Main Point/Title: Redeemed to Bless
Text: Ezra 1, Haggai, Zechariah 8:9-17
Link: The Story Pt. 19
Ezra 1: God's faithfulness and timing
Leads to:
- Revival
- Restoration
As life goes by crazy fast are we willing to trust God's faithfulness and wait on His timing?
Haggai: Need to avoid mission creep
Israel had been revived & restored, but the cares of life and the trails that they faced in the rebuilding of the temple side tracked them off what they had been revived and restored to do. Haggai calls them to get back on mission.
As life comes at us crazy fast are we staying on mission or getting sidelined...do we have a long range picture of what God is doing or are we living day to day? I think that it is safe to say that the church in America has suffered from mission creep...Last weekend I was blessed to be in a small group meeting with Gordon MacDonald where he challenged us that a church of 350+ growing numerically might be a church that is already dead, because they are off mission and not getting ready for the future/understanding the ever changing world around us. If we are truly producing reproducing disciples we will be ready.
Application (Zechariah 8:9-17, Matthew 5:1-12)
- Are we seeking God's revival and restoration?
- As life goes by crazy fast are we being a blessing?
Matthew 5:1-12 lays out what being a blessings looks like. Celebrate Recovery's "Road to Recovery" lays out steps on how to be revived/restored and how we can come along side others and bless them by walking them through those steps...
Christians are redeemed to bless...may God find willing followers that stay on mission.
By His Grace and for His Glory....Amen
Friday, March 28, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The Story Chap 16 (King Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 30)
Text: 2 Chronicles 30
Link to Sermon: The Story Pt. 16
Discussion Questions:
- What does it mean to be an American?
(link to video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJSI48gkFc)
- What does it mean to be an Israelite?
- What does it mean to be a Christian?
Main Point: God calls us to be citizens of Heaven
King Hezekiah begins his reign by cleansing the Temple, restoring worship at the Temple and celebrating Passover. I believe that Hezekiah celebrates Passover, b/c it was a reminder of where they had come out of and Whose the people of Israel where and where to be...they were a called out people, different from the cultures and nations around them and they were to live in such a way that those cultures and nations were to be drawn into worship of God. They had been liberated and set free...they did not have to fear the King of Assyria...the northern Kingdom had abandoned God and now in this part of the story the northern Kingdom goes into exile, but not so with the southern Kingdom...as long as they kept their eyes on God and their covenant relationship with Him they would not have to fear the King of Assyria...Hezekiah calls them to be the people God had called them to be.
For the Christian communion is to be a reminder of what we have been liberated from and Whose we are...namely children of the King...this should lead us to live out the 4 Ls...
- Love God and others (Matt. 22:36-40, John 15:1-17)
If you understand/feel the weight of what you have been liberated from you will love God and others deeply...if you understand that you have moved from worthless (enemy) to worthwhile (child) how can you not have compassion on those around you? Jesus calls us to live out the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-10). See Celebrate Recovery's Road to Recovery (http://www.celebrate-recovery.org/Guides/CR%208%20Principles.pdf) and look different from those around us who do not know God.
- Lead through service (Galatians 2:20, 5:13)
Need to die to self and live to Christ. Basically we need to move from "I" statements to shepherding others through service. Sin no longer owns the Christian. Hate, anger, jealousy...no longer own me, but rather a desire to serve should own the Christian. As citizens of Heaven God calls us to be a people on mission leading through serving.
- Liberate through sharing our faith (Luke 4:18-19)
You play a role in setting captives free. As Celebrate Recovery says "we need to move beyond our hurts, habits and hang ups." As we do this we need to help others be liberated and give Jesus their hurts, habits and hang ups so they too can experience freedom...What Jesus read from Isaiah was true of Him and now us as well.
- Launch Christ-followers into the world (Matt. 28:18-20)
We are all "sent ones" or missionaries. God calls us and sends us to be missionaries to our co-workers, family members and neighbors. We are all ministers we just get our pay checks from different places. The church is to be a place where we receive "Real world training for rapid deployment" into the world. The Sunday morning service is to be a celebration of what God is doing in and through us throughout the week and our Community Groups/Missional Communities and Life Transformation Groups are where we are on mission together, rubbing shoulders with one another and receiving real world training that equips us for rapid deployment...when we launch Celebrate Recovery in a couple of months it has a similar lay out...Large Group meeting that breaks into a break out group discussion that leads to Step Studies and Accountability partners. All of this is discipleship that needs to lead to disciples reproducing disciples...this is just a natural outflow of who we are and whose we are...
God loves us, He called us out of darkness into His light to be His citizens set on a hill broadcasting the Good News to the ends of the earth...we do that by loving God and others, leading through serving, liberating through sharing our faith and launching Christ-followers into the world...he made me a citizen of Heaven not just for me though, but to use me to proclaim the Good News to the ends of the earth...if you understand what you have been redeemed from how can you keep silent? How can you not cry out "There is salvation in our God/Jesus?" Hezekiah was basically saying "If we turn back to God, He will heal our land"...God is calling us to live our lives as His citizens in such a way that our culture is transformed for His glory not the reverse that we conform to culture for its glory...
By His grace and for His glory,
Amen
Link to Sermon: The Story Pt. 16
Discussion Questions:
- What does it mean to be an American?
(link to video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJSI48gkFc)
- What does it mean to be an Israelite?
- What does it mean to be a Christian?
Main Point: God calls us to be citizens of Heaven
King Hezekiah begins his reign by cleansing the Temple, restoring worship at the Temple and celebrating Passover. I believe that Hezekiah celebrates Passover, b/c it was a reminder of where they had come out of and Whose the people of Israel where and where to be...they were a called out people, different from the cultures and nations around them and they were to live in such a way that those cultures and nations were to be drawn into worship of God. They had been liberated and set free...they did not have to fear the King of Assyria...the northern Kingdom had abandoned God and now in this part of the story the northern Kingdom goes into exile, but not so with the southern Kingdom...as long as they kept their eyes on God and their covenant relationship with Him they would not have to fear the King of Assyria...Hezekiah calls them to be the people God had called them to be.
For the Christian communion is to be a reminder of what we have been liberated from and Whose we are...namely children of the King...this should lead us to live out the 4 Ls...
- Love God and others (Matt. 22:36-40, John 15:1-17)
If you understand/feel the weight of what you have been liberated from you will love God and others deeply...if you understand that you have moved from worthless (enemy) to worthwhile (child) how can you not have compassion on those around you? Jesus calls us to live out the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-10). See Celebrate Recovery's Road to Recovery (http://www.celebrate-recovery.org/Guides/CR%208%20Principles.pdf) and look different from those around us who do not know God.
- Lead through service (Galatians 2:20, 5:13)
Need to die to self and live to Christ. Basically we need to move from "I" statements to shepherding others through service. Sin no longer owns the Christian. Hate, anger, jealousy...no longer own me, but rather a desire to serve should own the Christian. As citizens of Heaven God calls us to be a people on mission leading through serving.
- Liberate through sharing our faith (Luke 4:18-19)
You play a role in setting captives free. As Celebrate Recovery says "we need to move beyond our hurts, habits and hang ups." As we do this we need to help others be liberated and give Jesus their hurts, habits and hang ups so they too can experience freedom...What Jesus read from Isaiah was true of Him and now us as well.
- Launch Christ-followers into the world (Matt. 28:18-20)
We are all "sent ones" or missionaries. God calls us and sends us to be missionaries to our co-workers, family members and neighbors. We are all ministers we just get our pay checks from different places. The church is to be a place where we receive "Real world training for rapid deployment" into the world. The Sunday morning service is to be a celebration of what God is doing in and through us throughout the week and our Community Groups/Missional Communities and Life Transformation Groups are where we are on mission together, rubbing shoulders with one another and receiving real world training that equips us for rapid deployment...when we launch Celebrate Recovery in a couple of months it has a similar lay out...Large Group meeting that breaks into a break out group discussion that leads to Step Studies and Accountability partners. All of this is discipleship that needs to lead to disciples reproducing disciples...this is just a natural outflow of who we are and whose we are...
God loves us, He called us out of darkness into His light to be His citizens set on a hill broadcasting the Good News to the ends of the earth...we do that by loving God and others, leading through serving, liberating through sharing our faith and launching Christ-followers into the world...he made me a citizen of Heaven not just for me though, but to use me to proclaim the Good News to the ends of the earth...if you understand what you have been redeemed from how can you keep silent? How can you not cry out "There is salvation in our God/Jesus?" Hezekiah was basically saying "If we turn back to God, He will heal our land"...God is calling us to live our lives as His citizens in such a way that our culture is transformed for His glory not the reverse that we conform to culture for its glory...
By His grace and for His glory,
Amen
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