July 20 2014 Determining Your Faith During Discouragement

DETERMINING YOUR FAITH DURING DISCOURAGEMENT

Mark 2:1-5

I. The first step to determining your faith during discouragement: Commitment.

Verse 3 – Some men came bringing to Him a paralytic.

How to Make Commitments:

1. Set a goal.

Philippians 3:13 – One thing I do.

2. Reveal your decision to God.

Psalm 37:5 – Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will.

3. Invest your life.

2 Corinthians 12:15 – I am glad to give you myself and all I have for your spiritual good.

II. Courage.

Verse 4 – Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralytic man was lying on.

How to Establish Courage:

1. Perserverance.

Examples:

• Thomas Edison
• Abraham Lincoln

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken; we are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit.

Verse 9 – We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up and keep on going.

III. Also we need to add cooperation.

We cannot overlook the fact that four men carried the paralytic.

Examples of Team Work:

• Mark 6:7
• Nehemiah 4

How to Build a Team:

1. Learn to trust others.

2. Express your appreciation.

3. Communicate your needs.

Philippians 1:3 – I thank my God every time I remember you, because of your partnership.

IV. Finally, there must be complete surrender.

Verse 4 – They lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.

Verse 5 – When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Steps to Complete Surrender:

1. Give God first place in your life.

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

2. Give God the benefit of the doubt.

Examples:

• Matthew 7:11
• Caleb

You Can Determine Your Faith During Discouragement

April 7 2013 Enjoying The People In Your Life

ENJOYING THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE
Philippians 1:3-11

FOUR KEYS TO ENJOYING PEOPLE

I. The first key, be grateful for the good in people.
Vs. 3 - I thank my God every time I remember you.

BACKGROUND ACTS 16
Lesson No. 1: Remember the best & forget the rest.
Vs. 5 - You have helped me from the very first day until now.


II. The second key, picture positive praying. 
Vs. 4 - In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.

Lesson No. 2: Start thanking God in prayer for these people.
Col. 4:2-3 - Devote yourself to prayer and pray for us too.
Eph. 6:18 - Keep on praying for all the saints.
Vss. 9-11- And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

What to pray for others: Pray they will
That they will grow in love. Vs. 9
That they make wise choices. Vs. 10 a
That they would do the right thing. Vs. 10 b
That they would live for God’s Glory. Vs. 11

III. The third key, be patient with their progress.
Vs. 6 - Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Lesson No. 3: God is not finished with His people.
Our Mistake: We judge others by how far they have to go, rather than how far they have already come

IV. The fourth key, love people from the heart. 
Vss. 7-8 - It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart.

God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:5 - God has poured out His love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.

Lesson No. 4
The secret to enjoying the people in my life is to be filled with God’s love.