October 5 2014 Today's Kids Need Today's Parents (parts 1 & 2)

Today's Kids Need Today's Parents

Memory Verse: “God is the one who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted to have many children share his glory.” Hebrews. 2:10a (NCV)

Malachi 2:15-16 (NCV)“GOD made husbands and wives—to become one body and one spirit for his purpose—so they would have children who are true to God. So be careful, and do not break your promise to the wife you married when you were young. God says, ‘I hate divorce.’”

I AM RESPONSIBLE TO MY KIDS

BUT I’M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR MY KIDS

Five TRUTHS you must help kids understand & believe

Five QUESTIONS you must help kids ask & answer

1. TRUTH: I was planned for God’s pleasure.

Revelation 4:11b (NLT)“You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.”

Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)“I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born!”

QUESTION: What will be the center of my life?

Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV)“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Jeremiah 32:39 (TEV) “I will give them a single minded purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and for the good of their own children.”

2. TRUTH: I was formed for God’s family.

“Ephesians 1:5 (NLT) His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.”

QUESTION: Who will be my companions in life?

1 Corinthians 15:33 (TEV)“Do not be fooled. Bad companions ruin good character.”

Romans 12:5 (NLT)“Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.”

3. TRUTH: I was created to become like Christ.

Ephesians 1:11 (MSG)“It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for...part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”

Romans 8:29 (LB)“For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him... should become like his Son.”

QUESTION: What will be my character?

Philippians 2:5 (NCV)“In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.”

4. TRUTH: I was shaped to serve God

Ephesians 2:10 (LB)“It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.”

QUESTION: What will be my contribution?

1 Peter 4:10 (LB)“God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessings.”

5. TRUTH:  I was made for a mission.

John 17:18 (MSG) Jesus: “In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.”

QUESTION: What does God want to say to the world through me?

2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 (NCV)“Through Christ, God has made peace between us and himself, and He gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with Him.... So we have been sent to speak for Christ!”

March 9 2014 How To Study A Bible Passage

How To Study A Bible Passage (part 1) 

40 Days In The Word - Part 4

The key to Bible Study is asking good questions.

PHILIPPIANS 2:19-30 “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone else looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon. But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.”

I. OBSERVATION: What does it say?

• Paul intends to send two men to Philippi

vs. 19 “I hope to send you Timothy”

vs. 25 “I think it is necessary to send Epaphroditus back to you.”

• Paul endorsed these guys as role models

vs. 20 (Timothy) “I have no one else like him!”

vs. 29 (Epaphroditus) “Welcome him... HONOR men like him.”

• What does it mean to be like these men? What are they like?

vs. 20-21 “takes a genuine interest”

vs. 22 “has proved himself”

vs. 25 “my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier”

vs. 26 “longs for all of you and is distressed”

vs. 27-30 “almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life”

II. INTERPRETATION: What does it mean?

1. A Godly Man is Caring

VS. 21 “I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone elselooks out for his own interests…”

(TEV) “genuinely cares for you … others only care about themselves”

(Ph) “...they are all wrapped up in their own affairs...”

2. A Godly man is Consistent

VS. 22 “Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father, he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”

(GW) “...you know what kind of person Timothy proved to be.”

3. A Godly man is Cooperative.

vs. 25 “I send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.”

(GN) “...he has worked and fought by my side”

4. A Godly Man is Considerate.
vs. 26 “For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.”

5. A Godly Man is Courageous

VS.27+30 “Indeed he was ill, and almost died...he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you couldn’t give me.”

III. CORRELATION: Is there anything else in the Bible that will help me understand this passage?

Timothy: 1 & 2 Timothy Epaphroditus Ph. 4:14-18

IV. APPLICATION

S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S.

Personal Practical Possible Provable

For Further Study Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word by Rick Warren

June 30 2013 How To Be Effective Christians

HOW TO BE EFFECTIVE CHRISTIANS
Philippians 2:19-30

Paul uses two men as examples of the kind of person who will make a difference in the world.
(Timothy) Verse 20 - I have no one else like him.
(Epaphroditus) Verse 29 - Hold me like him in highest honor.

FIVE VALUES

1.  Compassion.
a) Verse 20-21 - He is the only one who really cares about you.  Everyone else is concerned only with his own affairs, not about the cause of Christ.
b)  They are all wrapped up in their own affairs.
c)  The Samaritan.

2.  Consistency.
People who put character before conformity.
a) Verse 22 - Timothy has proved himself, he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
b) Proverbs 10:9 - The man of integrity walked securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
c) Proverbs 20:7 - It is a wonderful heritage to have an honest father (mother).

3.  Cooperation.
People who put cooperation before competition.
a) Verse 25 - I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier.
b) Judges 20:11 - So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.

4.  Commitment.
People who put the cause of Christ before comfort.
a) Verses 25-27 - (Epaphroditus) is your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.  He was ill and almost died.  But God had mercy on him.
b) James 2:17 - Faith, by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.

5.  Courage.
People who put service before security.
a) Verses 29-30 - Welcome him in the Lord with great joy and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
b) Romans 12:1-2 - Because of God’s mercy to us, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service.
c) Mark 8:35 - Only those who give away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the good news will ever know what it means to really live.

RENEW THESE NEEDED VALUES