Pathway Church Palo Alto, CA - "Together on the Journey"

Series: "SWAYED: Have YOU Been?" - Talk: Truth vs. Lies

2008-11-07T18:41:00.001-08:00

Intro:

We started with a version of old game show "To Tell The Truth".

We were trying to figure out who really did this truth...
“I’m ________ and I personally climbed two volcanoes.
(*Listen to the audio to discover the real volcano climber!)

Knowing what’s true in life is as important as knowing what reality is. If you don’t know what’s true in life you’re no better off than someone who doesn’t know what reality is.

How do we know what’s true? What’s right? What’s wrong? Is it what the majority says? Is it what the minority says? Or is it only what, the media, our educational system, or science tells us is true?

Most of us believe that we’re independent and think for ourselves. We don’t think that we’re that influenced by others.

But I want to show you this morning that that’s not true!

Every single one of us here have been influenced.

We’ve been swayed by almost "invisible forces" in our culture that have influenced us all in some way. Once you realize what these forces are, then you'll see their powerful ability to sway you and your friends.

Truth In The Movies" Series: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium - The Possibilities Of A Life With God

2008-10-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

Possibilities. Potential. These are things that are usually hidden from the naked eye. It’s so hard to see the true FULL potential in someone and it’s even harder to see it in yourself. Let me give you an example…

Cullen Jones was just an ordinary kid living an ordinary life until one day he almost died. When he was 5 year old his family went on vacation to a water park in Pennsylvania. Jones became separated from his inner tube at the end of a ride down a slide and passed out. He almost drown until they pulled him from the water and performed CPR on him.

Because of that accident his Mom, Debra, just days later, enrolled him in swimming classes. And that decision revealed his true hidden potential as swimmer. In the summer of 2006, he became a professional swimmer after signing with Nike.

(Show other shirtless pic)
At the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships he set a meet record in the 50m Freestyle with a time of 21.84. He also swam a in the world record breaking 4x100 m Freestyle Relay along with Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Neil Walker.

Jones is the third black swimmer to ever make a United States Olympic squad.

And the race he one with Phelps, Lezak and Walker made him the first African-American to hold or share a world record in swimming

If you saw him on that day back in Pennsylvania being rescued from the water, you would’ve have guessed that his potential to be a swimmer.wasn’t very good. But if you would’ve guessed that back then, you would’ve been wrong!

Someone’s true possibilities and potential are sometimes invisible to the eye.
What are all the possibilities of what you can really do and become?

What’s your true potential?

If we could see the combined true potential, the true possibilities, of each person here in this theater we would be shocked!

The problem with people and potential is that so many of us live below our full potential.

Jim Rohn - Every life form seems to strive to its maximum except human beings. How tall will a tree grow? As tall as it possibly can. Human beings, on the other hand, have been given the dignity of choice. You can choose to be all or you can choose to be less. Why not stretch up to the full measure of the challenge and see what all you can do?

Why do we live below our potential? Sometimes it’s because of fear. Sometimes it’s because of doubt.

But the fact is so many people settle for less than they could be and do. People live below their possibilities...

Did you know that to reach your God-given potential you're going to need to accomplish MORE that just the possible? You're going to need to do the impossible.

What am I talking about? Listen to the full talk now.
Stream and listen online. (length 29:00)
Download here.

Supreme Series: Solutions To 2 Problems We Have

2008-06-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

I want to talk to you today about two big problems we have and give you two major solutions.

You can see our first problem revealed in this video – check it out…
(You can see the video I showed this Sunday here.

Or you can watch a similar video below...)

Copyright 2007 Orchard Valley Community Church, Aurora, IL
www.orchardvalleyonline.com
info@orchardvalleyonline.com

For those of us in this room who consider ourselves Christ-followers, we have a big problem!

People love (or least like) Jesus, but they have a problem with us. Did you hear what they called us? “Trouble,” “Weak,” “Boo!”

Why do you think people like Jesus, but have a problem with Christ-followers?
I think some of the reasons are...

Christians misrepresenting Jesus with their words and actions, Christians treating non-believers harshly, & media misrepresenting Christ-followers.

I don’t think that any of us are this way, but either way we still have an image problem that we need to overcome if we’re going to ever have a chance to be effective in sharing Jesus with people.

In just a minute we’re going to look at Colossians 4 and see a solution to this problem, but before we do that let me tell you about our second problem…

Our second problem is that we’re missing out on some things in our lives – some things we realize we’re missing and some things we don’t. We’re less effective than God wants us to be and we’re not experiencing all that he wants us to.

We’ll see the answer to that problem in Colossians 4 today.

First let’s review where we’re at in this series. We’re doing a series I’m calling "Supreme." It’s based on a book from the Bible called Colossians. We’re looking at the things God has done for us or wants to do for us that are so much greater than all we chase after in life.

The first Sunday, we looked at Colossians 1 and saw the dangers of letting other things in our lives take the place of God.

The second Sunday, we looked at Colossians 2 and saw the danger there was in adding to Jesus. The danger of adding other philosophies to him and the danger of adding rules and rituals to him.

The third Sunday, we looked at Col. 3 and the mystery that Paul understood about Jesus that few Christ-followers understand: Paul understood the mystery of our union with Jesus. We talked about how realizing this can help us to live more powerfully.

Last Sunday, we looked at a Col 3:18-19 and saw passage of scripture that’s has been misused in the past in ways that caused wives to be mistreated and husbands to be harassed. I helped break apart the old interpretations and helped us see the real meaning that is more freeing and fulfilling to both husbands and wives.

I got a lot of good feedback and response last Sunday after the gathering. If you weren’t with us and want to hear this talk, then look in your bulletin for the URL and you can go stream it online or download it onto an MP3 player.

Alright, so let’s get back to our 2 problems for today…

1. We have an image problem with some people.
2. We’re less effective and experience less than what God has for us.

Let's look at what Paul gives us as our 2 solutions in Colossians 4:2-6...

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"Supreme" Series: Two Requirements In Marriage = Submission & Sacrificial Love

2008-06-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Today, I want to start with a story I saw online…

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident.

It wasn't a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to submit and yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.

I’m going to talk to you about something that, in our society, is almost considered a bad word. I want to talk to you today about “submission.”

In our culture submission, in general, is thought of as a negative thing. Submission is seen as a sign of weakness. It’s something for a weak person to do. It’s what you do when you lose or give in. It’s something a less educated or less powerful person should do.

But what if our society’s view of submission is wrong and backwards?

The Bible has a different view of submission. The Bible has a positive view of submission. The Bible actually reveals submission as a requirement for all people in some form whether it’s submitting to God or to submitting to each other. The Bible actually reveals submission as a part of God’s nature!

Bible Commentator, David Guzman said this about submission…

”This idea of an order of authority and submission to an order of authority are so important to God that they are part of His very being. The First Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Father; the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Son. Inherent in those titles is a relationship of authority and submission to authority.

“The Father exercises authority over the Son, and the Son submits to the Father's authority - and this is in the very nature and being of God! Our failure to exercise Biblical authority, and our failure to submit to Biblical authority, isn't just wrong and sad - it sins against the very nature of God.”

Today we’re to take a look at a passage of scripture that talks about submission in marriage and also in some other realms of life. This passage has been has been misapplied by Christ-followers in the past. And I want to shatter those misconceptions and talk today about what the Bible really does say about the roles of husband and wife and about the role of submission and authority.

First let’s review where we’re at in this series. We’re doing a series I’m calling "Supreme." It’s based on a book from the Bible called Colossians. We’re looking at the things God has done for us or wants to do for us that are so much greater than all we chase after in life.

The first Sunday, we looked at Colossians 1 and saw the dangers of letting other things in our lives take the place of God. The second Sunday, we looked at Colossians 2 and saw the danger there was in adding to Jesus. We saw that it was dangerous to add other philosophies to him and it’s dangerous to add rules and rituals to him.

Last Sunday, we looked at the mystery that Paul understood about Jesus that few Christ-followers understand: Paul understood the mystery of our union with Jesus. He understood how we’re one with Jesus just like husband and wife are considered one.

Today we’re going to look at a passage of scripture that’s has been misused in the past in ways that caused wives to be mistreated, husbands to be harassed. The crazy thing is that's not what the Apostle Paul meant! Paul was saying something that was meant to improve marriage relationships.

Today we'll shatter the old, incorrect understanding of these verses (Col. 3:18-19) and look at what these verses really mean for us today.

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"The Big Give" - How To Use Your Gifts & Talents To Make A Difference

2008-04-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

Intro:

An unknown poet wrote these words that I want to start with today...

My life shall touch a dozen lives before this day is done;
Leave countless marks for good or ill, ere sets the evening sun.
This is the wish I always wish, the prayer I always pray:
Lord, may my life help other lives it touches by the way.

Even though we don’t know who wrote these words, we can all relate to this person because this is a person who, like us, wants to live a life of influence.

Last Sunday, I told you that when we think and talk about salvation we usually overlook something. That’s this…

The fact that Jesus saved us for something, not just from something.

God has a purpose for each one of us, individually, and he has a purpose for us as a church.He saved us so we could accomplish something, so we could have an impact on the world and people around us.

Not only does God want us to accomplish something, but each of us here have a desire to matter in this life. We all want to live a life that will make a difference in this world.

We want to have a life that has an influence on others and on this world.

The question I asked last Sunday was this…

*If that’s what God wants and what we want, why don’t more of us find ourselves living a life of influence and impact?

I told you that I think the reason is because we don’t know where to start. We don’t know how to use our gifts and talents in a way to impact other people’s lives in a big way.

And with so many needs out there, wee don’t know who we can help out in the biggest way.

That’s why for these last two Sundays I’m doing this series called, “Big Give.”

In this series, we’re going to be looking at a new matrix that will allow you to discover a way to have larger impact on the people in need around you. It will help you to discover, develop and/or deploy your gifts and talents in new ways.

Last week, I reminded you of this…

God is the one who took the first step and he did the ultimate Big Give. He gave himself and he paid the ultimate price: his ife. And God now expects us to give to others as he’s given to us.

When he sent the disciples out on their first mission Jesus told them this in Matt. 10:8, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

Jesus wants us to give to others in the way we’ve received – generously and freely! He wants us to help them out, bandage them up, heal them, lift them up, and set them free people who are in need around us.

I told you that the funny this is that I’ve been seeing TV shows living out what God wants us to do better than Christ-followers. Shows like “Extreme Makeover Home Edition”. I think they appeal to people because we crave to live a life like that. I told you last week that it was after watching Oprah’s “Big Give” show that I suddenly had a new idea…

We don’t have to wait until we’re a bigger church to give big. We can have a huge impact on people’s lives at this stage.

It will happen when we each find the sweet spot of our maximum effectiveness. It will be when we begin to live this out together – inspiring each other, working together and challenging each other in the process.

We’re going to provide this through a friendly challenge I’m going to give Smaller Gatheringss that will allow us all to live these ideas out in a unique way. Hebrews 10:24 it says (NLT), “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.” The NIV translates it this way… “And let us consider
how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

I’m challenging the SG groups to take the ideas that we’re talking about in this series and run with them in such a huge way that it will be a way we can encourage and spur each other on toward actually living out these outbursts of love and good deeds!

I want your SG group to find an individual or organization that you can do the BIGGEST Give to. I want the idea that you know other groups are using their creativity and aiming high to spur your group to go for it a big as you can

Today will help you to do that. You might want to have a pen handy again as we start.

Listen to this talk now...

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Life Management Series: Gift #3

2008-02-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a chance to post "Gift #2" yet, so this is out of order. Sorry!

Intro:
I want to start today by talking about unseen dangers. These are the little-known dangers that are around us, all the time. You can look just where you live and find them!
Did you know…

· A Household dryers can be dangerous? Dryers cause more than 15,000 house fires every year.

· Toothpaste is poisonous?
If you shallow too much of it can actually kill you! Label… “If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional assistance or contact a Poison Control Center right away.”

There are dangers like this from everyday items that we use all the time. I saw something funny online when I typed in “warning labels” on Google…

These are labels from the 11^th Annual M-LAW Wacky Warning Label Contest…

Third place: A baby stroller featuring a small pouch for storage that warns: "Do not put child in bag."

Second place: An iron-on T-shirt transfer that warns: "Do not iron while wearing shirt."

Grand Prize: A label on a small tractor that warns: "Danger! Avoid Death."

The gift we’re going to look at today is another amazing gift that can do a lot of good in our lives and others lives, but there also is a danger comes with it. It’s a danger that most of us don’t even think about, but it’s serious! It has the power to ultimately destroy our lives if we don’t use it carefully!

We’ll look more at that in a second, but first… Let me remind you about what we’re trying to do in this series. When we started this “Life Management” series and I told you…

God has given you (and will give you) all of the "raw materials" and opportunities you need to reach your full potential.

At the end of our lives, no one is going to be able to blame God that he didn’t give them what they needed to make it in this life.

Whether you reach your full potential, or not, will be based on how you managed what you've been given. Did you waste your gifts or cherish them?

For 5 Sundays, we're looking at 5 of the most important raw materials you've been given to form your life with. I'm calling these 5 raw materials of life "5 Gifts" that God has given you to manage.

The FIRST week, I talked about the first gift that God has given us to manage, which is TIME.

You only have 1440 minutes given to you everyday. If you sleep 7 hours that leaves you 1020 minutes. You can never get more. The only way to make more time is by managing it better. How we manage our time becomes our worship to God.

It makes “Time Management” a holy thing!

The LAST Sunday we were here at the theater, I talked about the second gift that God has given us to manage, which is our health. I showed you in the Bible that God care about all of us – not just our spiritual health, but also our mental, emotional and physical health.

I told you that how you manage your gift of health will decide the quantity and quality of your life. You can listen to these last two talks at PathwayPaloAlto.Blogspot.com.

Today we’re going to look at the 3^rd gift.The third gift God’s given us to manage is Wealth.This gift has one major danger...

Listen to the rest:

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*Two Handouts That Go With This Series:

1. "3 Ways To Better Manage Your Money"

Simple method to eliminate your debt.
How to grow your money from your knowledge.
Tips for giving.

2. Ministry & Missions Giving Goals

Life Management Series: Gift #1

2008-01-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

Let’s talk about gifts for second. (Show wrapped gift)

We all like getting these. I don’t know anyone who hates getting gifts!

Why do people give them?

To show someone we love or appreciate them. To see the excitement on their faces. To give them someone what they need or want.

But a gift always leaves us with a choice: Will you accept it and use it or will you reject it and throw to the side?

God has given you (and will give you) all of the "raw materials" and opportunities you need to reach your full potential.

At the end of our lives, no one is going to be able to blame God that he didn’t give them what they needed to make it in this life.

Whether you reach your full potential, or not, will be based on how you managed what you've been given. Did you waste your gifts or cherish them?

For the next 5 Sundays, we're going to look at 5 of the most important raw materials you've been given to form your life with. I'm calling these 5 raw materials of life "5 Gifts" that God has given you to manage.

What are you going to do with these 5 gifts God’s given you? Will you accept them or reject them? Use them or abuse them? An unaccepted or unused gift isn’t any better than no gift at all!

Today we’re going to look at the first gift. (Begin opening wrapped present) Let’s see what it is…

Listen to the rest:

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"The Fear Factor" Series: "Life Giving Fear"

2007-10-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Spoken on 10/14/07
(*Scroll down to stream or download the audio or read the intro first)

Intro:
In The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, there’s a scene where he has the two girls, Susan and Lucy, getting ready to meet Aslan the lion, who represents Jesus. I want to start this morning by reading you that from scene because it contains an important truth.

Two animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, get the girls ready to meet Aslan. "Ooh," said Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie." said Mrs. Beaver. "And make no mistake, if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knee's knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then isn't he safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you!"

In the Bible “Fear of God” is a positive thing. It was a way to describe someone who knew God and walked with him. To say that you have no “Fear of God” was a negative thing back then. It was the way non-believers were described.

Nowadays it’s the opposite! We’ve emphasized “The Love Of God”, “God as our father”, “God as our friend” so much that we have no fear of God left! In fact we think of “fear of God” now as a negative thing!

“Good… but not safe.” is a description of God that we all need to have and know again. It’s the place where wisdom, life and success all begin.

Many of us misunderstand what it means to fear God.

Today, I want to help us have a Biblical view of the fear of God. Today I’m going to talk to your about what I’m calling “Life Giving Fear”.

Listen to the talk now:

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You can read the book I mention at the end of my talk called, "The Judgment Seat Of Christ" by Rick Howard online, for free by clicking here!

"The Fear Factor" Series: "Making Friends With Fear"

2007-10-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Spoken on 10/7/07
(*Scroll down to stream or download the audio or read the intro first)

Intro:

How many of you know who Ann Landers is? She’s a famous old advice columnist who wrote her column for 43 years. Her column ran in newspapers across the country. People would write to her with all kinds of questions and problems and she’d give them advice.

In the book, “Conquer Fear!” by Lisa Jimenez she tells this story about Ann Landers that I want to start with today. Listen to what it reveals..

Newspaper columnist Ann Landers was once asked, “Out of all the thousands of letters you receive each month, what problem is most dominant in people’s lives?”

Her answer was shocking! “It’s fear!” she replied without hesitation. “The one thing that keeps people from the life they dream of is fear. People live every day in their fear. They’re afraid of losing their wealth. They’re afraid of losing their loved ones. They’re afraid of being themselves. They’re afraid of growing up and being responsible. They’re afraid of making the wrong decision. They’re afraid of making a commitment. They’re afraid of life itself!”

When I was praying and thinking about what I should talk to you about for our next series I felt like God led me to this topic of fear because it’s so universal.

No one is completely fearless. We all fear something or some things. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student or a parent, single or married, young or older – we all have things we’re afraid of.

What I’m afraid of might be nothing to you or what you’re afraid of might be nothing to me. Fear is unique because it’s subjective and really in the eye of the beholder.

And just like when we were kids, most of the things we’re afraid of aren’t real. They’re make-believe or at least not real yet!

But these make-believe fears, in a very real way, hold most of us back from doing, living and being what we’re meant to do, live and be!

That’s what makes fear such a negative and restrictive thing. But fear isn’t only negative! HowItWorks.com said this about fear…

If we couldn't be afraid, we wouldn't survive for long. We'd be walking into oncoming traffic, stepping off of rooftops and carelessly handling poisonous snakes. We'd be hanging out with people who have tuberculosis. In humans and in all animals, the purpose of fear is to promote survival.

Listen to this Wikipedia definition of Fear… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear

“Fear is an emotional response to impending danger, that is tied to anxiety. Behavioral theorists, like Watson and Ekman, have both suggested that fear, along with a few other basic emotions (e.g., joy and anger), is a trait innate to most higher functioning organisms. Fear is a survival mechanism, and usually occurs in response to a specific negative stimulus.” And later it says, “Fear is related to a number of emotional states including worry, anxiety, terror, fright, paranoia, horror, panic (social and personal), persecution complex and dread.”

Not all fear is bad! God gave us fear to protect us. Without it we’d be clueless and constantly in danger and not even know it! We’d be like young kids.

Picture of why we need fear: Addison is 18 months old now and he’s fearless about falling. He’ll walk, stand, and fall on our chairs, couches, and our bed. When he’s doing this he’s laughing and completely clueless that he’s in danger. He needs to have some fear of this, not so he’s too afraid to ever stands on a chair (he’d never be able to change a ceiling light bulb if he was like this), but he at least needs to have a fear that causes him to be careful. Otherwise he’s going to get hurt!

What I’m going to be talking to you about today is NOT about completely getting rid of all fear. It’s impossible and not healthy or smart to totally get rid of fear!

I’m going to be talking instead about changing the way see/respond to fear! We have to change our paradigm of fear.

Stephen Covey in his classic book “7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” says this about paradigms…

“It becomes obvious that if we want to make relatively minor changes in our lives, we can perhaps appropriately focus on our attitudes and behaviors. But if we want to make significant quantum change, we need to work on our basic paradigms.”

We need a new way to see and respond to fear. Instead of seeing fear as something to run from fear we need to make friends with it and realize that it can help us and inspire to action.

If we don’t do this, then we’ll never get rid of one of the major barriers that hold us back from living and fulfilling our purpose!

Can you imagine all that you could do and be if you could change how you think and respond to fear? Have people imagine/write down what they’d do if they weren’t afraid (1 minute). Isn’t that reason enough to change your mindset?

The good news is that God wants you to change your view and response to fear too!
God doesn't want you to be afraid. God doesn't want you to live as a prisoner of your fears. He wants to set you free.

That makes this quest to change our mindset about fear so much more doable and possible because God and we both want the same thing! We just have to ask God for help and do our part and we’ll begin to see this barrier dissolve!

Today I want to look some more at fear and give you specific things you can do to change your mindset of fear from your enemy to your friend.

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Truth In The Movies Series: Spiderman 3 - Our Ultimate Battle"

2007-09-11T17:07:00.001-07:00

Intro:

(Scroll down to stream or download and listen to this talk now.)

Today, I want to talk to you about the greatest battle that you’ll ever face in your life. It’s the battle whose victory matters most – more than any other.

The battle I’m talking about is the battle within. This is a battle against your own destructive desires. It’s our ultimate battle.

We all have good qualities, strengths, and a desire to do what’s right. You probably have done and probably will do some pretty impressive things in your life. You probably have done and will do some pretty good and kind things in your life.

In some ways you’re a pretty good person! In some ways I am. But we all have a problem.

Deep down we all have thoughts, desires, and emotions that are wrong. They’re not just wrong, but they’re dark, destructive – even evil. You might hide them, suppress them, and keep them in the dark, but they still exist.

The biggest danger this dark side of us has is that if we feed these negative qualities we could destroy a part of our lives or even destroy ourselves.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Owen Wilson. He’s a funny, likeable, successful guy. But recently his dark side showed itself. A source close to him has said, “A good portion of his [Owen’s] life has been dedicated to fighting depression and addiction… This is the third time he’s tried killing himself.”

In People magazine another source close to the actor said, "Owen is in bad mental shape but said he is thankful to be alive. He knows he came close to ending his life, and he is happy that he was saved from himself. He is basically at home with people watching him 24/7."

Owen isn’t the only successful comedian this has happened too. Chris Farley died at the age of only 33 from what they say was a combination of obesity and substance abuse. Jim Belushi died of an overdose.

It’s not just comedians who have a dark side. Check the news and you see senators, businessman, housewives, and pastors being caught in adultery, embezzling money, murder, and all sorts of crazy things!

But it’s not just them! These people are all people just like us. The only difference is that they happen to be in the spotlight, they made decisions that fed their dark side and eventually destroyed part of their lives.

If we don’t face the fact that we have a dark side whose desires, thoughts and emotions could one day destroy us, then we will be blindsided one day by it.

Today I want to use the movie Spiderman 3, as a backdrop to look at this idea and to discover some ways to help save us from ourselves.

The Spiderman 3 DVD isn’t out yet, so we’ll just use the trailer and an online clip to take a peek at the movie.

Listen to the talk below...

NOTE:
I've edited the movie clips out of the audio, but you can pause the audio and watch the clips below when those parts of the talk come on.)

1. Watch the trailer here.

2. Brock turns into "Venom"

CLICK BELOW TO HEAR THE TALK:

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(Time: 29:55)

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“What All Great People Of Faith Have Done BEFORE They Saw Results”

2007-09-04T16:34:00.001-07:00

Intro:
(Scroll to bottom to stream or download the audio now.)

I’ve felt like God’s led recently to do a personal self-study on faith again. I started reading Abraham’s story again, and others. I’ve reread Hebrews 11, Romans 4, and James 2.

In the middle of this study I’ve discovered what seems to be THE requirement for seeing God do huge things in and through your life. This simple thing is something that needs to happen before we see any results.

I want to talk to you about that today, but first I want to tell you an amazing story about an Eastern Indian women that I read in INC magazine.

This woman came to this country with just a simple goal. And it came true in a way that was beyond her dreams…

Prathiba Ramadoss emigrated from Chennai, a coastal city in southeast India, to St. Paul in 1999 when she was just 21 years old. She was newly married, and determined to start a business.

Two years later, with a six-month-old in tow, she launched an IT staffing firm, Business Integra, from her garage. When she started out she persistently called 50 to 60 companies a day until her husband, Selva Jay, a software consultant, came home to help her tackle the West Coast.

With Jay as her CTO, Ramadoss has transformed her company (now based in Maryland) into a full-scale contracting firm and software developer with $4.7 million in sales.

Listen to how she describes starting the company…

It was very difficult initially. When I called companies, they wouldn't listen--probably because of my accent. They would just hang up the phone. I don't blame them; they tend to get numerous calls a day. But I was patient and persistent. I would call the next day and say, "Sorry, when I called you yesterday the phone got disconnected. That was my fault, but I have some good consultants looking for a project, so if you have anything coming up I'd be happy to help." Now one of the companies that hung up on me calls me every day to get into our vendor program.

She went on to say…

My degree was in zoology, but my husband's experience in IT made it easy for me to transition. Otherwise, I would have gone into biotech.

They say behind every successful man is a good woman. Well, I have a good man behind me. Selva molded me into this level. It would have been different if I was in India, but here I am shy. He taught me the business way of talking. Like when we speak to clients, we should refer to our consultants as resources, not people. Because of my background in science, I also didn't have an in-depth knowledge of things like Dot.NET, Java, and data warehousing, which he explained to me. I'm planning to enroll in an M.B.A. program--once I have a little more time.

__________________

Did you catch where she said, “It would have been different if I was in India, but here I am shy.” She grew the company to $4.7 million in sales! And that’s when she’s SHY!

This woman came from another country and for some reason had enough guts and determination to start a business and see it succeed in HUGE ways. Her company is listed in INC as one of Americas 500 fastest growing private companies!

There are three things that she had or did that helped her succeed. She had faith. She believed she could do it. She gained the knowledge. She talked to her husband and learned the industry. And this is the most important part - she took action! She continually called 50 to 60 companies a day! And she didn’t just call them once. She called them again and again – even when they hung up on her!

A lot of people have more knowledge in the IT field, but they never accomplish anything like she did!

Why? I think there are two reasons. They don’t believe they could and they won’t take action.

Belief and action are BOTH needed in order to succeed.

If you have belief but no action you’ll have no results.
If you have action, but no belief that you can do it, then you have poor results. You won’t try hard enough. You won’t be persistent, etc.

You have to have strong belief and action to succeed!

I just got a book in the mail yesterday, that I ordered from Amazon.com called, “The Magic Of Thinking Big”. It’s a classic book, that’s sold more than 4,000,000 copies, by a Ph.D. named David J. Schwartz.

The whole premise of the book is that successful people aren’t successful because they’re smarter, luckier, work harder or any other advantage like that. He says that the reason their successful is just they believe in themselves and because the aim higher!

They have the confidence and belief to try something BIGGER than most people would. I can really see that in Prathiba’s story! Can’t you?

This idea that has some things in common with what I’ve discovered in my study of the “greats” of faith.

Listen to the talk now:

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Heroes Series - Gideon

2007-09-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

This is from the Heroes series I finished on August 12th. I just finally got a chance to upload it.

You'll learn how God can use you even if you're fearful, faithless, and full of doubt.

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Series: “Heroes: Extra-Ordinary Living For Ordinary People”: 2nd Hero - Joseph

2007-07-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here's the audio from last Sundays talk.

You can download it and listen to it on your MP3 player or you can stream it and listen to it online right now. Choose the link below you want.

Joseph - Blessings In Disguise Stream
Joseph - Blessings In Disguise Right-click to download
Talk length (41:48)

Below is the intro to the talk to give you a little teaser of what the talk is about....

Intro:
This story is from Reader's Digest, March, 1993, p. 123….

“A friend of mine awoke one morning to find a puddle of water in the middle of his king-size water bed. In order to fix the puncture, he rolled the heavy mattress outdoors and filled it with more water so he could locate the leak more easily. The enormous bag of water was impossible to control and began rolling on the hilly terrain. He tried to hold it back, but it headed downhill and landed in a clump of bushes which poked it full of holes.

“Disgusted, my friend threw out the water-bed frame and moved a standard bed into his room. The next morning, he awoke to find a puddle of water in the middle of the new bed. The upstairs bathroom had a leaky drain.”

Sometimes problems in life just seem to get worse and worse and make no sense at all. It’d all be funny if it wasn’t you!

· If you’ve ever felt like God has delayed his promises or blessings in your life, then what I’m about to talk about is for you.

· If you’ve ever felt like God’s forgotten you or that he just isn’t coming through for you, then what I’m about to talk about is for you.

Here’s the thought I want to plant in your mind as we start today…

What if the delay and the problems you’ve felt showed God was against you were actually a part of the plan to help you live out your purpose?

Last week, I read to you from John Eldredge’s new book “Epic: The Story God Is Telling”. I want to remind you again of one part of that quote from John. He says, “What if all the great stories that have ever moved you, brought you joy or tears – what if they are telling you something about the true Story into which you were born, the Epic into which you have been cast?

“We won’t begin to understand our lives, or what this so-called Gospel is that Christianity speaks of, until we understand the Story in which we have found ourselves. For when you were born, you were born into an epic that has already been underway now for quite some time. It is a story of beauty and intimacy and adventure, a story of danger and loss and heroism and betrayal.”

We looked last week at the story of David and Goliath and saw that God sends trials to use to prepare and train us so that we can learn to trust him, rely on him, take risks, and learn how to let God use us.

Today, we’re going to learn one final lesson about being used by God to live heroically. It’s something that could change the way you see your problems right now and it could reframe the way you see your whole life.

We’re going to discover this idea by looking at the life of Joseph. He was a guy who had a dream that didn’t get fulfilled in the way he thought it would. It was in harder, but greater and larger way, then he ever could’ve imagined! We’re going to start our story today in Genesis 37...

Listen to the audio to hear the whole talk!

Series: “Heroes: Extra-Ordinary Living For Ordinary People”: First Hero - David

2007-07-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 8^th – 1^st talk in series

Intro: John Eldredge, author of Wild At Heart, has a new book out. It’s a little book called, “Epic: The Story God Is Telling”. I want to start by reading to you some of it today. And I want you to listen to what he says in it about our lives. He says…

“We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, often a confusing mixture of both, and we haven’t a clue how to make sense of it all.”

Then he asks, wouldn’t it be great to be able to know where you are in this story and where you should go? And he tells a clue about where to start. He says…

“Start with the movies you love.

I’m serious. Think about your favorite movies. Notice that every good story has the same ingredients: Love. Adventure. Danger. Heroism. Romance. Sacrifice. The Battle of Good and Evil. Unlikely heroes. Insurmountable odds. And a little fellowship that in hope beyond hope pulls through in the end.

Most of us haven’t stopped to ask ourselves, now why that heart? Why those longings and desires? Then he says…

Next, I want you to notice that all the great stories pretty much follow the same story line. Things were once good, and then something awful happened, and now a great battle must be fought or a journey taken. At just the right moment (which feels like the last possible moment) a hero comes and sets things right, and life is found again.

Its true of every fairy tale, every myth, every Western, every epic – just about every story you can think of, one way or another. Braveheart, Titanic, the Star Wars series, Gladiator, The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They all pretty much follow the same story line.

Have you ever wondered why? And this is the part I want us to hear from him today…

Every story great and small shares the same essential structure, because every story we tell borrows its power from a Larger Story, a story woven into the fabric of our being – what Jung tried to explain as archetype or what Joseph Campbell calls myth.

All these stories are borrowing from the Story. From Reality. We hear echoes of it through our lives. Some secret written on our hearts. A great battle to fight, and someone to fight for us. An adventure, something that requires everything we have, something to be shared with those we love and need.

There is a Story that we just can’t seem to escape. There is a Story written on the human heart.

As Ecclesiastes has it,

“He has planted eternity in the human heart”

Later Eldredge says this...

What if?

What if all the great stories that have ever moved you, brought you joy or tears – what if they are telling you something about the true Story into which you were born, the Epic into which you have been cast?

We won’t begin to understand our lives, or what this so-called Gospel is that Christianity speaks of, until we understand the Story in which we have found ourselves. For when you were born, you were born into an epic that has already been underway now for quite some time. It is a story of beauty and intimacy and adventure, a story of danger and loss and heroism and betrayal.”

Most of us here today don’t realize it, but the problems and junk that you’re facing in your life – that you think are holding you back and messing you up – could actually be the battle that gives you the greatest opportunity you’ve ever had to see God work in you and through you.

Today you’re about to hear one of the most famous, amazing stories in the Bible about a mild manner guy who because of his faith in God, faces a problem – the battle of a lifetime – and comes out of it as a hero. And after it all over, his life is never the same!

You’re about to see from the life of David the first lesson you need to learn to become a hero. Turn with me to 1 Samuel 16. I’m just going to just tell you the story today, but you can read and follow along – if you want to.

Backdrop: Israel has rejected God and asked for a leader. He gave them a great one named Saul, but Saul has turned from God and fallen from God’s favor. Israel now needs a new leader. And God is about to give them one. That’s where 1 Samuel 16 begins…

1 Samuel CHAPTER 16 - Samuel Anoints David as King

¹Finally, the LORD said to Samuel, "You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel. Now fill your horn with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected (past tense – already done) one of his sons to be my new king."

²But Samuel asked, "How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me." "Take a heifer with you," the LORD replied, "and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the LORD. ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me."

⁴So Samuel did as the LORD instructed him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the leaders of the town became afraid. "What's wrong?" they asked. "Do you come in peace?"

⁵"Yes," Samuel replied. "I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them, too.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, "Surely this is the LORD's anointed!" By any human standards Eliab, Jesse’s oldest, was the man! He was the first born and he just had the look of a leader. But was he the one? Listen and see…

⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn't make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person's thoughts and intentions."

Let’s stop for a second here, so we don’t miss this… God has a certain standard he uses when he chooses someone to use and it’s not the same ours and the rest of the world’s standards.

We judge by people’s look, their personality, their charisma. We look on the outside. We look at their family background. We look at their resume.

But God decides who to use based on the qualities you can’t see. It’s based on their heart - their thoughts, desires, and intentions – and their faith. God’s looking for a person with a good heart. Someone who has good thoughts, desires and intentions - someone who has faith in Him.

He’s not looking for someone who is perfect. He’s looking for someone who wants to do their best to do what’s right. He’s looking for someone who will trust and rely on him. He’s looking for someone who will take a step of faith and take a risk for him. That’s someone he can use!

This is good news! That means that anyone – any of us – can qualify to be used by God. If we just guard our hearts and trust in God.

Alright, back to the story…

⁸Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "This is not the one the LORD has chosen." ⁹Next Jesse summoned Shammah, but Samuel said, "Neither is this the one the LORD has chosen." ¹⁰In the same way all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these." ¹¹Then Samuel asked, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse replied. "But he's out in the fields watching the sheep." (Jesse didn’t think God could want to use David, because he was the youngest and in their culture that meant you were the lowest on the totem pole.) "Send for him at once," Samuel said. "We will not sit down to eat until he arrives."

¹²So Jesse sent for him. He was ruddy (reddish faced) and handsome, with pleasant eyes. And the LORD said, "This is the one; anoint him."

¹³So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it on David's head. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. You can’t imagine how amazing this moment was for David. His other brother had to be shocked and jealous!

Before we go on, I want you to remember today, that it doesn’t matter today if you meet the requirements of what the world says is a successful person. God has a different set of requirements and he might just have chosen you or be choosing you to do something great through.

But first he has to prepare you for the big day when he can use you. You won’t be able to be used by God unless he can teach you how to trust him, rely on him, take a risk, and let him use you. And that lesson isn’t learned quickly. It takes repetition and practice.

You’re about to see how God prepared David and you might just find out that you’re in the middle of your training right now and not even know it…

CHAPTER 17

Goliath Challenges the Israelites

¹The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. ²Saul countered by gathering his troops near the valley of Elah. ³So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.

⁴Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet ^F58 tall!

I want to stop for a second and clarify something here. Goliath was not a giant like in the story Jack and the beanstalk. As kids that’s the way we were told the story and that’s what made it seem to unbelievable to us later as grown-ups.

He was not a giant. He was just a huge man. Goliath was 9.75 feet – 3 meters. 3 ft 4 in. taller than Ioannis. (A lot taller than me!) That’s huge, but it’s not an unbelievable height.

The tallest recorded man to ever live according to the Guinness Book of World Records was Robert Pershing Wadlow. (See pic) He was 8 ft 11 in. He lived in Alton, Illinois and was measured on July 15, 1940. Goliath was only 10 inches taller than this guy.

So see? This story’s not so unbelievable! Let’s get back to the story…

⁵He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. ^F59 ⁶He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. ⁷The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. ^F60 An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield.

⁸Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, "Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! ⁹If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! ¹⁰I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!" ¹¹When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.

Jesse Sends David to Saul's Camp

¹²Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons in all. ¹³Jesse's three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah—had already joined Saul's army to fight the Philistines. ¹⁴David was the youngest of Jesse's sons. Since David's three oldest brothers were in the army, they stayed with Saul's forces all the time. ¹⁵But David went back and forth between working for Saul and helping his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.

¹⁶For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army.

¹⁷One day Jesse said to David, "Take this half-bushel ^F61 of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. ¹⁸And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring me back a letter from them." Jesse and David don’t realize this at the time, but Jesse is about to set his son up for a moment in time where he’s going to get the chance to be used by God to become a hero.

¹⁹David's brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. ²⁰So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts. He arrived at the outskirts of the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. ²¹Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. ²²David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. ²³As he was talking with them, he saw Goliath, the champion from Gath, come out from the Philistine ranks, shouting his challenge to the army of Israel.

²⁴As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. ²⁵"Have you seen the giant?" the men were asking. "He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!"

²⁶David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel?" he asked them. "Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" ²⁷And David received the same reply as before: "What you have been hearing is true. That is the reward for killing the giant."

²⁸But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. "What are you doing around here anyway?" he demanded. "What about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and dishonesty. You just want to see the battle!"

²⁹"What have I done now?" David replied. "I was only asking a question!" Isn’t this a classic argument between an older brother and his kid brother!?!³⁰He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. ³¹Then David's question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.

David Kills Goliath

³²"Don't worry about a thing," David told Saul. "I'll go fight this Philistine!" Are you wondering why/how could David have so much confidence to volunteer to fight this huge dude? You’re about to see why. Listen…

³³"Don't be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "There is no way you can go against this Philistine. You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!"

³⁴But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father's sheep," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, ³⁵I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. ³⁶I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!

Can you believe someone could kill and bear & lion like that? Again I want you guys to see that this isn’t some make-believe, unbelievable story. I can prove someone killing a bear or lion like that because of what just happened less than a month ago!

Chris Everhart, an ex-Marine, saved the lives of his three young sons when a 300-pound bear attacked their Georgia campsite.

While cleaning up after dinner, the family came face to face with the large animal.

"From out of nowhere we heard this loud crash," Everhart said on "Good Morning America." "For a second, I didn't know what it was, but I realized it was a bear. I went to the back of the Jeep to get my pots and pans to scare the bear off."

At the same time, Everhart's 6-year-old son, Logan, tried to frighten the animal. Instead of running away, the bear turned on the boy. Logan's brother, Kyle, tried to help him.

"I threw about five rocks at the bear to keep him away," Kyle Everhart said.

Realizing his sons could be killed, Everhart grabbed a log and threw it at the bear's head, striking and killing him.

"I forgot all about pots and pans and picked up whatever I could to try to distract, fend off, do what I could to get this bear away," Everhart said.

(See pic and full story at http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3306263)

That’s living proof of someone killing and bear with a log, so it’s obviously possible to kill it with a club like David did! But don’t be fooled. Don’t think David was able to do this cause he was some tough or powerful guy. He knew it wasn’t from his strength. He told Saul…

³⁷The LORD who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!"

Let’s stop again for a second. Here’s the reason David had so much confidence!! He had already seen God help him defeat a lion and a bear. (Bear’s average size can be up to 6 ft./Lion is 9.84 ft in length about Goliath’s size.)

David believed if God could help him defeat these two animals he could help him defeat anything! When you think about it that way, David’s confidence and faith seems a lot more logical.

Think about your current problems. What could God be training you for? In what ways could he be trying to grow your faith? One day if you trust God through it all you’ll be able to use this experience to defeat a bigger problem… and see victory!

That should be your incentive to trust God in whatever you’re going through! That’s how David was prepare and trained for his battle with Goliath. Back to the story…

Saul finally consented. "All right, go ahead," he said. "And may the LORD be with you!"

³⁸Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. ³⁹David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. "I can't go in these," he protested. "I'm not used to them." So he took them off again. ⁴⁰He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started across to fight Goliath.

It was good that David didn’t wear Saul’s armor, not just cause it didn’t fit him, but because it could’ve made him rely on the armor instead of on the Lord – the one who had always given him the victory before! This also allowed God to get the glory and credit in this.

⁴¹Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, ⁴²sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. ⁴³"Am I a dog," he roared at David, "that you come at me with a stick?" And he cursed David by the names of his gods. ⁴⁴"Come over here, and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!" Goliath yelled.

I would’ve been getting nervous at this point, but not David. Listen to the faith and courage (in God) in his words…

⁴⁵David shouted in reply, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD Almighty—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! ⁴⁷And everyone will know that the LORD does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The LORD will give you to us!"

The cool this is that David never forgot this whole time who his strength was in and what was going to give him victory. It wasn’t his strength, or skill with a sling. He knew it was God.

This next scene is so cool. You’ve gotta imagine it in your head with me. Listen to what it says…

⁴⁸As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. ⁴⁹Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward to the ground. ⁵⁰So David triumphed over the Philistine giant with only a stone and sling. And since he had no sword, ⁵¹he ran over and pulled Goliath's sword from its sheath. David used it to kill the giant and cut off his head.

This is one of those moments when one person’s heroic action inspires and affects people all around him. Watch what happens next…

Israel Routs the Philistines

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. ⁵²Then the Israelites gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath ^F63 and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were strewn all along the road from Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp. ⁵⁴(David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, but he stored the Philistine's armor in his own tent.)

I think the Israelites and the Philistines both realized the same thing when David killed Goliath: only God could have caused that to happen! When the Philistines realized this they became scared and ran. And the Israelites realized this they were filled with faith and courage and they ran and attacked!

⁵⁵As Saul watched David go out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the general of his army, "Abner, whose son is he?" "I really don't know," Abner said.

⁵⁶"Well, find out!" the king told him.

⁵⁷After David had killed Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine's head still in his hand. ⁵⁸"Tell me about your father, my boy," Saul said. And David replied, "His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem."

I want you to remember this today, because this is the part that applies to us …

David had the faith to face Goliath, because he had already trusted God over and over when he faced the lions and the bears. Those moments prepared him for this one.

Two things I want you to get from this:

1. For those of you who have seen God move and help you through things in the past… Is there a giant of a problem in your life right now? You know what you can do?

Remember what God’s done to help you in the past. Dwell on it. Relive it in your mind. Let it get you excited and let it remind you of God’s power. Remember what you did last time to trust God and move forward in action. Pray and ask God if you should do the same thing this time or something different.

I also want you to notice something else. It says that in the past, David clubbed the lion and the bear, but he doesn’t go in there this time with the same weapon and technique as he used in the past. He goes in with the same God, with the same faith, but he decides – this time - to use a sling and stones.

He let God guide him in a new way! So don’t get stuck on what you did the last time God did amazing things. Pray and ask God whether to do what you did before or whether you should do something else, but no matter what, go forward in faith and trusting God to help you.

For those of you who have never seen God move and help you through things in the past… If there’s a problem you’re facing right now, then this could be your lion or bear. This is your chance to learn to trust God!

Read stories like this one from the Bible or biographies of Christ-followers who God has done amazing things in their lives, so that they can inspire you to trust God and take a step of faith. Pray and ask God what to do and when. Then do it!

You can only learn how to do something by doing it. You can only learn how to do something well by doing it over and over. It takes practice and repetition!

What you’re going through now could be your practice to get you ready for a future victory – the one that will matter the most in your life.

How you respond to this training will determine if you ever are ready for your greatest battle and your chance to be a hero! So use what you’re going through now to learn to trust him, rely on him, take a risk, and let him use you.

What area do you need to work on? Is it trust, reliance, courage/risk, letting God use you? Pray and ask God and ask him for his grace to help you to learn and improve in this area! Let’s close in prayer.

"One Of The Secrets To Experiencing Change"

2007-07-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

I found a story online about ex-quarterback Roger Staubach that I want to start with today…

Roger Staubach who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in '71 admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn't call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play.

He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!). Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a "genius mind" when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team.

Roger later said, "I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory."

Many Christ-followers wonder why their lives aren’t going better. They can’t understand why things are the way they are.

They regularly attend church. They read their Bible. They pray. But things still aren’t any different! Why?

Because there’s something their life is missing – it’s the one of the things that will change it all if they just added it to their life. What is it?

Obedience. We need to obey God if we’re ever going to see change in our life. Without obedience, there’s no change!

This is obvious, but most of us never realize this missing element in our lives. We disobey God in different areas of our lives and then wonder why things aren’t working out right.

Obedience is one of the secrets to a better life.

Over the last few months, we’ve been talking about doing simple, but powerful things: praying for friends we want to know Jesus, reading, memorizing and meditating on the Bible, so we can know God’s and his word more, and shining the light of Jesus to other people around us by doing good deeds.

In our last larger gathering we had on June 10^th, I told you that the most important thing is that we need to make sure that in all we’re doing that we’re loving God. Without love of God behind all this we’re just doing empty, lifeless rituals! I told you that Jesus said the way to show that we love him is by obeying commands.

Obedience is the next thing to add to our lives if we want to go to the next level in our walk with the Lord.

Today, I want to help us see how important obeying God is in our everyday lives and overall life experience. Here is why obedience is important…

Obedience is how we show respect for Jesus as our Lord.

In Today in the Word, July 30, 1993 they told this story…

Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then lord chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!

These people heard a command (at least what they thought was one) and they followed it – instantly without question. Why aren’t we like this?

We read God’s commands, we learn about them, but we only seem to do them if they make sense to us and agree with them. Think about how disrespectful that is to God!

If we have to know WHY we should do what God has told us to do, then we’re basically saying to God, “If it makes sense to me, then I’ll do it, but if it does I won’t!” Does that sound like someone to you who believes and trusts Jesus as Lord?

The Culture and Media Institute released a special report March 7, entitled "The National Cultural Values Survey: America: a Nation in Moral and Spiritual Confusion”.

In it they had an interesting finding…
“While half the population (52 percent) said they believed the Bible was God's authoritative word, only 36 percent of those said they believed people should live by God's word, while 45 percent said they operated by a mixture of God's commands and their own inclination. 15 percent said they ignored God's word if it conflicted with their own plan.”

In Matt. 7:20 Jesus said this, "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven.” Obedience is how we submit to Jesus’ Lordship in our lives. Obedience is how we show and prove that we believe he is Lord.

God knows and wants what’s best for us. He always knows what’s right. Until we really know and believe that we won’t follow God’s commands.

The first sin, that Adam and Eve committed, happened because they didn’t obey – they didn’t believe God knew what was best. They believed the devil’s lie that God was keeping something good from them.

And that’s the same reason why every Christ-follower has sinned ever since!

But that’s not the only reason why obedience is important. We need to realize that obedience causes things to happen in our lives.

Here are some of the things it causes to happen in our lives…

Obedience keeps us safe.
If a kid won’t listen to their parent’s rules, then they won’t be safe. The other day I caught my son Will trying to put small bits of napkin in the fan. I told him that was dangerous and that he could get his finger cut off by doing that. He looked at me and listened, but I could tell he didn’t seem to believe what I told him. He had the “No it won’t” syndrome. He listened and pretended he believed me, but deep inside he was thinking “I can do that without getting hurt!”

We have that same syndrome. God tells us, “Don’t do this or that. It will hurt you,” and we look at like “Oh ok.” And turn around and do it! Then things go wrong later and we wonder what went wrong! We did. We went wrong! But obedience doesn’t just keep us safe…

Obedience gives us success.
If you think about it, the Bible is a book of “success secrets from the author of life.” That’s the way the Israelites saw God’s law. They saw it as a gift and an honor that God gave it to them.

That’s how we need to see it. Sometimes I tell the boys rules to protect them, so they won’t get hurt and other times I tell them rules to help them experience the best in life! My rules are because I want the best for them. God’s the same way!

Sometimes God tells you to do something. Sometimes he tells you not to do something.

That’s why obedience can be seen by what we do or what we don’t do.

Obedience doesn’t always look the same. Sometimes it’s action and sometimes it’s inaction. We should realize God’s commandment’s whether they start with “Do” or “Don’t” are never to keep us from the good things in life, but to help us experience the best in life! Jesus said it like this, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest.”

Obedience brings us success in life! But it gets even better…

Obedience will bring success not just for us, but to our offspring. In Exodus 20:6, God says, “But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.” Deut. 12:28“Be careful to obey all my commands so that all will go well with you and your children, because you will be doing what pleases the LORD your God." When we choose to obey God if gives us more success in life and that success and blessing passes on to our kids and grandkids and on and on!

Obedience also causes something else to happen in our lives…

Obedience gives us fulfillment.
How can we ever do and become all that God has created us to be, if we don’t obey what he tells us to do? It’s impossible!!

There are two kinds of commands that God gives us: personal, specific commands that are just for us and general commands that are for all people. There are commands that God has given to all people that any and everyone needs to follow, but there are also commands that God has given just to individual people.

There are things that God wants you to do that he doesn’t want me to do. There are things that God doesn’t want you to do that he DOES want me to do. And it’s the same for me! The general commands are found all through God’s word. The specific, personal commands are given to us as we seek God and learn to hear him.

The only way to reach and experience fulfillment in life is to obey God in the general and the specific things he tells us to do!

Dr. B.J. Miller once said, "It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it."

There’s something else obedience caused to happen in our lives…

Obedience is our source of rewards.
This idea is tied to the last one. When we obey God he rewards us – now and in the next life. When we obey we get to have these rewards, when we don’t obey, then we miss out on them!

Obedience lets us live a freer life.
In The Integrity Crisis, Warren W. Wiersbe, quotes Peter T. Forsythe as saying, "The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master".

There are so many things that we become entangled in, weighed down and trapped by, because we disobey God and do something he told us not to do!

Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.”

Think of how much freer we could be if we began to obey God and stopped doing the things he’s been trying to protect us from our whole lives! Psalm 119:44-45 “I will keep on obeying your law forever and forever. ⁴⁵ I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.”

Ex. Me and the boys walking across the parking lot. I tried to teach them like always to be safe to protect them!

When we submit to Jesus’ Lordship we actually become freed from prison of our own sinful choices! Romans 6:16 “Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.”

Today’s the day to choose the freedom that comes from obedience!

Obedience encourages others to obey.
It makes us living proof to others that God’s ways are right. Deut. 28:13, “9 "If you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways, the LORD will establish you as his holy people as he solemnly promised to do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

Obedience helps others.
(One of Jack’s friends can’t play the rest of summer because of bad choice. This affects Jack and Will.) Deut. 4:6, “If you obey them carefully, you will display your wisdom and intelligence to the surrounding nations. When they hear about these laws, they will exclaim, 'What other nation is as wise and prudent as this!'”

Close:
The reason God gave us a free will in the first place was so that we could learn to submit ourselves to him, to trust him and obey him. God didn’t want people who had to follow him. He wanted those who wanted and chose to follow him!

To obey everything another person says – without question is a crazy thing to do! People don’t have perfect knowledge or understanding, they make mistakes, and they don’t always have our best interest in their plans.

But to obey all of God’s command – without question is NEVER a crazy thing to do! Because God does have perfect knowledge and understanding, he never makes mistakes and he always has our best interest in his plans!

But we need to understand something.

Obedience doesn’t mean you’ll have a pain free or problem free life. Obeying God doesn’t guarantee you won’t have any problems, pain or suffering. Sometimes obeying God will bring problems, pain and suffering into your life! (That’s because he wants to use these things to teach you something or prepare you for something.)

But what obedience does guarantee is that your life will be better overall. And most importantly, you’ll become and do what God has created you to do. In the end you’re obedience will please God and he’ll reward you for it – in this life and the next!

Revelations 2:26 - "To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, I will give authority over all the nations.”

The other important thing we need to remember before we finish today is…

We don’t try to obey God so we’ll be accepted or loved by God. We can’t be good enough! We obey because we are accepted and loved by God. Gal. 3:5 “I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.”

Obedience is showing our love and gratitude to Jesus for loving us first!

1 John 2:4-5 “If someone says, "I belong to God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and does not live in the truth. But those who obey God's word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him.”

I really believe that if we’re going to be a church who sees God move in our lives (individually and together), then we’re going to have to obey Jesus more – individually and as a whole.

This has to be our highest goal.

If we become this type of church, our lives will change for the better, will see more success, we’ll be protected from unneeded danger, we’ll be rewarded and we’ll help others and show them the benefits of following God by our obedient actions.

Application:

Take one command that you feel you need to work on an focus on thinking/praying about how you can live it out 30 minutes a week. Live out the plan that week. Focus on a different command the next week. Try to mix between general and specific commans.

Start with the 10 commandments. Focus on one each week for 10 weeks, then start over. You’ll focus on each command about 35 times a year!

You might look at some areas of your life where you’re having problems and see if there’s a command from God’s word that you’ve been ignoring.

If you’re having trouble with your money, or your relationships, or whatever, then pray and ask God to show if you if there’s a command from his word about this area of your life that you’re ignoring.

Having trouble in an area isn’t always a sign that we’re disobeying God in that area. It could be happening for other reasons.

But if you’re having problems, it’s a good place to start. That way you can at least know to your best ability that you haven’t been doing or not doing something that has caused this.

Also this isn’t about seeing if you’re being punished. It’s about seeing if you’re missing out on a blessing or success in an area, because you haven’t been doing what God commanded us to do.

Trust leads to obedience. It’s where you have to start.

There’s an old song we used to sing when I was a little kid. “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

This simple song is still as true today as it was when I was little.

“What Religion Is Missing”

2007-06-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Each one of us in this room is different. We have different interests, different skills, different tastes, etc…

But there’s one way that all of us in this room and in this world are the same. We’re all looking and searching through life for something. We’re looking for love. And we’re looking for love of all kinds: romantic love, family love, and friendship love.

In an article from Psychology Today called, “The Power Of Love” it says…
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20021201-000001.html

“Love is as critical for your mind and body as oxygen. It's not negotiable. The more connected you are, the healthier you will be both physically and emotionally. The less connected you are, the more you are at risk.

It is also true that the less love you have, the more depression you are likely to experience in your life. Love is probably the best antidepressant there is because one of the most common sources of depression is feeling unloved. Most depressed people don't love themselves and they do not feel loved by others. They also are very self-focused, making them less attractive to others and depriving them of opportunities to learn the skills of love.”

We all want someone we can love and someone who will love us. This desire, this need, affects many of our choices and actions in life.

Love is really the obsession of most people. They feel like Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, when she said, "I don't want to live - I want to love first, and live incidentally."

But there’s something about this desire for love that you might not have thought of.

This search for love is one of the few ways we can really relate and understand God. You see, God is looking for love. He desires it too. From the time when he created the first humans until now, it’s been what’s he’s been looking and hoping for.

When you love someone all you really want is for them to love you back – nothing more and nothing less will satisfy you. And no one would say that’s too much for you to ask!

That’s all that God wants is for someone to return his love – someone to love him back, just for who he is, not to get something from him.

That’s why religion and ritual, in and of themselves, are useless. Great acts of service and sacrifice aren’t any better if they’re not done in love!

That;s what the Apostle Paul is talking about 1 Cor. 13:1-3 when he says…

1 If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth ^F63 but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; ^F64 but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

The last couple months we’ve been focusing on some pretty simple, but powerful things:

Praying for 3-4 friends who don’t know Jesus.
Reading, memorizing or meditating on God’s word more.
Showing the love of God to others through “random acts of kindness”.

All of this stuff is important and foundational. I really believe doing these things will cause us to grow personally and as a group of friends trying to be the church.

BUT…

I really felt like today I needed to remind us that all of this we’re doing, without love for God and love for others, will be meaningless, no good to us or anyone else and have no value.

Without love it all will have no effect on you, on God, or on others! Paul goes on in
1 Cor. 13 and says…

^“8Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages ^F65 and special knowledge will all disappear. ⁹Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little! ¹⁰But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear.”

Then Paul says, “¹¹It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹²Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. ^F66 All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.

^“13There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

In heaven we won’t need prophecy or any other gift, but one thing we’ll still need in heaven and always need is love!

We need faith, because it helps us see the possible. It helps us see the potential. It’s allows us to trust and believe God, which causes us to step out, let go and let God work in our life. Faith is important.

We need hope, because it helps us to see things in a different way. It helps us see the positive. It helps us believe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. This changes how we see and handle the hard, dark times of life. It causes is to keep going, not give up, to see the lessons and opportunities God has hidden in the trials of life. We need hope, that comes from Jesus, in our lives. It’s important.

But the thing that we need above all this is love!

Love needs to be our motive for everything we do as Christ-followers!

Dan Kennedy, a sales "guru" and author, talks about something he calls "Complexity Creep". He says, "People have an incredible tendency to complicate their lives."

I think this is a universal truth that applies to all areas of life. It applies to what I’m talking about today.

I think as Christ-followers we like to complicate what it means to serve and live for Jesus. Jesus made it pretty simple.... LOVE. When he was asked what the greatest thing God told us to do was he said…

Love God - with all your heart, soul and mind.
Love your neighbor - as you love yourself.

This sums up the rules of life and following Jesus!

I'm trying to live a more simple faith. I'm trying to help us be a more simple expression of what it means to be the church.

Simple doesn't mean easy. It just means not complicated.

We still need God’s grace and the Holy Spirit working in us and through us to do these things, but they’re not complicated.

We need to sense God’s love – for the first time or again. When we do we’ll respond in naturally, without even trying, with love towards God and others.

How do we increase our love for God?

· Spend time with Him.

· Get to know him.

· Look at and think about his attractive qualities: his mercy, his patience, his grace, his forgiveness, etc.

· Remember his love for you - his sacrifice for your sins.

We need to remember God’s love for us everyday. We need to feel it, rest in it and respond to it, live in response to it.

Brennan Manning in an article in Discipleship Journal called “Living as God’s Beloved”said this…

“As a man, I love the Jersey shore, Handel’s Messiah, hot fudge, and my wife, Roslyn. I love what I find congenial or appealing. I love someone for what I find in him or her. But God is not like that.

“The God and Father of Jesus loves men and women not for what He finds in them, but for what He finds in them of Himself. It is not because men and women are good that He loves them, nor is it only good men and women whom He loves. It’s because He is so unspeakably, unimaginably good that He loves men and women, even in their sin.

“It’s not that He detects what is congenial and appealing and He responds to us with His favor. He is the source of love. He acts; He does not react. He is love without motive.

“Does God love me because I spend time with AIDS victims and alcoholics, or because I spend an hour in prayer every day? Or because I’m rigorously faithful to my wife? If I believe that, I am a Pharisee who feels entitled to be comfortably close to Christ because of my good works.

“The gospel of grace says I am loved for one reason only and that is because God loves me…period.

Every page of Christian Scripture declares that He loves us in a way that defies human comprehension and escapes human limitation. That is why I can say with theological certainty: God loves you unconditionally as you are and not as you should be, because you are never going to be as you should be. God loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain, without caution or regret. If God ceased to be love, God would cease to be God.”

How do we show God love?

If you want to show me love, then love my children. If you want to hurt me, then hurt them.

Jesus said something similar in Matthew 25:35-40 when he said…

³⁵For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

³⁷"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' ⁴⁰And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, ^F143 you were doing it to me!'

There are many ways to show and tell God you love him - Jesus said we love him when we do what he told us to do (if you want to know how to love him discover what he told us to do).

But one of the most practical, tangible ways to love God, is to show love to others!

Discipleship Journal had a cool example of this in an article about Mother Teresa. I want to read you some of the highlights from this article that apply to what we’re talking about today… http://www.navpress.com/EPubs/DisplayArticle/1/1.9.13.html

It says…

”Mother Teresa willingly gave up a secure, comfortable position to serve the less fortunate. She followed the example of our Lord, who "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" (Philippians 2:7). A living model of what it means to be a sacrificial missionary in a foreign culture, her ministry reflects Christ's earthly mission: "Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

“By 1948 she was ready to begin the ministry she is known for today–serving the poor and abandoned people living in the slums. Her motivation was simple, as we learn in her statements quoted by Malcolm Muggeridge in Something Beautiful for God. "I wanted to serve the poor purely for the love of God. I wanted to give the poor what the rich get with money."²

Later she explains that loving people is a way of loving God.

“Our neighbors we can always see, and we can do to them what, if we saw him, we would like to do to Christ. . . . Our hearts need to be full of love for him; and since we have to express that love in action, naturally then the poorest of the poor are the means of expressing our love for God.⁵

The article then says, “Her example can help us express this same love in our own lives for those who are, in her words,

unwanted, unemployed, uncared for, hungry, naked, and homeless. They seem useless to the state and to society; nobody has time for them. It is you and I as Christians, worthy of the love of Christ if our love is true, who must find them, and help them; they are there for the finding.⁶

Mother Teresa clearly recognizes the worth of every individual.

I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us what matters is an individual. To get to love the person we must come in close contact with him. If we wait till we get the numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers. And we will never be able to show that love and respect for the person. I believe in person to person.⁷

Later… Although she has focused her ministry among the poor of India, Mother Teresa's mission has responded to needs worldwide. She says,

People today are hungry for love. That is why we are able to go to countries like England and America and Australia where there is no hunger for bread. But there, people are suffering from terrible loneliness, terrible despair, terrible hatred–feeling unwanted, feeling helpless, feeling hopeless.1¹¹

Conclusion:

Religion without love is no better than a marriage without love. The one thing God wants from you and me more than anything else is love. He loved us first, loves us today and will always love us.

I want to keep praying for your 3-4 friends, keep reading and desiring to know God’s word, keep shining God’s love on others through good deeds, but make sure that in all you do that most of all, above everything else that you’re loving God.

That will make a difference in your life, in the lives of others and to God.

Shining Good Deeds

2007-06-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

Intro:

In a tenement district in New York City, a boy in ragged clothes was seen with a small piece of broken mirror in his hand. Holding it high in the air he moved it slowly back and forth, watching the narrow slit of a window above him as he did so. "What are you doing?" a man suddenly demanded as he shook the youngster roughly by the shoulder. "Like most boys in this neighborhood, you're probably up to some mischief, aren't you?" The boy looked up into the stern face of his accuser and said, "See that window up there? Well, I have a little brother who has a room on that floor. He's a cripple. The only sunlight he ever sees is what I shine up to him with my mirror!"

There are people all around us, everyday who are living in the darkness. They feel alone. They’re stressed. They feel helpless and hopeless. They’re worried. They’re running looking for something, but they’re not even sure what it is.

They work with you, they wait on you, some are strangers or just acquaintances, and some are your friends, classmates, co-workers, neighbors.

Who will you reflect some light to them? Will you?

But don’t just think of these people who are desperate. What about the people who aren’t living such hopeless lives, but they’re still in the dark about Jesus?

They don’t believe in God. Or they don’t know if God’s real and they don’t care. Some used to believe, but something happened and they gave up and stopped believing. These are people who think they can take care of themselves. They don’t want anything to do with religion.

They don’t know God is real. They don’t know he loves them.

They work with you, they wait on you, some are strangers or just acquaintances, and some are your friends, classmates, co-workers, neighbors.

Will you reflect at least some light to them? If not you, then who will?

I really want to reflect more light to the people around me! Don’t you?

But how do we really do it? I’m not talking about theory.
I’m talking about how do we really do it in our busy, everyday, up-and-down lives?

That’s what I want to show you today.

First, we need to understand something about light.

When you think of light symbolically you probably think of knowledge, or love, or truth. Light can represent all those things.

But when we talk about shining light into people’s lives, I want you to think of light as more than that. In John 1:4-9, he Apostle John tells us Jesus is the source of all light when he says… “4Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. 5The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6God sent John the Baptist 7to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light. 9The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world.”

But wait a second…
Jesus, the “light of the world”, said something that you probably remember in Mattbew 5. He told all of us who are Christ-followers that we’re the light of the world!

This doesn’t mean that we’re the source of light. It just means our job is just to reflect the light (reflect Jesus) to others!

Think about this…

Without real light we wouldn’t be able to see. Colors wouldn’t exist to us!

Jesus is saying our job is to reflect his light so we can help people to see God – so they can see that there’s more beyond this black and white world, so they can see the full spectrum of the colors.

That little boy in the story I just told wasn’t trying to make sunlight. That would’ve been impossible! He was just trying to do something he could do - reflect it!

A well-known Bible teacher Keith Brooks had just finished speaking to a large class of businessmen on the Christian's responsibility to be a "light" in the world. He emphasized that believers are to reflect the Light of the world, the Lord Jesus. After the class, one of the members related to him an experience he had in his home which had impressed upon this same truth.

He said that when he went into his basement he made an interesting discovery. Some potatoes had sprouted in the darkest corner of the room. At first he couldn't figure out how they had gotten enough light to grow.

Then he noticed that the cook had hung a copper kettle from the ceiling near a cellar window. She kept it so brightly polished that it reflected the rays of the sun onto the potatoes.

The businessman said to Brooks, "When I saw that, I thought, I may not be a preacher or a teacher with ability to expound Scripture, but at least I can be a copper kettle catching the rays of the Son and reflecting His light to someone in a dark corner."

That’s all that Jesus is telling us to do. Be a light by reflecting his light!

So how do we reflect Jesus to the world?
What’s our mirror to shine him to the people around us?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16!

In Matt 5:15 he says, “Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.” Then he tells us HOW to let our light shine and reflect him for all to see…

"v16In the same way, let your good deeds shine out, for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly father."

*The way we shine our light and help people to see Jesus is by our good deeds!

Through simple acts of kindness and love to the people around us we can shine the light of Jesus to them. This is something any of us can do - whether you have a little money or not, whether your married or single, whether you know a lot about the Bible or not.

It doesn’t have to be anything huge or fancy. Just simple things!

Susan Michelle Van Hook tells a story about doing this in an article she wrote for Steve Sjogren’s ezine “Serve”. Her article is called, “Love in a pair of baseball cleats".

Listen to what she says…

Galatians 5:6 “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

It was an accident, really. We had recently moved and were just trying to figure out which ball field to be in at what time for which child. Chaos reigned as children of all ages, gender, size and team logo ran around with a frazzled parent not far behind. It was opening day at the local recreational center. Every team had pictures, a scrimmage, an opening ceremony, and time to meet the coaches, players and parents. A few words come to mind to describe what we were thinking to try such a thing, “crazy” being one of them.

That’s when I met who we will call Julie. She and her fiancé had three kids between them, the youngest of which was on my sons’ 4-year-old t-ball team. We were making introductions and small talk about the upcoming season when I noticed that her little boy was the only player without cleats. My son had recently sprouted and grew into his older brothers’ cleats, so I offered her our extra pair. The cleats were a size 10, exactly the size her son wore.

Throughout the course of the season we bonded over shouts of praise and laughter when our 4-year-olds would vacillate between showing major league baseball potential and dog-piling on top of one another in mass chaos. I think another name for Servant Evangelism and Friendship Evangelism could be “Sideline Evangelism”. The season wasn’t fully over before the couple got married, our kids began to play together and the whole family began to attend church with us.

I don’t know when it was that this new family decided to give God a fresh glimpse, but my husband traces it back to a little pair of baseball cleats. I know that it had very little to do with me. I know that God must have been working in their lives for them to be so receptive. All God needs is for someone to show others that He cares. I wasn’t trying to teach them the four spiritual laws or the theology of our denomination, but they got the message. I believe that many will hear things we say and will see how we act, but they will respond when we care.

Again, Galatians 5:6 says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”. It matters to others when we show love in action, but to think that faith expressing itself through love is the only thing that counts to Christ- that is most compelling. That was how Jesus chose to live His life. He showed us Gods’ love by caring for our needs. He revealed the heart of God when He showed that He cared about our hunger, our disease, and our deepest hurts.

And so, somewhere between snow cones and juice boxes, a need was met. What may have seemed random to me was not random at all to God. Our random acts of kindness are actually when God allows us to spontaneously be a part of His plan. And He allowed a little pair of shoes to lead a family straight to Him.

You see it’s just simple good deeds that meet needs!

If we can begin to notice the needs of the people around us, we’ll have ton of chances to reflect the light of Jesus into people’s lives.

But if we’re going to really be able to let the light of Jesus shine in a way that will cause people to praise God, then we have to understand the truth about something that many Christ-followers argue about.

Some people emphasize tell people the truth.
Some people emphasize showing people God's love with acts of kindness.

Who's right? NEITHER!

They're both wrong, cause they’re both missing a key ingredient - what each other is emphasizing. We need to show and tell about God's love.

Jesus was the perfect example of this!

I’ve been about how Jesus came and began to gather the church.

He didn’t just tell people the truth. He showed them God’s love! His acts of love and kindness drew crowds to him. They made people talk about him. And when they came, he told them the truth they needed to hear!

If people are to have the good deeds lead them to Jesus, then we have to do one of these two things:

1. Identify ourselves as a Christ-follower.
2. Mention God/Jesus before, during, or after our good deeds.

We have to do this in Jesus' name!

After doing your good deeds you can say something like…
"A group of my friends from my church have decided to do small, random acts of kindness to make people's day and remind them that God loves them."

You might do that with your words, or with a simple card you can hand them (I’ll have some made for us).

You might tell them this upfront or wait until they ask and say something simple like, “I’m just trying to live more like Jesus.”

Maybe if it’s someone you see regularly you won’t say anything upfront. You’ll just keep doing small acts and when they ask why you can say, “I’m a Christian and I think it’s something Jesus would do.”

Or maybe somewhere in your regular conversations with these people you drop a clue that you’re a believer.

But you have to somehow let people know why you’re doing these good deeds or who you represent otherwise you’ll get the praise and not “your heavenly father”!

I’m trying to give you ideas of what you COULD say, but I don’t want to give you an exact script of what to say.

Pray and ask God to give you something you can say, that you’ll be comfortable saying, that will still help people see the light about him and his love.

Mention Coyote Point story. I casually mentioned. I was a pastor and with some friends from our church. We plan on hanging out with them again.

STOP and Pray for Murray family in Ireland who suddenly lost 20 year old daughter 7 weeks ago.

I’ve been thinking about this more and more…

We can’t just sit around and talk about God and learn about the Bible on Sundays and wait for people to find us. That’s “attractional” thinking. It’s dumb for us to do. It seems almost sinful to me now.

We’ve got to go and be “incarnational” and reflect the light with our good deeds!

Here’s what I think we need to do…

1,000 Good Deed Seeds
We need plant at least 1,000 good deeds "seeds" of God's love this Summer (June-August).

How?

Individually:

Buy cashier a drink or a candy.
Buy someone you regularly bump into something.
Tell someone you’ll pray for their need. Mik story here?
Street Church – Menlo Park behind Borrone’s
What else? What are your ideas?
(ServantEvangelism.com)

Group: SG & Whole church:

Water bottle giveaway - Go see how many bottles we have. Where/When
would be the best place to give them away?
Gas buy down
300 Newspapers – at train 2 stations in Palo Alto ($70)
Meals for New Moms?
What else?

remember the "parable of the sower"? Fling those seeds everywhere!

Steve Sjogren & Dave Ping say something in their book, Outflow that I want you to hear. Listen…

“The overflowing life he’s calling you into is more than an occasional thing – it’s daily. So whatever you do to pay your bills, its just a means to fulfilling this higher calling. The Apostle Paul funded his day-to-day outreach by making tents, but you might fund yours by working for an insurance company or a plumbing supply business. Whatever it is that you do, you can go about your day intentionally flinging seeds, nurturing relationships, and bearing lasting fruit for God in the lives around you. If you do this, loving your city will become a part of your everyday lifestyle!”

I want us to shine brighter this summer.

I want us to do this because God wants us to and because people need it. But the side effect will be that some more people will become a part of our church.

Why? When light shines in the darkness it draws a crowd.

I’m looking for people who will do this with me this summer – alone and together – so that it will become a way of life for us.

Listen from the Servant Evangelism experts Steve Sjogren… READ from Outflow pg. 169-170.

If you’re shy. What Steve says about introverts in Outflow pg. 171:

“Introverts are some of the most effective evangelists around. We know this sounds contrary to the image you’ve been led to expect, but it’s true nevertheless. Small things done by quiet people can change the world.”

Examples:

Paying for meal behind you in a drivethrough line. Give cashier and extra dollar to tell them, “Someone bought your meal today as a practical way of saying God loves you.”
Tipping well. Say it or write in on the check. “Here’s a little something extra just to remind you that God loves you.”

When we do these simple things to show people God’s love. We show people that God’s changed us. When we do these things in God’s name we make HIM look good!

We change people’s opinion of who God is and what it means to be a Christ-follower.

We need a god-sized vision where if God doesn’t show up and do something, we’re in a big bunch of trouble! – steve sjogren

Paul Thomas Thigpen said it like this in an article for “Discipleship Journal” that he wrote called, “Why Should I Care?”…

In Miami or Moscow, New York or Nairobi, Denver or Dublin, in the 1st century or the 21st, whatever may change, some things remain the same: spiritual need, material need; empty hearts, empty hands.

Could God's heart be any clearer? Could His call be any louder? Think of it: Our Lord weeps for our community, for those who surround us every day. The waitress we snub, the boss we complain about, the driver we cut off in traffic, the child next door whom we scold for playing in our pansies.

He weeps as well for those who surround us at a distance, invisible to us but all too visible to Him. The unwed teenaged mother, the crack addict, the patient and the prisoner, the disabled orphan awaiting a foster home, the forgotten great-grandmother alone in her room.

Can we afford to turn away from His tears?

This isn't confrontational stuff that I’m talking about. Its just meeting needs with good deeds! It’s the easiest, funnest way to share God with others!

Here’s my suggestion:
Start with people you know, work to people you interact with regularly and move to strangers.

Want to learn more how to do this?

Get a copy of this book Outflow, read his ezine “Serve” or go to his website servantevangelism.com

CHALLENGE:
I’m looking for people who want to do this this Summer (June to August).

I’m looking for people who will do this on their own, or maybe in small groups with friends, or maybe with your smaller gathering groups or at least with us all when we do it in our larger outreaches.

*I passed around a sign-up sheet to people who want to commit to doing this for the summer (June-August). If you're a part of Pathway and want to join the 10 of us who committed to this, then email me!

“Spiritual Anorexia”

2007-05-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

Intro:

I want to start today with a story that John T. Spach tells in Reader's Digest …

When their son left for his freshman year at Duke University, his parents gave him a Bible, assuring him it would be a great help. Later, as he began sending them letters asking for money, they would write back telling him to read his Bible, citing chapter and verse. He would reply that he was reading the Bible--but he still needed money. When he came home for a semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. How? They had tucked $10 and $20 bills by the verses they had cited in their letters.

The truth is this… The Bible contains what we need for life.

We can’t grow spiritually if we don’t read God’s word regularly. We can’t know the truth if we don’t ever read God’s Word.

I want to talk to you today about one of the main ways to see amazing growth in your spiritual life. It’s comes from God’s word. It comes from reading, studying, knowing and living it.

It’s one of the most simple and basic ways to grow as a Christ-follower and it’s one of the things so many people leave out of their lives!

Ex.
Show a table full of food. What is the one simple thing we need to do with this food in order for it help nourish us? (Let people answer.) Eat it! This food can’t help us by just sitting hear on the table or just being in our cupboards or in our fridges. Right? No! This food is no good unless we eat it and digest it.

The truth is: you can starve in a room full of food if you don’t eat it.

I’m been thinking about this lately and I’ve realized that many Christ-followers have spiritual anorexia. They’re starving themselves from God’s word and they’re in total denial about it.

They go for weeks, months – some even for years without ever feeding on God’s Word, themselves. The only time they ever “taste it” is on Sundays when someone else feeds them.

What I’m about to tell you might sound strange, but it’s true…

It’s good to have your own a Bible. But God’s goal isn’t to have his truth in a book.

He wants it in our heads, in our hearts and lived out in our lives! If it’s just locked in some book form it’s useless. It has to be lived out!

Some of you might not know this, but…

Most people in the Bible days didn’t own a Bible! They had to memorize it – “store it up in their hearts” – if they wanted to take it with them.

Actually, most people, even in later times, didn’t have their own copy of the Bible.

It wasn’t until Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1400’s that people later started being able to have their own personal copy.

TWO COOL FACTS ABOUT THIS I THOUGHT YOU’D WANT TO KNOW:

The Gutenberg Bible was the first book to ever be printed.
In the time of King Edward I, in 1250, it took the earnings of a day laborer for fifteen years to purchase a manuscript copy of the entire Bible.

Now you can get a copy of the full Bible for $4.49 from Christian Book Distributors!

Not only that, but the good thing nowadays is you can not only have a personal copy of the Bible, but can have the Bible in many different formats…

For people who are readers you can have it in a book like this, or on your computer, or on a website (Studylight.org).

If you don’t like to read you can have it an audio version - on your Ipod or on a CD.

Since the Bible comes in many different formats, none of us have any excuse to not read or listen to it!

If we want to grow as Christ-followers we need to read and know God’s word.

Why?

It’s our Spiritual Food
Just like physical food feeds the physical body, the Bible is the spiritual food that feeds the spirit. We all know it’s not healthy to just live off of snacks. We need to have full meals. It’s the same with God’s word. We can’t be spiritually healthy by just tasting a little bit here and there. Reading Christians books is a good thing to do, but it’s not the same as reading the Bible.

Amy Carmichael said it like this, “Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well.”

We need to learn to feed ourselves just like a kid needs to. Leroy Eims, tells this story The Lost Art of Disciple Making.

One spring our family was driving from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida. As far as the eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit. When we stopped for breakfast, I ordered orange juice with my eggs. "I'm sorry," the waitress said. "I can't bring you orange juice. Our machine is broken." At first I was dumbfounded. We were surrounded by millions of oranges, and I knew they had oranges in the kitchen--orange slices garnished our plates. What was the problem? No juice? Hardly. We were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice. The problem was they had become dependent on a machine to get it. Christians are sometimes like that. They may be surrounded by Bibles in their homes, but if something should happen to the Sunday morning preaching service, they would have no nourishment for their souls. The problem is not a lack of spiritual food--but that many Christians haven't grown enough to know how to get it for themselves.

If we don’t learn how to feed ourselves from God’s Word, we’ll never know how to survive and grow as a believer! The Bible’s not only our Spiritual food….

It’s our Spiritual Weapon
That’s why we need to read large amounts of it In Eph. 6:17 Paul is talking about spiritual warfare and he says, “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” God’s word is the main thing we can use to fight back from spiritual attack.

Illust.
I’m a pretty positive person. I don’t really get down or depresssed very much and when I do I don’t stay that way long. Yesterday morning, for some reason, I noticed that out of nowhere that I felt down, impatient and angry.

It was supposed to be my day to hang out with Jack and Will and I didn’t want to stay like this, so I started reminding myself of some truth from God’s word. It didn’t happen right away, but later I noticed the change - I didn’t feel down or mad anymore.

We’ve got to load up our minds with God’s word so we have ammo to fight back and defend ourselves! There’s another reason we need to feed on large amounts of God’s Word that closely connected to this one…
It’s our Truth Detector
The Bible helps us to know what’s true and real if life. It gives us God’s view and His opinion of life. It gives us a behind the scenes view of things. It’s a mirror. It shows us the end – where this world is eventually heading.

Revelation 12:9 it says, “⁹This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.”

The devil is the deceiver of the world. When we all see him one day we’ll be shocked at who and what he is and how he fooled us and all the world with his lies and deceptions.

Not knowing the truth is one of the things that can cause the most damage in our lives! It can cause us to settle for less in life, cause us to fall into sin and could even cause us to give up in walk with God.

That’s why we need to know the Truth from God’s Word. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” Jesus used the word to defend against the devils lies. To everything the devil said Jesus kept answering, “It is written…” We can’t defend ourselves if we don’t even know when we’re being lied to.

There’s no way to grow, defend ourselves from spiritual attack or really know the truth about life without feeding regularly on God’s word!

When we begin to feed on regular amounts of God’s word it will literally change who we are, how we think and how we live.…

There’s a story from a magazine called, Signs of the Times that shows this that I want you to hear it... One of the most dramatic examples of the Bible's divine ability to transform men and women involved the famous mutiny on the "Bounty." Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, nine mutineers, along with the Tahatian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only one man alive--John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island's population. So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture.

But the rest of the story is even more remarkable. About this time, Adams came across the "Bounty's" Bible in the bottom of an old chest. He began to read it, and the divine power of God's Word reached into the heart of that hardened murderer on a tiny volcanic speck in the vast Pacific Ocean--and changed his life forever.

The peace and love that Adams found in the Bible entirely replaced the old life of quarreling, brawling, and liquor. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island had experienced the same amazing change that he had found. Today, with a population of slightly less than 100, nearly every person on Pitcairn Island is a Christian.

This simple change in our lives, of feeding more on God’s Word, WILL have a powerful affect!

You’ll be a stronger Christ-follower and we’ll be a stronger church. Our discussions will be more powerful in our smaller gatherings. The advice you give to your friends will be more life-giving. You’ll be wiser. You’ll know God more.

In Psalm 119: 97-104 it says…
”⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law! I think about it all day long.
⁹⁸ Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for your commands are my constant guide.
⁹⁹ Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your decrees.
¹⁰⁰ I am even wiser than my elders, for I have kept your commandments.
¹⁰¹ I have refused to walk on any path of evil, that I may remain obedient to your word.
¹⁰² I haven't turned away from your laws, for you have taught me well.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste; they are sweeter than honey.
¹⁰⁴ Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.

God’s word is such an amazing gift. I want us to really realize this. I want us to fall in love with God’s word again – or for the first time. When we do, no one will have to convince us to read it and no one will be able to stop us from reading it.

Robert L. Sumner, tells a story of someone with this type of love for God’s word in his book The Wonders of the Work of God. He says…

A man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. The victim's face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, “I can read the Bible using my tongue!” At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times.

That’s how much I want to love God’s Word. That’s how much I want you to love God’s word! No matter where you’re at in your daily intake of God’s Word, from not reading it at all to reading it daily, I want to encourage you to go to the next level.

Here’s how…

READ IT

If you’re not reading the Bible I want to encourage you to make it your goal to read 1 chapter a day. If when you’re reading you really get into a section of scripture you can always read more. If it’s really deep you can always read less, but make it your goal to usually read a chapter a day. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you get to the end. Do the same with the Old Testament

MEMORIZE IT
If you’re already reading the Bible, I want to encourage you to start memorizing it. This gives you God’s Word it in a “to go” format. It gives you instant access to it whenever you want!

Noted Bible teacher E. Schuyler English told of Michael Billester, a Bible distributor who visited a small town in Poland shortly before World War II. Billester gave a Bible to a villager, who was converted by reading it. The new believer then passed the Book on to others. The cycle of conversions and sharing continued until 200 people had become believers through that one Bible.

When Billesetr returned in 1940, this group of Christians met together for a worship service in which he was to preach the Word. He normally asked for testimonies, but this time he suggested that several in the audience recite verses of Scripture.

One man stood and said, "Perhaps we have misunderstood. Did you mean verses or chapters?" These villagers had not memorized a few select verses of the Bible but whole chapters and books. Thirteen people knew Matthew, Luke, and half of Genesis. Another person had committed to memory the Psalms. That single copy of the Bible given by Billester had done its work. Transformed lives bore witness to the power of the Word.

Memorizing God’s word is getting into your head. It’ll begin to get you thinking about God’s Word. It will influence your thoughts. But there’s the next level…

MEDITATE ON IT
If you’ve already memorized some of God’s word, then I want to encourage you to start meditating on it. In Psalm 119:148 the psalmist says, “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.”

Bible meditation is not the same as Eastern Meditation. It doesn’t mean to empty our minds, but fill them with God’s word, his truth, his qualities. Doing this really helps you to really digest and get the most out of a passage of scripture.

The word for “meditation” actually has the same meaning as a cow “ruminating” or chewing it’s cud.

A cow has one stomach with four compartments. They swallow the food into the first compartment which starts digesting it, then they regurgitate their food, and “chew the cud”. Then they swallow it into the next compartment which digests it more. Then they spit it up and do it again until it goes through all 4 compartments.

This helps them get the most out of hard to digest foods like grass. A cow spends a lot of time eating – up to 8 hours per day.

When you meditate on God’s word you chew up and think about different parts of a verse or passage. Ex. Luke 1:37- For nothing is impossible with God… For nothing is impossible with God… For nothing is impossible with God.

Illust.
When I was in my early 20’s I heard a guy named Bill Gothard challenge people to meditate on large portions on scripture. I have a pretty good memory and it’s
not hard for me to memorize things, so I decided to try it.

But I needed someone to keep me accountable and to check to see how I was doing. I couldn’t think of any friend of mine who was Christ-follower to help me with this, so I asked my friend Harlan, who was Jewish, if he’d help me. I asked him if he check regularly and make sure I was doing it and also listen to me say the verses to make sure I memorized them the right way.

Surprisingly, he said, “Yes!” We’d drive 4 nights a week to Half Moon Bay for Karate class and on the half an hour ride over the hill and back we’d talk about all sorts of stuff and eventually go over the verses I was memorizing.

Harlan would have my Bible open on his lap and I’d start quoting the verses I was memorizing. I’d always start at the beginning each time, so by the time I memorized all of chapter 5, Harlan would have sat through hearing the chapter over and over.

The funny thing was that Harlan heard the verses so much that he’d noticed if I left out a part! He’d say something like, “Didn’t you leave out the part, ‘unless you obey God better than the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees do, you can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all!’” (Harlan later became a Christ-follower and I think this was a time where the seeds were planted.)

Meditating on scripture really changed how I knew “The Sermon on the Mount”. It caused me to see the thought patterns in what Jesus was teaching! It will help you to know God and his truth in deeper ways.

If you read God’s word regularly, and already have memorized God’s word, then I’d really encourage you to begin meditating on God’s Word.

Start by just meditating on a verse or two, then try some other verse or two. After that, start to meditate on large passages of scripture. Tell me what happens when you do it!

LIVE IT
There’s one last level that actually any of us can start doing right away.

I want to encourage all of us to apply what we’re reading in our lives. Pick one thing you’re learning from God’s word and decide to apply it for the next week. That’s it! See what happens.

God wants us to read his Word, know it, memorize it, and live it!

----

Close: This is an amazing book. There’s no other book like it in the world. One unknown person described it like this…

An unknown writer said, "This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity.

God made sure that the Bible has survived through history, so we could have it in our hands today. We need to make sure we have it in our hearts and apply it in our lives.

My old pastor used to say, “Sin will keep you from this book and this book will keep you from sin.”

Challenge:
The last few Sundays, I’ve encouraged us to do just two simple things:

1. Make a list of friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, or classmates who don’t know Jesus and begin praying for them regularly.

2. And today, I’ve encouraged you read, know, memorize, meditate and live God’s word.

I know these are simple things, but don’t be fooled by how simple they are.
Everyone wants some complicated secret to success, but if there were any – most people we wouldn’t do them, cause they’d be too hard or too complicated.

The fact is that it’s the simple truths when they’re actually applied that cause massive, explosive results! I believe these two simple things can cause HUGE change in us individually and as a church. But we’ll only see these results if we DO them.

That’s why I want to challenge to do this:

Find someone who can keep you accountable and who will ask you about whether you’re reading God’s Word and praying for your list of 3-4 friends.

It can be someone who’s a part of the smaller gathering you’re part of, a sibling, or a spouse or any friend (even a non-believer).

All I ask is that they’re someone who will check with you weekly about how you’re doing. You could do this in person, by phone or email. (in person is best, but on the phone or by email works too).

We’ll check in about this in our next smaller gathering in two Sundays and see how everybody’s doing with this. Let’s pray…

“Spreading The Good News”

2007-04-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

These are notes from an "Interactive Talk" we had on Sunday, April 15, 2007...

Intro:
In Our Daily Bread, there was this story…
George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1968, Currier's sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.

Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier's plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.

Sweeting concluded that story by asking, "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message -- the most important in your life -- and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?"

We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message?

I know it’s hard for so many Christ-followers to tell other people about Jesus.

You’re afraid about being rejected. You don’t know how to bring it up. You don’t know what to say. You’re afraid you won’t be able to answer all their questions, etc.

The funny thing about us and most Christ-followers is that we’re people with good news who are too scared to tell anyone about it!

I don’t want today to be something that makes you feel guilty. I want today to be an encouragement to help all of us in this. I want it to give us incentive and tools on how to at least get started at doing this…

I want to do this in a way that’s very interactive. I’ll throw out some questions to you guys and we’ll even break into some smaller groups and talk about some passages from the Bible.

But let’s start with some questions…

How did you come to know Jesus? Was it by going to a service or did a friend lead you to the Lord? What caused you to finally believe? "Outflow" pg. bottom of 139 to top of 140
What are some ways you’ve told/showed people about Jesus?
What are some ways you’ve shared your faith?
What are some barriers/fears that keep you from doing this? Looking stupid or like a religious fanatic. Not knowing how to answer questions.
How do we do this?

Break into groups and discuss verses: Acts 17:16-34 & John 1:35-51.

Explanation:
Don’t argue or try to get too deep or theological. Just come up with what you feel are the main ideas about sharing the good news with other people. When we come back together we’ll go around and have one person share what their group learned together. (Pray that God would speak to us during this time.)

After groups tell what they learned, share my ideas:

Pray! List of friends you want to know Jesus. God cares more than we do that people know him. "Outflow" pg. 134
Some point –early on – let them know you’re a Christ-follower. Let it slip out somehow.
Let people hear your “before” and after story. Don’t even tell them how/why you changed.
Ask them questions about what they believe. Be empathic towards people. Don’t worry about the right answers. You need the right questions! Some questions for people who aren’t a part of any official/organized faith are…

Do you believe in God?

Yes. >>>>>

What do you believe? > Is God a person or energy to you? > Can God be known (relationally) to you? > Do you believe in heaven or hell? >

If they do believe in these things… How do people get to heaven? > Or why are they sent to hell? > What happens to good people when they die? > What happens to bad people? > Where did you get your beliefs about God? > How do you know what you know about him is right?

No. >>>>>

What do you believe in? > Is there any particular reason why you don’t believe in God? > Have you ever believed in God? > What made you stop? > What do you think happens when you die? > How sure are you that there’s no God? > Have you ever wondered about the chance there could be a God? > Have you investigated into whether he could be real? > How?

Serve your friends, family and strangers. Smalls as of kindness are all that are needed. "Outflow" p. 139 “Humble Acts of Service”
We need to try some “Matthew Gatherings”. Matthew 9:9-13 - 9 As Jesus was going down the road, he saw Matthew sitting at his tax-collection booth. "Come, be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. 10 That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guests, along with his fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. 11 The Pharisees were indignant. "Why does your teacher eat with such scum ^F55 ?" they asked his disciples. 12 When he heard this, Jesus replied, "Healthy people don't need a doctor – sick people do." 13 Then he added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices.' ^F56 For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough." We need to plan golf times, BBQs, lunches, coffees, movie nights, game nights, etc. Any ideas?

Close

If we really believed people were lost without Jesus, If we really believed that people’s lives could be better with Jesus, then we’d say something – we’d do something. If we were really excited about what God has done and is doing in our lives, then we wouldn’t focus on being afraid.

We need to start by asking Jesus to give us a burden/desire to see people come to him. Without this it’s just an empty act. Coast Guard saving people.

We need a burden a desire for the lost.

We need a burden to feel God’s heart for the people around us.

"Organic Church" pg. 180 (top) “harvest is plentiful…”

Pathway Challenge:

I want us to pray that God would help our church to double.

Think of who you can invite to hang with us over the next two Sundays.
What neighbor? Co-worker? Friend? Stranger?

“The Easter Joke”

2007-04-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you can learn a deep lesson about life from the weirdest places – when you’re not even expecting it!

Today I’m going to start by telling you a story of a lesson about God that I learned from someone I never expected to learn from: a bag lady!

Story:

This all started one day back when I was a youth pastor in Burlingame – about 5 years ago. For about 2-3 weeks, I had been going out by Coyote Point and spending time with God before I’d go to work.

I parked out by the bay and would read my Bible and talk to God. This day I was sitting in my car reading my Bible and talking to God when I noticed a little older lady walking my way. She was dressed in old looking pants and a shirt and she had a baseball cap on. She also had an old plastic white grocery bag with something in it.

I watched her walk past my car and right up to the garbage can I was parked near. She reached into the garbage can and dug around in it for a minute. Then she pulled something out. It was a plastic bottle. She put it on the ground and stomped on it and put it in her bag.

She dug around some more and pulled another bottle out and did the same thing. Finally she couldn’t find anymore bottles in the there, so she left – off to find more bottles!

I was about to go back to reading my Bible and just forget the whole thing, when all of a sudden, a thought hit me!

What I’m about to talk to you about today will help you see God and yourself in a new way. It helped me!

I’ll tell you what I learned from about God from this lady in a second, but first…

I want to tell you one more story that’s an example of what I learned. It’s a story from the Bible in Luke 19:1-10.

1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowds. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree beside the road, so he could watch from there. 5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. "Zacchaeus!" he said. "Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today." 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the crowds were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled. 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!" 9 Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham. 10 And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost."

Alright, I’ve kept you waiting long enough!

I’m going to tell you the lesson I learned about God and myself from that bag lady, and I’ll show you how this story of Zacchaeus is an example of what I learned.

When I saw that lady digging through the trash that day I didn’t think anything of it – at first.

But then I suddenly realized that what I saw her doing was an example of what God has done throughout history: God is constantly digging through the trash of the world and looking for something that still has value!

God is always digging around looking for people that the world has thrown away. These are people that everyone else might think are worthless, but God sees them as worth something!

That’s what God did with me and that’s what he did with all of you who have asked Jesus into your lives already. It’s what God wants to do for some of you that haven’t asked him into your lives yet!

Look at the Zacchaeus story again…

Zacchaeus is the chief tax collector. People back then, like now, hated tax collectors. Tax collectors ripped people off and treated people badly. That’s why they were considered “low lifes” by the people back then.

Zacchaeus was probably rich because of all the extra money he took from people. No one – except other tax collectors – probably liked Zacchaeus!

But what does Jesus do?

He looks at him up in the tree and he sees someone worth something! He reaches into the trash of Zacchaeus’ life and pulls him out! He reaches out to this man that everyone else had thrown away and decided was worthless.

And he does something to show Zacchaeus and everyone there that he saw worth in him. It was shocking to the people back then. What did he do?

He calls Zacchaeus down and says he wants to go to his house. This was a big deal, cause back then, going to someone’s house meant that you accepted them.

Everyone knew what Jesus was saying when he said that. That’s why they got upset and started complaining about it. And Zacchaeus definitely knew what Jesus was saying about him. It meant so much to him that it changed him - right then – forever!

Look at what Zacchaeus says in verse 8…

8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!" 9 Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham. 10 And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost."

Jesus is still looking for people to redeem! I asked Brett to share his story of how God redeemed him. Have Brett share his story.

Talk about the word “redemption” and what it means.

Ex. Plastic bottle. Someone finds a plastic bottle and takes it to get money for it. The reason they can do this is because someone else sees value in it and knows they can take it and make something of value out of it again. If the bottle isn’t picked up and redeemed, then it ends up in a dump and just rots away.

That’s what God did for us through Jesus. Jesus redeemed us – paid to have us back – when he died on the cross. He did it so he could make us worth more than what we are.

Illust.

An article in National Geographic a long time ago told a story I want you to hear…

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Parl, forest rangers hiked up a mountain to see how much damage the fire had done.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched like a statue on the ground at the base of a tree. The sight of the bird kind of sickened the ranger, so he knocked the bird over with a stick

As soon as he did that, three tiny chicks came scurrying out from under the dead mother’s wings!

The loving mother, realizing the impending danger had carried her babies to the base of the tree and gathered them under her wings. She instinctively knew that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could’ve flown to safety at any point, but she refused to abandon her babies. When the fire arrived and the heat singed her small body, the stayed – determined to save her chicks. Because she was willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.

Jesus was willing to pay the price to redeem us. John 3:16 tells it like this, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

His death paid the price for every sin we’ve committed and every sin we ever will commit. But that’s not all. Three days later he resurrected from the dead and defeated death. I like what I saw one author call it “The death of death.”

In Storytelling: Imagination and Faith, William J. Bausch shares this…

"In the Greek Orthodox tradition, the day after Easter was devoted to telling jokes. . . .They felt they were imitating the cosmic joke that God pulled on Satan in the Resurrection. Satan thought he had won, and was smug in his victory, smiling to himself, having the last word. So he thought. Then God raised Jesus from the dead, and life and salvation became the last words."

God’s biggest joke on the devil was that he took the death of his son and made it a victory for him and for the world.

God id the God of redemption! He redeems people. He can redeem situations. He can redeem your problems. He can take the worst junk – the thing you thought was dead in your life and redeem it – bring it back to life.

God can redeem the worst of things. Easter is the reminder us of this, because on that first Easter Sunday, God redeemed the worst result of sin – death!

In 1973, archeologists uncovered a cache of date palm seeds in ancient Masada, Israel. Scientists estimated that the seeds were produced about 70 AD. The Romans called it Phoenix dactylifera -- "the date-bearing phoenix" -- because it never died and appeared to be reborn in the desert where all other plant life perished.

The seeds were stored at Israel's Bar-Ilan University where they remained for the next thirty years. In November 2004, Dr. Sarah Sallon approached the university and asked for some of the seeds.

"When we asked if we could try and grow some of them, they said, 'You're mad,' but they gave us three seeds," Sarah said.

Sarah's friend, biologist Dr. Elaine Solowey also didn't have much faith that the seeds would germinate, but Elaine carefully prepared the seeds for planting. First she soaked the seeds in hot water to make them once again able to absorb liquids. Then she soaked them in a solution of nutrients followed by an enzymatic fertilizer made from seaweed.

Tu B'shevat, a Jewish holiday known as the New Year for Trees, fell on January 25, 2005. Elaine chose that day to plant the seeds in new potting soil, hook them up to a drip irrigation system, and then she left them locked up. Elaine occasionally checked on the plants for a few weeks, and in March 2005, she noticed a sprout. By November 2005, the sprout had turned into a sapling that was 3 feet high with nine leaves. Nicknamed Methuselah, the seeds is oldest seed to ever germinate.

God has the power to bring life to that which was dead. His greatest triumph is the resurrection of Christ.

Close

God can take your problem, your pain, your shame and redeem it. All you have to do is give your life to him and submit to him.

Think of a plastic bottle again. Can you imagine a bottle resisting someone who wanted to redeem it? It’d be the worse choice it could make, because if it doesn’t get redeemed it has no future!

It’s the same with us!

Whether you feel worthless or not, whether the world looks at you as worthless or worth something – only God can ever make you into all that you could be!

*The joke of Easter is that God can take the worse situation and use it for good! Remember that when you think of the resurrection today.

“The God Quality”

2007-04-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today is Palm Sunday. It’s the day when we celebrate what’s been called the “Triumph of Christ” or the “Triumphal entry”.

The “Triumphal entry” happened a week before the resurrection. It was one of the few times where Jesus allows people to see him as the “king”. It’s one of the few times that the people seem to really “get it” who Jesus is.

But we’re about to see that when Jesus presents himself to the people “in triumph” as “the king”, “the messiah” he does it in a way that’s totally different than the way any of human would.

What do we humans do when they’re at the top?

We want people to respect us and look up to us. We want buy the things to prove (pretend) we’re different and better than everyone else. We want to be treated differently and given attention and admiration.

When I think of how a human would enter a town on his day of triumph I think of this scene from the move Aladdin…

Show clip from Aladdin – Prince Ali.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMTzjAEyw3M

When a human wants to show that they’re “somebody” we put on a show of all that we done and all that they have so that people will envy us. We want other people (and ourselves) to know we’re above everyone else.

But Jesus comes to us he come in a completely different way. It’s so different that it reveals he’s not just a man, he’s God.

And the way he comes to us teaches us some things about life and about who God is.

Listen and see Jesus’ triumphal entry in Matt. 21:1-11…

1 As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 "Go into the village over there," he said, "and you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here. 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately send them." 4 This was done to fulfill the prophecy, 5 "Tell the people of Israel, ^F109 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey – even on a donkey's colt.'" ^F110 6 The two disciples did as Jesus said. 7 They brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. ^F111 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting, "Praise God ^F112 for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!" 10 The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked. 11 And the crowds replied, "It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Look at v. 4-5 again.

" 4 This was done to fulfill the prophecy, 5 "Tell the people of Israel, ^F109 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey – even on a donkey's colt.'" ^F110

One word describes the way that Jesus made his triumphal entry: humble. Jesus didn’t enter the town with thunder sounding, lighting flashing and angels singing. He didn’t come do miracles and showing his powers.

He just came riding in on a donkey! That’s it!!!

We have a Lord who comes to us in humility. You’re about to see that there is so much that this can teach us in this simple act.

I’ve been wondering…

Why didn’t Jesus come with all the fanciness of a king? I’ve thought about this and it’s made me realize some amazing things…

First, he didn’t come to prove his glory. He knew who he was. He had nothing to prove. He knew we’ll all see his full glory one day and every knee will bow when we see him!

Even if Jesus wanted to, think about how funny it’d be for Jesus to try and show his greatness with the little lesser things of our planet that rulers use like jewels, robes, animals, and mansions.

In heaven angels will bow down and worship him! We’ll see things so much greater there, than anything on earth we think is great and awesome will be a joke to us there!

Jesus didn’t come with the fanciness of a king because that wasn’t why he came. He didn’t come to prove himself.

His whole purpose in coming to us in the incarnation was to come to us in a way that we could understand. He came to us to show us he understood us and he came to show us he was approachable.

Commentator Andrew Clarke says this about why he came with humility, “This entry into Jerusalem has been termed the triumph of Christ. It was indeed the triumph of humility over pride and worldly grandeur; of poverty over affluence; and of meekness and gentleness over rage and malice. He is coming now meek, full of kindness and compassion to those who were plotting his destruction! He comes to deliver up himself into their hands; their king comes to be murdered by his subjects, and to make his death a ransom price for their souls!”

Jesus came to show us what he (God) thinks of pride and how he thinks of humility.

Adam Clarke also says, “Jesus is continually humbling himself, to show us how odious pride is in the sight of God: but in his humility he is ever giving proofs of his almighty power, that the belief of his divinity may be established.”

Have you ever thought about how much God says about humility and pride in his word?

2Sa 22:28 - You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

2Ch 7:14 - if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Lu 1:52 - He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

Think about how God tells us in his word what he thinks about pride and humility…

Humble yourself, so that God doesn’t have to!

Eph 4:2 - Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

James 1:9-12 - 9 - The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Prov. 3:34 - He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.

James 4:6-10 - 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." ^F8 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Pet. 5:6 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Ask church a question: Do you hear God’s opinion of pride and humility in these verse? What do you hear God saying in these verses? What stands out to you?

The other reason I think Jesus came in humility was to show us how we should live! Think about what a huge lesson this is!

In Philipians. 2:5-7, Paul tells us this…

5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; ^F5 he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.

Paul tells us we should take the hint from the way Jesus lived and copy his attitude. Paul’s telling us to humble ourselves!

Have you ever thought about this?...

Sooner or later in life you will be humbled. You don’t get to choose whether it happens. You only get to decide HOW it happens.

You have three choices of how it happens:

1. You can let others humble you.

2. You can let God humble you

3. Or you can humble yourself.

I’d rather choose the third choice!

There was once a time where Jesus taught a lesson about humbling our selves like this…

*Luke 14:7-11

7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Do you see what happens when we humble ourselves? Others will lift us up!

There’s a story about Booker T. Washington that shows how true this is…

A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of this truth.

Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman.

Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested.

When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady.

The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely. "It's perfectly all right, Madam," he replied. "Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it's always a delight to do something for a friend." She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute.

Do you know what else will happen when we humble ourselves?
People will be attracted to us.

Humility draws people to you. I can’t stand conceited people – even if they’re good at something. It’s one of my pet peeves. It turns me away from them, but humility is attractive it draws people to you. People will be more attracted to you.

Think about how impressive it is to meet some important famous person and see how humble and approachable they are. It makes them worth talking about. It makes them stand out!

Think about what happens when we don’t humble ourselves…

When we’re prideful we forget our need for God and others. Ps 10:4 -In his pride the wicked does not seek him (God); in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

Pride makes us think we can do it all on our own. Then what happens?

The book of Proverbs gives us some hints…

Pr 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Pr 29:23 - A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

Pr 11:2 - When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

D.L. Moody said it just simply this, “Be humble or you'll stumble.”

William Barclay tells the story of Paedaretos who lived in Sparta in ancient Greece. A group of 300 men were to be chosen to govern Sparta. Though Paedaretos was a candidate, his name was not on the final list. Some of his friends sought to console him, but he simply replied, "I am glad that in Sparta there are 300 men better than I am." He became a legend because of his willingness to stand aside while others took the places of glory and honor.

Ga 6:4 - Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,

There are two other things to see from this story…

This was a fulfillment of prophecy. This was one of the many prophecies Jesus fulfilled as proof that he was the Messiah. Last year I told you think in a talk I called, “Prophecies Of The Passion” I told you this…

“Professor Peter Stoner (1888-1980) who was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953, and Chairman of the Science Division of Westmont College from 1953 to 1957 calculated the probability of one man fulfilling only a handful of the over 300 Messianic prophecies.

In 1944, he published his research results in Science Speaks: Scientific Proof of the Accuracy of Prophecy and the Bible. Stoner concluded that the probability of one person fulfilling just eight of the specific prophecies was one chance in 10¹⁷ (one followed by 17 zeros). How about one person fulfilling just 48 of the over 300 prophecies? Stoner calculated these odds at one chance in 10¹⁵⁷ -- way beyond statistical impossibility! ¹^”

Later, the American Scientific Affiliation gave Stoner's work their stamp of approval!Alright so back to the idea of one man fulfilling just 8 of these prophecies..

Do you want to know how large the number l017 is (a figure with 17 zeros) is? Stoner gave this illustration… Imagine covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars to a level of two feet deep. The total number of silver dollars needed to cover the whole state would be 10(17). Now, choose just one of those silver dollars, mark it and drop it from an airplane. Then thoroughly stir all the silver dollars all over the state.

When that has been done, blindfold one man, tell him he can travel wherever he wishes in the state of Texas. But sometime he must stop, reach down into the two feet of silver dollars and try to pull up that one specific silver dollar that has been marked.

Now, the chance of his finding that one silver dollar in the state of Texas would be the chance the prophets had for eight of their prophecies coming true in any one man in the future.

Palm Sunday was one of the many proofs that he was the messiah. And it was proof of who/how our God is (humble).

One more thing I see in this story that’s a little too real and close to home…

We praise and then we turn from God later. Talk about Palms turning to ashes.

Close

Have you thought about how funny and ironic it is that humans who have every reason to be humble try to pretend they’re something/somebody?

And God, who has every reason to be prideful, comes to us in humility?

Thinking about this moment from Jesus’ life has really made me realize that humility is such a godly way to live. Humility is the God quality. When we’re humble we’re living like Jesus!

As we think of Palm Sunday, and get ready for Good Friday this week, let’s remember Jesus’ example of humility.

Let’s look for areas where we’re prideful and ask God to help us humble ourselves, so he or others won’t have to!

Let’s pray…

Two-Way Prayer

2007-03-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

(These, like usual, are my unedited notes from my talk on 3/25/07.)

Intro:
I want to start with a story that I think you’ll like…

Well-known Broadway producer Jed Harris once became convinced he was losing his hearing. He visited a specialist, who pulled out a gold watch and asked "Can you hear this ticking?" "Of course," Harris replied. The specialist walked to the door and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, "Yes, I can hear it clearly." Then the doctor walked into the next room and repeated the question a third time. A third time Harris said he could hear the ticking. "Mr. Harris," the doctor concluded, "there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don't listen."

When many people think of conversation they focus on the, “What am I going to say?” part. They forget that for conversation to be real and meaningful it has to be a two-way thing.

You have to listen as much, if not more than you, speak! To have a meaningful conversation you have to also focus on the “How can I really listen to them?” part.

Professional golfer Tommy Bolt was playing in Los Angeles and had a caddy with a reputation of constant chatter. Before they teed off, Bolt told him, "Don't say a word to me. And if I ask you something, just answer yes or no." During the round, Bolt found the ball next to a tree, where he had to hit under a branch, over a lake and onto the green. He got down on his knees and looked through the trees and sized up the shot.

"What do you think?" he asked the caddy. "Five-iron?"
"No, Mr. Bolt," the caddy said.
"What do you mean, not a five-iron?" Bolt snorted.
"Watch this shot."
The caddy rolled his eyes. "No-o-o, Mr. Bolt."

But Bolt hit it and the ball stopped about two feet from the hole. He turned to his caddy, handed him the five-iron and said, "Now what do you think about that? You can talk now." "Mr. Bolt," the caddy said, "that wasn't your ball."

When people only focus on themselves and what they have to say, then they miss out on a major part of the conversation!

When you change the focus and begin to focus on listening more it changes everything! When you really start listening people will want to talk to you, because being heard is what we all crave!

Jim Reapsome, Homemade. Teenage prostitutes, during interviews in a San Francisco study, were asked: "Is there anything you needed most and couldn't get?" Their response, invariably preceded by sadness and tears was unanimous: "What I needed most was someone to listen to me. Someone who cared enough to listen to me."

Listening is the missing ingredient to meaningful conversations and powerful relationships.

But you know what? This concept doesn’t just apply to conversation. This same concept applies to prayer! Most people think of prayer as one-way. I ask. I get. They focus on the, “What am I going to say to God?” part.

But that’s only a small portion of what prayer is! Prayer is a conversation with God. What’s a conversation? It’s two-way! When pray we need to not just be in a talking-mode, but we need to also be in a listening-mode!

Listening is the missing ingredient to meaningful prayer and a powerful relationship with God.

C.S. Lewis said, “The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”

When we don’t pray we miss out on some things.

James 4:2-3 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Did you hear what James said? There are some things we don’t have in our lives because we don’t ask God for them!

That’s a big deal, but what I really want us to realize today is that we also miss out on getting direction from God when we don’t pray. That’s even more important!

Like I told you guys a couple Sundays ago, I’ve been really feeling like God is calling me and us as a church, to pray more. I came across two stories from God’s word that have really been making me think about how much we miss out from hearing from God when we don’t take time to pray.

I want you to see these stories today. The first one is in Acts 9:3-19.

Saul, before he became a Christ follower and was later called Paul, was eager to destroy the Lord's followers. He went to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus.

He asked their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.

He had no mercy about this and people were afraid of him! But he didn’t know that his life was about to be changed forever on his road trip to Damascus, on his way to capture these Christ-followers.

Listen to what its says in Acts 9:3-6…
³As he was nearing Damascus on this mission, a brilliant light from heaven suddenly beamed down upon him! ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?"

⁵"Who are you, sir?" Saul asked. And the voice replied, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! ⁶Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

Anybody notice something about what Jesus said that shows his connection to the church?

Jesus told Saul that he was persecuting HIM! He didn’t say, “You’re persecuting my followers.” He said, “You’re persecuting me!” Alright let’s keep going…

⁷The men with Saul stood speechless with surprise, for they heard the sound of someone's voice, but they saw no one! ⁸As Saul picked himself up off the ground, he found that he was blind. ⁹So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days. And all that time he went without food and water.

Now listen to what happens next…

¹⁰Now there was a believer ^F43 in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord!" he replied.

¹¹The Lord said, "Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you arrive, ask for Saul of Tarsus. He is praying to me right now. ¹²I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so that he can see again."

Do you know what I like about this part where God tells Ananias where Paul is? It gives us a glimpse of God’s knowledge of us. It shows that God knows where you’re at right now in your life.

He knows where you are figuratively (what you’re going through) and in reality (he knows your address!) God understands what’s happening in your life and where to find you.

But besides that, think about what God just told poor, old, innocent Ananias! God just told him, “Hey, Ananias I want you to go pray and lay hands on the guy who’s been trying to throw all my followers like you in prison.” How would you feel if God told you to go do that? Probably the same way Ananias felt! Listen to his response…

¹³"But Lord," exclaimed Ananias, "I've heard about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! ¹⁴And we hear that he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest every believer in Damascus."

¹⁵But the Lord said, "Go and do what I say. For Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. ¹⁶And I will show him how much he must suffer for me."

¹⁷So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you may get your sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Instantly something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. ¹⁹Afterward he ate some food and was strengthened.

Can you imagine how different things would’ve been if Paul didn’t hear from Jesus that day on the road to Damascus?

Can you imagine what would’ve happened if Ananias wouldn’t have heard God and actually did what God told him?

When we don’t take time to pray and hear from God WE miss out, and OTHERS miss out, on important things that could change our lives for ever!

We’ve got to take time to pray. We’ve got to learn to “listen” more when we pray!

In, “Our Daily Bread”, December 29, 1993 issue it told a story about a prisoner in a Soviet prison camp named Ivan, “Ivan endured all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, "Prayers won't help you get out of here any faster." Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, "I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God."

When we don’t take time for “two-way” prayer we miss out on knowing God’s will and direction for us. We miss out on knowing what he wants us to do!

Prayer helps us to discover God’s will and to surrender ourselves to it.

E. Stanley Jones in Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, said this… “Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.”

There’s another amazing example of this in a story in the next chapter in Acts 10.

¹In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. ²He was a devout man who feared the God of Israel, as did his entire household. He gave generously to charity and was a man who regularly prayed to God. (Did you catch that?) ³One afternoon about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. "Cornelius!" the angel said.

⁴Cornelius stared at him in terror. "What is it, sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God! ⁵Now send some men down to Joppa to find a man named Simon Peter. ⁶He is staying with Simon, a leatherworker who lives near the shore. Ask him to come and visit you."

Let’s pause the story for a second, cause I don’t want you to miss this…

Don’t ever think your prayers or your actions are useless! What this angel just told Cornelius is something that should remind us that God pays attention to our words and actions! (Did you also again notice God knew someone’s current address?) Alright, let’s get back to the story…

⁷As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. ⁸He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.

Alright now watch what happens the next day…

Peter Visits Cornelius

⁹The next day as Cornelius's messengers were nearing the city, Peter went up to the flat roof to pray. (Did you catch what Peter took time to do, like Cornelius did?) It was about noon, ¹⁰and he was hungry. But while lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. ¹²In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. ¹³Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat them."

¹⁴"Never, Lord," Peter declared. "I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws. ^F48 "

¹⁵The voice spoke again, "If God says something is acceptable, don't say it isn't." ^F49 ¹⁶The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was pulled up again to heaven.

¹⁷Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found the house and stood outside at the gate. ¹⁸They asked if this was the place where Simon Peter was staying. ¹⁹Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, "Three men have come looking for you. ²⁰Go down and go with them without hesitation. All is well, for I have sent them."

²¹So Peter went down and said, "I'm the man you are looking for. Why have you come?"

²²They said, "We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout man who fears the God of Israel and is well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to send for you so you can go to his house and give him a message." ²³So Peter invited the men to be his guests for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some other believers ^F50 from Joppa.

²⁴They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for him and had called together his relatives and close friends to meet Peter. ²⁵As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell to the floor before him in worship. ²⁶But Peter pulled him up and said, "Stand up! I'm a human being like you!" ²⁷So Cornelius got up, and they talked together and went inside where the others were assembled.

²⁸Peter told them, "You know it is against the Jewish laws for me to come into a Gentile home like this. But God has shown me that I should never think of anyone as impure. ²⁹So I came as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me."

³⁰Cornelius told Peter the story of what happened when he was praying and how God told him to send for Peter. Then he said, “Now here we are, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you."

The Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴Then Peter replied, "I see very clearly that God doesn't show partiality. ³⁵In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶I'm sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what happened all through Judea, beginning in Galilee after John the Baptist began preaching. ³⁸And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.

³⁹"And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by crucifying him, ⁴⁰but God raised him to life three days later…”

Peter tells them the rest of the story and how Jesus is the one the prophets foretold about. And as he’s finishing something amazing happens…

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

⁴⁴Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who had heard the message. ⁴⁵The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles, too. ⁴⁶And there could be no doubt about it, for they heard them speaking in 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?" ⁴⁸So 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.

This was a life changing experience for Cornelius and his friends and family. But it also was a life changing experience for Peter, because he and the other Disciples didn’t really understand that Jesus’ death and resurrection was for the world, not just for the Jews. When he saw them speak in tongues like they did, which was the sign that they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, he knew God accepted everyone through Jesus.

What would’ve happened if Cornelius didn’t take time that day to have “two-way” prayer with God? Would Cornelius’ and his friends and family ever have become Christ-followers if he didn’t? How long would it have taken this to happen?
What would’ve happened if Peter didn’t take time that day to have “two-way” prayer with God? Would he ever have known that Jesus died for the world, not just the Jews? How long would it have taken him to realize this?

When we don’t take time regularly for “two-way” prayer, then we miss out on things God wants to give us and do in our lives. But, we also miss out on something more important – we miss out on knowing God’s will and hearing from God.

Ps. 46:10 says "Be still, and know that I am God…”

William Barclay in “Prodigals and Those Who Love” gives us 3 things we need to always remember when we pray…

“When we pray, remember:

1. The love of God that wants the best for us.
2. The wisdom of God that knows what is best for us.
3. The power of God that can accomplish it.

Every great believer who God has ever done amazing things in and through has known how important “two-prayer” is!

Martin Luther said, “If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.”

John Bunyon said, “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."

CONCLUSION:
If we want God to do amazing things in and through our lives we have to spend more time in “two-way” prayer. It takes silence. It takes regular practice. It takes seeing how important it is and making time for it in our busy lives!

How does God speak to us? (Ask people)

1. Through his word.

2. Through others.

3. Through situations.

4. Through that still small voice.

5. Through dreams and visions. (Speaking in front of a large crowd before Bethany. Did it when we rapped.)

We need to always test what we feel God’s telling us through any of these other ways with his Word. God will never contradict or go against what he says in his word!

Listening is the missing ingredient to meaningful prayer and a powerful relationship with God! I want to encourage you to spend time this week talking and listening to God!

He might already be trying to speak to you about something you just haven’t stopped to listen or notice what he’s saying!

“A New Beginning And A New Experience”

2007-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

I think we, as a church, are on the edge of something new.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a part of a faith community – that God was doing amazing things in and through?
Can you imagine what’d it be like to be a part of a growing influence that touches Palo Alto, the Peninsula, and Silicon Valley with God’s love?

I really believe that’s God’s going to do something new in and through us, through this. We’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs as a church and individually over the last two years.

When we usually think of trials and problems we think they’re a sign that something’s wrong. But what if they’re actually a sign that something’s RIGHT?

A guy named Neil Cole, who has started over 700 small organic churches in 32 states and 23 countries said something in his book called, “Organic Church” that I want you to hear. In a section titled, “The Church That Is Growing Will Face Opposition” he said this…

“Jesus said that we would face resistance as the church starts to grow. He identified the antagonism as what comes from Hades. Wherever the church is alive and growing, hell is opposing it.”

“One sign of a healthy church is that she faces hostility from hell. A preached once said, ‘If you wake up in the morning and don’t run into the enemy head on, then maybe you’re going in the wrong direction.’ Ed Silvoso rightly points out that ‘the Bible doesn’t say to ignore the devil and he will flee from you.’ We must stand firm and resist the enemy.”

I think that some of the opposition we’ve felt in this and some it that some of you are going through now is because the devil knows if we succeed as a church, YOU will be different, your friends will be different, and the people in Palo Alto and this area will be different!

So he wants to do whatever he can to get us to give up and quit!

But something happened at the end of last year, when we as a church were running low on finances to afford to meet somewhere. We prayed and we moved back into a house.

That when something changed. Something happened in us over the last 13 Sundays we’ve been meeting like this.

I don’t know how to describe it, but I’m different and you’re different. You see God took the things the devil wanted to use to discourage us, and get us to give up, and God used them to put us in a new direction.

It’s more in the direction that I think He had for us from the beginning. We just didn’t know it!

I just read an article in the ezine “Serve”. It was called “Kindness to Go!” By Steve Bowen and he said something that goes along with what I’m saying. He said…

“I’ve discovered an amazing thing, fresh vision doesn’t usually come during zippity do da times when everything good is happening, or when there is positive forward movement and things are good. Fresh vision usually comes during times of crisis.”

”At times vision is developed when we have hit a wall, when we have to dig deep, rethink and go back to the drawing board. For example: Israel faced a major crisis, the King had just died, What to do?, what to do? Isaiah dug deep, prayed and cried out. Then Isaiah saw the Lord, and was propelled inward to deal with his stuff and into outward-ness as the question was asked, ‘Who will go for me?’, ‘Here am I send me,’ was the answer.”

I feel like that happened to us. We hit a wall, got a new vision, and by going this new direction we are beginning to answer God’s call “Who will go for me?”

We’re going and expanding by doing these new groups.

Remember in Matt. 13:31-33 where Jesus said?

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branches."

³³Jesus also used this illustration: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount ^F74 of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough."

The mustard seed was planted. The yeast spread throughout the dough. These groups are in a way planting and spreading us around the Peninsula.

But, I think they’re more than that!

This new form that’d we’re morphing into could be revolutionary in your life. These groups could become the most practical experience with the church you’ve ever had. I’m not exaggerating!

How or why can it be revolutionary?

Personally designed for where you’re at and your needs
The leaders are going to be able to design the group to fit your and their own needs.

It’s going to be a chance to walk with Jesus and know him more personally.

Interactive – from passive to active mode

You’re going to be able to pray for any needs people have, and talk about life, what God’s teaching you, laugh, pray, think and live out God’s Word.

Application – we’ll begin living out more of what we believe.
I believe we’ll begin to live out the truth that we know more. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again… The key to success in any area of life is not found in the complicated steps, but in the simple, obvious and basic steps! These group will help us to do this together and inspire us to do them on our own in our everyday lives!

There are two main goals that we have in doing these groups. It comes from a thought and passage so simple and obvious that I’m almost embarrassed to tell you it.

But, I’m praying that the Holy Spirit hits you with the power of it when I say it.

Our two main goals are inspired from John 3:16. But before I read it to you, I want to remind you of something. This is obvious but it hit me when I read this verse the other day.

When we usually hear this verse we think about it as a simple statement ABOUT God and his love. But that’s not what it is! It’s not a simple statement ABOUT and his love! It’s a simple statement FROM God about his love.

The person saying these words I’m about to read is Jesus! He’s telling these words to Nicodemus after he just told him that flesh can only produce flesh. The only way to see and be a part of the kingdom of heaven is to be born again.

And in the middle of telling him about what he means it’s like he suddenly reveals the truth heart of God. He looks at him and says in John 3:16….

¹⁶"For God so loved (I so loved) the world that he gave his only Son (I offer myself), so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

Our two main goals for these groups that comes from this are:

Our goal is for people in your group to grow. Grow as a Christ-follower. Jesus loves you. He wants you to know him more in your mind and in your experience. He wants you to love him more – love him with our lifestyle.
Our goal is for your group to grow. We want more people to know Jesus. We want to show with our actions to the people around us that God loves them. I want us in these groups to begin praying for friends we want to Jesus.

But all this revolutionary change isn’t just going to happen when you show up together next Sunday. It’s going to take is a commitment from us in 2 basic ways:

A commitment to personally seek Jesus more and help others to know him. . Like Brett said last Sunday, if you want to more of an aroma of Jesus to the people around you then you need to fall more in love with him!
A commitment to be with this group of friends for the 8 weeks and see what God does in you and them through the process. Be with them physically, but also really be with them. Come with the purpose to enjoy it. Come with the purpose to give and get something out of your time together.

These groups will to be self-serve and do-it-yourself. That means that you make it as good as it is. When you help the leader, when you participate, when you suggest ideas, then you’ll see growth!

In this new mode of church, there are some things I want to encourage you to try to live out over the next 4 months. We need to try and live them out individually and together in our groups. These are things that I think will help that revolutionary change happen:

· Incarnational: Being Jesus’s hands, feet and voice on your own and together. I did that donut outreach for a reason to show you how easy and fun it can be! For $.6.75 and 20-30 minutes of your time you can show someone’s God’s love! I want to encourage you to come up with ways to do this on your own. I want to encourage you to do this with a friend or two. Over the semester I want to encourage your group to something! Be creative. Make it simple and cheap.

· Outward focused: These groups aren’t about just growing us, but about helping Jesus to show someone else he loves them. I want you to be praying on your own and as a group about friends, neighbors, or co-workers you can invite. Think about who you really wish was a part of your group and start praying for them.

We might meet in public places. Coffeehouse, park, ?
Read from “Organic Church” 2^nd par. P. 23 – ending top of p. 24

In Luke 5:31-32 of the Message Paraphrase: It says, "Jesus heard about it and spoke up, 'Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting outsiders, not insiders-- and invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out." ***That’s why we want to be outward focused, cause when we are we’re like Jesus!***

· Connection – knowing God and the people in your group more. I’ve already talked about this, but I want to make sure you understand something…

I don’t expect or even want you to become best friends with everyone in your group. It’s not even realistic! I just want you to get to know them and appreciate them more. I want you to let your self be known more by your group! I want you to go from just knowing that person’s name and few facts about them, to knowing more of their story and who they ARE!

Focus on doing that and letting people know you more and just and see what happens! You might end up with a new close friend out of it. You might just learn to appreciate and understand someone more.

· Communion as common meal – The early church shared communion and it wasn’t just a cracker and juice. It was a FULL meal!

It was having a meal together and with God to remember what Jesus did! It reminds me of what Jesus says in Revelation 3:20-22, “Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. ²¹I will invite everyone who is victorious to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. ²²Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Maybe you’ll have a meal together as a group on one of the Sundays – maybe a breakfast or a lunch. Don’t just have a meal, but somehow do it in a way to remember and celebrate Jesus or what he’s doing in your life. Maybe you’ll have a meal with just a few people from your group that you have over and you have a chance to talk, and laugh and celebrate what God’s doing in your group’s life.

· Knowing (living) God’s word – I want to encourage you on your own and in your groups to focus on knowing God’s word more in your heads and figuring out more how to live it in your lives! Take these next 4 months and really digest God’s word. Feed on large amounts of it and talk about it together!

· Praying for each other and others – I believe that God wants us to begin to pray and believe him for more things in our lives and in the lives of people we know.

I believe what I’m about to tell you is a prophetic word for us and those of you who know me know I DON’T talk about "prophetic word’s" like this ever…

In John 4:46-54 there’s a story…

⁴⁶In the course of his (Jesus’) journey through Galilee, he arrived at the town of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in the city of Capernaum whose son was very sick. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was traveling in Galilee, he went over to Cana. He found Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum with him to heal his son, who was about to die.

⁴⁸Jesus asked, "Must I do miraculous signs and wonders before you people will believe in me?"

⁴⁹The official pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies."

⁵⁰Then Jesus told him, "Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed Jesus' word and started home.

⁵¹While he was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. ⁵²He asked them when the boy had begun to feel better, and they replied, "Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!" ⁵³Then the father realized it was the same time that Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." And the officer and his entire household believed in Jesus. ⁵⁴This was Jesus' second miraculous sign in Galilee after coming from Judea.

This is the prophetic part… I believe that we each need to go to Jesus and beg and plead and ask him to speak life over and into this church.

We need this whole thing needs to be bathed and covered in prayer. We to get together different times and pray together about this - for our groups, for Palo Alto, etc…

God has put this prayer focus on my heart and he’s put it on Ioannis’ heart.

But, you know what? I don’t want to set some prayer times up. I don’t want to ask you and convince you that it’s important to come. That’s the old centralized way to do things!

I’m praying that God has and does put it on some of your hearts to do this on your own. I praying and believing that God has and will cause some of you to make these times to get together and pray happen on your own.

I’m believing that God will cause some of you to want to talk to people about doing this. That’ll you’ll get groups together to pray – whether it’s just a couple of you, just the people in your group or it’s people in our church as a whole!

But, it will have to be something God puts on your hearts and that you act on if it’s going to be the kind of prayer that helps us see the Holy Spirit move in and through us in a new way!
ose With FOLLOWING JESUS?

Close With This
-Pray and then pass out the commitment cards and have people sign them. Have them pass them back up front face down.

-Pray for Brett, Dave and Georgianna