Lions & Lambs

Read: Joshua 5:13-15

Read: Revelation 19: 11-16

Read: Revelation 5:1-6

Message Notes:

• If you love God, you will want to get to know Him more

• There is a disconnect between the God of the desert who would protect us during battle, and the God of the Christian bookstore. I always wondered where are the Lions?

• The picture we have of Jesus is incomplete.

• We need to adjust our view of Jesus

• It is one thing to have a picture of a lion, and it is a complete different thing to have met one. It is the same of Jesus. Have you ever met someone and automatically known that they were a Christian?

 1 st – 3 rd Century: Victory over suffering Jesus

 4 th - 5 th Century: Distant and exalted Jesus

 6 th -15 th Century: Scary taskmaster Jesus

 16 th -17 th Century: Loving Jesus

 18 th -20 th Century: Exiled Jesus

 21 st Century: Ricky Bobby Jesus

• The Blood of the martyrs are the seed of the Church. – Apologeticus Tertullian

• Chi Rho, “XP – In hoc signo vinces” In this sign you shall conquer.

• We have lost the fear of God. There should be a love, but also a respect/fear of God.

• We make Jesus into a caricature; If there is something you don’t like about Him, *you* should change.

• We are in a world of crisis, we don’t want to lose our friends, and neighbors by saying the wrong thing or offending someone with the truth. The world wants us silent, shut up and quiet. Right now, we need the picture of Jesus as a lion.

• Speak the truth in love. Being loving does not mean to be a push over. Love is speaking truth.

  Discussion Questions:

• How do you picture Jesus? (or Describe how you imagine Jesus).

• Did your picture of Jesus change after watching the sermon?

• Do you agree or disagree with John Lovell about needing a Lion-Jesus?

• Have there been times in your life when you needed a Lion-Jesus, the warrior captain?

• What was your biggest takeaway?

1. Watch Ricky Bobby Prayer

2. Research Christophany

3. Find three places where Jesus showed up in the Old Testament.

4. Read Genesis 3

5. What jumps out at you when reading this chapter?

   1. Satan, the serpent corrupts Eve by presenting doubt to God’s word. That is how Satan corrupts us even today.

   2. Adam blames God for his failure (he blames the woman, the woman *you/God* gave me.

   3. Eve blames the serpent (“The serpent deceived me,… that’s why I ate it.”)

   4. When we sin and fail, we to often use this same method of blame shifting to make it seem that our failure was not our fault, or that we do not have the responsibility for our own failures. Christians need to own their mistakes, and work to learn from them, and not to repeat them.

   5. The Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and Eve; the first animal/blood sacrifice to cover their sin.

Seeing the Unseeable

Sermon begins at 37:30

Read Acts 22:6-20

NOTES Seeing the Unseeable! | Pastor Ken Ortize

• We are in a time where it is unclear to whom or what we should believe, what is the truth?

• According to scientists It all began 14 billion years ago. Matter and the universe existed in a space that was the size of the period at the end of this sentence. And suddenly the universe was born and it began rapidly expanding.

• Scientists go from “we don’t know” to very specific descriptions as to the beginning of the universe. But regardless of how the Earth and universe was formed, most scientists refuse to acknowledge a Devine Creator.

• Scientists believe that somehow something came from nothing.

• We often wonder, how did we get here and what is our purpose?

• John Stonestreet said, “Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims.”

• Science says that man is basically just an evolved animal and there’s a savageness behind it. And with it there’s no reason, there’s no sense, or purpose. And then we wonder why we have generations who grow up without any sense of purpose, or design beyond just satisfying our immediate pleasures.

• The world’s desire to remove God is that it means that we are no longer accountable and all we need to do is look to ourselves to find meaning. And if we don’t find ultimate answers at least we can find something that will keep us going forward another day.

• The Bible often says things that are contrary to what the World wants to hear.

• The World has society committed to materialism, and materialism is an absolute for we cannot allow a divine foot in the door. – Science has become a new religious system.

Discussion Questions:

•  Do people not see God because they simply don’t want to?

• How has God intruded into your life? Do you welcome the intrusion?

• The Bible often says things that are contrary to what the World wants to hear. Agree/Disagree?

• Voltaire said “If they can get you to believe in absurdities, they can force you to do atrocities.” Agree/Disagree with that statement?

• Do you let God influence aspects of our life? How?

• Commit to devoting time for prayer.

• Read Acts 9

  • What jumps out at you when reading this chapter?

What is Truth? The Concept of Truth

The Concept of Truth - Pastor Tony Evans

Watch video

Read John 18:28-40

Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor.[f] His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?” 30 “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. 31 “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. 32 (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.[g]) 33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. 34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” 37 Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. 39 But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?” 40 But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)

• Why can’t you be your own truth? Our truth gets distorted by our own sin.

• We cannot be the arbiter of truth. Why can’t we be the standard for truth? - because we are finite and limited by our humanity.

• We are living in a world of lies.

• We are being bombarded by lies.

• The world we live in now is a liar’s paradise.

• Jesus came down from heaven to give testimony to the Truth.

• There is only one perfect source of Truth, and that is God.

• If you want to get rid of Truth, you have to get rid of God.

• Truth is what God says it is, not what is a popular opinion.

•When you live your life, you must live it as a person of the Truth.

Discussion Questions:

• Truth is an absolute standard by which reality is measured. – Agree/Disagree?

• Truth sits outside of you. Agree/Disagree?

• Truth transcends emotions; how you feel does not determine whether it’s true. Agree/Disagree?

• Truth is deeper than facts. Truth includes facts, but you can have facts and not know the truth. Agree/Disagree?

• We live in a world of lies and are constantly being bombarded with lies. Can you think of a few ways this happens? What are some examples? (Marketing, advertising, sales, TV commercials etc. – You’ll look good in these clothes – buy these clothes. A better car will advance your career and make people like you – buy this car… etc.)

• What will be the standard of your determining Truth? – will it be your feelings, morals, or Jesus Christ?

• What are ways we can determine truth?

• Commit to devoting time for prayer.

• Consider walking through your neighborhood and prayingspecifically for the needs of your neighbors.

• Set a goal this month to get into the word and read:

Psalm 31

Isaiah 65

Hebrews 6

John 14

What jumps out at you when you read these passages?

Jesus On Prayer

Read:

• Matthew 6:9-15

• Matthew 7:7-12

• John 13:34-35

Jesus On Prayer | Pastor Greg Surratt

•  When something uncontrollable happens - Pray.

• Jesus says ask, and you will receive.

• Seek God’s will for your life.

• The search can be frustrating but giving up and quitting, may cause you to miss out on God’s gift.

• God has doors of opportunity that He wants to open for you.

• There are things already on the table that God has prepared for you.

• Jesus says to trust. – Ask, seek, knock and then trust.

• Jesus says to do. – Pray, trust then do.

• Faith without works is dead. – what you believe must inform/direct your behavior.

• Christians should not look, act, or speak like the world; yet survey after survey indicates there is no difference.

• Do not express hate onto people, we must love others. They will know we are Christians by our love.

Discussion Questions:

•  How many of you have ever prayed/asked for something and it didn’t look like you got an answer?

• Have you ever prayed for something, and then later found out that you were better off with God-saying not yet, or no?

• To seek means to search. Searching takes effort. Have you ever grown tired of searching and settled? How did that work out for you?

• Have you ever faced a closed door? How did you approach the situation?

• What are things we can do to not give up; to continue on and not lose hope?

• Have you ever been told not to pray for patience, because God will do something to put you through a hard situation? (Like make you constantly get stuck behind slow drivers, or stand in long checkout lines at the store… etc.) - is that an appropriate way of thinking when it comes to prayer?

• Do you think life was better/worse under Roman rule vs. how the world is today?

• Our beliefs inform/direct our behaviors. (agree/disagree?)

• Can you share an experience where you had to check your behavior in response to a situation?

• Commit to devoting 10 minutes a day for prayer.

• Consider walking through your neighborhood and praying specifically for the needs of your neighbors.

• Ask God to lead you in praying specifically for neighbor’s needs (know or unknown).

• Set a goal this month to get into the word and read:

  • Read: Luke 11:1-13

  • What jumps out at you when you compare with Matthew’s account?

Further Study:

Watch Video: T.D. Jakes- The Door Prayer Won’t Open

How To Deal With Anger

James 1:19-26

Listening and Doing

19  Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  20  Human anger [a]  does not produce the righteousness [b]  God desires.  21  So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 22  But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  23  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  24  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  25  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 26  If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

How to Deal With Anger | Darrin Patrick Sermon

•  When you are in a trial, the first thing you need is a word from God.

• How would you like to be the half-brother to Jesus/God?

• Trials come; when that happens to you, James says that you will experience anger.

• Pay attention to what is going on inside you. Why are you so angry?

• Trials come; be slow about your anger. Be quick to hear, but slow to anger.

• Primary emotions: joy, anger, fear, sadness, disgust and surprise.

• Unprocessed emotions are the soil that sins grows in.

• Paul Tripp: you talk to yourself all the time, no one is more influential in your life than you are, you are constantly involved in an internal conversation with yourself. What do you say to yourself? What do you say about God? What do you say about your circumstances? Do your words that you speak to yourself encourage faith, hope, courage or doubt, discouragement, fear? Do you remind yourself that God is near? That God is a friend? Do you encourage yourself to run TO God, or run away FROM God? What we tell ourselves matters; it forms our character and predicts our future. Are you going to accept what’s in you? Are you going to reject what is in you? (The word of God – Let the word of God work in you.) Listen, speak, and then apply it to ourselves.

Watch Video: https://www.paultripp.com/about

Discussion Questions:

• You talk to yourself all the time, no one is more influential in your life than you are, you are constantly involved in an internal conversation with yourself. Agree/Disagree?

• What do you say to yourself? - What do you say about God/what do you say about your circumstances?

• Do your words that you speak to yourself encourage faith, hope, courage or doubt, discouragement, fear?

• Do you remind yourself that God is near? That God is a friend? Do you encourage yourself to run to God, or run from God?

• What we tell ourselves matters; it forms our character and predicts our future. Agree/Disagree?

• Is hearing God’s word enough? (or do I need to go beyond to just hearing the word?)

• What can we do to go beyond just hearing the word?

• Do you serve at FV?/Have you thought about where you can serve at FV?

• If you suffer from anxiety, meditate on the fact that God knows you and is in control; there is purpose for everything – knowing this, we can have victory over anxiety. Agree/Disagree?

Check out: https://www.paultripp.com/

Set a goal this month to get into the word and read:

• Read 1 Thessalonians 2

• Read Colossians 3

• Read Exodus 34:6

• Read Psalm 119

When reading these passages, what jumps out at you?

• If you don’t have one already, find at least one person who can mentor you, and also find at least one person to mentor.

• If you have not been tithing, think about what has been holding you back and consider taking the step of faith and tithe.

Further Study:

Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCaReCZMMY&t=8s (Angry Like Jesus: Life Church)

Pick Up Your Mat and Walk!

John 5:1-18

Jesus Heals a Lame Man

5 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a] with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.[b] 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing[c] Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

Watch First Video (The Chosen:  Jesus heals Paralytic at Pool of Bethesda):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntuUN0Lg1Es&list=PLSyJOUg4Tk68WMR4aERWfOGYBu85LwPS8&index=93

•Question:  You are not coming back here.  That life is over.  Have you ever felt that Jesus has told to you to pick up your mat and walk? -  Walk away from a situation or place, or rut you’ve been stuck in?

Watch Second Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPgWfOLmpPw&list=PLSyJOUg4Tk68WMR4aERWfOGYBu85LwPS8&index=95

Lame Man Walking | Tony Evans Sermon // Acts 3 //

•It’s hard to man up if you cannot stand up.

•You can be at the church house, but still not able to stand on your own two feet.

•Far too many men are lame, they may not be physically lame, but mentally lame. So much so that he cannot take on his manly responsibilities.

•Far too many lame men think that money will solve their problems. In life there are often things that money cannot buy.

•Silver and Gold, I do not have, but what I do have I will give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, stand up and walk!

•Far too many men pray for the wrong thing. Men often pray for stuff, but God wants to change the person. When you only want stuff from God, you’ve got it backwards. Stuff is good, but only when it comes from God.

•Give is a grace word; it cannot be earned.

•We have a generation of Men where people have grabbed them and pulled them in the wrong direction.

•You must be plugged in. Your appliances will not work unless they are plugged into the power. Just like that, we CANNOT work the way we are supposed to, unless we are plugged into the power of Jesus.

•When God moves in your life, you will let it be known!

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever felt like you’ve ever needed to pick up your mat and walk?

2. Has anyone ever mentored you or picked you up spiritually?

3. Have you ever helped pick someone else stand up spiritually?

4. There is power in the name, but there needs to be connection with Jesus. Agree/Disagree?

5. God can meet you in the middle of your life and turn your life around. Agree/Disagree?

6. It’s time for us to get up, stand up and start moving. What can we do to stand up and start moving?

Further Study:

Watch Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlBOmQ1PaMY(Chosen: Jesus heals the paralytic; Mark 2)

1. Set a goal this month to get into the word and read:
   •Acts 3:1-26

   •Mark 2:1-12

   •When reading these passages, what jumps out at you?
   

2. If you don’t have one already, find at least one person who can mentor you. And find at least one person to mentor.

3. If you have not been tithing, consider taking the step of faith and tithe.

A Rhythm of Rest

Read Genesis 2 NIV - Thus the heavens and the earth were - Bible Gateway

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Read Exodus 16 NLT - Manna and Quail from Heaven - Then the - Bible Gateway

21 After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts[e] for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”

24 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. 25 Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. 26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”

27 Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” 30 So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.

---

Message Notes

I felt like God leaned towards me and said are you ready to deal with me now? Rather than dealing with the obvious reality in front of me I was just distracting myself.

I was so of consumed with so many of my responsibilities and ministry and so consumed with some things that really in the longevity of things are not particularly important and I was letting my body fill up with stress and tighten up over things that are really irrelevant. And so God and His mercy had to put me down in order to give me perspective, he had to stop me to help me get on the right path; he had to add to my life by subtracting, which is what God likes to do, and so he put me down to give me perspective.

If you look around in the culture today, what's happening, we live in relatively the safest time for young people to grow up. And yet there are higher levels of anxiety reported among young people than at any time in recorded history.  There's something about modern life that is not conducive to human flourishing. Our rapid pace is not leading to restoration of our souls; there's something wrong with the rhythms of our life and it's hurting us.

We're like a boat that as it goes faster and faster, at some point it starts to pop on the water and then flips over and throws everybody out. 

Speed is the enemy of depth and what we're lacking today is deep people, because we don't know how to slow down see and so that's why you go “well then, what do we do?”

If you want to know how to use a creation you look to its creator.  God wove Sabbath into the rhythm of creation. 

Efficiency requires periodic maintenance.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you keep a Sabbath day/a day of rest?

2. Do you ever feel like you get caught up in the busyness of life, that you forget to rest?

3. Have you ever been forced to rest by an unforeseen event?

4. How would your life be different if you scheduled rest like you schedule other to-do list items?

5. What is a change that you can make now to build rest into your week?

6. What does rest look like for you?

7. What is your biggest take away?

• This month, choose a verse about God’s calling you to rest, and commit to taking a break and meditate on God’s word.

• Read Deuteronomy 5:15 -  Deuteronomy 5 NLT - Ten Commandments for the Covenant - Bible Gateway

• Read Luke 14 -  Luke 14 NLT - Jesus Heals on the Sabbath - One - Bible Gateway

• Read John 5 -  John 5 NLT - Jesus Heals a Lame Man - Afterward - Bible Gateway

• Create a habit of committing to taking time out to rest

• Set a goal to unplug for a period of time (an hour, several hours, an entire day etc.)

Further Study:

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFTLvkB3JLM  (Sabbath – Bible Project)

How to Know the Will of God

How to Know the Will of God

What do you normally think about when you want to know the will of God?

Where do I go to college? Who do I marry? Do I buy this house? Move here/there? Take this

job or the other? These all have to do with the material, the physical world.

Here’s what it should be first. Do the will of God in these areas and the other physical things

will become clear.

God’s will is that all be saved – none should perish.

Matthew 18:14 – “even so it is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven that any of these

little ones should perish.”

Matthew 28:19 – “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the

name of the father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things

that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

Romans 10:14 - ..and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how

shall they hear without a preacher?”...

God’s will is for us to tell of His love.

God’s will for you is to put on Christ

Romans 13:14 – “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill

its lusts.”

Vs 12 - : Cast of works of darkness, put on an armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day,

not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”

1 Corinthians 13: 4-6 – “Love suffers long and is kind, love does not parade itself, is not puffed

up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not

rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,

endures all things.”

God’s will is that you be sanctified

2

Sanctification – the verb form, sanctify – is to set apart for special use, or purpose – to make

holy or sacred… process of being set apart, being made holy – ultimately, only God covers you

with the blood of Jesus that makes you righteous, holy… but we are to walk, act, think holiness.

Sanctification begins at being saved and ends at going to heaven.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 – “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain

from sexual immorality.

God’s will is that we increase in become wise or gaining wisdom

Proverbs 1:5 – “A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will

attain wise counsel.”

Proverbs 1:7a - ..”the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.”

Proverbs 1:23 – “sure I will pour out my spirit on you.. I will make known my word to you.”

James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives liberally and it will be

given to him.”

Ecclesiastes 1:13 – “And I (Solomon) will set my heart to seek and search out wisdom

concerning all that is done under heaven.”

God’s will is that we serve Him with our gifts

Romans 12:6 – “Having then gifts differing according to the grace given us, let us use them.”

Read Romans 12:6-8

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Read…

Gods will is that we rejoice-give thanks

1 Thessalonians 4:16 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this

is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Read:

• Romans 12:6-8

• 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

• 1 Thessalonians 4:16

The Power of Prayer

The Power of Prayer

The Power to Prevail

What are you saying for me with THIS SITUATION? 

“Prayin’ and pressin’ and pressin’ and prayin’”

When the enemy comes for you–are you gonna be ready for him?

God wants you relaxed in His presence.

“When I understand that you’re after my heart and not my hand, I will give you my hand!!” 

How can a person learn how to prevail in prayer?

• Crisis–desperation

• Practice–set aside time and space, consistency & commitment

• Fasting

• Getting to know the Father – He is FOR you.

• Humility

Luke 18:1-8

Vs. 8, “Will He find this kind of PERSISTENT faith on the earth?” amplified version

Get your mind off the HOW–and get it on the WHO.

Remind Him!! I know WHO, not HOW. 

Other words that can be used to describe prayer:

• Blessing

• Supplication

• Petition

• Intercession

• Devotion

• Invocation

How do you believe you can enhance your own personal prayer life?

Doing it out of discipline: “you will only play as hard as you practice.”

It’s valuable: to the welfare and well-being of you and your family.

Doesn’t take fancy words - just a sincere heart and a humble cry

No comparison - it’s not about what others’ are doing.

We all got HOLES IN THE SOULS - gotta fill the holes!

Keeping things simple - allow it grow with the Holy Spirit

It is a privilege to PRAY!

Discussion Questions:

• What would it mean for you to prevail in your life right now?

• How can a person learn how to prevail in prayer?

• How do you believe you can enhance your own personal prayer life?

Download the powerpoint from this teaching here.

Unqualified

•  Moses was an orphan and a murder with a stutter, but God chose and used Moses to lead the Israelites – God’s people, out of Egypt.

• Do not depend on your own understanding but lean into God. He is mighty!

• The story isn’t about you, it’s about God – not about who you were, but who you will be!

• It’s okay if you don’t feel qualified, because not qualified is where He starts!

• God seeks out unqualified people for His plan. God is in the business of using dysfunctional and broken people.

• If you have ever felt like you didn’t measure up, dysfunctional or disqualified then you are in good company, because that is exactly who God uses to accomplish Great things.

Exodus 3

•  You don’t know, what you don’t know and life can be harder that you think what it will be and you aren’t ready for it because you didn’t know what to prepare for. And the reality is that you won’t be ready. If you feel that you have a plan and you are ready, most likely it’s not that big of a plan, and maybe you should go back and ask God what He has for you.

•  God has a plan for you, but you won’t know it until you stop and say Here I am.

•  I’m not ready – we use that as an excuse not to take action. We need to stop acting this way, and say God here I am – Yes, send me.

•  God is trying to reach you, God is calling out to you. We need to stop, pause and say God I am here, do something in me, do something WITH me!

• God wanted to free the Israelites, but we have no idea how long the Israelites were enslaved, because Moses was busy. We have no idea about how many people around us (in our schools and our families), that are in chains and in bondage because we haven’t said yes to God’s calling of offering hope and light and freedom into other people’s lives. You are an answered prayer for somebody. God wants to use you to change the lives of people around you, and He is waiting for you to stop and say I am here.

• If we are willing to say yes! What could God do through us? – If God is not moving in you, you should ask yourself why? – what are the distractions (and bad habits) you should remove from your life?

• If you feel like you are forsaken right now, know that God is doing something.

•  Moses said God I’m not ready for this – God said Moses you are right, you’re not ready, but I will be with you! When we feel discouraged or not ready, know that God is with you.

• Yes we might be imperfect, we might be unqualified, but God is bigger than that. God says I am more than enough for you, through me YOU ARE QUALIFIED. God can take our stupid, and do something through us. God is love, and can lift us up out of despair, because He is love and grace.

• It all starts with us seeking Him, by making room for Him in our day. It’s not just checking a box, but it is actively saying God you can do something in me and with me! Get fired up!

Questions:

1. Do you feel like an adult? When did you start feeling that way? / When did you realize you were

an adult?

2. Have you ever asked God what His will is for your life? What was God’s answer?

3. What goals or measurements did you create for yourself to determine when you were an adult?

4. What doubts and I AM’s have you spoken into/over your life? (I AM messed up, I AM broken, I

AM overwhelmed etc.) what did you do to overcome those doubts?

5. Do you set aside time for God? What do you do? How do you make time for God?

• Read Exodus 3.

• Join us in the church-wide Bible Plan.

• Read Psalm 119. Which part ministers to you the most?

• Read Psalm 25. How can this passage help you in a waiting season?

• 1 Corinthians 10:30, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” How can you apply that to your life right now?

• How can you serve others right now? Are you practicing servanthood within the church?

Why Didn't God Answer My Prayers?

Notes:

Prayer can be powerful, but also confusing. John 14:13-14

You are not the main character of the story! God is the main character. God does not exist to serve US, but we exist to serve and glorify Him.

The purpose of prayer ISN'T to get God to do our will. It's to know GOD, so we can do HIS Will.

God is not a button to be pushed, but a relationship to be pursued.

Never build your theology around a single verse plucked out of context. Use the Bible to interpret the Bible.

So, why didn't God answer my prayer? (I DON’T KNOW. As your pastor, that’s above my pay grade.)

4 possibilities:

1. Maybe you have a broken relationship. Hindering your intimacy with God. Mark 11:24-25, Matthew 5:24, 1 Peter 3:7, "if thou are a jerketh, God might not answer your prayers."

2. Wrong motives. Selfish prayers.

3. Maybe you don’t believe God will do it. You’re lacking faith. Mark 9:22-24. Matthew 9:22. Luke 7:50. Matthew 9:29-30. Faith matters. But God is still God. We don’t out our faith in FAITH, we put our faith in GOD.

4. Maybe God has something different. It's just not God's will. 1 John 5:14-15.

"His grace is sufficient for me" His power is made perfect in my weakness and brokenness.
God may have something different in mind for you. Not always better, just different.

Then WHY pray?

The purpose of prayer is relational. It’s to get to know God. To know Him intimately so we can know His will.
It’s reminder that you are not in control, and it keeps you close to the One who is.

If you find yourself in a prayer slump, what do you do? Keep on praying.

Even if He doesn’t, I still believe. My faith is not in a “what”, always in a “who”.

Discussion:

1. Was is your main takeaway from this message?

2. Have you ever found yourself in a prayer slump? What got you out of it?

3. How would you answer, if an unbelieving friend asked you why you pray?

4. What do you think it means to let the Bible interpret the Bible?

5. What’s your current prayer routine look like? When and how often do you pray to God?

6. What has God been teaching you lately?

This month, let’s try out some different kinds of prayer practices! Use this holiday time to think about what Jesus has done, specifically, why He came, and what difference it makes it your life. Try a few of these at home this month:

1. Meditate on God’s Word

2. Journal Your Prayers

3. Get Quiet, Be Still

4. Praise God Through Thanksgiving

5. Worship and Pray Through Nature or Exercising

6. Pray with Others

7. Fast & Pray

God Finds Us

Notes:

Only the one who gave you life has the authority to identify you.

Only 1 has the right and authority to tell you who you are. Circumstances are not powerful enough to define you.

You are who God says you are!!!

God has given you a name.

Any person or system that seeks to diminish the value of who I am is actually anti-God.

Your weakness is a platform for the strength of God to be displayed through your life.

You will live up to or down to whatever you believe to be true about who you are.

If we act like who God is calling us is who we really are, then we will see blessings explode in our lives.

We can be on the real estate of God’s blessings but not be able to enjoy it if we don’t know our identity.

While religions try to reach up to find god, our God keeps coming down to reach out to us.

“The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.”

In the place where we are trying not to be found, God finds us.

Our belief (or unbelief) doesn’t shift the truth.

Discussion:

1. What does your inner monologue tend to sound like? How could you improve it and make it line up with scripture more?

2. Identify one negative though that goes through your head a lot. What do you think God would say to that thought?

3. How do we go about giving God our weaknesses? What does that look like practically?

4. Have you ever tried to change your name/identity? Why? and how did it go/what was the outcome?

Really think this month about how you speak to yourself. What’s going on in your internal dialogue? Are you constantly thinking negatively about yourself? Are you proclaiming scripture in your life?

Read:

• Genesis 17: 1-8

  • What can we learn from how God changed Abram’s name? What would it have meant to Abraham and what does it mean for you?

• Judges 6: 11-12 (go further read 6: 11-40)

  • What do you think Gideon learned from this interaction?

• Exodus 3: 1-14

  • What can we learn from how God chooses to identify Himself for Moses?

• Matthew 21: 33-41 (In this parable, identity: Who is the landowner? Who are the evil tenants? Who are the messengers sent by the landowner? Who is the landowner's Son? - the Bible is a love story, God's love for us. Over and over again, the overarching message in the Bible is God's love, forgiveness and mercy for us. Agree/Disagree?)

Copy That

What you copy is what you become. In “Copy That,” Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church challenges us, not to replicate what we see in culture, but to imitate the character of Christ.

Hebrews 13:7

7  Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (NIV)

NOTES

Don’t look for the gold, look forward to the Glory of God. 
What do you want to be filled with?  Fear? Depression?  - All you have to do, is what you see the world doing, but if you want to be filled with joy unspeakable full of Glory in the Holy Ghost – you can’t do what the world does and get what THE WORD says. 

People do what people see.

That that which you copy is that which you become. That which you believe is that which you become. – it is important that we are careful what we copy.

So, when he says, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you…" There are a lot of words that were spoken to you and over you and about you that have to be uprooted before the word God spoke about you can be planted. 

Even Moses… As holy as he was, as important as he was, as amazing as he was, Moses could only lead them so far. In the middle of this he gives them an instruction as he concludes his letter. He says, "Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith". Or in other words, copy that.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind".  Conform is something you can change. It's like an attitude or a posture. Transform is different. Transform is something that has to happen because of what's on the inside. Since you have Christ inside of you now… 

So, what's in you has to come out, and that's why the writer of Hebrews says, "Remember the word of God that was spoken to you, and copy that in your heart. Copy that in your life". 

How do you copy what you never saw? "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever". The Devil isn't very creative. God is a creator; the Devil is not. The Devil is so uncreative he only has three temptations. "The love of the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life".

The world worships talent. The world worships sensuality. But the weirdest thing about our culture right now is the way we worship youth. We don't remember our leaders who spoke the Word of God over us. They're irrelevant. They're not trendy. We'd rather go find somebody who hasn't even lived long enough that we can even know if they make it through their 20s. Do they even live to be 30? And we will copy that.

You need to spend more time remembering those who spoke the Word over you, because that's what Jesus did every time he was tempted, and that's what you copy. You fight the world with the Word. You fight the spirit of the world with the Word. So, every time the Devil said, "Do it," Jesus said, "It is written…"

All three things Jesus did to fight temptation, to fight hunger, to fight pride, to fight his senses, and to agree with the Spirit… All three things he said were already written in Scripture. 

You know how the Enemy condemns you. "You're worthless. You're this. You're that". Then you start to believe that, and you copy that, and you identify yourself with that. You're a good person. Christ has made you new. You're a new creation in Christ. God made you that way. But if you have bad patterns… The pattern of this world and the renewing of your mind. There are always voices speaking over you and to you and about you. What are you going to copy?

I am not consulting with my Enemy for my life strategy. I'm not going to copy it. I'm not going to take these thoughts and just think them, because I know where they lead.  The Enemy will take you back to what you saw all your life. Even as God is blessing you with something better, you will sink back down to the baseline of what you saw, because what you copy in your heart sets the direction of your life.

Discussion Questions:

1.     Has God ever directed you to copy someone else?  Who was it?

2.     Have you ever found yourself worshiping the things of this world? What do/did you worship?

3.     What example do you want to set for others?

4.     What are ways we can put God first in our lives?

5.     Do you find fulfillment in chasing God, or chasing the things of this world (Money, cars, fame, etc.)?

6.     People do what people see. - Whether we know it or not, we can influence others just by the things we do and what others see us do.  We lead by example *so we need to be careful about our choices and the example we set*  Agree/Disagree? (Or what do you think that means?)

7.     What was your biggest take away?

• Read Mathew 4, 5 & 6.

• Read Romans 12:2

• "Tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are." It's a proverb so old, some say no one really knows where it came from anymore.  – but the actual book of Provers 13:20 says:  If you want to grow in wisdom, spend time with the wise.  Walk with the wicked and you’ll eventually become just like them. (The Passion Translation) - Which is why it is important to be plugged in with a monthly growth group, a weekly home group and serving on a team – Church is not enough; those close interpersonal relationships can help us deal with life’s pressure and stress.  Are you attending a home group or serving on an FV team? If not consider getting plugged in.

Further Study:

• Watch: Be Careful What You Copy | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church - YouTube
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YowL9QXxyk

• Watch Denzel Washington’s “Put God First” speech:  Put God First - Denzel Washington Motivational & Inspiring Commencement Speech - YouTube      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxY_eJLBflk&t=212s

Last Night On The Boat

T D Jakes - Last Night on the Boat from Enoch Lee on Vimeo.

Notes

John 21

Just because you are in the will of God doesn’t mean you won’t face adversity.  Just because you love the Lord doesn’t mean you won’t go through trauma.  (But God is always with you!)

Get off of that boat! Get out where you can see the Glory of God, and don’t be afraid! (Be brave and step out from the comfortable.)

I’ve Got bigger things for your than you’ve ever done before. I’ve got a plan that’s bigger than what you’ve ever experienced.  I’ve got a plan for you, but I cannot show you as long as you keep holding on to the things you used to do.  (Break away from old habits, so God can give you a new direction.)

People will follow you even when you are confused. (So it is important that we have a solid foundation and a compass set on Jesus!)

For all of our intense efforts to do things like we’ve always done them, when are we ever going to come to the point that we admit that what we are used to doing isn’t working anymore? (The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  It's time to step away from old habits and go where God called us to be.)

We are working hard, but sometimes working hard, is hardly working.  Turn it around Lord! We need to look towards Jesus.  If you want to find Jesus, find a worshiper, whenever there is a worshiper in the house, there will be Glory!  Look to the Lord and feel the shift.  There is a change coming, bless God and get ready! 

John says, “that’s Jesus” and Peter jumps off the boat, diving into the ocean to swim to the shore and get to Jesus.

Forget the fish, give me Jesus! (Stop focusing on what you want, and stay focused on Jesus.) 

“33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 KJV).  Jesus says if you choose me, you will lose nothing, but gain it all.

This is the last night, you’ll never go back to business as usual again, this is the last night – the last night on the boat! 

Discussion Questions:

• Has God ever strategically placed you into a situation for you to help someone else?

• Have you ever found yourself going back to the familiar when times got tough?

• Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to help someone, but you were struggling yourself?

• Has God ever done anything that you didn’t expect Him to do?

• This month, choose a verse about God’s calling, and a new name.

• Read Luke 5:1-11

• Read Matthew 14:22-33; What can we learn from the account of Peter walking on water?

  •  What can we learn from the account of Peter walking on water? | GotQuestions.org

Further Study:

• exegesis - Why was Peter Fishing Naked (John 21:7)? - Christianity Stack Exchange

• Why did Jesus ask Peter "Do you love me?" three times? | GotQuestions.org

• Love Takes Action | :60 Commercial | New York Life Insurance - YouTube

• What are the 4 types of Love ️ in Biblical Greek | The Bible Explain - YouTube

4 Greek words for Love:

Philia – Love that starts as affection from a friendship.
Storge – Love for a parent or family member (brother/sister).
Eros – Love as passion, and attraction.
Agape – Love as an action.  It takes courage, sacrifice, and strength. 

How Great Is Our God

“The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭33:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“He counts the stars and calls them all by name.” Psalms‬ ‭147:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” Isaiah‬ ‭40:26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and this is what he says:” Jeremiah‬ ‭31:35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?” Isaiah‬ ‭40:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Ok, so He breathed (spoke) and created the stars, He counted them all and gave them each a name! As if that’s not enough his hands spanned the heavens.

I mean

HOW

BIG

IS

OUR

GOD!

But how intimately He loves each one of us!

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 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. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:13-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Col 1:17 (NIV)

Discussion Questions:

• When you consider how big God is, and yet how intimately He loves you, how does that affect the problems you are dealing with?

• Does this kind of scientific fact help you in your faith?

• What was your biggest takeaway from this message?

This week, choose a verse about God’s greatness, and a verse about His love, and meditate on them, journal about them, really study them. How should they change how we see God, and interact with Him?

• How to: Bible Journal

• How to: Do a SOAP Study

Battle Strategy

The Bible is full of strategy. God moves in different ways at different times. Like a football team has mapped out their plays, like an army general would map out battle strategy, we can find in scripture promises to follow that will give us victory in every day life. 

• Who is/who is NOT the enemy? Read Ephesians 6:12 & discuss as a group.

• Be on guard, but don’t give him too much attention. How do we stay on guard? What are we looking for? Read I Peter 5:8 & discuss as a group.

• Worship is an offensive weapon, in this battle. How do you use it in your life? Does looking at it like a weapon change anything for you?  Read   II Chronicles 20:22 & discuss as a group.

• Put on your armor. Read Ephesians 6:10-18 & discuss each piece of armor separately.

  • Belt of truth. What does this mean? What are the implications of “truth” being your belt? (also read: John 14:6)

  • Breastplate of righteousness. What does righteousness mean? Why do you think it’s listed as the breastplate? (also read: 2 Corinthians 5:21)

  • Shoes of peace. Why is peace listed as the shoes? (also read: John 14:27)

  • Helmet of salvation. Why do you think salvation is the covering for your head? (also read: Romans 10:9)

  • Shield of Faith. What is faith shielding you from? (read also: Hebrews 11:1)

  • Sword of the Spirit. Why do you think you need a weapon in this fight? (read also: Hebrews 4:12)

Practical tools for studying the Bible:

• Study Bible with cross references

• Google cross reference a passage that speaks to me. 

• Bible Dictionary 

• Search verses in whatever area you want to grow. 

• www.biblegateway.com

• YouVersion Bible App

• The Bible Project on YouTube

What’s your favorite Bible Study tool?

• Try a new Bible Study method! Something you’ve never tried before.

• Take one of the above verses and meditate on it each week this month.

The Miracle in the Mess

Notes

Philippians 1

The most productive parts of your life will not be the prettiest. The greatest miracles of your life will come in the middle of the biggest mess.

What’s happening IN me is always more important than what’s happening TO me.

Something is happening in the soil, something is taking root in your heart right now. In this season of my life, God is giving me. root system. Teaching me to focus. Looking forward to normal, but God is pruning some stuff out of my life right now to get me ready for what’s next.

Fruit without root doesn’t last long.

The smartest thing we’ve said: “I don’t know.”
The coolest thing happening right now is we’re all idiots. We all don’t know.

The truth is in the tension. The presence of faith does not eliminate uncertainty. In fact, it operates BY uncertainty. His clarity is not about the outcome. His clarity is what God is doing in the process.

The only thing you can really control is your focus.

The fruit of the spirit is joy, but the root of spirit is priorities.

You do not NEED to know the things that you cannot directly affect. You do not need to know all the details, to take your next step, just ask Abraham. Releasing my need to know is the hardest thing, because I thought information was the key, but yet Paul says there is a confidence that goes beneath knowledge.

Even though I have LESS money right now, I’m gonna have MORE fruit.

What’s going to come forth out of your life from this prison sentence?

Discussion:

1. What’s one way you are correcting you’re thinking right now? Is there a lie (from the enemy) that you’ve been believing for a while?

2. Furtick said, “the only thing you can control is your focus.” How is that true in your life? Have you been focused on the wrong things in any area?

3. What’s one way you can grow your “root system” this summer? (grow in your faith)

4. Do you have trouble “releasing your need to know”? In what ways?

1. Watch the whole sermon here.

2. If you haven’t already, start the Bible Plan 40 Day Fast From Wrong Thinking.

3. Take one scripture per week from the list below and focus on it, meditate on it, and pray through it.

   1. Read Romans 12:2

   2. Read Philippians 4:8

   3. Read Proverbs 4:23

   4. Read James 1:6-8

   5. Read Luke 21

Don't Drop The Mic

Notes:

Samuel was unable to distinguish between Eli’s voice and God’s. That is the initial stage where God’s voice sounds like the person who mentored you. Gradually you come to a point where the umbilical cord cuts…you come to a place where you realize that it’s God talking and not Eli. So it is my job to gradually lead you from a place where God sounds like me, til you can hear that God sounds like God!

We are looking at a generationally passing of the mic, from Eli to Samuel. Samuel can hear God, but cannot discern him. Eli has lost his ability to hear the voice, but not discern him. We have a generation of people that can hear the voice, but lack the wisdom to know what to do with what they hear.

The promise of God is bigger than the reality of the individual. Greatness must be grown into.

Great preaching is almost musical.

The Word of God does not need crutches. Truth needs no crutches. The human ability to sense truth is utterly amazing. We hear with more than our ears.

Everyone one of us is an orator. Whether we get paid for it or not.

The art of being a great speaker is being a great listener.

The mic is YOURS. It’s not going to be yours, it’s yours. It’s heavier than it looks. Don’t drop it when your feelings get hurt, don’t drop it when you’re angry.

“I wanna hear a Micheal Jordan flu game story. Like I time where you stood…” “I can’t think of a time that I didn’t.”

You become great in your mind, before you become great on a stage.

If you wrestle with insufficiency complexes…Change the way you talk to yourself, you’ll change how your story is…the woman with the issue of blood said within HERSELF…the greatest sermon starts within you!

When you stop getting better, you start dying. When a teacher ceases to be a student, they begin to be irrelevant. The [critical] voices that live in my head, are still the voices that live in my head, but they don’t live too LOUD. The art of it is not to kill the voice, it’s to cut the volume down. Instead of existing at a 10, it exists at a 3. I don’t want to kill it, because then I become arrogant. If I become arrogant, I lose my anointing. God balances my accomplishments with the thorn in my flesh that makes me question myself. I don’t want him to remove the thorn in my flesh, because I want balance for the weight of the glory that he placed in my life. But I don’t want that voice to become so loud that it cannibalizes what he created in me.

Have an inner circle of people you trust to reaffirm you. We need each other.

One of the signs of greatness IS to be self-critical. The more you care about details, the closer you get to greatness.

The further you push me, the higher you go.

• Join our church-wide Bible Study. Comment at least once!

• Watch START Class, if you haven’t already!

• Find one person to talk to regularly, maybe meet for coffee or a hang out night, and just talk about what you’re learning from God right now.

The Crucifixion

Notes:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It is recorded in Aramaic, for greek readers because it is an exact quote of Jesus' words.

What is the significance of the 9th hour? (6th hour to the 9th hour) noon to 3:00 p.m. - Josephus a Jewish historian, stated that the ninth hour was the time when Jews offered the daily evening sacrifice.

Darkness, not a solar eclipse, Passover occurred during a full moon, and a solar eclipse, can occur only during a new moon, rather, it is a supernatural act of God displaying displeasure and judgment upon humanity for crucifying His Son.

What is the significance of the curtain (veil) tearing during the crucifixion? That we now have access to God through Jesus - No one can come to the Father except through me. (The veil that separated people from the holy of holies (the most holy place)) - signifies the removal of separation between God and people.

What is the significance of Jesus being crucified at Passover? Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. - but not only that, sacrifices were made each year, Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and ended the sacrificial system for atonement

DISCUSSION:

• The darkness that came over the land, was it directed to the whole world, or towards Jesus? Was that part of God’s judgment on Jesus?

• Jesus didn’t once comment on the pain or physical suffering, but He shrieked, screaming over God’s rejection. Why do you think that is?

• What’s your biggest takeaway from these messages?

• When Jesus was suffering, he quotes scripture. What is your favorite verse to quote when you need strength? If you don’t have one, find one and memorize it!

• Read Isaiah 53.

• Research and learn about the Temple Mount and Solomon's Holy Temple

• FURTHER READING: Matthew 21:33-41. Who do you think this parable was about?

In Over Your Head

Notes

Today we’ve got a bunch of prophets who are trying to be Old Testament, but don’t understand Jesus changed everything. Not doom & gloom anymore, but GOOD NEWS.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. Not a force, not an aura...He is God. Acts 5:1-5
2. He is a person. John 16:13-15. He’s not some transcendental yoga pose.
3. He’s in charge of present operations. John 16:7-11
4. He is gentle. Matthew 3:16. He will not force you and turn you into something you’re not. He’s brings out who YOU are, but the power is real!
5. He has life in Himself. Romans 8:11. When Jesus died, the Holy Spirit did not.
6. He is creative life. Genesis 1:2. You might feel like you are nothing, but that is the perfect ingredient for God to make SOMETHING. if you tap into the Holy Spirit, you are FULL of potential.

He is likened to:

1. The symbol of “fire”. How do I know the spirit of God is working on you? What we try to conceal, God wants to reveal. He’ll bring the crap to the top. When you are in the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, the only thing that will burn away is bondage.
2. The symbol of “water”. Needed for the germination of seed. The Holy Spirit waters the Word.
3. The symbol of a “dove”. The Holy Spirit will not speak of Himself. Easily frightened...won’t stick around. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit.
4. The symbol of “wind”. Can’t see it, but the effects of it.
5. The symbol of “oil”. Just like driving a car without oil, don’t live life without the Holy Spirit.

Ezekiel 47:1-9

God wants you in over your head.

Growth, trees, life, maturity. Making salt water fresh.

Knee deep speaks to praying/intercession.

Waist deep speaks to our loins—purity.

Discussion

• Have you ever been baptized in the Holy Spirit? What is it like?

• How do you see the Holy Spirit working in your life?

• Do you still have questions about the Holy Spirit?

• Read John 16. Now, re-read it. Study it. Slowly work your way through it, over the course of a week.

  • What can we learn about the Holy Spirit from this passage?

  • What is God saying to you?

• Read Romans 8. Do the same here. Write notes as you go.

  • What can we learn about the Holy Spirit from this passage?

  • What is God saying to you?

• Read Acts 2. Do the same here. Keep a journal with your findings!

  • What can we learn about the Holy Spirit from this passage?

  • What is God saying to you?