Spiritual Disciplines week 5 "Resources" Mark 12 Jesus said Love the Lord your God.
Tonight we are talking about the spiritual discipline of using your resources in service of the Lord. Normally in the Christian community we have three categories for the resources we have…we call them the resource of treasure.. which consists of the what we have as far as money and possessions. Time as resource, we have work time, family time friend time, leisure time and so on. And finally our talents this is the resource of skills and abilities God has given us.
What you have been given is not necessarily ours but was given to us to be a good steward of. So that means that there are three things that we need to focus in on.
Our resources should be used to...
-bring glory to God
-to help others.
-for our enjoyment.
How do we do this?
Mark 12 Jesus said Love the Lord your God.
-Letting go of what God has blessed you with demonstrates and attitude of heart praise. Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,and I will glorify your name forever.
-Change your mind. Col 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. "my stuff" is not mine.
-Tap into the strength of the Lord. 1 Peter 4:11 whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
-Ask Jesus to guide your soul as you use what He has given you. Psalm 143:8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Now lets look at the three areas. I am inviting Steve Dorrick up to share a personal testimony on how the Lord laid on His and his wives hearts that they needed to let go of the "treasures" the Lord blessed them with.
The next two areas I will briefly touch on
-Using the talents God has blessed you with. These are the skills and abilities you have and the Bible is clear about where they came from. All of us have things that we are good at and in many cases these are things that we enjoy doing. God has called us to be disciplined in using those things for service to Him.
As Christians many times we either get caught up in using our abilities to bring glory to ourselves or we go to the opposite extreme of thinking our abilities are not good enough and we feel inadequate.
SD Gorden said We have nothing to do with how much ability we've got, or how little, but with what we do with what we have. The man with great talent is apt to be puffed up, and the man with little (talent) to belittle the little. Poor fools! God gives it, much or little. Our part is to be faithful, doing the best with every bit and scrap.
-Giving of your time Psalm 39:5 says "You have made my days"
The interesting thing about the resource of time is that we all have the same amount. The true challenge is how we use that time. Many of us are weighed down by responsibilities, many of us waste time, many of us sleep too much. As a Christian the challenge is to be disciplined enough to be using your time in service of Jesus.
Henry David Therou said "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."
Jesus had an amazing resource and it was the ability to be able to lay down His life for our sins GOSPEL. We are thankful that He did not hold back but used that resource to serve us. Will you use the ones He blessed you with to serve Him?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "The Battle"
The spiritual discipline that I want to look at tonight is “service” as a Christian we should serve the local body of believers…that means we should be volunteering for ministries or a ministry on a consistent basis. We should be serving it is a discipline.
What I want to do tonight is give a staunch reminder of the fact that as we “serve” we are actually enlisted in battle and it is a spiritual battle.
Let me just inform you…the Spiritual discipline of serving the Lord is actually going to battle for Him because there are spiritual forces against you.
I think if we start looking at our service to the Lord in the light of the fact that we are battling the spiritual forces of evil we will start to take it more seriously.
As I have done the past three weeks I want to look at the concept of “Battle” through the eyes of what Jesus says the greatest commandment is. Love the Lord you God…
-Our Heart has to be in the right place to do battle. Acts 5:3 Satan “filled” control or influence his heart and not only did they lie but it damaged his service to the Lord. Their lie was to cover up selfishness…many times we do not serve the Lord because we are selfish.
Sometimes because we are selfish we act like what we are doing is serving the Lord but it really serving our own ego.
This become extremely dangerous for those of you that have been in the faith for a while. Psalm 55:20-22 we learn how to say the and do the right things but our heart is waging war.
How? Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"? Only the Lord can make our hearts pure first of all in Salvation GOSPEL.
As a Christian we need to be reading His Word, spend time in prayer and repenting of and confessing sin.
Now as a Christian who’s heart has been made pure and who is practicing the 3 disciplines we discussed in the last three weeks we are ready for Battle.
-We do battle with our mind- 2 Cor 10:3-5 Notice Paul is saying here that we destroy arguments against God by…using our mind to take “every thought captive” This helps us to understand that when you have a doubt you put it to the test. (I don’t know enough to talk to others)
2 Corinthians 2:10-12 “outwitted” The Puritan Thomas Brookes wrote a book based on verse 11 called “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”
Here is Brookes remedies when “Satan casts in vain thoughts while we are seeking to serve God”
1. The God we serve is great, holy, majestic and glorious.
2. Despite wandering thoughts it is needful to be resolute in service.
3. Vain and useless thoughts that Satan casts in are not sins if they are resisted and disclaimed.
4. Watching against and resisting sinful thoughts are evidences of grace and sincerity of our hearts.
5. We must labor (serve) to be filled with the fullness of God.
6. We must labor (serve) to keep up holy and spiritual affections.
7. We must labor (serve) to avoid worldly cares.
It is about having an understanding what is going on when you serve.
Examples:
-“I am going to feed the homeless”: Realize that the homeless are people that need to hear the good news, they may feel that the Lord has rejected them like society has, they may not realize that there is a spiritual stronghold from Satan and his demons that is keeping them from getting out of their situation.
-“I volunteer for nursery”: Realize that those babies need to be safe and cared for and Satan and his demons want them to be uncomfortable and not want to stay in the nursery, therefore the parents don’t feel comfortable leaving them down there and then they don’t stay for service.
-“I clean the church”: Realize that when you are cleaning you are making the church look good so when new people walk through the doors they don’t feel that they are in a place that no one cares about. Satan and his demons will use that to defame the name of the Lord and His people.
-“I run a Community Group”: Realize how welcoming you are can impact the people that come out. How you keep people on track with what you are doing will assist in a helpful meeting for everyone. Satan and his demons don’t want them coming to your house for spiritual development so he will try to get in the way and cause them to act on their bad attitude or their frustration when the group is not doing just what they think it should.
With our mind we purpose to serve the Lord
-We do battle with our strength Eph 6:10-12 God equips us with the strength
David said in 2 Samuel 22:39-41 that the Lord equipped him with strength for battle.
How? Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
The battle is for souls.
Interestingly enough, as a Christian Satan’s number one battle against us is to lead us into sin. As Brookes tells us he “hides the hook with the bait”
Remedies from Brookes
1. Keep greatest distance from sin and playing with the bait.
2. Understand sin is bitter sweet.
3. Understand sin will usher the greatest and saddest loses.
4. Understand sin is deceitful and bewitching.
5. Understand sin is losing the battle.
1 Peter 5:1-9 sums up our service or battle plan.
Emphasis on verse 8 We battle for the Lord because it is over Souls. The very souls of our friends and family members, the people at work and at school, the person next door, the stranger.
What I want to do tonight is give a staunch reminder of the fact that as we “serve” we are actually enlisted in battle and it is a spiritual battle.
Let me just inform you…the Spiritual discipline of serving the Lord is actually going to battle for Him because there are spiritual forces against you.
I think if we start looking at our service to the Lord in the light of the fact that we are battling the spiritual forces of evil we will start to take it more seriously.
As I have done the past three weeks I want to look at the concept of “Battle” through the eyes of what Jesus says the greatest commandment is. Love the Lord you God…
-Our Heart has to be in the right place to do battle. Acts 5:3 Satan “filled” control or influence his heart and not only did they lie but it damaged his service to the Lord. Their lie was to cover up selfishness…many times we do not serve the Lord because we are selfish.
Sometimes because we are selfish we act like what we are doing is serving the Lord but it really serving our own ego.
This become extremely dangerous for those of you that have been in the faith for a while. Psalm 55:20-22 we learn how to say the and do the right things but our heart is waging war.
How? Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"? Only the Lord can make our hearts pure first of all in Salvation GOSPEL.
As a Christian we need to be reading His Word, spend time in prayer and repenting of and confessing sin.
Now as a Christian who’s heart has been made pure and who is practicing the 3 disciplines we discussed in the last three weeks we are ready for Battle.
-We do battle with our mind- 2 Cor 10:3-5 Notice Paul is saying here that we destroy arguments against God by…using our mind to take “every thought captive” This helps us to understand that when you have a doubt you put it to the test. (I don’t know enough to talk to others)
2 Corinthians 2:10-12 “outwitted” The Puritan Thomas Brookes wrote a book based on verse 11 called “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices”
Here is Brookes remedies when “Satan casts in vain thoughts while we are seeking to serve God”
1. The God we serve is great, holy, majestic and glorious.
2. Despite wandering thoughts it is needful to be resolute in service.
3. Vain and useless thoughts that Satan casts in are not sins if they are resisted and disclaimed.
4. Watching against and resisting sinful thoughts are evidences of grace and sincerity of our hearts.
5. We must labor (serve) to be filled with the fullness of God.
6. We must labor (serve) to keep up holy and spiritual affections.
7. We must labor (serve) to avoid worldly cares.
It is about having an understanding what is going on when you serve.
Examples:
-“I am going to feed the homeless”: Realize that the homeless are people that need to hear the good news, they may feel that the Lord has rejected them like society has, they may not realize that there is a spiritual stronghold from Satan and his demons that is keeping them from getting out of their situation.
-“I volunteer for nursery”: Realize that those babies need to be safe and cared for and Satan and his demons want them to be uncomfortable and not want to stay in the nursery, therefore the parents don’t feel comfortable leaving them down there and then they don’t stay for service.
-“I clean the church”: Realize that when you are cleaning you are making the church look good so when new people walk through the doors they don’t feel that they are in a place that no one cares about. Satan and his demons will use that to defame the name of the Lord and His people.
-“I run a Community Group”: Realize how welcoming you are can impact the people that come out. How you keep people on track with what you are doing will assist in a helpful meeting for everyone. Satan and his demons don’t want them coming to your house for spiritual development so he will try to get in the way and cause them to act on their bad attitude or their frustration when the group is not doing just what they think it should.
With our mind we purpose to serve the Lord
-We do battle with our strength Eph 6:10-12 God equips us with the strength
David said in 2 Samuel 22:39-41 that the Lord equipped him with strength for battle.
How? Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
The battle is for souls.
Interestingly enough, as a Christian Satan’s number one battle against us is to lead us into sin. As Brookes tells us he “hides the hook with the bait”
Remedies from Brookes
1. Keep greatest distance from sin and playing with the bait.
2. Understand sin is bitter sweet.
3. Understand sin will usher the greatest and saddest loses.
4. Understand sin is deceitful and bewitching.
5. Understand sin is losing the battle.
1 Peter 5:1-9 sums up our service or battle plan.
Emphasis on verse 8 We battle for the Lord because it is over Souls. The very souls of our friends and family members, the people at work and at school, the person next door, the stranger.
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "The Trash"
Mark 12:28-34 Communication Prayer/meditation
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
As we talked about the last two weeks a Christian should be in the Word daily and praying daily
Today we are going to look at personal sin
For the sake of us realizing the magnitude of sin I am calling it “trash”
The trash gets in the way of us loving the Lord, it breaks fellowship with Him and can also break our relationships with others.
• What causes the trash?
The first step is to admit you have a problem, we have to understand what is going on within us.
We sin because…
-Our heart condition – hard heart
Eph 4:17-20 Paul speaks to the believers and reminds them not to be as they used to be having hard hearts and continue in sinful ways.
Application Heb 4:7 “if you hear His voice do not harden your heart”
-Our mind is warped blinded – Eph 4:17-20 Talks about how our minds used to be darkened and we should not revert to that type of thinking.
Application Rom 12:2 Says that we should renew our mind and not be conformed to the worldly thinking.
-We are drawing on our own strength- Eph 4:21-24
We think we are strong enough or sometimes worse yet we think we are immune to what sin is capable of.
Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, had this to say: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, I felt compelled to mention the change coming to a pet raccoon owned by a young friend of mine, Julie. She listened politely as I explained the coming danger. I'll never forget her answer. "It will be different for me. . ." And she smiled as she added, "Bandit wouldn't hurt me. He just wouldn't." Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild. Sin, too, often comes dressed in an adorable guise, and as we play with it, how easy it is to say, "It will be different for me." The results are predictable.
Application: Rely on the Lord for Him to give you strength. 2 Cor. 1:8-10
-Our soul is troubled. Psalm 6:3 Helps us to realize that at times our soul is troubled. Maybe because something happened to us, or in a relationship or we are just bummed
The temptation is to get involved in sinful behaviors to make ourselves feel better. Like revenge, substance abuse etc.
Application: 1 Peter 2:11 says that these things actually “wage war against our souls”
• How do we take the trash out?
Every sin that we commit is an offense to Jesus…as Christians Jesus does not only call us to love Him but to love others. Some of the sins we commit may have hurt others and we need to go to them...repent and confess to them… James 5:16 says confess your sins to one another. And if someone is confessing to you, you forgive.
1. Repentance = a change of mind which leads to a change of heart.
Rom 2:4 “God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance”
2 Cor 7:10 “Godly sorrow leads to repentance”
2. Confession- To admit… The good news is that we can go right to the Lord Jesus 1 Tim 2:5
Psalm 32:5
Psalm 38:18 “I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin”
• Where does the trash go? Jesus is willing to absorb the trash GOSPEL Rom 10:9 If “you confess and believe”
We have a loving Father who is so willing to forgive us that He would give His Son to prove it. We have a such a loving Savior that He is willing to take our wrath/trash on Himself and forgive us.
Proverbs 28:13 “The one who confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy”
1 John 1:9 the promise “If you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
As Christians we should develop the discipline of Repentance and Confession
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
As we talked about the last two weeks a Christian should be in the Word daily and praying daily
Today we are going to look at personal sin
For the sake of us realizing the magnitude of sin I am calling it “trash”
The trash gets in the way of us loving the Lord, it breaks fellowship with Him and can also break our relationships with others.
• What causes the trash?
The first step is to admit you have a problem, we have to understand what is going on within us.
We sin because…
-Our heart condition – hard heart
Eph 4:17-20 Paul speaks to the believers and reminds them not to be as they used to be having hard hearts and continue in sinful ways.
Application Heb 4:7 “if you hear His voice do not harden your heart”
-Our mind is warped blinded – Eph 4:17-20 Talks about how our minds used to be darkened and we should not revert to that type of thinking.
Application Rom 12:2 Says that we should renew our mind and not be conformed to the worldly thinking.
-We are drawing on our own strength- Eph 4:21-24
We think we are strong enough or sometimes worse yet we think we are immune to what sin is capable of.
Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, had this to say: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, I felt compelled to mention the change coming to a pet raccoon owned by a young friend of mine, Julie. She listened politely as I explained the coming danger. I'll never forget her answer. "It will be different for me. . ." And she smiled as she added, "Bandit wouldn't hurt me. He just wouldn't." Three months later Julie underwent plastic surgery for facial lacerations sustained when her adult raccoon attacked her for no apparent reason. Bandit was released into the wild. Sin, too, often comes dressed in an adorable guise, and as we play with it, how easy it is to say, "It will be different for me." The results are predictable.
Application: Rely on the Lord for Him to give you strength. 2 Cor. 1:8-10
-Our soul is troubled. Psalm 6:3 Helps us to realize that at times our soul is troubled. Maybe because something happened to us, or in a relationship or we are just bummed
The temptation is to get involved in sinful behaviors to make ourselves feel better. Like revenge, substance abuse etc.
Application: 1 Peter 2:11 says that these things actually “wage war against our souls”
• How do we take the trash out?
Every sin that we commit is an offense to Jesus…as Christians Jesus does not only call us to love Him but to love others. Some of the sins we commit may have hurt others and we need to go to them...repent and confess to them… James 5:16 says confess your sins to one another. And if someone is confessing to you, you forgive.
1. Repentance = a change of mind which leads to a change of heart.
Rom 2:4 “God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance”
2 Cor 7:10 “Godly sorrow leads to repentance”
2. Confession- To admit… The good news is that we can go right to the Lord Jesus 1 Tim 2:5
Psalm 32:5
Psalm 38:18 “I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin”
• Where does the trash go? Jesus is willing to absorb the trash GOSPEL Rom 10:9 If “you confess and believe”
We have a loving Father who is so willing to forgive us that He would give His Son to prove it. We have a such a loving Savior that He is willing to take our wrath/trash on Himself and forgive us.
Proverbs 28:13 “The one who confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy”
1 John 1:9 the promise “If you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
As Christians we should develop the discipline of Repentance and Confession
Monday, August 1, 2011
Spiritual Disciplines Series: "Communication"
Mark 12:28-34 Communication Prayer/meditation
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
Tonight we will look at prayer and how it impacts our heart, mind, strength and soul.
When we look at all the people of great faith in Bible…they prayed…Jesus prayed…He went off often early in the morning and prayed and in the account of Luke 11 when he came back from praying one of the disciples said “teach us to pray”, then Jesus taught what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which is an outline for prayer.
Many times we look at prayer as a thing that is on its own. What I would suggest is that you add prayer to your time of reading the Word. This way it becomes more like a conversation. You then start to develop a time each day of silence and solitude. You talk with Jesus and He talks with you.
So then applying last week we read God’s Word, then meditate on God’s Word then pray God’s Word in request to God that we can apply God’s Word.
If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. Martin Luther
First
• Prayer…calms our heart (Heart love) (control seat)
When our heart is restless and troubled what do we do? Many times we feel good when you are able to get things off your chest, someone to talk to. But it feels much better when you not only are able to talk with someone who will listen, but someone who can actually do something about it.
Philippians 4:4-7 roles to mind
Jesus said “let not your heart be troubled”
• Prayer…is a discipline of the mind (Mind Love)
Be sober minded, for the sake of your prayers 1 Peter 4:7,
Contemplative/meditative 1 Cor 14:14-15
-We use our mind to realize Jesus can use any means He chooses…
crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of Dr. Meyer's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear "what the babbler had to say."
Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. "You seem to be enjoying that orange," he remarked with a smile. "Yes, sir," she replied, "My Father is very good to me." "Your father? Surely your father can't be still alive!" "Praise God," she replied, "He is very much alive." "What do you mean?" pressed the agnostic. She explained, "I'll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!" The agnostic was speechless. Later he was converted to Christ. Yes, praying in God's will brings an answer.
-We use our mind to believe Jesus can… Matt 7:7-11
Alexander the Great –Asked by a general if he would pay for his daughters wedding…I have been a faithful general. Fine ask my treasurer to discuss the cost. The general went to the treasurer and asked for a crazy amount of money. The treasurer went to Alexander and said you are not gonna believe this he wants this much money. Alexander smiled and said give it to him…the treasurer said why? Alexander said don’t you realize that by him asking for this crazy amount of money...he believes I am both rich and generous.
We pray in faith that Jesus can change our relationships, change our finances, change our attitudes etc.
We all have to come to the point that Reinhold Niebuhr when He prayed what most of you know as the “Serenity prayer”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
At some point in life you will have to accept that Jesus can… but He didn’t at this time you need the next point the most.
• Prayer…gives us strength (Strength love) it also takes strength
Luke 21:36 Jesus here is telling us that the most important place to turn when it comes to strength is to be prayed up.
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A person is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
This displays the strength love for God
Another aspect of this strength love in prayer.. is that in order to pray we need to come to the conclusion that we are weak. That is difficult for many of us. Because we want to do everything humanly possible rather then rely on the Lord. Paul said “when I am weak He is strong”
Hudson Taylor said
"The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'"
• Prayer…heals our soul. When our soul is healed we are more inclined to love Him with our soul. Psalm 116:4 “Oh Lord deliver my soul” GOSPEL “everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” Rom 10:13
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
Tonight we will look at prayer and how it impacts our heart, mind, strength and soul.
When we look at all the people of great faith in Bible…they prayed…Jesus prayed…He went off often early in the morning and prayed and in the account of Luke 11 when he came back from praying one of the disciples said “teach us to pray”, then Jesus taught what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which is an outline for prayer.
Many times we look at prayer as a thing that is on its own. What I would suggest is that you add prayer to your time of reading the Word. This way it becomes more like a conversation. You then start to develop a time each day of silence and solitude. You talk with Jesus and He talks with you.
So then applying last week we read God’s Word, then meditate on God’s Word then pray God’s Word in request to God that we can apply God’s Word.
If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. Martin Luther
First
• Prayer…calms our heart (Heart love) (control seat)
When our heart is restless and troubled what do we do? Many times we feel good when you are able to get things off your chest, someone to talk to. But it feels much better when you not only are able to talk with someone who will listen, but someone who can actually do something about it.
Philippians 4:4-7 roles to mind
Jesus said “let not your heart be troubled”
• Prayer…is a discipline of the mind (Mind Love)
Be sober minded, for the sake of your prayers 1 Peter 4:7,
Contemplative/meditative 1 Cor 14:14-15
-We use our mind to realize Jesus can use any means He chooses…
crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of Dr. Meyer's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear "what the babbler had to say."
Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. "You seem to be enjoying that orange," he remarked with a smile. "Yes, sir," she replied, "My Father is very good to me." "Your father? Surely your father can't be still alive!" "Praise God," she replied, "He is very much alive." "What do you mean?" pressed the agnostic. She explained, "I'll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!" The agnostic was speechless. Later he was converted to Christ. Yes, praying in God's will brings an answer.
-We use our mind to believe Jesus can… Matt 7:7-11
Alexander the Great –Asked by a general if he would pay for his daughters wedding…I have been a faithful general. Fine ask my treasurer to discuss the cost. The general went to the treasurer and asked for a crazy amount of money. The treasurer went to Alexander and said you are not gonna believe this he wants this much money. Alexander smiled and said give it to him…the treasurer said why? Alexander said don’t you realize that by him asking for this crazy amount of money...he believes I am both rich and generous.
We pray in faith that Jesus can change our relationships, change our finances, change our attitudes etc.
We all have to come to the point that Reinhold Niebuhr when He prayed what most of you know as the “Serenity prayer”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
At some point in life you will have to accept that Jesus can… but He didn’t at this time you need the next point the most.
• Prayer…gives us strength (Strength love) it also takes strength
Luke 21:36 Jesus here is telling us that the most important place to turn when it comes to strength is to be prayed up.
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A person is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
This displays the strength love for God
Another aspect of this strength love in prayer.. is that in order to pray we need to come to the conclusion that we are weak. That is difficult for many of us. Because we want to do everything humanly possible rather then rely on the Lord. Paul said “when I am weak He is strong”
Hudson Taylor said
"The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'"
• Prayer…heals our soul. When our soul is healed we are more inclined to love Him with our soul. Psalm 116:4 “Oh Lord deliver my soul” GOSPEL “everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” Rom 10:13
Monday, July 25, 2011
Spriltual Disciplines Series "The Word"
Mark 12:28-34
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
7th grade seeing another guy with a “note”
(I will never forget the first note from Amy… I cherished it and the main reason why is because I felt like somebody)
The simple fact that God gave us His Word displays we are important.
But some say…
1. I don’t need God and His Word, I know I am important and I have the answers. (Pride and rejection of the Lord)
2. Or the Christian response sometimes is… “I hear you, I know I am important to God, but I don’t really need to spend time learning more about Him or how I should respond to Him unless something is going wrong”. (Ignorance)
My appeal to you tonight is… I want us all to realize that we have the great privilege of having communication from God to us and that means we need spend time reading, memorizing and studying every aspect of it to develop our love for the Lord Jesus.
The Bible is what we should…
• fill our hearts with. (Heart love) How? Psalm 119:9-16 Meditation and memorization
Many times people are only interested in something when they are dealing with it…but as a student of God’s Word, in order to fill your heart in order to spur your heart on to love the Lord, we should expose ourselves to teaching before you deal with them.
When you hear things you “already know” you will reevaluate your life to make sure you are still practicing them. (Lets look at like this we fill our hearts and minds with information that leads to transformation and we need reminders)
I would go so far as to say if there is a Biblically based teaching and you say you got nothing from it. You have some kind of a problem. –maybe with the person teaching it? –maybe it is convicting you? -maybe you are apathetic? -maybe your heart is hard? –maybe you did not pray before you read or heard the Word?
I was never out of my Bible. John Bunyan
• study and question for ourselves. (Mind Love) (my pastor said so should not be your answer) The Bible is everyone’s book Acts 17:10-12 the Berean’s (George Kuhn)
Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well. Amy Carmichael.
I am a man of one Book. John Wesley.
• pass down to the next generation (Strength love) .Deut 6:7-10 Teach the Scriptures. This is hard physical work.
Much of it is in the delivery (Tom Allen’s illustration about yelling at your kids)
• learn about who to hope in. (Soul love) In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Jesus’ life fulfilled the scriptures to give us salvation GOSPEL
People do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.
Romans 15:4 this is not only true of future hope but it is true of hope in any circumstance we find ourselves in.
Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today--if only we would read and believe. Ronald Reagan
When you start to realize that God’s Word has what you need and offers hope you start to develop a love for it and it becomes something you do not want to live without.
Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. Of a man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Hiss face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times.
Through the Discipline of being in God’s Word we learn to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength.
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
7th grade seeing another guy with a “note”
(I will never forget the first note from Amy… I cherished it and the main reason why is because I felt like somebody)
The simple fact that God gave us His Word displays we are important.
But some say…
1. I don’t need God and His Word, I know I am important and I have the answers. (Pride and rejection of the Lord)
2. Or the Christian response sometimes is… “I hear you, I know I am important to God, but I don’t really need to spend time learning more about Him or how I should respond to Him unless something is going wrong”. (Ignorance)
My appeal to you tonight is… I want us all to realize that we have the great privilege of having communication from God to us and that means we need spend time reading, memorizing and studying every aspect of it to develop our love for the Lord Jesus.
The Bible is what we should…
• fill our hearts with. (Heart love) How? Psalm 119:9-16 Meditation and memorization
Many times people are only interested in something when they are dealing with it…but as a student of God’s Word, in order to fill your heart in order to spur your heart on to love the Lord, we should expose ourselves to teaching before you deal with them.
When you hear things you “already know” you will reevaluate your life to make sure you are still practicing them. (Lets look at like this we fill our hearts and minds with information that leads to transformation and we need reminders)
I would go so far as to say if there is a Biblically based teaching and you say you got nothing from it. You have some kind of a problem. –maybe with the person teaching it? –maybe it is convicting you? -maybe you are apathetic? -maybe your heart is hard? –maybe you did not pray before you read or heard the Word?
I was never out of my Bible. John Bunyan
• study and question for ourselves. (Mind Love) (my pastor said so should not be your answer) The Bible is everyone’s book Acts 17:10-12 the Berean’s (George Kuhn)
Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well. Amy Carmichael.
I am a man of one Book. John Wesley.
• pass down to the next generation (Strength love) .Deut 6:7-10 Teach the Scriptures. This is hard physical work.
Much of it is in the delivery (Tom Allen’s illustration about yelling at your kids)
• learn about who to hope in. (Soul love) In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Jesus’ life fulfilled the scriptures to give us salvation GOSPEL
People do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.
Romans 15:4 this is not only true of future hope but it is true of hope in any circumstance we find ourselves in.
Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today--if only we would read and believe. Ronald Reagan
When you start to realize that God’s Word has what you need and offers hope you start to develop a love for it and it becomes something you do not want to live without.
Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. Of a man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Hiss face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times.
Through the Discipline of being in God’s Word we learn to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Monday, July 11, 2011
"Seeing Jesus in the Psalms": His Name is Jesus
Community Group Questions
1. Share a time in which your love for another person had to endure a hardship.
2. Share a time in your life that you felt God’s power working through a situation.
3. Do you feel you are known by others as a joyful person?
4. In what area of life do you feel the most needed and useful?
5. How has a broken trust from someone you trusted changed the way you look at Jesus?
This psalm is what is known at Hallel Psalm which is a song of praise about the works of the Lord in the lives of His people.
Most likely the last hymn sung by Jesus with His disciples at the last supper.
Through this Psalm of praise we will learn at least three things.
1. The enduring love of the Lord Vrs 1-4
Enduring love- we should be comforted by the fact His love has staying power and endures even though we do not deserve that love, it is like a pursuing love.
Parent endures under the disobedience of a child. (Prodigal Son)
Why because it is steadfast which means it is firm, pointed with purpose and unwavering.
From the Lord we learn that this is the type of love we need to have for those around us.
As Christians we should endure, when people wrong us. We endure when people don’t follow through with their commitments to us. We endure when things don’t change as quick as we think they should.
Bottom line is we need to emulate the love of the Lord.
Next we will see…
2. What the Lord is capable of giving to you and me. Vrs 5-18
-Salvation Vrs 5 Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13-21
-Someone to trust. Vrs 6-9 Is the One we can trust. Trust in the Lord not in man. (You may not be able to trust anyone)
-Power. Vrs 10-13 We get power from the Lord. “I can do all things through Christ”
-Joy. Vrs 14-16 Salvation should result in joy. In this passage we see the psalmist in song.
Because it is valiant (bold, heroic)
-Purpose Vrs 17 The Lord keeps us alive to bring glory to Him while we are here. People want purpose…ask a child what they want to do when they grow up.
When the Lord does something for us it is a great thing to do to make it known.
-Security Vrs 18 The Lord disciplines those He loves (Tim Keller father illustration I really act like a father when I have to discipline)
The final thing we learn is who the Lord is
3. The Lord’s name is Jesus and He is... This is important because this Psalm never says the name of Jesus but these last 11 verses are clearly about Jesus,
-The Gate Vrs 19-21 Jesus is the gate John 10:1
-The Stone Vrs 22-23 The Messianic value Matt 21:42-44
Jesus is the stone
Jewish leaders are the builders of the nation…the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others Matt 21:43
-The Creator Vrs 24 He is creator of the day John 1:9 “World made through Him”
-The Life Giver Vrs 25 He gives success John 10:10
-The One we waited for. Vrs 26 More prophecy John 12:13
-The Light Vrs 27 He is the light of the world John 12:46 and
-The Sacrifice His sacrifice is that light 1 Cor 5:7 “Christ our Passover lamb has become our sacrifice” GOSPEL
In Conclusion Vrs 28-29 we praise Jesus for what He is capable of doing for us and the fact that His love endures.
1. Share a time in which your love for another person had to endure a hardship.
2. Share a time in your life that you felt God’s power working through a situation.
3. Do you feel you are known by others as a joyful person?
4. In what area of life do you feel the most needed and useful?
5. How has a broken trust from someone you trusted changed the way you look at Jesus?
This psalm is what is known at Hallel Psalm which is a song of praise about the works of the Lord in the lives of His people.
Most likely the last hymn sung by Jesus with His disciples at the last supper.
Through this Psalm of praise we will learn at least three things.
1. The enduring love of the Lord Vrs 1-4
Enduring love- we should be comforted by the fact His love has staying power and endures even though we do not deserve that love, it is like a pursuing love.
Parent endures under the disobedience of a child. (Prodigal Son)
Why because it is steadfast which means it is firm, pointed with purpose and unwavering.
From the Lord we learn that this is the type of love we need to have for those around us.
As Christians we should endure, when people wrong us. We endure when people don’t follow through with their commitments to us. We endure when things don’t change as quick as we think they should.
Bottom line is we need to emulate the love of the Lord.
Next we will see…
2. What the Lord is capable of giving to you and me. Vrs 5-18
-Salvation Vrs 5 Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13-21
-Someone to trust. Vrs 6-9 Is the One we can trust. Trust in the Lord not in man. (You may not be able to trust anyone)
-Power. Vrs 10-13 We get power from the Lord. “I can do all things through Christ”
-Joy. Vrs 14-16 Salvation should result in joy. In this passage we see the psalmist in song.
Because it is valiant (bold, heroic)
-Purpose Vrs 17 The Lord keeps us alive to bring glory to Him while we are here. People want purpose…ask a child what they want to do when they grow up.
When the Lord does something for us it is a great thing to do to make it known.
-Security Vrs 18 The Lord disciplines those He loves (Tim Keller father illustration I really act like a father when I have to discipline)
The final thing we learn is who the Lord is
3. The Lord’s name is Jesus and He is... This is important because this Psalm never says the name of Jesus but these last 11 verses are clearly about Jesus,
-The Gate Vrs 19-21 Jesus is the gate John 10:1
-The Stone Vrs 22-23 The Messianic value Matt 21:42-44
Jesus is the stone
Jewish leaders are the builders of the nation…the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others Matt 21:43
-The Creator Vrs 24 He is creator of the day John 1:9 “World made through Him”
-The Life Giver Vrs 25 He gives success John 10:10
-The One we waited for. Vrs 26 More prophecy John 12:13
-The Light Vrs 27 He is the light of the world John 12:46 and
-The Sacrifice His sacrifice is that light 1 Cor 5:7 “Christ our Passover lamb has become our sacrifice” GOSPEL
In Conclusion Vrs 28-29 we praise Jesus for what He is capable of doing for us and the fact that His love endures.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
"Seeing Jesus in the Psalms" The Work of Jesus
Psalm 110 is the only “purely prophetic” meaning it finds its full meaning only in Christ.
From this Psalm we will learn at least 3 things about the work of Jesus. 1. What is the Work of Jesus? 2. Who should be involved in the work of Jesus? & 3. What can we trust about the work of Jesus?
What is the work of Jesus?
Matthew Henry is his commentary states about Psalm 110 “Christ as our Redeemer, executes three roles King (V1,3,5,6)” Prophet (v2), & Priest (v4)
King-a ruler or judge Vrs 1
Prophet-speaks and teaches truth. Vrs 2 proclaiming
Priest-is a go between or a mediator to God Vrs 4
Gen 14:17-24 Melchizedek… King and priest of Salem brought bread and wine as a reminder to Abram after He returned from the defeat of those who were against the Lord, that the Lord was the One who gave Him the victory
Abram’s response was giving a 10th to Melchizedek and total commitment to the Lord
What is our response to the victory we have in Jesus. It should be generosity and commitment.
Who should be involved in the work of Jesus?
-Christians Vrs 3
We should freely offer ourselves in service, we should not be coerced or guilted into working with and for the Lord.
If you are not working for the Lord…
-You will not grow
-You are failing the body of Christ because you are not using your gifts
-You are being disobedient (selfish)
-You will miss out on blessings
“the day of your power in holy garments” Probably a reference to Revelation chapter 19 in which we see all the Christians/saints of all time clothed in “fine linen” at the wedding supper of Jesus after that we then see Jesus riding a white horse out to battle with the saints following Him clothed in “fine linen” riding on white horses do Jesus’ work with Him. (the fine linen “are the righteous deeds of the saints”)
Nelson Study Bible notes say it this way “From the womb of the morning describes the volunteer army in their robust and fresh vigor; they are ready for a holy battle”
We understand through the book of Revelation that at the end of this world there will be a battle and Christ will win…but another question that we must ask is…Is there are battle going on right now that those who are in “holy garments” are in?
The answer is Yes the spiritual battle for souls, the church (us) needs to advancing in battle for the souls of the people in the community. Eph 6
Some of the biggest enemies of the church is the church itself. Parable of Wheat and Weeds
-Laziness (don’t want do anything)
-Comfort (I like the way things are why change it)
-Apathy (I really don’t care)
-Internal struggles (Things have to be my way or there is going to be a problem)
What can we trust in about work of Jesus?
-He does not change His mind.
Vrs 4 this is the way it is…it is only through Jesus.. this is the plan. No matter what culture tells us, no matter how politically incorrect it may sound the Gospel is the Gospel. GOSPEL
We are not going to a get to a certain time in which God says “you know what I am going change that up on you guys”
God in the OT and NT are the same
-He is more powerful. (then anything you can imagine)
Vrs 5
Do you really believe that Jesus is more powerful then anyone or anything? A little test…How do you respond when you are harshly mistreated?
Many times we retaliate and we don’t rest in the fact that God is more powerful and takes care of our enemies.
-He is a just judge. Vrs 6 When Jesus is judging we know that we can trust His judgment. Remember there is no love without righteous judgment.
-He proves to be trustworthy because of His Sacrifice. (humility and exaltation) GOSPEL
Vrs 7Drank from the bitter brook, Romans tells us that “He who did not spare His own son will He not then also graciously give us all things”
We can be sure our salvation is complete through the “Work of Jesus”
From this Psalm we will learn at least 3 things about the work of Jesus. 1. What is the Work of Jesus? 2. Who should be involved in the work of Jesus? & 3. What can we trust about the work of Jesus?
What is the work of Jesus?
Matthew Henry is his commentary states about Psalm 110 “Christ as our Redeemer, executes three roles King (V1,3,5,6)” Prophet (v2), & Priest (v4)
King-a ruler or judge Vrs 1
Prophet-speaks and teaches truth. Vrs 2 proclaiming
Priest-is a go between or a mediator to God Vrs 4
Gen 14:17-24 Melchizedek… King and priest of Salem brought bread and wine as a reminder to Abram after He returned from the defeat of those who were against the Lord, that the Lord was the One who gave Him the victory
Abram’s response was giving a 10th to Melchizedek and total commitment to the Lord
What is our response to the victory we have in Jesus. It should be generosity and commitment.
Who should be involved in the work of Jesus?
-Christians Vrs 3
We should freely offer ourselves in service, we should not be coerced or guilted into working with and for the Lord.
If you are not working for the Lord…
-You will not grow
-You are failing the body of Christ because you are not using your gifts
-You are being disobedient (selfish)
-You will miss out on blessings
“the day of your power in holy garments” Probably a reference to Revelation chapter 19 in which we see all the Christians/saints of all time clothed in “fine linen” at the wedding supper of Jesus after that we then see Jesus riding a white horse out to battle with the saints following Him clothed in “fine linen” riding on white horses do Jesus’ work with Him. (the fine linen “are the righteous deeds of the saints”)
Nelson Study Bible notes say it this way “From the womb of the morning describes the volunteer army in their robust and fresh vigor; they are ready for a holy battle”
We understand through the book of Revelation that at the end of this world there will be a battle and Christ will win…but another question that we must ask is…Is there are battle going on right now that those who are in “holy garments” are in?
The answer is Yes the spiritual battle for souls, the church (us) needs to advancing in battle for the souls of the people in the community. Eph 6
Some of the biggest enemies of the church is the church itself. Parable of Wheat and Weeds
-Laziness (don’t want do anything)
-Comfort (I like the way things are why change it)
-Apathy (I really don’t care)
-Internal struggles (Things have to be my way or there is going to be a problem)
What can we trust in about work of Jesus?
-He does not change His mind.
Vrs 4 this is the way it is…it is only through Jesus.. this is the plan. No matter what culture tells us, no matter how politically incorrect it may sound the Gospel is the Gospel. GOSPEL
We are not going to a get to a certain time in which God says “you know what I am going change that up on you guys”
God in the OT and NT are the same
-He is more powerful. (then anything you can imagine)
Vrs 5
Do you really believe that Jesus is more powerful then anyone or anything? A little test…How do you respond when you are harshly mistreated?
Many times we retaliate and we don’t rest in the fact that God is more powerful and takes care of our enemies.
-He is a just judge. Vrs 6 When Jesus is judging we know that we can trust His judgment. Remember there is no love without righteous judgment.
-He proves to be trustworthy because of His Sacrifice. (humility and exaltation) GOSPEL
Vrs 7Drank from the bitter brook, Romans tells us that “He who did not spare His own son will He not then also graciously give us all things”
We can be sure our salvation is complete through the “Work of Jesus”
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