On Mission with God: Empowered (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:1-8) Luke 24:49 Jesus told His disciples to stay in the city until they received the Holy Spirit, power from on high. • He starts out by saying “stay here.” In Greek, it’s actually the verb “to sit.” o The verb is also in the active form....
On Mission with God Praying toward the Mission (Acts 4:23-31) • We cannot be on mission with God as the primary purpose of the church without prayer. • The specifics, the wisdom, of how we are going to walk out this mission are going to come through prayer. o The power and empowerment for this...
On Mission with God Discovering the primary purpose of the Church • Since the moment Adam and Eve fell in the garden God has been on a mission, the missio dei o That mission has been to restore the relationship between mankind and God Himself. o In the OT era God’s mission was primarily seen...
In Philippians chapter 4 Paul says that he has learned to be content in every situation. I think that’s a great lesson for us all to learn. Let’s look at this passage and ask who were his teachers and what was the curriculum to see if we too can learn to be content? Learning to...
A Life Worth Following Part 2 1 Cor 11:1; 2 Cor 1:8-9 • From this statement, Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ, we saw three key issues. o First, the quality of Paul’s life, the worthiness to be followed. o Second, there is an invitation. “Follow me” A deliberate invitation. o...
Paul tell us in this verse to follow him as he follows Christ. But what made Paul’s life worth following? A Life Worth Following (1 Cor 11:1) 1 Cor 11:1 Is my life worth following? Context: Paul is addressing the entire Corinthian Church. He is not writing to an individual believer. Three key issues here:...
It’s Not My Job: It’s My gift (Colossians 3:22: 1 Cor 12:12) • The context of 1 Cor 12, Paul is talking about Spiritual Gifts. o Then in this section he abruptly talks about the body, meaning the church. o He is creating this picture, this analogy that the church is like the human body....
It’s Not My Job: It’s my Testimony Matt 28:18-20 These were Jesus’ final words to His disciples. • He commissioned His disciples to go and spread the news of His love and sacrifice to the world. • Even many of Jesus’ parables were stories around the idea of sharing our faith. This passage in Colossians...
Sometimes it’s really easy to complain about our jobs. At times it’s even easy to fall into the “it’s not my job” attitude. But in Colossians 3 Paul gives us a great way to see our work from a whole different perspective. To such a degree our jobs, how we serve and volunteer, even lead...
Doing the Right Thing will Cost You 1 Kings 16:30-33 This is the context into which the rest of this story takes place. 1 Kings 17 Because of the wickedness in the land, Elijah prophecy’s that there will be no rain, not even dew. Verse 7 Shows that what Elijah prophesied came true, no rain,...
Today I look a passage in 1 Cor 9 where Paul says he as been all things to all people to reach them for the Gospel. Paul entered into the world of people who had never heard the name Jesus before in order to bring the Gospel message. The call remains the same for us...
For the Love of Weeds (Matt 13:24-30) • Verse 24 Jesus tells a parable using language and concepts they would have been understood. But of course, adding new meaning and symbolism. Verse 24 The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God. Jesus tends to use these terms interchangeably. • The man or farmer here...
In this passage we take a look at Jesus’ warning about the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. Jesus is talking about the world views of religion and government. Heeding this warning from Jesus will help us discern the times we are living in. Of Governments and Religion (Mark 8:1-18) Verses 1-3 This passage...
In this message we look a the deep connection between love and obedience. Love compels obedience. Jesus says he can only do what He sees the Father doing, and He can do nothing by Himself. He did the miracles he did through the Power of the Holy Spirit, acting in obedience to what the Father...
A brief introduction to the Holy Spirit and the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Living in the Spirit: Being Filled (Ehp 5:15 and Acts 8) Eph 5:18 The verb here in the NIV as “be filled” is a present passive imperative in the Greek. o There are three components to this grammar...
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 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...
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...
My House Shall Be Called A House of Prayer. This scene comes during the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. After Jesus comes riding into the city with everyone cheering and singing praises there is this little verse where Jesus goes into the Temple and looks around. Verses:12-14 He curses the fig tree and a...
