Tag Archives: Jesus

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Upcoming Book by Boyd: Jesus versus Jehovah

Greg Boyd explains some details of his upcoming book: Jesus versus Jehovah.  I will hold any judgments until I read it, but I agree at least with this part of his summary:

“Though he was in fact all-holy, on Calvary the Son of God identified with our sin to the point of bearing our guilt. So too, the Father is said to have afflicted his Son (Isa. 53) though in fact he merely allowed wicked powers using wicked people to crucify Jesus. When we read the Old Testament through this lens, we find God frequently identifying himself as the agent of violence, though the context makes it clear that he is merely allowing violent agents to do what they want to do. God is portrayed as doing what he actually merely allows.  There are historical and exegetic reasons for this, but the theological reason, I argue, is that God has always been a God who takes responsibility for all that he allows — even though he detests much of what he allows. This is how God bears our sin and why he takes on the semblance of a nationalistic, law-oriented warrior god.”

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Part #4: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Part 4 artificiality

Tozer points out one final source of burden: Artificiality.

“Another source of burden is artificiality. I am sure that most people live in secret fear that some day they will be careless and by chance an enemy or friend will be allowed to peep into their poor empty souls. So they are never relaxed. Bright people are tense and alert in fear that they may be trapped into saying something common or stupid. Traveled people are afraid that they may meet some Marco Polo who is able to describe some remote place where they have never been.This unnatural condition is part of our sad heritage of sin, but in our day it is aggravated by our whole way of life. Advertising is largely based upon this habit of pretense. `Courses’ are offered in this or that field of human learning frankly appealing to the victim’s desire to shine at a party. Books are sold, clothes and cosmetics are peddled, by playing continually upon this desire to appear what we are not.”

Finally to conclude our miniseries, Tozer points out the solution, once again, to our artificiality, pretense, and pride: meekness.  Only through meekness will our burdens be lifted and only then can we find rest for our souls.

“Artificiality is one curse that will drop away the moment we kneel at Jesus’ feet and surrender ourselves to His meekness. Then we will not care what people think of us so long as God is pleased. Then what we are will be everything; what we appear will take its place far down the scale of interest for us. Apart from sin we have nothing of which to be ashamed. Only an evil desire to shine makes us want to appear other than we are.The heart of the world is breaking under this load of pride and pretense. There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ. Good keen reasoning may help slightly, but so strong is this vice that if we push it down one place it will come up somewhere else. To men and women everywhere Jesus says, `Come unto me, and I will give you rest.’ The rest He offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend. It will take some courage at first, but the needed grace will come as we learn that we are sharing this new and easy yoke with the strong Son of God Himself. He calls it `my yoke,’ and He walks at one end while we walk at the other.”

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Part #3: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Part 3  Pretense and Little Children

Tozer proceeds to share another of our burdens: Pretense.

“Then also he will get deliverance from the burden of pretense. By this I mean not hypocrisy, but the common human desire to put the best foot forward and hide from the world our real inward poverty. For sin has played many evil tricks upon us, and one has been the infusing into us a false sense of shame. There is hardly a man or woman who dares to be just what he or she is without doctoring up the impression. The fear of being found out gnaws like rodents within their hearts. The man of culture is haunted by the fear that he will some day come upon a man more cultured than himself. The learned man fears to meet a man more learned than he. The rich man sweats under the fear that his clothes or his car or his house will sometime be made to look cheap by comparison with those of another rich man. So-called `society’ runs by a motivation not higher than this, and the poorer classes on their level are little better.”

Tozer then points the solution to our pretense.  The way of the child.

“Let no one smile this off. These burdens are real, and little by little they kill the victims of this evil and unnatural way of life. And the psychology created by years of this kind of thing makes true meekness seem as unreal as a dream, as aloof as a star. To all the victims of the gnawing disease Jesus says, `Ye must become as little children.’ For little children do not compare; they receive direct enjoyment from what they have without relating it to something else or someone else. Only as they get older and sin begins to stir within their hearts do jealousy and envy appear. Then they are unable to enjoy what they have if someone else has something larger or better. At that early age does the galling burden come down upon their tender souls, and it never leaves them till Jesus sets them free.”

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Part #2: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Part 2 Pride and Meekness

The first burden that A.W. Tozer discusses in Chapter 9 of The Pursuit of God is PRIDE.

“Let us examine our burden. It is altogether an interior one. It attacks the heart and the mind and reaches the body only from within. First, there is the burden of pride. The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them.”

Tozer proceeds to point out the link between Jesus wisdom in Matthew 5:5 regarding the meek, and His ability to lighten our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. He develops toward himself a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, `Oh, so you have been overlooked? They have placed someone else before you? They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself? Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself, and cease to care what men think.’

The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto…As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him. The old struggle to defend himself is over. He has found the peace which meekness brings.”

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How to Pray

If you are not prayer warriors…then start small….10 minutes per
day…start a list of prayers and add to it…

How to pray? As I have mentioned, I am a rookie at focused time in
prayer to God, and I often don’t know how to start/what to say to
God….so I always fall back on a simple neumonic: A.C.T.S.
A: Adore God–tell God all the ways and reasons why you adore Him.
C: Confess to God–God is your secret sharer–tell Him ALL your
struggles, secrets, etc.
T: Thank God–tell God what you are thankful for…
S: Supplication–ASK! “Supplication is a continual praying–an ongoing quest for God’s will…”-Jack Hayford

…this usually takes up at least 10-15 minutes…I set my timer and so
often the alarm goes off and I am shocked at how fast the time with
God goes by….(Please don’t use a timer if you don’t have to or want
to…it is just my way to not worry about looking at my watch…It
helps me focus on God for the entire time…)

Finally, I would emphasize the practice of praying continually:  Wake up with the meditative image of Jesus waiting for you to wake up and start His adventure for the day with you, and spend each and every moment with God in prayer throughout the day…

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FEED the Poor: Oxfam Hunger Banquet

Have you heard of an Oxfam Hunger Banquet?  According to a Christian brother of mine:  “Basically, you hold a “banquet” where the attendees are randomly assigned a meal based proportionate to how the entire world eats. So out of 100 people, 2 might have an amazing feast on white table cloth, 10 might have a basic meal at a table, 50 might have beans and rice on the floor with no utensils, 20 might get scraps, and the rest get nothing.  Kinda makes the “lucky” 2 choke on their lobster!”
I recently learned that 80% of the world’s population lives on 10$/day or less!  This sobering stat has not left my thoughts in weeks; it has helped me to gain a better perspective on life.  Oxfamamerica is an organization that is working to solve the hunger problem one step at a time.
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Poverty, Wealth, Neglect

In this eye opening sermon, Greg Boyd points out that most of us are like the Nazi family in the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”.  We live next door to the concentration camp of poverty, but we are so indebted and deeply set into ‘the system’ that we don’t move to stop it.

Boyd also presents us with incredible data on poverty.

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Piercing the veil to our hearts

I love to read, but so often, I read and read and read but nothing sinks in, nothing stills my heart, nothing pierces soul.  Last night these words pierced my veil.  If only I was willing to allow God to tear down my veil how free, how joy filled, how wonderful marriage, friendship, fatherhood CAN be if we allow Him in….if we allow our wife and our closest friend(s) in to see our true heart and soul.
“What but the presence of a veil in our hearts? a veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us. It is the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross. It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look in our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.

Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction…There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Saviour passed when He suffered…

Let us remember: when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free. Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.

There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God.

Lord, how excellent are Thy ways, and how devious and dark are the ways of man. Show us how to die, that we may rise again to newness of life. Rend the veil of our self-life from the top down as Thou didst rend the veil of the Temple. We would draw near in full assurance of faith.”–Pursuit of God by Tozer

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Global Media Outreach

The Great Commission ends Matthew’s Gospel with the call to reach the world with the Good News of Christ’s love for the world.  Never in history have we ever conceived of a time when we could reach EVERY person with this message….until NOW.  Global Media Outreach (a subsidiary of Campus Crusade for Christ) has developed a method to reach EVERY person with the Good News not just once but multiple times by 2020.
Their method: A myriad websites sharing the Good News message.  2 million people each day search the Internet for spiritual answers, and Global Media Outreach is there to help them answer their questions and tell them the Good News.
Their results are staggering:
EVERY DAY:
16,000 people indicate they have prayed to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord or recommitted their lives to Him
3,000 people are requesting discipleship follow-up
OVERALL:
Over 3 million have indicated that they prayed to receive Jesus as Savior or recommitted themselves to Him
669,443 have requested follow up
Your role:
You can sign up to be an online volunteer! I just did, and I received my first email from someone in the Czech Republic  who just recommitted his life to Christ.  You can interact via email with these new believers to help them on their new journey of faith with online resources and guidance.  It is AMAZING!
Giving:  For those who wish to give financially, here is how the money can impact–if you or your church gives 10,000$=100,000 people will hear the Gospel message; 15,000 people will make decisions to become Christians; 3,000 people will ask for follow-up=WOW!
Questions?
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First Importance Part 2: 1 Corinthians 15

This is the 2nd of Mike Erre’s sermons on 1 Corinthians 15–a pivotal section of scripture regarding the first importance of the resurrection.

The last part of 1 Corinthians 15 is confusing to our modern reading because we miss the cultural context, and we lack back 1st century knowledge of the Old Testament.  Mike does a great job of walking us through the what Paul is saying.

We have to remember that Paul was a famous preacher/communicator so when he said these words to a crowd of  1st century people, they must of understood it as clearly as we understand the newspaper.

Mike ends with a magical time of helping us to picture the grandeur and excitement of heaven.  Enjoy!

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The GREAT Adventure, Part 3: Your Story

What is your story? Join us in this 3rd part of 4 sermons on God’s love and grace.

There is a great website that walks you through the process of creating your story to share: www.5clicks.com

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

Taking everyday risks to extend the grace of God

THE HOPE THAT IS WITHIN US

15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect-1Peter 3:15

WE ALL HAVE A STORY TO SHARE

-Our friends are interested

-Our friends can relate

-It is hard to argue with

PAUL’S GRACE STORY-ACTS 26

9“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth…On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. 12“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ” ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 21That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

_________–vv. 9-11

_________-vv. 12-18

_________-vv. 19-23

STORY TIPS

Theme

-The central issue in our lives that shows the_______ in our spiritual outlook before and after knowing Christ.

Middle Handle

-we need to keep it simple, clear, and __________

Conclusion

-End with a question that requires a ____________

Scripture

-Think of one key verse that relates to your story.

Language

-avoid religious clichés and insider language

Length

-Be_________ and to the point

Put others first

-keep focus on your friend

-Emphasize those aspects of your story that will relate

PRAY FOR AN OPEN DOOR

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.-col. 4:3


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The GREAT Adventure, Part 4: The Bridges

This is the 4th and final part of our sermon series on grace, love, and God.

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

Taking everyday risks to extend the grace of God

HELPING SPIRITUAL EXPLORES FIND THE GRACE OF GOD

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” -2 Cor. 5:20

REMEMBER THIS IS A ___________ AND NOT AN EVENT

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field-1Corinthians 3:5-9

-Process oriented

-Team based

-Spirit driven

BRIDGE ONE: __________ RELATIONSHIPS

As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. -1 Thessalonians 2:7-12

-Genuine

-Grace filled

-Authentic

BRIDGE TWO-THE ______________

1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you…… 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,–1Cor. 15:1-3

The bridge illustration

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.-Col. 4:3-6

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First Importance Part 1: The Resurrection 1 Corinthians 15

Mike Erre at Rockharbor Church has been doing a series on 1 Corinthians.  I have attatched for your listening interest the 1st of his sermons concerning 1 Corinthians 15 which is a pivotal section of Scripture describing the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Mike points out:

  • without the resurrection our faith is worthless
  • the word used in this passage and throughout the New Testament means trust in something that you know to be true
  • 1 Corinthians 15 is a creedal statement dated to approx 36 A.D. (only 3 years after Christ’s death)
  • there is substantial historical and testimonial evidence for the resurrection: crucifixion=death, empty tomb=skeptics need to ‘show me the body’, appearances=many and so convincing that cowards became martyrs, tranformed lives=Saul to Paul, doubting Thomas, and James the younger brother of Jesus…cumulative evidence–what event best explains all of this? A: The resurrection
  • gospel accounts: women first to see Him (only way women would be first witnesses would be that it really happened this way); non embelished, simple accounts (not enough time for legend & very real, down to earth accounts), etc…
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The GREAT Adventure, Part 2: God’s Story

This is the 2nd of 4 parts to a sermon series about grace, adventure, and God’s love. Enjoy!

The Gospel Message

The Unexpected Adventure

Pastor Bucky Dennis

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Romans 1:16-18

  1. _________________________

  1. God is _________

“…God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in god, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16b

  1. God is _________ (absolutely pure)

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:16

  1. God is _________ (a good judge)

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.” 2 Thessalonians 1:16

  1. _________________________

  1. We were created good, but became _________.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

  1. We deserve _________ (physical & spiritual)

“For the wages of sin is death…”Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:22

  1. We are spiritually _________ (“morally bankrupt”)

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9

The Gospel Message

The Unexpected Adventure

Pastor Bucky Dennis

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Romans 1:16-18

  1. _________________________

  1. God is _________

“…God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in god, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16b

  1. God is _________ (absolutely pure)

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:16

  1. God is _________ (a good judge)

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.” 2 Thessalonians 1:16

  1. _________________________

  1. We were created good, but became _________.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

  1. We deserve _________ (physical & spiritual)

“For the wages of sin is death…”Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:22

  1. We are spiritually _________ (“morally bankrupt”)

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9

  1. _________________________

    1. Christ is _________, who also became man.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14; John 8:24

    1. Christ died as our _________.

“He himself bore our signs in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and life for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21

    1. Christ offers us salvation as a _________.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23

  1. _________________________

    1. You and I must _________.

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

    1. We must trust Christ to be our _________

and _________.

“…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

    1. The result is a spiritual _________ by the Holy Spirit.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

  1. _________________________

    1. Christ is _________, who also became man.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14; John 8:24

    1. Christ died as our _________.

“He himself bore our signs in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and life for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21

    1. Christ offers His forgiveness as a _________.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23

  1. _________________________

    1. You and I must _________.

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

    1. We must trust Christ to be our _________

and _________.

“…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

    1. The result is a spiritual _________ by the Holy Spirit.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

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The GREAT adventure, Part 1: Grace & Love

Enjoy this teaching time about God’s amazing grace and love for us.  Here is the outline:

THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

Taking everyday risks to extend the grace of God

AMBUSHED BY GRACE

4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.-Eph. 2:4-9

FALLING INTO THE HEART OF GOD-Luke 15

Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”-Luke 15:1

People matter to God

–the loss of connection

-a heart that seeks and finds

–the celebration of heaven

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. –Luke 15:

HELPING SPIRITUAL EXPLORERS FIND THE GRACE OF GOD

-Lead with love

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.-1 John 3:18

–live an authentic faith

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.–Matt. 5:13-16

-pray for opportunities

3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.-col. 4:3

–take every day risks for God

5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.-Col. 4:5-6

20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” -2 Cor. 5:20

PRAYING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO EXTEND  GOD’S GRACE