEAVENLY FATHER!

POINT 3: GETTING OTHERS TO PRAY WITH YOU IS THE THIRD

STEP IN HEALING.

•

Matthew 18:19,

“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here

on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven

will do it for you.”

POINT 4: THE FOURTH STEP IN PRAYING FOR HEALING IS

HAVING FAITH THAT JESUS HEALS!

•

Matthew 4:23, Jesus traveled throughout the region of

Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the

Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind

of disease and illness.

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Psalms 103:3, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my

diseases.”

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Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and

forever.”

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GOD DOESN’T MAKE US SICK, BUT HE DOES USE OUR

SICKNESS TO GET OUR ATTENTION AND REDIRECT US, TO

GET US BACK ON THE PATH.

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John 11:4, But when Jesus heard about it he said,

“Lazarus’s

sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory

of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”

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Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God

intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I

could save the lives of many people.”

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Philippians 1:12, “And I want you to know, my dear brothers

and sisters,

that everything that has happened to me here

has helped to spread the Good News.”

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7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

1 PETER 4:7

As Disciples of Jesus we are called to fill the gaps we see in life through prayer.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

MATTHEW 6:7-8

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.

MATTHEW 6:7-8(MSG)

LEARNING TO LISTEN

“Prayer is conversing, communicating with God.”

DALLAS WILLARD

PRAYER GOES BOTH WAYS

So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.

JOHN 5:19-20

GOD TALKS TOO

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

JOHN 10:27

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

PSALM 32:8

25 And in the fourth watch of the night[d] he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

MATTHEW 14:25-28

FOUR VOICES

My voice
The enemy’s voice
People’s voices
God’s voice

HOW TO DISCERN THE VOICE OF GOD

GOD’S WRITTEN WORD
If you want to become familiar with the voice of God in your life then you MUST become familiar with God’s word.
GOD’S SPIRIT

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

JOHN 14:16-17

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

JOHN 16:13

LOGOS: the written word of God

RHEMA: the specific word of God for you

When you are reading the bible on your own, you are reading Logos, or the sayings of Jesus. At times, you get much more than the mere words. This is when you get the Rhema word. This is like Eureka for the scientist involved in an experiment or discovery. It is not that a Rhema word can come to you only when you are reading the bible. It can come to you as a revelation while driving the car, walking in the garden, or even while sleeping and dreaming. This is like God talking to you directly. This could be the word giving you a direction and peace of mind. A Rhema word brings joy and excitement along with it.

“Just then three men showed up at the house where I was staying, sent from Caesarea to get me. The Spirit told me to go with them, no questions asked. So I went with them

ACTS 11:11

GOD’S WISDOM

“You don’t always need to know the mind of God when you know the heart of God.”

GOD’S PEACE

And let the peace from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds

COLOSSIANS 3:15

LOWER THE NOISE

“It’s not legalism; it’s love.”

It [silence] allows us to hear the gentle God whose only Son “shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice above the street noise” (Matt. 12:19). It is this God who tells us that “in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

DALLAS WILLARD

UNMUTE GOD

“When you stop obeying, you put God on mute.”

FOLLOW THE SIGNS
OTHER PEOPLE

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The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

1 PETER 4:7

SEEKING GOD FOR REVIVAL

After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me.

He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”

ACTS 1:2-5, 7-8

These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky.

ACTS 1:9-11

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

ACTS 2:1-4

38-39 Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”

40 He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!”

41-42 That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

ACTS 2:38-42

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

ACTS 2:46-47

18-20 They called them back and warned them that they were on no account ever again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John spoke right back, “Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you rather than to God, you decide. As for us, there’s no question—we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard.”

ACTS 4:18-20

Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter’s shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed.

ACTS 5:12-16

“We don’t have to talk God into wanting to move. He’s waiting for us.” - Jon Tyson

WHAT IS GOD WAITING FOR?

US TO WANT HIM

“Most people view Jesus as the step ladder into their destiny. He wants to kill YOUR destiny and He wants to resurrect HIS through you. You are going to discover your calling through HIS calling.” - Corey Russel

US TO KNOW WHAT HE WANTS

3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father

2 Chronicles 34:3

US TO TRUST HE CAN DO IT THROUGH US

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The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

1 PETER 4:7

CALL TO PRAYER

PRAYER is the first and most important thing we can do as believers yet tends to be the first thing we neglect to do.

“WE’D RATHER DO THINGS FOR GOD THAN SPEND TIME WITH GOD.”

Most Christians view prayer as “something I SHOULD do”, rather than “something I GET to do”.

It would of course be a rather low-voltage spiritual life in which prayer was chiefly undertaken as a discipline, rather than as a way of co-laboring with God to accomplish good things and advance His kingdom purposes.”

Dallas Willard

WE MISS OUT ON THE POWER OF PRAYER WHEN WE SEE IT AS A CHORE.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

MATTHEW 6:5-6

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.”

MATTHEW 6:1

JESUS MODELED CONSISTENT, PERSISTENT, AND INTIMATE PRAYER.

After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

MATTHEW 14:23

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

LUKE 6:12

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

MARK 1:35

PRAYER IS RELATIONAL

“Prayer is conversing, communicating with God.”

Dallas Willard

“It is criminal for people to gather together in the name of a God they don’t talk to.”

DR. MATTHEW STEVENSON

“Prayer is not the thing. God is the thing and you get to Him through prayer.”

JON TYSON

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

MATTHEW 6:9

It was very unusual for the Jews of that day to call God “Father” because it was considered too intimate. It is true that God is the mighty sovereign God of the universe who created, governs, and will judge all things – but He is also to us a Father.

David Guzik

PRAYER IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE

“You are in a spiritual battle. If you are ignorant or ignore that fact, you probably aren’t winning the battle.”

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

EPHESIANS 6:12

“It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”

C.S. LEWIS, Screwtape Letters

12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince[c] of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels,[d] came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.[e] 14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

DANIEL 10:12-14

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

JAMES 5:16

PRAYER IS WHAT KEEP US GOING

Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

PSALM 55:22

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

HEBREWS 12:1-11

There is a danger that you will mis-live - that despite all your activity, despite all the pleasant diversions you might have enjoyed while alive, you will end up living a bad life. There is, in other words, a danger that when you are on your deathbed, you will look back and realize that you wasted your one chance at living. Instead of spending your life pursuing something genuinely valuable, you squandered it because you allowed yourself to be distracted by the various baubles life has to offer.

WILLIAM IRVINE

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

HEBREWS 12:1

GOD HAS A RACE FOR ME TO RUN

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27

1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

GALATIANS 5:7

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2 TIMOTHY 4:7

GOD’S RACE FOR ME REQUIRES TRAINING

2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

JAMES 1:2-4

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

JAMES 1:13-15

GOD USES PAIN TO TRAIN US // THE ENEMY USES PAIN TO TEMPT US

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

ROMANS 5:3-4

TRAINED FOR ENDURANCE // TEMPTED TO COMPARISON

“Comparison is the thief of joy”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Endurance: bearing hardship; STAYING POWER.

TRAINED FOR CHARACTER // TEMPTED TO CORRUPTION

Character: conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong.

Corruption: dishonesty

TRAINED FOR HOPE // TEMPTED TO FEAR

“FEAR IS FAITH IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,

“THROW OFF” (SANCTIFICATION)

“LOOK UP” (ABIDING)

“RUN WITH” (COMMUNITY)

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2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

ROMANS 5:2-5

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you…

16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, comb your hair[d] and wash your face. 18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

MATTHEW 6:1-6 & 16-18

THE PAIN OF SECRECY.

“As believers, we are a part of an upside down Kingdom. Instead of making sure everybody sees the best parts of our lives and then hiding or masking away the worst parts of us; we are called to bring to light the worst parts of us through CONFESSION and hide the best parts of us through HUMILITY.”

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” - The Chautauquan

“Hate is just as good as love. I’d rather someone hate me than not know who I am.” - Burberry Erry

WE ALL HAVE A DESIRE TO BE GREAT.

“I’M ONLY GREAT IF SOMEONE CARES.” - The Enemy

“GREATNESS IS ACHIEVED WHEN YOU ARE SEEN, VALUED, AND APPLAUDED BY PEOPLE.” The World

“What else is the praises of men but a little stinking breath? These have their reward.” - TRAPP

20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 “What is your request?” he asked.

She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

MATTHEW 20:20-28

GREATNESS IS ACHIEVED BY SERVING

“God is not trying to move you from greatness to servanthood. He wants to move you TO greatness THROUGH servanthood.” - Pastor Josh

“Anybody can be great because anybody can serve.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

GREATNESS IS MOTIVATED BY WHAT GOD SEES, NOT WHAT PEOPLE SEE

SERVE GOD IN SECRET

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time

1 PETER 5:6

GREATER LEVELS OF GREATNESS REQUIRE GREATER LEVELS OF HUMILITY

THE GREATNESS WE CRAVE IS MET BY BEING SEEN, VALUED, KNOW, AND APPLAUDED BY GOD.

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This week, Erik Williams walks us through the PAIN of CONVICTION & CONFESSION and helps us to see that these are actually invitations from God into the freedom He's called us to.

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NO PAIN, NO GAIN

Endure: suffer (something difficult or painful) patiently; to remain in existence…

2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

ROMANS 5:2-5

PAIN IS THE NORMAL AND NECESSARY PROCESS WE GO THROUGH IN ORDER TO GAIN GOD’S BEST.

Most every Christian wants to develop character and have more hope. These qualities spring out of perseverance, which comes through tribulation. We may wish to have better character and more hope without starting with tribulation, but that isn’t God’s pattern and plan. I would rather have God just sprinkle perseverance and character and hope on me as I sleep. I could wake up a much better Christian! But that isn’t God’s plan for me or for any Christian.

Therefore we say – soberly, reverently – we say about tribulation, “Lord, bring it on. I know you love me and carefully measure every trial and have a loving purpose to accomplish in every tribulation. Lord, I won’t seek trials and search out tribulation, but I won’t despise them or lose hope when they come. I trust Your love in everything You allow.”

GUZIK

MATURITY IS NOT OUTWARD APPEARANCE; IT’S A CONDITION OF THE HEART.

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

1 SAMUEL 8:19-22

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

1 SAMUEL 9:1-2

“We are surrounded by adult men who, in actuality, are nothing more than teenagers, still trying to find their way, hurting and abusing those around them, all while thinking it’s some kind of amusing game.”

JON TYSON

12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

HEBREWS 5:12-14

SPIRITUAL BABIES VS. SPIRITUAL TEACHERS

Babies need to be fed, teachers can feed themselves
Babies can’t handle meat, teachers can handle tough truth
Babies can’t handle discomfort; teachers experience discomfort but have an understanding that it will eventually pass
Babies have zero concern for others, a teacher’s main focus is serving others
Babies have no ability to discern, teachers can discern what’s right and wrong; what’s beneficial

THE ONLY REQUIREMENT FOR MATURITY IN CHRIST IS YOUR, “YES.”

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

1 SAMUEL 16:6-7

11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest,[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

1 SAMUEL 16:11-13

12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

1 TIMOTHY 4:12

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

PHILIPPIANS 1:6

“Where is there an instance of God’s beginning any work and leaving it incomplete? Show me for once a world abandoned and thrown aside half formed; show me a universe cast off from the Great Potter’s wheel, with the design in outline, the clay half hardened, and the form unshapely from incompleteness.”

SPURGEON

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This week, we got to hear from some of our students family who served in Puerto Penasco, Mexico about all that God did in them and through them!

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Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

HEBREWS 13:1-8

SAME FAITH.

THERE’S A CERTAIN FAITH GOD IS INVITING US INTO

70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities.

86% of women use social media for purchasing advice

82% of People Trust Social Networks to Guide Purchasing Decisions

Purchase Intent Increased by 5.2x by Influencers on Twitter

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

BEING A DISCIPLE IS NOT AN EASIER LIFE, BUT IS THE BEST LIFE.

“IF YOU ARE BORED WITH YOUR FAITH, I PROMISE GOD BORED WITH YOUR FAITH TOO.” - Jon Tyson

FAITH GOALS:

SACRIFICE

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

HEBREWS 11:17-19

The discipline of sacrifice is one in which we forsake the security of meeting our needs with what is in our hands. It is total abandonment to God, a stepping into the darkened abyss in the faith and hope that God will bear us up.

DALLAS WILLARD

But how nourishing to our faith are the tokens of God’s care in response to our sacrifice. The cautious faith that never saws off the limb on which it is sitting never learns that unattached limbs may find strange, unaccountable ways of not falling.

DALLAS WILLARD

“It’s probably not sacrifice if you FEEL like doing it.”

OBEDIENCE

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This week, Pastor Eman continued our series talking about the power of the word of God and why we should prioritize spending time with Jesus THROUGH His word.

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8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

HEBREWS 13:5-8

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[l] in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[m] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

ROMANS 8:26-28

SAME SPIRIT

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

ROMANS 8:26

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

JOHN 14:2

WE ARE TRYING TO DO A GOD-SIZED JOB WITHOUT GOD-SIZED TOOLS.

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (or tools), especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:1-2

For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:1-2

MYTH 01. YOU ARE FLUENT FROM THE START

MYTH 02. YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL

14 For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:14

MYTH 03. YOU WIILL GET A DEMON

11 If a son asks for [e]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

LUKE 11:11-13

MYTH 04. SOME PEOPLE HAVE IT AND SOME PEOPLE DON’T

5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues,

1 CORINTHIANS 14:5

Why did Paul wish you all spoke with tongues? No doubt, because he knew the value of it in his own life. Paul was able, when in the spirit he spoke mysteries, to unburden his soul before God in a way beyond human language and intellect. He could pray, praise, and intercede beyond his ability to understand and articulate. Paul wanted every Christian to know this same blessing.

GUZIK

WHEN WE PRAY IN THE SPIRIT, WE ARE BUILT UP

4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself,

1 CORINTHIANS 14:1-2

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

EPHESIANS 6:10-18

WHEN WE PRAY IN THE SPIRIT, WE ARE UNIFIED

At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia[a] and settled there.

3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

GENESIS 11:6(ONE, Unified in vision, community, language)

“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples

to a pure speech,

that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord

and serve him with one accord.

ZEPHANIAH 3:9

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

ACTS 2:1-4

WHEN WE PRAY IN THE SPIRIT, WE PRAY PERFECT PRAYERS

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.,

JAMES 4:3

27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[l] in harmony with God’s own will.

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ACTS 16:16-34

It would have been easy for Paul and Silas to escape thinking God provided another miraculous jailbreak. But to them, the lives of others were more important than their own personal freedom and comfort.

In not escaping, they showed tremendous discernment. The circumstances said, “escape.” But love said, “Stay for the sake of this one soul.” They were not guided merely by circumstances, but by what love compelled.

DAVID GUZIK

FREEDOM IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF DIFFICULTY

FREEDOM IS BEING WITH GOD

GOD USES FREEDOM TO: INVITE US INTO RELATIONSHIP

33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

ACTS 16:33-34

4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

EXODUS 19:3-4

REVEAL WHAT IS REALLY INSIDE US

REFINE WHAT OUR FOCUS SHOULD BE

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts![c]

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting![d]

PSALM 139:23-24

GIVE GOD YOUR SUMMER

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This week Pastor Jackson closes out our series on testimonies with four New Song Students as they share stories about the goodness of God in their life!

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This week, Pastor Jackson sits down with New Song Students leader Garis Diffee to talk about evangelism and being used by Jesus to grow the family of God.

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This week Pastor Jackson sits down with Hannah Williams, a three year leader at New Song Students, as she shares her story about the goodness of God in her life.

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This week, Pastor Eman kicked off our brand new series with a message on the power of YOUR testimony and why you should share it!

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You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. 2 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. 3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? 4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

ROMANS 2:1-4

PURITY IS EVERYTHING.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

MATTHEW 5:8

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

COLOSSIANS 3:5

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 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.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:18-20

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.”

JOHN 8:1-11

9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-10

SEXUAL PURITY APPLIES TO EVERYONE AND ITS GOD’S HEART FOR EVERYONE.

2 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.

PSALM 16:2

“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.”

JOHN 8:1-11

22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

2 TIMOTHY 2:22

WE DON’T FIGHT SEXUAL SIN, WE RUN FROM IT

WE DON’T ARRIVE AT PURITY, WE RUN IN IT.

22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace.

11 “I regret[c] that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me…

1 SAMUEL 15:11

WE RUN IN PURITY WITH OTHERS.

Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

2 TIMOTHY 2:22

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Don’t Chance it. Change it.

Sovereign - God has absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure.

God’s sovereign plan involves our involvement.

We facilitate change with our words

Genesis 17:2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.

Genesis 17:4-5 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.

Genesis 17:15-16 Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”

Abram = father of many

Abraham = father of many NATIONS

Sarai = my lady or my princess

Sarah = THE princess of a multitude

Genesis 17:17 Lol. lol. lol.

Romans 4:17-18 Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do

What is NOT in your life right now- that God has promised you?

We facilitate change through prayer

James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours [with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings], and he prayed intensely for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its crops [as usual].

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12-14 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made.But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

15-16 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.

17-19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.

20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

PHILIPPIANS 3:12-21

Politics: the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.

The Purpose of Human Government.

The commendation of good
The punishment of evil
The maintenance of peace
The protection of the oppressed

POLITICS IS ATTEMPTING TO SET THE STANDARD FOR MORALITY.

POLITICS IS ATTEMPTING TO SET THE STANDARD FOR MORALITY AND GOD GIVES US THE STANDARD FOR MORALITY.

When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman.

ROMANS 2:14-16

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians,

MATTHEW 22:15-16

16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.[b] 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

MATTHEW 22:16-17

18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.[c] 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

MATTHEW 22:18-22

DISCIPLES ARE CALLED TO BE DUAL CITIZENS

You should have more in common with a believer in another country than you do with an unbeliever in your own country.

JON TYSON

DISCIPLES ARE CALLED TO GIVE GOVERNMENT HONOR

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

ROMANS 13:1-2

HOW DISCIPLES PARTICIPATE

VOTE

“If you have the privilege of being a Christian in a Democracy, you are called to be consistent as a Christian in your voting and serving your country.”

NATHAN FINOCHIO

PRAY

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2

HUMBLE CONVERSATIONS

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

TITUS 3:9

DISCIPLES ARE CALLED TO GIVE GOD HOPE

For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

PSALM 22:28

JESUS IS LORD.

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16 “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

JOHN 3:16-21

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

LUKE 15:8-10

IS HELL REAL?

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

JOHN 1:14

TRUTH IS ALWAYS IN TENSION

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

DANIEL 12:2

For in death there is no remembrance of you;

in Sheol who will give you praise?

PSALM 6:5

17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God.

PSALM 9:17

20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

EZEIKIAL 18:20

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

JOHN 14:6

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

MATTHEW 7:13-14

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

MATTHEW 25:41

Jesus did not present this story as a parable, and in no other parable did Jesus actually name an individual (as the poor man is here named). We have every reason to believe that Jesus gave us an actual case in history, one He knew from His eternal perspective.

DAVID GUZIK

19 “There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. 20 But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate. 21 He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.[d] The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24 ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’

25 “‘Son,’[e] Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

27 “‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28 because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”

LUKE 16:24-31

GOD TELLS THE TRUTH BECAUSE HE LOVES

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

JOHN 3:18

GOD GIVES YOU THE CHIOCE BECAUSE HE LOVES

The presence of this tree – the presence of a choice for Adam – was good because for Adam to be a creature of free will, there had to be a choice, some opportunity to rebel against God. If there is never a command or never something forbidden there can then never be choice. God wants our love and obedience to Him to be the love and obedience of choice.

DAVID GUZIK

GOD MAKES A WAY BECAUSE HE LOVES

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“A gray area is meaning that exists between two extremes. This is an analogy to the area of color that exists between black and white. Gray areas result from ambiguity and rich variations that naturally occur in language, culture, events, information, objects, environments and people. The ability to think in grey areas is a basic element of intelligence.” - John Spacey

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

1 PETER 3:13-17

THIS IS NOT A SERIES ABOUT ANSWERS. IT’S A SERIES ABOUT FAITH.

For we live by faith, not by sight.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:7

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.

EPHESIANS 3:16-17

DOUBT CAN BE A STUMBLING BLOCK OR A STARTING BLOCK.

JESUS CAN HANDLE YOUR QUESTIONS.

“MY TRUTH"

Postmodernism: the understanding/belief that there is no such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Truth belongs to the individual and is only experiential.

SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

JOHN 14:6

JESUS IS THE TRUTH THAT EVERYONE IS LOOKING FOR

“Many people had sarcastically scrawled, “Baby, don’t hurt me.” A few were philosophical and flowery, including a quote from Proust and on from Plato. But no one had a real answer. Not really. It was a simply question. Was that room as lost as I felt? Those pages showed nothing but an empty abyss, and I wondered if anyone really had an answer that would satisfy… In all our films, songs, and art, we worshiped love, but no one could define it. Really? This is it?… Years later I would read C.S. Lewis’s words that described what I experienced: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”… I started to have a sense that there HAD to be a higher love that corresponded to my desire for intimacy.”

DAVID BENNETT

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

JOHN 8:32

HIS WORD IS THE STABILITY EVERYONE HOPES FOR

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

MATTEW 7:24-27

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Saint vs. Christian
We are saints; meaning we are disciples and if disciples it means we believe and if we believe then were are made Holy and how we are made Holy is in accepting the message of Christ in His fullness and understanding that apart from Him we are nothing but only in Him do we find identity, strength, meaning and life.
Faith. the works for the saints.
The faith then that we profess is not grounded in hollow philosophies or fanciful anecdotes but rather deepened in knowledge with wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Faith in Jesus not faith in faith
To have faith in Jesus means we know Him and trust Him to be The Way, The Truth, and The Life to everything that concerns us. Faith is not The Way, The Truth, and the Life Jesus is.
HOW TO STAY ROOTED

SEEK

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. - Colossians 3:1

FOCUS

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:2

SACRIFICE

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:[b] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. - Colossians 3:5

DEPEND

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:12-17
THE HEART OF A ROOTED LIFE
When you do these things, you will find yourself:
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Colossians 4:2-5

Praying
Being Vigilant
Grateful
Praying and Supporting Ministry
Being Wise
Redeeming the time
Speaking

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9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority;

COLOSSIANS 2:9-10

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

COLOSSIANS 1:24-29

THE POINT IS MATURITY (message title)

Maturity: the state, fact, or period of being mature.

Mature: fully developed physically; full grown.

Having reached an advanced stage of mental or emotional developmental characteristics of an adult.

JESUS IS THE FOCUS; MATURITY IS THE GOAL.

Emotional Reasoning: letting your feelings guide your interpretation of reality. “I feel depressed; therefore, my life is not working out.”

Catastrophizing: focusing on the worst possible outcome and seeing it as most likely. “It would be terrible if I failed.”

Overgeneralizing: perceiving a global pattern of negatives is based on a single incident. “This generally happens to me. I seem to fail at a lot of things.”

Dichotomous Thinking: viewing events or people in all-or-nothing terms. “I get rejected by everyone,” or “it was a complete waste of time.”

Negative Filtering: focusing almost exclusively on the negatives and seldom noticing the positives. “Look at all the people who don’t like me.”

Discounting Positives: claiming that the positive things you or others do are trivial, so that you can maintain a negative judgement.

Labeling: assigning global negative traits to yourself or others

Mind Reading: assuming that you know what people thinking without having sufficient evidence of their thoughts.

IMMATURITY/MATURITY IS NOT A RESULT OF WHO YOU ARE.

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[b] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[c] shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[d] in heaven.”

20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord![e] This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance[f] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

MATTHEW 16:13-23

Jesus exposed how Peter came into this satanic way of thinking. He didn’t make a deliberate choice to reject God and embrace Satan; he simply let his mind settle on the things of men instead of the things of God, and Satan took advantage of it. Peter is a perfect example of how a sincere heart coupled with man’s thinking can often lead to disaster.

DAVID GUZIK

IMMATURITY/MATURITY IS NOT A RESULT OF WHO YOU ARE. IT’S A RESULT OF HOW YOU THINK.

Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

ROMANS 12:2

1. MATURITY IS NOT AUTOMATIC

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

COLOSSIANS 1:27

CHRIST IN YOU, not Christ (at church), not Christ (in me, Paul), not Christ (in them), not Christ (in theory). Your hope for maturity is Jesus in YOU.

Maturity STARTS with Jesus in YOU.

2. MATURITY IS A PROCESS

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[e] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.[f] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:18

(TRANSFORMED GRAPHS)

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

LUKE 2:52

3. MATURITY IS GROWN THROUGH THE WORD

You are a hindrance[f] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

MATTHEW 16:13-23

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

1 TIMOTHY 3:16-17

Maturity starts with Jesus IN YOU. It is grown by you IN THE WORD. The end result is HUMILITY.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.

MATTHEW 5:1

“WE SHOULD GROW UP IN OUR THINKING SO WE CAN GROW DOWN IN OUR HUMILITY.”

JOHN PIPER

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am,

1 CORINTHIANS 13:11

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

EPHESIANS 3:8

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

1 TIMOTHY 1:15

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Colossians 2:1-5 “For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery — Christ. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.”
2. Our faith is meant to be an active faith
3. JESUS PERIOD
4. Heresy means an a opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth
5. “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk IN him, being rooted and built up IN him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the spiritual elements of the world, rather than Christ. For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. You were also circumcised IN him with a circumcision not done with hands, but by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried WITH him in baptism, in which you were also raised WITH him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive WITH him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them IN him.”
6. “Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the spiritual elements of the world, rather than Christ.”
7. Philosophy
8. Tradition
9. Supernatural
10. Gospel literally means “Good News”
11. Any gospel other than the true Gospel, is no gospel at all!
12. “In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable.”
13. “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him,”
14. Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t the front door to Christianity, its the whole house
15. “being rooted and built up IN him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.”
16. Live Christmas tree—(split screen)
17. Dead Christmas tree—(split screen)
18. Tornado aftermath pic
19. Jesus is Enough
20. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
21. “In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
22. “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,”
23. “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.”
24. “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”
25. Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.”
26. Alternatives just don’t cut it
27. Philosophy
28. Tradition
29. “Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.”
30. “These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ.”
31. “You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
32. It’s not Jesus plus—it’s Jesus PERIOD!
33. Supernatural
34. “Let no one condemn you by delighting in false humility and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind.”
35. “All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.”
36. through the Word
37. through prayer
38. through faith
39. through the church

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GOD’S WORD IS ENOUGH.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and YOU have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:9

THE JOURNEY OF FAITH.

Paul wrote because there were problems among the Christians in Colossae…

DAVID GUZIK

EVERY FAMILY NEEDS DIRECTION. EVEN HEALTHY FAMILIES.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

1 Timothy 4:16

Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

2 John 1:8

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[b] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:3-14

PRAY.
SAY.
STAY.

This letter – full of love and concern, written to a church Paul had neither planted nor visited – shows the power of Christian love. Paul didn’t need to see or meet or directly know these Christians in order to love them and be concerned for them

DAVID GUZIK

The fullness is in Jesus Christ. Not in a church; not in a priesthood; not in a building; not in a sacrament; not in the saints; not in a method or a program, but in Jesus Christ Himself. It is in Him as a “distribution point” – so that those who wanted more of God and all that He is can find it in Jesus Christ.

DAVID GUZIK

OUR VEHICLE IS JESUS.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers[a] in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Colossians 1:1-2

OUR ROADMAP IS JESUS.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Colossians 1:15

the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:26-27

OUR DESTINATION IS MATURITY IN JESUS.

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Colossians 1:28

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44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

MATTHEW 13:44-46

GOD’S KINGDOM IS YOUR GREATEST INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY.

GOD’S KINGDOM IS GOD’S FAMILY.

GOD’S KINGDOM IS A GROWING FAMILY.

GOD’S KINGDOM IS A FAMILY WHERE GOD LEADS.

WE DON’T JUST EXIST FOR THE PEOPLE HERE. WE EXIST FOR THE PEOPLE NOT HERE YET.

WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST INTO THE KINGDOM

GOD SAYS SO.

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria.

JOHN 4:1-4

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”… 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

JOHN 4:27,34

YOU ARE GOD’S PLAN TO REACH PEOPLE
INVESTING INTO THE KINGDOM FILLS YOU UP

34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes harvest?’ Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

JOHN 4:34

WHAT KEEPS US FROM INVESTING?

WE DON’T KNOW
WORDLINESS

15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

LUKE 12:15-21

WE MISUNDERSTAND ETERNAL TREASURES

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

MATTHEW 6:19-21

WE AREN’T SEEING THE OPPORTUNITY

Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

JOHN 4:34

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IT’S NOT DEVOTION UNTIL I’M ALL IN.

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[f] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[g] in you.

JOHN 14:15-17

39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

MATTHEW 10:39

YOU WERE MADE TO GO ALL IN

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered…

LUKE 7:36-50

HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M DEVOTED?

HAS IT COST ME SOMETHING?

LID: FEAR OF LACK

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

MATTHEW 6:25-26

2. HAVE I GONE PUBLIC?

It was bold for a woman with a sinful reputation to come into the house of a Pharisee, but she was willing to do anything to express her love for Jesus.

DAVID GUZIK

LID: FEAR OF MAN

41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

JOHN 12:41-43

3. AM I COMMITED

Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt.

Rollo May

LID: FEAR OF DISAPPOINTMENT

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

PROVERBS 3:5-6

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

PSALM 51:16-17

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VISION IS THE INTENDED DIRECTION OF OUR LIFE IN WORDS.

FILLED UP. POURED OUT.

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

JOHN 6:25-28 (ESV)

1. WE THINK WE CAN EARN IT.

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

JOHN 6:28 (ESV)

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

ROMANS 3:23 (ESV)

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

JAMES 2:10-11 (ESV)

2. WHEN WE THINK WE CAN EARN IT, WE BEND THE RULES IN ORDER TO GET THE SAME RESULTS.

I CAN NEVER DO ENOUGH WORK.

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

JOHN 6:25-28 (ESV)

THE ONLY WORK YOU ARE CALLED TO IS BELIEVING.

32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull,[e] they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.

34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”[f] And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[g]

35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

LUKE 23:32-42 (ESV)

Jesus answered the second criminal far beyond his expectation. The thief on the cross had some distant time in mind; Jesus told him today. The thief on the cross asked only to be remembered; Jesus said “you will be with Me.” The thief on the cross looked only for a kingdom; Jesus promised him Paradise.

DAVID GUZIK

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MATTHEW 1:18-23

GOD WITH US. PERIOD.

OMNIPOTENCE: all-powerful

OMNISCIENCE: all-knowing

OMNIPRESENCE: all-present

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

PSALM 139:7-8

GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US BUT WE AREN’T ALWAYS WITH HIM.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

PSALM 16:11

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

EXODUS 33:14

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

JAMES 4:8

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

MATTHEW 27:50-51

The veil was what separated the holy place from the most holy place in the temple. It was a vivid demonstration of the separation between God and man. Notably, the veil was torn from top to bottom, and it was God who did the tearing.

DAVID GUZIK

GOD IS WITH US IN OUR DISAPPOINTMENTS

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[a] of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

LUKE 1:5-13

GOD IS WITH US IN OUR LIMITATIONS

30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[f] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

LUKE 1:30-35

GOD IS WITH US IN OUR ORDINARY

39 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.

LUKE 2:39-40

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

PSALM 100:4

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JAMES 5:13-18

PRAYER IS…

OUR VIEW OF PRAYER DETERMINES HOW WE PRAY

Most Christians view prayer as “something I SHOULD do”, rather than “something I GET to do”.

Dallas Willard

WE MISS OUT ON THE POWER OF PRAYER WHEN WE SEE IT AS A CHORE.

MATTHEW 6:5-6

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.”

MATTHEW 6:1

JESUS MODELED CONSISTENT, PERSISTENT, AND INTIMATE PRAYER.

After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

MATTHEW 14:23

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

LUKE 6:12

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

MARK 1:35

IF JESUS HAD A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE, SO CAN I.

PRAYER IS RELATIONAL

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

MATTHEW 6:9

David Guzik

PRAYER IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE

“You are in a spiritual battle. If you are ignorant or ignore that fact, you probably aren’t winning the battle.”

EPHESIANS 6:12

“It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”

C.S. LEWIS, Screwtape Letters

12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince[c] of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels,[d] came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.[e] 14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

DANIEL 10:12-14

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

JAMES 5:16

PRAYER IS WHAT KEEP US GOING

Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

PSALM 55:22

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NUMBERS 11:4-6

COUNTERFEIT COMFORTS.

In the disciplines of abstinence, we abstain to some degree and for some time from the satisfaction of what we generally regard as normal and legitimate desires. “Normal” desires include our basic drives or motivations, such as those for food, sleep, bodily activity, companionship, curiosity, and sex. But our desires for convenience, comfort, material security, reputation or fame, and variety are also considered under this heading… Keep in mind that the practice of abstention does not imply that there is anything essentially wrong with these desires as such.

DALLAS WILLARD

Abstinence is not a punishment from God. It’s a gift that helps you discover who/what is first in your life.

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:19

EXODUS 20:2-6

YOU BELONG TO GOD.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

JEREMIAH 1:5

“An idol is anything that we put over God and look towards to meet our needs.”

IDOLS ARE COUNTFIET COMFORTS.

John Calvin says, “THE HUMAN HEART IS AN IDOL FACTORY.”

In fasting, we abstain in some significant way from food and possibly from drink as well. This discipline teaches us a lot about ourselves very quickly. It will certainly prove humiliating to us, as it reveals to us how much our peace depends upon the pleasures of eating.

DALLAS WILLARD

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’[e]”

20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him.

“There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard[f] to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

MARK 10:17-25

COUNTERFEIT COMFORTS KEEP ME FROM FOLLOWING JESUS

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

MATTHEW 6:24

COUNTERFEIT COMFORTS KEEP ME FROM HEARING JESUS

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

WHEN WE GIVE UP COUNTERFEIT COMFORTS, WE RECEIVE TRUE COMFORT.

‘He is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose’

Isaiah 44:28

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Nothing on earth has greater potential to change lives and carry out His kingdom work in your community, than your local church.There’s nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.

BILL HYBEL

Being disconnected from the local church, for whatever reason, is a dangerous way to live. Not only do these “ lone rangers” miss out on the blessings of functioning within the context of the body of Christ, but like lone sheep away from the safety of the flock and the watchful care of the shepherd, they are vulnerable to predators of every sort.

NANCY LEIGH DEMOSS

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…

EPHESIANS 5:25

JESUS GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR A CONNECTED FAMILY

GOD’S PRESENCE

8 “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.

EXODUS 25:22

15-16 Moses said, “If your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call this trip off right now. How else will it be known that you’re with me in this, with me and your people? Are you traveling with us or not? How else will we know that we’re special, I and your people, among all other people on this planet Earth?”

EXODUS 33:15-16

GOD’S POWER

18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[f] in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

MATTHEW 18:18-20

The righteous flourish like the palm tree

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in the courts of our God.

PSALM 92:12-13

GOD’S PEOPLE

25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:12-26 (MSG)

26 Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.

2 CORINTHIANS 14:26

JUST BEING CONNECT TO THE BODY OF CHRIST ISN’T ENOUGH.

Some people think of the church as a pyramid, with the pastor at the top. Others think of the church as a bus driven by the pastor, who takes his passive passengers where they should go. God wants us to see the church as a body, where every part does its share.

DAVID GUZIK

Sedentary: (of a person) tending to spend much time seated; somewhat inactive

THE BODY WAS DESIGNED TO BE ACTIVE

I AM MEANT TO BE AN ACTIVE PART IN FELLOWSHIP

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Galatians 2:20
The world says we need to conquer/dominate others, but God says to serve others (Matthew 20:28)
The world says we need to take from others and receive, but God says to give to others (Luke 6:38)
The world says to put yourself first/be selfish, but God says to put others first, be selfless (Philippians 2: 3-4)
The world says you need to speak/act first, but God says to listen first (James 1:19)
The world says you need to compare yourself to others, but God says to encourage/support others, to cheer them on. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
The world says to seek revenge, but God says to forgive others and pray for them (ephesians 4:32).
The spiritual discipline of submission.
Submission: the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person.
“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” -Matthew 10:38-39
Mark 4:1-20 “We walked through this passage recently.”
Mark 4:1-20 MSG
#1 KNOW YOUR IDENTITY
KNOW YOUR IDENTITY IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO BUT WHO YOU ARE, BECAUSE WHO YOU ARE WILL DETERMINE WHAT YOU DO AND WHEN YOU KNOW WHOSE YOU ARE, YOU’LL KNOW WHO YOU ARE
#2 EMBRACE YOUR IDENTITY
Romans 1:16 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.
#3 FOCUS ON YOUR IDENTITY
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
#4 MEDITATE ON HIS WORD
Joshua 1:8 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
#5 AUTHENTIC, GENUINE (REAL) PRAYER
Philippians 4:6-7 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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Spiritual Disciplines: things we do in order to reorient our life, habits, and routines in a way that feeds our spirit more than our flesh.

Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.

JOHN 14:12

MATTHEW 4:1-11

IF JESUS OVERCAME TEMPTATION, I CAN OVERCOME TEMPTATION

JOHN 13:3-5

IF JESUS SERVED OTHERS, I CAN SERVE OTHERS.

LUKE 9:40-43

IF JESUS HEALED AND SET OTHERS FREE, I CAN HEAL AND SET OTHERS FREE.

MATTHEW 26:38-39

IF JESUS FOLLOWED GOD NO MATTER WHAT, I CAN FOLLOW GOD NO MATTER WHAT.

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

LUKE 2:52

“And in this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as he lived in the entirety of his life - adopting his OVERALL life-style. Following “in his steps” cannot be equated with behaving as he did when he was “on the spot.’ To live as Christ lived is to live as he did ALL his life.”

DALLAS WILLARD

27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.

1 CORINTHIANS 9:27

DISCIPLINES OF ABSTINENCE (starving your flesh)

DISCIPLINES OF ENGAGEMENT (feeding your spirit)

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

ROMANS 8:6

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

ROMANS 13:14

Whatever I FEED will eventually grown. Whatever I STARVE will eventually die.

DISCIPLINES OF ABSTINENCE (starving your flesh)

Solitude and Silence
Fasting
Frugality
Purity
Secrecy
Sacrific

DISCIPLINES OF ENGAGEMENT (feeding your spirit)

Study
Worship
Celebration
Serving
Praying
Fellowship
Confession
Submission

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

ROMANS 6:23

GRACE IS NOT OPPOSED TO ACTION. IT’S OPPOSED TO EARNING.

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

MATTHEW 11:28-30

THERE’S A WEIGHT WE CARRY (whether it’s from Jesus or not)

“To depart from righteousness is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures, and disappointments, a life caught in the toils of endless problems that are never resolved… The cost of discipleship, though it may take all we have, is small when compared to the lot of those who don’t accept Christ’s invitation to be a part of his company in ‘The Way’ of life.”

DALLAS WILLARD

2. IT’S NOT, ONE SIZE FITS ALL

3. IF THE YOKE IS HARD AND HEAVY; IT’S NOT FROM JESUS

If your yoke is hard and your burden is heavy, then we can say that it isn’t His yoke or burden, and you aren’t letting Him bear it with you. Jesus said it plainly: My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

GUZIK

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IN THE DARK

INTEGRITY IS A BIG DEAL TO GOD.

Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.

BILLY GRAHAM

Integrity: the state of being whole and undivided

Reputation is who everybody THINKS you are. Integrity is who you REALLY are.

25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,[i] and then the outside will become clean, too.

27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

MATTHEW 23:25-27

INTEGRITY IS REINFORCED IN THE DARK AND INTEGRITY IS COMPROMISED IN THE DARK.

OUR INTEGRITY IS EASIER TO KEEP THAN TO RECOVER

Integrity is NOT perfection.

INTEGRITY IS NOT BEING AFRAID TO CONFRONT WHAT’S IMPERFECT.

INTEGRITY KNOWS GOD SEES EVERYTHING

“This is a great principle which is applicable to every age. You and I ought to live our lives in the light of the fact that we are to stand in the presence of Christ. Note that I didn’t say in the light of the COMING of Christ but in the light of the PRESENCE of Christ.”

J. Vernon McGee

INTEGRITY KNOWS EVERYTHING WILL EVENTUALLY BE REVEALED.

19 Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. 20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.

GENESIS 39:19-21

17 For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

LUKE 8:17

INTEGRITY KNOWS EVERYTHING BUILDS

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

COLOSSIANS 3:23

WHEN I LIVE A LIFE OF INTEGRITY, I AM UNDER SUPERNATURAL COVERING.

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COUNT THE COST.

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[i] who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![j]

MATTHEW 18:21-22

“If you are trying to keep count, you’re missing the point.”

“Forgiveness is the Culture of Heaven” - Mark Driscoll

Forgive: to release; cancel a debt

FORGIVENESS IS NOT: APPROVAL

FORGIVENESS IS NOT: AUTOMATIC RECONCILIATION

TRANSANCTIONAL FORGIVENESS

UNILATERAL “ONE-WAY” FORGIVENESS

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

MATTHEW 18:21-22

In this, Jesus recognized the blindness of His enemies in His prayer. This did not excuse the guilt of those who put Jesus on the cross; but Jesus set His enemies in the best possible light in His prayer to the Father. We must pray with the same heart, after the same pattern. - GUZIK

32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

EPHESIANS 4:32

WE’VE BEEN FORGIVEN

Un-forgiveness is always hypocritical.

2. IT FREES US

COUNT THE COST

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#1) COMPARISON KILLS CONTENTMENT

Philippians 4:11-12

For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

He stepped out of contentment and into comparison.

#2) COMPARISON STEALS PERSPECTIVE

#3) COMPARISON DESTROYS OUR COMMISSION

It steals, kills, and destroys.

JONH 10:10

10 The enemy comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

ROMANS 12:4-8

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.

Comparison didn’t just hurt him, it hurt other people.

When a comparison problem becomes a competition problem it results in a collaboration problem.

PSALM 139:13-14

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

Do you believe He formed you?
Do you believe He knit you together?
Do you believe you are wonderfully made?
Do your words align with this?
Does your soul know very well?

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Parables are not simply teachings on what the Kingdom of God is LIKE; they are an invitation into Kingdom LIVING.

We know that God is Spirit and is neither male nor female. Yet in the Scriptures we are told that the believer is “born of God”. Here John uses female language to describe the relationship between God and believers. Similarly, when Jesus addressed God as “Father,” he used a male metaphor/title to help us understand the nature of God. Scripture uses male and female images to enrich our understanding of God, who is Spirit and thereby beyond male and female.”

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey

“WE DON’T JUST READ PARABLES; JESUS EXPECTS US TO LIVE THEM OUT.”

LUKE 19:11-26

Whenever Jesus told a parable, He was communicating ETERNAL TRUTHS in a way that made sense to an ANCIENT AUDIENCE.
CONTEXT UNLOCKS MEANING.

FIRST ASSUMPTION: The Parable Of The Talents and the Parable Of The Pounds are the same.

SECOND ASSUMPTION: These two parables are all about being responsible with what we have.

Herod the Great made a trip to Rome in 40 B.C. seeking a Roman appointment as king, and his son, Archelaus, made a similar journey in 4 B.C. to argue his case against his half-brother Antipas. Jesus used a political scene familiar to his audience as the background for this parable.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey

Jesus is the Nobleman.

REVELATION 17:14

REVELATION 19:16

JOHN 18:37

Worldly culture is the enemy of the Nobleman

JOHN 1:10-13

MATTHEW 12:30

Christians are the servants

O Lord, surely I am Your servant,

I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid,

You have loosed my bonds.

PSALM 116:16

The pounds represent the Great Commission

Such is the real world of this parable. King Herod’s trip to Rome was successful; he received kingly power. His son Archelaus made the same trip and was banished. No one knows how such a perilous journey will end. The nobleman wants to know, “Are you willing to take the risk and openly declare yourselves to be my loyal servants (during my absence) in a world where many oppose me and my rule.” … It will be easy to declare yourself publicly to be my loyal servants when I return. I am more interested in how you conduct yourselves when I am absent and you have to pay a high price to openly identify yourself with me.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey

DO PEOPLE KNOW WHICH KING YOU ARE LOYAL TO?

“Christ never contemplated the production of secret Christians, - Christians whose virtues would never be displayed, - pilgrims who would travel to heaven by night, and never be seen by their fellow-pilgrims or anyone else.”

Spurgeon

JESUS IS INVITING US TO GO PUBLIC

JESUS MORE CONCERNED WITH YOUR EFFORT THAN YOUR SUCCESS.

If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, 23 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

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WTF: Where’s The Faith?

Faith is important to God.

6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

HEBREWS 11:6

God is ALWAYS clear about what’s important to Him.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7

Faith: trusting in and acting from what God says instead of what we can see
FAITH DOES NOT STOP AT TRUSTING IN GOD. IT MOVES INTO ACTING ON WHAT GOD SAYS.
INTELLECTUAL AGREEMENT + TRUST = FAITH.

FAITH WILL ALWAYS SEEM A LITTLE CRAZY.

IT’S NOT FAITH IF YOU CAN SEE IT

1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

HEWBREWS 11:1-2

THE FACTS THAT WE WANT ERODE THE FAITH WE NEED.

14 At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

17 Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.

19 Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”

20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.[d]”

MATTHEW 17:14-20

OUR FAITH CAN OPEN DOORS. OUR LACK OF FAITH CAN CLOSE THEM TOO.

MATTHEW 17:14-20

The faith that we must have has more to do with what kind of faith it is than with how much faith there is. A small amount of faith, as small as a mustard seed (a very small seed), can accomplish great things if that small amount of faith is placed in the great and mighty God. - GUZIK

THE PLACEMENT OF OUR FAITH IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR AMOUNT OF FAITH.

HOW TO GROW FAITH:

START WITH GOD; NOT US

DETERMINE TO OBEY

LEAVE THE RESULTS WITH HIM

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,

ROMANS 1:16

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you (the book of Luke), most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

LUKE 1:1-4 (NIV)

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

LUKE 1:1-4 (ESV)

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

JOHN 10:27 (ESV)

God is always talking.

“I HAD A FEELING”.

“And if what you see is all you see, Then you do not see all there is to be seen” - Kirk Franklin

NUMBERS 22:21-31

“Sometimes the message God is giving us is loud and clear, but we don’t recognize God in the message.”

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

LUKE 1:1-4 (NIV)

God wants YOUR VOICE!

God wanted LUKE’S VOICE!

“The Gospel of Luke is a carefully researched and selective presentation of the person and life of Jesus. The book was written to strengthen the faith of believers and challenge the misconceptions of unbelievers, especially those from a Greek background. Luke’s profession as a medical doctor gives his Gospel a unique focus on Jesus’ humanity and the role of Christ as the suffering servant.”

IF YOU DOWNPLAY THE PURPOSE OF YOUR VOICE, YOU DOWNPLAY THE VOICE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE.

It takes faith.

“Luke was able to write the word because he was acquainted with the Word.”

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

ROMANS 10:17 (NKJV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

ROMANS 12:2 (ESV)

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Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with[b] water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

ACTS 1:4-5

1 CORINTHIANS 2:10-16

Essential: of the utmost importance: basic, indispensable, necessary.

Indispensable: absolutely necessary

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ESSENTIAL.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.

ACTS 8:14-17

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers.[a] 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.

“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.

And they replied, “The baptism of John.”

4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”

5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

ACTS 19:1-7

WE’VE MADE THE HOLY SPIRIT OPTIONAL WHEN JESUS SAYS HE’S ESSENTIAL.

“Being a disciple without receiving the Holy Spirit is like discovering you have a sickness, going to the doctor for a diagnosis, and leaving without the prescription.”

14 But the person without the Spirit[f] does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him;

THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS ME SEE

For who knows a person’s thoughts[d] except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:11-12

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A GIFT

“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,

ROMANS 1:16

SIT DOWN. BE HUMBLE.

This reveals Paul’s heart. In a sophisticated city like Rome, some might be embarrassed by a gospel centered on a crucified Jewish Savior and embraced by the lowest classes of people – but Paul is not ashamed. - GUZIK
SIMPLE IS POWERFUL.

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be[a] the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.[b] He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege[c] and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

ROMANS 1:1-5

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

JOHN 3:16

“The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves. It is power. It lifts them up. Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is power, and God’s power at that.” - MORRIS

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

ROMANS 3:23

Jesus showed us what it really means to be HUMAN.

“I’m not a sinner because I sin, I sin because I’m a sinner.”

“If missing the mark is the fruit of sin, then the root sin is PRIDE.”

5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for

“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[a]

6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

1 PETER 5:-7

The fix to our sin problem is not trying to SIN LESS, its receiving grace from Jesus to be SINLESS.

The Fix Is God’s Ferrari Grace

“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”

1 PETER 5:5

The Key To God’s Ferrari Grace Is Humility

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What is our Purpose?

Purpose Over Popularity

SLIDE #4::

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Shake Them Haters Off

Nehemiah 4:3

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

Nehemiah 6:3

3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”

No Pain, No Gain

Power to Please

Acts 4:16

16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.

Acts 5:29

29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!

Hebrews 11:26

26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

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2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-21

THE BEST SQUAD IS AN AVAILABLE SQUAD.

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

WORLDLY CULTURE: YOUR ROLE IS TIED TO ABILITY

GOD’S NOT LOOKING FOR ABILITY. HE’S LOOKING FOR AVAILABILITY.

And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.

There is so much to the idea of being ambassadors! An ambassador does not speak to please his audience, but the King who sent him. An ambassador does not speak on his own authority; his own opinions or demands mean little. He simply says what he has been commissioned to say. But an ambassador is more than a messenger; he is also a representative, and the honor and reputation of his country are in his hands. - GUZIK

2 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man[a] has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

MARK 2:1-12

IT’S OUR JOB TO BRING PEOPLE TO GOD

WE NEED TO BE PERSISTENT

Persistent: continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

ACTS 4:29-31

- STAYING FILLED KEEPS YOU AVAILABLE.

IT’S GOD’S JOB TO DO THE HEALING

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The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

DREAM TEAM.

YOU DON’T GO AS FAR AS YOUR DREAM. YOU GO AS FAR AS YOUR TEAM.

YOU ARE CALLED TO WIN.
“I DON’T JUST NEED FRIENDS TO HANG WITH, I NEED A SQUAD TO BUILD WITH.”

The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

PROVERBS 12:26

THE BOOK OF GALATIANS MAIN GOAL IS THIS: JESUS ALONE IS ENOUGH TO SAVE.

6 And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) 7 Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. 8 For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

9 In fact, James, Peter,[c] and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers.

They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. 10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.

SQUADS THAT WIN:

ARE SUBMITTED TO THE SAME DREAM

11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.

12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

GALATIANS 2:6-14

SQUADS THAT WIN:

PUSH ONE ANOTHER TOWARDS THE DREAM

Iron sharpens iron,

and one man sharpens another.[d]

PROVERBS 27:17

Two people are better than one because together they have a good reward for their hard work. If one falls, the other can help his friend get up. But how tragic it is for the one who is all alone when he falls. There is no one to help him get up.

ECCLESIASTES 4:9-10

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LUKE 19:1-10

I’LL GO FIRST.

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

PROVERBS 13:20

MYTH #1: FRIENDS ARE MEANT TO MEET MY NEEDS.

18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:18-19

MYTH #2: FRIENDS ARE THE REASON WHY I AM THE WAY I AM.

This is a powerless mindset

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

GENESIS 3:11-12

It takes away the ability to be used by God to change others

19 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, 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.”

MATTHEW 28:19-20

He walked in a level of maturity that understood I have the power to choose God’s best and I want you to know that too.

FRIENDS ARE YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO LOVE

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends

JOHN 15:12-13

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Hall of Fame: A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or animals, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their fame in their field.

13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

HEBREWS 11:13-16

“THIS COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.”

Encounters are catalysts.
Catalysts: a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible
ENCOUNTERS INTRODUCE CHANGE.

6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’”

EXODUS 6:6-8

ENCOUNTERS DON’T SUSTAIN CHANGE.

Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin,[a] between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt.[b] 2 There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron.

3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”

EXODUS 16:1-3

9 So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.

EXODUS 6:9

FAITH SUSTAINS CHANGE.
“WE DON’T LIVE FOR ENCOUNTERS, WE LIVE FROM THEM.”

15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

HEBREWS 11:15-16

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12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

HEBREWS 4:12

“TALK TO YOURSELF”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. (I feel you, Jesus. I become very hungry when I skip breakfast)

3 During that time the devil[a] came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

‘People do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[d]”

8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God

and serve only him.’[e]”

11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

MATTHEW 4:1-11

2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

3 During that time the devil[a] came…

YOU HAVE A REAL ENEMY.

THE ENEMY (DEVIL) DON’T PLAY NICE.

WE FIGHT WITH THE WORD

WE WIN THE BATTLE WHEN WE DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY.

KNOW THE WORD.

“People do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

UNDERSTAND THE WORD.

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[d]”

BELIEVE THE WORD.

17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

ROMANS 10:17

4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

DUETERONOMY 6:4-9

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LUKE 8:4-8

“GUARDING SOIL

LUKE 8:9-10

Assumptions block connection.

If you don’t understand the key to the parable, you don’t understand it at all. We can imagine what different people in Jesus’ audience might have thought when He taught this parable with no explanation. The farmer thought, “He’s telling me that I have to be more careful in the way I cast my seed. I guess I have wasted an awful lot.” The politician thought, “He’s telling me that I need to begin a farm education program to help farmers more efficiently cast their seed. This will be a big boost in my reelection campaign.” The newspaper reporter thought, “He’s telling me that there is a big story here about the bird problem and how it affects the farming community. That’s a great idea for a series in the newspaper.” The salesman thought, “He’s encouraging me in my fertilizer sales. Why, I could help that farmer more than he knows if he only used my product.” But none of them could understand the spiritual meaning until Jesus explained the key to them. If you miss the key, you miss the whole parable. If you think the seed represent money, you miss the parable. If you think the seed represents love, you miss the parable. If you think the seed represents hard work, you miss the parable. You can only understand it by understanding the key

WE ROB OURSELVES FROM A CONNECTION WITH GOD WHEN WE ASSUME THE MEANING OF HIS WORD.

‘When they look, they won’t really see.
When they hear, they won’t understand.”

“Every moment in God’s word is an opportunity to connect” Do you see God’s word in that way or do you see it as a chore or a mystery that you have to figure out on your own. The motivation of our heart towards God’s word is important because Jesus literally tells us it’s the posture of our heart that opens the door to understanding God’s word. Amen?

LUKE 8:11-15

Every single seed has the ability to produce a huge harvest.

THE ISSUE IS NOT WITH THE SEED; IT’S WITH THE SOIL.

THE FOOTPATH

GOD’S WORD + HARD HEART = NO UNDERSTANDING

THE ROCK

“There was something that they did not have in connection with the spirit of God, who waters the word. When we speak of spiritual dew, we refer to the operation of the Holy Spirit. When we talk of the river of the water of life, we mean those sacred things which come streaming down to us from the throne of God through the working of the Spirit of God.”

GOD’S WORD + STRIVING HEART = NO POWER

THE THORNS

GOD’S WORD + DISTRACTED HEART = STUNTED GROWTH

THE GOOD GROUND

GOD’S WORD + PURE HEART = GROWTH

GOD’S WORD GROWS IN GUARDED HEART

PROVERBS 4:23

Check-Heart Status

Is my heart hard or soft? (Do I really want to understand?)
Is my heart dry? (Am I relying on the Holy Spirit’s help or my own?)
Is my heart choked out? (Am I distracted?)
Is my heart pure? (Am I willing to hear, trust, obey, and be patient?)

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“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?’”

GENESIS 3:1

Apologetics: reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine
YOU HAVE AN ENEMY.
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE IS AND WHY YOU CAN RELY ON IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN ENEMY.”
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE IS AND WHY YOU CAN RELY ON IT BECAUSE 1 PETER 3:15”

Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

1 PETER 3:15

GOD WANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PEOPLE HE CREATED.
PEOPLE IN RELATIONSHIPS SELF-DEFINE.
“You can only be in a relationship with somebody who’s willing to tell you who they are.”
IT’S A GOD BOOK, NOT A MAN BOOK.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

2 TIMOTHY 3:16

“Our mission is to help people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.” - The Bible Project

WE ARE NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE; JESUS IS.
Historical/Narrative, The Law, Wisdom, Psalms/Poetry, Prophecy, Apocalyptic, Epistle, Gospel.
IT’S HISTORICALLY ACCURATE.

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a] with five covered porches.”

JOHN 5:1

“We learn that Jesus was a wise man who did surprising feats, taught many, won over many followers from among Jews and Greeks, was believed to be the Messiah, was accused by the Jewish leaders, was condemned to be crucified by Pilate, and was considered to be resurrected.”- Josephus (Jewish Historian)
“Nero inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class… called Christians. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.” -Tacitus (Roman Historian)
IT’S THE MOST RELIABLE.
“The New Testament is humanities most reliable document.”

IT’S PROPHETICALLY PERFECT

IT’S THE SAFEST PLACE

MATTHEW 7:24-27

GOD’S WORD IS THE SAFEST PLACE

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27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

JOHN 10:27

“IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW JESUS WITHOUT HIS WORD.”

JOHN 6:53-69

BECOMING STUDENTS OF THE WORD.

Student: any person who studies, investigates, or examines thoughtfully

60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you?

“Jesus understood the offence many of His listeners took at His teaching, yet He didn’t change the teaching or feel it was His fault. Jesus didn’t preach just to please His audience. If that was His concern, He would have instantly taken back what was just said, seeing His audience was offended. Jesus didn’t take it back. He challenged and confronted them even more.”

6 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

YOU WON’T FOLLOW JESUS AS AN OBSERVER

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.[j]”

RECOGNIZE I’M THE STUDENT.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

ISAIAH 55:8-9

As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him

PSALM 18:30

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

MATTHEW 24:25

SEEK TO UNDERSTAND

But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

JOHN 14:26

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

JOHN 16:12

CHOOSE TO STAY ANCHORED

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.[j]”

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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness

2 TIMOTHY 3:16

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

ISAIAH 40:8

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

HEBREWS 4:12

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

MATTHEW 4:18-22

“INVITATION TO GREATNESS”.

KALEO: to invite

Jesus invites them to step into GREATNESS.

KNOW GOD
HELP PEOPLE KNOW GOD
THE INVITE COMES DURING THE NORMAL
THE INVITE LACKS DETAILS
THE INVITE IS ALL YOU NEED.

may he equip you with all you need

for doing his will.

May he produce in you,[e]

through the power of Jesus Christ,

every good thing that is pleasing to him.

All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

HEBREWS 13:21

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Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Mark 6:5 he could do no mighty work there

Mark 6:4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without here it is honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

#1 Honor First

Proverbs 3:6 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

Matthew 6:33 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

#2 Honor Up

Romans 13:1 All authority comes from God

1 Peter 3:10 If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil.

Matthew 25:40 Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

How you honor people, is how you honor Jesus!

1 Peter 2:17 Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

#3 Honor Around

Hebrews 10:24-25 Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… encouraging one another.

James 1:19 slow to speak

#4 Honor Down

Matthew 10:42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

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we seek to put the person of God in everything we do.

As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

5 “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

EXODUS 3:2-5

“IN HIS PRESENCE”.

WE ARE SEEN

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

For 40 years Moses lived as an obscure shepherd in the desert of Midian. At this point his life was so humble that he didn’t even have a flock of sheep to call his own – the sheep belonged to his father-in-law.

You are important to God.

"But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

ISAIAH 43:1-2

7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

LUKE 12:7

WE ARE HUMBLED

5 “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

In this moment, Moses is invited to step into the revelation that the value of His life is not found in a pair of sandals, but in a God who knows His name…

WE ARE WASHED

4 So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. 5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”

8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.

Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

JOHN 13:4-8

“This was an immoderate modesty, a proud humility.”

Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them.

LUKE 22:24

Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

We are grateful Jesus did not say, If you do not have great holiness, you have no part with Me. We are happy He did not say, If you are not a Bible expert, you have no part with Me. Having a part with Jesus begins simply with receiving something from Him, not achieving something our self.

WE ARE SENT

Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

EXODUS 3:10

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YOUR DAD IS NOT LIKE DADDY GOD

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Romans 8:12–17 NLT

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 So 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.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

YOUR PART OF THE FAM (God’s Family)

OUR SINS WHERE NOT ONLY BOUGHT, WE HAVE BEEN ADOPTED

JESUS IS YOUR BIG BRO

YOU ARE A CO-HEIR WITH CHRIST

“In contrast with the control of sin, which enslaves to the point of fear, believers have received the Spirit of sonship. The word translated “sonship” means “placing as a son” and is frequently translated “adoption”. Believers are adopted sons, not slaves ; so they need not be enslaved to sin or in fear. In New Testament times adopted sons enjoyed the same privileges as natural-born sons. In many families children inherit their parents’ estates; each child is an heir and the children together are co-heirs. Since Christians are God’s children, they are His heirs , and they are co-heirs with Christ. They are recipients of all spiritual blessings now, and in the future they will share with the Lord Jesus in all the riches of God’s kingdom.

YOU CAN GO INTO DAD’S OFFICE

ABBA GOD IS APPROACHABLE

Romans 8:15 NLT

15 So 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.”

We experience a special relationship with God that people in the Bible before Jesus didn’t experience.

Hebrews 4:16 NLT

16 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.

YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A DAD

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GENESIS 22:1-14 (CSB)

PROVISION IS SEEING A NEED AND MEETING A NEED.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

PHILLIPIANS 4:19

GOD PROVIDES… PERIOD.

So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

“This does not mean that Abraham somehow knew this was only a test and God would not really require this of him. Instead, Abraham’s faith was in understanding that should he kill Isaac, God would raise him from the dead, because God had promised Isaac would carry on the line of blessing and the covenant.

Abraham knew anything was possible, but it was impossible that God would break His promise. He knew God was not a liar. To this point in Biblical history, we have no record of anyone being raised from the dead, so Abraham had no precedent for this faith, apart from God’s promise. Yet Abraham knew God was able. God could do it.”

GOD PROVIDES BECAUSE HE SEES THE NEED

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

PHILLIPIANS 4:19

GOD PROVIDES BECAUSE HE WANTS YOUR HEART

12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

MATTHEW 6:24

I ALLOW GOD TO BE JIREH IN MY LIFE WHEN:

I KNOW HIM

“Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

I TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY

12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

I NEED HIM

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

MATTHEW 6:25-34

"YOUR FATHER KNOWS YOU NEED HIM, DO YOU?”

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22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

JUDGES 6:22-24

THE PEACE OF GOD IS A PROMISE

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

JOHN 14:27-28

“He carefully described the peace as ‘My peace.’ His peace was a heart untroubled and unfearful in spite of all the suffering and conflict ahead of Him.” G. Campbell Morgan

USING THE CORRECT STANDARD OF MEASUREMENT IN ANY ASPECT OF LIFE IS IMPORTANT.

JUDGES 6:22-24

GIDEON BUILDS GOD AN ALTAR AND CALLS IT “THE LORD IS PEACE” BEFORE HE EVER EXPERIENCED THE VICTORY.

Peace: the absence of war (conflict), freedom from disturbances; tranquility

THE PEACE OF GOD IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF TROUBLE.

THE PEACE OF GOD IS GOD

22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you.

JUDGES 6:22-23

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

2 THESSALONIANS 3:16

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

ISAIAH 26:3

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

“STAYING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD IS A CHOICE JUST AS MUCH AS STAYING IN ANXIETY IS A CHOICE.”

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“We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God… If we were able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, ‘What comes to mind when you think about God?’ We might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.”

EXODUS 34:4-7

“Your name was your identity, your destiny, the truth hidden in the marrow of your bones. It was a one-word moniker for the truest thing about you - your inner essence. Your inner Tom-ness or Rut-ness.” JMC

“YOU NAME IS YOUR NATURE”
Abram to Abraham: “exalted Father” to “father of a multitude or father of many nations”
Saul to Paul: “small or humble”

EXODUS 3:9-14 (MSG)

YAHWEH IS GOD (AUTHORITY)

“Here’s how you know if you’ve created God in your own image: he agrees with you on everything. He hates all of the people you hate. He voted for the person you voted for. If you’re republican, so is he. If you’re a democrat, so is he. If you’re passionate about __________, then God is passionate about ___________. If you’re open and elastic about sexuality, so is he. And above all, he’s tame. You never get mad at him or blown away by him or scared of him. Because he’s controllable… And of course, he’s a figment of your imagination.”

The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me],
I shall not want.

He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.

He refreshes and restores my soul (life);
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the [sunless] [a]valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me

PSALM 23

“WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE NAME OF YAHWEH IS THAT HE IS GOD AND WE ARE NOT.” And that’s a lot better than you being god.

YAHWEH IS ALWAYS GOD (CONSISTENT)

12 “I’ll be with you,” God said. “And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain.”

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

JAMES 1:17

“WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE NAME OF YAHWEH IS THAT HE WILL DO WHAT HE SAID HE WILL DO.”

YAHWEH IS ABLE (POWERFUL)

But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

EXODUS 4:10-12

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

EPHESIANS 3:20-21

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But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”

19 “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20 “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” 21 But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.

JOHN 2:18-22

Message Title: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

"EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN I EXPERIENCED THE PROOF”

19 “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.

What is the thing that changed everything for the disciples? THE RESURRECTION.

The Resurrection of Jesus changes everything.

“Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no savior, no salvation, no forgiveness of sin, and no hope of resurrected eternal life. Apart from the resurrection, Jesus is reduced to yet another good but dead man and therefore is of no considerable help to us in this life or at its end. Plainly stated, without the resurrection of Jesus, the few billion people today who worship Jesus as God are gullible; their hope for a resurrection life after this is the hope of silly fools who trust in a dead man to give them life. Subsequently, the doctrine of Jesus’ resurrection is, without question, profoundly significant and worthy of the most careful consideration and examination.” - DOCTRINE.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-14

THE RESURRECTION IS YOUR RECEIPT

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

PSALM 103:12

THE RESURRECTION IS YOUR I.D.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

THE RESURRECTION IS YOUR DEGREE

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

ROMANS 8:28

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When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a] 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

LUKE 22:14-23

Message Title: WELCOME TO THE TABLE

“WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE COST OF THE MEAL, I MINIMIZE THE POWER OF THE MEAL.”

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

ISAIAH 53:6

“SIN IS ALWAYS INJUSTICE AGAINST SOMEONE. AND BECAUSE OF IT, JUSTICE HAS TO BE PAID.”

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

ISAIAH 53:5

“COMMUNION IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE MEAL YOU COULD EVER EAT.”

“COMMUNION IS SEAT AT THE TABLE WITH JESUS.”

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

LUKE 24:28-32

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“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

Luke 15:17-20

A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.

SHAME is a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by sin

Shame is the feeling the follows SIN

Sin we commit

Sin committed against us.

SHAME IS AN OVERWHELMING FEAR OF ABANDONMENT.

SHAME IS AN OVERWHELMING FEAR OF REJECTION.

SHAME IS AN OVERWHELMING BELIEF THAT I AM BROKEN.

“Shame says, ‘what happened determines who you are’.”

In other words, your action determine your identity…

SHAME HIDES ME FROM YOU

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 in the garden.

Genesis 3:8

“Shame only allows for surface level relationships”

SHAME LIES TO ME ABOUT ME

I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

Luke 15:17-20

Luke 22:54-62

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of [b]Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. - John 21:15-17

John 21:15-17

JESUS REDEEMS SIN

JESUS REVEALS PURPOSE

JESUS BORE SHAME

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

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EVERYONE IS EMOTIONAL

EMOTIONS ARE GOOD…

EMOTIONS ARE GOOD… WHEN THEY ARE SUBMITTED.

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

MATTHEW 11:1-6

Doubt: to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.

I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out[d] and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

MARK 9:17-24

Then Jesus came with them to a place called [a]Gethsemane, and told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;

MATTHEW 26:36-41

THE PRESENCE OF DOUBT IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FAITH.

WHAT DO WE DO?

CHOOSE TO BELIEVE BEFORE FEELING LIKE BELIEVING
SEEK GOD.

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed,

MATTHEW 26:36-41

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Everyone is emotional
Emotions are good
Emotions are good… when they are submitted
Emotions are bad when:
We live in them
We live apart from them

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. - Matthew 5:21-26

Anger is an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong.

ANGER CAN BE EXPRESSED.

Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

5 “Jesus the Nazarene,”[a] they replied.

“I am he,”[b] Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) 6 As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” 9 He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

JOHN 18:4-11

ANGER CAN BE SUPPRESSED.

And whether you choose to express or suppress, anger always leads to something…

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, - Ephesians 4:26

ANGER CAN LEAD TO SIN

ANGER CAN LEAD TO JUSTICE

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Panel style message with Pastor Jackson and our New Song Students leaders; Molly Ratliff, Eman Ratliff, and Annie Stuemky, answering questions submitted on relationships.

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When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

MARK 2:1-5 (NLT)

“A RIGHT relationship is a relationship God would want to be apart of. A relationship done God’s way.”

Right relationships are not focused on immediate options but on the end goal.
Right Relationships are willing to put in time and effort
Right Relationships don’t just focus on my needs but others needs.

There are “friends” who destroy each other,

but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

PROVERBS 18:24

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

JOHN 15:13

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f]

MATTHEW 22:37-39

RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS (aka: relationships done God’s way) focus on the end goal, put in time and effort, focus on others needs

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xo - a series on relationships

It's Up To Me!
Every Relationship has a specific culture
Culture is Moldable
Good Culture Must Be Forged

How Do We Have Healthy Culture?
1. KNOW IT
2. GUARD IT
3. REPEAT IT

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“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:3-6

YOU BELONG TO GOD.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5

“An idol is anything that we put over God and look towards to meet our needs.”

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Mark 10:17-25

IDOLS KEEP ME FROM PURSUING JESUS

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Matthew 6:24

IDOLS KEEP ME FROM HEARING JESUS’ TONE

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

IDOLS ARE RED FLAGS

‘He is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose’

Isaiah 44:28

GOING DEEPER

Jesus asked the rich young ruler to lay down his wealth to follow Him. What is something Jesus might as you to lay down?
Idols can be red flags of a deeper issue. What is the deeper issue of the thing that you mentioned?
What would it look for God to meet that need in your life instead of that thing?

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A FRESH PURSUIT. 🏎IN-PURSUIT // WK.01

Pursue: to follow (someone or something) in order to catch or attack them.

“it’s impossible to passively pursue”

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it[a] may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

1 Samuel 4:1-3

“THE ENEMY OF PURSUIT IS CHANCE”

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

Psalm 14:2

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

THE PURSUIT IS ON YOU.

instead of a fresh pursuit, they looked to old methods to solve their problems.

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

1 Chronicles 16:11

“All relationships require a fresh pursuit”

GOING DEEPER.

In what ways are you actively pursuing a deeper relationship with God right now?
Has there ever been a time in your life where you left something up to chance instead of seeking God’s direction? Share
What is one thing that you can intentionally do this year to make your pursuit towards God more aggressive?

New Song Students OKC: Recent Episodes

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