Seek First: The Mission of God
Sermons

Seek First: The Mission of God

In this message I talk about what does it mean to be on mission with God and what is the mission of God. In Matt 28, the last words of Jesus to His disciples, Jesus gives His marching orders to the disciples. From this passage we can not only determine what the mission of God...

Seek First: Escape Condemnation; The King has a Short Memory
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Seek First: Escape Condemnation; The King has a Short Memory

Seek First: Escape Condemnation, The King has a short memory • John 3:16 The context here is that Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about Spiritual things. Verse 16 Jesus is speaking both about Himself and God the Father when He says…“For God so loved the world..” • What God the Father did, He did from...

Seek First: The Rocks Cry Out
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Seek First: The Rocks Cry Out

Seek First: The Rocks Cry Out, The Strength of Praise Luke 19:28-29 During this time period the only way to atone for your sin was to make an animal sacrifice. • Take an animal and head to the Jerusalem, or buy the animal in Jerusalem. • We see all of that imagery here in this...

Seek First: The Church
Sermons

Seek First: The Church

Seek First: The Church (Matt 16:18-19) • The Church is the body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. You can’t love one without loving the other. o But to love the church we must understand the mission of the church. Verse 16 Jesus is talking to Peter and setting him up to be the...

Seek First: The Color of the Kingdom
Sermons

Seek First: The Color of the Kingdom

Seek First: The Color of the Kingdom (Rev 5:8-10) Verse 9 Why is this a new song? • Because Jesus taking the scroll to open it represents a new era in God’s redemptive history. • What’s new about this era? • The Lamb’s death on the cross has never happened before, nor will it happen...

Seek First: Triumph over Afflicting Spirits
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Seek First: Triumph over Afflicting Spirits

Seek First: Triumph over Afflicting Spirits (2 Tim 1:6-8) Fear, depression, anxiety • How do we deal with fear? o We must treat it as a spirit, an intruder spirit. An unwelcome guest. • We deal with is using the authority Christ has given us. o Deal with is like you would an intruder in...

Seek First: The Realms of the Kingdom, Spiritual vs Physical
Sermons

Seek First: The Realms of the Kingdom, Spiritual vs Physical

Seek First: The Realms of the Kingdom, Spiritual vs Physical (1 Tim 4:1-9) Verse 1 There are other spirits out there, that are not the Spirit of God, and those spirits are deceiving. • The Spirit of God speaking through Paul tells us there are demons teaching. o The implications here is some of what...

Seek First: The King Gave You His Sword
Sermons

Seek First: The King Gave You His Sword

Seek First: The King Gave You His Sword The ten weapons of Spiritual warfare from Nehemiah 4 1. Cry out to the Lord in _________ a. Ask the Lord to put the attacks back on the enemy’s head 2. Work with all your ___________ a. Working half-heartedly is victory for the enemy 3. _________ guards...

Seek First: You Carry His Message
Sermons

Seek First: You Carry His Message

Seek First: You Carry His Message (2 Cor 4:1-6) Verse 1 When it comes to evangelism it’s easy to lose heart, and get discouraged. • Evangelism is an operation of God’s mercy and not our strength. o If we have been discouraged, we need to go back to God’s mercy again. Verse 2 He has...

Seek First: Love Like the King
Sermons

Seek First: Love Like the King

Seek First: Love Like the King (1 John 4:16) • 1 John 4:16 This verse tells us three things: God Loves us. God is love. We are to live in love. • Two are statements about the character and nature of God, king Jesus o One is a statement about how we are to live...

Seek First: The Economy of the Kingdom
Sermons

Seek First: The Economy of the Kingdom

Seek First: The Economy of the Kingdom (Matt 25:14-30) • The context here is that Jesus has been telling parables about what the kingdom of God is like. • Jesus is talking about money. So, we are going to look at it from the stand point of money. Verse 14 The word “man” used is...

Seek First: Everything Belongs to the King
Sermons

Seek First: Everything Belongs to the King

Seek First: Everything Belongs to the King (Psalm 50:8; Malachi 3:6) Psalm 50:8-15 The context here is God was dealing with the people’s attitudes toward the sacrifice. • Everything already belongs to Him. He is not asking for it because He needs it like an earthly king might. Verse 13 He clarifies that He does...

Seek First: The Kingdom has a Helper
Sermons

Seek First: The Kingdom has a Helper

Seek First: The Kingdom has a Helper (2) John14:15 The kingdom rule of King Jesus starts with love. Verse 16 Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, referred to here as the Counselor. • Do you see how much this stands in contrast to the way earthly leaders rule? o Earthly leaders surround themselves with counselors. But...

Seek First: The Kingdom has a King
Sermons

Seek First: The Kingdom has a King

Seek First: The Kingdom has a King (Matt 6:25-34; Romans 14:17) • I can only give myself to seeking the Kingdom I know the Kingdom. o And if there is a Kingdom then there must also be a King. o I can only give myself to seeking the Kingdom if I know the King The...

Intro to Seek First and Prayer Vision
Sermons

Intro to Seek First and Prayer Vision

Intro to Seek First Seek First: This series will be based on this passage in Matt 6 and the parallel story in Luke 12 • For the entire series we will focus in on the statement that Jesus makes to “Seek First His Kingdom” • The theme of this series is “Seek First the Kingdom...

Left for Dead
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Left for Dead

I just love this picture, there is so much truth and victory in this picture. This is a mango tree that someone cut down to just a stump and left for dead. But the roots on this tree were strong. Not only did the tree live, it grew a new branch AND one fruit. Now...

Winning the War for Your Mind Part 3:Temptations
Sermons

Winning the War for Your Mind Part 3:Temptations

Winning the War for Your Mind Pt III Temptations (1 Cor 10:13, Proverbs) 1Cor 10:13 Three things to see here. • First, Whatever temptation has come against us, it’s common to being human. • Second, God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear.  Doesn’t mean we won’t fail and give...

Winning The War for Your Mind Part 2 Scripture as our Weapon
Sermons

Winning The War for Your Mind Part 2 Scripture as our Weapon

Winning the War for Your Mind Pt II Scripture As Our Weapon (Psalm 23) • 2 Cor 10:6 In the natural realm Paul is reestablishing his authority as an Apostle and leader. • Paul talks about the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. o So, it would seem odd that...

Winning the War for Your Mind
Sermons

Winning the War for Your Mind

Winning the War for Your Mind (2 Cor 10:1-5) Verses 1-2 Paul is addressing some in the Corinthian church who were questioning his authority. Verse 3 Paul realizes that this is a type of spiritual warfare. • They don’t have just cause for their complaints. Paul has been firmly established by God as an Apostle....

Making Disciples Step by Step Part II
Sermons

Making Disciples Step by Step Part II

Making Disciples Step by Step Part II (Matt 9:9-13) (Review) Step one: Change our thinking Step two: Ask the Lord to open our eyes Step three: Seize the everyday opportunities Step four: Change our conversations Step Five: Think replication (reproducing) (Part II) Step six: Remember discipleship starts from the beginning • We don’t start at...

What Are You Attending To? Part III (The Book of Haggai)
Sermons

What Are You Attending To? Part III (The Book of Haggai)

What Are You Attending to? Part III (Haggai 2:20-23) • 2:20 This is now the fourth and final oracle of the book. This word comes on the same day as the last one. • This word is addressed to the governor Zerubbabel. o And deals with national, governmental issues. • The Lord’s message is again...

What Are You Attending to? Part II (The Book of Haggai)
Sermons

What Are You Attending to? Part II (The Book of Haggai)

What Are You Attending to? Part II Chapter 2:1 This begins the second oracle Verse 3 The Lord is asking if there is any one old enough to remember what the Temple used to look like. • But of course, it is nothing now because the people don’t have the resources they did with the...

The Broken Dishwasher
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The Broken Dishwasher

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. – 1 Tim 6:6-8 Have you ever found yourself in that moment where you are thinking, “I could be happy...

What are You Attending to? (The Book of Haggai)
Sermons

What are You Attending to? (The Book of Haggai)

What are You Attending to? (Haggai Chap 1) • The book of Haggai was written in what we call the postexilic era. o There had been a small and slow trickle of people coming back into the land of Israel. • By the time the events of this book take place the Jews had been...

Rejoice Always: A Prelude to Christmas
Sermons

Rejoice Always: A Prelude to Christmas

Rejoice Always: A Prelude to Christmas (Philippians 4:4-7) • Context: Phil 3:18-21 Here Paul is comparing the ungodly, those whose god is their stomach. o To those who know that their citizenship is in heaven with Jesus. • It’s into this context Paul gives us this command to rejoice. • Verse 4 It’s an active...

Exceedingly
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Exceedingly

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 Last week we looked at the passage in Acts 16 where Paul and Silas were beaten, flogged, and thrown into the inner cell. But lest we think that was a onetime event 2 Corinthians 11 tells us Paul endured this kind of...

Making Disciples Step by Step
Sermons

Making Disciples Step by Step

Making Disciples Step by Step • Five Simple Steps: Practical steps for making disciples who make disciples. (A starting point) Step one: Change our thinking • Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and...

Rejoice Through it All
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Rejoice Through it All

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 Paul gives us this simple but firm command to rejoice, and not just sometimes but always! But has Paul lost his mind, has he not endured any difficult circumstances? Some would argue that given their life’s circumstances there is no way they...

The Color of the Kingdom Part II
Sermons

The Color of the Kingdom Part II

The Color of the Kingdom Part II (Acts 1:8; 10:1-35) • Acts 1:8 These are Jesus’ last words and instructions to His disciples. • Jesus is of course promising the coming of the Holy Spirit. o Jesus is telling us that we will not go in our own strength but empowered by the Holy Spirit....

Safety is Leaning Toward Failure
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Safety is Leaning Toward Failure

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 Edwin Friedman in his classic work A Failure of Nerve says this, “If a society is to progress, then safety...

We are Going to Disagree
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We are Going to Disagree

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 We love to quote this proverb but have we really ever considered what it means?

Disciples making Disciples Part III
Sermons

Disciples making Disciples Part III

Disciples making Disciples Part III (Luke 10:1-11) Verse 1 After those following Jesus counted the cost Jesus appoints 72 more disciples. • First, these are disciples who have been with Jesus for the last few days and they have heard Him talk about the cost. They have agreed to pay that price. • Second, they...

Disciple Making Disciples Part II
Sermons

Disciple Making Disciples Part II

Disciples Making Disciple Part II (Luke 5:1-11) Verse 1 He has already begun the discipleship process with the people He is meeting. • It says He is teaching them the word of God, which would have been the OT. o He is of course using the Old Testament to point to Himself. Verse 2 Jesus...

Disciples Making Disciples
Sermons

Disciples Making Disciples

Disciples Making Disciples (Matt 28:16-20) Verse 16 This is of course after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Verse 17 The word ‘worship’ here means to bow down, to fall down or kneel, in response to another. • Despite seeing the risen Lord, some still doubt, even in this incredible moment, doubt is still present. • Two...

Do Not Worry: Seek First
Sermons

Do Not Worry: Seek First

Do Not Worry: Seek First (Matt 6:25-34) Verse 30 Jesus continues His analogy but switches from, “wild flowers” to “grass of the field.” • Something seemingly as worthless as straw, so mattered to God that he took special care to clothe it. o The grass wasn’t just an afterthought, God took care in creating it,...

Do Not Worry: Consider Closely….
Sermons

Do Not Worry: Consider Closely….

Do Not Worry: Consider Closely…. (Matt 6:25-34) Verse 25 In the previous brief section Jesus tells three very short parables. • Don’t store up treasures on earth, guard the condition of our soul, you can’t serve two masters. o It is into this context that Jesus begins this message. “Therefore” • Jesus asks some rhetorical...

Vision 2017: Praying in Circles
Sermons

Vision 2017: Praying in Circles

The Mission in a nutshell 1. House of Prayer for all Nations (Mark 11:17; Rev 5:9) a. Prayer, presence, power b. Every, tribe, tongue, people, and nation c. Worship 2. Empowering God’s people (Ehp 4:12; 1 Cor 12:1-11) a. Growing in Spiritual gifts b. Discipleship c. Heart level serving 3. Advancing the Kingdom of God...

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Kingdom Life

Our Next kingdom Life is Wed Dec 6th. Dinner starts at 6:00pm and worship and teaching begins at 7:00pm. From Disciple Making Movements we will be talking about finding the person of peace.

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Special Guest Speaker Amit Bhatia (PhD)

Please join us as we welcome Amit A. Bhatia, (PhD, Intercultural Studies). He has spent more than 20 years bridging the gap between academia and the church. Throughout seminary he served as a pastor in several different multi-ethnic congregations, and is currently serving as Director of Outreach at his church in Lincolnshire, IL. As a...