Ephesians 2:1-10
It's important that we never forget about the depths that God saved us from. We should never forget life we on we lived away from God and the sin that was rampant in our lives! By not forget we see Gods mercy. We are able to see how much grace has been given to us.
Paul did not describe us as sick or hurt. He describes us as dead! We were dead in our transgressions. Only through Christ have we been able to live and have a new life! How grateful should we be?
God sees me as a disciple. God sees me as blameless as Jesus! Praise God that I am not seen anymore for who I really am. Praise Jesus for his sacrifice and love for me. Praise Jesus for interceding for me and allowing me to have a relationship with God!
Romans 12:2; Galatians 4:6-7
No matter what is going on in my life God has given me hope through Jesus! I am no longer a slave to sin. I am no longer trapped in circumstance. I have been redeemed!
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Sunday, March 22, 2015
Discipleship
Discipleship
125 Billion spent last year on training and development but company's in the US. Corporate America see a huge benefit in training and personal development. Life coaches, conferences, classes, mentoring and consulting are many of the tools that were used. A lot of these things can be directly connected to discipleship.
As a church we need to put as much value in our spiritual development in the same way. As disciples of Jesus we are called to help each other in these ways. Counseling, coaching, teaching, mentoring and training each other through Gods word! If the business world values these things enough to spend 125 billion, how much more should we value discipleship.
People in the world are attending conferences and training sessions and spending countless dollars trying to better them selves in many different areas in their life! In Gods church we have these resources for free in our brothers and sisters.
God also places a huge value on discipleship, one another relationships and accountability. The fist step in valuing these things is having the heart that is willing to learn and willing to imitate! The challenge is to maintain this heart. If we are going to be learners we also have to be qualified counselors and teachers.
We need to have vision for each other. We need to help each other dream spiritual dreams and encourage each other. Sometimes someone else can dream for you in a way that you never would be able to dream for your self.
Jesus inspired and gave his disciples vision. He lead them and gave them confidence.
If we have hearts to learn and hearts to teach our lives will mirror the disciples in the early church. It starts with all of us saying I am willing to learn and I am prepared to teach.
125 Billion spent last year on training and development but company's in the US. Corporate America see a huge benefit in training and personal development. Life coaches, conferences, classes, mentoring and consulting are many of the tools that were used. A lot of these things can be directly connected to discipleship.
As a church we need to put as much value in our spiritual development in the same way. As disciples of Jesus we are called to help each other in these ways. Counseling, coaching, teaching, mentoring and training each other through Gods word! If the business world values these things enough to spend 125 billion, how much more should we value discipleship.
People in the world are attending conferences and training sessions and spending countless dollars trying to better them selves in many different areas in their life! In Gods church we have these resources for free in our brothers and sisters.
God also places a huge value on discipleship, one another relationships and accountability. The fist step in valuing these things is having the heart that is willing to learn and willing to imitate! The challenge is to maintain this heart. If we are going to be learners we also have to be qualified counselors and teachers.
We need to have vision for each other. We need to help each other dream spiritual dreams and encourage each other. Sometimes someone else can dream for you in a way that you never would be able to dream for your self.
Jesus inspired and gave his disciples vision. He lead them and gave them confidence.
If we have hearts to learn and hearts to teach our lives will mirror the disciples in the early church. It starts with all of us saying I am willing to learn and I am prepared to teach.
Believe
Do you believe in a God that can do anything? Is there anything that is too big for your God?
1 Samuel 22:1-2
David's "mighty men" were a group of guys who fully earned that title. Their courage and faith earned them this title. They were fiercely loyal to David and to God. Am I a mighty man for God?
The story did not start with the mighty men on top. They learned their courage and faith through many struggles and hard times! David pulled together a bunch of distressed, in debt, and discontented group of men!
2 Samuel 21:20-22
Not only did David face his own giant he also taught his mighty men to face their giants as well. Davids brother did not back down when this giant taunted Gods people. Am I facing the giants in my life? With God it is possible to defeat any giant that may oppose God and threaten my relationship with Him.
1 Samuel 22:1-2
David's "mighty men" were a group of guys who fully earned that title. Their courage and faith earned them this title. They were fiercely loyal to David and to God. Am I a mighty man for God?
The story did not start with the mighty men on top. They learned their courage and faith through many struggles and hard times! David pulled together a bunch of distressed, in debt, and discontented group of men!
2 Samuel 21:20-22
Not only did David face his own giant he also taught his mighty men to face their giants as well. Davids brother did not back down when this giant taunted Gods people. Am I facing the giants in my life? With God it is possible to defeat any giant that may oppose God and threaten my relationship with Him.
Living HIStory
Living HIStory
The land that Israel owned was everything to them. It was a physical thing that gave them an emotional connection to God. During the excile they lost that connection with God and lost the land that God had given them. The promise land meant everything to them and devastated the nation.
Generations of sin and generations of one evil king after another lead to God excelling Israel and removing them from their land. The kingdom is divided into the north and south. The start of Israel's down fall began with idolatry. When Israel returned they immediately rebuilt the temple of God. The rebuilding of the wall was really the final piece of coming back home and returning to God and to a relationship with him.
Nehemiah 8:18-19; 9:1-3
Israel was moved by Gods word and by confessing! Am I moved by Gods word? There is a power in Gods word that will impact my life by just reading it! There is a power in Gods word of reading scriptures to meet a specific need or to receive a specific instruction, but there is also a power in Gods word in just reading it with out an agenda. Bluntly reading Gods word has a power in it that we need in our relationship with God. Israel was reading Gods word in this way!
Israel understood at this point who they were before God. Do I understand who I am before God? Confessing sins help you realize who you really are before God. Worship recognizes how full God is and confessing recognizes how empty we are. Confession and worship go together.
Nehemiah 9:38
Israel made a decision before God. Having a relationship with God cause you to make a decision. You cannot be in a relationship with God and be on the fence. Like Israel we need a binding commitment to love and serve God. Romans 6:2 Paul explains that our binding commitment is to die to sin. If you want to change anything in your life you need to speak it out loud and right it down. You need to make a binding commitment with God and others!
What commitments should I make to God this week? What commitments should I make today? Say it out loud! Make it public! Allow your self to be held accountable!
Sent from my iPhone
The land that Israel owned was everything to them. It was a physical thing that gave them an emotional connection to God. During the excile they lost that connection with God and lost the land that God had given them. The promise land meant everything to them and devastated the nation.
Generations of sin and generations of one evil king after another lead to God excelling Israel and removing them from their land. The kingdom is divided into the north and south. The start of Israel's down fall began with idolatry. When Israel returned they immediately rebuilt the temple of God. The rebuilding of the wall was really the final piece of coming back home and returning to God and to a relationship with him.
Nehemiah 8:18-19; 9:1-3
Israel was moved by Gods word and by confessing! Am I moved by Gods word? There is a power in Gods word that will impact my life by just reading it! There is a power in Gods word of reading scriptures to meet a specific need or to receive a specific instruction, but there is also a power in Gods word in just reading it with out an agenda. Bluntly reading Gods word has a power in it that we need in our relationship with God. Israel was reading Gods word in this way!
Israel understood at this point who they were before God. Do I understand who I am before God? Confessing sins help you realize who you really are before God. Worship recognizes how full God is and confessing recognizes how empty we are. Confession and worship go together.
Nehemiah 9:38
Israel made a decision before God. Having a relationship with God cause you to make a decision. You cannot be in a relationship with God and be on the fence. Like Israel we need a binding commitment to love and serve God. Romans 6:2 Paul explains that our binding commitment is to die to sin. If you want to change anything in your life you need to speak it out loud and right it down. You need to make a binding commitment with God and others!
What commitments should I make to God this week? What commitments should I make today? Say it out loud! Make it public! Allow your self to be held accountable!
Sent from my iPhone
Living HIStory
Living HIStory
400+ years of silence from God between the Old Testimate and the New Testimate. The New Testimate starts with John the Baptize just as the Old Testimate had prophesied!
Isaiah 40:3-5; Mathew 11:11
Even Jesus reiterated the significance and importance of John the Baptist in HIStory! What made John the Baptist so great? Out of all the prophets and people before John the Baptist he was the greatest? Abraham, Moses, David and his mighty men, Solomon...etc. John the Baptists was greater than all the other men that had come before him!
There is not much written in the gospel about John the Baptist. You would think that there would be more written about him. So what made John the Baptist so great?
Matthew 3:1-12
This is the lesson that John came to preach and this is what made him great. It was not the belt he wore or the diet he ate but the words that came off his lips. The message that God wanted to delivery to his people and break the silence for over 400 years!
John preached the message of repentance and baptism! This was what made him so great. He was the messenger that God chose to prepare the hearts of Gods people before Jesus!
How important is repentance? We can not be saved without repentance! True repentance! Not an apology and deceleration of change but rather an action of change!
After John the baptist, Jesus preached the same thing. "Repent for the kingdom of God is near" Repentance is the first message of the gospel. Without it we cannot have a relationship with God!
Luke 13:1-5
Everyone will perish without repentance! Repentance does not care who you are, what you have done, or how religious you are. We all must repent in the same way! What did Jesus say to the Pharisees? Whether you have only sinned once or a million times, you need to repent or you will perish.
Repentance must come first. Just like John the baptist came first and laid the ground work for the message of Jesus. We also need to put repentance first to lay the ground work for us to to do what God wants to call us to do.
Although repentance is important, we cannot be saved by repentance! We must have grace! Repentance does not save but it is the beginning. Grace cannot do its work without a start of repentance. Repentance is like a spark. A spark never kept anyone warm but without a spark there will never be a fire!
What role does repentance play in my life! Am I on fire for God? If I am not its not because there is not enough grace to keep me on fire it is because there was no spark of repentance to get the fire going. What role does repentance play in my personal life?
Where do I need to repent the most. What areas in my life do I need to repent the most? Am I looking for specific areas in my life where I am wrong? We should always be repenting of something! There should never be a time when we are not actively repenting of something!
1 Corinthians 15:10
With all the repentance in the world we are still not saved unless we have grace! What role does grace play in my life? We all need forgiveness but grace cannot be without effect. Repentance leads to grace and grace leads to more repentance. Grace cannot just be a feel good idea!
2 Corinthians 5:14; Titus 2:11-12
Grace also requires action and compels us to more repentance. When we try to change without grace we fail. When repentance and grace are brought together...then we are able to truly change and honor God with our lives!
Grace teaches us to say no and repent by teaching us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives! Grace allows us to become a person that we never would have been possible to become. It allows us to become like Jesus!
So how do you receive grace from God? Acts 2:38!
Sent from my iPhone
400+ years of silence from God between the Old Testimate and the New Testimate. The New Testimate starts with John the Baptize just as the Old Testimate had prophesied!
Isaiah 40:3-5; Mathew 11:11
Even Jesus reiterated the significance and importance of John the Baptist in HIStory! What made John the Baptist so great? Out of all the prophets and people before John the Baptist he was the greatest? Abraham, Moses, David and his mighty men, Solomon...etc. John the Baptists was greater than all the other men that had come before him!
There is not much written in the gospel about John the Baptist. You would think that there would be more written about him. So what made John the Baptist so great?
Matthew 3:1-12
This is the lesson that John came to preach and this is what made him great. It was not the belt he wore or the diet he ate but the words that came off his lips. The message that God wanted to delivery to his people and break the silence for over 400 years!
John preached the message of repentance and baptism! This was what made him so great. He was the messenger that God chose to prepare the hearts of Gods people before Jesus!
How important is repentance? We can not be saved without repentance! True repentance! Not an apology and deceleration of change but rather an action of change!
After John the baptist, Jesus preached the same thing. "Repent for the kingdom of God is near" Repentance is the first message of the gospel. Without it we cannot have a relationship with God!
Luke 13:1-5
Everyone will perish without repentance! Repentance does not care who you are, what you have done, or how religious you are. We all must repent in the same way! What did Jesus say to the Pharisees? Whether you have only sinned once or a million times, you need to repent or you will perish.
Repentance must come first. Just like John the baptist came first and laid the ground work for the message of Jesus. We also need to put repentance first to lay the ground work for us to to do what God wants to call us to do.
Although repentance is important, we cannot be saved by repentance! We must have grace! Repentance does not save but it is the beginning. Grace cannot do its work without a start of repentance. Repentance is like a spark. A spark never kept anyone warm but without a spark there will never be a fire!
What role does repentance play in my life! Am I on fire for God? If I am not its not because there is not enough grace to keep me on fire it is because there was no spark of repentance to get the fire going. What role does repentance play in my personal life?
Where do I need to repent the most. What areas in my life do I need to repent the most? Am I looking for specific areas in my life where I am wrong? We should always be repenting of something! There should never be a time when we are not actively repenting of something!
1 Corinthians 15:10
With all the repentance in the world we are still not saved unless we have grace! What role does grace play in my life? We all need forgiveness but grace cannot be without effect. Repentance leads to grace and grace leads to more repentance. Grace cannot just be a feel good idea!
2 Corinthians 5:14; Titus 2:11-12
Grace also requires action and compels us to more repentance. When we try to change without grace we fail. When repentance and grace are brought together...then we are able to truly change and honor God with our lives!
Grace teaches us to say no and repent by teaching us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives! Grace allows us to become a person that we never would have been possible to become. It allows us to become like Jesus!
So how do you receive grace from God? Acts 2:38!
Sent from my iPhone
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