March 26 2017 Faith And The Deeper Life

FAITH AND THE DEEPER LIFE

Mark 11:11-25

Verse 22 - Have Faith in God.

1. Life in the deeper life involves character.

Verse 11 - He looked around at everything.

Verse 15 - Jesus entered the Temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling.

I Peter 2:5 - You also, like living stones, are being built into a Spiritual house.

2. Life in the deeper life shows concern.

Verse 13-14 - Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had fruit. When he reached it, however, he found nothing but leaves because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again.

Verse 15 - Jesus began driving out those who were buying and selling there.

Jude 1:12 - They are clouds without rain.

I Thess. 2:8 - We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our lives as well.

3. Life in the deeper life eliminates confusion.

Verse 22 - Therefore I tell you whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it will be yours.

Verse 26 - And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven my forgive you your sins.

4. Life in the deeper life includes accountability.

Verse 13 - Seeing the fig tree in the distance, he went to find out if it had any fruit.

The Psalmist said: Where can I go from His presence?

June 12 2016 Reviving Prayer That Works

REVIVING PRAYER THAT WORKS

Does God Promise To Answer Everyone’s Prayer?

Five Conditions:

1. You must have an honest relationship with God.

John 15:7 – If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.

Three Evaluation Questions

• Have I refused to admit my wrongs?

Psalm 66:18 – If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

Isaiah 59:2 – But your iniquities have separated you from your God.

Proverbs 28:13 – He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

1 John 1:8-9 – If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.

• Am I ignoring any of God’s principles?

1 John 3:21-23 – Dear Friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.  And this is His command, to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commanded us.

• Do I want God’s will for my life?

1 John 5:14-15 – This is the assurance we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of Him.

2. You must have a forgiving attitude towards other people. 

Mark 11:24-25 – Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours, and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.

Hebrews 12:15 – See to it, that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

1 Peter 3:7 – Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

3. You must be willing to share the results.

Proverbs 21:13 – If a man shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, he too will not be answered.

1 John 3:17 – (Giving to those in need.)

James 4:3 – (Asking with right motives.)

4. You must believe that God will answer.

James 5:5-8 – But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt.

Mark 9:29 – According to your faith, it will be done unto you.

5. Pray in Jesus name.

John 14:13-14 – And I will do whatever you ask in my Name, you may ask me for anything in my Name and I will do it.

March 20 2016 The Word Of Trust

THE WORD OF TRUST

Luke 23:46-49

Verse 46 – Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.”

1. Christ was committed to prayer.

Mark 14:38 – Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.

Mark 11:24 – Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it will be yours.

2. Christ was committed to the scriptures.

Psalm 31:5 – Into Your hands I commit My Spirit.

Psalm 118:11 – I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.

3. The commitment of Christ brought peace.

Verse 46 – Into Your hands I put Myself.

2 Timothy 1:12 – I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.

John 15:5 – I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from Me you can do nothing.

4. Christ’s commitment set an example.

1 Peter 2:21 – Because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.

2 Corinthians 5:19 – He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

5. We need a commitment of trust.

His hands are big enough to bless us.

Psalm 139:5 – You both precede and follow me.  You place Your hand of blessing on my head.

His hands are scarred enough never to forget you.

Isaiah 49:15 – Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne.  Though she may forget, I will not forget, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands.

His hands are strong enough to hold us steady.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 – I think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard time we went through in Asia.  We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it.  We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves, but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for He can even raise the dead.

March 6 2016 Daring To Wait On God

DARING TO WAIT ON GOD

Daring Faith: The Key To Miracles – Part 9

“God does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is

WHAT TO REMEMBER WHILE WAITING ON GOD

1. REMEMBER THERE’S A NATURAL DELAY BETWEEN PLANTING & HARVESTING!

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . . . A time to plant and a time to harvest . . . a time to scatter and a time to gather . . .” 

2. REMEMBER THERE’S AN UNSEEN BATTLE GOING ON.

“We are not struggling and fighting against human beings but against evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm—the rulers, authorities, and powers of darkness.” 

3. REMEMBER GOD IS PREPARING ME FOR HIS BLESSING

“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These troubles test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure, just as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.” 

“Waiting does not diminish us any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We don’t see what is enlarging us, but the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, when we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He prays in us and for us . . .He knows us far better than we know ourselves, and knows our pregnant condition . . . That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:24-28

4. REMEMBER I’M IN GOOD COMPANY WHEN WAITING ON GOD

 “People who lived in the past became famous because of their faith.”

5. REMEMBER GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES!

God says, “At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting—it will happen!” Habakkuk 2:3 (CEV) 

WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING ON God

1. WRITE DOWN THE LESSONS I’M LEARNING

“At the Lord’s direction, Moses kept a written record of their progress.” Numbers 33:2a (NLT)

“Remember what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with him.” Deuteronomy 11:2a (TEV) 

2. ACT AS THOUGH I ALREADY HAVE IT

Jesus said, “I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 (NIV) 

3. IMITATE THE HABITS THAT GROW STRONG FAITH

“We do not want you to become lazy, but to IMITATE those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” Hebrews 6:12 (NIV) 

Paul: “KEEP ON putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing.”  Philippians 4:9a (NLT) 

DON’T put my life on hold.

• KEEP ON  PRAYING

“Keep on asking, and you WILL be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you WILL find. Keep on knocking, and the door WILL be opened!” Matthew 7:7 (NLT) 

• KEEP ON SERVING

“Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.”  Romans 12:11 (NLT)

• KEEP ON GOING TO CHURCH

“Don’t give up your habit of meeting with other believers. Instead keep on encouraging each other!” Hebrews 10:25 

• KEEP ON SOWING

“Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which ones will grow—perhaps they all will!” Ecclesiastes 11:6 (LB)

• KEEP ON BELIEVING

“You must keep on believing the things you have been taught. You know they are true . . .” 2 Timothy 3:14 (LB)

TRUST GOD INSTEAD OF PANICKING

“Even when I am afraid, I keep on trusting you.” Psalm 56:3 (CEV)

January 3 2016 What Happens When You Have Faith

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE FAITH

Daring Faith: Key To Miracles - Part 1

Romans 1:17 “The Gospel shows us how God makes people right with himself—that it begins and ends with FAITH. The Scripture says those who are right with God will live by trusting in Him.”

Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

FAITH IS seeing from God's point of view. 

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen and to be certain of things we do not yet see.”

Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart will be flooded with light so that you can see the wonderful future God has promised to those he called . . .” 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SEE

(Numbers 13-14 - Spying out the Promised Land)

WITH EYES OF FEAR?

1. WE EXAGGERATE our difficulties

Numbers 13:27b “It’s a magnificent land BUT the people living there are powerful, and their cities are fortified and large! What’s more, we saw Anakim giants there!” -28

Numbers 13:31-32 “. . . other spies said, “They’d crush us!” So the majority report of the spies was negative.”

2. WE UNDERESTIMATE our own abilities

“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:33

3. WE get discouraged

“Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they carried on all night!” Numbers 14:1

4. WE START TO to gripe about our life

Numbers 14:2 “All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron . . . ‘We wish we had died in Egypt!’ they wailed, ‘Or even here in the wilderness!’”

5. WE EVENTUALLY give up and we blame God.

Numbers 14:3 “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to be killed with swords . . . We’d be better off going back to Egypt!”

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SEE WITH EYES OF FAITH?

1. FAITH shrinks my problem

Genesis 18:14a “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God!”

2. FAITH opens the door for a miracle

Mark 11:22-24 Jesus said, “Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and you don’t doubt, you could tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it would. Whatever you ask for in prayer will be yours, IF you only have the faith.”

3. FAITH moves God to act on my Behalf

Matthew 9:29 Jesus said, “According to your faith it will be done to you.” 

4. FAITH unlocks all the promises of God

2 Corinthians 1:20a “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all ‘Yes’ in Christ!”

5. FAITH turns God-given dreams into reality

Ephesians 3:20 (LB) “Glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us, is able to do FAR

MORE than we would ever DARE TO ASK or even DREAM of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes!” 

6. FAITH GIVES ME  power to hold on in tough times. 

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NLT) “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we’re not crushed and broken. We’re perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We’re attacked but God never abandons us.

We get knocked down, but we get up and keep going!”

John 3:16 (CEV) “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life.” 

How To Grow In Your Faith during the DARING FAITH SERIES

1. Listen to all 10 Weekend Messages of the campaign.

2. Carry the weekly Bible verse with you.

3. Set 3 faith goals for growing, giving, and going.