Speak to Me

Key Scriptures

And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
1 Samuel 3:10 NLT

“Be still, and know that I am God! ...”
Psalm 46:10 NLT

Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:6 NLT

SERMON NOTES

Do NOT pray for God to speak, unless you want to hear what He has to say.

Prayer is communicating with our God, our Father, going before His throne room of grace. It’s not us just talking to Him, but praying is actually listening to God. God is always speaking, the question is, are you ever listening? God is a speaking God.

“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

If He does, it will: convict you, challenge you, may seem completely impossible, stretch you, make you depend on him, and live with even greater faith.

How do I hear the voice of God?

1. Fight to be still before God. Pause and rest in His presence. Psalm 46

   1. God speaks through His Word. “If you tell me you haven’t heard from God, I will tell you, you probably haven’t spent any time in His Word!”

   2. God speaks through people.

   3. God speaks through circumstances.

      1. Doors opening // doors closing

   4. God speaks through His spirit. Unusual senses or promptings. “God, who do you want me to pray for? Sit and listen. Breathe in, listen, and out, say the name.”

      1. The more you listen to God’s voice, the more you are able to discern it.

2. Be willing.

   1. Often our prayers are like babbling wish lists—if I were you God, this is how I’d do it….

   2. Instead of a long list…what if we came to God with a blank sheet of paper?

   3. “Show me any sin in my life that I’m not aware of. Some me any motives in my life that are impure.” God allowed me to purify my heart, empowered me to confess some sin that I’ve been holding back.

   4. Make sure you obey what God told you LAST, before you ask Him what to do next.

3. Be ready.

   1. God never gave an assignment to anyone in scripture that was easy to fulfill.

   2. The only thing more dangerous than praying this prayer, is NOT praying this prayer. You will miss out on what a God who loves you, and created you for His Glory, wants to say to you, do in you, and do through you.

• Read 1 Samuel 3:1-21. When was the last time you were completely still before God, listening for His voice?

  • How do you most often hear from God? Dedicate some time this week to listening in that way.

• Are you tired of playing it safe with your faith? Then check out the Dangerous Prayers Bible Plan at: www.go2.lc/dangerousprayers

Make Me Bold

Key Scriptures

“Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.”
Acts 4:10 NLT

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. ...
Acts 4:13 NLT

“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:29-31 NLT

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere ...”
Acts 1:8 NLT

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!” So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. ...
Acts 5:18-21 NLT

“We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!” But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”
Acts 5:28-29 NLT

• Read Acts 4:1-31. On a scale of 1 to 10, how amazed are people by your boldness?

• Think about the people you interact with. What opportunities do you have to be bold in your faith this coming week?

• Set a goal for yourself to pray longer than you ever have before.

  • Father, thanks to You, we don’t have to live a life of fear. You give us the boldness to overcome any obstacle that comes our way. Help us to trust You no matter how difficult life seems and to step forward in obedience, knowing You’ll always be with us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

• How is God calling you to live boldly? Consider this question this week, and then commit to pursuing whatever God sets in front of you.

The Ministry of a Mentor

The Ministry of a Mentor, Dharius, Feb 11

Matthew 17:14-20

The players on the field play the game, but the coaches on the sideline came up with the game plan. God put the talent in, but it takes a coach to pull it out.  No one can be their best self, by themselves. You will hit a season where you’ve got the ability, but not the expertise. The willpower, but not the wisdom.

The origin of the issue was satanic.  A person who keeps getting diagnosis wrong, will never experience seasons.  They’ll get stuck in a cycle. Doesn’t change with time, it changes when I do.  Cough syrup wouldn’t fix this issue. 

What have you missed out on because you left too soon?  Our ego has caused us to abandon something prematurely.

Jesus, the leader, takes responsibility for something that isn’t his fault.  It’s not my fault, but it is my responsibility. I couldn’t understand the content until I understood the conTEXT.

Matthew 10:1. He gave them authority.  He equipped them. Trained them.  

You became so close and familiar with me, you took my audience for granted. 

Nothing that God ever does is irrelevant. Wait til you get to chapter 17.

Apathy produces procrastination.  Procrastination is the assumption you’re going to have another opportunity. 

Whenever you get access to greatness, don’t ask greatness to adjust for you.  YOU adjust for IT.

They were not trying to impress someone they were trying to learn from. 

Jesus saved them YEARS with one conversation.  Mentorship allows you to go to school at the expense of someone else’s tuition. 

The thing that got me to one level, is not always the thing that gets me to the next. You need somebody in your life that’s not so impressed with you...that tells you the truth.  You must SEE who He sends. We gotta recognize them. 

Jesus is the Master Mentor - 4 Traits

1. Character

   1. If you are in a relationship with someone...their character becomes your crisis. Not manipulative, representing you in a courtroom. Successful doesn’t mean safe. 

2. Coaching

   1. The quality of the questions you ask.

   2. Re-teach me to do something I thought I already knew how to do. 

   3. What don’t you know, ‘cause you don’t ask. Where are you making assumptions, where you could be educated.

3. Correction

   1. People who are going to the next level must be willing to have their ERROR exposed.  Prov 12:1 It is dumb to want to be right more than you want to be well. 

   2. Correction only sings like judgement to those who are in love with their mediocrity. 

   3. Matthew 16:22-23: Some of us couldn’t walk with Jesus, cause we couldn't handle correction.

4. Covering

   1. I’m some people’s pastor, I’m some people’s preacher, and for some I’m just the guy that preaches at that church they come to sometimes. 

      1. I’m not everyone’s spiritual father.

      2. You can’t mentor anyone who’s deciding and then telling you.

   2. Covering should not be a limiting cap.  It should be an umbrella. It covers you at any level, allows you to rise. 

• Spend time in prayer asking God who could serve as a good mentor in your life.

• Read Matthew 10-17.

  • As you read, make a list of all the disciples names, and write down traits or characteristics that you notice about each. (example: Peter…seems loyal…) This is called a character study. Read more about them here.

  • What do you observe about how Jesus interacts with his disciples?

  • Which disciple do you identify most with?

We Are Not That Close

Genesis 13:8

The success of the team is not just contingent upon who they have on the court or the field, but the success of the team is contingent upon whether or not those people are in the right positions.  It’s not just people, it’s place. 

Put people where they NEED to be, not necessarily where they want to be.  

You cannot pull out of people what God did not put in.

An associate is what I call a “tweener” position. It’s not evil, it’s just unique.  A person that’s not evil enough to be an enemy, but not safe enough to be a friend. 

• Doesn’t mean that the fruit for friendship is not there or is not developing.  But it might mean that you might have the time or the desire to do the kind of inspection that would determine whether or not you want to take the relationship beyond the surface level.

• An associate may get your stuff, but a friend gets YOU. 

• An associate may get your skill, but a friend gets your SELF.  

  • ability/transparency. 

  • With someone/on someone

• An associate relationship is a result of intersecting schedules or interests.

Vision is a picture of God’s preferred future. 

“I wanna make your name great”

In order for me to do what’s never been done, you gotta become someone you’ve never been (not someTHING, someONE).  Abram’s not enough. 

• You ready for me to blow you up?? I’m getting ready to blow everything up. 

• You can’t receive vision without disruption

• People who are unwilling to let God disrupt their life, are people who will live without clarity. 

• With vision comes disruption.

• Moses had to move from his country, his family, his household.  You can’t become a new person without new influences. And I gotta move you, Abraham, because you’re going to shrink to the smallness of your circle. 

• Right now, just go north.  Just walk, and as you walk, I’m going to make clear to you what the next steps are.  Before you want the next word, be a good steward of the last one. 

• Maybe God is silent because He’s waiting on some of us to obey the last piece of instruction He gave us. 

Gen 13:1

The beauty of the Bible is in the detail. 

Sometimes when God pushes people into an uncomfortable future, they want to carry something with them from their past.

God made Abraham wealthy & influential...Lot got the overflow of Abraham’s blessing. 

He probably starts confusing association with personal anointing. 

This tension is created, the dynamic starts to shift--that’s what happens when you carry Lot further than you’re supposed to carry it. Lot was a good relationship for Abram, not Abraham. Some relationships are at their best when you’re at your worst. Abraham addresses the awkwardness. The physical separation can be a metaphor for emotional separation. Abraham acknowledged that this relationship isn’t what it used to be.  

I’m not willing to lose my herds over you. 

Priority for Abraham was distance, not a destination. “Which ever way you go, I’ll go the opposite.” He didn’t mess up the relationship he just acknowledged that they weren’t close.  If I have to manufacture passion to fight for this--I shouldn’t. Many people mismanage this. You become distracted from purpose and you don’t make deposits in the most important relationships, because you're treating Lot like your friend instead of your associate. 

3 TYPES OF ASSOCIATES

1. Parasite.

   1. Lives and is sustained at the expense of the host. 

   2. For this relationship to live, I got to die.

   3. They cause: sleep disorders (you can’t rest), teeth grinding (you gotta grind necessarily), immune system dysfunction (you become more vulnerable, because you're depleted your defenses)

2. Partner

   1. Friends build into you, partners are people you build with. 

   2. These people want my gifts, not me. There’s a spirit of friendship, but it’s really my gift. And that’s not evil, it’s a fact. ‘Cause if you weren’t that good, ya’ll might not be that close. It is a transactional relationship.

3. Pace Makers

   1. Don’t talk to all the time, but they give you that boost.  Battery pack. Good periodically, not good consistently. 

   2. You don’t want them under your skin too long they might cause infection.

Just cause you’re not in pain, don’t mean you’re healed.  

1. Find a detail in Genesis 12-13 to research and study. Bring notes in and tell the group about it.

2. Try to come back next week with a Bible or God question to ask the group and get their opinion on.

"It is not for you to know"

SERMON NOTES

Acts 1:1-9

BEGAN - we would like to think that when Jesus left the earth, his ministry stopped. Not so.

CHOSEN - “you’re still chosen”

You can live life chasing or chosen. We don’t want to be clout chasers. Looking for approval in all the wrong places from all the wrong people.

Are you still focused on the wrong thing? Getting God to change other people rather than transforming you.

“It is not for you to know.”

The Holy Spirit will no longer visit, but inhabit. He doesn’t want a guest room, he wants all the access to my life. The power of His presence.

The presence of Jesus is powerful when you run out of stuff. What was empty without me, is now overflowing WITH me.

If you’re going through a storm right now, if He is on your boat, you won’t go down. When you put your little bit in the hands of a God who created everything.

The Kingdom was inaugurated with what they perceived to be His absence.

He never really leaves. However, he does change forms, and creates space where we need Him.

It’s difficult for us to believe that in the moments we feel Him or understand Him the least, He might be working the most. In the absence of answers, faith is born. In the absence of resource, creativity is born. When is the last time we thanked God for what He didn’t give us, because it showed us who we really are?

Ya ever have somebody that you thought you couldn’t live without, and then you did?

We like the CONCEPT of being used by God. We like the CONCEPT of a relationship with Him. But what about the moments when the kingdom becomes inconvenient?

There’s nothing more painful than in between. If it’s over, I can bury it. If it’s beginning, I can deal with it.

He did not leave them, He changed forms.

Maybe you weren’t ghosted, maybe you were gifted. He no longer wants to just be with you, he wants to be in you.

John 16:7, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

I can’t go off of what feels good TO me, I have to believe that what God says is good FOR me.

Jerusalem was where they got the gift. Samaria was what they had to go through to get to the fulfillment of the mission. We all have “some area” where God is working through.

Instead of Jesus giving them something to DO, he gave them something to BE. I’m doing it through some area of your life that you never expected.

That place that you call lack, is the space where God’s spirit wants to live.

Read Acts 1 & 2.

• Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Do you have questions about it?

  • If so, read chapters 10 & 19 as well.

• What seems to be the difference between Peter before the Holy Spirit, and Peter after?

• What do you think is the significance of Acts 2:36?

What About Your Friends?

Proverbs 18:24: “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

If nothing has hit your life yet that requires that emotional assistance—keep on living.

We also need support for blessings. It was a success that was so weighty, it began to sink the boat. Their friends got the overflow of their harvest! Some people’s problem is, they left you too soon. One who has unreliable friends is living life unsupported. Anointed/successful, but unsupported. God did not create us to live life without support.

God’s about to send you some burden bearers! Moses, Aaron is coming!

In culture, we call people friends that we like…. From a biblical perspective, when you have friends, they are family. “Closer than a brother.”

Friends get a different type of access

• Love is freely given, access must be earned. Access to the intimate places of your life, heart, confidential information that you just don’t share with anybody. People that are reckless with access are reckless with their life. Be authentic with everybody, but transparent with people you trust.

• People aren’t bad, you’re just making bad placement decisions. People are gonna be people.

• You’d be amazed at how many people are more guarded with their house, than they are with their heart.

• Some people feel owed access.

Friends get a different type of expectation.

• You have a right to expect things from friends, that you don’t expect from other relationships. Jesus got frustrated with the disciples for sleeping, when he asked them to pray.

• If there is no reciprocity, from a Biblical perspective, they aren’t friends.

Friends get a different type of investment.

• Every need is not your responsibility. You’ve got to know who they are, because if not, you will spend out your currency of time and energy making investments into people who don’t meet that criteria!

• There must be the ability to discern, define, and align these relationships. It’s not by feelings, but by FRUIT. Feelings are deceitful.

• Discerning for placement, not judgement! I’m not judging, it just makes me sick. I need to see it, so I can separate myself from it.

Fruit inspection must be done seasonally! Every harvest season, you’ve got to go back to the tree and see if it’s still bearing fruit.

• 1 Samuel 16:21-22

• 1 Samuel 18:8-11

• In chapter 17, David defeated Goliath. Influence few. Popularity increased. Saul was cool with David as long as David was running behind him.

• Saul throws spears. People who’s fruit has changed, throw comments.

When you have friends, you get 3 things:

• Accountability

  • Only works when there’s exposure.

  • When your heart is not healthy, you’ll confuse hating with accountability.

• Assistance

  • If you’re always doing the rescuing, that’s not a friend.

• Advancement

  • My mind is better, my heart is better, my life is better because you’re in it.

1. Read 1 Samuel 16-18 at home this week, and really consider the perspective of each character (might mean you have to read previous chapters and maybe watch The Bible Project’s 1 Samuel video for context too).

   • What questions does this bring up for you?

   • After listening to this message, would you consider yourself a good friend?

   • What does healthy accountability look like in your life?

Who's At Your Table?

SERMON NOTES

Your relationships are an essential area that most people underestimate.

It’s possible to live righteous and not live well.

Prov 13:20 We evolve into who we are around. Prov 27:17

There are no neutral relationships. “Don’t be misled, bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33.

We can be so bruised by betrayal, that we can adopt an attitude of “I don’t need what God created me to need.”

Non-judgemental feeling questions. Our emotions are messengers—”you need to pay attention to this.”

Relationships are purpose partners. Relationships are about the pursuit of purpose, not just company. Master the life skill of relationship management. NOT talking about the avoidance of pain. I’m talking about the pursuit of purpose.

Relational intelligence is the ability to define and align your relationship. The people that mean the most to you, will get the least out of you. 2 Samuel 19. Some people try to spend what they haven’t earned with you.

• Just because you call ‘em something, don’t make ‘em that.

  • I’m defining, not to judge, I’m defining to align. So I know where to put you, so I know what to expect from you. So, if I know you’re a taker, I know not to treat you like a friend.

  • Jesus is the model of what it means to live with relational intelligence.

  • Everyone is to be loved biblically, valued equally, but treated differently.

    • treating everyone right does not mean you treat everyone the same.

    • When you have relational intelligence, you release yourself from the obligation to explain to everybody why they don’t meet the criteria to have access to a certain place in your life.

    • Inner circle people can handle you when you’re at your best, and when you’re at your worst.

    • Everybody gets love, everybody doesn’t get access.

  • Although everyone is equally valuable, everyone does not add equal value to you.

    • Some people are hard to replace, because they are the favor of God. Self-sacrificial love. Loyal, Supportive.

    • Without relational intelligence, the people who mean the most to you, will get the least from you. Living with intentionality.

    • What disrupted the favor of David’s life: relationships.

    • 3 ways you can live your life: Church’s Way, Culture’s Way, King’s Way.

    • He saw signs, he didn’t judge, but he didn’t ignore. “I didn’t judge, but I remembered.” “I’m hurt, but not surprised.”

    • Not enough foot-washing in the world, to make Judas not Judas! When someone is a taker, giving ain’t in them.

    • When there’s relational intelligence, you’re managing imperfect people. Nonjudgemental awareness.

  • Jesus’ friends

    • Thomas - supportive skeptic

      • When you’re struggling with a dream, you don’t call someone who’s gonna help you struggle.

    • James & John - competitors

      • When people are needy, enough is never enough.

      • Good friends, they’re just draining.

    • Nathanael - the blunt buddy

      • truthful, but not tactful.

      • the friend that says anything in front of anyone.

    • Peter - the temperamental team member

      • BFF’s, ride or die, then “I don’t know him”

      • hard to live with, can’t live without him

    • Judas - the blind betrayer

      • he hurt you, but he feel like the victim

      • YOU should be mad, HE mad at you

      • The one that can see everybody else but them

  • ALL OF THEM ARE AT THE TABLE

    • Jesus had to manage all of them differently.

    • Knowing the tree by the fruit that it bears

  • Experience is the most effective teacher, but it is also the most expensive one, costing you time. The mistake costs you time, when you gotta clean it up.

  • God’s not just a need-meeter. He’s a need-assessor. Most people don’t know they need to improve relational intelligence. Because they think as long as their not in pain, they’re doing a good job.

• Three things that need to happen:

  • open our eyes

    • he didn’t judge what he saw, but he didn’t ignore it.

  • open our heart

    • the holy spirit is our sixth sense.

  • open our ears

    • the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

    • the heart is deceptive. If you listen carefully, sometimes you can tell—if your ears are open.

    • you don’t judge their jealousy, you just love them enough to stop triggering it. Even though I love them with all of me, they can’t handle all of me yet.

It’s not just about HAVING good relationships, it’s about BEING ONE.

• Sit and do some real thinking about the people in your life. Take some time to open your eyes, open your heart, and open your ears. Ask God what He is saying to you.

The Crushing

This is an excerpt of this talk. The whole thing is a little shy of 2 hours, but it is SO good! To see the whole thing, click here. The notes below are from the entire sermon, not just the excerpt.

SERMON NOTES

If everybody forsakes me, and everybody leaves my room--as long as JESUS is in the room! 

For the eagle “soar” is about flying, but for the eaglet “soar” is about falling.

Crushing is the process, and soaring is the promise.  You cannot have promise without process. Those that God is going to anoint the most, He always crushes the most severely. The further the arrow is going to be shot, the more it must be pulled back. So [God] allowed me to be crushed early, so no matter what THEY would say, I would know. I have learned how to abase and abound.  Whatever state I’m in, therewith to be content. Some things you learn are not for you, but for you to help someone else. Anytime he’s going to exalt you, he humbles you.

Obscurity is a great gift. There’s a reason that God develops an embryo in obscurity.  That moses was hidden in the tent for 3 months. That Christ didn’t start his ministry until he was 30.  To fight your own devils. To get your priorities in alignment. People want success that they have not been groomed for.  It’s like birthing a baby prematurely. The chances of survival go down the earlier the baby is exposed. You don’t want anything before it’s time. It’s not punishment, it’s preparation. Because he loves you, he hides you in obscurity. 

The pressure of success. The reward you get, for overcoming your last challenge, is your next challenge. Anytime you won’t hear God’s warnings, He will chasten you. I never wanted to be famous, I wanted to be effective. You cannot be so driven by ambition that you see obscurity as punishment. The hardest part is managing “success”. The expectations are as different as there are people. Your normal is somebody else’s weird. 

You’re either going to reach the world, or you’re going to honor your traditions. You have to go beyond your traditions in order to be effective. It is the crushing that prepares you not to be more loyal to your traditions than you calling.

Church people get amnesia quick. Jesus was so relevant that the Romans had to hire someone to point him out, because he looked so ordinary in his environment. Jesus wasn’t into standing out, he was into fitting in.  What makes a minister effective and not condescending….the most effective ministers are the ones who see a little bit of themselves coming down the aisle.  KINSMEN with them.

The pressure of fitting into a religious environment can tempt you to hypocrisy..because...we become more concerned about being accepted by the people we worship with, than we are about being used by God!!

PRE Message Syndrome

POST Message Syndrome

Pressure Management System

Fruitfulness is not the end. The process of pressure, if not managed correctly, it can shut you down. 

I refuse to allow how I feel to abort what I’m called to. You can’t see yourself.  When you are truly gifted, it is your normal. The more gifted you are, the more vulnerable you are, and the more affirmation you need from your inner circle…You should hear the guy that’s preaching IN me. I’m preaching against the guy who’s preaching inside of me. 

Gifted people are sensitive and vulnerable. They can’t see themselves.

• Insulate yourself with a few inner circle people who love you enough that you can be vulnerable in front of, and yet are honest enough..

• Jesus & the blind man at Bethsaida.  The healing is ALL based on honesty. The man has to take the first steps in the dark. 

• You cannot let your fear hold you back from your destiny. You have to feel the fear and do it anyway.  Do it broke. Do it scared. Do it on your knees. Do it on crutches.  

Anytime you won’t hear God’s warning, he will chasten you. Sometimes God uses His hand and sometimes he uses yours. But you cannot get God’s people out of God’s hand. God knows exactly where to cut you to make you more productive. In between fruit & more fruit is always a knife. There will be some exodus, some loneliness, some crushing place...weeping/wallowing stage of life.  Because you are His. And He knows exactly where to cut you. 

Knowledge from the divine always comes in waves, not in reason. “BEHOLD” is a download. All of a sudden you know something that you didn’t know before. 

No one else is as up front about the crushing as God! The EMBLEM of Christianity is the cross! Not a crown. God puts the pain up front. Pay something for promotion, process for promise. 

The same part of the brain that processes physical pain, is the same as emotional pain. 

The crushing is not the end. The cross is not the transportation, not the destination. He’s not on the cross anymore!  

When you hear a writer think, it impregnates you with thought. 

Greatness always needs a friend. Someone to say, “I’m scared.”  Sometimes being great ain’t so great. Being crushed and not being allowed to whimper.  When you are superman, nobody knows you’re Clark Kent. 

• What is your “pressure management system”?

• Study & meditate on Matthew 9:14-17. What do you think it means for you right now?

The Path of Joy

SERMON NOTES:

“You Can’t Have My Joy”

Assertive and intentional about experiencing God’s best emotionally.

Matthew 25:20-21

Your God is a promise keeper!

• God’s conditions are God’s path to His promises.

• Direction (not intention) determines destination.

There are some things you bump into on a road called obedience.

I don’t have to eradicate my feelings, but joy exists simultaneously with my feelings! So that even when I have bad feelings, when I have joy, the bad feelings don’t have me.

“Deep people drown.”

Some people confuse spiritual knowledge with spiritual growth, that’s why they can quote scripture they never use.

If you want it to stay the same, don’t call me.

I didn’t use that creativity you gave me--

I’m ashamed to say I was ashamed. I just hid my gift.  

The path to joy is a street called stewardship!

I’ve never seen anyone have good joy, who is a bad steward. (dominion)

Victim Mentality = learned helplessness

Sometimes it takes a crisis to expose capability that you didn’t even know you had. 

There’s more in you than you know! 

Management/stewardship.  Good management gives you a good life.

Managing the thing that encompasses your life: TIME.

• The seed that you must sow to reap the harvest that you want to reap.

• Irreplaceable asset.

• “Paying” attention = spending time.

• You got some people on your payroll that is making you miserable, and you’re paying them with TIME.

• Dreams have a price! Improvement in any area, has a cost. The cost is time. If you want to improve a relationship, spend TIME.

• “I’m a good person!!” But are you a good steward??

• Our prayer needs to be “teach me to use those 168 hours” of the week.

• Not just doing time, thinking time. Everything is created twice.

• You’re not non-judgmentally clear. You’re judging yourself, and you’re not honest with yourself about where you’re at emotionally.

• I’ve never seen anyone who’s not managing their time according to their priorities live with joy.  They always live with frustration.

  • Make time to dream.

One of the greatest joy-robbers is regret.  

Knowledge comes from studying; wisdom comes from God.

You’re gonna need wisdom (a discerning heart), but you’re also gonna need courage.

When you hold a boundary, you’re teaching people to love you. 

We won’t meet again until Jan 8th!
So you have 3 weeks complete the following:

1. Read the Christmas story from the Word.

   1. Matthew 1-2

   2. Luke 1-2

   3. If you have kids, read it with them!

2. When going to family holiday functions, go with one goal in mind: Make it better! Serve your family to the best of your ability (keeping boundaries in mind, of course), and be a good example for them, of how Christ came to serve.

3. Take time to dream & pray a little. Write down some dreams that you have for the next year, next 5 years, next 10 years. Talk them over with God!

Are We There Yet?

Candace’s Sermon Notes

Hebrews 6:11-15

There are some seasons where God is not saying “go”, because God is saying “grow”

Palm Tree posture = you bend, but you don’t break

• How big can I believe, how LONG can I believe.  

Hopelessness = Premature anticipation of the non-fulfillment of the promises of God. 

• Someone’s already given up on the promises God made to you for 2019! God’s got 6 more weeks!!

I’m asking because I do believe I’m ON THE WAY.

I’m not talking about beginning strong, I’m talking about finishing well.

God is NOT unjust. He will not forget!

• Some people get “alright” and when they get “alright”, they get amnesia.

• The people that you bless, won’t always be the ones that bless you back.

• As a child of God, you can live with the confidence that you WILL NOT BE EXPLOITED!

I’m a God of recompense.

• Sometimes I don’t repay evil by doing evil to other people--I repay evil by doing GOOD to YOU.

• The best “get back” is a “come up”.

• I prepare a table in the PRESENCE of your enemies.  He allows them to watch you succeed, in spite of them trying to orchestrate your failure.

• When people remember, they THINK something.  When God remembers, he DOES something.

• God knows how to put you on the right mind at the right time.

Waiting takes your drive, your get-up-and-go, zeal, veracity, your tenacity.  But don’t become sluggish!

• Faith AND patience...inherited the promises.

Some promises require more than strong faith, some promises require LONG faith.

• “Don’t be weary in doing good.”

• DUE SEASON can happen in any season. A return for your labor.

You cannot impact those you insult.

Even though Abraham made a mistake, he still got the promise.  They learned the lesson. Your mistakes aren’t sovereign, God is.  They waited patiently, but not perfectly. 

Waiting well isn’t about managing time, it’s about managing me. Ishmael represents something that we produce when we move impatiently. 

1. Don’t worry while you wait.

   1. Worry is mediation on negative narratives.

   2. Jesus uses logic, in Matthew 6:27...can you add an hour to your life by worrying?!

   3. Worry doesn’t make IT better, it makes US worse.

   4. Worry makes you develop a habit of unhappiness.

2. Don’t be worrisome while you wait.

   1. How it affects others.

   2. They both want each other to be what only God can be.

   3. Other people should not be casualties of my own progress.

3. Work while you wait.

   1. Don’t waste this period!

   2. Build something, write something, start something, grow something…

   3. God’s gonna put a tailwind behind my back.

   4. I can love you better when I don’t NEED you.

4. Worship while you wait.

   1. Not even because of what it does spiritually, but because of what it does emotionally.

   2. Worship is not therapy, but it is therapeutic.

   3. God is everywhere all the time, but manifest presence is where you get to experience His presence.

   4. The fruit of His presence is FULLNESS of joy.  Joy is strength.

   5. When you’re not desperate, you can make wise decisions.  You can’t be desperate and wise at the same time.

“I’m gonna pray that God gives you unearned ability to finish.”

• PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT:

  • Write down what you’re waiting on God for right now.

  • Write down some worship-statements about God. “God, you are _______” (try to leave yourself out of these statements, and make them JUST about God)

  • Find someone to encourage this week. How did it go? How did it make YOU feel?

• BIBLE ASSIGNMENT:

  • Can you think of Bible characters who were busy or diligent or patient while waiting for something? (or pick one below to study and tell the group about next week!)

    • Daniel, Mary, Samuel’s mother Hannah, David, Jesus (before his ministry), Noah

  • Read Psalm 23:5 in context. What do you think this verse means?

"I Think You Were Worth It"

Sunday’s message came from a funny place…not funny-haha, but funny because of how I got there. I usually am inspired by a passage of scripture, and allow it to teach me whatever it wants, but for this Written In The Stars sermon series, I really felt like I had a direction from God, and NO CLUE how to get there. It felt like it should cross so many bridges, I wasn’t sure how to bring them all together.

On one hand, I knew I wanted to teach generosity, and not in a necessity-based way, like, if the church NEEDS something, of course I’ll give it…but from a passion-driven place.

On the other hand, I knew God gave me the “stars” concept, and I wasn’t sure exactly where to go with that yet…so, even by Wednesday of last week, I was kind of freaking out.

The beauty of the journey God has me on though, is that He always meets me in that desperation, freaking-out-place. As SOON as I began to read the story of the wise men, it ALL clicked together for me.

I hope it did for you too, but just in case you walked away from that message feeling like “the church is just desperate” or “all they do is talk about money”…here’s another reinforcement—from the WORD—of bringing our best.

Matthew 26:6-13

• Am I taking God’s presence for granted?

• Fight why with why

• 3 Different Reasons that she would give:

  • worship

  • wisdom

  • witness

• Kids will ask why, adults will just wonder. You don’t ever stop asking why, you just don’t ask it out loud.

• The problem with their question wasn’t that it devalued the woman’s act, it was that it devalued Jesus.

• Everybody worships something, why not worship the One who made you?!

• Do you know first-hand the grace of God?

  • People who have just heard about Jesus, they haven’t really owned their faith—they don’t understand this kind of worship.

  • John 11-12

• Saying He’s worthy, is never a waste.

  • They saw it as a waste, she saw it as worship.

  • What is He worth to you?

• The wisdom of giving. It makes good sense to give. Everything that I’ve bought on this earth, has started to depreciate.

• Whatever you worship is what you give weight to.

• “I think you were worth it.”

• I think it’s wise to give what you cannot keep, to gain what you cannot lose.

• It’s worth it if:

  • You have a place where you can come and be accepted by the blood of Christ.

  • Your kids come to know Jesus in this ministry.

  • If you have a place to turn, when your divorce is final, and you feel like your chest is gonna cave in.

• In chapter 11, it smelled like death. In chapter 12, it smelled like perfume.

• What is done for Christ, is worth it.

• All of us have a Lazarus, and all of us have a jar.

Mini-B&B

 I have been learning what it really means to walk in true trust of God. To wake up and choose to have dependence on God. Human nature tells us that “I got this” and “I know what’s best for myself.” However, that usually leads to sure destruction. When we are intentionally choosing to give up that control to God and lean in, it all becomes a lot less stressful. 

Jeremiah 17 was written by the prophet Jeremiah, who was commissioned to address the sins of Judah.  He was called to warn them of their destruction if they did not turn away and repent. Jeremiah was also under the strict instruction of Baruch his mentor when the book was written.

There are still theories who wrote the entire book of Isaiah. Some scholars believe that it had multiple authors besides the prophet Isaiah. This is prophecy written to the exiles in babylon. They rejected God and are living with the consequences, but God reminds that He is coming back for them. 

Assignment:

Read:

1. Jeremiah 17:5-18

2. Isaiah 50

Answer:

1. What does Isaiah 50:4 mean?

2. Share two verses that stuck out to you Jeremiah 17:5-18?

3. What are some ways you can apply these two chapters in your walk with God?

B&B

• Read Matthew 26:6-13

  • What can you apply to your life from this passage?

  • Pastor Steven explained why he gave…Why do you give?

• Read Rich Randall’s Story, on Candace’s *new project* The FV Voice: https://fv.church/voiceblog/2019/11/30/where-do-i-sign-up

  • Do you have a giving story like this? What’s your reason for giving to Him?

  • Do you know first-hand the grace of God?

There's Levels To This

SERMON NOTES

Matthew 13:53-58

Our God is a God of progression. He intentionally orchestrates all the affairs of human existence in a way that everything is advancing toward his ultimate intended end of all of our lives. 

Something on the inside of us, a knower in our knower….KNOWS I am not built to be stuck.

I need friends who can see with me, not just hang with me. 

LEVELS: God will let you live on whatever level you settle for. It’s not enough for God to want it for us, we must want it for ourselves. 

1. Outside the will of God. (culture)

   1. Lowest level of living

   2. Decisions guided and governed by my own will and wishes.

   3. I’m going to consult God when I need Him to help ME bring MY will to pass.

   4. At this level, God is a deliverer, not a leader.

   5. Here’s what you have to get: We don’t know what we want!

   6. Just believe the feeling is real, doesn’t meant the feeling is right.

   7. Human beings are the only ones that reject the manufacturers instructions.

2. The permissive will of God (spiritual knowledge, church)

   1. The average level of living.

   2. A space & place where things are better than they used to be, but aren’t as good as they could be.

   3. He permits, but doesn’t prefer.

   4. It is salvation, but not transformation.

   5. Some people in their own mind won’t allow you to evolve past who you were when they met you. 

   6. He’s talking to people who think they already know God!

   7. We quote scripture at this level...but may not live it. 

3. The preferred will of God. (spiritual experience, Jesus)

   1. Kingdom living is what life looks like when JESUS leads it. 

   2. Church is not the end, it’s the MEANS to this level.

   3. At this level, we LIVE scripture.

   4. God always takes it to the next level, head first. 

Model for the culture what level 3 is like. God is calling YOU to be what you’re looking for. You are the light of the WORLD. Not church. God wants to use your life as an example of what Level 3 looks like--living the King’s way. 

When we live life that way:

We become a people of passion.

This joy that i have: the world didn’t give it, and the world can’t take it away.

• Read Matthew 13:53-59 for yourself.

  • What can we learn from the crowd’s offense and refusal to believe in Jesus?

• Pastor Dharius said, “God always take it to the next level, head first.” What do you think God is teaching you right now?

• He also said, “It is salvation, but not transformation.” As a group, define the difference.

• What do you think would have to change in your life, to be fully living “the King’s way”?

• What was your main takeaway from this message?

Women of Purpose Conference

SUSIE LARSON, Workshop 1

Naomi battles destructive disappointment = rehashing unfulfilled expectations until it damages your mindset & soul

When people accuse you, they’re almost always seeing things through their own pain filter.

“Step into the bigger story”

Naomi grieved and spoke bitterly.

Hannah grieved and prayed passionately.

Better questions:

What is this disappointment saying to me....

...that’s not true?

....about me that’s not true?

....about god that’s not true?

If your story’s not good yet, it’s because God’s not done yet.

Orphans beg & plead, heirs pray & believe.
John 1:12

“Do what you can with what you got but then work on your inner self. Paint the barn and get on with the day.”

Refuse to separate your problems from His promises.

Any gift from God’s hand pales in comparison to knowing HIM personally.

LYSA TERKERST, Workshop Session 2

A difference between being secretive and keeping some things private. Private is meant for healing, secrecy meant for continuing sin.

The point of “It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way” isn’t reconciliation with my husband, the point is redemption with God.

LYSA TERKERST, Main Session 1

Genesis 2-3

Adam & Eve stood in front of each other naked and with NO SHAME. because they had absolutely no other opinion to contend with, but that of God Himself.

The enemy would like us to believe that the Word of God is too difficult to understand.

First words from God to us: you are free. The enemy wants us to believe we serve a RESTRICTIVE God.

When God says don’t, we should be hearing “don’t hurt yourself”.

God is reminding them to come back to Himself, which He’s still doing today.

The enemy might be crafty but he is not creative. He wants us to believe not only that we’ve done something wrong, but that we ARE SOMETHING WRONG.

Gen 1:27

Man & woman we’re created to fill the earth with the GLORY of God.
Rev 12

Ephesians 4

Don’t lay in your bed at night and let all this STUFF sit in you. Because if you do, you will give the enemy a foothold. Constant offense = the accumulated impact of a heart that never gets swept clean. Then we get isolated because we’re afraid to open our mouths.

Why wasn’t it good for Adam to be alone? When Adam falls asleep, he doesn’t renovate him AT ALL. He doesn’t need to be fixed, he just shouldn’t be alone. We are to remind each other that we are the very design of God Himself. Divine echo of the words of God.

The enemy wants us reduced again to useless dust. His counterfeit echo is shame & insults & accusations, to reduce humanity. But you were created to be the echo of God’s goodness!!

———————

https://skip1.org

———————

SUSIE LARSON, Main Session 2

there’s a time and a place for feisty, but it’s not the same as tenacious. TENACIOUS HOPE. A woman who will not be moved. Unwavering expectation that God will do as He promised.

The storms reveal the lies we believe and the truth we need.

We don’t outrun lies, we turn around and we face them.
I’m not gonna let you lose, but I’m gonna allow you to fight.

What happens in our souls happens in our cells.

Blessing guilt.
when your soil is distressed, you don’t see how blessed you are.
When you come through the storm with your faith intact, God gets the glory, and you get more AUTHORITY.
Healing comes in layers. The enemy wants you to believe you are just going around the mountain again, but God is just putting the plow deeper.

We have been treating symptoms too long! You have to feel it to heal it.
Your brain has only two motivational fuels: fear or love. Zero tolerance policy on fear!

YOU REST WHILE I WORK

let go, sink down, be quiet, and be still

YOU FEAST WHILE I FIGHT

YOU WAIT TO TAKE FLIGHT (weary)

rest & worship are 2 of the most powerful forms of warfare

Theres an end date to your suffering. There’s a thousand people on the other side of your healing. You pursue healing, and pray for a healing.

“I could heal you today, but you would lose it tomorrow.” You think like a sick person! You don’t have the infrastructure for it.

STOP WONDERING IF I HAVE A PLAN AND START PREPARING FOR IT. I WILL SILENCE YOUR ACCUSERS AND BLESS THOSE WHO’VE BEEN KIND TO YOU. YOUR TEST WAS THEIR TEST TOO. BE FIERCE IN BATTLE.

LYSE TERKHERST, Main Session

Eph 4

Forgiveness is not made possible by our determination, it’s made possible by our cooperation.

Forgiveness should flow THROUGH us, not just to us.

If you’re waiting for the other person, you are forever chaining your freedom to something you cannot control.

I forgive for this, and for whatever my feelings will not yet allow for, the blood of Jesus covers.

It didn’t fix my relationship, but it had settled something in me.

Even if reconciliation is never possible, redemption with God is.

We also have to forgive for the impact those actions have on us.
“the smallness of bitterness”

SUSIE LARSON, Main Session
For the believer, life on earth is as bad as it gets. It only gets better from here.

3 types of women SHE IS CALLED

ONE: A sense of calling, but so many obstacles.
TWO: You’ve been so beat up by life, you feel like a have not.

THREE: You’re an introvert, don’t even really like people all that much.

Two things that get in the way of calling: Self ambition or self preservation.

Faith plans for a future right in the face of her fears!

“I knew I was saved, but I didn’t know I was loved.”

God might be building a platform with your pain.

Fear and faith are opposing forces and you have to turn your back on one to behold the other.

If you don’t know who you are, you will misuse your time, talent, and energy to prove who you are.

Some of the greatest heroes are born into obscurity.

I’m not who I was, I’m not what I do, I’m loved by the King.
Dreams and conceived and acheived by intimacy with God.

3 phases we tend to go through when we tell God we’re all in:

ONE: a dream far off where the motivations are revealed. Gifts might open the door, but character keeps it open. He makes you wait, because he makes you ready.

TWO: the dream up close, where your fears are confronted. Sometimes you gotta do it afraid, it’s okay.

THREE: the dream realized, where your faith is strengthened. Spiritual agility.
James 3:15-16. Jealousy is a gateway sin.
There’s more than enough work to go around.

What will you do with what God’s offered HER?

TRAINING GROUNDS:

•Betrayal. Almost everyone successful has been through this.
•Financial Hardship.
•Rejection. Sense of being overlooked. The confident heart
•Disillusionment with Church or Ministry.
•Past baggage. When God is about to bring a new thing, the devil will bring up an old thing.

•Someone else’s blessing.

You’ll be given a thousand opportunities to die, take each one.

Insecurity is just another form of selfishness. REJECT REJECTION. There’s absolutely no excuse to stay where you are right now! HE can make you what you are not. Sometimes faith is interpreted as denial, but it’s not denial.

susielarson.com -ask for the prophetic word and the psalms prayer.

Needers & Feeders

Nov 12: Needers & Feeders

When we ask God to increase our faith, He tends to increase our NEED for faith.

The church is not built on special offerings, but people who give CONSISTENTLY to God. Just like children are not built on the uncle that shows up once a year on holidays.

It’s not about your ability, it’s about your availability. 

2 Corinthians 9

• EACH MAN SHOULD GIVE. (stuck on that part, because I think some people make excuses)

• What he has decided in his heart to give.

• Not reluctantly or under compulsion

When we’re trying to get more of God in our life, He’s trying to get more of us.

“Well, I went to the church, and I didn’t get anything out of it.”  What did you put into it? ‘Cause the last time I went to the bank and asked for more money than I put in, it didn’t work out so well..

Did you ever have someone do something for you that was nice, but the WAY that they did it, made you wish they didn’t do it?

• You can get FAT coming to a church like Elevation. You can begin to feel like you are not needed, and you are not known. And in one sense, you are right. God doesn’t NEED you. He can find someone else. 

• If you think that bringing your PRESENCE into the presence of God is somehow a favor to Him--you probably read the book backwards!

• If HE needs it, He will speak it.

• Paul says, I want to give you the privilege to give to something that is bigger than you.

Vs.8, “and God is able” (do you really believe that?)...”to make all grace abound to you”

Vs. 10, God supplies seed to the sower.  

• The question is not, “is God able?”, it’s “are you a sower?”

• A lot of people get stuck at the level of “What I need”. We get stuck in “Me Mode”

• He will respond to your need by giving you a seed.  We want God to give us a HARVEST. But he responds with a seed.

• When I sowed what God gave me, it became what I needed.

• The only way for you to receive what you need, is for you to give what you have.

• God responds to your need with a bigger need….

• Jesus takes the disciples from needers to feeders...they need rest, but they run into needy people. 

• Jesus orchestrated the physical need.

• You will never know what you really need until God shows you a bigger need.

  • You will never know that God is able, until God shows you that you are not.

• If you have a big need---you are about to see yourself going from needer to feeder.

  • We do not have enough--but God is able.

  • Jesus enabled the DISCIPLES to feed the 5,000.

  • It’s not are ABLE. It’s are you AVAILABLE.

• Sacrifice means you give something and it goes away. Sow means you give something, and it gets bigger.

• Jesus wasn’t given as a sacrifice, He was a seed.

• When is the last time you stopped and asked God, “what do you want to do THROUGH me?”

• The more we stay focused in cultural ideas and norms of consumer-based Christianity—THE WORLD STARVES.

Study 2 Corinthians 9.

1. How can you apply verse 6 in your life?

Study Matthew 14:13-21.

1. What else jumps out at you about this passage? What’s interesting? What questions do you have? What can you apply to your life?

EXTRA (from VICTORIOUS):

• Why do you think God wrestled with Jacob in Genesis 31?

Self-Esteem or God-Esteem?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I view myself. All of the past decisions, words said over me, mirror-thoughts, clothing choices, locker room talk, ad-campaigns…so many external sources affecting my internal conversations.

The World wants to tell you that the antidote to all this is to just believe in yourself. If we just find out who WE really are, then we can delight in that. The problem with that is that you can’t find out who you really are, without understanding your Creator, the One that made you.

-Candace

Psalm 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave, you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me

and the light around me to become night—

12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

you are still with me!

19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!

Get out of my life, you murderers!

20 They blaspheme you;

your enemies misuse your name.

21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?

Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?

22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,

for your enemies are my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

SERMON NOTES:

Psalm 111:10, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.”

• Right reverence and awe is the beginning of wisdom

  • Awe is something that is good for the human soul

  • Humans are the only ones able to experience awe

  • Awe turns us from narcissism (our own concerns), and turns us to the concerns of others

  • We experience awe when something defies explanation.

• God doesn’t have to learn, he is incapable. He is the SOURCE of all knowledge.

  • He also cannot forget.

• God KNOWS us. David celebrates that.

• God is everywhere, fully present.

  • Nothing is hidden from Him.

• The focus of the verse 14 isn’t actually ME, it’s God.

• Parents of Teens: “They either have an internal mechanism for determining right and wrong by this point, or they don’t. It’s not my job to hover.”

• We are quantifiable—God is not. He is VAST, his thoughts are countless, more than the sound.

  • He is infinite and immeasurable.

• What is the proper response to this kind of God?

  • AWE makes us other-focused.

• Ephesians 6:12, says our battle is not against flesh and blood. It’s a spiritual battle

• 1 Peter 2:11, abstain from sinful desire which wage war against our souls.

• Our battles are against:

  • the world

  • the flesh

  • the devil.

• Does our conception of God cause a complete hatred of sin in us? Because if it doesn’t, it’s not a complete conception.

• “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” - John Owen

• The process of hating sin, and seeing God in relation to himself, is one that has to be repetitive and ongoing!

  • Look FIRST for what the Bible says about GOD.

  • The knowledge of self and the knowledge of God always go hand in hand.

  • As long as I am comparing myself against other people—I’ll always find people that I’m “better” than.

  • When I lay myself against the measuring rod of GOD HIMSELF—I’ll realize who I truly am. And I’ll cry out to God and ask for HIS help.

• When I truly try to become God—a terrible thing happens.

  • When I try to be self-sufficient—they tell me I’m such a hard worker…

  • When I try to micro-manage the lives of my family—they tell me I’m so wise.

  • We ask the people around us to be God-like—instead of turning to God himself.

• Look for daily doses of AWE.

  • Where do we get that?

    • WE HAVE HIS WORD.

• Just like Adam & Eve, we reach out and try to grab fruits to make us more like God…but God is holding out fruits to us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

• Do a SOAP Study on Psalm 139.

• Find one more Psalm that means a lot to you. Next week, share with the group about why it means so much to you.

• Use www.biblegateway.com to compare bible versions of that chapter. How do they compare?

An Unguarded Anointing

Judges 13-16

Samson had the Holy Spirit. Roughly only about 100 people in the Old Testament had the Holy Spirit, that we all now have access to.

Whatever your calling is in life, you are fully incapable of doing it, without the Holy Spirit.

1. Every believer is enormously gifted and empowered.

   1. Guard the gift

2. An unguarded anointing is an accident waiting to happen.

   1. It is not IF, but WHEN. If you aren’t deliberately guarding your anointing.

   2. There’s nothing on earth like the rush of the HS, but sometimes we get more addicted to the RUSH, than the Holy Spirit.

   3. Regular warfare will often be an attack on our weaknesses. Seduction is different. It comes for your strengths.

   4. His strength was in his anointing, but the hair was a symbol of his set-apartness.

   5. The enemy makes you look like a fool but you’re the last one to know it.

3. We are not just vessels of the anointing, we are stewards.

   1. It’s not just about who we are...it’s about what we are going to do with what we’ve been given.

   2. No one can steward your gift for you.

4. Conceit is the lazy, gifted persons anointing.  If I don’t wanna go through the trouble of being full of the HS, we can just be full of ourselves!

   1. Do we want a puffing or a filling?

   2. Sometimes the reason we have a thorn in our flesh is because it pops that puffing of ourselves!

   3. The enemy wore him down. “He was vexed to death.”

   4. The enemy flirts and then he torments.

   5. “But the hair of his head began to grow again.” Hair grows back. The anointing can grow back. 

5. Get back up.

   1. The enemy would have you lose your salvation, because you lose your vision.

1. Read Judges 13-16.

   1. Are there any ways in which you identify with Samson?

2. Where else does the Bible talk about anointing?

3. Do you think you are anointed to do something in the Kingdom of God? What is it?

   ”Extra credit”: read Judges 10-12 too, before the weekend! :)
   

Don't Lose Your Mind

From Denyse:

Recently, I found myself absolutely hurt and frankly, angry when I was informed that someone had tried to stab me in the back and basically tried to throw me under the bus, when they were called on behavior that was incorrect. I found myself struggling with wanting to just spout off at the mouth and let the hurt take over. The Holy Spirit really had to retrain and restrain me during this time and I wrestled with having to defend myself even though I didn’t need to and even though the powers that be saw through the whole behavior.

Once I cooled off and started talking to God about it, praying and rationally thinking, I realized that this had actually been a lesson (a bit bitter at the time) that helped me learn about a valuable instrument: discernment. I need God to show me what I can’t see.

We can’t always take what is presented to us at face value. We need to look beyond appearances and perceived behavior and sometime see the heart of the matter. Not suspicious but wise, wise about who we trust, wise about who we hang out with, wise about how we speak and whom we speak to regarding different things. We must always love and be quick to forgive but we must discern who is there to make us grow and nurture us and who is there for their own gain.

Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 says, “Wisdom, like an inheritance is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.”

During this time, it just so happened I was also reading the book RePresent Jesus and got to chapter 8, “Jesus and relationships”. I have printed out a few excerpts of this book for you.

Jesus was a master of relationships, he talked to everyone loved everyone, and had compassion for everyone (even those who constantly antagonized him). However, he understood that he could not allow everyone in is his inner circle and was very wise about what he shared with them, and who and how much he should open up during his interactions with others. In the age of social media, we forget that we need to be selective of what we share and we need to let our mind (God given discernment) guide us and not just our emotions and our heart…

We must learn discernment in relationships, to see who we are in Christ and let us be guided by His wisdom and trust Him when there are warning about a person’s behavior and ulterior motives that are not been shown face to face. Sometimes people are hurt and don’t know how to act any other way but by hurting others; remember to not become bitter when others don’t necessarily act in a Godly way.

Assignment:

• Read the excerpt from Represent Jesus and write down points that can help us in relationships.

• Read John 13:2-30.

  • What do you think Jesus’s feelings were toward Judas in that moment?

  • Can you find other examples of people that were difficult that Jesus dealt with?

  • Can you see his compassion towards them even though they were difficult?

Pray Like Jesus

Pray Like Jesus 

Did you know Jesus gave us an outline on how to pray? Even if you weren’t raised in the church you have probably heard the Lord’s prayer, but did you know it wasn’t meant to JUST be recited? It was mean to be an outline for you to use daily. 

Matthew 6:5-14  5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So let’s break this down and make it a little easier to understand. 

1. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

   1. The first priority is to recognize WHO god is. 

   2. Jason preached on recognizing God as KING (from this same prayer). We should also recognize him as our FATHER. Being friends with the king can bring many blessings, but it can also be dangerous if you become complacent…this is why it is followed up with “hallowed be your name.” Yes he is our Father, but he is also our righteous and perfect king, and needs to be respected as such

2.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

   1. Ask God to carry out his will above your own. 

      1. Jeremiah 29:11 “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.” 

      2. Trust in Him, his plans, and ask for his will to be carried out in all things. 

3. Give us today our daily bread. 

   1. Everyone has at least seen this line…it’s on every fall decoration in Walmart right now. We look at bread today as an “extra” or in some cases part of a cheat-meal. (Ohhhh delicious carbs), but in biblical times it was looked at more of a necessity. “Give us this day our daily bread” mean to ask God for what you NEED, not what you want. It’s not “give us today our daily milk and honey”

   2. ***This is not to say God doesn’t want to give you what you want as long as it lines up with his word***

      1. Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

      2. Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

   3. What it does mean is to ask for what you need as a priority over what you want. 

4. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

   1. Forgiveness is mentioned 150 times in the NIV Bible. The key here isn’t just to ask for forgiveness, it is also focusing on the importance of forgiving others and to ask for God’s help doing so. 

5. 13 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” 

   1. Break those chains daily! You will be tempted to sin multiple times a day. Not only is it ok to ask for help avoiding those temptations, but God WANTS you to ask for his help overcoming them.

1. Read Luke 11 

   1. What about your prayer life has to change because of this passage?

2. Practice! The more you use this template the easier it will become. Let us know how it goes this week.

Fear or Faith?

We’ve been talking about the Kingdom of God in this new FV sermon series, “Kingdom Come”, and as I study more and more in preparation for this series, I’ve been realizing that the implications of these teachings are BOTH for now, and for the future. As Christians, everything we do is both for now, and then.

Today, we’re going to watch a Hillsong Teaching from Robby Lewis, campus pastor for Hillsong London, called “Kingdom”. (You do have to have a subscription for this video, but the first 30 days are free!)

Candace’s Notes

Law-based mindset, vs a Gospel-based mindset

• What we believe, influences what we think, and what we think influences how we see ourselves, and how we see ourselves influences how we behave.

• Not focus on our behavior, but focus on what we believe.

1 Corinthians 15:1-5, 12-28 (The Kingdom New Testament)

• 1 Corinthians 15 (NLT)

The Corinthian People:

1. Are arrogant (towards each other).

2. Are behaving divisively (causing divisions within the church).

3. Have a self-serving agenda.

4. Believed in an advancement of the self over the church & Gospel.

5. Elevated themselves over everyone else.

   
   The word Gospel = an event, happening in a larger context, that will change the future, as a result, everything now is changed.

Board Illustration

• The board represents God, even though it breaks down because God has no edges.

• Time exists within God

• At the beginning, God creates. The last thing he creates, is humans. Image bearers.

• Sin = selfishness. We had power over the earth, so earth fell with us.

• We’re headed toward wrath, unless someone does something. 

• The Gospel is an event that happened that changes the story

On the cross, Jesus overthrew the Kingdom of Man---sin, death, decay, corruption, pain

Because you don’t believe in the resurrection:

1. The messiah has not been raised

2. You are still in your sins

3. Your faith is futile

4. Death is the end

5. There is no hope in a future life, let alone in the present one.

Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the son of God?” because one of Caesar's titles was “son of God”.

The Enlightenment removed God from the top, and put the self on the top. 

————————————————————————

Other resources I may have mentioned tonight:

• The AG 16 Fundamental Truths (the last 4 pertain to the End Times)

• The article about not making decisions based on fear

• Steven Furtick Clip

• 1 John 2 Commentary

• An article outside of our theological circles, Beyond the Millennium

Read Revelations 21-22

• What questions do you have about the book of Revelation?

Read the commentary linked above.

• How do you live out “living in the world, but not of it”?

Read 1 Corinthians 15

• If you really feel like challenging yourself: What does 1 Corinthians 15:29 mean?

• What does this chapter mean for my life?

Drowning in Doubt

Matthew 14:29-31

God wants change…change means to make different. But God doesn’t just make it different, God makes it better. He doesn’t make the broken different, He makes them whole. The sick, healed. The bound, free.

It’s not just about walking, it’s about seeing. In order to walk right, I gotta see right.

Numbers 13

They didn’t lose to the giants out there, they lost to the grasshopper in them. The victim mentality, the loser mentality.

You walk on what other people drown in. You are managing what other people are overwhelmed by. You’ve been customized, you are crafted by design. You are a water walker!

There are some places only exceptions can go…there is a level for the special. There is an arena for the unique. To get there, you have to be willing to step out of, what everybody else is sitting in. You must be willing to take another route. You cannot live being in love with what you got you where you were. What got you HERE, can’t always get you THERE.

You must be willing to be the OTHER. And you must be willing to be the ONLY. You wanna be special and common at the same time. If you have a problem with my only-ness, take it up with my supervisor.

As he sunk, Jesus IMMEDIATELY reach out his hand. Maybe Jesus wasn’t trying to save Peter’s life, but something else. Maybe Jesus was trying to save Peter’s confidence.

Out of all the things that Jesus could have critiqued, he didn’t critique the water or the wind. Faith was the factor. You can’t control the wind. Win anyway. Jesus did not correct the wind or the waves, he corrected the faith. Don’t misdiagnose your obstacle. Somebody’s walking in what you’re blaming for your stagnation. You didn’t drown because of water, you about to drown because of doubt. If faith had been present, the water wouldn’t have been an issue. Could it be that we’re drowning in water, trying to fix the water, when Jesus is trying to fix the faith? FAITH is foundational.

Faith is believing that, and behaving like, God is telling the truth. James 2:17-19. Faith produces optimism, but optimism is not faith. Peter’s faith was just underdeveloped faith. It was faith to get him out of the boat, but not faith to keep him on top of the water. It’s one thing not to go back when you can’t, it’s another, when you can still see the boat.

You cannot will yourself into faith. You can’t just decide. Faith is a process. The decision you make is to do the things that bring faith. You can’t live today, off yesterday’s faith. Faith is like a float and it will float away if you don’t hang onto it.

3 Things We Have To Know To BUILD FAITH THAT IS KEPT:

1. Who God is.

   1. Matthew 14:28. Peter called him “Lord”.

   2. When some people say they know God, they just know His name. When you are in need of provision, the word “God” is not enough. Some of us know Jehovah Jireh!! Just knowing that He exists, doesn’t help you in crisis. He is Emmanuel — He is with us.

2. What God said.

   1. Matthew 14:29. Peter didn’t go until Jesus said come.

   2. You gotta know what truth is, if you’re going to believe that God is telling the truth.

   3. Your faith, your conviction, rests on whether or not God is a truth-teller.

   4. Numbers 23:19-20

   5. My faith is built on the truth, not the facts! The Word of God is like a car wash!

3. What God did. Jesus asks him why he doubted.

   1. Faith is not a denial of reality, it believes God to change it. What have you seen God do? Strong faith is tied to a strong memory. Not remembering everything, it’s remembering the right things. Sometimes that requires relabeling things that you mislabeled when you were at a different place in your spiritual journey.

Maybe we should stop acting like faith is illogical, ‘cause maybe DOUBT is. Maybe when you start looking at the evidence of faith in your life, you have more reason to BELIEVE than to doubt!

DISCUSSION:

1. After hearing this sermon, would you consider yourself a person of little (underdeveloped) faith, or big (developed) faith?

2. Pastor Dharius said, “You cannot will yourself into faith. You can’t just decide. Faith is a process.” What has that process looked like so far in your life?

STUDY AT HOME:

1. Matthew 14

   1. Verse 13: Why do you think Jesus went to be alone? Put yourself in that moment, really try to think about what emotions he might have been feeling…what that conversation between him and his Father might have been…why he needed to be away, even from the the disciples.

   2. He didn’t get to be alone though, because the people followed Him, and He had compassion on them. In your moments of anguish or grief or anger, do you have compassion?

2. James 2

   1. What does verse 12 mean?

   2. What does verse 15-17 mean?

3. If you missed Eran Holt’s message at Heart & Soul on September 29th, give it a listen here (starts around minute 28).

   1. Candace’s notes on the message are found here.

   2. What did you find most interesting about this message?

   3. What did you find most helpful about this message? What will it help you to do?