The church of Jesus has been born out of the presence of God and was created to gather around His presence continually through the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, we see that, within a few short weeks, the crowd in Jerusalem went from saying, “Crucify Jesus” to “What must we do to be...
Everything we need is the found in the presence of God. Moses knew this. Chapter 33 of the book of Exodus contains some incredible comments by Moses, statements that serve us well as we seek to know God and encourage others in the 21st Century. Even though Moses already had an incredible and personal relationship...
In the frantic pace of today’s society, the concept of rest sounds like a quaint antique. However, Sabbath rest is biblically fundamental to the kingdom of God. Sabbath rest is highlighted in the Ten Commandments, where God goes out of his way to remind us to “remember” the Sabbath. In the agricultural age of...
In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus illustrates spiritual realities through the natural world that apply to us as humans. Fruit trees require great care and attention to produce good fruit. The same is true for us – the words we speak reflect the condition we have cultivated in our hearts. Jesus condemns the religious leaders (the...
Words have great power. We were made in God’s image, and if we truly want to imitate him, we will use great care with our words and get in the habit of speaking blessings, not curses. The apostle Peter tells us that we should speak God’s words so that we advance Jesus’ kingdom, not...
There is no getting around it – God is concerned about justice for those who have no voice. Justice was a major part of Jesus’ ministry as well. In fact, the word “justice” is used 130 times in the NIV translation of the Bible. Jesus saved some of his harshest words for the religious leaders...
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 • 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, 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 (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 (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 (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 (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 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 (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 (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...
Prayer: The Heart of Relationship I want to touch on a few, tangible, practical ways we can seek first the kingdom of God through prayer: It’s about making it personal. It’s about the yes. What keeps us from relationship? Making it Personal David is known as a man after God’s own heart. That’s a pretty...
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 (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 (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...
