GREAT GAIN. No if’s.
FULL HEART. Contentment
Appreciation + eternal mindset + low need = contentment
The Root
1 John 2:16 “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”
Is there ONE THING, that, if changed, would change a lot of other things?
Genesis 5:1-2 // Hebrews 4:15 // Luke 2:52 // Mark 12:30
Wisdom - Mind - Thoughts
Jesus is the beginning of Wisdom
Stature - Physical - Strength
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Favor with God - Spiritual - Soul
Jesus wept - John 11:35
Jesus Prayed - Luke 5:15
Jesus Slept - Mark 4:37-38
Favor with People - Social - Heart
Mark 12:30 - Love your neighbor
Growing People Change - Galatians 3:26-28
The Kingdom of God is upside down.
To become a leader, be a servant
To truly find life, die to self.
To get back at your enemy, love them.
To become rich, give money away.
GOD IS NOT AN ENABLER (but be careful what you pray for)
God promised to take care of Israel’s spiritual health. But what happens when taking care of physical needs is no longer beneficial to the spiritual health? Does God place priority on the spiritual or the physical?
DON’T BECOME YOUR OWN GOD.
Lust is Not Love
Love is Not Locker Room Talk
Love Requests - Lust Demands
Sexual Dysfunction - Desire, Devise, Doing, Despair
Love Listens - Lust Looks Away
Love Lasts - Lust Leaves
Love Learns - Lust Lies
Eyes Opened
WHY WOULD A GOOD GOD, PUT THAT TREE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
1. Love can’t exist without a choice.
2. Perfection doesn’t help us!
Why is this evil in my life?!
1. You may have brought it onto yourself at some point, by wanting your eyes to be opened.
2. Other people’s eyes being opened, bring evil into the world.
Shame comes from within...it’s not covered up easily.
Mouths Opened
The power of confession
1. Secrecy doesn’t work anyway
2. There’s mercy in confession.
Promise Unlocked
The Gospel is patterned, promised, or present all throughout scripture.
They weren’t truly lost from God in the garden. And neither are we.
Promises FOR YOU from God:
DIRECTION: Proverbs 3:5-6
REST: Matthew 11:28-30
THE IMPOSSIBLE: Luke 18:27
ETERNAL LIFE: John 3:16
NO CONDEMNATION: Romans 8:1
GOOD FROM BAD: Romans 8:28
FREEDOM, PURITY, HOLINESS: 1 Corinthians 1:30
PROVISION: 2 Corinthians 9:8, Philippians 4:19
POWER THROUGH WEAKNESS: 2 Corinthians 12:9
STRENGTH: Philippians 4:13
CONTENTMENT: Hebrews 13:5
POWER, LOVE, SELF-DISCIPLINE: 2 Timothy 1:7
Join the conversation! Use #FVChurch and #BetweenTwoGardens hashtags with quotes, pictures, and notes from the message this weekend! And don’t forget to tag Freedom Valley Church!
Use this phone background to remind yourself all week of God’s promises!
Comment below and tell us what you’ve learned this weekend!
2 Samuel 9:1-13 NLT
The lovingkindness of God will:
Search for you
Sustain you
Supply for you
Seat you
What to Expect When You’re Expecting:
The Closeness of Jesus
The Censure of the World
The Call
The Cure
Join the conversation! Use #FVChurch and #EPICWeekend, and tag Freedom Valley Church!
1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 TPT, “For you are all children of the light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night nor to darkness. 6 This is why we must not fall asleep, as the rest do, but keep wide awake and clearheaded.”
AWAKE AND CLEARHEADED
“Some of us will never move forward spiritually before we’ve broken secrecy with ourselves…”
“We’re called to be WARRIORS, not sleepers. Put your ARMOR on, not your pajamas.“
To do that, we have to remain awake and clearheaded.
We win battles in the spiritual.
We see things through the spiritual
Not the emotional, not the physical.
FASTING helps us to see through the physical and the emotional.
BE SKILLED. BE FAITHFUL. BE QUICK.
Thinking you know everything, is a really quick way to fall asleep.
There is something unique about the Christian experience, that is asks us to CONSTANTLY and self-sacrificially CHALLENGE ourselves...just like HE did.
Your skill-building isn’t about YOU...
You can’t fall asleep standing up!
The spiritually AWAKE, give their time generously to people.
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Be what God has called YOU to be. Some of us are mothers, some are evangelists. Some are prophetess’, some are business-women. Some are homemakers, some are church elders! Be the YOU, that God has called you to be, and STAY AWAKE. You can fall asleep at ANY age, any stage of growth. Don’t.
For you are all children of the light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night nor to darkness.
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Join the conversation! Use the hashtags #FVChurch to post quotes, scripture, and pictures from today’s message!
The Power to Do Joy
vs. 1 “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers”
Comes From What You Delight In
vs. 2-3 “But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
Delight in: they choose to like the safety of the walls of sobriety, the challenge of living different, the benefits of serving God, the truth of the gospel. They willingly comply. Delight in how booze makes you feel, or how that high affects you, and you will lose yourself to it.
But Unfocused People…Don’t.
vs. 4-6 “But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. 5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. 6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”
Wickedness is different from occasional evil; wickedness is a settled, chosen, practiced evil.
Wickedness happens when we stop believing in the reward for living well. We begin to believe that wickedness will win, and all we can do is give in to it.
For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalm 73:25, ""Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you"
Bad things are not always bad things.
Hebrews 12:7-11, “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Midnight singing & dungeon faith
“Those who wish to sing, will always find a song.”
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas--but for scars.” Elbert Hubbard
SUDDENLY--
We are citizens.
Here’s what I’ve learned about battles…
BATTLES are not always bad things.
We need the battles, to shape who we are, and to teach us who God is.
Faith isn’t what makes it all work out in the end (God has already done that)...faith is what gets us through the middle part. It’s the substance of things hoped for, it’s the evidence of things not yet seen...it’s mysterious and magical and amazing..It creates, it imagines, it hopes, it designs, it’s the language of God, because it is CREATING. CREATING LIFE.
True faith does not merely resign itself to a divine plan, nor trust detached promises; faith embraces a promising Person. That person, values spiritual health, above everything, because physical health and physical wealth don’t last for eternity.
We must remember the promises in which Christ is clothed, but let us never preach a set of clothes. It’s the person of JESUS that stands at the center of saving faith.
In the end, this series about been about faith. Faith in the face of battles. Enemies that cannot be overcome. Walls that cannot be torn down. Relationships that cannot be restored. Faith in the face of the impossible. But not faith in yourself. Or the universe. Or love, or faith in faith itself. Faith in Jesus Christ, the overcomer. The victorious savior of our souls. We are citizens in HIS kingdom. And we fight our battles as HIS warriors, ‘cause there is nothing that can stop our God.
Plan // Foolish Faith
Preparation // Do It Daily
Position // Battle Cry
Take Your Positions
Acknowledge the problem AND the source
Pray & Worship
Names of God
Jehovah Jireh - The Lord will provide
Jehovah Nissi- The Lord is our banner (deliverer)
Jehovah Shalom - The Lord sends peace (comfort)
Jehovah Rapha - The God who heals
Jehovah Ra’ah - The Lord is the Way, my shepherd
Jehovah Tsidkenu (Sid-ken-ew)- The Lord is our righteousness
Jehovah Shammah - The Lord is our light, ever present
Know your own limitations
Decide to obey & march
Do Not Be Afraid
Obey & march
SING
Declare victory
“Wake the Dawn” Psalm 108
Put on armor Ephesians 6
The Lord is With You
Who can be against you?! Romans 8
YOU don’t need fight
Freedom & hope for a future
Valley of Blessing
Baptized with the Holy Spirit
Think Differently
Act Differently
Speak Differently
Power to testify
Why are you still standing here?
The who, what, and why method.
Know Who - who you are and who Christ is!
The Spiritual Slap
Know why - correction > comfort
Jesus knew what he needed more than what he wanted.
Do you know what you need to do? What can stop you? Slap it.
Luke 5:1-11: The First Disciples
Stages of Faith
Unbelievers
Believers
Disciples
Servant-Leaders
Reproducers
Find Jesus
(unbelievers & believers)
You can see that Jesus moved these early disciples through these stages pretty quickly. From unbeliever to believer after just a few teachings and a miracle.
Move Forward
(believers & disciples)
Jesus may have called them where they were, but he didn’t let them stay where they were...He called them and helped them move forward..
Do Something
(servant-leaders & reproducers)
If you’ve been truly freed..you naturally want others to feel that too.
To find the practical ways that we do this at FV, and to HELP in that process, go see The FV Pathway!
Luke 14:25-35: The Cost of Being a Disciple
We talk a lot about the benefits of following Jesus, and there are many...but here, Jesus addresses the cost.
Know the voice of your rabbi. Luke 14:25-27
Identifying exactly who your leader is, is important because it also identifies exactly who your leader is not.
There IS pain in this. Sometimes what your friends and family want, differs from what your God wants. Who will you listen to?
There is freedom in knowing who the Boss is. It’s not all on you anymore!
He hasn’t called you to fail. Luke 14:28-33
Jesus is issuing a warning here, not to turn people away…but to help them understand the testing seasons.
Our calling, is worth being crucified for!
Count the cost so that you succeed. Luke 14:34-35
You can't just be a disciple forever...at some point, you must mature into also MAKING disciples.
THERE IS ROOM IN THIS HOUSE!
Stay and Be a Blessing
Shake It Off
The Dust of Offense
The Dust of Distractions
Psalm 119:15, “I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.”
The Dust of the Past
2 Corinthians 5:17, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
The Dust of Loneliness
John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”
The Dust of Life
Romans 12:21, “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
John 13:10, “Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”
One easy way to help grow the church? Check in on Facebook when you're here! Social Media is the new town square..help us get the word out! #FVChurch
When you’re in obedience, God is your defender.
Most of us give up because we don’t ACTUALLY believe the words written in this book.
Pro Tips for “Staying”:
Develop systems of reminding ourselves of His Word.
The 40 I Am’s (HOME GROUP ASSIGNMENT: Read over these…which one means the most to you right now?)
Daily Bible Study
Weekly corporate Worship
Gratitude for what God’s done in the past
Don’t let your guard down
Doubting God’s Word, can be dangerous.
BUILD faith..
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Good News about Christ!”
Learning, hearing God’s Word is what BUILDS faith. Block by block.
One of Jesus’ last words was not “go”, but “wait”. He needed his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them, to be able to accomplish the job they had to do.
We don’t know the old man’s punishment...but it’s not about that.
What you WANT to learn is only going to feed your pride and ambition and ego..
What you NEED to learn will make you humble, meek, and kind.
This story is about STAYING even through deceit. Even through the storm. Even through the testing seasons. Even through the the valley of the shadow of death.
This is about not relying on anyone else for the WORD of God, BUT the WORD OF GOD.
This is about trusting God before anyone else!
Are you the kind of person that STAYS?! STAYS true to what God is calling YOU to do?! STAYS...even when it’s hard.
This story isn’t about selfishness or laziness.
“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.” Prov 28:20
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?” Luke 16:10-12
This story isn’t about annoyance.
This story is about shameless persistence.
What have you observed Jesus doing lately?
What are you asking him to be taught right now?
When you feel the urge to run--do you examine that urge, or do you run?
Join the conversation! Use the hashtags #ToStayOrNotToStay and #FVChurch to post quotes, scripture, and pictures from today’s message!
HOME GROUP ASSIGNMENT: Pick one of the above linked passages. Study it. Share with the group, one thing that you learned from that passage, and how it relates to “STAY”.
