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.

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.

February 22 2015 How Can I Display Christianity Under Pressure

How Can I Display Christianity Under Pressure

1 Peter 1:13-16

I. The setting of our scripture

Verse 16 – Be Holy, because I am Holy.

Therefore:

II. Four helps to Holy living

1. You need a well ordered mind.

Verse 13 – Prepare you mind for action.

Exodus 12:11 – And thus shall you eat, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff on your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste.  It is the Lord’s Passover.

Three Hebrew children:

2. Have a well disciplined life.

Verse 13 – Be self-controlled.

Two things this means:

1. Be alert to potential dangers.
2. Be aware of who you are.

3. Have a well defined goal.

Verse 13 – Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Definition of “set”.

I John 3:2 – When He appears we shall be like Him.

1 John 3:3 – Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

4. Have a well established conversion.

Verse 14 – As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

Obedience is the process of walking in the Light.

Verse 16 – Be Holy because I am Holy.

Five factors that motivate us to Holiness:

1. The character of God.

2. He’s called us.

3. It’s God’s command.

4. The consistency of God.

5. It’s the choice of God.

Romans 12:1 – In view of God’s mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices to God.

August 5 2012 How To Handle Temptation

How To Handle Temptation

James 1:13-15 - When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one tempted when, by his own evil desire.

THREE FACTS ABOUT TEMPTATION

1. First, remember that temptation is natural.
1 Corinthians 10:13 - Every temptation that comes your way is the kind that normally comes to people. But, God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. At the time you are tempted He will give you the strength to endure it and so provide you with a way out. 

2. Temptation is neutral.
Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.

3. Temptation is necessary.
James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
John 4:4 - Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.

FIVE WAYS TO HANDLE TEMPTATION

1. Refuse to be intimidated.

• Three ways He works:
Alarmed - Frustration - Discouragement
Ephesians 6:10-11 - Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s scheme.

2. Request God’s help.
Psalm 50:15 - Call to me when trouble comes, I will save you and you will praise Me.

• Daniel
• Joseph

Hebrews 4:15-16 - (Jesus) had the same temptations we do, though He never once gave way to them and sinned, so let us come boldly to God and find grace to help us in our time of need.

3. Refocus your attention.
James 1:14-15 - Temptation is the pull of your own evil thoughts and wishes. These evil thoughts lead to evil actions.
Be careful how you think, your life is shaped by your thoughts.

4. Reveal your struggle to a friend.
Ecclesiastes 5:9-10 Two are better than one, because together, if one falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, there’s no one to help him.
James 5:16 - Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other, so that you may be healed.

5. Resist the tempter.
Ephesians 5:17 - Accept salvation from God to be your helmet and receive the Word of God to use as a sword.

•Example of Jesus: Filled with the Holy Spirit.
Instant NO. Quoted scripture.

November 14 2010 Defining The Purpose Of The Church

Defining The Purpose Of The Church

(Matthew 22:1-10 - Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' "But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.)

(Ephesians 3:21 - to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.)

Four Reasons Why We Exist

1. We exist to celebrate God's presence in the world

• Worship is celebrating God's presence

(Matthew 22:37 - Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.')

(Matthew 4:10 - Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.')

• How do we worship?

(John 4:23-24 - Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.)

(Psalm 122:1 - I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD.")

(Isaiah 40:31 - but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.)

(Hebrews 10:25 - Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.)

2. We exist to communicate God's Word

(Verse 9 - Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.)

• Evangelism is sharing the good news about God's love and forgiveness

(Ephesians 3:10 - His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms)

(Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.)

(2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.)

3. We exist to educate God's people

• Discipleship is teaching people who have faith in Christ to grow spiritually

(Hebrews 6:1 - Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God)

(2 Peter 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.)

• How do we grow spiritually?

(Ephesians 4:11-13 - It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.)

(2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.)

(1 Thessalonians 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, because you had become so dear to us.)

(Romans 15:4 - For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.)

4. We exist to demonstrate God's love in our world

• Ministry is meeting needs and healing hurts

(John 13:35 - By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.)

(James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.)

(James 2:17 - In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.)