The Holy Who?

This week message about the Holy Spirit was an eye opening message of the roll of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. In Matthew 6:5-14 we see the work of the Holy Spirit as our GUIDE. A guide is the one representing a journey to a destination. Jeremiah 29:11 says that the Lord has good thoughts that give hope (or a destination, goal) The roll of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to be our guide in everyday life. He leads us closer to the Lord and guides us daily thought the ups and downs of life. Matthew 6:34 says to not worry about tomorrow because it has its own troubles. Many times in lifewe make decisions motivated by the fear of tomorrow. This may feel comforting at the moment but the majority of the time it is not based in faith because of the foundation of fear. The Lord said in the Lord’s prayer that He would give us what we need, at the time, to get through every day. He may not give it early, but He will give it to us when needed. In John 10:10 it says that Christ comes to give us an abundant life. To sum it up we need to focus on living successful days with Christ and it will lead us to an abundant future. –God Bless!!

Un________ Service

This Sunday was an incredible service. I was so excited about the updates to our sanctuary. It looks amazing! Thank you everybody who gave both financially and their time to get it completed. The following are the notes from Sunday’s message and the video clip. Have a blessed week!!

How many of you can relate to the woman in the video? The following are five points of relating to Christ and Church.

1) UNCOMMON
Jeremiah 1:5
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew ^[a] you,
       before you were born I set you apart;
       I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Christ knew us from the womb. We are known and loved by Christ. We did not come into this world without Him excitedly knowing. Christ is excited about our lives and being with us on the journey of life.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jesus thinks about you! This is an amazing thought. Jesus not only thinks about you, He has good thoughts toward you. It may surprise us at times how much Jesus loves us even when we don’t feel lovable. He is like a parent toward a child. A parent’s love never changes even when the child is disobedient. Every parent wants the best for their kids. Jesus is the same towards us. He desires the best for us. We can receive the great things Jesus has in store for us when we follow His leadership in our daily lives. It will lead us to a better quality of everyday life.

#2 UNCONVENTIONAL
Psalms 34:8 
8 “Taste and see that the LORD is good;
       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

The Lord is unconventional. The popular opinion of Christ is that He is a God that will strike us with lightening when we do wrong. Many people believe God is out to hurt them or cause them pain and therefore stay away from Him because of fear of judgement. Christ is unconventional. He loves us even when we do wrong. Christ is there to help to change the destructive habits and decisions that get us to a place of pain and low quality of life. Psalms 34:8 say taste and see that the Lord is good. He truly is! His desire is that you connect with Him and begin to enjoy the journey of life. One thing that the Lord never promised is that life would be easy, but He did say He would never leave us or ignore us. No mater what is going on in life go and spend some time with Christ and He will brighten up your day.

John 3:16
 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

3) UNCONDEMNING
Romans 8:1
1″Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

There is a big importance in walking with Christ on a daily basis. Condemnation is a feeling of disapproval, a feeling of guilt because of wrong doing and feeling unfit for service. Christ took the judgment that our sin should bring upon us. We many times feel so powerless in the state of condemnation. We can always go to Christ in our guilt, because we know we are safe there. Jesus will help us to humble ourselves and change our character to begin to walk in a higher level of purity and character. Jesus desires that we all have a great quality of life. That will come as we receive Christ’s leadership to help us improve in life.

#4 UNSTOPPABLE
John 15:6-12
6″If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

 9“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Jesus wants our dreams to come true. As we remain in Him, we can ask and we will receive. We may not receive always on our time line, but Christ desires that we operate in the gifts and talents He put in us. Christ also addresses following the commands that He gives us. We, like little kids, do not always know what is best for us. We must follow and respond to the leadership of Christ. Christianity is one of the most rewarding ways of doing life, the key is to surrender ourselves to Christ on a daily basis and trust that Christ will help lead us in life. We will not do well without His leadership. Today I encourage you to make Jesus the leader of today. Set aside some time and begin to have a heart to heart with Him and He will begin to lead you in life. If you struggle in daily prayer Matthew 6:9-13 is a great outline for prayer. Read over it and expound on every thought in your prayer time.

God Bless!!

Sermon Notes: “Where are you?”

Have you ever got up in the morning and wondered “Where are you?” I have wondered this from time to time in my life. There have many times I have woke up in the morning realizing that I need more than my own ability to make it through the day or the particular season in my life. 2 Peter 3:18 says “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen” Wherever we are in life, by faith receiving grace for daily life is essential!

Grace –> our obedience with God’s ability
As I was getting ready for church yesterday I was thinking about grace. I know many successful men and women of God and they do the impossible. Grace is the fuel that gives them the ability to do what they do. Ephesians 2:1-10talks of Grace. The motivating power behind grace is God’s love for us. Jesus’ love for humanity is rich. The Love that God has for us is so abundant that He desires that we sit with Him in Heavenly realms. We have the ability to live everyday above the circumstances of life, if we tap into grace. Grace dissolves the circumstances that face us. In the past week, I had what looked like big circumstances. Both times I talked to Christ about them, and recieved His strength and grace in the situations. They seemed to loose their power and disolve. With Grace, what seems big and impossible just looses it’s power. Ephesians 2:8 says we are saved by grace through faith. This is very true!!

“Identy Theft” sermon notes

2 Corinthians 10:3-4
   stronghold – a prisoner locked by deception

“A lie believed as truth will affect you as if it were true.”

CAPTURE WRONG THOUGHTS
2 Corinthians 10:5-6
   *casting down arguments
   *capture thoughts
       
Philippians 4:8 think on these things

RELEASE RIGHT WORDS
Proverbs 18:21
   *the tongue has power of life and death

Psalms 19:14  be pleasing to the Lord
   *words
   *thoughts

ATTACK AND WIN
Colossians 1:29  
   *Paul struggled with all of Christ’s energy

3 Ways we approach problems
   1) I will fix it –> wrong way
   2) I prayed about it and God must do it –> wrong way
   3) It is not all I, or all Christ, it is WE. –> correct way
       ** Paul is our example of doing all we are able, and struggling with all Christ’s energy. It was Christ working through Paul that accomplish the mission.