May 22 2016 Your Guilt And God's Love

YOUR GUILT AND GOD’S LOVE

Psalm 32:3-5 – When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

1 John 4:18 – Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

What To Do About It:

1. Trust God to forgive you.

Romans 3:23-24 – All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet now God declares us not guilty.  If we trust in Jesus Christ, Who in kindness freely takes away our sins.

2. Learn to forgive yourself.

Proverbs 4:25 – Look straight ahead with honest confidence, don’t hang your head in shame.

3. Rely on God’s grace.

Psalm 119:96 – Nothing is perfect except (God’s) Word.

Psalm 103:13-14 – As a Father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor Him. He knows what we are made of, He remembers that we are but dust.

Romans 8:31 – There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

4. Stop the negative self talk.

Proverbs 4:23 – Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Job 9:20 – (Job) Everything I say seems to condemn me.

Philippians.4:8 – Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right, think about all you can thank God for and be glad about.

5. Remember you can’t please everybody.

Proverbs 29:25 – It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you.

6. Commit yourself to doing God’s Will.

Matthew 11:29-30 – (Jesus) Come to Me, all you who are tired from carrying your heavy loads, and I will give you res.  The yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.

March 13 2016 Daring To Go In Faith

photodune-7497824-holy-bible-m.jpg

DARING TO GO IN FAITH

Daring Faith: The Key To Miracles – Part 9

Two of the words that summarize Jesus’ message are: come & go

Matthew 11:28-30 (CEV) Jesus: “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, COME TO ME and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” 

Luke 7:50 Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you. NOW GO!”

Memory Verse: James 2:17 “Any faith that doesn’t lead us to GO INTO ACTON with good deeds is worthless, dead and useless!”

DARING FAITH IS ABOUT A PARTY THAT WILL LAST FOREVER:

Luke 14:16-20"A very powerful and generous man prepared a great banquet and invited many prominent guests. When it was ready he sent his servant to GO AND TELL those invited to ‘COME, for everything is now ready!’ But they all began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I’ve just bought a field, and I must go see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I’ve just acquired five pair of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ When the servant reported this, the Owner of the Estate became angry and told his servant, ‘GO QUICKLY into the streets and alleys of our city and BRING IN the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame as my guests!’ The servant said, ‘Master, we’ve already done this, but there is STILL ROOM FOR MORE in your banquet!’ The Master said, ‘Then now GO OUT OF OUR CITY to the roads and country lane, GO EVERYWHERE and INVITE EVERYONE TO COME so that my house will be full! I promise you this: not one of those people who ignored my invitation will ever get to taste what I had prepared for them!’" 

I must GO. . .to obey GOd. . . to do GOod. . . to live the GOspel. . .to become GOdly. . . to reach my GOals . . . to share the GOod News!

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

1. WE ARE GOING TO  GO TO GOD FOR HELP

1 Chronicles 16:11 (TEV) “GO TO THE LORD for help, and worship him continually.” 

Psalm 34:10 (ICB) “Those who GO TO THE LORD for help will have every good thing.” 

Psalm 37:40 (TEV) “God helps them and rescues them and saves them from the wicked, because they

2. WE ARE GOING TO GO TOGETHER FOR SUPPORT

Acts 14:22“(Paul & Barnabas) strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith, reminding them that we must GO THROUGH many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." 

Philippians 1:27 - 2:2 (NLT) “ . . . I want to hear that you are working together and that you are struggling side by side to get others to believe the good news . . . Don’t be intimidated by those who oppose you . . .You have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this fight TOGETHER . . . (so keep on) loving one another, and working together with one

3. WE ARE GOING TO GO ON TO MATURITY

Hebrews 6:1 (NIV) “Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and GO ON TO MATURITY . . .”

2 Peter 1:8 (LB) “The more you GO ON in this way, the more you will GROW STRONG spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus.”

2 Peter 1:9 (LB) “Anyone who fails to GO AFTER these additions to faith is blind, or very shortsighted and has forgotten that God delivered us from the old life of sin so that now we can live a strong, good life

4. WE ARE GOING TO TO GO TELL THE GOOD NEWS 

Romans 10:13-15 (ICB) "Anyone who asks the Lord for help will be saved. But before people can trust in the Lord, they must believe in him. And before they can believe in him, they must hear about him. And to hear about him someone must GO AND TELL them! And before someone can go and tell them, he must be sent. It is written, ‘How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.’ " 

Acts 1:8 “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you’ll be given my power, and you are to GO AND BE MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

Luke 9:60 Jesus said, "Let people who are dead bury the dead. Your job is to GO AND TELL OTHERS about God’s kingdom.”

MY DARING FAITH COVENANT

In gratitude for all that Christ has done for me, and out of a deep desire to grow in my faith, and in obedience to Christ’s command that I “store up treasure in Heaven,” I make a covenant today with my brothers and sisters of Great Plains Church to use the next 2 years growing, sowing, and going in daring faith. ...I commit to showing and sharing God’s love with those closest to me and serving God by serving others in our community. Also, because I want someone to be in Heaven because I cared, I am asking God to give me the privilege of bringing ONE person to Jesus in the next 2 years and see them be baptized and become a part of the fellowship of our church family. I know I cannot do this on my own power but I will trust God in daring faith to see it happen.

June 22 2014 Replacing Condemnation With Confidence

Replacing Condemnation With Confidence

I John 3:21 – If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

Two Causes Of Self-Condemnation:

  1. Unresolved guilt. (Ps. 32:3-5)
  2. Unrealistic expectations. (Ps. 119:96)

What To Do About It:

1. Accept God’s forgiveness.

Romans 3:23-24 – All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet now God declares us not guilty. If we trust in Jesus Christ, Who in kindness freely takes away our sins.

2. Forgive yourself.

Proverbs 4:25 – Look straight ahead with honest confidence, don’t hang your head in shame.

3. Relax in God’s grace.

Psalm 119:96 – Nothing is perfect except (God’s) Word.

Psalm 103:13-14 – As a Father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor Him. He knows what we are made of, He remembers that we are but dust.

Romans 8:31 – There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

4. Eliminate negative self-talk.

Proverbs 4:23 – Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Job 9:20 – (Job) Everything I say seems to condemn me.

Philippians 4:8 – Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right, think about all you can thank God for and be glad about.

5. Quit trying to please everybody.

Proverbs 29:25 – It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you.

6. Focus only on doing God’s will.

Matthew 11:29-30 – (Jesus) Come to Me, all you who are tired from carrying your heavy loads, and I will give you res. The yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.

June 8 2014 iGod AM All-Loving

iGod AM All-Loving 

iGod: Part 4 of 4

Exodus 3:14 God replied, “I Am the One Who Always Is. Just tell them, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

  • Omnipresent: God is everywhere.
  • Omnipotent: God has unlimited power.
  • Omniscient: God knows everything.

Ephesians 3:18-19 “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. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

BECAUSE GOD IS ALL- LOVING

1. I CAN EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE personally

  • Even when I don’t feel God’s love

Romans 8:32 “Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?”

  • Even when I I don’t think I’m good enough.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my Yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’”

  • Even when I doubt

Matthew 28:17-19“ When they saw him, they worshiped him— but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations.’”

BECAUSE GOD IS ALL-LOVING

II. I CAN invite others TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE

Colossians 4:2-4 “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ… Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”

Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 2:4 “God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth.”