The Church

 

The Church is Not:
A Building or what we do on Sunday mornings

The Church is:
We the people…We are the Church!

Church is not somewhere we go, or something we do… it is who we are!

Join us as we look into what the church is, and as we explore the part that we play in God’s plan!

Colossians 3:17
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

 

 

Truth or Tru”ish”

Truth or Tru”ish”

 

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:11

“Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye  may be able to stand
against the  wiles of the devil.”

The Fruit of The Spirit

 

Gal 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance: against such there
is no law.

Giving Birth to Vision – #5 Trusting in the Lord

Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Trust = to flee to for refuge, to have confidence, secure, to place all care in, to hope

* We put our trust in lots of things, but I wanted to look at how much trust we place in just metal alone!

Airplanes – Tons of metal to hover high above the clouds & take us to places thousands of miles away

Submarines – A submarine is among the most technologically advanced machines ever built. With computer technology, precision navigation, atmosphere regeneration, sensitive sonar equipment, nuclear power, and precision weapons, it makes for a most unusual environment. Imagine living & working in a 3 story space that was 300-foot long, 30-foot wide, with no windows! Then, after you lock the door… submerge beneath the surface of the ocean and travel silently underwater for months at a time with 100 or more other crewmembers!

Satellites – To float around in the galaxy & send us the signals that we rely on everyday… cable, GPS systems, cell phones, news, online mapping devices 

Suspension Bridges – A bridge in Japan that is 6 lanes wide, and spans over 4 miles long! Also costs $20US in tolls to cross

** As children, we tend to have so much more trust than we do as adults.

Think about…

• Riding on the crazy rides at the amusement park
• Running & jumping onto a rope tied to a branch of a tree dangling high above a pond of water, then swinging out into the middle (hopefully) and letting go!
• Right down from our property, there’s a bridge where the kids stand up on the railing & jump into the water below… it’s not a high bridge by most standards – but it’s high enough for me to worry about their safety!

You probably have lots of examples of crazy things you did as a kid – maybe some we wouldn’t want to share – as to keep the youth among us from getting any ideas!

Bu as we grow up;
- we get wiser
- we see the accidents that happen from crazy stunts
- we see how other people hurt us
- we see how other people have broken our trust

No matter what we have seen, heard, learned, or think we know… we still need to TRUST IN GOD with our WHOLE HEART & not rely on the things that we think we know!

The bible says… we must come to God with child like faith… trusting Him to catch us, to carry us, to walk with us, to get us to our destination!

Psalm 20:7-8
“Some may trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.”

Trust God to care for us…

Jesus believed it!

Mark 12:41-44
Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

We might have said… no… Ms., please you keep your money – you really need it! But, what did Jesus do, He let her give, because He knew that she was activating her faith. He knew that His father would take care of her & provide her needs, because of her faith & trust in the Lord that she demonstrated by giving!

** If our trust is on things such as; political leaders, economic conditions, spiritual climate, weather… then our feelings will rise & fall each day!

But… God offers us constant source of contentment and encouragement and strength, regardless of circumstances. Confidence in the Lord is a secure and unshakeable foundation!

Sometimes, God builds our trust & faith in Him through the trials that we face!

What are we trusting in?

A. Other People’s Ideas? What the world says we should be doing? What looks logical?

1 Sam 17:39 – David tried on something that was not familiar to him to go into battle

“David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. ‘I cannot go in these,’ he said to Saul, ‘because I am not used to them.’ So he took them off.”

David, the young shepherd boy, heard the challenge from the Philistines to send someone to fight Goliath. No one volunteered to fight except David. King Saul reluctantly agreed, and offered David his armor. David put on the weighty equipment, but quickly concluded he could not fight in this heavy armor.

God equips each of us in such a way that is unique to our strengths and abilities.

David knew who he was and who he wasn’t. David was trained as a shepherd to use another weapon. For David, it was a slingshot. David showed great maturity in realizing he could not be effective with Saul’s armor.

What is God developing inside of you, that you can trust Him with?

What we can do is only ½ of the equation. We need to mix using our abilities with our faith in God!
Abilities alone = not enough
Faith alone = not enough

Faith without works is dead… we need to act on the faith that God works in us!

B. Are we relying on our knowledge? 

War games… after our military learns head knowledge, they practice through wars games. But it’s not until the reality of the battle is upon them, that they know if they have learned enough to fight & win.

You’ll never experience the power that God wants you to live in by just acquiring Bible knowledge alone!
We have many people say…. Oh that person knows the word, oh they can quote the word, oh they have studied the word… but until you are living the word… you only have your own knowledge & you’re not walking it out by faith – trusting God.

This only helps you become a spiritual intellectual – which produces little fruit!

* David became a great warrior and leader of a nation at an early age. His training ground was his job as a shepherd in the open fields. When bears and lions sought to take his sheep, he personally fought them. This was his early preparation for future battles!

When he stood before Goliath, he knew how well his training prepared him!

C. Are we relying on our own abilities?

Although David trusted in the Lord at an early age & demonstrated that He could trust God instead of man, as he got older – he began to rely on His own strength!

1Chron 21:1-2
“Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel”

David made what might appear to be an innocent request of his general Joab – to count the number of troops available to them.

You see to count the troops was a great sin in Israel, because it demonstrated that you were placing more trust in numbers than in the living God. David’s decision to take a census was a failure to keep his trust totally upon the Lord.

God punished David and reduced his forces by bringing a plague that killed 70,000 men (1 Chron 24:14,15).

God always requires total trust in Him for our victories!

Some examples of other things we trust in today

• our bank accounts
• our skills
• security of our workplace

When we begin placing our faith in these things instead of the provider of these things we get into trouble with God.
Story of Trust: Blondin a 19th Centurt Acrobat

Blondin was a famous tightrope walker back in the 1800’s. He would accomplish unbelievable things on a tightrope across Niagara Falls.

In 1860, a group from the Royal party in Britain came to watch the famous Blondin. That day, on a tightrope 160ft above the falls and over 1000ft long, Blondin walked on stilts, and again blindfolded. Then he went out into the middle – stopped halfway and ate an omelette. Next he wheeled a wheelbarrow from one side to the other, and returned with a sack of potatoes in it.

After these amazing accomplishments, Blondin approached the Royal party, and asked the Duke of Newcastle, “do you believe that I could take a man across the tightrope in this wheelbarrow?”

“Yes, I do”, said the Duke.

“Then, Hop in”, replied Blondin.

The Duke politely declined Blondin’s challenge, because although he might have believed that Blondin could take a man across the tightrope, he wasn’t willing to trust Blondin’s with his life.

God doesn’t just want us to believe that He could take care of us, He wants us to trust him with our lives!

Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

God is causing us to have a greater trust in Him, and a greater vision of what He wants to do through us & for us!

Giving Birth to Vision – #4 Resources for the Vision

Week #4 – Resources for the Vision
We’ve heard…

- Where there is vision there is provision
- Where God guides, He provides

Colossians 1:16-17
“For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Matthew 14:13 – Jesus goes away to be by Himself, but the crowd follows him.

- The people were in need & heard that Jesus could help in some way.

- By the time Jesus got to His destination, the crowd was there to meet Him as He stepped out of the boat!

- Even in a time when He wanted to be alone, due to the death of John the Baptist, when He saw the people, He had compassion on them & healed their sick!

Can you imagine… looking out and seeing a crowd of 5,000 men plus their wives & their children? A crowd of approx. 15,000 people with such need …need of healing, need of a savior, need of direction.

That evening… The disciples said:

- It’s getting late

- This is a desolate (desert) place – the word means… lonesome, waste, or wilderness

- Send everyone away so they can buy their own food & feed themselves

* Sometimes we hear… this area is a desolate place, I’m in a place of loneliness, there seems to be no nourishment in the place I find myself in, this is a wasteland. The disciples didn’t realize, that even though it was a desolate place, when Jesus is present, you have all the power you need – right with you! Even in our desolate places, Jesus is there with us, to give us the power we need!

Vs 16 – Jesus said… that’s not necessary – YOU FEED THEM!

Vs 17 – Their response to Jesus was…. IMPOSSIBLE… because this is all we have to work with!

Sometimes we feel like all we have to give is not enough – but in the hands of Jesus… everything is possible!

He told them to sit down. Jesus was not only about to feed nearly 15,000 people with a small amount of bread & fish, but He was also about to teach the disciples a lesson about how to depend on Him.

Jesus…
– took what they had (loaves & fish)
- Looked to heaven
- Asked for God’s blessing
- Handed it back to the disciples to feed the people

We need to take what we have… marriage, relationships, talents, abilities, money & resources, etc., and give it back to God – ask Him to bless it – then use it for His purpose!

With their natural eyes, all they had was never going to be enough to feed all of those people, but in the hands of Jesus, there was multiplication & the impossible became possible!

In our lives – our own efforts, ability, talent, personality, resources, can never be enough… but when placed in the hands of Jesus, He multiplies what we have & the impossilbe becomes possible through Him!

Matthew 19:26 – With God all things are possible

Gen 18:13 – God asks Abraham… is there anything to hard for the Lord?

As we move forward in the purposes of God, we need to give what we have, and He will make up the difference! He will multiply it, and cause the little to become MORE than enough!

God is our Jehovah Jira – The God Who Provides!

Giving Birth to Vision – #3 Get in The Game

Week #3 – Time to get in the battle – Winter is over

2 Samual 11

It was the Spring time when Kings went out to war… but David stayed at home!

* Shared the video of the word of the Lord received for our church from: Pastor Terry Davis
He said… the winter is over, and spring is upon you!

- He wasn’t where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing!
* It was his time to be in battle

- He was spending idol time out on the roof enjoying his kingdom, what he had done for himself, looking at all that was his. David had more ground to cover, more to gain for his kingdom.
* Don’t be satisfied staying where you are, when God says there’s more to accomplish!

- Looking around to see what everyone else was doing
* Instead of looking around to see what everyone else is doing, we must do what God has called us to do!

- Let his lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (when he had Uriah her husband killed) settle in & it gave birth to sin.
* He, his family, and ultimately the whole nation paid consequences for his decision.

The decisions we make, don’t just affect us!

It’s time to get off the bench & into the game, because God has much for us to accomplish!

Giving Birth to Vision – #2 Possibility

Week #2 Outline: Possibility

Pro 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

• No = nothing or not exist
• Vision = to gaze at, to mentally perceive, contemplate with pleasure a dream or revelation
• Perish = avoid, go back, uncover

When God given dreams are non existent in your life, you avoid going forward, and instead go back! And, happiness is found when you live God’s way!

God wants you to DREAM!
– He wants you to see His vision for your life
- He wants you to go forward & accomplish His plans for you
- He wants you to have pleasure in thinking & dreaming about His plans for your life

* This is VERY different, and not to be confused with, the “New Age” theology…
Everything stems from your own thinking; if you can dream it you can have it, the power for change comes from within, you have the power to heal yourself, blah, blah, blah!

Without remaining in Jesus, we are powerless!

Jesus said… in John 15:5
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Through Christ we can do all things, because He strengthens us! – Philippians 4:13

Not new age living, but living as we are instructed in – Philippians 4:8

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing – Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. NLT

We are to gaze with pleasure on the REAL fact that God has plans & a purpose for your life – still in front of you – something still left for you to accomplish!

Possibility…

Imagine what possibilities lay before us – with God in control of our lives!

The Number Game

** On your handout, I would like for you to write down a number – any number.
Now show this number to the person sitting beside you. What numbers did you write?
Most of the time, people will write a number under 20, because that’s an easy, manageable number. Something that they are used to – something they’ve accomplished before!

I’d like to give you a little story about a little company that I do some work for, you might have heard of them?

In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporated Google while still graduate students at Stanford University. The last I knew, internet users perform over 150 million searches a day on the Google Search Engine, and it accesses over two billion pages in 74 different languages. One study showed that Google users used the search engine 13 million hours in one month – which I’m sure has already increased significantly! Compare that with Yahoo that came in second with 5.4 million hours.

Google is dominant.

How did they get so big? I don’t have the expertise to answer that question, but I can tell you that it began with their initial vision.

** The word Google comes from a mathematical term that is the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes.
While most people are likely to pick a number like 14 or 98, Brin & Page decided to pick a googol—1 with 100 zeroes – before the first search was even made!

Striking the arrows half heartedly – 2Kings 13:14-19

King Jehoash was given the opportunity to totally destroy his enemy, but was halfhearted, and left so much possibility on the table!

Parable of the talents – Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus said this was an illustration of the Kingdom of heaven!
• The money belonged to the Master
• He gave them each an amount that He knew they could handle
• The money was to invest for Him, to bring Him a return
• The first 2 servants “went to work immediately” & DOUBLED their Master’s investment
• The last servant dug a hole & buried the money – for safekeeping. Was it wrong for him to want to keep the money safe? YES!
• The Master came home after a long time – so they had time to work
• The 3rd servant was only thinking of himself – not bringing increase to his Master!
• He was called wicked – lazy – useless

Jesus said, in verse 29, …those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken.

* The money didn’t belong to the servants in the first place, but was a tool given to them to use on the Master’s behalf!

Think about the possibilities that God has set before us in our lives!

You might be saying… I’m ok where I am – it’s good enough for me & my family!

But… is that good enough for God?

Are you even willing to do more, go farther, reach more goals, win more souls?

As an example – people say things like…
I want to earn as much money as possible – the problem is…
- they were not specific in how much they actually wanted
- The amount they thought possible was to small

Christians often say…
We want to reach as many people for Christ as we can – often, the problem is…
- they don’t actually have a goal in mind
- the amount of people that is possible for them is often to small – or they go on past experience – which could be 0

We need to enlarge our vision – enlarge the possibility of what God has for us!

Giving Birth to Vision – #1 Focus Forward

Week #1 – Focus Forward

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
James 1:17 – He never casts a shadow, because He doesn’t change!

- If God isn’t changing, we are the ones who must change if we are to be like Him.

Philippians 3:14 – Although we’re not there yet, we must forget everything that is behind us and press forward.

Psalm 138:8 – God will fulfill His purpose for us, so we need to yield to His will for our lives. 

- While you may choose not to fulfill the purpose that you were made for, you still have a purpose that God “intends” for you to fulfill!

- God wants us to grow from a “salvation” mentality, to a “kingdom” mentality. When the gospel of the Kingdom comes alive in a community, everything starts to change – the economics, crime rate, prayer, number of Christians, etc.

- Many times we view the enemy as trying to “do something to us”, when one of his best weapons is just getting you to become ineffective to the world around you! Does he have an easy job when it comes to your life?

Numbers 13 – Spies were sent into the land so see the promise before everyone else. They came back with proof in hand! Ten spies also came back with an evil (discouraging) report about the possibilities of actually going in and enjoying the Promised Land, because they were seeing things from the perspective of past experiences & accomplishments.

They said;

• The people are powerful – they did not have faith in God
• The cities & towns are fortified – they did not trust in God’s power
• We saw giants – they thought the opposition was more powerful than God
• The land is already occupied – they didn’t believe that God could deal with those already living there
• They will take our wives & children – they didn’t trust God to take care of their families
• We felt like grasshoppers & we know they thought we looked like grasshoppers next to them – assuming the thoughts &  ability of the enemy, and allowing that to defeat them before they got started
• We wish we could go back to Egypt – they wanted what was familiar & comfortable, even though they would be placing themselves under the heavy bondage of slavery again! They were not happy looking forward to the new wonderful place that God was taking them, simply because it was not familiar to them.

- Caleb saw the same things that everyone else saw, but he was looking through God’s perspective! He tried to quite the murmurings and bring the people to a place of faith, instead, they cried all night long and came against the very leaders that God had provided to bring them into their promise!

Luke 1:8-20 – An angel came to share the goods news of a new son with Zachariah. Instead of rejoicing at what he heard, he questioned the angel as to how this could really happen! The angel said – I am Gabriel (or… do you know who you’re talking to?), and I stand in the very presence of God, and now you will be silent until this promise comes to pass! The very voice that Zachariah used to question God’s promise was taken from him.

Judges 7 – Gideon was about to go to battle, when God stepped in & told him he had to many resources! He was to send everyone home who was afraid & who put their face in the water to drink. The only men who were to stay and fight, were the ones who drank from their hands – so they could be aware of what was going on around them, and they could focus on the task at hand. * Pastor Dan also said, the men who drank directly from the water, could only see their own reflection, but we need to look to God – not our own strength!

*** When your memories outnumber your dreams, you are heading towards the grave ***

God wants to help us focus forward on the things that He has planned for our lives. As Paul said, we need to forget those things that are behind us, and press forward towards the life & promise still ahead of us!

Giving Birth to Vision Series

God has a plan for our lives, and He is taking us on a life long journey. Destination? Fulfilled purpose! Thankfully, we don’t have to wander around aimlessly with no idea of what His plan for our life is, simply hoping that we will finally arrive at our destination. Instead, we can look to the bible, His life map to us, to find direction along the way.

Whenever we take our family on a trip, Ms. Garmin (our GPS system ) comes along with us. Occasionally we may take a wrong turn by mistake, but she simply says… “recalculating”, then she tells us which way we need to go so we can reach our destination!

Similarly, the bible is our “life map”, showing us which roads to take and which ones to avoid. We can also see how to get back on track, should we lose our way along the journey.

In order to get to where you’re going, you need to;

• Get in the car & start it up
• Put on your seat belt for safety
• Know your destination
• And then… put your foot on the gas and move forward!

In our journey with God, we need to;

• Decide that we are going to go with God’s will for our life
• Have faith in God that He can bring us to where He wants us to be
• Know where we are going
• Put feet to our faith and go forward in God!

Look at what Proverbs 29:18 says:
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Lets look at the actual meaning of three of the words in that verse:

• No – nothing or nonexistent
• Vision – mentally see a dream or revelation
• Perish – avoid or go back, uncover

So, this is what the verse is actually saying to us…

When God given dreams are non existent in your life, you avoid going forward, and instead go back!

I love this saying, and ever since I first heard it, I can’t stop thinking about it! It goes like this:

** When your memories outnumber your dreams, you are heading towards the grave! **

It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, as long as there is still life left in your lungs, there should be dreams still in front of you!

We hope you enjoy this series, and put the lessons to work in your life.

#1 – Focus Forward