2008-07-05 - Purpose Driven Life - Gods Power in My Weakness (part 1) God loves weak people and everyone has weaknesses We usually deny, defend, excuse, hide and resent weaknesses God wants to use our strengths and weaknesses - 1 Corinthians 1:27 Admit your weaknesses Might be a good idea to list them Two great confessions:
Be content with your weaknesses I am glad about my weaknesses, so the power of Christ may work - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Reasons to be content:
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2008-07-07 - Purpose Driven Life - Gods Power in My Weakness (part 3) Honestly share your weaknesses Paul modeled vulnerability:
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2008-07-08 - Purpose Driven Life - Gods Power in My Weakness (part 4) We are naturally drawn to humble people If people see your strengths but not your weakness, they can not relate
Decide wheather you want to impress people or influence people Glory in your weakness When Satan points out your weakness, agree with him and praise Jesus - 2 Corinthians 12:5 "If you want to be blessed by God and use you greatly, you must learn to walk with a limp" - Joacb | ||||||
2008-07-09 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 1) Your mission is both shared and specific Mission = Latin word for "sending" As the Father has sent me, I am sending you - John 20:21 Jesus understood he was on a mission:
We have been sent to speak for Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:20 Your mission is a continuation of Jesus' mission on earth He call us not only to come to him but go for him | ||||||
2008-07-10 - Purpose Driven Life - Made for a Mission (part 2) Your mission is a wonderful privilege
Telling others how they can have eternal is the best thing you can do If have the cure for AIDs, you would share it You just have to remember the hopeless you felt without Christ Your mission has eternal significance Impact the eternal destiny of other people Consequences will last for ever; consequences of your job will not All of us must quickly carry our tasks; all work comes to an end - John 9:4 | ||||||
2008-07-16 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 2) Shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking Stop thinking like children (thinking like only of self), and like like mature people (grown ups) - 1 Corinthians 14:20 Most advertising encourages selfish thinking To make the paradigm switch to mature thinking - need to dependence of God God has given us his Spirit so we don't think like the world thinks - 1 Corinthians 2:12 Shift from local thinking to global thinking God so loved the world... - John 3:16 God made all the nations and where they would be, so we would look for him - Acts 17:26-27 The world already thinks globally: business, competition, and news If you ask me, I will give you the nations - Psalms 2:8 What should we pray for?
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2008-07-17 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 3) Shift from "here and now" thinking to eternal thinking Eternal thinking will keep us from majoring on minor issues We fix our eyes on what is unseen - 2 Corinthians 4:18 Deal sparingly on things the world trusts on you - 1 Corinthians 7:31 Let's strip off anything that holds us back - Hebrews 12:1 Invest in the future (in heaven) Store up treasure in heaven - Matthew 6:20-21 Real treasure in God in heaven and the friends we can bring with us - 1 Timothy 6:19 | ||||||
2008-07-18 - Purpose Driven Life - Balancing Your Life (part 1) God 5 purposes for your life:
Churches do the same thing Habits to stay on track: Talk it through in a spiritual group Helps you to internalize information Helps with accountability - Iron sharpens iron - Proverbs 27:17 Helps you put in the practice what you learned - Philippians 4:9 Helps encourage each other - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Give yourself a regular checkup Test yourself - 2 Corinthians 13:5 Take a look at the way you are living - Lamentations 3:40 | ||||||
2008-07-20 - Purpose Driven Life - Lifes 5 Greatest Questions
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2008-07-25 - 30 Days at the Cross - Always Remembering Passover - it meant freedom for the Jews (from Egypt) It was a new relationship with God and man Jesus: with my life and death, you have a new relationship, now remember this In the midst of our activities and pressure of life, we forget:
He took bread and gave thanks for this very reason - Luke 22:19 Give thanks and examine yourself - 1 Corinthians 11:28 | ||||||
2008-07-26 - 30 Days at the Cross - Wisdom and Power of God Will the cross ever make sense to the world? Will all the wisdom of the world, no one has found God Jews sought a miracle worker general ignoring scriptures like Isaiah 53 God's plan was never to impress prideful scholars or to find acceptance among the rulers of the ages Some things never change:
Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing God didn't come to impress the world. Are you? | ||||||
2008-07-27 - 30 Days at the Cross - Who Gets the Credit? How quick human nature is to accept credit for certain accomplishments I will not boast about myself, except my weaknesses (Paul) - 2 Corinthians 12:5 Why boast about our weaknesses?
Who would want the power of God? A person that truly boasts in the cross does not:
Jesus could keep a full record of your credits and debts - but do you want that? sin and all? Are you trying to earn your salvation | ||||||
2008-08-07 - 30 Days at the Cross - Spectators or Sacrifices Sacrifice - we think of pain, suffering, loss, and the uncomfortable concept of denying self Sacrifice is a voluntary presentation of ourselves to God to be used for his purposes We can respond in serveral ways to the sacrifice of Jesus:
Christ love needs to compel us - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 What happens when you offer your body as a living sacrifice?
What types of sacrifices is God asking of you right now? | ||||||
2008-08-18 - 30 Days at the Cross - Turning the Tables Jesus came to turn the tables on Satan
When he died, almost everyone thought evil won Satan pulled out all the stops. 7 moves to turn the tables:
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2008-08-30 - Teach Us To Pray - God Enjoys Talking to Us To truely know him, we must absorb his Word God's Word was written with one purpose in mind - to communicate God's love:
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2008-09-15 - Teach Us To Pray - Changes in Character Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place - Psalms 51:6 Character can grow if we take a sober gut-level check look at who we are Too often we pray:
When we aim at nothing, that is what we hit The word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart - Hebrews 4:12-13 Like a mirror reflecting how we look spiritually - James 1:23-25 We also learn the truth about ourselves from other people in our lives - Proverbs 20:5 Ask God to help you see what you need to change Ask others what things they see in your sinful nature How badly do you want to change? It will show by the way you pray My power is made perfect in weakness - 2 Corinthians 12:9 | ||||||
2008-09-18 - Teach Us To Pray - Courage and Boldness Prayer reminds us God is in control It is his battle, I belong to God, and God will make me successful God will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear - 1 Corinthians 10:13 To pray for boldness and courage:
God's work cannot be done in this world without courage | ||||||
2008-09-20 - Teach Us To Pray - Power for our weakness Weakness include:
Prayer is simply the key that unlocks the door to God's free reign in our lives He reigns whether we like it or not, but he will not take away our free will - we have to surrender it Getting rid of weakness is not the point - it to humbly submit yourself to God, depend on his power, and to rely on his strength | ||||||
2008-09-23 - Teach Us To Pray - Going Through the Open Door Luke 11:9-10 - Asking, Seeking, and Knocking as three separate commands to be obeyed The idea of the door being opened is associated with God-given opportunity - 1 Corinthians 2:12 The rest of the chapter is about how God worked in the author's life, opening doors. | ||||||
2008-10-06 - Man of Prayer - YHWH-tsidkenu YHWH-tsidkenu means "the Lord our righteousness" Remembering Jesus' name in Hebrew Ya'shua which means "God is salvation" Thank God that I had no righteous of my own, Jesus died for me - source of my righteousness Pause to think about what Christ has done for me | ||||||
2008-10-08 - Man of Prayer - YHWH-shamma God is "the Lord who is present" He has a great desire to dwell in the lives of believers:
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2008-11-20 - Raising Awesome Kids - Father as Leader Husband is the head - Ephesians 5:23 You, as the father, are in charge - it is wrong not to lead Men and women are equal but have different roles Christ is head of the husband who is head of his wife - 1 Corinthians 11:3 We hurt ourselves and those close to us when we ignore or distort God's plan | ||||||
2008-11-28 - Raising Awesome Kids - Encouragement and Inspiration Fathers deals with his children with encouragement, comforting, and urgency of lives worthy of God - 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 Life is hard, especially for kids - easy to lose heart There is a immense power in a father's encouragement Young Timothy -
By his encouragement, Timothy became the dynamic leader of the huge and powerful Ephesus church It is our jobs as fathers to assess our children's talents and gift and help them to excel in them Be a great inspirer and encourager of your children Let it be you who thinks they are great and who picks them up when they fall | ||||||
2008-11-30 - Raising Awesome Kids - Have Fun, Be Hip What is wrong with having fun? Nothing! Jesus was a fun person:
If we are fun people, our kids will have fun If we let them have fun they will love our leadership You need to be hip to what is happening We show love when we are interested in someone else's world Be coming all things to all men - 1 Corinthians 9:22 Take a look at the current youth scene and not ridicule it Confront the sin but accept the style | ||||||
2008-12-01 - Raising Awesome Kids - Love Love is of first importance. All else is secondary. Above all we should have love - 1 Peter 4:8 Lack of love, we are nothing - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 We may lavish upon our children the finest things but if we do not make them feel loved, it is all to no avail If there is closeness and love between us and our kids, we have a place to stand and start for the battle of their hearts Build our families on love and our kids will be strong Kids are born with the capacity to love, but not all learn how | ||||||
2009-01-11 - Raising Awesome Kids - Repect: Eliminate Critical, Harsh Talk Reckless words pierce like a sword - Proverbs 12:18 A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor - Proverbs 11:12 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your months - Ephesians 4:29-32 So thing we just plain need to get rid of: Harsh words Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken - Matthew 12:36-37 Name calling Would you use the same words if Jesus was in the room? Let that be the test. Rudeness Love is not rude - 1 Corinthians 13:5 Get rid of all actions, looks, and expression related God hate haughty eyes - Proverbs 6:16-17 These are signs of disrespect Recognize > Confront > Eliminate from their behavior | ||||||
2009-02-02 - Jesus with People - Seeing and Not Seeing Luke 7:36-50 - Simon, I have something to tell you Jesus is able to cut through the muck - right to the heart He had outspoken clarity - Luke 7:40 In truth Simon saw neither the woman or himself for how they really were Jesus did see the woman - Her sin was obvious as her brokenness He actions came from her new sense of reality Once she saw Jesus, she responded the only way she could have - compelled by love - 2 Corinthians 5:14 Jesus' words should have cut Simon deeply - But he who has been forgiven little lives little He wants to have a relationship with us Think of trying to have a relationship with ant - talking with it, caring for it and especially dying for it - it is unfathomable! How many times did Jesus change people's view if God? Who am I most like: Simon or the sinful woman? | ||||||
2009-02-17 - Jesus with People - Widows Physical Sacrifice Physical sacrifice is central to our commitment to Jesus Physically, priorities must be set, reexamined and set again God will help us discern what we can give physically God is capable of giving his strength when ours is failing Paul learned to rely on the Lord through physical suffering - 2 Corinthians 1:3-9 God grace is sufficient Each of us, with the help of God must live physically sacrificial lives daily - Philippians 2:12 Sacrifice is our act of worship - Romans 12:1 | ||||||
2009-02-27 - Promises of God - Standing on Promises For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all "Yes" in Christ - 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 Promises from others and one we have made > can make us highly skeptical about promises They represent efforts to pacify us at the moment; the promiser does not usually have to fulfill the promise immediately Does he promise and not fulfill? - Numbers 23:19 God fulfills his promises - every last one of them God is:
A promise from God is as good as fact | ||||||
2009-03-14 - Promises of God - Not tempted Beyond What You Can Bear He will not let be tempted beyond what yo can bear - 1 Corinthians 10:13 God has not promised that we will not be tempted - James 1:13-15 No situation will ever be too difficult. God simply will not allow it. There is never an excuse for sin. Jesus is our ultimate example He himself suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted - Hebrews 2:18 | ||||||
2009-03-20 - Promises of God - Lord Delivers May have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all - Psalms 34:19 Three types of trouble:
Our job is to trust God - John 14:1, 27 He may deliver us from trouble or he may deliver us by using the trouble to teach us important lessons Our eternal glory far out weights our momentary troubles - 2 Corinthians 4:17 | ||||||
2009-03-21 - Promises of God - Formidable Foe We have a common enemy that must be overcome Described as:
He blinds the minds of individuals - 2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan takes people captive - 2 Timothy 2:26 But there is one greater... | ||||||
2009-03-28 - Promises of God - Heal Your Broken Heart Servants of God will face various types of injustice:
His is "the God of all comfort" - 2 Corinthians 1:3 | ||||||
2009-04-01 - Promises of God - No Disappointment No one will be disappointed in heaven No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him - 1 Corinthians 2:9 Not even the most creative can envision No analogy can really do it justice No metaphor for it will ever be good enough Boredom will be as absent in heaven as sorrow, pain, and tears Jesus said he came to give us life to the full - John 10:10 Started hear on earth in his kingdom on earth It will be a blast, a feast It will never end Our new birth brings us into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven - 1 Peter 1:4 | ||||||
2009-04-02 - Promises of God - Work That Is Worth It An old criticism of Christians: Too heavenly minded that they are no good on earth Seem to spend so much dreaming of heaven and not working on solving the earth's problems This was never God's idea Prepare your minds for action - 1 Peter 1:13 Setting our minds on the amazing blessings is a powerful encouragement for us to work hard and give our best effort now Is it worth saying "No" to sin? Just consider heaven! Worth it to giving to the poor? Just consider heaven! Worth staying in the race when it gets difficult? Just consider heaven! Worth blood, sweat, tears to help other to know God? Just consider heaven! Your labor in the Lord is not in vain - 1 Corinthians 15:58 | ||||||
2009-04-07 - Promises of God - Labor that is in Vain Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because your labor in the Lord is not in vain - 1 Corinthians 15:58 Labor that is in vain:
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2009-04-12 - Promises of God - God is Still Faithful You gave into the temptation again, you sinned It is the same one and you have never been able to completely conquer this one area of your life What are your options?
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2009-04-13 - Promises of God - God Passes the Test God Passes the Test:
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2009-04-16 - Promises of God - Never Give Up Never give up - Hebrews 10:35-39 Why?
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2009-04-24 - Why We Need The Bible - Help Keep One Saved Paul emphasized this value of the Scriptures
The saving value of the Word of God is for both young and old
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2009-04-25 - Why We Need Jesus - He Reconciles Us to God HE RECONCILES US TO GOD...
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2009-05-22 - No one like him - Kingdom Attitudes (part 2) Those who mourn After seeing the impact and the hurt we have caused - Having godly sorrow - 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 Taking ownership The Meek No one wants to be meek Meekness - horse that has been broken Gentle, Humble, Teachable Defensive spirit gone We must remember we have been cleansed from our past sins - 2 Peter 1:9 "will inherited the earth" - will make the most of our lives on this earth | ||||||
2009-06-11 - One Another - Correction Needed There were a lot of relationship issues that needed to be corrected in first book of Corinthians:
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2009-09-24 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 5) Not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you
Who caused the Chaldeans to steal Job’s herds – Satan Job 12,17 Anaias and Sapphira – Satan Heartache keeps us from praying Satan is behind that brutal assault on your on strength There is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes of our lives than most of us have been led to believe Behind the world and the flesh is an event more deadly enemy, one we rarely speak of and are even less ready to resist | ||||||
2009-09-25 - One Another - Making it Clear
Relationships that are conducted according to the world's wisdom - have some element of self in mind Relationships in God's grace have in mind: God's grace to us and our need to pass grace on to others World teaches to be independent / We belong to one another - Romans 12:5
If living with worldly wisdom then we will:
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2009-09-30 - One Another - Greet One Another Greeting seems to be pretty important aspect of relationships in the NT:
Need to show each other they are welcomed, loved and accepted - not just saying "I accept you" roboticly Challenge for all of us is to really communicate the heart of love and acceptance Identify 2 or 3 people that you have a hard time "accepting" Will you be comfortable saying "God judge me just as I judge them"? | ||||||
2009-11-24 - Master Plan - Selection (part 3) Few were converted in His lifetime.
Everything that is done with the few is for the salvation of the multitudes. Modern Practicals
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2009-12-23 - First the Kingdom - The Only Door (part 2) More examples of spiritual beggars: Mary
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2009-12-25 - First the Kingdom - A Choice Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted - Matthew 5:4 Jesus speaks primarily of a spiritual morning by choice Other options, could choose to:
Godly sorrow brings repentance, leading to salvation - 2 Corinthians 7:10 | ||||||
2009-12-27 - First the Kingdom - Ease of Meekness Generally, being meek is not appealing Meek is equated with weak - but this is not true Greek word for "meek" - used to describe a stallion once it had been broken and had become teachable We can be become meek if we confront our sin and experience godly sorrow In the Bible, meekness is associated with humility and gentleness This meekness has no relation to a timid or retiring character It is: I need God and am totally open to whatever Moses was said to be very meek - Numbers 12:3 Jesus himself was said to be meek - 2 Corinthians 10:1 |