Episodes
Monday Jul 13, 2020
What Jesus Says About Love (07/12/20)
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Words To Live By
"What Jesus says about Love"
The Kingdom way of life is:
- NOT about self-preservation; BUT all about self-presentation.
- NOT about standing up for my rights; BUT all about standing out in grace.
- NOT about elevating my liberty, BUT elevating my service.
- NOT about what I have; BUT what I give.
Necessary Heart Adjustments:
Heart Adjustment #1: It's NOT about ME
Heart Adjustment #2: It's NOT about MERIT
Heart Adjustment #3: It's ALL about Jesus
Final Thought: Want a different World? Be the difference.
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
What Jesus Says About Integrity (07/05/20)
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Words to Live By
What Jesus says about Integrity
Matthew 5:33-37
“You have heard it said…But I say to you, do not…”
(1) Do Not … does not mean, you cannot
(See v33) (See 2 Corinthians 1:18, Galatians 1:20, Matthew 26:63)
Deuteronomy 23:21, “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin.”
Takeaway: Passionately Pursue Authenticity
(2) Do Not … means ‘be not’ (deceitful)
(See v34) (All words matter: See Colossians 3:8, James 3:10, Ephesians 5:4, Exodus 20:7)
Matthew 12:36 (ESV), Jesus said… “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak…”
Psalm 141:3, “Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.”
Psalm 39:1, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth…”
Takeaway: Ruthlessly Eradicate Duplicity
(3) Do Not … means Be Different
Matthew 12:34 “…whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”
Takeaway: Every day, Live with Integrity
See 1 Peter 3:8-12
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Don't Misunderstand Jesus (06/28/20)
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Words to Live By
Don’t Misunderstand Jesus
Matthew 5: 17-20
1) We miss everything when we misunderstand Jesus. (vs. 17)
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” Matthew 5:17
2) God’s word is unchanging in a world that is ever-changing. (vs 18)
“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.”
3) Jesus calls us to a maximized faith. (vs. 19)
“So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:19
4) The righteous warning of Christ leads us to the truth of the Gospel. (vs. 20)
“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” Matthew 5:20
Monday Jun 22, 2020
Matters of the Heart (6/21/20)
Monday Jun 22, 2020
Monday Jun 22, 2020
Matters of the Heart
Matthew 5:21-26
I. Action
II. Attitude
III. Application
Sunday Jun 14, 2020
A Preview Of Coming Attractions (6/14/20)
Sunday Jun 14, 2020
Sunday Jun 14, 2020
A Preview of Coming Attractions
Revelation 22:17-21, Revelation 21:1-4, Revelation 7:9-10
The final message of Revelation can be summarized with one word: COME!
Hebrews 10:25, “let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
1) Come … because there is a coming day
(See Revelation 21:1-4)
v3, “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is NOW among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.”
2) Come … because there is a coming one.
(See Revelation 22:7 & 12-13)
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.” Revelation 22:7
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:12-13
“After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10
3) Come … because there is a coming work.
Purpose: The purpose of the church is to lift up and glorify the name of Jesus!
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.” Revelation 22:16
Mission: The mission of the church is to invite others to come to Christ.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. Revelation 22:17
Sunday Jun 07, 2020
Straining Forward...To the Not Yet (6/7/20)
Sunday Jun 07, 2020
Sunday Jun 07, 2020
Beyond Normal
“Straining forward … to the Not Yet”
Philippians 3:12-14; 2 Kings 20:1-7
Psalm 133:1 (ERV), “Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is when God’s people all come together…”
Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
How do you Strain Forward to the “NOT YET”?
1) Live, in the Struggle of Not Yet
v1, “About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill…”
(See James 4:14, 1 Chronicles 29:15, 2 Samuel 14:14)
2) Live, at the intersection faith and the Not Yet
v2, “When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall…”
James 4:13-17, “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”
Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
3) Live, on the edge of the Not Yet, Now.
See 2 Kings 20:4-6
Colossians 4:5, “Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.”
Sunday May 31, 2020
Surrendering The Historical (5/31/20)
Sunday May 31, 2020
Sunday May 31, 2020
Beyond Normal
Surrendering the Historical
2 Kings 19:17-19 & Philippians 3:12-14
1) Surrender to God’s will, not your circumstances.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. 18 And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. 19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” 2 Kings 19:17-19
2) Surrender the things that will hold you back.
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[d] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14
3) Surrender the good so that you can take hold of the greatness of God.
“24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[l] Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:24-26
Sunday May 24, 2020
Extraordinary...Opens (5/24/20)
Sunday May 24, 2020
Sunday May 24, 2020
Beyond Normal
“Extraordinary…opens”
Philippians 3:12-14; 2 Kings 18
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14
“Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.” 2 Kings 18:5
What does it take to OPEN THE EXTRAORDINARY?
#1) Break with the past
v3-4, “He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan.”
“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19
#2) Make a Hard Turn
v4, “He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made…”
Hebrews 9:27, “…each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment…”
#3) Take a Bold Stand
v7b, “He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute.”
“Pray as if everything depended upon God. Work as if everything depended on you.”
Saint Augustine
Friday May 15, 2020
Your Lockdown Has A Future (05/17/20)
Friday May 15, 2020
Friday May 15, 2020
Unlocking your Lockdown
Your Lockdown … has a future
Genesis 41
[God is] … “able, through his mighty power at work within us,
to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think!”
Ephesians 3:20
What does it take to Grow Eternally?
1) Size Up … where you are
v1, “two full years later”
2) Step Up … to King-sized Opportunity
v14, “Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.”
3) Keep Up … a Right-sized view of “me”
v16, “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
4) Get Up … for a God-sized Vision
v33, “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:12-14
Friday May 15, 2020
Your Story Is Bigger Than You (05/10/20)
Friday May 15, 2020
Friday May 15, 2020
Unlocking Your Lockdown
Your Story is bigger than you!
Genesis 40
Key Thought: Deepening without widening has the potential to lead us into a self-centered faith.
As you recognize the voice of God in your own life, who is He is prompting you to reach out to?
5 While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. 7 “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.8 And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.” “Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.” Genesis 40:5-8
Go out, right where you are.
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:12-15:
Grow out by going all out to join God in the work he is doing in our world.
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 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 Corinthians 5:18-20