GL original drama by Amber Roberts.

Matthew 27:16-17 NIV 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

Genesis 50:20 NLT 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.Exodus 3:19 NLT 19 "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.Piel Exodus 4:21 NLT 21 And the LORD told Moses, "When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.Exodus 7:3 NLT 3 But I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.Exodus 8:15 NLT But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.Exodus 8:32 NLT 32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.Piel Exodus 9:12 NLT 12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and just as the LORD had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.Exodus 9:34-35 NLT But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn. 35 Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the LORD had predicted through Moses.Piel Exodus 10:20 NLT But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart again, so he refused to let the people go.Piel Exodus 10:27 NLT 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart once more, and he would not let them go.Piel Exodus 11:10 NLT 10 Moses and Aaron performed these miracles in Pharaoh's presence, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let the Israelites leave the country.Piel Exodus 14:4 NLT 4 And once again I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD!" So the Israelites camped there as they were told.Piel Exodus 14:8 NLT The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance.Piel Exodus 14:17 NLT 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers.Romans 9:17-18 NLT 17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, "I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth." 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.Joshua 11:20 NLT For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.Judges 14:1-4 NLT One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, "A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me." 3 His father and mother objected. "Isn't there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?" they asked. "Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?" But Samson told his father, "Get her for me! She looks good to me." 4 His father and mother didn't realize the LORD was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.1 Samuel 2:25 NLT But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.1 Samuel 16:14 NLT Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.2 Samuel 12:11-12 NLT 11 "This is what the LORD says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”2 Samuel 12:15 NLT 15 After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah's wife.2 Samuel 24:1 NLT Once again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah," the LORD told him.2 Samuel 24:10 NLT 10 But after he had taken the census, David's conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, LORD, for doing this foolish thing."2 Samuel 24:12-17 NLT 12 "Go and say to David, 'This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.'" 13 So Gad came to David and asked him, "Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me." 14 "I'm in a desperate situation!" David replied to Gad. "But let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands." 15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep-- what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family."1 Chronicles 21:1 NLT Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.In this one incident the Bible gives us a remarkable insight into the three influences that contributed in different ways to one action: God, in order to bring about his purposes, worked through Satan to incite David to sin, but Scripture regards David as being responsible for that sin.1 Kings 22:20-23 NLT 20 And the LORD said, 'Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?' "There were many suggestions, 21 and finally a spirit approached the LORD and said, 'I can do it!' 22 "'How will you do this?' the LORD asked. "And the spirit replied, 'I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's prophets to speak lies.' "'You will succeed,' said the LORD. 'Go ahead and do it.' 23 "So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the LORD has pronounced your doom."Ezekiel 14:9 NLT 9 "'And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel.Amos 3:6 NLT 6 When the ram's horn blows a warning, shouldn't the people be alarmed? Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has planned it?Amos 4:6-13 NLT 6 "I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 7 "I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away. 8 People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 9 "I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 10 "I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away. The stench of death filled the air! But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 11 "I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 12 "Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!" 13 For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The LORD God of Heaven's Armies is his name!Therefore, God brings evil on human beings, to discipline his children, to lead unbelievers to repentance, and to bring a judgment of condemnation and destruction upon hardened sinners. Yet, none of us can charge God with doing wrong. Ultimately all will work in God’s good purposes to bring glory to him and good to his people. Yet we must realize that in punishing evil in those who are not redeemed, God is also glorified through the demonstration of his justice, holiness, and power.Isaiah 45:7 NLT 7 I create (Genesis 1:1) the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.Verses that Reflect the True Source of Calamity along with a Right Response:Lamentations 3:38-40 NLT 38 Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? 39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? 40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD.Isaiah 63:17 NLT 17 LORD, why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession.Jonah 1:14-15 NLT 14 Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah's God. "O LORD," they pleaded, "don't make us die for this man's sin. And don't hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons." 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!Jonah 2:3 NLT 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.God was bringing about his plan through the willing choices of real human beings who were morally accountable for their actions. In a way not understood by us and not revealed to us, God caused them to make a willing choice to do what they didTHE CRUCIFIXIONActs 4:27-28 NLT 27 "In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.Acts 2:23 NLT 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.In one sentence Peter links God’s plan and foreknowledge with the moral blame that attaches to the actions of “lawless men.” They were not forced by God to act against their wills; rather, God brought about his plan through their willing choices for which they were nevertheless responsible.Luke 22:22 NLT 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him."So God is more than able to accomplish His purposes, but man is still responsible for his willing choices.ANTICHRIST2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NLT 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.JOB- Our Example for the Right Response to EvilIn the story of Job, though the Lord gave Satan permission to bring harm to Job’s possessions and children, and though this harm came through the evil actions of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, as well as a windstorm (Job 1:12, 15, 17, 19), yet Job looks beyond those secondary causes and, with the eyes of faith, sees it all as from the hand of the Lord: “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). The Old Testament author follows Job’s statement immediately with the sentence, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job has just been told that evil marauding bands had destroyed his flocks and herds, yet with great faith and patience in adversity, he says, “The Lord has taken away.” Though he says that the Lord had done this, yet he does not blame God for the evil or say that God had done wrong: he says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” To blame God for evil that he had brought about through secondary agents would have been to sin. Job does not do this, Scripture never does this, and neither should we.CONCLUSION:Psalm 76:10 NLT 10 Human defiance (or the wrath of man) only enhances your glory, for you use it as a weapon.CAUTION:Luke 13:1-5 NLT About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 "Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?" Jesus asked. "Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”So its not that some people experience natural disasters because of God’s wrath, but rather that God is restraining the evil that man deserves everywhere else.We must resist making judgement calls on why evil happens or declaring specifically what God’s purposes are or were in particular instances of evil in the world.Acts 28:4-9 NLT 4 The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, "A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live." 5 But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. 6 The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn't harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god. 7 Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. 8 As it happened, Publius's father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.If God is able to use evil for good then should we be praying for that?There is a great difference between what is fitting for man to will and what is fitting for GodIf evil came into the world in spite of the fact that God did not intend it and did not want it to be there, then what guarantee do we have that there will not be more and more evil that he does not intend and that he does not want? And what guarantee do we have that he will be able to use it for his purposes, or even that he can triumph over it?

1. Wasted DiscipleshipMatthew 7:6 NLT 6 "Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.Matthew 15:26 Jesus responded, "It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs." Proverbs 23:9 Don't waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice. 2 Peter 2:22 They prove the truth of this proverb: "A dog returns to its vomit." And another says, "A washed pig returns to the mud." Proverbs 9:7 Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. Proverbs 9:8 So don't bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. Revelation 22:15 Outside the city are the dogs the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. Proverbs 11:22 A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout. Proverbs 26:4–5 Don't answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. 5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.Matthew 10:14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. The point here is we can waste our time on people who have already decided.Stubborness vs. humilityThe fool has said in his heart, There is no God.The natural man 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:3 NLT 14 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren't ready for anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature.2. MoneyPsalm 37:21 NLT 21 The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.Proverbs 22:7 NLT 7 Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.Proverbs 27:23 NLT 23 Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,1 Timothy 6:10 NLT 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.2 Corinthians 9:6-11 NLT 6 Remember this-- a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, "They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever." 10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.Get out of DebtGiving to the poor is lending to the LordYou will never get poor by being generousGod supplies to the generous.2 ILLUSTRATIONSFriend paid when I didn’t know how I was going toMoney showed up in my account3. AngerWe get angry about the wrong things so that we get angry where we should be patient, and passive when we should get angry.James 1:19-20 NLT 19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT 26 Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.Psalm 4:4-5 NLT 4 Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. 5 Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the LORD.4. MotivesJeremiah 17:10 NLT 10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."Can we get in the habit of asking “why”?We often only go as far as the “what” and the “where” but forget about the “why” and the “how”.So what are our underlying deeper motives?Here is a sampling:Pleasure, Freedom/Autonomy, Love/Intimacy, Significance/Reputation, Respect/Admiration, Control, Power, Peace, Happiness, Comfort, Meaning, and Success.The man who is always late and unavailable when there is work to be done might be motivated by comfort, laziness, or perhaps he is motivated by success and respect and is afraid of failure.The wife who is mortified that a surprise visitor saw her messy house might be motivated by reputation.The father whose children are fearful and whose wife is cautious might be motivated by power.The teen who rebels against any curfew might be motivated by freedom.The mother who never lets her children stay with a babysitter might be motivated by control.We need to ask ourselves questions like:Why does life not seem like its worth living?Why are these goals so important to me?Why do I feel I need this particular thing so badly?Why do I define success and failure in this particular way?Why was I so angry with my spouse or my child?Why am I feeling depressed?Why am I feeling bitterness or jealousy?Why am I wasting my time and being lazy?We want to indulge our desires over and against God and this is where good things become god things and we step into idolatry.When we realize that our evil desires are incapable of being satisfied ultimately outside of God then we can repent and turn to God who will satisfy our deepest longings.So the idea is feel the feeling.So I challenge us to get in the habit of asking the “why” question to help get good at interpreting our motives so we can apply the Gospel to our hearts.5. TimeNLT Ephesians 5:16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.Exhaust the possibilities available.Believers act wisely by snapping up every opportunity.This goes back to the previous verse:Ephesians 5:15 NLT 15 So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise.Those who are wise make the most of every opportunity to conduct themselves in a way that is pleasing to God.Psalm 90:12 NLT 12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.6. Laziness/SlothProverbs 6:6-11 NLT 6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- 11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.So we can waste our time, getting angry at things that don’t matter, being motivated by things that can never satisfy, spending out time being lazy and selfish.

Which side of Jesus will you fall on, His wrath or His people.What do His people look like?Are you preparing even now for the coming of the Lord?Do you live like one of His people or like the world?Jesus came to make the rough places straight and He will do this through his wrath or through His redemption. Redeemed people live like Kingdom people and He will not be satisfied with the religious.Luke 3:3-8 NLT 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the LORD's coming! Clear the road for him! 5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. 6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.'" 7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God's coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other, 'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.This citation from Isaiah in Luke is the key interpretive framework that the remainder of Luke and Acts is to be understood.“Prepare the way” is exactly why the church in the book of Acts was known as “The Way” occurring 6 times in the book of Acts (9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)It is what Jesus means when He says in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”The call is the same to us today. Prove it!!! We often hear people telling God to prove Himself to them, that He is real, but the Scripture makes the opposite call.Are you clinging merely to your prayer, to the idea that you have been forgiven, but then are you failing to even consider that He demands a repentant people, poor in Spirit, that thirst and hunger for righteousness, that are oppressed in their taking up the cause of the oppressed or do you merely use religion to oppress others. So what is Luke talking about and where does this idea come from?Clear the road for him! 5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.Isaiah 40:3-5 NLT 3 Listen! It's the voice of someone shouting, "Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!Isaiah 49:11 11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys.Isaiah 57:14-15 NLT 14 God says, "Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity." 15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: "I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.Luke 6:20 NLT 20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, "God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.Isaiah 62:10 NLT 10 Go out through the gates! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see.The highway is a means of access to God and His city.The image of clearing the way for God’s people is present alongside a picture of His people as humble and lowly which is just what John the Baptist is calling for. The way to God is cleared for humble and righteous people. The leveling of geographic obstacles is a way of portraying God’s coming as powerful and without obstruction. Just as God parted the Red Sea in the Exodus so He will remove all of creation’s obstacles for His people as He delivers them. All of the life of ministry of Jesus can be seen in light of this prophecy for in these words we see all that Jesus was ever doing.The highway that clears the way for God’s coming is a purified heart.Isaiah pictures a new exodus and that is exactly what Jesus is initiating in His earthly ministry.(Isaiah 43:17-19 NLT) called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. 18 "But forget all that-- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.Isaiah is not just referring to a Babylonian Captivity but to God’s ultimate salvation through Jesus.We are in the midst of the new exodus where God is calling people to Himself through Jesus.(Luke 1:17 NLT) 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”Malachi 3:1-3 NLT "Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 2 "But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD.Malachi 4:1-6 NLT The LORD of Heaven's Armies says, "The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed-- roots, branches, and all. 2 "But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. 3 On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 4 "Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant-- all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel. 5 "Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse."In the midst of His wrath there are those who still fear Him that the Lord remembers:Malachi 3:16 NLT 16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.Luke 3:8-18 NLT 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other, 'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire." 10 The crowds asked, "What should we do?" 11 John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." 12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13 He replied, "Collect no more taxes than the government requires." 14 "What should we do?" asked some soldiers. John replied, "Don't extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay." 15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am-- so much greater that I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire." 18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.So what we see with the coming of Jesus, as predicted in Isaiah and Malachi is that the coming of Jesus sets people in one of two categories, and Jesus throughout His ministry is doing just that.How do we prepare for His coming? Its repentance. We act like its a choice to worship, to serve, to forgive, to sacrifice when we want to, if we feel like, and if its convenient, and if we spend our lives like this then the Woes of His fierce wrath will fall on us, so I say if you think you have received His salvation, PROVE IT, by the way you live that you have repented and turned to God.Do we think that our seeing others as a brood of vipers we are in turn able to live as a brood of vipers ourselves?How can we celebrate His birth if we live like He never came and is impotent and forgetful of His mission to set the world straight? Lip service, token religious gestures, half-hearted commitments, faith lived out of convenience, that is repulsed and draws back at the call to sacrifice will surely experience the wrath of the King of kings, Jesus.So we look out and see the chaos of our world and we must ask ourselves, are we part of the solution or are we part of the problem that Jesus will solve?(Isaiah 58:6 NLT) 6 "No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.CONCLUSION:So what I want you to see is that the OT is setting up the dominos that the NT begins to push over that will culminate in the grand finale of Jesus’ return.So what we have in the book of Luke is a warning and an understanding of what it means to be prepared for the way of the Lord.As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, He didn’t just come to make us feel warm and fuzzy but to call us back to God. We should read the Gospels this Christmas season to ensure that we are truly His people that He will remember and that His wrath doesn’t still fall on us.When Jesus returns is not when I want you to have a moment of clarity. On that day I don’t want you to fall down in dread but to life your hands in victory and joy.So what’s it going to be, the baptism of the Spirit or fire?(Luke 24:46-49 NLT) 46 And he said, "Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: 'There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.' 48 You are witnesses of all these things. 49 "And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”Isa 32:15 until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. Isa 44:3 For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. Isa 59:21 "And this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the LORD, have spoken! Joe 2:28 "Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. (Isaiah 49:6-7 NLT) 6 He says, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." 7 The LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: "Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the LORD, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."Act 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Isa 32:15 until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. Isaiah 43:10-12 NLT 10 "But you are my witnesses, O Israel!" says the LORD. "You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God-- there never has been, and there never will be. 11 I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Savior. 12 First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God," says the LORD.(Isaiah 44:8 NLT) 8 Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses-- is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock-- not one!"Isaiah 49:6 6 He says, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”Acts 13:46-48 NLT 46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, "It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. 47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said, 'I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.'" 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.Acts 28:26-28 NLT 26 'Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. 27 For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes-- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' 28 So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”(Isaiah 6:8-10 NLT) 8 Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." 9 And he said, "Yes, go, and say to this people, 'Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.' 10 Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing."Isaiah speaks of the restoration of Israel built on 6 crucial themes that play a significant role in the book of Acts (Beale, NTBT, pp. 701–703):The reconstitution of Israel begins in Luke with the establishment of the 12 apostles who represent the regathered 12 Tribes of Israel.Acts 2:5 5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. This refers to Isaiah’s prophecy of the ingathering of dispersed exiles.The Coming of the Spirit (Acts 2 & see above Isa 32; 44; 59)Initial repentance of multitudes in Israel (2:41–47; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 11:24; 12:24)The rebuilding of the Davidic Kingdom (Acts 15:13–18)Acts 15:13-18 NLT 13 When they had finished, James stood and said, "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written: 16 'Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, 17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the LORD, including the Gentiles-- all those I have called to be mine. The LORD has spoken-- 18 he who made these things known so long ago.’The inclusion of outcasts among God’s true people like the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26–39)7. Word of the Lord(Isaiah 2:3 NLT) 3 People from many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For the LORD's teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.(Isaiah 45:22-24 NLT) 22 Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. 23 I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me." 24 The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.(Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT) 10 "The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.(Acts 6:7 NLT) 7 So God's message (the Word of God) continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.(Acts 12:24 NLT) 24 Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.(Acts 19:20 NLT) 20 So the message about the Lord (the Word of the Lord) spread widely and had a powerful effect.“Despite opposition the world makes its way and accomplishes its goal of creating the church community, which, in contrast to the Jewish establishment, is identified as the true heir of Isaiah’s new-exodus and restoration promises (Beale, NTBT, p. 702).”“The church is the commencing fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah’s restoration. Beale, p. 703.Jews at the time of Jesus believed that their exile had continued into the first century which explains Luke's emphasis on Isaiah’s restoration promises in the coming of Jesus and the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:23–25 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.I find myself lying, but its not really lying, and I think we all do it. When we lie we are not thinking long term but we are thinking irrationally.We see lying in sports with athletes emphatically denying they use steroids only to be found out later. We’ve seen lying when the government has claimed that their are weapons of mass destruction. We’ve seen the NSA lie about the information they collect from U.S. citizens. We’ve seen the leaders of the tobacco industry lie about the dangers of smoking. We’ve seen U.S. Presidents promise to shrink big government during their campaigns only to enlarge it during their presidencies. We’ve learned that presidential candidates hide their real views while trying to please their diverse constituencies. Bill Clinton is quoted as saying, “Nearly everyone will lie to you, given the right circumstances.” No one wanted to admit that U.S. soldiers were dying over a commodity like oil in the Gulf War so we were told it was about the freedom of Kuwaitis and throwing down a tyrannical leader.Nearly everyone condemns lying, but nearly everyone does it everyday.Their are two primary ways of lying, to conceal and to falsify. EARTH IS FLAT: But what is a lie? Someone might say, “the Earth is flat.” Is this a lie? Actually, if the person is from the Flat Earth Society it is a statement of belief that happens to not be true. So the essence of a lie, as we usually think of it, is the “intention to mislead.”How many here have lied since the beginning of 2016? How many here think of themselves as good, honest people? How can liars think of themselves as honest? It comes down to how we rationalize it. We want to look in the mirror and think of ourselves as honest, but on the other hand we want to benefit selfishly from being dishonest. As long we tell ourselves we are only lying a little bit or for a good cause we can still think of ourselves as honest.We make allowances for ourselves and these are places where we grant ourselves permission to sin, but still consider ourselves good. We tell ourselves its OK to break the speed limit, to cheat a little bit on our taxes, or to exaggerate on a resume or job application.Things that allow us to make greater allowances for ourselves to lie, cheat, and steal, include things like: Everybody’s doing it Conflicts of interest I’m not hurting anyone Lying for others Lack of supervision Social norms Fatigue Distance from the crime Self-deceptionEverybody’s doing it- What if you were pursuing a career in professional sports like cycling or baseball and you discovered that in order to compete you would have to take steroids just to keep up because the elite in the sport were already using steroids. Would you be willing to changes careers, to either give up on that dream or be willing to be the last in the field?The MATRIX EXPERIMENTS (Dan Ariely) 20 simple math problems, but the testers aren’t given enough time, only 5 minutes. After 5 minutes grade your own paper. The tester will receive $1 for each correct answer. They go to the front, collect their money, and then shred their test. What they don’t know is that the shredder didn’t really shred their paper. On average testers solved 4 problems but reported to solve 6. Over 40,000 people participated in this series of experiments. Nearly 70% cheated. There were 20 big cheaters, those who cheated all the way, and said they solved 20 problems. They stole a combined total of $400 from the test givers. There were also 28,000 little cheaters and they stole a combined total of about $50,000 from the test givers. What the test givers learned from this is that the economic impact of little cheaters is incredibly high. The IRS is cheated out of more than 15% of its yearly tax revenue. Insurance fraud in the U.S. is estimated to be more than $40 billion per year. Healthcare scams cost the U.S. government more than $200 billion per year.The MATRIX EXPERIMENTS- CreativityAnother way we lie to ourselves is by telling ourselves things that are not true. The vast majority of people think they are better than average drivers. The vast majority of people think they have less chance of dying from a heart attack and cancer. We have these overly optimistic beliefs about ourselves and we convince ourselves that these beliefs are actually true.Self-deception starts off as we know that we are lying to ourselves, or we are aware that we are engaging in a rationalization to ourselves. After a while we just believe what we are telling ourselves and its seen in 80% of the population. Experiment: People are given a test to take, and some people don’t have the answers and they see how well they do, and they are hard questions so they don’t do very well. Other people are given the same test and are given the answers at the bottom and are told to check them if they want, its up to them. They do terrific on the test, but then they are given another test. The test givers tell them, “Here are some new questions, and by the way, there’s no answers at the bottom this time. How well do you think you are going to do?” The testers don’t correct at all, they just think that they’re amazing test takers now. The testers can even be paid. The test givers say, “Look, if you guess how many you’re going to get right we will give you a lot of money.” The test givers find that there is no change at all. They just believe still that they are amazing test takers even though they cheated on the first test, and their opinion about themselves, that they are amazing test takers, are based on that test where they cheated, they still answer that they are going to get many more right than is possible. The test takers have deceived themselves into thinking, “I’m the greatest trivia test taker in the world” and the test givers can’t get them to stop doing it. The process of deceiving ourselves is so strong, and it happens to us so quickly. We may have a quick doubt of “maybe I cheated,” and then, “No, I didn’t. I’m a genius,” and then “I’m a genius for the rest of my life.” The test givers learned through this experiment that the impulse to deceive ourselves is powerful. Children today are more and more encouraged to be someone other than who they truly are. One of the results of this is that students misrepresent themselves on their college applications and even resort to having someone else take their SAT’s for them.ANIMALSScientists say that all animals have deception as part of their armory in order to survive. So for instance animals that can camouflage themselves. They say the bigger the brain, the larger the capacity to lie.Chimpanzees have been known to lie where they may lead their group away from where the food is so that that one particular chimpanzee can come back to the food later on and have it to themselves. LIE DETECTORS Lie detectors detect emotional arousal or when we feel uncomfortable. When scientists asked people to lie for themselves the lie detector caught them, but then the scientists asked them to lie for a charity, and the lie detector was silent. Why? Because if we can justify our lie to ourselves, that we are doing something good or for a good cause, then there is no conflict, no emotional problem. So this is like when a parent lie about where their children live so that they can go to a better school and be a part of a better school district. VENDING MACHINE EXPERIMENT: A vending machine was set up so that people would get their candy and they would get their money back. Then a number was placed in large print on the machine for people to call if there was a problem with the machine. The scientists received no calls and the average number of candies stolen was four. They concluded later that the rationalization people were using was what they called a vending machine karma. Some other vending machine had ripped them off so they felt justified in stealing this candy, as if this vending machine was a close relative of the vending machine that ripped them off. Then the people called their friends to come and steal some candy, and the idea here is that if my friends steal the candy too then it is more socially acceptable. The MATRIX EXPERIMENTS- Social Norms They gave students a test and one student was hired to cheat. He completed the test in an impossible amount of time and gave himself a perfect score. The rest of the students saw him turn in his test and receive all the money and then go home without getting caught. The students learned that it was socially acceptable to cheat and the cheating went up. But when they did the same experiment and dressed the cheating student in an opposing schools sweatshirt, cheating went down. So it wasn’t about the probability of getting caught. It was about what is socially acceptable in our circle. Often, we justify our own lies by saying everyone is doing it, meaning its socially acceptable. But is it socially acceptable if you are a child of God?The MATRIX EXPERIMENTS- Conflicts of Interest Students were told to sit at a computer. Dots would be flashed on the left and the right sides of the screen and their task was to click on the side that had more dots and they would be paid however only for clicking on the right side regardless of whether that was the correct answer or not. So this set up a conflict of interest. They could choose either to get a correct answer or they could choose to click on the right, even when there weren’t more dots on the right and receive more money. Students did not start out lying out right, but if there were only a few more dots on the left than on the right they would click on the right. In any moral conflict there is usually always a line and you have to decide whether you are going to cross it or not. You kind of want to go to the other side but you know what the right side is. Here, its very easy to justify in your own mind that its OK to go to the other side, the wrong side, because you benefit in some way.BASELINE BRAIN RESPONSE: Once you lie, you are more likely to lie again, and lie bigger. What we find in the brain is that in the beginning, if you lie a little bit, there’s a huge response in regions involved in emotion, such as the amygdala and the insula. The 10th time you lie, even if you lie the same amount, the response is not that high. So, while lying goes up over time, the response in your brain goes down. Scientists think that the reason this happens is because of a very basic principle in the brain, which is the brain adapts. The brain codes everything according to what the baseline is. If the baseline is that you normally tell the truth, but then you lie, you get a big brain response. But if the baseline is that you often lie, then when you lie again there is little brain response. After a while, the negative value and feeling of lying is just not there anymore, which allows you to lie more and more and more. 1 Timothy 4:1–2 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. LITTLE BOY LIES One man tells the story of being a big liar when he was a boy. He told his family that he played basketball with Kareem Abdul Jabar at the local park and that he had won against him. Even though he was lying he recounts that to this day he can still feel himself playing that day and the ball going in the basket, he can see the texture of the basketball, and the praise of those he says were watching him win that day. He says in his head he knows its a lie but in his heart he can’t let it go. We can get to the place where we really do believe our own lies, were we really do believe our own justifications for lying.DISTANCE FROM THE CRIME: A study was done with 12,000 golf players. They were told to imagine the ball landing in the rough, but you wanted it to be 4 inches to the left. Would you pick it up and move it four inches? The golfers responded by saying, “Of course not.” What about kicking the ball, or moving it with your club, especially if you look up and move it without looking at the ball? They said, “No problem whatsoever.” The point here is, its easier to cheat if you can create some distance from the crime. FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2008 Scientists believe that the major reason the financial crisis of 2008 happened is because of corruption where all of the elements that lend themselves to corruption were present, Politicians, regulators, investors, and bankers were all influenced by these factors: self-deception, social norms, distance from money, lying for the benefit of others, and of course conflict of interest. 10 COMMANDMENTS: Students were asked to recall the 10 commandments before being given the same tests. The result was that even if they were not successful at taking the test, nobody cheated. It wasn’t as if the people who remembered more of the 10 commandments, the people who were presumably more religious, cheated less and the people who remembered almost none of them cheated more. Nobody cheated. It didn’t matter what religion the participants had. They knew what the 10 commandments are about, they are about a moral code and proper behavior, and just being reminded of that decreased their dishonesty. Even when they took self-declared atheists and asked them to swear on the Bible, they stopped cheating. What scientists learned is that being reminded of your own moral fiber changes behavior but only for a little while. The British Government added one line to their tax form, “9 out of 10 people pay their tax on time.” It increased the payment rate from 30 to 35%. Just one line of text increased their revenue by hundreds of millions of pounds. Both honesty and dishonesty are contagious. So it comes down to how you see yourself. Does your Christianity, your faith, come to bear on the day to day decisions of your life? Are you in the word and in prayer on a day to day basis and then importing those reminders into the rest of your life?Maybe you just lie and cheat a little bit, but those lies add up over time and end up affecting much of what you do.WHO IS YOUR FATHER REALLY? John 8:44 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.Colossians 3:5–15 5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. LOVING RIGHTEOUSNESS: Because we are His children, we need to learn to love righteousness for righteouness’ sake. He should love to have high standards for ourselves that we live out in every context no matter what we stand to gain if we even lie or cheat a little bit. We must let the beauty of who we are in Jesus flow out into every area of our lives.Our CHILDREN: These little allowances we give ourselves to lie and cheat just a little bit, do you know who sees these things? Our children, our spouse, and our coworkers. So we discredit ourselves. We try to give them the Gospel but they already seeing that we are living a lie. In the days ahead we are going to emphasize and teach how to lead the people in your life to Jesus. Wouldn’t you like to see people in your life become new Christians? So, what’s required now is that you start living out your faith with integrity.Are you a liar? If you have been washed by the blood of the lamb then you have been forgiven. If we have been forgiven, then we must stop living like we haven’t. Finally, as far as all self-deception, that is lying to yourself, that you are a Christian when you really aren’t, this is one of the greatest most horrific lies you could ever tell yourself.James 1:21–27 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. 1. What did we say the the essence of telling a lie?2. Please read the following texts out loud:Ephesians 4:23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.Zechariah 8:16 But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. 17 Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the Lord.”According to the Zechariah passage, who hates it when we tell lies? 3. According to John 8:44, who loves to tell lies and loves it when we tell lies?4. A fool utter all his mind and Jesus says there are many things I have to tell you but you cannot bear them yet. What are some situations where telling the whole truth might be damaging?5. What are some situations when we might use this good reason for not telling the whole truth bluntly for justification for being cowardly or to mislead someone?6. One of the justifications we use for allowing ourselves to lie is to tell ourselves it's socially acceptable to tell a certain lie as in "everybody's doing it." Where or when do you feel pressure to succumb to such a temptation?

1) James 5:16 NLT "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”Is it easy for you to apply this passage in our life? If so what is holding you back? If not please practice in your group by confessing then pray for each other as the text states.2)Sunday's message touched on the power of prayer. Do you believe in the power of prayer? Do you have a good prayer life? Is prayer your weapon of choice, or do you have something more effective and will you please share?3)In the story of Cain, can you relate to Cain? Do you feel unaccepted by God? Do you have a hard time with doing what is good versus just doing what is good for you? Please explain.4)Do you see God working the good in your life even when you are selfish? Can you relate to Jacob's story seeing God doing what is good for you, working things out for your ultimate good, in spite of your trying to make it happen in your own way?5)Are you desperate for God? Are you so desperate for God to bless you even if He breaks your hip by stripping you from your sin in order to help you face your problems? Is it hard to see that Him doing this for you is the blessing?6)In our lives, we hold tightly to the things we think are valuable. Are you opening your hands to God's will to bless you? Is it God you're holding? Please give time to flesh out with the group what you are holding on to and make room for someone to speak in your life, like is says in James 5:16

Gospeling each otherWe use this term and it's how we treat each otherHere is the test, the light produces what is good. Ephesians 5:6-9Sometimes we live on the first quarter mile on the path of destruction and at the end of this long street is the abyss going down to hells flame but we say we are ok bc that is far away from where we live. Look at the things u allow in your life. Look at your patterns of behavior. U might say what's wrong with this or that but does it produce good. Here we come to the definition of insanity. We can be in denial bc we don't see some of these things for the evil they truly are. U say it's not hurting anyone but is it helping anyone. Is it producing what is good?Gospeling each other means we treat each other the way that God treated us in Christ. See Ephesians 4:32-5:1Ephesians 4:30 our identity is not in our sin, it's not part of us or part of our personality. Our identity in Christ gives us freedom to change, to be truly loving. Loving othersLoving others means they feel nourished, they feel connected, they feel strength. Loving others means they can say, "I feel safe showing u my heart, my dreams, my fears."My emotions are my responsibility. My goal to treat u with respect is my responsibility regardless of how I'm treated. Honor means I respect u enough to trust u to make decisions. When I force u, when I control u, when I ignore u, when I merely tolerate you, I am dishonoring u. Do u want to know if u understand the Gospel? Look at how u treat other people. Do u treat them the way that God treated u?Process of Change/ How we stop excusing our sinsWe have to stop denying our offenses and minimizing them.We have to acknowledge our offense was wrong unconditionally. We have to stop justifying it. We have to stop blaming others and we have to be willing to talk in detail about why our offense was wrong without slipping back into defending it. We have to acknowledge that our offense was a choice, not a loss of control. When we sin it's because we gave ourselves permission to do so and chose to let the ur selves go. We need to take responsibility for the results of our offense on others including loss of trust, and we must do this without feeling sorry for ourselves or talking about how hard it is for us. In order to truly repent we must identify the underlying beliefs that have driven out behavior, beliefs like, "I'm entitled" or "I'm not responsible if provoked by another person." We must develop respectful attitudes to replace our sinful attitudes. This means being able to listen to others during conflict, and to embrace the fact that others rights are equal to our own. We must become empathetic towards others and stop exaggerating our grievances against others. We must compliment others and pay attention to their strengths and abilities. We must seek to make amends for any damage we have done and place the needs of others before our own. We must accept the consequences for our actions and stop whining about "poor me". Receiving forgiveness does. It mean the consequences for our actions disappear and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to build character in our lives through the consequences. Micah 7:7-9We need to commit to not repeating our bad behavior regardless of the circumstances. Being good for a while does not give us the right to a period of allowed bad behavior. We must stop having the double standard that says I have higher standards for others and exceptions for myself. We should embrace the double standard that says we have higher standards for ourselves. We need to realize that our struggle against sin is a life long battle so that we should never think we have arrived. Our struggles may take years to work through and we should be in it for the long haul. We must be willing to be accountable for our actions and have a willingness to accept feedback and criticism, and to be honest about when we fail. We have to give up the attitude that says "I'm willing to change some of what I do as long as I do t have to give up all of what I do. We have to stop bargaining with others and saying hints like I will only change if you change too."Remember we are not responsible for managing how others treat us but we are responsible for managing how we treat them. We must be willing to change no matter how much support we get or don't get. We must be accepting of the fact that it may take others longer to forgive us than we would like. Conclusion:Often we don't have a lot of forgiveness for others bc we haven't experienced a lot of forgiveness ourselves bc we have been denying our own sin and so have failed to receive Gods forgiveness. Illustration: the Good StudentChoosing to live in our shame and failing to ask forgiveness cuts us off from the love and acceptance of God. 1. What is gospelling each other? See Ephesians 4:32-5-1. How can we begin using this word in our vocabulary?2. According to 5:9 what does light produce? How can we use this truth when doing a self-analysis of our own behavior?3. Why don't consequences go away if you are sorry for your sin? What texts would you use to show this?4. Which ones from the following list do you struggle with?

Bringing the Future Into the Present: EphesiansSo many of the Old Testament passages prophesied of the coming Messiah and his people and this is happening now in our time and what we find in the Gospels and in Paul's writings is the working out of what this new people will look like. So do we look like that do we look like in live like the people at the New Testament describes? What does it look like for us to be a shining light in Oakland County?Ever been to a Christian concert and stayed in a hotel with mainly Christians? Ever been to Wal-Mart on Black Friday?As citizens of heaven, we are to bring God’s presence everywhere we go. We are to bring the future into the present.Imagine you send an email and literally a trillion emails flood your inbox and it causes a traffic jam because everyone is rushing to your house to help you.When we have everything in the next life, what is left to desire? The desire to serve. So you can see now why Jesus is crafting servants, because thats whats going to work in the future economy. EPHESIANSEphesians 3:10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.The following texts give instructions for how we will display God’s wisdom as a church.Its how we will bring the future into the present.Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.Ephesians 4:17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.Ephesians 4:22–2422 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Thespian, for me to live is Christ.Ephesians 4:25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.Ephesians 4:31–3231 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Do you know why forgiveness is so important? Bc without forgiveness you cannot be restored. Instead you are locked into your bitterness, so how do we bring God’s presence, which is full of forgiveness, when we don’t forgive.?Ephesians 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Ephesians 5:8 So live as people of light!Ephesians 5:10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.Ephesians 5:15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,Ephesians 6:10–1810 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. The battle Paul imagines is not aggressive, but it means treating believers with respect, with generosity, and extending forgiveness.CONCLUSION:You are to play a great role in the drama of history and all the world is your stage, and the role you are to play is that of Christ.“Jesus paid it all, leads to “all to Him I owe.”The mission of the church is to live as citizens of heaven in Gospel community through every interaction and in doing this we shine like lights, and through this we bring the future into the present.So how are we doing? Are we shining like lights?To live like a citizen of heaven means investing in other people:1 Thessalonians 2:19After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joyI don’t need a big budget, a fancy building, or expensive music equipment to live out the mission of God, but you know what I do need. I need you. I need the church. I can’t do the mission without Gospel community, so why do American Christians so often treat the church like its optional.Would that we would enter every circumstance, every situation with the intent to live out what it means to be a citizen of heaven without having to be reminded.We want God’s blessing. Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong places for it. I believe to the degree that we live out the mission as the people of God now with the resources each of us has now, that God will bless us so we can do more of what we have already been doing.1a. How would you state the mission of the church?1b. What statement was repeated throughout the sermon to describe the church's mission? Please explain what this statement means.(Answer: The church's mission is to bring the future into the present)2a. How would you state the mission of the church using texts from Ephesians?2b. What is the difference between stating the mission is to give the Gospel vs. the mission is to live out the Gospel? Please explain.3. Which text from Ephesians did we say was the mission statement? (Answer: Ephesians 3:10)4. In what ways does the fact that we are on display for the purpose of displaying God's wisdom determine what our mission should look like?5. In what ways are we displaying God's wisdom as individuals and as a church? What is included in this and please be specific.6. What did we learn from Ephesians 4:22–24? (Answer: that all the world is a stage and we are called to play our part in the greatest story ever told. In the great drama of world history, we are called to play the part of Jesus because we are His body.)7. Why did we say forgiveness as commanded in Ephesians 4:31–32 was so important? What was the principle we stated?(Answer: Forgiveness is the path to restoration. How can we model the forgiveness embedded in the Gospel if we have not been restored ourselves?)8. When we fail to forgive, who is the one who suffers and how does this affect the mission of our church?9. Based on Ephesians 5:10, what should we be developing for ourselves as we grow in our maturity? What question should we be asking regarding questionable activities and what question do we usually ask?(Answer: a code of conduct. What is right with it vs. what is wrong with it?)10. If all people see is our trying to get as close to the line without sinning, what do we often end up displaying? Please explain why this is true.(Answer: hypocrisy)

1. What are some ways Christians are tempted to remain in their old way of thinking, worldly thinking, as mentioned in Romans 12:2? Please list some examples.2. What did we say was the primary strategy for transforming our thinking? Please share some testimonies from your own life. How has your thinking changed since becoming a Christian?3. What are some of the excuses that you use to not use your gifts? Please be specific.4. Why does Paul warn us in verse 3 with reference to the use of our gifts, meaning, what is the relationship between thinking too highly of ourselves and the use of our gifts? How does one affect the other?5. What does the "we all belong to each other" mentioned in verse 5 mean to you? 6 How are we doing at GL as far as living out this truth? How can you help our church live out this truth? 7. Do you think CG helps us live this out? 8. Please think about the members of your CG and take the time to specifically encourage each other about how you have seen them use their gifts? Tell each other what you are good at, build each other up.9. Is there anyone in the CG who has no idea what their gifts might be? If so, do any of the other members have an idea what it might be?10. For those who know what their gifts are, please share them with the other members of the group.11. Getting into brainstorm mode, what are some ways you might further use the gifts God has given you? Be prepared to hear from other members of the CG on this.

Is evolution a fact? How does the fine-tuning of the universe affect my view? How do we explain the rapid rise of Christianity given that there were many witnesses and an empty tomb when the New Testament began to be circulated? Were the people back then just more superstitious than our modern sensibilities today?1. What were your overall impressions of the Easter Egg Hunt? How do you think our church did coming together to make this happen? 2. Do you think it was worth the effort?3. What positive and negative responses did you hear at the event?4. Do you think we should continue to do this event? If so, how can we make it better and more productive?5. How has/is the meaning of Easter making a difference in your life?6. How bold are you in sharing the resurrection with the people in your life? 7. Who do you need to begin praying for and sharing your faith with this year, or who would you like to see become a Christian?8. How can the other members in your CG help make this happen?9. As we approach the warmer months, what are some group activities you can begin to plan to reach out to the community, your neighborhoods, and the people in your life? Please be creative. Think of things we have not done before and things we have done but that could be done better. Please spend some time brainstorming here. Something we have done in the past is have nieghborhood BBQ's. Is this something your CG could do you have a better idea?10. The worship Sunday was amazing and it was good to see a full house. Who are some people you could invite to church in the weeks ahead.11. Please spend time praying for the people that need the Gospel, for people that will be invited to church, and for the Holy Spirit to lead in your CG hosting some outreach events.

1. According to Ephesians 4:11–13, how does maturity happen?11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 2. Knowing this is God's design, what are some ways you can help make sure this process happens in your own life?3. How important in the process described in Ephesians 4 is being committed to a local church? Why?4. What is one of the primary things we could look at, as mentioned in the sermon, in order to determine our maturity level? ANSWER: our conflict resolution5. What does handling conflict with maturity look like? Please describe it? Speak to facets like, how long should it take before you go to the person? What if you have been sinned against, whose responsibility is it to confront? Should we wait till we feel like forgiving to forgive? etc.6. Based on how you resolve conflict in your own life, how mature would you say you are? Would those close to you agree? 7. Where do you have room to grow in this area?8. Maturity is not equivalent to how old you are. Maturity is not equivalent to how much you know. Maturity is not equivalent to how many spiritual gifts you have Which of these stood out to you? Please explain.9. Please go through the following list and ask members of the group to confess areas they are still immature in and ask them what they plan to do about it:ImmaturityTaking things personallyHolding grudgesMakes the Church responsible for their spiritual growth.Thinking your environment has to be a certain way for u to thriveHappiness means acquisition of thingsI'm unique and no no one has my strugglesI’m the exception to orthodox or standard ChristianityThinking God works on your timingJumping to conclusions Needing others to validate ur sense of self worthServing for the praise of people and getting angry when u do t get itCut themselves off from their mentor and instead prefer the company of those complicit with their apathy.Thinking the voices in your head are the Holy SpiritJumping into ministry before counting the costMake decisions but can’t keep them and complain about what they committed to.Get easily distracted from their missionStart things they don’t finish due to neglect or forgetfulness.Force others to walk on eggshells around them lest they be offended. Certain topics are passively declared off limits.Stay on the outskirts or periphery of community lest they experience accountability.Define the Church as a loose connection of Christians acquaintances in order to avoid accountability.Immature Christians are their own pastors and deacons to themselves.Immature Christians claim revelation from the Holy Spirit that is contrary to revelation from Scripture.Immature Christians talk about the person instead of going to the person.10. Please go through the following list and ask members which areas they want to grow in maturity and which areas they believe they have experienced growth in maturity:Mature Christians let Jesus reign in every area of their lives, immature Christians compartmentalize and giving him only sections while seeking to be their own God in every other area.They make Jesus not King of their life but merely a figurehead with no real power. They don’t submit to His will, they submit to their own will.Mature Christians are marked by humilityMature Christians not only know God’s word, but they apply God’s Word beginning with themselves.Mature Christians live to serve others.Mature Christians love people who don’t yet love Jesus.Mature Christians are able to learn from people who are less mature than they are.Mature Christians set and live out personal standards that are higher for themselves than they are for other people.Mature Christians seek out the truth for the purpose of repentance and change.Mature Christians seek out discipleship.Mature Christians seek out accountability.Mature Christians seek out transparency.Mature Christians make wise commitments and follow through with them over time.Mature Christians take initiative in serving and meeting the needs of others.Mature Christians submit plans to wise leadership for confirmation.Mature Christians understand the needs of the many are greater than personal preferences.Mature Christians often serve outside their comfort zone.Mature Christians seek out and submit to Spirit ordained leadership as a means of submitting to God’s Word, as a means of submitting to King Jesus.11. Are you willing to call out the areas where you are immature?12. Are you willing to let a mature Christians speak into your life and advise you where you need to grow in maturity?13. Are you willing to struggle against the areas in your life where you are immature and to begin to respond in different ways than you did in the past.14. Are you willing to ask forgiveness from God and from those who have been on the receiving end of your immaturity?

1. Now is a good time to take a look at where you are on Bible reading. A link to many Bible reading plans has been posted on the GL Facebook page.How important is reading the Bible to you and your spiritual life?What are some reasonable goals you have for Bible reading in 2016?2. We listed 41 potential things we could work on in 2016 and they are listed below. Do you still recall the ones you have decided to focus on?3. What are the situations that most often lead to your exhibiting the negative behavior that you want to move away from in 2016? Would you share these with the group?4. What would it look like for you to respond in a Jesus way instead?5. What are the things or persons that you usually blame for your negative behavior?6. In blaming circumstances or other persons are you able to specify the misbelief you are telling yourself? What is it?7. Do you believe change in your behavior and personality is possible? Do you have hope for 2016? Please explain.8. Who is a good person to help hold you accountable to staying in the fight against these negative behaviors?9. What are the positive behaviors that you want to introduce into your life in 2016? What are the things that you have been holding back on? Please share.10. Will you be sharing the positive goals with your accountability partner?Being authenticMaintaining a positive attitude no matter the circumstancePaying attention to our tone of your voice. Cultivate your tone of voice which is an open window through which people look into your soul.Paying attention to the expression on our faceNot losing our composure. People cannot make you angry without your consent.Breaking in and running away with a conversation while others are speaking. Always making the conversation all about us, versus asking questions that focus attention on the other person.Using sarcasm, and wise cracksIndifference in listening while others are speakingBetter to be a good listener than a good talkerFlattery as manipulationFinding fault with the world and people in general, complainingChallenging those with whom you disagree for the purpose of being on the opposite sideGiving advice to those who have not requested it. Free advice is worth as much as it cost.Speaking of things that interest those to whom you are speaking as a form of love.Seeking to be superior through words and topics unfamiliar to others. Negotiate with them on their own level.Envy of those you consider successful.Carelessness in personal appearance We need to control our tongue, think first then speak. Don’t injure others with our words.Do not strike back at others.Taking the path of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.Avoid controversial incidents, overlook. Don’t get into arguments about insignificant topics and this includes Facebook.We must make it our practice to always see the good in others. Focus always on the good in othersFix your mind positively at the beginning of each day through reading the Word and prayer.Start each day with gratitude for what you have and what you will receive. "I complained about having no shoes until I saw the man with no feet."Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Look for others who are worse off than you. Pity parties.Meditate on what you can do towards your goalsTranslate negative emotions into something positiveRemember that your strength grows out of your strugglesLook at life as a continual process of learning from pleasant and unpleasant experiences.Realize your have been given complete control over your own mind.Accept all criticism from othersFigure out who you want to be like and emulate them.2 types of people who will never amount to anything, those who will not do what they are told and those who will do nothing else.Part of natures method of disciplining people is through failure defeat and adversity, and it is your positive attitude that transforms these things into things of priceless value. No one desires to meet with these experiences.Accepting full responsibility and never passing the buck.Paying attention to detail.Giving full attention to one thing at a time.Mental attitude positive when in communication with other peopleGiving direct answers.Never puts off what he/she can do today. No procrastination.Nothing can be called failure until we accept it as such.

1. Have you come to trust in Christ personally, or are you still at the point of intellectual knowledge and emotional approval of the facts of salvation without having personally put your trust in Christ? If you have not put your trust in Christ yet, what do you think it is that is making you hesitate?2. Did you feel a sincere sorrow for sin when you first came to Christ? Can you describe what it felt like? Did it lead you to a genuine commitment to forsake sin? How long was it before you noticed a change in your pattern of life?3. Have you ever truly repented of sin, or do you think you have been taught a watered-down gospel that did not include repentance? Do you think it is possible for someone genuinely to trust in Christ for forgiveness of sins without also sincerely repenting for sins? Do you think that genuine repentance usually involves only a sincere feeling of sorrow for sin in general, or does it involve genuine sorrow for specific sins, and turning from those specific sins?4. Have faith and repentance remained a continuing part of your Christian life, or have those attitudes of heart grown somewhat weak in your life? What has been the result in your Christian life?

Ezekiel 13:22 NLT And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins.We need to be able to speak the truth without compromise, while respecting others as persons.When we speak of tolerance, there are really 3 categories of tolerance that are usually mixed together:Tolerance of personsTolerance of ideasTolerance of behaviorIf one rejects another's ideas or behavior, he's often accused of rejecting the person and being disrespectful. To say I'm intolerant of the person because I disagree with his ideas is confused. On this view of tolerance, no idea or behavior can be opposed, regardless of how graciously, without inviting the charge of intolerance.“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”“What do you mean by that?” “How did you come to that conclusion?,”

1 Be Ready2 Keep It Simple, Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing Armageddon, the Rapture, Calvinism, Arminianism, church attendance, blood moons, red heifers, numerology, and Anakim giants but…3 Avoid Religious Language, Spiritual Jargon, and ChristianeseWhat is Jargon and what effect does it have?Christianese means you are speaking a different language than the one the person you are speaking to speaks.EXAMPLES: Things like, “I see that hand,” “ask Jesus into your heart,” “soul-winning,” “backslidden,” “heads bowed, eyes closed,” (you know what to do), “we just come before you Father God,” “hedge of protection,” “pot-lucks but not good luck,” “prayer walks,” “amen,” “vacation Bible school,” “bachelor till the rapture,” “divine appointment,” “life verse,” “missionary dating,” “gift of singleness,” “unspoken prayer request,” “bless your heart,” “speaks to my heart,” “I’ll pray about meaning ‘no’”, “covered in the blood,” “put it on my heart,” “stepping out on faith,” “testimony,” “I struggle with that,” “altar call,” “sanctification,” “fellowship,” “love offering,” “covering a multitude of sins,” “sold out”, “brother in Christ,” “causing you to stumble,” or doing things like praying over unhealthy food, Communion- this represents the time when you eat a really small cracker and a small cup of grape juice and afterwords are more spiritual because of it, and just not the church providing lunch.Prayer- for those who are not Christians, it looks like we are talking to our imaginary friend. We avoid religious language because we aren’t trying to make the person religious.What do people mean by religious?Don’t let your style get in the way of the message.4 Focus on the truth of Christianity, not merely on its benefits.There is a vital difference between whether we like something and whether it is true or not.There is a difference between choosing an ice cream flavor and choosing a medicine. When choosing ice cream, you choose what you like. When choosing medicine, you have to choose what heals.People often choose religious views according to their tastes, not according to what is true. The question of truth hardly even comes up in the conversation.People may like the idea of reincarnation, or karma, but that doesn’t make it true, and surprisingly people don’t often consider that.Religious truth is what you believe right? It's that leap of faith you take. It has nothing to do with reality, ultimately. It is not anything you can test or measure. It is something you have to believe and hope against hope that it's true. It becomes a kind of wishful thinking, a religious placebo of sorts.People will sometimes agree and say “I’ll visit your church, if you visit my temple.” What this often means is come check out my religion to see if you like it. But again, something doesn’t become true or untrue because we like it. The real issue is whether your religious beliefs are true or not, not whether you like them, not whether you try them and find them appealing.ILLUSTRATION: What happens if you let a child eat only what they find appealing, how healthy will they be? When we choose our religion based merely on whether we find it appealing we are talking about the placebo effect. We argue that Christianity can be defended apart from our feelings, fantasies, or wishful thinking. We are not just emoting, or giving expression to our emotions.Henry Beecher discovered the placebo effect as a medic in World War II. After running out of pain-killing morphine, he replaced it with a simple saline solution but continued telling the wounded soldiers it was morphine to calm them. To his surprise, almost half of the soldiers reported that the inert saline solution actually reduced or erased their pain.But we have to get past ourselves and connect with external reality.Philosophers like Freud and Nietzsche have accused Christians of inventing God because of psychological reasons, that we have created God in the image of our own desires.But remember, the God of the Bible is not a God that we could or would invent. Testing your Religion:Can you have a square circle, a one-ended stick, or turn left and right at the same time? No, these are things we can dismiss out of hand as being incoherent.5 Give ReasonsHere’s an example. Christianity explains what it means to explain. It explains how we got here, how everything got here. Evolution doesn’t answer the question of how everything got here to begin with. It only explains, or purports to explain, how it developed. Atheist Richard Dawkins said that the biological world is a complex world that gives every appearance of having been designed for a purpose. But he’s quick to add that you shouldn’t be misled by appearances. His explanation is that the apparent watchmaker design was really the blind watchmaker of natural selection and genetic mutations, i.e., neo-Darwinian evolution. That’s what he holds. But notice that he says it sure looks designed. Even if we are willing to grant that Darwinism is a possible way of explaining design, maybe another possible, legitimate, reasonable, rational way of explaining design is through design. Maybe the world looks designed because it is designed. 6 Stay Calm. Don’t get frustrated. Don’t get mad. Don’t get mean.My wife and I are vegan and sometimes people like to poke fun at this. Someone sent me a picture that said “The hardest part about being a vegan is having to wake up at 5am to milk the almonds.” Or, “That moment when your steak is on the grill and you can already feel your mouth watering. Do you vegans feel the same when mowing the lawn?” Is this something I should get mad about or can I laugh along with them? Ending our Facebook posts with “Just sayin,” or “I’m saying this in Christian love,” doesn’t give us permission to be rude.7 Pay Attention to Signs that the Person Wants Out of the Conversation.8 Give the Person a Way to Further Explore, Meaning, Don’t Let Them Leave Empty-Handed.An invitation to Alpha or to church are two ways of doing this. You can invite them to read one of the Gospels or direct them to a Christian website.9 Notice the Difference Between a Dismissal and a Response.“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”“What do you mean by that?” “How did you come to that conclusion?,”Sometimes you hear “I don’t have any reasons; I just believe it,” to which you can ask, “Why would you believe something when you have no reason to think it’s true?”

Revelation 2:1–7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: 20 This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Angels- 19:10; 22:9; 8:3–4Churches- Revelation 11:3–7, 10 Lampstands refer to those who are God’s prophetic witnesses.Mark 4:23; Luke 8:16 16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 17 For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all. 18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” Matthew 5:14–16 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. The statement that Jesus walks in the midst of the 7 lamp stands is intended to remind the introverted readers that their primary role in relation to their Lord should be that of a witness to the outside world.Leaving their first love is their failing to be a prophetic witness.2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. 7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God. So having right doctrine is not enough, defending against compromise and maintaining the church’s purity is not enough. We must maintain a faithful witness to the outside world and to do this we must love people and seek to build them up.Church is personal. Are we careful with people’s feelings? We maintain the balance between our love for God and love for people. Our love for God is expressed partly in our love for people. You cannot have one without the other. We don’t love God and ignore people. We don’t love people and ignore God’s truth, and our witness of that truth to the people we are called to love.Knowledge makes us prideful, but love builds people up.We demonstrate we love God by loving people.We can love people we disagree with.We protect people from feeling rejected by shutting down gossip.Gossip- idle talk or rumors especially about the private affairs of others, tattling. casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details which are not confirmed as true.Is there a conflict? Yes. Is this something we need to bring the other person in here to talk about? No. Then we don’t need to talk about it at all. End of story.You are either seeking to obey the Matthew 18 process or you are involved in being divisive.We only talk to people who are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Either way, we are seeking reconciliation, not division. We protect people from feeling rejected by privately addressing individual issues as they arise.Confidentiality (This is what we’ve been talking about on the last two points)When we love people by demonstrating that we accept them regardless of their behavior or beliefs the result is that they feel safe with us, and they begin to share things with us.Maintaining confidentiality is how we get to the 3rd thing, honesty.People will share things with us that are above our pay grade and we won't know all the answers, but here we need to remember that we are not the Savior but we are here to point them to the Savior, Jesus. When they see us not know all the answers they see us exercising faith and this encourages them to exercise their own faith and to trust ultimately not in us but in Jesus. We must maintain the balance between maintaining confidentiality and knowing when to seek help. This is centered around 3 things. Being hurtHurting othersHurting themselvesHonestyWe we give people acceptance and they know we can maintain confidentiality, the result is we have created an environment where honesty can take place.People will not be honest with us, until we are honest with them.Maintaining our testimony with people doesn’t mean we have to make them think we are perfect people. Rather, they should be able to see our struggles but know that we bring our struggles to Jesus.Parents, create this culture and environment in your home when your children are young, and they will be honest with you when they are teenagers.Honesty means people can be themselves, share their doubts, ask you hard questions, and admit to you their struggles.Getting to the place where people can be honest with us is how we create a culture of discipleship. If people can’t be honest with us, because they will feel rejected or that we can’t keep their confidences, then we will never see where they need the Gospel applied to their hearts. If they can’t share their doubts about their faith with us, and their struggles with sin with us, then they are forced to do the Christian life alone.If people can’t ask us the hard questions, they are going to ask someone else.If they cannot share their struggles, then the struggles stay in the darkness where they can thrive.Church should be a place where you can ask hard questions, not just a place where you have to be very confident in your faith in order to be accepted.Loving people doesn’t mean we have to set them straight on every issue right away, even if we feel strongly about the things they are involved in.Honesty also means we are free to admit when we don’t know the answer to their questions. We can say “I don’t know.” Remember that our dependency is on the Holy Spirit, not to be the Holy Spirit.It’s a ProcessBuilding up people in love is a process. There is no finish line, or trophy that says “congratulations, you are now finished with growing to be like Jesus. Building up people in love is a process that happens over time by shaping, crafting, and molding people by applying the Gospel to their life experiences.So we are seeking to create a church community that is not just for the few and the committed.What if a farmer only planted seeds randomly.What if an athlete only exercised when he felt like it.

The Christian Life is Warfare The Christian life, click your heels together 3 times vs a lifetime of warfare. We have to change our mindset. We get discouraged at the first sign of trouble vs He said trials would come so here is my chance to do warfare. Refusing to do battle is saying I'm allowed to lose my tempter, I'm allowed to have unconfessed sin, I'm allowed to be bitter. You have already believed the scheme. Separate everything out between what u are responsible for and everything else. What u are responsible for and what the Lord is going to take care of. Those troubles are there to serve as the context for u to be strong in the Lord in.Ephesians 6:10–17 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Doing warfare, putting on the armor is a way we imitate God: Ephesians 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Isaiah 59:17 17 He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. Isaiah 11:5 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. To be a Christian is to do warfare, to be a warrior: Ephesians 4:22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. The clothing we are to put on is the whole armor of God. The Christian life is not just about quitting bad behaviors, its about proactively, progressively becoming like God. Matthew 12:43 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. ILLUSTRATION: Squatters- u have squatters living in your house bc u stopped guarding the house. To rid your life of sin u must be vigilant, u must do battle and the final victory doesn't come until the end of your life whenever that might be. Having won a battle u become vigilant, u are on the lookout for sin on the horizon bc u know it can move in and take over.SCHEMES: Ephesians 6:11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Schemes are tricks, things that look attractive, desirable, and perfectly legitimate on the front end but it's a baited and camouflaged trap. V16 shemes - temptations to ungodly behavior 4:26-27, doubt, despair, persecution and false teaching. Lying- taking off our armor and resorting to schemesNigerian emails promising u cash. Why do people fall prey to these? The cash. Watermelon Farmer- your enemy is cunning These can work 4 fold for our enemy. First there is the trap itself and then there is the damage it causes others, then there is the pride that comes in so we refuse to work through the healing process that leads to forgiveness but instead allow bitterness to come in and bitterness gives real estate in our lives to our enemy. So even if we have turned away from the original sin, the bitterness lingers and the enemy continues to dominate our lives. Illustration- TruGreen organic garden and digging up the soil and replacing it otherwise I continue to eat the fruit of that pollution.Here is where it is most challenging as a pastor or counselor. The person is attracted or beguiled by the evil but I see it for what it really is, a scheme and a trick and this can cause the person to distance themselves from the Christian community in order to rid themselves of any conviction. The person is convinced of the schemes beauty and benefit. It's possible for a persons whole upbringing to be enmeshed in a scheme so that it affects them through their whole life bc they can't see it and when a counselor calls it out the person is tempted to ditch the counsel. Illustration- community watchSCHEMES give the devil entrance into your life:Ephesians 4: 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil. A foothold- real estate you have allowed the devil to own in your life.In the lives of Christians, as we noted above, the emphasis of the New Testament is not on the influence of demons but on the sin that remains in the believer’s life. Nevertheless, we should recognize that sinning (even by Christians) does give a foothold for some kind of demonic influence in our lives. Thus Paul could say, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:26). Wrongful anger apparently can give opportunity for the devil (or demons) to exert some kind of negative influence in our lives—perhaps by attacking us through our emotions and perhaps by increasing the wrongful anger that we already feel against others. Similarly, Paul mentions “the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph. 6:14) as part of the armor that we are to use standing against “the wiles of the devil” and in contending “against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:11–12). If we have areas of continuing sin in our lives, then there are weaknesses and holes in our “breastplate of righteousness,” and these are areas in which we are vulnerable to demonic attack. By contrast, Jesus, who was perfectly free from sin, could say of Satan, “He has no power over me” (John 14:30). We may also note the connection between not sinning and not being touched by the evil one in 1 John 5:18: “We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.”I'm allowed to lose my tempter, I'm allowed to have unconfessed sin, I'm allowed to be bitter. These things are giving a piece of real estate in your life to the enemy.SHIELD OF FAITH Ephesians 6:16 “hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Paul describes not the smaller round shield but the shield that is able to protect the whole body. Polybius, Histories 6.23 first, a large shield (scutum), the surface of which is curved outwards, its breadth two and a half feet, its length four feet,—though there is also an extra sized shield in which these measures are increased by a palm’s breadth. It consists of two layers of wood fastened together with bull’s-hide glue; the outer surface of which is first covered with canvas, then with calf’s skin, on the upper and lower edges it is bound with iron to resist the downward strokes of the sword, and the wear of resting upon the ground. Upon it also is fixed an iron boss (umbo), to resist the more formidable blows of stones and pikes, and of heavy missiles generally.Large shield tempted to throw it down when the fiery darts came leaving the soldier vulnerable. SWORD OF THE SPIRIT V. 17 “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” As we speak the words of Scripture they re accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit and have the power of a spiritual sword. Sword of the Spirit- the Spirit makes the sword powerful and effective. Rhema emphasizes the spoken word. Jesus, when tempted by the Satan repeatedly quotes Scripture in response to Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4:1–11).CONCLUSION: We must be discerning enough to see the sin we allow in our lives for what it really is, a scheme of the enemy to keep us from being warriors.Some of us are so locked into a scheme that we won't experience humility until the day of our judgment. All these shortcuts, all this editing, we love Jesus but not the church or I love grace but I'm not into repentance. If it's not thee way it ain't no way.

1. We defined success this way: "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal." What is success in life for you for 2016? What is the worthy ideal you are seeking to achieve or live out?2. Without a purpose, we are like a ship out on the open water without a crew or a destination. What is your purpose in 2016? What are you seeking to achieve and where do your hopes lie?3. Read Matthew 7:7-8: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. As we are seeking, knocking, and asking, we will also be experiencing from time to time adversity, failure, and defeat. Notice the NLT translation of Matthew 7:7 says we receive what we ask for. Is it possible that we give up our seeking for that which we should truly desire because of the defeat we may experience in the meantime? Please explain.4. So what should we be seeking, and asking for in 2016? What do we what Jesus to do in our lives and the life of our church in 2016?5. We talked about some negative and some positive behaviors that we need to either stop or begin and they are listed here. Please discuss which ones are most applicable to the members of your group so that we can pray and hold each other accountable in 2016.LIST:Being authenticMaintaining a positive attitude no matter the circumstancePaying attention to our tone of your voice. Cultivate your tone of voice which is an open window through which people look into your soul.Paying attention to the expression on our faceNot losing our composure. People cannot make you angry without your consent.Breaking in and running away with a conversation while others are speaking. Always making the conversation all about us, versus asking questions that focus attention on the other person.Using sarcasm, and wise cracksIndifference in listening while others are speakingBetter to be a good listener than a good talkerFlattery as manipulationFinding fault with the world and people in general, complainingChallenging those with whom you disagree for the purpose of being on the opposite sideGiving advice to those who have not requested it. Free advice is worth as much as it cost.Speaking of things that interest those to whom you are speaking as a form of love.Seeking to be superior through words and topics unfamiliar to others. Negotiate with them on their own level.Envy of those you consider successful.Carelessness in personal appearance We need to control our tongue, think first then speak. Don’t injure others with our words.Do not strike back at others.Taking the path of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.Avoid controversial incidents, overlook. Don’t get into arguments about insignificant topics and this includes Facebook.We must make it our practice to always see the good in others. Focus always on the good in othersFix your mind positively at the beginning of each day through reading the Word and prayer.Start each day with gratitude for what you have and what you will receive. "I complained about having no shoes until I saw the man with no feet."Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Look for others who are worse off than you. Pity parties.Meditate on what you can do towards your goalsTranslate negative emotions into something positiveRemember that your strength grows out of your strugglesLook at life as a continual process of learning from pleasant and unpleasant experiences.Realize your have been given complete control over your own mind.Accept all criticism from othersFigure out who you want to be like and emulate them.2 types of people who will never amount to anything, those who will not do what they are told and those who will do nothing else.Part of natures method of disciplining people is through failure defeat and adversity, and it is your positive attitude that transforms these things into things of priceless value. No one desires to meet with these experiences.Accepting full responsibility and never passing the buck.Paying attention to detail.Giving full attention to one thing at a time.Mental attitude positive when in communication with other peopleGiving direct answers.Never puts off what he/she can do today. No procrastination.Nothing can be called failure until we accept it as such.6. Would anyone care to share what they wrote down on their card to focus on this year?7. Would everyone really be willing to get together for dinner with the family, couple, or person Pastor Timothy would assign to them if you had a month to do so?

luke 14-12-14luke 14:15-24

Which side of Jesus will you fall on, His wrath or His people.What do His people look like?Are you preparing even now for the coming of the Lord?Do you live like one of His people or like the world?Jesus came to make the rough places straight and He will do this through his wrath or through His redemption. Redeemed people live like Kingdom people and He will not be satisfied with the religious.Luke 3:3-8 NLT 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the LORD's coming! Clear the road for him! 5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. 6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.'" 7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God's coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other, 'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.This citation from Isaiah in Luke is the key interpretive framework that the remainder of Luke and Acts is to be understood.“Prepare the way” is exactly why the church in the book of Acts was known as “The Way” occurring 6 times in the book of Acts (9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)It is what Jesus means when He says in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”The call is the same to us today. Prove it!!! We often hear people telling God to prove Himself to them, that He is real, but the Scripture makes the opposite call.Are you clinging merely to your prayer, to the idea that you have been forgiven, but then are you failing to even consider that He demands a repentant people, poor in Spirit, that thirst and hunger for righteousness, that are oppressed in their taking up the cause of the oppressed or do you merely use religion to oppress others. So what is Luke talking about and where does this idea come from?Clear the road for him! 5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.Isaiah 40:3-5 NLT 3 Listen! It's the voice of someone shouting, "Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!Isaiah 49:11 11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys.Isaiah 57:14-15 NLT 14 God says, "Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity." 15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: "I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.Luke 6:20 NLT 20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, "God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.Isaiah 62:10 NLT 10 Go out through the gates! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see.The highway is a means of access to God and His city.The image of clearing the way for God’s people is present alongside a picture of His people as humble and lowly which is just what John the Baptist is calling for. The way to God is cleared for humble and righteous people. The leveling of geographic obstacles is a way of portraying God’s coming as powerful and without obstruction. Just as God parted the Red Sea in the Exodus so He will remove all of creation’s obstacles for His people as He delivers them. All of the life of ministry of Jesus can be seen in light of this prophecy for in these words we see all that Jesus was ever doing.The highway that clears the way for God’s coming is a purified heart.Isaiah pictures a new exodus and that is exactly what Jesus is initiating in His earthly ministry.(Isaiah 43:17-19 NLT) called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. 18 "But forget all that-- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.Isaiah is not just referring to a Babylonian Captivity but to God’s ultimate salvation through Jesus.We are in the midst of the new exodus where God is calling people to Himself through Jesus.(Luke 1:17 NLT) 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”Malachi 3:1-3 NLT "Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 2 "But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD.Malachi 4:1-6 NLT The LORD of Heaven's Armies says, "The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed-- roots, branches, and all. 2 "But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. 3 On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 4 "Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant-- all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel. 5 "Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse."In the midst of His wrath there are those who still fear Him that the Lord remembers:Malachi 3:16 NLT 16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.Luke 3:8-18 NLT 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other, 'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire." 10 The crowds asked, "What should we do?" 11 John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." 12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13 He replied, "Collect no more taxes than the government requires." 14 "What should we do?" asked some soldiers. John replied, "Don't extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay." 15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am-- so much greater that I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire." 18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.So what we see with the coming of Jesus, as predicted in Isaiah and Malachi is that the coming of Jesus sets people in one of two categories, and Jesus throughout His ministry is doing just that.How do we prepare for His coming? Its repentance. We act like its a choice to worship, to serve, to forgive, to sacrifice when we want to, if we feel like, and if its convenient, and if we spend our lives like this then the Woes of His fierce wrath will fall on us, so I say if you think you have received His salvation, PROVE IT, by the way you live that you have repented and turned to God.Do we think that our seeing others as a brood of vipers we are in turn able to live as a brood of vipers ourselves?How can we celebrate His birth if we live like He never came and is impotent and forgetful of His mission to set the world straight? Lip service, token religious gestures, half-hearted commitments, faith lived out of convenience, that is repulsed and draws back at the call to sacrifice will surely experience the wrath of the King of kings, Jesus.So we look out and see the chaos of our world and we must ask ourselves, are we part of the solution or are we part of the problem that Jesus will solve?(Isaiah 58:6 NLT) 6 "No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.CONCLUSION:So what I want you to see is that the OT is setting up the dominos that the NT begins to push over that will culminate in the grand finale of Jesus’ return.So what we have in the book of Luke is a warning and an understanding of what it means to be prepared for the way of the Lord.As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, He didn’t just come to make us feel warm and fuzzy but to call us back to God. We should read the Gospels this Christmas season to ensure that we are truly His people that He will remember and that His wrath doesn’t still fall on us.When Jesus returns is not when I want you to have a moment of clarity. On that day I don’t want you to fall down in dread but to life your hands in victory and joy.So what’s it going to be, the baptism of the Spirit or fire?(Luke 24:46-49 NLT) 46 And he said, "Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: 'There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.' 48 You are witnesses of all these things. 49 "And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”Isa 32:15 until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. Isa 44:3 For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. Isa 59:21 "And this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the LORD, have spoken! Joe 2:28 "Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. (Isaiah 49:6-7 NLT) 6 He says, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." 7 The LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: "Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the LORD, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."Act 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Isa 32:15 until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. Isaiah 43:10-12 NLT 10 "But you are my witnesses, O Israel!" says the LORD. "You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God-- there never has been, and there never will be. 11 I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Savior. 12 First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God," says the LORD.(Isaiah 44:8 NLT) 8 Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses-- is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock-- not one!"Isaiah 49:6 6 He says, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”Acts 13:46-48 NLT 46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, "It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. 47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said, 'I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.'" 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.Acts 28:26-28 NLT 26 'Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. 27 For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes-- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' 28 So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”(Isaiah 6:8-10 NLT) 8 Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." 9 And he said, "Yes, go, and say to this people, 'Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.' 10 Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing."Isaiah speaks of the restoration of Israel built on 6 crucial themes that play a significant role in the book of Acts (Beale, NTBT, pp. 701–703):The reconstitution of Israel begins in Luke with the establishment of the 12 apostles who represent the regathered 12 Tribes of Israel.Acts 2:5 5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. This refers to Isaiah’s prophecy of the ingathering of dispersed exiles.The Coming of the Spirit (Acts 2 & see above Isa 32; 44; 59)Initial repentance of multitudes in Israel (2:41–47; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 11:24; 12:24)The rebuilding of the Davidic Kingdom (Acts 15:13–18)Acts 15:13-18 NLT 13 When they had finished, James stood and said, "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written: 16 'Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, 17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the LORD, including the Gentiles-- all those I have called to be mine. The LORD has spoken-- 18 he who made these things known so long ago.’The inclusion of outcasts among God’s true people like the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26–39)7. Word of the Lord(Isaiah 2:3 NLT) 3 People from many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For the LORD's teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.(Isaiah 45:22-24 NLT) 22 Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. 23 I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me." 24 The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who were angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.(Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT) 10 "The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.(Acts 6:7 NLT) 7 So God's message (the Word of God) continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.(Acts 12:24 NLT) 24 Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.(Acts 19:20 NLT) 20 So the message about the Lord (the Word of the Lord) spread widely and had a powerful effect.“Despite opposition the world makes its way and accomplishes its goal of creating the church community, which, in contrast to the Jewish establishment, is identified as the true heir of Isaiah’s new-exodus and restoration promises (Beale, NTBT, p. 702).”“The church is the commencing fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah’s restoration. Beale, p. 703.Jews at the time of Jesus believed that their exile had continued into the first century which explains Luke's emphasis on Isaiah’s restoration promises in the coming of Jesus and the Spirit.

Why does AA need a higher power?Because in going through your Inventory its easy to get caught up in the fact that its all about you.When its all about you, you can get caught up in several traps: One, you can’t really face yourself and your life because if you did you would be overwhelmed with grief, with guilt, and with shame. You can spiral into self-doubt, and discouragement so much that its paralyzing. You get can get caught in the trap of self-pity.Two, you can get caught up in the trap of self-righteousness. As in, because its all about me, I am the standard by which I judge others and I focus on those who don’t live up to my standard. Self-righteousness says, “I’m in the right.” We judge others and we blame others. The result is we struggle to show mercy because no one deserves it. They haven’t sinned against God, they’ve sinned against me, so why should I have to show mercy, why should I have to forgive others.If you are self-absorbed, how could you ever absorb the failings of others?Why would anyone ever show mercy if its costs something? If someone is going to pay, it should always be the person who is responsible. Sometimes we say we are showing mercy, we say we are forgiving people but in reality we are making them beg, we are making them grovel, we are what? Making them pay part of the cost. We are exacting the debt by making them pay for it a little bit. We are going to vent to others about that person, we are going to gossip about that person before we ever get to the place where we are willing to forgive them. So we are making them pay for it just enough to let us bring down the debt to a manageable sum. If I compare myself to many in this room about who is the better artist I may come out on top. I may be able to draw better stick figures than most of you. But what if I compare myself to Michelangelo? Jesus is the standard and He takes away our self-righteousness, our self-pity and we can never be the victims again because He is truly the only victim.You can’t come to God and say you owe me, that God doesn’t live up to your standard.This morning I want you to see that showing mercy costs you something and we know this because God showing mercy to us cost us His life.BEATITUDE Matthew 5:7 NLT 7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.Jesus tells the merciful that they will be shown mercy because its only those who have received God’s mercy who show mercy to others.But you say, “I see others showing mercy all the time who are not Christians. Here we have to remember that this Beatitude is part of a set that it cannot be separated from. Showing mercy to others over the course of a lifetime will wear you out and create emotional fatigue you won’t recover from. But that is why the first Beatitude says, “Blessed are those who are pour in spirit” meaning blessed are those who realize they need God. So the first sermon Jesus preaches He starts out by saying the first thing you need to know is that you need God.Jesus lives out the Beatitudes perfectly, thats what His life was all about. He suffered that He might show us mercy, so that we could have the strength to show mercy to others that we might live a life that brings glory to God.But how can I show mercy when the person hasn’t asked me for forgiveness?Matthew 5:23-24 NLT 23 "So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.Mark 11:25 NLT 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.".But how will we show mercy when all we feel is bitterness?If somebody runs into and totals your car, and you say, “I forgive you,” does that mean somehow the car is suddenly repaired? No! If you don’t forgive the person the debt, that person pays whatever the car cost, or you pay whatever the car cost, because you replace your car. Either that person bears the cost, or you absorb the cost, but there’s no way the debt goes into the air. Somebody pays it. Whenever you forgive somebody, that means you absorb the cost.You see when God said “Let there be light” there was light. But when God said I forgive you and I show mercy to you, it cost Him a great deal. He went to the cross for us. That is why some say the only problem God ever faced was showing mankind forgiveness.How do I know showing mercy costs something? 3 examples.The Good Samaritan-Luke 10:30-37 NLT 30 Jesus replied with a story: "A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 "By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.' 36 "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."So we see that the Samaritan showing mercy cost him time and money.2. The Debtor-Matthew 18:21-35 NLT 21 Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" 22 "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven! 23 "Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold-- along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned-- to pay the debt. 26 "But the man fell down before his master and begged him, 'Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 "But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 "His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. 31 "When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 "That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”So we forgive others, we show mercy to them innumerably because the debt forgiven us was infinite. We never get to the place where the mercy we have shown others matches the mercy that God has shown us.When we resist forgiving others its because we are self-aborbed, and self-absorbed people are unwilling to absorb the failings and debts of others.So this is why AA needs a Higher Power, to take our attention off of ourselves and place it on someone who transforms our whole perspective.3. JesusWe see the costliness of God’s mercy through Jesus in so many ways.If a child on the street makes fun of me I don’t really care. What does that child know about me? But if one of the members of my church community attacks me, it matters to me a great deal and I feel pain as a result. In fact it can be agonizing. But if my wife says, “I hate you” then I’m devastated. My life feels like it is collapsing in a moment. We have known each other 15 years and been married 12 1/2 years. But imagine the pain Jesus felt on the cross when His Father whom He had known for eternity turned His face away breaking fellowship with Him for the first time in all eternity. The more intimate the relationship, the more painful the rejection and Jesus suffered that rejection so that He might show mercy to us.Luke 22:45 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.And Jesus does all this voluntarily. In the Garden of Gethsemane He comes face to face with what He is about to suffer. This is why He was sweating great drops of blood.Luke 22:39-47 NLT 39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, "Pray that you will not give in to temptation." 41 He walked away, about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. 45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation." 47 But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss.Jesus needs the support of those closest to him in the hour of His temptation but He doesn’t find it.I believe the temptation for Jesus in His humanity was to turn away from God’s will for Him, to forsake the cup of suffering and the rejection of the Father. There in the Garden He feels the full intensity of what He is about to suffer.Jesus uses the strength given to Him by the angel to even more fully face the temptation He is about to suffer.You know when you are angry and in a fight with someone and you get a phone call from your pastor or your friend and suddenly you are able to regain your composure because this outside influence is able to change the situation and your behavior? That’s what Jesus’ death on the cross is meant to do for us. Jesus takes us outside of ourselves. It takes us outside of our self-pity and self-righteousness.When you are tempted to withdraw from a person and to hold on to your bitterness and you struggle to forgive someone or be reconciled to them you are having a Garden of Gethsemane moment. We need to realize that right there in that moment we ourselves are in the Garden of Gethsemane.Perhaps there are some of us here this morning that have already withdrawn from someone Jesus wants us to be reconciled to.When the bitterness is welling up within us we need to learn at that moment to turn our eyes to Jesus so that we can say if Jesus was willing to voluntarily enter into His suffering so that He could forgive me, surely I can voluntarily enter into this suffering so that I can absorb the sin of someone else against me.Our small cups of suffering are nothing compared to the great cup of His suffering.This morning I want you to let the suffering of Jesus, the suffering that He suffered for you, let it wash over you, fully embrace it and let it change your whole perspective and be blessed for His grace in empowering you to show mercy to others.This is why AA of necessity needs a higher power and we get to know this Higher Power personally. Jesus allows us to take the focus off ourselves and shows us what mercy and costly forgiveness looks like so that we might show it to others.God says to Adam, obey and you will live. God says to Jesus, obey and I’ll completely crush you for the sins of the whole world.So I ask you this morning, do you know and understand and are you willing to experience the mercy of God so that it transforms you and your relationships?Pray this this morning:Psalm 86:3-5 NLT 3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. 4 Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. 5 O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.Right now I want to invite you to have a Garden of Gethsemane moment. I invite to right now to keep watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. I want you to focus on the mercy that Jesus voluntarily entered into for you at great cost to Himself and I want you to let the Holy Spirit whisper into your heart telling you who you need to forgive at great cost to yourself.

COMPLAINING- REBELLION AGAINST GODComplaining is saying things aren't going my way, things I have no control over. So what matters is how we respond. This is our Response-ability. The funny thing is that some people feel good, and think that they are doing something constructive about a problem when they complain. They are complaining to you so you can solve the problem. Often when we are complaining, we are wanting someone else to change —while avoiding our own responsibilities. And isn’t that what children do? Isn’t that an expression of powerlessness and victimhood?THE BIBLE PROJECT on YouTubeExodus 14:11–12 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’ ” Exodus 17:1–3 Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded. “Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?” 3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.Numbers 11:4 4 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. 5 “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. 6 But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” 7 The manna looked like small coriander seeds, and it was pale yellow like gum resin. 8 The people would go out and gather it from the ground. They made flour by grinding it with hand mills or pounding it in mortars. Then they boiled it in a pot and made it into flat cakes. These cakes tasted like pastries baked with olive oil. 9 The manna came down on the camp with the dew during the night. 10 Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. 11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? 12 Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? 13 Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! 15 If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!” Numbers 11:18–20 18 “And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. 20 You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ” Numbers 11:21–2321 But Moses responded to the Lord, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ 22 Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?” 23 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” Numbers 13:25–14:4 25 After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned 26 to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. 27 This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. 28 But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” 30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” 31 But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” Two groups of men see the same situation, but see it very differently. What is the difference? What if you took the struggles in your life and looked at them afresh through the lens of faith and as opportunities for God to display His grace in your life?Be careful who you listen to?The LORD’s ResponseNumbers 14:20–23 20 Then the Lord said, “I will pardon them as you have requested. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.Even as the people were complaining, the LORD was in the process of rescuing them and blessing them. We too are in the process of being rescued and blessed. Will we respond any better?What if our complaints were heard by the Lord and prayers and he gave us what we were asking for in our complaints?Numbers 14:26–29 26 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me,See Numbers 14:2Numbers 14:34–38 34 “Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!” 36 The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report—37 were struck dead with a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. Numbers 14:39–45 39 When Moses reported the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. 40 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us.” 41 But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the Lord’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord.” 44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah. Think deeply about the consequences of continuing on in your negative patterns of behavior. What will happen or who will you be in 5 or 10 years? COMPLAINING CONTINUESNumbers 16:13–14 13 Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects? 14 What’s more, you haven’t brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool these men? We will not come.” Numbers 20:4–5 4 Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock? 5 Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!” They ask why, but they know why? We think God can’t do it, isn’t doing it, or won’t do it, we act like His arm is broken.We don’t see struggles as opportunities for God to work, we ignore how He has blessed us, so we complainWe don’t look deep enough. The problems we think we have are usually just the symptoms and the surface. The problems we face are usually just symptoms of the deeper problem the LORD is seeking to draw our attention to, the deeper root that He wants to deal with.The LORD brought His people into the wilderness to reveal what was in their heart. We too have evil in our own hearts but will we respond any better?We as NT people look down on the children of Israel as being so unspiritual, but do we do any better?NEW EXODUSHebrews 3:12 12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.Evil and unbelieving is complaining, grumbling, whiningTurning it AroundHow can we turn it around and help those who come to us with complaints?∙ “Great! What are you going to do about it?”∙ “Sounds like you have a problem … to solve. How will you do that?”“Sorry to hear that [empathy], do you need me to brainstorm with you so that you can either accept it, be gracious about it, or see what you can do to solve it?”CONCLUSION:Will we be complainers, or people of faith?When struggles come, instead of complaining, or feeling hurt or discouraged, instead can we exercise faith and persevere? Can we look for what the LORD is doing in the struggle and allow Him to refine us in it?Hebrews 12:18–2918 You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. 25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! 26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. 28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.

Baptism, The New ExodusStudying the Bible will blow your mind. IF you are not studying it, you are missing out!!! Baptism was supposed to be such a simple subject, but oh no, mind blowing.Spurgeon Quotes“I do not question the safety of the soul that has believed, but I do say again, I would not run the risk of the man who, having believed, refuses to be baptized.”“I feel shocked when I hear people say, “But it is not essential to salvation.” You mean and beggarly spirit! Will you do nothing but what is essential to your own salvation? A Pharisee or a harlot might talk so. Is this your love to Christ—that you will not obey him, unless he shall pay you for it, unless he shall make your soul’s salvation depend upon it?”“I am amazed that an unconscious babe should be made the partaker of an ordinance which, according to the plain teaching of the Scriptures, requires the conscious acquiescence and complete heart trust of the recipient. Very few, if any, would argue that infants ought to receive the Lord’s Supper; but there is no more Scriptural warrant for bringing them to the one ordinance than there is for bringing them to the other.” 2 kinds of people, those who are saved and need to be baptized, and those who have been baptized but need to be saved.Baptism is not only a picture of what Jesus has done for u in the past but a picture of the life u are going to live in the future resulting ultimately in resurrection life in the very presence of God. Baptism captures 4 meanings:Repentance and Salvation from SinAssociation with the death and resurrection of JesusBecoming a citizen of the people and kingdom of GodIt Foreshadows the life of Spirit empowered ministry that the disciple will now live.Different Christian groups tend to focus on one of these elements to the neglect of the others like the blind men describing the elephant.The work of the Holy Spirit is to bind the worshipper to the Messiah in glad allegiance. This is what baptism symbolizes.What is the pattern that Jesus establishes at his baptism?The pattern established by Jesus is being baptized and then receiving the Holy Spirit which in turn initiates his ministry.The baptism of Jesus is immediately followed by a period of testing, community living, and Spirit empowered ministry. Such is also the case in Acts for the church in Jerusalem for they are immediately persecuted such that they are driven from Jerusalem. Jesus baptizing with the Spirit, reflects that Jesus is God, BTW.Baptism, a water metaphor is reminiscent of the OT water metaphor of pouring. Matthew 3:11 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.Isaiah 44:3 And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. Ezekiel 36:26–27 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Ezekiel 39:29 29 And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” Joel 2:28–29 28  “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. I suppose the critic will argue that Jesus is the instrument that Yahweh uses.Pattern in Matthew Matthew 3:11–12 11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.Matthew 3:16–17 16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.Matthew 4:17 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Following the pattern established earlier in Matthew in the life and ministry of Jesus, it only makes sense that Matthew 28 is making a strong connection between discipleship and baptism.Matthew 28:19–20 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Pattern in LukeLuke 3:21 21 One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove.Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Luke 4:14 14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power.Luke 4:18 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” So in Acts, we see the pattern established by Jesus repeated in the life of the church:Acts 1:8 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 2:1–17 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. 5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. 7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other. 13 But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!” 14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Acts 2:37 37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Acts 2:38 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.Acts 2:38–41 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.Acts 2:42–47 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Here we see the body or community aspect. Those baptized began living as one people, God’s people, the new Israel, which we will see later.Acts 5:15–16 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. Like Jesus, baptism initiates a time of testing:Acts 7:59–8:1 59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.Baptism: Baptized into the one body, the Church1 Corinthians 12:13 But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share (and we were all made to drink, NASB) the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 refers back to 1 Corinthians 10:1–4:1 Corinthians 10:1–4 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.The double use of water in this passage – the water of the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed and the water which flowed from the rock for them to drink in the desert – is easily the best explanation for the otherwise initially puzzling double reference in chapter 12 (we were all baptized … and given one spirit to drink). The Messiah’s people, for Paul, are thus the new-exodus people, formed as was ancient Israel into ‘a people’ by the redeeming action of the one God on their behalf and by the sovereign and holy presence of the one God in their midst, leading them in the pillar of cloud and fire and sustaining them on their journey. And baptism, it here becomes clear, is indeed (to use the old theological language) the ‘outward and visible’ sign of entry into the Messiah’s people, defining them just as surely as the crossing of the Red Sea defined the people whom Abraham’s God brought out of Egypt.Baptism invokes the gift and the presence of the spirit, just like it was in the exodus when the living presence of YHWH accompanied the people out of Egypt and came to dwell in the tabernacle, the forerunner of the Jerusalem Temple.The baptism of John the Baptist is the beginning of God recreating the Exodus centered around the person of Jesus. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, will now dwell with His people the way that Yahweh did in the OT beginning at the Red Sea.John the Baptist is recreating the Exodus narrative. He calls people to pass through the water with the result of receiving salvation, not from the Egyptians, but from sin and receiving the presence of the the one true and living God who will actively dwell with His people.Having heard this, now listen to Galatians 3:26–29 afresh:Galatians 3:26–29 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. 1 Peter 3:21 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With this text the Catholics have taught that along with… water baptism actually does save you, and the Reformers, Luther and Calvin and all the rest reacted to this false view and ended up with a similar view in the maintaining of the practice of infants but in fact this is Peter’s short-hand way of saying the very things we have said already. So consider 1 Peter 3:21 equivalent to Paul’s Galatians 3:28.1 Peter 4:1- repentance aspect1 Peter 4:8–9- gospel community aspect1 Peter 4:10–11- Spirit empowered ministry aspect1 Peter 4:12- time of testing following baptism aspect(So its like the pattern ultimately gets switched in its practical application within the church, and Bible interpreters have anachronistically made this switch backwards compatible resulting in so many denominations having differing views on baptism like the 6 blind men each describing the elephant, each denomination focusing on a few texts and applying those few texts to the many texts instead of letting all the texts stand on their own in all the Bible’s progressive revelation so we can see the whole elephant.)So we might say the Catholics focus on the salvation aspect, the Pentecostals on the spirit empowered ministry aspect, and the Reformers and the Baptists on the death and resurrection aspect, but we need all 3 if we are going to see the whole elephant.So in failing to understand all that the Bible is teaching as far as the big picture and by isolating certain texts and focusing merely on the issue of salvation, as in, is does baptism actually save you or is it merely a symbol of salvation, we have turned NT baptism for the Church back into the baptism of John the Baptist:Acts 19:1–7 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” 5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all. So NT baptism is not less than John’s baptism, but it is certainly more.CONCLUSION:If you are going to be baptized, are you prepared to live a life of Spirit empowered ministry?IF you have been baptized, have you forgotten that you were cleansed from your old way of living?John 3:5 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.2. Baptism. Since Jesus commanded his church to baptize (Matt. 28:19), we would expect that there would be a measure of blessing connected with baptism, because all obedience to God by Christians brings God’s favor with it. This obedience is specifically a public act of confessing Jesus as Savior, an act which in itself brings joy and blessing to a believer. Moreover, it is a sign of the believer’s death and resurrection with Christ (see Rom. 6:2–5; Col. 2:12), and it seems fitting that the Holy Spirit would work through such a sign to increase our faith, to increase our experiential realization of death to the power and love of sin in our lives, and to increase our experience of the power of new resurrection life in Christ that we have as believers. Since baptism is a physical symbol of the death and resurrection of Christ and our participation in them, it should also give additional assurance of union with Christ to all believers who are present. Finally, since water baptism is an outward symbol of inward spiritual baptism by the Holy Spirit, we may expect that the Holy Spirit will ordinarily work alongside the baptism, giving to believers an increasing realization of the benefits of the spiritual baptism to which it points.When baptism very closely accompanies someone’s initial profession of faith and is in fact the outward form that profession of faith takes, there is certainly a connection between baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, for Peter says to his hearers at Pentecost, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Moreover, Paul says, “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:12). The statement that it is “through faith in the working of God” that this happens reminds us that there is no magical property in the act of baptism itself, which causes a spiritual result to come about, yet the verse also indicates that when faith accompanies baptism there is genuine spiritual work in the life of the person being baptized. As we would expect, sometimes great spiritual joy follows upon baptism—a great joy in the Lord and in the salvation that baptism so vividly pictures (see Acts 8:39; 16:34).Although we must avoid the Roman Catholic teaching that grace is imparted even apart from the faith of the person being baptized, we must not react so strongly to this error that we say that there is no spiritual benefit at all that comes from baptism, that the Holy Spirit does not work through it and that it is merely symbolic. It is better to say that where there is genuine faith on the part of the person being baptized, and where the faith of the church that watches the baptism is stirred up and encouraged by this ceremony, then the Holy Spirit certainly does work through baptism, and it becomes a “means of grace” through which the Holy Spirit brings blessing to the person being baptized and to the church as well. (Baptism will be more fully discussed in the next chapter.)Matthew 3:11: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”Mark 1:8: “I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”Luke 3:16: “I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”John 1:33: “He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” ’Colossians 2:1212 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. Now this truth is clearly symbolized in baptism by immersion. When the candidate for baptism goes down into the water it is a picture of going down into the grave and being buried. Coming up out of the water is then a picture of being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. Baptism thus very clearly pictures death to one’s old way of life and rising to a new kind of life in Christ. But baptism by sprinkling or pouring simply misses this symbolism.Believer’s Baptism- A physical picture of a spiritual fact.1. Only those who give a believable profession of faith should be baptized. This view is often called “believers’ baptism,” since it holds that only those who have themselves believed in Christ (or, more precisely, those who have given reasonable evidence of believing in Christ) should be baptized. This is because baptism, which is a symbol of beginning the Christian life should only be given to those who have in fact begun the Christian life.Acts 2:41 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. Acts 8:12 12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.Acts 10:44–48 44 Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked, 47 “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days. Acts 16:14 As she (Lydia) listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptizedActs 16:32 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.2. The outward symbol of beginning the Christian life should only be given to those who show evidence of having begun the Christian life.The Effect of BaptismWhen baptism is properly carried out it brings the blessing of God’s favor that comes with all obedience, as well as the joy that comes through public profession of one’s faith, and the reassurance of having a clear physical picture of dying and rising with Christ and of washing away sins. Certainly the Lord gave us baptism to strengthen and encourage our faith—and it should do so for everyone who is baptized and for every believer who witnesses a baptism.Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?While we recognize that Jesus commanded baptism (Matt. 28:19), as did the apostles (Acts 2:38), we should not say that baptism is necessary for salvation. To say that baptism or any other action is necessary for salvation is to say that we are not justified by faith alone, but by faith plus a certain “work,” the work of baptism. The apostle Paul would have opposed the idea that baptism is necessary for salvation just as strongly as he opposed the similar idea that circumcision was necessary for salvation (see Gal. 5:1–12).Galatians 5:2–6 2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. 5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. Luke 23:42–43 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Another reason why baptism is not necessary for salvation is that our being forgiven for sin takes place at the point of saving faith, not at the point of water baptism, which usually occurs later. But if a person is already forgiven at the point of saving faith, then baptism is not necessary for forgiveness of sins, or for the bestowal of new spiritual life. Baptism, then, is not necessary for salvation. But it is necessary if we are to be obedient to Christ, for he commanded baptism for all who believe in him.Age for BaptismHow old should children be before they are baptized?”The most direct answer is that they should be old enough to give a believable profession of faith. It is impossible to set a precise age that will apply to every child, but when parents see convincing evidence of genuine spiritual life, and also some degree of understanding regarding the meaning of trusting in Christ, then baptism is appropriate. Of course, this will require careful administration by the church, as well as a good explanation by parents in their homes. The exact age for baptism will vary from child to child, and somewhat from church to church as well.

The Christian Life is Warfare The Christian life, click your heels together 3 times vs a lifetime of warfare. We have to change our mindset. We get discouraged at the first sign of trouble vs He said trials would come so here is my chance to do warfare. Refusing to do battle is saying I'm allowed to lose my tempter, I'm allowed to have unconfessed sin, I'm allowed to be bitter. You have already believed the scheme. Separate everything out between what u are responsible for and everything else. What u are responsible for and what the Lord is going to take care of. Those troubles are there to serve as the context for u to be strong in the Lord in.Ephesians 6:10–17 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Doing warfare, putting on the armor is a way we imitate God: Ephesians 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Isaiah 59:17 17 He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. Isaiah 11:5 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. To be a Christian is to do warfare, to be a warrior: Ephesians 4:22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. The clothing we are to put on is the whole armor of God. The Christian life is not just about quitting bad behaviors, its about proactively, progressively becoming like God. Matthew 12:43 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. ILLUSTRATION: Squatters- u have squatters living in your house bc u stopped guarding the house. To rid your life of sin u must be vigilant, u must do battle and the final victory doesn't come until the end of your life whenever that might be. Having won a battle u become vigilant, u are on the lookout for sin on the horizon bc u know it can move in and take over.SCHEMES: Ephesians 6:11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Schemes are tricks, things that look attractive, desirable, and perfectly legitimate on the front end but it's a baited and camouflaged trap. V16 shemes - temptations to ungodly behavior 4:26-27, doubt, despair, persecution and false teaching. Lying- taking off our armor and resorting to schemesNigerian emails promising u cash. Why do people fall prey to these? The cash. Watermelon Farmer- your enemy is cunning These can work 4 fold for our enemy. First there is the trap itself and then there is the damage it causes others, then there is the pride that comes in so we refuse to work through the healing process that leads to forgiveness but instead allow bitterness to come in and bitterness gives real estate in our lives to our enemy. So even if we have turned away from the original sin, the bitterness lingers and the enemy continues to dominate our lives. Illustration- TruGreen organic garden and digging up the soil and replacing it otherwise I continue to eat the fruit of that pollution.Here is where it is most challenging as a pastor or counselor. The person is attracted or beguiled by the evil but I see it for what it really is, a scheme and a trick and this can cause the person to distance themselves from the Christian community in order to rid themselves of any conviction. The person is convinced of the schemes beauty and benefit. It's possible for a persons whole upbringing to be enmeshed in a scheme so that it affects them through their whole life bc they can't see it and when a counselor calls it out the person is tempted to ditch the counsel. Illustration- community watchSCHEMES give the devil entrance into your life:Ephesians 4: 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil. A foothold- real estate you have allowed the devil to own in your life.In the lives of Christians, as we noted above, the emphasis of the New Testament is not on the influence of demons but on the sin that remains in the believer’s life. Nevertheless, we should recognize that sinning (even by Christians) does give a foothold for some kind of demonic influence in our lives. Thus Paul could say, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:26). Wrongful anger apparently can give opportunity for the devil (or demons) to exert some kind of negative influence in our lives—perhaps by attacking us through our emotions and perhaps by increasing the wrongful anger that we already feel against others. Similarly, Paul mentions “the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph. 6:14) as part of the armor that we are to use standing against “the wiles of the devil” and in contending “against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:11–12). If we have areas of continuing sin in our lives, then there are weaknesses and holes in our “breastplate of righteousness,” and these are areas in which we are vulnerable to demonic attack. By contrast, Jesus, who was perfectly free from sin, could say of Satan, “He has no power over me” (John 14:30). We may also note the connection between not sinning and not being touched by the evil one in 1 John 5:18: “We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.”I'm allowed to lose my tempter, I'm allowed to have unconfessed sin, I'm allowed to be bitter. These things are giving a piece of real estate in your life to the enemy.SHIELD OF FAITH Ephesians 6:16 “hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Paul describes not the smaller round shield but the shield that is able to protect the whole body. Polybius, Histories 6.23 first, a large shield (scutum), the surface of which is curved outwards, its breadth two and a half feet, its length four feet,—though there is also an extra sized shield in which these measures are increased by a palm’s breadth. It consists of two layers of wood fastened together with bull’s-hide glue; the outer surface of which is first covered with canvas, then with calf’s skin, on the upper and lower edges it is bound with iron to resist the downward strokes of the sword, and the wear of resting upon the ground. Upon it also is fixed an iron boss (umbo), to resist the more formidable blows of stones and pikes, and of heavy missiles generally.Large shield tempted to throw it down when the fiery darts came leaving the soldier vulnerable. SWORD OF THE SPIRIT V. 17 “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” As we speak the words of Scripture they re accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit and have the power of a spiritual sword. Sword of the Spirit- the Spirit makes the sword powerful and effective. Rhema emphasizes the spoken word. Jesus, when tempted by the Satan repeatedly quotes Scripture in response to Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4:1–11).CONCLUSION: We must be discerning enough to see the sin we allow in our lives for what it really is, a scheme of the enemy to keep us from being warriors.Some of us are so locked into a scheme that we won't experience humility until the day of our judgment. All these shortcuts, all this editing, we love Jesus but not the church or I love grace but I'm not into repentance. If it's not thee way it ain't no way.

Way of the Masterby Dr. Bob Moorehead In 1980 a young man from Rwanda was forced by his tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was killed on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room:“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made- I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, worldly talking, cheap giving & dwarfed goals.My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me & when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear.How silly is the idea of repentance.How silly is the idea of repentance when you truly see Jesus. Repentance is like telling someone to turn from ugliness to beauty.Jesus calls us to a life of immortality with Him, forever, and when you see Him you can’t keep living the way you did. If you do, its because you haven’t seen Him. For Christians, we hate and detest sin. We want it out of our lives because its not Jesus, its not what He was about and its not what we want to be about.Christians aren’t about coming to as close to the line as possible without sinning. Process of Change/ How we stop excusing our sinsWe have to stop denying our offenses and minimizing them.We have to acknowledge our offense was wrong unconditionally. We have to stop justifying it. We have to stop blaming others and we have to be willing to talk in detail about why our offense was wrong without slipping back into defending it. We have to acknowledge that our offense was a choice, not a loss of control. When we sin it's because we gave ourselves permission to do so and chose to let the ur selves go. We need to take responsibility for the results of our offense on others including loss of trust, and we must do this without feeling sorry for ourselves or talking about how hard it is for us. In order to truly repent we must identify the underlying beliefs that have driven out behavior, beliefs like, "I'm entitled" or "I'm not responsible if provoked by another person." We must develop respectful attitudes to replace our sinful attitudes. This means being able to listen to others during conflict, and to embrace the fact that others rights are equal to our own. We must become empathetic towards others and stop exaggerating our grievances against others. We must compliment others and pay attention to their strengths and abilities. We must seek to make amends for any damage we have done and place the needs of others before our own. We must accept the consequences for our actions and stop whining about "poor me". Receiving forgiveness does. It mean the consequences for our actions disappear and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to build character in our lives through the consequences. Micah 7:7-9Part 2.We need to commit to not repeating our bad behavior regardless of the circumstances. Being good for a while does not give us the right to a period of allowed bad behavior. We must stop having the double standard that says I have higher standards for others and exceptions for myself. We should embrace the double standard that says we have higher standards for ourselves. We need to realize that our struggle against sin is a life long battle so that we should never think we have arrived. Our struggles may take years to work through and we should be in it for the long haul. We must be willing to be accountable for our actions and have a willingness to accept feedback and criticism, and to be honest about when we fail. We have to give up the attitude that says "I'm willing to change some of what I do as long as I do t have to give up all of what I do. We have to stop bargaining with others and saying hints like I will only change if you change too."Remember we are not responsible for managing how others treat us but we are responsible for managing how we treat them. We must be willing to change no matter how much support we get or don't get. We must be accepting of the fact that it may take others longer to forgive us than we would like. What is acceptable in the culture is not acceptable in the churchExcusing sin fails to take sin seriously and we have far too much of this in culture. Are we more influenced by the culture or Christ. If it's culture we shouldn't call ourselves Christians because cultural Christians are not Christians. Remember, God is not mocked, and He won't share His glory with another. The text maintains an insider/outsider distinction. Ephesians 2:1–3Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. Gods wrath will fall on those who engage in the vices of vv. 3-5. These are the sons of disobedience meaning their lives are characterized by such. They do not submit to Gods authority. They prefer to rule their own lives and go their own way. See 1 John 3:6, 91 John 1:8–108 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 2:1–2My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 3:6–106 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. 7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. 1John 5:16–1916 If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. 17 All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death. 18 We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. 19 We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. V.7 partners only here and in 3:6Ephesians 5:77 Don’t participate in the things these people do.Don’t partner up with people in their sin.Here the idea for us is we don’t enable people in their sin.“I can’t help you with that. I can’t support that.”This is true for wives with their husbands.1 Peter 3:6 For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do. “not fearing any intimidation.”This is true for friends that want us to be accepting of their destructive behavior.Cf. 1 Cor 5:10Meaning we are not to engage in their sin with them. Cf. 2 Cor 6:14-7:1We don't sin, not bc of fear of judgement but bc we have been made children of light. There are too many who call themselves Christian, who are perfectly fine taking Communion, who live exactly like those who walk in darkness. And if u want to know if that's you just look at whether your tendency is to excuse your sin. CG Questions:1. What did we say the 3 components to saving faith were?A. Knowledge of Jesus B. and approval of that knowledge C. depending on Jesus to save you personally.2. What did we say the 3 components to repentance were?A. Repentance is an intellectual understanding (that sin is wrong), B. an emotional approval of the teachings of Scripture regarding sin leading to a sorrow for sin and a hatred of it, C. and a personal decision to turn from it, a renouncing of sin and a decision of the will to forsake it and lead a life of obedience to Christ instead. Genuine repentance will result in a changed life, a truly repentant person will begin at once to live a changed life, and we can call that changed life the fruit of repentance.3. Do you believe that the reason God wants us to turn from our sin is because He has something better for us? Please explain.4. If God has something better for us, then why do we resist forsaking our sin?Please read the following verses in preparation for the following questions:1 John 1:8–108 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 2:1–2My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 3:6–106 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. 7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.1 John 5:16–1816 If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. 17 All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death. 18 We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.5. What is the seeming paradox we find in this passage? 6. What is the answer to the paradox, or how do we reconcile these seemingly two opposite (antithetical) ideas?Please work through the following ways we need to stop excusing our sins, commenting on where we recognize these in our owns lives and where we struggle with fullfiling these:We need to commit to not repeating our bad behavior regardless of the circumstances. Being good for a while does not give us the right to a period of allowed bad behavior. We must stop having the double standard that says I have higher standards for others and exceptions for myself. We should embrace the double standard that says we have higher standards for ourselves. We need to realize that our struggle against sin is a life long battle so that we should never think we have arrived. Our struggles may take years to work through and we should be in it for the long haul. We must be willing to be accountable for our actions and have a willingness to accept feedback and criticism, and to be honest about when we fail. We have to give up the attitude that says "I'm willing to change some of what I do as long as I do t have to give up all of what I do. We have to stop bargaining with others and saying hints like I will only change if you change too."Remember we are not responsible for managing how others treat us but we are responsible for managing how we treat them. We must be willing to change no matter how much support we get or don't get. We must be accepting of the fact that it may take others longer to forgive us than we would like.

Gospeling each otherWe use this term and it's how we treat each otherHere is the test, the light produces what is good. Ephesians 5:6-9Sometimes we live on the first quarter mile on the path of destruction and at the end of this long street is the abyss going down to hells flame but we say we are ok bc that is far away from where we live. Look at the things u allow in your life. Look at your patterns of behavior. U might say what's wrong with this or that but does it produce good. Here we come to the definition of insanity. We can be in denial bc we don't see some of these things for the evil they truly are. U say it's not hurting anyone but is it helping anyone. Is it producing what is good?Gospeling each other means we treat each other the way that God treated us in Christ. See Ephesians 4:32-5:1Ephesians 4:30 our identity is not in our sin, it's not part of us or part of our personality. Our identity in Christ gives us freedom to change, to be truly loving. Loving othersLoving others means they feel nourished, they feel connected, they feel strength. Loving others means they can say, "I feel safe showing u my heart, my dreams, my fears."My emotions are my responsibility. My goal to treat u with respect is my responsibility regardless of how I'm treated. Honor means I respect u enough to trust u to make decisions. When I force u, when I control u, when I ignore u, when I merely tolerate you, I am dishonoring u. Do u want to know if u understand the Gospel? Look at how u treat other people. Do u treat them the way that God treated u?Process of Change/ How we stop excusing our sinsWe have to stop denying our offenses and minimizing them.We have to acknowledge our offense was wrong unconditionally. We have to stop justifying it. We have to stop blaming others and we have to be willing to talk in detail about why our offense was wrong without slipping back into defending it. We have to acknowledge that our offense was a choice, not a loss of control. When we sin it's because we gave ourselves permission to do so and chose to let the ur selves go. We need to take responsibility for the results of our offense on others including loss of trust, and we must do this without feeling sorry for ourselves or talking about how hard it is for us. In order to truly repent we must identify the underlying beliefs that have driven out behavior, beliefs like, "I'm entitled" or "I'm not responsible if provoked by another person." We must develop respectful attitudes to replace our sinful attitudes. This means being able to listen to others during conflict, and to embrace the fact that others rights are equal to our own. We must become empathetic towards others and stop exaggerating our grievances against others. We must compliment others and pay attention to their strengths and abilities. We must seek to make amends for any damage we have done and place the needs of others before our own. We must accept the consequences for our actions and stop whining about "poor me". Receiving forgiveness does. It mean the consequences for our actions disappear and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to build character in our lives through the consequences. Micah 7:7-9We need to commit to not repeating our bad behavior regardless of the circumstances. Being good for a while does not give us the right to a period of allowed bad behavior. We must stop having the double standard that says I have higher standards for others and exceptions for myself. We should embrace the double standard that says we have higher standards for ourselves. We need to realize that our struggle against sin is a life long battle so that we should never think we have arrived. Our struggles may take years to work through and we should be in it for the long haul. We must be willing to be accountable for our actions and have a willingness to accept feedback and criticism, and to be honest about when we fail. We have to give up the attitude that says "I'm willing to change some of what I do as long as I do t have to give up all of what I do. We have to stop bargaining with others and saying hints like I will only change if you change too."Remember we are not responsible for managing how others treat us but we are responsible for managing how we treat them. We must be willing to change no matter how much support we get or don't get. We must be accepting of the fact that it may take others longer to forgive us than we would like. Conclusion:Often we don't have a lot of forgiveness for others bc we haven't experienced a lot of forgiveness ourselves bc we have been denying our own sin and so have failed to receive Gods forgiveness. Illustration: the Good StudentChoosing to live in our shame and failing to ask forgiveness cuts us off from the love and acceptance of God. 1. What is gospelling each other? See Ephesians 4:32-5-1. How can we begin using this word in our vocabulary?2. According to 5:9 what does light produce? How can we use this truth when doing a self-analysis of our own behavior?3. Why don't consequences go away if you are sorry for your sin? What texts would you use to show this?4. Which ones from the following list do you struggle with?

Romans 12:7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. 1 Corinthians 16:15–16 15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion.Matthew 20:20–2820 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” 23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If you are a teacher, teach well. This is the ability to take complex subjects and make them easy to understand.8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. Notice those who are down and seek to lift them up through words, notes, etc. - Are able to inspire others to more fully live for God - See potential for good in people and seek to bring it out in them - Can help restore confidence or bring about new confidence in a person - Desire to provide comfort for those who are in mourningIf it is giving, give generously. Characteristics of Those with This Gift:Want to be challenged to give more and respond well to these challengesAre especially moved by the financial plight of the poor and needyHave special concerns (e.g., evangelism, missions, benevolence) that they are very willing to fund above and beyond regular givingDo not hold on tightly to their own possessions or savings, but regularly give them awayAre careful with their spending so that they may give to othersApplication for World/Workplace/Neighborhood SettingsLook for co-workers or neighbors who going through economic hardship and buy them something they needOrganize the collection of funds towards a cause that will resonate with non-ChristiansApplication for Church MinistryBegin with tithing towards your local church and then give above and beyond thisSave additional funds to allow for special givingTeach/participate in financial management ministry such as Financial PeaceApplication for FamilyBegin teaching your children to tithe as little children, explaining why you do thisSave as a family and then use these funds to go and give to the poor and needy something that they needSponsor a child overseas that is in need and have your children give some of their allowance towards this child's monthly support.If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. Take the responsibility seriously. It has to be said with this gift that it wasn’t given so the leader could sit back arrogantly thinking how special they are for being given this gift. Its a call to be a servant. It means you aren’t above taking out the trash and restocking the pencils in the pews.A leader is somebody who gets people to follow. A true leader has a goal and can unite people to get behind it and go with it.And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (mercy, compassion)This gift equips one to respond lovingly and compassionately to those who are suffering or have struggled with sin or the conditions of life. Characteristics of Those with This Gift:- Sensitive, caring and compassionate- Understanding of those who fall into sin, seeking to protect and lift them up- Able to cheerfully minister to sick, homeless, handicapped- Careful not to be judgmental- Regularly enjoy doing small acts of kindnessApplication Application for World/Workplace/Neighborhood Settings- Look for co-workers who are stressed out or facing life and work challenges and seek to encourage them- Be on the lookout for people in the neighborhood, children's friends' parents, etc. who are facing these challenges and be proactive in ministering to themApplication for Church Ministry- Serve in food pantry, clothes closet, homeless, orphans, recovery, and hospital/sick type of ministries- Seek to comfort and lift up those who are going through divorce, bereavement, depression, anxiety, worry, job loss, or have failed in sinPastoral Care/Shepherding—Those gifted in pastoral care and shepherding naturally seek to guide, guard, and nurture people in the Christian faith. It should be noted that one can have the gift of shepherding without being an officially recognized shepherd, just as one can be an evangelist without being a paid preacher. This gift describes the function of shepherding, not an office. An example of leading through shepherding is consistently seeking out those who need Spiritual guidance and helping them follow God (Acts 20:28-31).Spiritual Gifts Passage on Pastoral Care/Shepherding “ . . . some to be pastors” (Eph. 4:11). Characteristics of Those with This Gift:- Have a desire and an ability to help Christians grow to greater maturity in the faith- Enjoy guiding, mentoring and nurturing people- Desire to help people overcome spiritual, emotional, or physical problems in their lives- Want to protect people from harmful influences and help bind up the wounded- Have a following of people who trust them because of their demonstrated care and attention, and who often go to them for counselingApplication- Look for those at work who are struggling with life issues and be a counselor and encourager for them- Offer to pray with those who are hurt, down, or in need- Serve in "discipleship" (greater maturity) type of ministries, such as post-baptismal studies, New Members classes, in-depth Bible studies; also consider serving in prayer and recovery ministries- Look for opportunities to mentor and encourage people- Spend time with people, pray with them, and help them with life issues (marriage, parenting, etc.)- Look for opportunities to help people through emotional and spiritual valleys9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. We don’t treat people life projects.We don’t try to be their Savior.We don’t make them feel indebted to us for helping them.We don’t put up distance between us and them but we truly let them into our lives, which means we put ourselves and our resources at risk.We don’t gossip about them behind their backs.This is why ministry is hard. The person thinks until just helping out of obligation bc you're a Christian but u are really loving them and when they move on it hurts bc u gave yourself to them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. To return evil with evil keeps evil in circulationDo things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. CONCLUSION:It doesn't matter how small we areIt's not about us it's about Jesus and there is nothing stopping us from our mission. Yeah, we don't have the best equipment and facilities fight now but how about we look at this time as the good ol days when we were struggling. StoryIf we only had...We really need...to be able...No we don't. We have everything we need right now.All that other stuff comes under the guise of mission. But we don't need it. Gods power is not constrained by our situation, our limited resources, or our fear. Attraction all vs mission all. If we had a children's program, if we had a day care it would only be so we could do more of what we should already be doing and so the best way we can ask God to bless us and provide for us is to do what we should already be doing now. Servants get a write up in the NT and we wouldn't think of that but isn't that how it's going to be on judgement day. Won't we be shocked to see just how much it's true that the first will be last and vice Versace even though we've been told in advance. We need such and such, No we don't. 1. What did we say was the church's primary mission?2. How important is it to be at church on Sunday's with reference to the mission?3. Why do you go to church on Sunday?4. Is Sunday a time when you find yourself using your gifts? Why or why not?

1. What are some ways Christians are tempted to remain in their old way of thinking, worldly thinking, as mentioned in Romans 12:2? Please list some examples.2. What did we say was the primary strategy for transforming our thinking? Please share some testimonies from your own life. How has your thinking changed since becoming a Christian?3. What are some of the excuses that you use to not use your gifts? Please be specific.4. Why does Paul warn us in verse 3 with reference to the use of our gifts, meaning, what is the relationship between thinking too highly of ourselves and the use of our gifts? How does one affect the other?5. What does the "we all belong to each other" mentioned in verse 5 mean to you? 6 How are we doing at GL as far as living out this truth? How can you help our church live out this truth? 7. Do you think CG helps us live this out? 8. Please think about the members of your CG and take the time to specifically encourage each other about how you have seen them use their gifts? Tell each other what you are good at, build each other up.9. Is there anyone in the CG who has no idea what their gifts might be? If so, do any of the other members have an idea what it might be?10. For those who know what their gifts are, please share them with the other members of the group.11. Getting into brainstorm mode, what are some ways you might further use the gifts God has given you? Be prepared to hear from other members of the CG on this.

1 Corinthians 12:7–111. How important is the using of our gifts to being a Christian? Why or why not? How would you answer from Scripture? See especially Matthew 25:26.2a. Do you have an idea of what your spiritual gifts might be even though we haven't listed them all yet? Please explain.2b. If you don't have any idea what your gifts are, what do you plan to do to discover what they are?3. How have you been using your gifts and what results have you seen?4. What are your goals for 2016 in the exercise of your gifts?5. We discussed the gift of "wisdom." Do you believe you have this gift? Please explain.6. Who do you know that might have this gift? Do you have a person in your life that you go to for wisdom when making important decisions or do you tend to make them in isolation?7. Do people come to you for wisdom and counsel? If not, why do you think that is?8. What was your response to the explanation of the gift of knowledge? 9. How could this gift be abused?10. How could someone with this gift use it in the context of the local church?11. We discussed the gift of faith? Do you know anyone who might have this gift?12. How would having someone in your life with this gift benefit you? 13 Regarding the gift of healing, what was the caution we gave? Does God heal every time?14. How is this gift usually exercised, through what context? 15. What was the main emphasis of the definition of the gift of prophesy?16. What text did we reference that helps us stay balanced especially w/ reference to this gift? 1 Thess 5:19-22.17. As far as speaking in tongues, what were the boundaries that Paul established in 1 Corinthians 14:26-27, & 14:40?18. Does understanding other people's behavior through the lens of their giftedness allow you to have more compassion and love for them? Please explain.

A parent has 936 weeks between a child’s birth and graduation. This is why its hard for the church to compete with what’s going on at home.Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like and they don’t learn from people who don’t like them. What does this teach us? That influencing children positively starts with love.

1 John 3:14 NLT 14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.Zephaniah 3:17 NLT 17 For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."

Genesis 50:20 NLT 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.Exodus 3:19 NLT 19 "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.Piel Exodus 4:21 NLT 21 And the LORD told Moses, "When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.Exodus 7:3 NLT 3 But I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.Exodus 8:15 NLT But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.Exodus 8:32 NLT 32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.Piel Exodus 9:12 NLT 12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and just as the LORD had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.Exodus 9:34-35 NLT But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn. 35 Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the LORD had predicted through Moses.Piel Exodus 10:20 NLT But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart again, so he refused to let the people go.Piel Exodus 10:27 NLT 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart once more, and he would not let them go.Piel Exodus 11:10 NLT 10 Moses and Aaron performed these miracles in Pharaoh's presence, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let the Israelites leave the country.Piel Exodus 14:4 NLT 4 And once again I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD!" So the Israelites camped there as they were told.Piel Exodus 14:8 NLT The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance.Piel Exodus 14:17 NLT 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers.Romans 9:17-18 NLT 17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, "I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth." 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.Joshua 11:20 NLT For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.Judges 14:1-4 NLT One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, "A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me." 3 His father and mother objected. "Isn't there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?" they asked. "Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?" But Samson told his father, "Get her for me! She looks good to me." 4 His father and mother didn't realize the LORD was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.1 Samuel 2:25 NLT But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.1 Samuel 16:14 NLT Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.2 Samuel 12:11-12 NLT 11 "This is what the LORD says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”2 Samuel 12:15 NLT 15 After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah's wife.2 Samuel 24:1 NLT Once again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah," the LORD told him.2 Samuel 24:10 NLT 10 But after he had taken the census, David's conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, LORD, for doing this foolish thing."2 Samuel 24:12-17 NLT 12 "Go and say to David, 'This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.'" 13 So Gad came to David and asked him, "Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me." 14 "I'm in a desperate situation!" David replied to Gad. "But let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands." 15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep-- what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family."1 Chronicles 21:1 NLT Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.In this one incident the Bible gives us a remarkable insight into the three influences that contributed in different ways to one action: God, in order to bring about his purposes, worked through Satan to incite David to sin, but Scripture regards David as being responsible for that sin.1 Kings 22:20-23 NLT 20 And the LORD said, 'Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?' "There were many suggestions, 21 and finally a spirit approached the LORD and said, 'I can do it!' 22 "'How will you do this?' the LORD asked. "And the spirit replied, 'I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's prophets to speak lies.' "'You will succeed,' said the LORD. 'Go ahead and do it.' 23 "So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the LORD has pronounced your doom."Ezekiel 14:9 NLT 9 "'And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel.Amos 3:6 NLT 6 When the ram's horn blows a warning, shouldn't the people be alarmed? Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has planned it?Amos 4:6-13 NLT 6 "I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 7 "I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away. 8 People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 9 "I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 10 "I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away. The stench of death filled the air! But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 11 "I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 12 "Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!" 13 For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The LORD God of Heaven's Armies is his name!Therefore, God brings evil on human beings, to discipline his children, to lead unbelievers to repentance, and to bring a judgment of condemnation and destruction upon hardened sinners. Yet, none of us can charge God with doing wrong. Ultimately all will work in God’s good purposes to bring glory to him and good to his people. Yet we must realize that in punishing evil in those who are not redeemed, God is also glorified through the demonstration of his justice, holiness, and power.Isaiah 45:7 NLT 7 I create (Genesis 1:1) the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.Verses that Reflect the True Source of Calamity along with a Right Response:Lamentations 3:38-40 NLT 38 Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? 39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? 40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD.Isaiah 63:17 NLT 17 LORD, why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession.Jonah 1:14-15 NLT 14 Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah's God. "O LORD," they pleaded, "don't make us die for this man's sin. And don't hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons." 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!Jonah 2:3 NLT 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.God was bringing about his plan through the willing choices of real human beings who were morally accountable for their actions. In a way not understood by us and not revealed to us, God caused them to make a willing choice to do what they didTHE CRUCIFIXIONActs 4:27-28 NLT 27 "In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.Acts 2:23 NLT 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.In one sentence Peter links God’s plan and foreknowledge with the moral blame that attaches to the actions of “lawless men.” They were not forced by God to act against their wills; rather, God brought about his plan through their willing choices for which they were nevertheless responsible.Luke 22:22 NLT 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him."So God is more than able to accomplish His purposes, but man is still responsible for his willing choices.ANTICHRIST2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NLT 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.JOB- Our Example for the Right Response to EvilIn the story of Job, though the Lord gave Satan permission to bring harm to Job’s possessions and children, and though this harm came through the evil actions of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, as well as a windstorm (Job 1:12, 15, 17, 19), yet Job looks beyond those secondary causes and, with the eyes of faith, sees it all as from the hand of the Lord: “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). The Old Testament author follows Job’s statement immediately with the sentence, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job has just been told that evil marauding bands had destroyed his flocks and herds, yet with great faith and patience in adversity, he says, “The Lord has taken away.” Though he says that the Lord had done this, yet he does not blame God for the evil or say that God had done wrong: he says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” To blame God for evil that he had brought about through secondary agents would have been to sin. Job does not do this, Scripture never does this, and neither should we.CONCLUSION:Psalm 76:10 NLT 10 Human defiance (or the wrath of man) only enhances your glory, for you use it as a weapon.CAUTION:Luke 13:1-5 NLT About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 "Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?" Jesus asked. "Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”So its not that some people experience natural disasters because of God’s wrath, but rather that God is restraining the evil that man deserves everywhere else.We must resist making judgement calls on why evil happens or declaring specifically what God’s purposes are or were in particular instances of evil in the world.Acts 28:4-9 NLT 4 The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, "A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live." 5 But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. 6 The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn't harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god. 7 Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. 8 As it happened, Publius's father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.If God is able to use evil for good then should we be praying for that?There is a great difference between what is fitting for man to will and what is fitting for GodIf evil came into the world in spite of the fact that God did not intend it and did not want it to be there, then what guarantee do we have that there will not be more and more evil that he does not intend and that he does not want? And what guarantee do we have that he will be able to use it for his purposes, or even that he can triumph over it?

Philippians 3:7-21 NLT 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

Revelation 3:1-2 NLT "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive-- but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.The 2 reasons the church at Sardis is said to be dead is because:Conformity to the culture around itFailure in their Gospel witness.Read Luke 6:20-49Luke 6:27-28 NLT 27 "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.Luke 6:35-36 NLT 35 "Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.We just read:Luke 6:28 NLT 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.How is it that if we are truly practicing the love that is commanded in this verse that we would ever be persecuted?Sometimes, too often, we are persecuted bc we have done exactly what Jesus told us not to do, we judge and condemn others out of our hatred.When individuals are hateful or judgmental in the church, people don’t just say that that individual is hateful, they say the church is hateful. All the investments that we make in loving people, can be obliterated in an instant when one member of our church misrepresents Jesus.But sometimes if you are living out this passage, the person or people who will persecute you and speak evil against you are the people you poured your life into the most.If you live the life Jesus is calling us to and you genuinely seek to love people, there will come a time when you are persecuted, and instead of condemning these people, instead of judging them, and speaking evil against them, we must learn to continue to love and bless them.you are going to feel violated, used, abused, taken advantage of, but rejoice, for great is your reward in heaven. Don’t be surprised and shocked. No servant is greater than his master and Jesus warned us about this.When we do speak evil thinking we are defending righteousness, here is what Jesus says:Luke 6:45 NLT 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.Jesus’ teaching on love became the centerpiece of the Christian Church:Luke 23:34 NLT 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.”Acts 7:59-60 NLT 59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.Romans 12:16-21 NLT 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the LORD. 20 Instead, "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads." 21 Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.1 Peter 3:9 NLT 9 Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.So as a Christian, you are going to be insulted or you aren’t doing it right, but you better be insulted for the right reasons. You are going to be tempted to pride, you are going to be tempted to retaliate, you are going to be tempted to take revenge.The only way you are going to be able to love others, no matter what the context, is if you have the hope that Jesus is the one who will set all things right in the end on judgement day.Luke 6:23 NLT For a great reward awaits you in heaven.1 Corinthians 5:9-13 NLT 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don't even eat with such people. 12 It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside;If we are going to openly criticize Muslims or Islam, abortion, homosexuality, or any such issue, can we be known for loving people who take the opposite position in our real lives?When we aren’t loving people and blessing them, but instead we use social media to attack them, we are taking judgement in our own hands, and we become like the very culture we are criticizing. Can we make it the practice of our church that those who have been Christians longer give preference to the younger Christians? That is to say can we be willing to yield to the preferences of others, to be inconvenienced? If we always have to have things our way, how will we ever grown? If you get even a handful of people together there is going to be disagreement. The challenging thing we are trying to do at our church is make a place centered on Jesus and that means we have a broad spectrum of backgrounds. Who is Jesus hard on?Luke 11:52 NLT 52 "What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”If we are going to have strict standards, can we have those standards for ourselves. It is too easy to be hard on others and easy on ourselves. When we fail to love others even when they are totally unChristian Jesus says this to us:Luke 6:46 NLT 46 "So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?I’m not arguing we should be docile and weak people, that are too cowardly to speak the truth. I’m arguing that LOVE MUST BE OUR APOLOGETIC.When you are confused and don’t know how to respond, open this passage in Luke 6 and figure out how to respond out the conditions Jesus lays out for us here.This is going to apply to your marriage, your children, your relatives, your coworkers, your presence on social media, people you have tried to love and disciple in the church, new believers, people that frustrate you.

1. Wasted DiscipleshipMatthew 7:6 NLT 6 "Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.Matthew 15:26 Jesus responded, "It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs." Proverbs 23:9 Don't waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice. 2 Peter 2:22 They prove the truth of this proverb: "A dog returns to its vomit." And another says, "A washed pig returns to the mud." Proverbs 9:7 Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. Proverbs 9:8 So don't bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. Revelation 22:15 Outside the city are the dogs the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. Proverbs 11:22 A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout. Proverbs 26:4–5 Don't answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. 5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.Matthew 10:14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. The point here is we can waste our time on people who have already decided.Stubborness vs. humilityThe fool has said in his heart, There is no God.The natural man 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:3 NLT 14 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren't ready for anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature.2. MoneyPsalm 37:21 NLT 21 The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.Proverbs 22:7 NLT 7 Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.Proverbs 27:23 NLT 23 Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,1 Timothy 6:10 NLT 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.2 Corinthians 9:6-11 NLT 6 Remember this-- a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, "They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever." 10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.Get out of DebtGiving to the poor is lending to the LordYou will never get poor by being generousGod supplies to the generous.2 ILLUSTRATIONSFriend paid when I didn’t know how I was going toMoney showed up in my account3. AngerWe get angry about the wrong things so that we get angry where we should be patient, and passive when we should get angry.James 1:19-20 NLT 19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT 26 Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.Psalm 4:4-5 NLT 4 Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. 5 Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the LORD.4. MotivesJeremiah 17:10 NLT 10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."Can we get in the habit of asking “why”?We often only go as far as the “what” and the “where” but forget about the “why” and the “how”.So what are our underlying deeper motives?Here is a sampling:Pleasure, Freedom/Autonomy, Love/Intimacy, Significance/Reputation, Respect/Admiration, Control, Power, Peace, Happiness, Comfort, Meaning, and Success.The man who is always late and unavailable when there is work to be done might be motivated by comfort, laziness, or perhaps he is motivated by success and respect and is afraid of failure.The wife who is mortified that a surprise visitor saw her messy house might be motivated by reputation.The father whose children are fearful and whose wife is cautious might be motivated by power.The teen who rebels against any curfew might be motivated by freedom.The mother who never lets her children stay with a babysitter might be motivated by control.We need to ask ourselves questions like:Why does life not seem like its worth living?Why are these goals so important to me?Why do I feel I need this particular thing so badly?Why do I define success and failure in this particular way?Why was I so angry with my spouse or my child?Why am I feeling depressed?Why am I feeling bitterness or jealousy?Why am I wasting my time and being lazy?We want to indulge our desires over and against God and this is where good things become god things and we step into idolatry.When we realize that our evil desires are incapable of being satisfied ultimately outside of God then we can repent and turn to God who will satisfy our deepest longings.So the idea is feel the feeling.So I challenge us to get in the habit of asking the “why” question to help get good at interpreting our motives so we can apply the Gospel to our hearts.5. TimeNLT Ephesians 5:16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.Exhaust the possibilities available.Believers act wisely by snapping up every opportunity.This goes back to the previous verse:Ephesians 5:15 NLT 15 So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise.Those who are wise make the most of every opportunity to conduct themselves in a way that is pleasing to God.Psalm 90:12 NLT 12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.6. Laziness/SlothProverbs 6:6-11 NLT 6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- 11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.So we can waste our time, getting angry at things that don’t matter, being motivated by things that can never satisfy, spending out time being lazy and selfish.

Baptism is not only a picture of what Jesus has done for u in the past but a picture of the life u are going to live in the future resulting ultimately in resurrection life in the very presence of God. Baptism captures 4 meanings:Repentance and Salvation from Sin (Matthew 3:11; 1 Peter 3:21)Association with the death and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:1–4)Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Becoming a citizen of the people and kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28)It Foreshadows the life of Spirit empowered ministry that the disciple will now live (Gospel Narratives).Different Christian groups tend to focus on one of these elements to the neglect of the others like the blind men describing the elephant.Repentance and Salvation from Sin - Catholics, Lutherans, and Church of ChristAssociation with the death and resurrection of Jesus - Baptists & ReformersBecoming a citizen of the people and kingdom of God - Opposite of the 20th century American churchIt Foreshadows the life of Spirit empowered ministry that the disciple will now live - Pentecostals So we see we need every aspect to have a biblical view otherwise we end up confused and divided as a universal church.TRANSITION: So lets pick up where we left off last week looking at the community aspect of Baptism.Baptism: Baptized into the one body, the Church1 Corinthians 12:13 But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share (and we were all made to drink, NASB) the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 refers back to 1 Corinthians 10:1–4:1 Corinthians 10:1–4 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.The double use of water in this passage – the water of the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed and the water which flowed from the rock for them to drink in the desert – is easily the best explanation for the otherwise initially puzzling double reference in chapter 12 (we were all baptized … and given one spirit to drink). The Messiah’s people, for Paul, are thus the new-exodus people, formed as was ancient Israel into ‘a people’ by the redeeming action of the one God on their behalf and by the sovereign and holy presence of the one God in their midst, leading them in the pillar of cloud and fire and sustaining them on their journey. And baptism, it here becomes clear, is indeed (to use the old theological language) the ‘outward and visible’ sign of entry into the Messiah’s people, defining them just as surely as the crossing of the Red Sea defined the people whom Abraham’s God brought out of Egypt.Baptism invokes the gift and the presence of the spirit, just like it was in the exodus when the living presence of YHWH accompanied the people out of Egypt and came to dwell in the tabernacle, the forerunner of the Jerusalem Temple.The baptism of John the Baptist is the beginning of God recreating the Exodus centered around the person of Jesus. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, will now dwell with His people the way that Yahweh did in the OT beginning at the Red Sea.John the Baptist is recreating the Exodus narrative. He calls people to pass through the water with the result of receiving salvation, not from the Egyptians, but from sin and receiving the presence of the the one true and living God who will actively dwell with His people.Having heard this, now listen to Galatians 3:26–29 afresh:Galatians 3:26–29 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. TRANSITION: Let’s now look at a problem passage considering all we have said to this point. 1 Peter 3:21 is really Peter’s short hand way of including all 4 elements included in baptism.1 Peter 3:21 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With this text the Catholics have taught that along with… water baptism actually does save you, and the Reformers, Luther and Calvin and all the rest reacted to this false view and ended up with a similar view in the maintaining of the practice of infants but in fact this is Peter’s short-hand way of saying the very things we have said already. So consider 1 Peter 3:21 equivalent to Paul’s Galatians 3:28.1 Peter 4:1- repentance aspect1 Peter 4:8–9- gospel community aspect1 Peter 4:10–11- Spirit empowered ministry aspect1 Peter 4:12- time of testing following baptism aspect(So its like the pattern ultimately gets switched in its practical application within the church, and Bible interpreters have anachronistically made this switch backwards compatible resulting in so many denominations having differing views on baptism like the 6 blind men each describing the elephant, each denomination focusing on a few texts and applying those few texts to the many texts instead of letting all the texts stand on their own in all the Bible’s progressive revelation so we can see the whole elephant.)CommunionEven the word communion has led to a reductionist view. It isn’t just communion with God, but communion with each other.1 Corinthians 10:16 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.1 Corinthians 11:27–30 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. Conclusion:Let’s have a moment of contemplation to see if we are living out the 4 elements in our own lives?Repentance and Salvation from Sin Association with the death and resurrection of Jesus Becoming a citizen of the people and kingdom of God It Foreshadows the life of Spirit empowered ministry that the disciple will now live

How is FAITH NOT a Work?1 Corinthians 12:3b “no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit”1 Thessalonians 1:5 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.Romans 3:27 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.Romans 10:9–11:69 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But,…here is the problem…14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. 18 But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have: “The message has gone throughout the earth, and the words to all the world.” 19 But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did,I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 5 It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them. 6 And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved. Believing then receiving grace = works salvationReceiving grace then believing then receiving more grace = graceFaith is the sign you have received GRACEJohn 3:36 36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” Notice how John ties believing and obeying together. Those who believe, because it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, will obey by the power of the Holy Spirit (see the beginning of John 3)Believing is the sign you have received grace.Atheists have commented that there is nothing more impossible than to believe.If you have FAITH this morning, rejoice that you have been shown grace.But, does anyone here ever worry that they might stop believing and drift away?Have you ever had a job where you were in constant fear of losing it or being fired because it was known that the company was doing lay-offs?Have you ever been in a relationship where you thought the other person might leave you or cheat on you?Have you ever had a house where you worried that the bank was going to foreclose on you?Does this seem like the way God would want you to live, always worrying about whether he was going to leave you and forsake you?What kind of Christian life would we have if we had no security or stability?John 6:38–4038 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” What kind of life is it? Eternal life. Eternal life that lasts 5 minutes is not eternal life.Having Eternal life guarantees we will be raised up at the last day.John 10:27–3027 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.” John 5:2424 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. 1 John 5:1313 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.So we see clearly and repeatedly the connection between believing and eternal life. Its not merely the connection between believing and salvation, but eternal life.Those who believe have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is our guarantee that we will forever remain God’s people.Ephesians 1:1414 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. Philippians 1:66 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. The Holy Spirit will cause you to persevere. We are talking about Eternal Security, but this is also known as “The Perseverance of the Saints.”John 8:31–3231 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Matthew 10:22bBut everyone who endures to the end will be saved.Hebrews 3:1414 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO DO DRIFT AWAY?John clearly states that when people fall away from fellowship with the church and from belief in Christ they thereby show that their faith was not real in the first place and that they were never part of the true body of Christ. 1 JOHN 2:1919 These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us. So we say, those who drift away never truly had the Holy Spirit.Remember, we interpret the obscure passages of Scripture through the lens of clear passages of Scripture.Matthew 26:2220 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” 22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?” So we see the disciples had no idea who it was.John 6:6464 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.)Parable of the SowerMark 43 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. 7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. 8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. 9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. 11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. The writer is talking about those who live within the life of the church but eventually fall away.Vv. 7–8 give us a clue who he is talking about.Matthew 3:8–108 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9 Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 10 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. Therefore the author wants to give a severe warning to those in danger of slipping away from their Christian profession. He wants to use the strongest language possible to say, “Here is how far a person can come in experiencing temporary blessings and still not really be saved.” He is warning them to watch out, because depending on temporary blessings and experiences is not enough. To do this he talks not of any true change of heart or any good fruit produced, but simply about the temporary blessings and experiences that have come to these persons and have given them some understanding of Christianity.I want to leave you with this challenge:Hebrew 3:11–4:311 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. Philippians 2:12bWork hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.Have you been drifting away?Have you allowed sin in your life?Are you growing cold?Are you hiding your gifts and refusing to use them?For the honor due His name lets work hard, lets give it our all to the One who is worthy, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, the Lion from the tribe of Judah. Let’s not hold back but lets give it our all.LOVE ON THE LINETo the One who has rescued my soulTo the One who has welcomed me homeTo the One who is Savior of allI sing forever

Isaiah 66:1313 I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.” Isaiah 49:1515 “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! Mother’s have a strength in that they don’t leave. We see many father’s who abandon their children but mothers stay.Mother’s have a superpower, they create culture, they shape values, and they form the next generation.Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.Moral Education2 Timothy 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.Far greater than any gift you could be given today mother’s is the gift of seeing your influence worked out in the next generation.1 Timothy 2:1515 But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty. This verse speaks to the essence of a woman’s calling from God and the encouragement to live it out.Deuteronomy 6:4-94 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.TeachIf you teach a mother, you teach a family.If you teach 5 mothers, you teach a neighborhood.Teach your children faith- Not only what your faith consists of but by letting them see you exercise your faith. Let them see you believe when situations seem bleak.Teach your children forgiveness by letting them see you ask forgiveness when needed and by helping them to work through forgiving others.Teach your children unity by not quarreling or having strong disagreements with your husband in front of them. Children interpret this as instability and it affects them more than we realize. Never belittle your husband, their father, for they will see him through your lens. Let them see its possible to work through disagreements without resorting to name-calling, sarcasm, or frustration.Using data representative of parents and children born in the late 1990s in large U.S. cities, a 2011 study analyzed the relationship between parents' relationship quality and their engagement with their young children. It found that, for mothers, the quality of their relationships with the fathers was correlated with their parenting in the first three years of their children's lives, particularly how they engaged with their children: for example, how often they read and told stories, played games, played with toys, and sang songs or rhymes with them. Specifically, the research showed that it was the parents' relationship quality that tended to affect how mothers engage with their young children, rather than the mother–child interaction affecting the parents' relationship. This association diminished over time when the children were preschoolers. 3http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/44/healthy-mothers-healthy-families-how-mothers-are-crucial-to-the-success-of-the-familyTeach your children problem solving and to take responsibility by helping them work through their struggles instead of trying to remove their struggles. Help them work through their struggles the way the Lord helps you work through yours and in this way learn to gospel your children.Mothers should prepare their children to live in the jungle, not the zoo.Teach your children by making use of the dining room table at dinner whenever possible. Remember this is community group.Create an environment that is safe, where communication happens, where you get into each other’s lives, and work out what it means to be a Christian.Teach your children by having family devotions. Read through Scripture together, missionary biographies, and Christian children’s books. Westminster bookstore.Remember, mothers set the standard for what their sons will look for in their future wife.Let your children see you help a stranger, let them see you read your Bible, let them see you love your husband, let them see you on your knees in prayer, and let them see that your love for them flows from God’s love for you.I DON’T KNOW HOWTitus 2:3–53 Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. Ladies, look for other women to pour into.Ladies, look at the lives of other godly women in order to learn new ways of influencing your children for Jesus.Ladies, remember their are plenty of other ladies out there who didn’t have a good mother, or a godly one and they are hungry for you to show them what this looks like.Luke 2:33–3533 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” CONCLUSION:We need godly mothers. No mentor or pastor can ever make up for what godly mothers do. Remember, you are the backbone of our whole society. Its never too late to begin loving your children the way God loves us.Community Group Questions:3 Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. 1. This text commands ladies not to be heavy drinkers or slanders since these were the sins inherent to the culture of Crete. What would be some of the sins that are common for our culture? So if Paul was writing this letter to Oakland County, which sins would he have listed? How do ladies in our culture bring shame on the word of God?2. How open are the ladies, along with their husbands, to having other ladies train them to be godly women?3. How open are the ladies to helping to train younger ladies?4. In what ways can we at GL be obeying this text? Please be specific.5. What does submission in this text look like? Please describe how you interpret this.6. What does working in the home mean? Please be specific.7. Does the idea of working in the home or being submissive to your husband seem old fashioned or do you find yourself grimacing at this text?8. We talked about ways our ladies can teach their children. Please comment on each of these ways along with whether you agree with them or list ways that we can specifically accomplish this.Teach your children faith- Not only what your faith consists of but by letting them see you exercise your faith. Let them see you believe when situations seem bleak.Teach your children forgiveness by letting them see you ask forgiveness when needed and by helping them to work through forgiving others.Teach your children unity by not quarreling or having strong disagreements with your husband in front of them. Children interpret this as instability and it affects them more than we realize. Never belittle your husband, their father, for they will see him through your lens. Let them see its possible to work through disagreements without resorting to name-calling, sarcasm, or frustration.Teach your children problem solving and to take responsibility by helping them work through their struggles instead of trying to remove their struggles. Help them work through their struggles the way the Lord helps you work through yours and in this way learn to gospel your children.Mothers should prepare their children to live in the jungle, not the zoo.Teach your children by making use of the dining room table at dinner whenever possible. Remember this is community group.Create an environment that is safe, where communication happens, where you get into each other’s lives, and work out what it means to be a Christian.Teach your children by having family devotions. Read through Scripture together, missionary biographies, and Christian children’s books. Westminster bookstore.

Bringing the Future Into the Present: EphesiansSo many of the Old Testament passages prophesied of the coming Messiah and his people and this is happening now in our time and what we find in the Gospels and in Paul's writings is the working out of what this new people will look like. So do we look like that do we look like in live like the people at the New Testament describes? What does it look like for us to be a shining light in Oakland County?Ever been to a Christian concert and stayed in a hotel with mainly Christians? Ever been to Wal-Mart on Black Friday?As citizens of heaven, we are to bring God’s presence everywhere we go. We are to bring the future into the present.Imagine you send an email and literally a trillion emails flood your inbox and it causes a traffic jam because everyone is rushing to your house to help you.When we have everything in the next life, what is left to desire? The desire to serve. So you can see now why Jesus is crafting servants, because thats whats going to work in the future economy. EPHESIANSEphesians 3:10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.The following texts give instructions for how we will display God’s wisdom as a church.Its how we will bring the future into the present.Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.Ephesians 4:17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.Ephesians 4:22–2422 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Thespian, for me to live is Christ.Ephesians 4:25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.Ephesians 4:31–3231 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Do you know why forgiveness is so important? Bc without forgiveness you cannot be restored. Instead you are locked into your bitterness, so how do we bring God’s presence, which is full of forgiveness, when we don’t forgive.?Ephesians 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Ephesians 5:8 So live as people of light!Ephesians 5:10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.Ephesians 5:15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,Ephesians 6:10–1810 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. The battle Paul imagines is not aggressive, but it means treating believers with respect, with generosity, and extending forgiveness.CONCLUSION:You are to play a great role in the drama of history and all the world is your stage, and the role you are to play is that of Christ.“Jesus paid it all, leads to “all to Him I owe.”The mission of the church is to live as citizens of heaven in Gospel community through every interaction and in doing this we shine like lights, and through this we bring the future into the present.So how are we doing? Are we shining like lights?To live like a citizen of heaven means investing in other people:1 Thessalonians 2:19After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joyI don’t need a big budget, a fancy building, or expensive music equipment to live out the mission of God, but you know what I do need. I need you. I need the church. I can’t do the mission without Gospel community, so why do American Christians so often treat the church like its optional.Would that we would enter every circumstance, every situation with the intent to live out what it means to be a citizen of heaven without having to be reminded.We want God’s blessing. Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong places for it. I believe to the degree that we live out the mission as the people of God now with the resources each of us has now, that God will bless us so we can do more of what we have already been doing.1a. How would you state the mission of the church?1b. What statement was repeated throughout the sermon to describe the church's mission? Please explain what this statement means.(Answer: The church's mission is to bring the future into the present)2a. How would you state the mission of the church using texts from Ephesians?2b. What is the difference between stating the mission is to give the Gospel vs. the mission is to live out the Gospel? Please explain.3. Which text from Ephesians did we say was the mission statement? (Answer: Ephesians 3:10)4. In what ways does the fact that we are on display for the purpose of displaying God's wisdom determine what our mission should look like?5. In what ways are we displaying God's wisdom as individuals and as a church? What is included in this and please be specific.6. What did we learn from Ephesians 4:22–24? (Answer: that all the world is a stage and we are called to play our part in the greatest story ever told. In the great drama of world history, we are called to play the part of Jesus because we are His body.)7. Why did we say forgiveness as commanded in Ephesians 4:31–32 was so important? What was the principle we stated?(Answer: Forgiveness is the path to restoration. How can we model the forgiveness embedded in the Gospel if we have not been restored ourselves?)8. When we fail to forgive, who is the one who suffers and how does this affect the mission of our church?9. Based on Ephesians 5:10, what should we be developing for ourselves as we grow in our maturity? What question should we be asking regarding questionable activities and what question do we usually ask?(Answer: a code of conduct. What is right with it vs. what is wrong with it?)10. If all people see is our trying to get as close to the line without sinning, what do we often end up displaying? Please explain why this is true.(Answer: hypocrisy)

Is evolution a fact? How does the fine-tuning of the universe affect my view? How do we explain the rapid rise of Christianity given that there were many witnesses and an empty tomb when the New Testament began to be circulated? Were the people back then just more superstitious than our modern sensibilities today?1. What were your overall impressions of the Easter Egg Hunt? How do you think our church did coming together to make this happen? 2. Do you think it was worth the effort?3. What positive and negative responses did you hear at the event?4. Do you think we should continue to do this event? If so, how can we make it better and more productive?5. How has/is the meaning of Easter making a difference in your life?6. How bold are you in sharing the resurrection with the people in your life? 7. Who do you need to begin praying for and sharing your faith with this year, or who would you like to see become a Christian?8. How can the other members in your CG help make this happen?9. As we approach the warmer months, what are some group activities you can begin to plan to reach out to the community, your neighborhoods, and the people in your life? Please be creative. Think of things we have not done before and things we have done but that could be done better. Please spend some time brainstorming here. Something we have done in the past is have nieghborhood BBQ's. Is this something your CG could do you have a better idea?10. The worship Sunday was amazing and it was good to see a full house. Who are some people you could invite to church in the weeks ahead.11. Please spend time praying for the people that need the Gospel, for people that will be invited to church, and for the Holy Spirit to lead in your CG hosting some outreach events.

Jesus gives gifts to the Church so that through the preaching of the Word, Christians are equipped to use their spiritual gifts, resulting in maturity, and the building up of the Church.What's the difference between a talent and a spiritual gift?What is an apostle?How do I find out what my spiritual gift is?1. We talked about the idea that self-perception can affect behavior. What is your tendency, to think of yourself as "just a sinner saved by grace" or as a saint reigning as a co-heir with Christ? Please explain.2. Do you consider yourself active in the church? If so why are you, and if not what holds you back in your opinion? Please explain.3. We mentioned four graces from Ephesians 4:2, what were they?4. What is the goal in the church for these 4 graces? (Answer is in verse 3)5. Who is the humblest person you ever met? What was it about them you perceived as humble?6. How did we define humility based on Philippians 2:3–4? Answer: The test is whether you invest in other people.7. According to this definition, how humble are you?8. Where would you like to improve?9. Where do you struggle with humility?10. Based on Philippians 2:8–9, James 4:10, and 1 Peter 5:5, have you seen God exalt you in your Christian life? If not, why? If so, how?11. What would it look like for you to practice humility as we defined it through your church? Please be concrete and specific.12. How did we define "gentleness" according to Matthew 11:28–30?Answer: Gentleness is seeking relieve people of their heavy burdens.13. According to Galatians 2:2–3, what is the reason we fail to help people bear their burdens? Is this hard for you to admit? Please explain.14. Where do you struggle the most with being gentle? Please be specific.15. According to 2 Timothy 2:24–25, what should our default behavior be when dealing with challenging situations or when being attacked?16. Does being gentle mean we must allow ourselves to be manipulated and walked over?17. Being humble and gentle doesn't mean we can't enforce our boundaries. Some have defined "boundaries" in the following ways:Boundaries means I have the right to …… my own needs and feelings and to have them be as important as anyone else’s… experience my feelings and express them, if I want… decide my priorities… be independent… decide how I spend my time… choose how I spend my life… change my mind… make mistakes… develop and express my talents…choose who I spend time with… be treated with dignity and respect… be listened to respectfully… say no… ask for what I want… have my boundaries respected.How well do you do with boundaries and are you able to maintain humility and gentleness in doing so?18. How did we define patience?Answer: overlooking others faults19. How well do you do overlooking others faults? Do you have a tendency to treat others differently without talking with them about it when you see their faults?20. How will we acquire more of these 4 graces in our lives based on Ephesians 3:16–19?

1. We mentioned 3 things that we tend to turn into an either/or instead of a both/and. Which do you tend toward:A. Emotion or intellect? Please explain.B. My faith is an individual thing or I'm only spiritual when I'm in a certain community? Please explain.C. Withdrawal into isolation (personal time w God) vs. sacrificial service?Read the following:reality.Jonathan Edwards wrote this in his diary, “Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary. That must have been something of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure, and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension.This grace, that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception—which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in tears, and weeping aloud.I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity. I have, several other times, had experiences of very much of the same nature, and which have had the same effects."2. What are your thoughts on this experience?3. Have you ever had a similar experience? Please share.4. Do you believe an experience like this is possible for you? Please dig deep here and be honest.5. Please read Ephesians 3:14-21.According to this text what do you envision Paul praying for you, what would Paul like to see happen in your spiritual walk with Jesus?6. We mentioned 4 things:A. Spiritual Preparation- You have to want to experience what Paul is talking about, and not be satisfied where you are at.B. Gospel Comprehension- understanding more and more all that Jesus did for you on the cross and how much He loves you.C. Truth Meditation- Here is an important meditation question to ask yourself, "If I really believed what I just read in the Scripture, how would I be different?"D. Full Commitment- you have to call it out when you are being double-minded.Which do you struggle with?7. Please describe yourself in 1 to 5 years, what you will look like if you continue growing into the person That more and more reflects the image of Jesus. Dream big here. This should include little and big things. What do you want God to do in your life. Speak it out loud and share it with your group. Everyone should participate.8. Please direct these responses to prayer. Pray Paul's prayer for each other as specifically as you can.

1. Now is a good time to take a look at where you are on Bible reading. A link to many Bible reading plans has been posted on the GL Facebook page.How important is reading the Bible to you and your spiritual life?What are some reasonable goals you have for Bible reading in 2016?2. We listed 41 potential things we could work on in 2016 and they are listed below. Do you still recall the ones you have decided to focus on?3. What are the situations that most often lead to your exhibiting the negative behavior that you want to move away from in 2016? Would you share these with the group?4. What would it look like for you to respond in a Jesus way instead?5. What are the things or persons that you usually blame for your negative behavior?6. In blaming circumstances or other persons are you able to specify the misbelief you are telling yourself? What is it?7. Do you believe change in your behavior and personality is possible? Do you have hope for 2016? Please explain.8. Who is a good person to help hold you accountable to staying in the fight against these negative behaviors?9. What are the positive behaviors that you want to introduce into your life in 2016? What are the things that you have been holding back on? Please share.10. Will you be sharing the positive goals with your accountability partner?Being authenticMaintaining a positive attitude no matter the circumstancePaying attention to our tone of your voice. Cultivate your tone of voice which is an open window through which people look into your soul.Paying attention to the expression on our faceNot losing our composure. People cannot make you angry without your consent.Breaking in and running away with a conversation while others are speaking. Always making the conversation all about us, versus asking questions that focus attention on the other person.Using sarcasm, and wise cracksIndifference in listening while others are speakingBetter to be a good listener than a good talkerFlattery as manipulationFinding fault with the world and people in general, complainingChallenging those with whom you disagree for the purpose of being on the opposite sideGiving advice to those who have not requested it. Free advice is worth as much as it cost.Speaking of things that interest those to whom you are speaking as a form of love.Seeking to be superior through words and topics unfamiliar to others. Negotiate with them on their own level.Envy of those you consider successful.Carelessness in personal appearance We need to control our tongue, think first then speak. Don’t injure others with our words.Do not strike back at others.Taking the path of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.Avoid controversial incidents, overlook. Don’t get into arguments about insignificant topics and this includes Facebook.We must make it our practice to always see the good in others. Focus always on the good in othersFix your mind positively at the beginning of each day through reading the Word and prayer.Start each day with gratitude for what you have and what you will receive. "I complained about having no shoes until I saw the man with no feet."Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Look for others who are worse off than you. Pity parties.Meditate on what you can do towards your goalsTranslate negative emotions into something positiveRemember that your strength grows out of your strugglesLook at life as a continual process of learning from pleasant and unpleasant experiences.Realize your have been given complete control over your own mind.Accept all criticism from othersFigure out who you want to be like and emulate them.2 types of people who will never amount to anything, those who will not do what they are told and those who will do nothing else.Part of natures method of disciplining people is through failure defeat and adversity, and it is your positive attitude that transforms these things into things of priceless value. No one desires to meet with these experiences.Accepting full responsibility and never passing the buck.Paying attention to detail.Giving full attention to one thing at a time.Mental attitude positive when in communication with other peopleGiving direct answers.Never puts off what he/she can do today. No procrastination.Nothing can be called failure until we accept it as such.

1. Fear.The fear of being ridiculed, disapproved and persecuted by the world, especially those close to us and those who have authority over us like parents, spouses and bosses.We have bought into this Politically Correct mentality. Live and let live. Don't offend anyone.Fear that sharing your faith will end the relationship.Fear of rejection, we have to remember that they are not rejecting us but Christ.Fear of man rather than fear of God. 2. They don't feel or think that they are qualified.We have secret sins.3. Complacency, lack of compassion and passion, spiritual lazinessLuke 8:14 NLT 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.We want everything from God, but we do not want to give anything.We focus only on what Jesus can do for us, and not what we can do for Jesus.4. Too many worry about "political correctness".We must care more about what God thinks of us, that what people think of us.5. Influenced by worldly cultureBecause we have believed the lie that we are "pushing" our beliefs on someone.They think belief is a private matter instead of going out to make disciples.We think we need to keep our faith private so we don't offend someone.6. A lack of training and don't know how to share.7. Not strong Christians with strong faith.8. Because we live in a world that is so tolerant of everything but Christianity!We believe people don't really want to heart it.9. They believed some false beliefs, like all we have to do is live our faith.Living our faith is sharing our faith.10. We don’t know the Gospel clearly and rightly.11. We don't see the example from our leaders.Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." As followers of Jesus Christ, what are your responses to those reasons? How can Christians overcome their barriers when it comes to evangelism?

“Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. ” J C Ryle“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of GodWithout the pursuit of holiness the church is open to division and conflict:James 3 13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. 1 Corinthians 5I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship. 3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. 6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.” As a church we are in a battle for holiness and against sin. We can get distracted and think its about other things.This is what we are doing in CG, when we listen to messages, when we sing worship songs, when we get together for fellowship. People not interested in holiness will not understand why we do what we do and will not have much interest in it.We MUST understand that God’s love is an invitation into his holiness. If we are not pursuing holiness we really don’t understand the love of God. Hebrews 12 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.You are going to be ultimately satisfied with something and you can call yourself a Christian but really have very little interest in pursuing holiness.The sin of one affects us all. ILLUSTRATION: My dad sick in the hospital.One of the first signs of new life is that the individual takes sides with God against himself.” ― Donald Grey Barnhouse“Keep in mind that when sin is viewed superficially, it is dealt with superficially.” ― Erwin W. LutzerPutting the man out of the community was not mean.We celebrate Jesus by pursuing holiness:2 Chronicles 29 4 He summoned the priests and Levites to meet him at the courtyard east of the Temple. 5 He said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Purify yourselves, and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all the defiled things from the sanctuary.2 Chronicles 30:1 King Hezekiah now sent word to all Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters of invitation to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh. He asked everyone to come to the Temple of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel.2 Chronicles 35 6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, purify yourselves, and prepare to help those who come. Follow all the directions that the Lord gave through Moses.” Ezra 6 19 On April 21 the returned exiles celebrated Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 The Passover meal was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and by the others in the land who had turned from their immoral customs to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.John 2: 13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” Paul is saying, we celebrate Jesus by living out what Jesus has done for us. He has made us holy, so we pursue holiness.Here is what it looks like:Luke 18 9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself. TozerThe greatest test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it produces an increasing humility in us. In man, humility is the one thing needed to allow God’s holiness to dwell in him and shine through him. The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is lack of humility. The holiest will be the humblest. Andrew MurrayPsalm 100 1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. John 20 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” No man should desire to be happy who is not at the same time holy. He should spend his efforts in seeking to know and do the will of God, leaving to Christ the matter of how happy he should be. TozerI may no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather response to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not. (Jim)I am only as significant as the things which I am idolizingThe Christian God seemed the most offensive to people precisely because he was the most godlike.“Holiness is as much about what you do on a Monday morning on the factory floor as it is about what you do on a Sunday morning in a church gathering. Holiness is as much about the kind of neighbor you are as it is about the kind of church member you are. It is as much about who you are when you are holding a steering wheel as who you are when you are holding a Bible.” ― Tim Chester“Holiness is found in how we treat others, not in how we contemplate the cosmos. As our experiences in marriages, families, and friendship teach us, it takes relationships to provide the friction that wears down our rough edges and sanctifies us.” ― Terryl Givens

Look for red, OK, how much green did you see? Why can't atheists see God? People find what they are looking for. Some people see the negative in everything and some people see the positive. Its the same situation so what becomes important is the person’s perception of reality, rather than the reality itself. We get in ruts, we allow negative patterns of thought into our lives and they become habits, and the habits then become addictions. They say depression is a learned behavior, but this learned behavior can then become an addiction. When you encourage depressed people they can literally become angry with you because you are messing with their addiction. Proverbs 23:9 9 Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice. They say emotions really only last 90 seconds so that after 90 seconds we are choosing to feel a certain way. Emotions are the result of internal or external stimulus, and we often take the negative emotions, embrace them, and they become feelings that carry on. For Christians, we are not only to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ but every emotion. After 90 seconds is when the battle begins for the Christian. Negative emotions that we embrace so that they become part of our identity can negatively affect our mental or even our physical health. We prefer to play the victim role and blame others rather than take personal responsibility for our choices. We get in the habit of thinking, “I can’t. People are stopping me, holding me down and holding me back from all that the Lord has promised.” The only thing holding us back is us. Are you in the battle or do you allow yourself to be carried away by your negative emotions as if you have no control over them? The Law of Attraction is not some mystical thing as if you control the universe, but really speaks to a person’s perception and the person’s ability to recognize the opportunities in life or not. P.O.O.R. acronym- Passing Over Opportunities Regularly. How many opportunities do we pass over when we refuse to face our struggles, the struggles the LORD desires to use to shape us into the image of Jesus? If you want to know what the Lord is doing in your life and what He wants to teach you, the fastest way to figure that out is look where you are struggling. The sooner you learn the lesson He has for you the sooner you can move past it. What if we created a new rule for our lives? What if we began to assume that every personal problem we have is really a symptom of a deeper root issue that God wants to release us from? A 5 year old girl develops a cough. Later the parents discover that this was the result of her feeling the rejection of her step mother. The step mother learned to love her step daughter and the cough disappears. A college student develops anorexia but when her father learns to stop tearing down his ex-wife and begins expressing love and appreciation for his ex-wife his daughter’s anorexia goes away. A woman is stuck in bed for 2 years, but when her mother in law and grandmother in law finally express to her that it is OK to get an education and be a working mother, she immediately gets better, because she had been punishing her family making them take care of her because they had forced her to be a stay at home mother. Why do some people always seem to have financial struggles, or anger, or are always complaining? They try again and again to correct these things but because they fail to go to the root issue, the problems continue. Remember, our personal problems are there to direct our attention to the root cause, the one we have been refusing to face. In these examples we see that our sin affects more than just us. Our sin, the sin we often fail to acknowledge affects our whole family. We need to think through the consequences of not making changes in our lives. We need to realize the consequences of refusing to face our real issues, and allow the consequences to motivate us to real change. Here we need to direct our attention to the idea of insanity. We keep responding to our personal problems in the same way expecting different results. When we get in fights with our family members, when we lose our temper, when we always find things to complain about. What if we repented instead and asked for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the depravity of our own hearts to us? Here we see why repentance is not only commanded, but is also absolutely essential. If we continue on in the same patterns, why should we expect different results. Repentance is a gift that allows us to see things for how they really are so we can grow. The consequence of failing to repent is that we live a life as the angry person, or the complaining person, or the negative person, or the detached person or whatever. Here is where we also need to direct our attention to the idea of mental hygiene. What negative influences are you allowing in your life? Are you careful with what external stimuli you allow in your life Are your friends building you up or tearing you down? Do you watch horror movies or other movies with no redeeming quality? Is the music you listen to uplifting or depressing, bring joy, or cause hate, anger and disgust? What is the language you grew up with in your family? Did you hear things like you are not good enough, you will never amount to anything, you always disappoint? Are you carrying these negative patterns with you now in your own family? Yes, we are the product of our environment, but what environment are you creating through the choices that you make? What changes, what decisions do you need to make to change your environment?CG Questions 1. Which part of Psalm 73 did you relate to most?2. We see the Psalmist complaining in the first part of the Psalm. What areas of your life do you find yourself complaining about the most? What does your complaining say with reference to your relationship with God? (When considering areas in which we complain, look for the kinds of complaints that come up again and again through your life, look for the patterns.)3. What would it look like to seek to make a connection with areas you complain or in areas you have personal problems and what the Lord would desire to teach you in those areas? What would repentance look like? How could repentance help set you free?3b. Have you considered that your personal problems are really a reflection of something deeper? Please consider and explain.3c. Do you see the connection between complaining and abandoning God? Please explain.4. Look at the areas you experience pain or discontent, or anger, or sadness. In light of Psalm 73:14, what might the connection be between feeling these ways and what the Lord desires to teach you?5. Consider Psalm 73:21. Are you in the habit of considering that you are harboring bitterness in your heart as part of your Christian life? Where are some areas where you are experiencing bitterness and what would repentance look like and what benefits would result? How could drawing closer to God impact these areas of bitterness (Psalm 73:28)?

The primary reason we don’t use our gifts is because we don’t love people, and the reason we don’t love people is because we haven’t understood God’s love for us.You may be using your spiritual gifts and not be spiritual, but you will not be spiritual if you are not using your gifts.Someone says they are spiritual and I say show me how you are using your gifts to build up the church.Someone says they are spiritually mature, and I say show me how you are using your gifts to build up the church.On the internet you have all these self-appointed spiritual gurus, particularly on Facebook, who think their spiritual gift is to critique others. I ask, “How is this building up the Church?” Are they critiquing Joyce Meyers, or Joel Osteen out of compassion, love, and gentleness? Often, its not spirituality, even if they are right. It’s seeking self-worth by putting others down.Jesus during His earthly ministry was not OK with religious people calling the work of the Spirit, the work of the Devil, and He’s not OK with calling the work of the flesh, our fallen base nature, the work of the Spirit, either.Gifts are the means of loving one another. If you have a gift and you aren’t using it to serve people in the church, you are missing the point.If you don't use gift it's because you don't have love to give and the love u need is Gods love bc it's infinite leaving you with more than enough to give away.1. According to Ephesians 4:11–13, how does maturity happen?11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 2. Knowing this is God's design, what are some ways you can help make sure this process happens in your own life?3. How important in the process described in Ephesians 4 is being committed to a local church? Why?4. What is one of the primary things we could look at, as mentioned in the sermon, in order to determine our maturity level? ANSWER: our conflict resolution5. What does handling conflict with maturity look like? Please describe it? Speak to facets like, how long should it take before you go to the person? What if you have been sinned against, whose responsibility is it to confront? Should we wait till we feel like forgiving to forgive? etc.6. Based on how you resolve conflict in your own life, how mature would you say you are? Would those close to you agree? 7. Where do you have room to grow in this area?8. Maturity is not equivalent to how old you are. Maturity is not equivalent to how much you know. Maturity is not equivalent to how many spiritual gifts you have Which of these stood out to you? Please explain.9. Please go through the following list and ask members of the group to confess areas they are still immature in and ask them what they plan to do about it:ImmaturityTaking things personallyHolding grudgesMakes the Church responsible for their spiritual growth.Thinking your environment has to be a certain way for u to thriveHappiness means acquisition of thingsI'm unique and no no one has my strugglesI’m the exception to orthodox or standard ChristianityThinking God works on your timingJumping to conclusions Needing others to validate ur sense of self worthServing for the praise of people and getting angry when u do t get itCut themselves off from their mentor and instead prefer the company of those complicit with their apathy.Thinking the voices in your head are the Holy SpiritJumping into ministry before counting the costMake decisions but can’t keep them and complain about what they committed to.Get easily distracted from their missionStart things they don’t finish due to neglect or forgetfulness.Force others to walk on eggshells around them lest they be offended. Certain topics are passively declared off limits.Stay on the outskirts or periphery of community lest they experience accountability.Define the Church as a loose connection of Christians acquaintances in order to avoid accountability.Immature Christians are their own pastors and deacons to themselves.Immature Christians claim revelation from the Holy Spirit that is contrary to revelation from Scripture.Immature Christians talk about the person instead of going to the person.10. Please go through the following list and ask members which areas they want to grow in maturity and which areas they believe they have experienced growth in maturity:Mature Christians let Jesus reign in every area of their lives, immature Christians compartmentalize and giving him only sections while seeking to be their own God in every other area.They make Jesus not King of their life but merely a figurehead with no real power. They don’t submit to His will, they submit to their own will.Mature Christians are marked by humilityMature Christians not only know God’s word, but they apply God’s Word beginning with themselves.Mature Christians live to serve others.Mature Christians love people who don’t yet love Jesus.Mature Christians are able to learn from people who are less mature than they are.Mature Christians set and live out personal standards that are higher for themselves than they are for other people.Mature Christians seek out the truth for the purpose of repentance and change.Mature Christians seek out discipleship.Mature Christians seek out accountability.Mature Christians seek out transparency.Mature Christians make wise commitments and follow through with them over time.Mature Christians take initiative in serving and meeting the needs of others.Mature Christians submit plans to wise leadership for confirmation.Mature Christians understand the needs of the many are greater than personal preferences.Mature Christians often serve outside their comfort zone.Mature Christians seek out and submit to Spirit ordained leadership as a means of submitting to God’s Word, as a means of submitting to King Jesus.11. Are you willing to call out the areas where you are immature?12. Are you willing to let a mature Christians speak into your life and advise you where you need to grow in maturity?13. Are you willing to struggle against the areas in your life where you are immature and to begin to respond in different ways than you did in the past.14. Are you willing to ask forgiveness from God and from those who have been on the receiving end of your immaturity?

1. According to Ephesians 4:11–13, how does maturity happen?11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 2. Knowing this is God's design, what are some ways you can help make sure this process happens in your own life?3. How important in the process described in Ephesians 4 is being committed to a local church? Why?4. What is one of the primary things we could look at, as mentioned in the sermon, in order to determine our maturity level? ANSWER: our conflict resolution5. What does handling conflict with maturity look like? Please describe it? Speak to facets like, how long should it take before you go to the person? What if you have been sinned against, whose responsibility is it to confront? Should we wait till we feel like forgiving to forgive? etc.6. Based on how you resolve conflict in your own life, how mature would you say you are? Would those close to you agree? 7. Where do you have room to grow in this area?8. Maturity is not equivalent to how old you are. Maturity is not equivalent to how much you know. Maturity is not equivalent to how many spiritual gifts you have Which of these stood out to you? Please explain.9. Please go through the following list and ask members of the group to confess areas they are still immature in and ask them what they plan to do about it:ImmaturityTaking things personallyHolding grudgesMakes the Church responsible for their spiritual growth.Thinking your environment has to be a certain way for u to thriveHappiness means acquisition of thingsI'm unique and no no one has my strugglesI’m the exception to orthodox or standard ChristianityThinking God works on your timingJumping to conclusions Needing others to validate ur sense of self worthServing for the praise of people and getting angry when u do t get itCut themselves off from their mentor and instead prefer the company of those complicit with their apathy.Thinking the voices in your head are the Holy SpiritJumping into ministry before counting the costMake decisions but can’t keep them and complain about what they committed to.Get easily distracted from their missionStart things they don’t finish due to neglect or forgetfulness.Force others to walk on eggshells around them lest they be offended. Certain topics are passively declared off limits.Stay on the outskirts or periphery of community lest they experience accountability.Define the Church as a loose connection of Christians acquaintances in order to avoid accountability.Immature Christians are their own pastors and deacons to themselves.Immature Christians claim revelation from the Holy Spirit that is contrary to revelation from Scripture.Immature Christians talk about the person instead of going to the person.10. Please go through the following list and ask members which areas they want to grow in maturity and which areas they believe they have experienced growth in maturity:Mature Christians let Jesus reign in every area of their lives, immature Christians compartmentalize and giving him only sections while seeking to be their own God in every other area.They make Jesus not King of their life but merely a figurehead with no real power. They don’t submit to His will, they submit to their own will.Mature Christians are marked by humilityMature Christians not only know God’s word, but they apply God’s Word beginning with themselves.Mature Christians live to serve others.Mature Christians love people who don’t yet love Jesus.Mature Christians are able to learn from people who are less mature than they are.Mature Christians set and live out personal standards that are higher for themselves than they are for other people.Mature Christians seek out the truth for the purpose of repentance and change.Mature Christians seek out discipleship.Mature Christians seek out accountability.Mature Christians seek out transparency.Mature Christians make wise commitments and follow through with them over time.Mature Christians take initiative in serving and meeting the needs of others.Mature Christians submit plans to wise leadership for confirmation.Mature Christians understand the needs of the many are greater than personal preferences.Mature Christians often serve outside their comfort zone.Mature Christians seek out and submit to Spirit ordained leadership as a means of submitting to God’s Word, as a means of submitting to King Jesus.11. Are you willing to call out the areas where you are immature?12. Are you willing to let a mature Christians speak into your life and advise you where you need to grow in maturity?13. Are you willing to struggle against the areas in your life where you are immature and to begin to respond in different ways than you did in the past.14. Are you willing to ask forgiveness from God and from those who have been on the receiving end of your immaturity?

C. S. Lewis writes, “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all. The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object.”1. What are the results of experiencing God’s love according to Ephesians 3:16–19? ANSWERS: Power, strength, . being complete, fullness of life, power again.Our tendency is to turn to every other thing to find what we need to live the life we wantIf its our accomplishments we become self-promotingIf its by building self-worth by finding other’s faults we become judgmentalIf its by self-love we become selfish and discover our own emptiness.If its through knowledge we become proudIf its through discipline we cycle back and forth from arrogance to depression.2. When we fail to turn to God’s love for fulness of life, what is it that you do turn to? Please be specific.3. Please explain the dynamics listed above and why they result in negative behavior, so for instance, why does looking for ultimate satisfaction in our accomplishments lead to becoming self-promoting? 4. According to Philippians 2:3–4, what are we trying to do when we seek promote ourselves in the eyes of others?Why is this wrong?Read 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, 3126 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy* when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world,* things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God….31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”Based on this text, what would be better to boast in, ourselves or God? 5. “Our ability to love your enemies is only possible with the love of God bc it is a selfless love and we are so used to getting something in return.”Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? What does it mean?Do you see this pattern in your own life? Are you able to admit that when you respond poorly to conflict or to loving the unlovely that you are loving with a selfish love? What can you do to demonstrate the selfless love of God in difficult situation next time?6. We talked about the difference between “reacting” and “responding.” Please explain the difference.When we react, what are we focusing on?When we respond, what are we focusing on?7. Please read these two texts back to back:Ezekiel 20:43 “You will look back on all the ways you defiled yourselves and will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done. 44 You will know that I am the Lord, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” James 4:8–9 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. What pattern do we see in these two verses?Are you practicing this pattern as a vital part of your Christian life?What happens to our faith when we ignore this pattern?8. We discussed the difference between God as “Judge” and God as “Father.” Which of these two ways do you tend to view God? What is the difference?Does seeing Him as Father tend to result in your dismissing the sin in your own life? Please explain.9. We will talk more about this next week but for now, what does it mean to “live a life worthy of your calling? In what ways are you living a life worthy of your calling and in what ways are you not?In what concrete ways would you like to improve?

luke 14-12-14luke 14:15-24

GL original drama by Amber Roberts.