2008-02-28 - Power of Gratitude - Thank God Im a Country Boy What ever background we have, we can not change it Cultural heritage - Jesus from Galilee and Nazareth Job - Jesus was a carpenter son's Appearance - Jesus "nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2) Speech - Disciples "are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?" ( Acts 2:7 ) Why? "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise" (1 Corinthians 26-29) Jesus understands and sympathizes - No one knows more about temptation than he. Let he happy for how God made us and use it for his glory | ||||||
2008-03-22 - Be Still My Soul - The Pattern (Part 2) Our Father.
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2008-04-17 - Falling in Love with God - Experiencing the Spirit What does it mean to NOT experience the Spirit? Paul had six questions (Galatians 3:15)
Our works will never validate our relationship with God Only relying on the Spirit, can we feel free to have deepening relationship with God Spirit helps with: Help not have a heart of stone - Ezekiel 36:24-27 Speak to us not to fear - Haggai 2:1-5 Encourage one to return to God - Isaiah 44:22 No phone calls, sermon, nor spiritual book can move my heart live the Spirit Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing - John 6:63 We are never alone on this journey - constant source of strength, wisdom, truth, and refreshment | ||||||
2008-06-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Protecting Your Church It is your job to protect the unity of the church Supreme model for unity is the Trinity Jesus' final moment was thinking and praying about the church's unity Make every effort to keep the unity - Ephesians 4:3 Focus on what we have in common We share the same life, salvation, and same future Conflict - focused on "disputable matters" Be realistic in your expectations People become disillusioned with church Should not be surprised - made up of sinners, including ourselves - 1 Corinthians 1:10 Reconciliation - not running away - road to stronger character and deeper fellowship If the church must be perfect to satisfy you, that same perfection will exclude you Choose to encourage rather than criticize It is always easier to stand on the sidelines than get involved Judge another believer:
Satan is the accuser of our brothers Other Christians are not the real enemy Any time spent for comparing and criticizing should be used for building others up Refuse to listen to gossip People who gossip to you will also gossip about you Great wounds usually come from other sheep, not wolves Practice God's method for conflict resolution Go to the person you are having issues with - Matthew 18 Takes a man of courage to speak the truth in love Support your pastor and leaders - Hebrews 13:17 No perfect leaders They are accountable but so are you You will give an account on how you obeyed your leaders | ||||||
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 | ||||||
2008-07-14 - Purpose Driven Life - Sharing Your Message (Godly Passions) God passionately loves some things and passionately hates things other thing The closer you are to God - you will share these view Jesus - Man's heart determines his speech - Matthew 12:34 David - Zeal for God's work burn within him - Psalms 69:9 Jeremiah - Cannot keep silent - Jeremiah 20:9 Are defend the defenseless, those who can not speak for themselves Should not expect everyone to have the exact same passion as you It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good - Galatians 4:18 | ||||||
2008-07-16 - 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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2008-08-18 - 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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2008-10-04 - Man of Prayer - Authentic Encounter Must be an authentic encounter, not just a religious experience Imagine a small Aramaic child calling for his daddy Imagine Jesus holding you We live in a noisy culture Noise becomes background noise and without it, we can feel lost or anxious No wonder we do not allow God to speak to us When the disciples prayed, Hallowed be your name, it was to focus on God above all else Second section of prayer taught by Jesus in Luke 11, starts tomorrow | ||||||
2008-10-15 - Man of Prayer - Understanding the Kingdom In the New Testament, kingdom is used from the Greek word basileai Refers to "realm" of a king Westerners think "kingdom speaks of geography Biblical times emphasized "reign" or "dominion" = wherever the king reigns The kingdom is within you - Luke 17:21 Seek first His kingdom (not a piece of real estate) - Matthew 6:33 God ultimately reigns over the entire universe but for the moment God does not reign everywhere on earth Until then we must pray to advance God's kingdom everywhere | ||||||
2008-10-29 - Man of Prayer - The Reality of Sin Differences in speaking of sin in prayer "forgive us our trespasses" Sermon of the Mount - Matthew 6:12 Jesus speaking to a rather large crowd Trespasses meaning a violation without willful understanding our sinning "forgive us our sins" Lord's Prayer - Luke 11:4 Jesus praying with the twelve disciples Sin = hamartia - meaning missing the mark Either way is sin and forces us to get honest with God and ourselves | ||||||
2008-11-14 - Man of Prayer - Meditation One may ask, where is the quiet listening part of prayer in this book God encourages us to be still and know that he is God - Psalms 46:10 Mature prayer is not intended to be a monologue, but a dialogue Christian meditation and Eastern meditation has to do with is in our minds as meditate Biblically based contemplation and meditation seeks not to empty the mind but fill it | ||||||
2009-01-07 - Raising Awesome Kids - Devotion to Church Love the brotherhood - 1 Peter 2:17 If you have a positive, loving attitudes about the church, your kids will too If you notice that things were not done excellently - pitch in and help make it better Teach your kids to respect their Bible class teachers If you have problem with someone - don't speak inappropriately in front of your kids
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2009-01-13 - Raising Awesome Kids - Openness Instead, speak the truth in love - Ephesians 4:15 An open family is a close family Children should believe that we care enough to give them our full attention; will not fly off the handle Openness is not limited to parents and children - includes the children with one another King Saul - filled with jealousy and envy and held in his feelings Parent should be concerned for a child that holds everything in | ||||||
2009-02-15 - Jesus with People - Widows Financial Sacrifice Mark 12:41-44 Without ever speaking to her, he made her gift he biblical standard for financial sacrifice She gave all she had to live on - Luke 21:4 Being a widow at that time, she likely had no income Probably hungry and surely without financial hope He faith in God was evident in her action Bible does not tell us what happened to her - we can know that GOd took care of her needs - Matthew 6:25-26 | ||||||
2009-06-30 - A Life of Impact - Dream Shared Dream Shared Mark 4:26-32
Choice words Mark 4:33-34
Actions speak louder
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2009-07-01 - A Life of Impact - Power Power Mark 5:1-17
Fearlessness
Spectacular Deeds
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2009-07-04 - A Life of Impact - Amazing Speech Amazing Speech Mark 6:1-6 Suspicions and fear can evaporate because of love and openness 1. Deep Conviction
2. Passion - If the speaker isn’t moved by the message, how can he expect it to move anyone else? 3. Integrity - Speaker must take plank out of their own eye before one can challenge other on the same topic 4. Person to person
5. Inspirational
6. Practical
7. Meet the Need - Out of touch with the needs on the audience can actually make things worst then they are. | ||||||
2009-07-05 - A Life of Impact - Patience and Challenger Mark 6:1-6 Patience
Challenger
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2009-08-30 - Wild at Heart - Question that haunts every man (part 4) Eve (helper or lifesaver)– fails her design too Eve is deceived Eve was convicted that God was withholding something from her Now every daughter of Eve wants control her surroundings
We are hiding - not what we are meant to be - afraid of exposure | ||||||
2009-09-11 - Wild at Heart - False self (part 2) Enemy always tempts us to take back control and to recover and rebuild false self We must remember that it is out of love God stops our imposter God disciplines those he loves, do not lose heart - Hebrews 12:5-6 We must walk away from the false self Simply accept the invitation to leave all that we’ve relied on and venture out with God No clue to what your false self may be?
If you dominate meetings - sense of worth Do you face fears head on? Losing false self is painful Like losing a close friend Journey has pain but is toward freedom, healing, and authenticity | ||||||
2009-09-22 - Wild at Heart - The Enemy (part 3) Walk right into those situations you normally run from Speak right to the issues normally remain silent over If you want to grow in masculine strength, then stop sabotaging yours. Being wronged and saying that is OK, but furious inside This will push your strength down and eventually you will believe you do not have any. When you deny your anger, it turns to fear Sabotage also happens when we give our strength away Taking a bribe, refusing to confront an issue, sexual sin Sexual struggle is sin and a battle for his strength Start choosing to live out your strength and you’ll discover that it grows each time Stand your ground and begin to taste your true strength and you’ll want more Our strength is will and fierce and we are more than unsettled by what may happen if we let it arrive “I’m afraid I will do something bad if I let all this show up” – You will do something bad if you don’t Man’s addictions are a result of his refusing his strength Let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it | ||||||
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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2009-10-06 - One Another - Speaking the Truth in Love Speaking the truth in love - Ephesians 4:15 Really what admonishing and good couching is Not speaking harshly or with anything other than their good in mind Example of any area of life to talk about:
Input not to stand in judgment but help one another to be transformed |