Our Church series “Empowers People” by: Pastor Tracy

Our Church: Part 3 – Empowers People

By: Pastor Tracy

Daniel 6:3(NKJ)

Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

Jesus empowered people

(Mark 16:20 NLT) “And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

What’s your view?

A locked ________.

A pile of _________.

(Acts 10:36 NLT) “It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from- if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.”

An endless ________.

A free ________.

(Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV) “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

(2 Tim 2:13 NIV) “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

Empowered to empower

• Receive His __________.

Ephesians 3:19(NIV) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

• Be a ____________.

Acts 4:13 (NIV) “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Psalm 18:32(NKJ) “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”

• Be an ______________of Jesus.

(1 John 4:17 NKJ)  “… because as He is, so are we in this world.”

• Full fill your _____________

What is the Holy Spirit saying to me?

God’s got your bag.

Yesterday my friend called me and said she was going to the Dollar Store. She asked me if I wanted to meet her there. Well, I just got back from Walmart Grocery at the same place, and I was not anxious to go back in the traffic…but I said OK.
We shopped and then we walked to our cars. She had hers in one part of the lot and I was in another. We were going to meet at Publix to pick up some things she needed. I was going to follow her but decided to go the other way to go out by the light. As I was going down the aisle toward the road that goes by the Dollar Store and towards the road that has the stop light to go across to Publix. I noticed a small purse out in the middle of the road.
I thought, Oh my, I am going to hurry to get that as someone lost it and others that were driving by and walking by may pick it up and not try to get it back to the owner.
I put my foot on the gas to speed up and then came by the purse and slammed on my brakes as others were going by and I thought were going to get it. I opened my door and scooped it up and turned into a parking space to see if I could see who the owner was.
Well, guess who the owner was? My daughter. I called her and told her and she did not even realize she had dropped it. In fact, she was on the way to the bank to deposit her paycheck that was in it. I told her how the Lord had worked all this out so that I could get it.
In her purse she had her drivers license, her bank card, her paycheck from the night before and other important things. She was, to say the least, taken back. I told her this was the Lord telling her he is taking care of us and protecting us. To stop worrying about money and having enough for living. He is constantly meeting our needs. This was to show us to trust Him. He is watching over us.
Many people could have picked up her purse. It was in plain sight in the middle of the road. I believe that God had me drive that way so I would get it.
This is an example for all of us to see how God is constantly watching over us and involved in all areas of our life.
Praise God, Thank you Jesus for your love and compassion.

Mind Games “Know Who You Are” by: Pastors Dan and Sarah (notes/video)

 KNOW WHO YOU ARE

Pastor Sarah & Dan Gardner – December 2, 2012

Intro: Today we are concluding our series on the subject of MINDGAMES. It’s time to stop listening to the devil’s lies. As Pastor Sarah says, “He is a bad devil, but God is a good God”. So, today we declare, “GAME OVER!”

Each day, we have many, many thoughts; 12k minimum up to 50-60k thoughts a day. For many people, 70-80% of those thoughts are negative. What do you think happens to a person that thinks 48,000 negative thoughts a day?

Our patterns of thinking significantly impact our lives. As Christians, learning godly patterns of thinking based on His Word brings about true life change.

Here is a truth we know…

“Whatever we think, that is where we go”.

Jesus 1^st msg.

Matt 4:17 “Repent…” –

Not = change behavior (do’s dont’s)

But… change the way you THINK

Our behavior will change if we change the way we think.

Paul picked up on that in

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know (LEARN) what God wants you to do.

Look what it says in the Message Bible…

Romans 12:2 (MSG)

…fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you (LEARN), and quickly respond to it (APPLY).

Important concepts here: LEARN and APPLY; then you GIVE WHAT YOU LEARN TO OTHERS.

Right thinking+ God alive in us = Changed Life

As Christians our goal is to become like Jesus.

LEARNING TAKES TIME and EFFORT ON OUR PART

We move from MINDGAMES to Right Thinking by LEARNING WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST…and keep it before US intentionally.

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST?

Let’s talk about it.

Cigarette Story -

When I was a teenager, if you didn’t smoke cigarettes, you were looked at as weird. I grew up in a Christian home, and never even had a thought about smoking.

At 16 yrs old, I had a part time job in an office bldg. In it, there was a cigarette vending machine.

I walked by that vending machine many months like it was not even there. Then this one day, this thought popped in my mind…”what would it hurt to try smoking”?

The next couple of weeks were really difficult – I wrestled with this thought. I had serious mind games going on. Then, one day, I finally decided, to give in to that thought.

I went to the vending machine. There they were – the Marlboros. I took my coins and was about ready to put them in…then, a voice rose up inside me and said,

“This isn’t who you are!!” (2x)

I was trying to fit in, wanting to do what everyone else was doing, but God was looking out for me, because now we know even more about how harmful smoking is to us.

So, our question to you today is…

“DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?”

 I am amazed how much God loves you.

I was going to speak about 1 John 4:17 that says, “As He is, so are we in this world”, but when I woke up on Tuesday morning, God spoke to me right away. He said to speak on 1 Peter 2:9.

You are special people because God went out of His way to give me a special word for you. He wants you to really know who you are in Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

9 …for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Let us explain what chosen people means.

It means “whosoever” will receive Jesus, becomes God’s chosen person.

How many of you received Jesus in your heart?

So this is who you are; you are a chosen people.

And if some of you have never made Jesus Lord of your life, this is the time.

ALTAR CALL

My God in Jesus’ name, I come to you, take me as I am. Wash me in the blood of Jesus, that I can become your child.

Give me power to live by your Spirit, with a holy mind, and a healthy body; for your glory. Amen.

So let’s get back into the message.

Now we know we are God’s chosen people by simply receiving Jesus in our hearts.

It is like when James received my daughter Tracy as his wife, immediately he became chosen in the family. Even if he didn’t do things just like the rest of the family, we extended much grace to him.

It is the same way with God. Once we receive Jesus, we become His chosen.

Say – I am a chosen person.

Now, let us explain what royal priesthood means.

Notice that Peter picked up what we find in Exodus 19:5-6 (NLT)…

5 Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me. 6 And you will be to me a kingdom of priests (or ministers), my holy nation.’

God’s original plan was for Israel to become a “kingdom of priests”. In the New Testament, God fulfilled his original plan; whosoever receives His Son, becomes a minister.

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

You are a minister. Ministers are not only people with titles. Ministry is part of WHO WE ARE.

Say – I am a minister of God’s.

Now, let us explain what holy nation means

To be holy means to be separated. He called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Just like the people of Israel, they were taken out of Egypt (the world) to the Promised Land (God’s kingdom).

The reason why the nation of Israel was separated unto God is that they were to learn from God and give what they were learning to the other nations.

That is why I believe that we are born of God, not just to be saved and go to heaven!

Not just to be healed. Not just to be prosperous. But that we would believe who we are and reveal His righteousness, His heart, His character, His love on earth to others.

As 1 Peter 2:9 says, we “show others the goodness of God”. That is our part.

God has done his part by providing His Son so we can receive Him and become people of God.

So this is who you are in Christ; you are a holy people.

Say – We are holy people.

We LEARN, we APPLY, we GIVE WHAT WE LEARN TO OTHERS.

Let us explain what it means to be His possession.

We are bought with a price…the blood of Jesus. He chose us and made us His own. We belong to Jesus.

We are fully accepted in the beloved.

The more we change our thinking, believing we belong to him, and not ourselves, the less and less selfish we become, and the more and more like Jesus we become. Our lives get better and it’s easier to represent Christ to others.

So this is who you are in Christ; you are His possession, His very own

Say – I belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to me.

I will LEARN this, APPLY what I am learning, and GIVE to others what I have learned.

We move from MINDGAMES to Right Thinking by LEARNING WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST and keep it before US intentionally.

Let’s declare one more time that that we win over MINDGAMES. Say it – “GAME OVER!”

Homework for Thursday –

Read 2 Peter, the 1^st Chapter and we will learn together.

Mind Games “Safe Guards” by: Pastor Tracy

Mind Games: Safe Guards to Mind Games
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Pastor Tracy Boyd

Synopsis: Many times when people pray to receive Christ, we often mention that there is a benefit package that goes along with receiving Christ. Receiving Christ is quite easy but getting our minds in a place to enjoy God’s benefits is another whole story! There are all kinds of squirrely, negative and limiting thoughts running through are brain that are contrary to the winning life God has for us. Through this series we are going to unravel some of the destructive mind games that are going on in our thought life that is preventing us from releasing our potential.

Review: Know the tactics of accusation, condemnation and separation. Locate a lack mentality. These are mind games that prevent us from walking in the purpose and prosperity we’ve been created to walk in.

This week: unpack three key things that are safe guards to mind games.

Psalm 45: 3-4(NKJ)
Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty.
And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;

Truth
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJ) For we walk by faith, not by sight.
• It means we walk by faith in the truth of God’s Word and not by our senses/ sensory knowledge (the original language it means senses).
o What does walking by faith look like?
• You don’t deny the facts that it looks as if you won’t make your bills (senses); you side in with the Word that according to Phil 4:19 my God shall supply all! We deny the right for lack to exist.
o Environments of the Word are key
• Senses are great for helping us to understand our boundaries: smell bad don’t eat, hot don’t touch, we actually think better in serene surroundings; our senses provide data for our mind
• Senses are not to be guides; however, they will guide unless we have the Word being our guide.
• When our senses are contrary to the Word we follow the Word
• The sense realm came out of the Spirit realm; so the spirit realm was designed to lead.
• WE WILL NEVER HAVE A PROSPEROUS LIFE FILLED WITH PURPOSE IF WE ARE SENSE/EMOTIONALLY DRIVEN
• WE WILL BY DEFAULT BE LED BY SENSES/EMOTIONS/WANTS IF WE DON’T HAVE THE WORD COMING IN.
• When our senses lead we find ourselves cooperating with laws that govern destruction.
o God set laws of life in motion at creation: look at seedtime and harvest. He is not adding additional laws. If we cooperate with those laws, those laws bless us. It works in the opposite as well.
o The written word is connected to a spiritual law. When we cooperate with the written word we release the blessing of that law.
Humility: a modest opinion or estimate of ones own importance or rank.

• What does humility look like
o Draw attention to great traits in others
o Preferring to build others not just yourself
o Not needing to be seen or heard
o Concerned for the greater cause and not just your part
o It is other oriented or has a mind set toward others
o Strife is the result of someone putting themselves forward and not considering the effects on others
o Humility puts others forward because it trusts God to promote
o Humility recognizes the need for God and abandons oneself to it

Phil 2:1-9 (NKJ)
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Selfish ambition (kjv-strife): earliest definition self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means. Paul was saying we should not put self forward of be selfish for this breaks harmony and unity

Conceit: an excessively favorable opinion of one’s own ability, importance

4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (let this kind of mind be in you which was also in Christ)
6 who, being in the form of God, (not in physical shape but in divine essence) did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

Christ shared in the glories and exclusive rights and privileges of deity, but He did not regard the circumstances of His existence as something to be jealously retained or grasped for or cling to. Rather He willingly relinquished His glory when He came to earth, though retaining His deity.

7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

He emptied himself of His privileges,

Bondservant: slave or servant- often the service involved is VOLUNTARY, in which a person willingly offers obedience, devotion and loyalty to another, subordinating his will to him

8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 1

Verse 8 is key: being obedient to death is not doing what our flesh really wants to because it’s not good for us; it’s contrary to word or promotes strife.

Obedient to the point of death:
• The word says don’t let the sun go down on your anger, in other words deal with it! It is easier to give a cold shoulder and make them pay
• It’s easier to retaliate than hold our tongue and pray.
• It’s easier to stuff and hide instead of exposing our issues to light.
• It’s easier to compromise to fit in instead of obeying God’s ways to stand out and make a difference
• It’s easier to hold an offense than to forgive.

Therefore: because it wasn’t about what Christ wanted (who wants to die on a cross) God exalted him.

When we cooperate with the laws of life they in due time exalt us- it is like an antibiotic that eventually works it’s way through our system and produces healing

Righteousness
• There is a righteousness that we possess then there is a righteousness that we pursue.
o We are given as a free gift right standing with God that we can boldly go before Him, which is based on the merits of Jesus. This right standing has to be meditated on for it is the main mind game played out in our mind. The mistakes we make cause us to question our right standing with God. When we make a mistake our right standing with God does not change however we may experiences consequences from those mistakes. As we continually see ourselves righteous we will live right before God.
o The righteousness we pursue is choosing God’s ways over ours; how he thinks and would act.

Overwhelmed series “Wealth” by: Pastor James Boyd (video & notes)

Overwhelmed – wk3

“Wealth” By: Pastor James

Tough topic, because there are two camps within Christendom regarding “wealth.”

• Whatever God’s will is, that’s what you’ll get
  • This doesn’t motivate us to pray or believe
• God wants you well supplied
  • This gets us closer to God, because we connect with Him due to the way we believe about Him

God wants His people prosperous.

• It’s not been God’s promise that was off, it’s been our believing.
  • “Jesus was poor”
    • Anytime He had need of anything, it was provided. What is the definition of “poor” to you? It’s not that.
    • How many of us have a treasurer that follows us around?

God intended money to come to and thru you!

You’re God’s way in.

• Scripture references for knowing His will.
  • Defining God’s will
    • Scripture
    • Holy Spirit
    • Romans 12:2 NKJV – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
      • That you may prove: to approve; to deem worthy; to see whether a thing is genuine or not
        • Your example here on earth was meant to prove God’s good and perfect will to others.
        • You were meant to be pointed at for your substance here.
        • You were created to prove the goodness of God to others as the approval of the promise to His people. You deem God worthy by the way He blesses you.

You were created for money to come to and thru to prove His will.

• Colossians 1:26, 27 NKJV – The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
  • This says it all. Christ in you is where the riches for your life exist.
  • That need that you have resides in you already. You already have the potential to see it in the natural, because it exists in you.
    • Example: When you cash out at the grocery store, what do you do? Reach to your back pocket and pull out your wallet. This is the same concept.
    • How do you pull it out and use it?
      • Pull out Colossians 1:26,27 – “What I need is in you, Jesus. And you are in me. I pull out your blessing on my situation right now.”
      • This is believing without seeing yet. Faith. This pleases God.

You can have it, as long as it doesn’t have you. ~ Pastor Sarah

Psalm 112:2-3 NKJV – His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.

• Generation of the upright – the generation of Jesus. It’s defined better in NT now, because we know Who the upright is. Jesus. In us.
• House- receptacle -
  • Like a soap dispenser. God adds, and it’s always full for others to use
• Righteousness- of Davidic King Messiah
  • “and His Son endures in you forever”
• What’s being said here: You will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be at your disposal, and He endures in you forever!

God’s intent is to get it to you so it can go thru you and prove Him.

The natural (human) principles work

• Luke 6:38 – Give and it will be given…don’t give, and the blessing (covenant) still exists, however you will only have the one promise not both.
  • God won’t allow His principles to go without fulfillment.
  • Sometimes things get held up in the spirit realm or in the human realm. Wouldn’t you want the ability to still receive when the enemy is holding something up? Then, put the principles to practice.
• You attract the blessing of God when Jesus lives in you. What about the blessing here on earth? There’s an earthly part to this. God wants you to sow here on earth to bless His people.
  • Stats: 7% of Christians “tithe”.  The average amount that Christians give equals 2.5%.
    • Christians aren’t putting to practice the principles, and can’t seem to answer the bigger question of “why am I behind?”

The Solomon “if” principle:

• Solomon prays
  • 1 Kings 3:9 NKJV – Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?
• God answers
  • 1 Kings 3:13, 14 NKJV – And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So ifyou walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.
    • God gave him more than he asked. In wisdom and discernment is where Solomon found wealth.
      • Sometimes we might be over focused on wealth, because the problem is our finances. We need to get our focus on the right things, and God will add the rest. If the problem is your finances, we’re still supposed to look at the answer instead of the problem. Jesus in you is the answer.
        • Focused on the problem Example: hijacking God
          • Guy in Seattle
          • Guy at church office
          • God isn’t moved by need, He’s moved by faith! ~ Pastor Sarah
        • “If” – Solomon gets off to a great start. God mentions at least three times the benefits that He gave Solomon for such a request. The “if” shows up again in 1 Kings 9:4. His reminder.
• Then chapter 11comes around. In short, Solomon put his women and their gods in his kingdom and they became an idol to him.
  • God gives wisdom to get wealth, but its still up to us to remember the “if“. We see that the “if” is the over abundance that God wants to get to us here on earth.
  • This is the portion that brings you into the picture. God will bless because you have Jesus (the full blessing already inside you), you attract blessing and wealth already. The “if” is the human things that we can do to put God first instead of idols that pop up in our life.
    • Giving plays into your wealth here in the “if“.
  • Solomon loses control of his kingdom. The “if” was out of place. He lost sight.
• Interesting that God still blessed in 1 Kings 11:13 because of David, Solomon’s father. Because of David, God blessed, but it wasn’t as big as He wanted.
  • Same picture of Jesus in us. David is known as the blood line of Christ. This presents a picture of Jesus and the blessing that God tracks us down with just due to His Son.
  • The “if” is our part to stay on point here and attract blessing on us due to our own will and choice.
  • There are two sides to the promise. God’s side and our side.
    • The big human “if” turns into God’s huge promise
      • Malachi 3:10 NKJV – Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, Says the Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That  there will not be room enough to receive it.
        • Receptacle; dispenser - Psalm 112
        • God’s “if” has promise!

God always intended money to come to you so it can go thru you.

Story of wisdom for wealth in the givers life:

• Testimony of big investment that went wrong
• A giver receives wisdom to save him.
• Wealth isn’t always new money, sometimes it’s saved money.

Some of the blessing takes activation to receive…faith activates

• Ways to get there:
  • Remember all the resources are in you already
  • Prayer of who He is that lives in you
  • Praise before you see the victory
  • Practice what He’s called us to do in scripture

• He’s still lining you up right now.
  • He still has a plan to show His covenant in you, even if it doesn’t seem like the plan is taking affect.
  • He’s working it. You might even look behind in the natural, but God is working His plan. The worst thing you could do is get negative, complain, and give up.

Application:

• Do something different – put a seed in the ground so your “if” promise can grow.
• Dedicate some prayer time to just glorify God that His plan is taking place for you. He is coming around the bend in your situation, because Jesus lives within you!
  • As Pastor Tracy said last week, “The blessing is attracted to Jesus in you.”

the prayer fix

I have a testimony for you:

My computer got a virus and was acting very funny, like a human being when the prince of darkness invades his soul, mind and heart. Nothing was working. Obviously, I felt frustrated because I depend on it to work every day. All my files and clients information was on there and I couldn’t retrieve it. My first thought was to call a computer person to clean up the virus but then I thought: Since I have learned at Life Christian Church how important it is to put God first in every challenge that we face, what if instead of calling a computer tech, I pray so God will take care of it.

Several days have passed and my computer continued dancing with the forces of darkness while I continued praising and praying to God so He would release His powers…Then, this morning when I turned it on, BINGO, my computer was working perfectly. PRAISE HIM because he listens to us when we pray in faith, even if it seems like a small request.

Alternate Endings series “Failing Forward” by: Pastor James (video/notes)

Alternate Ending

“FAILING FORWARD”  by: Pastor James

Review:

• Last week we talked about being emotionally driven or spiritually driven.  What a great message by Pastor Tracy last week which everyone should listen to or watch online if you missed it.
• Pastor Tracy also touched on OATs again.  Observations, associations, and teachings.  These are the things that will show up when you are at the end of your rope, when you don’t have any answers, when you have failed for potentially the last time.  When you don’t know what to do and your thinking about throwing in the chips for the last time and giving up.  Your OATs will lead you, if you’ve put in the right ones…you’ll succeed.
• It’s so important that we continue to feed on the Word of God, because these OATs show up when you need them.  You’ll know how to respond to situations that otherwise would take you down.

Overview:

• Today we will be talking about failing forward.  But, we won’t be talking about it as a negative thing.  That seems impossible, but failure doesn’t have to be something that holds the believer back.  However, most of the time…it does.
• If you’re under the impression that you will never come up against a struggle or even have some setbacks, then you’ve convinced yourself that you already live in heaven.
  • It’s not a matter of if you fail, it’s how you react to it and move forward.
• Suichi Honda story
  • Not hired by Toyota Motor Company
  • Encouraged by his neighbors to continue making motorcycles
  • Honda Motor Company

Suichi exercised the “failing forward” notion, and you can too.

• A MAN’S GREATEST FEAR IS FAILURE.
  • God has a plan for you.  Your failures have kept you down.  Your job isn’t what you had intended.  Your family life isn’t going well.  Your feeling regret from the road that you took, and failure is eating at your core.
  • Very similar to the story of Samson that we’ve been reviewing in this series.

• A FAILURE IS AN EVENT, NOT A PERSON.
  • “I’m a failure”…NO. It was a failure, I’m not.

Failing is nothing more than a learning experience. Fail forward instead of back.

• Two types of blocks
  • Stumbling blocks and Starting blocks
    • Don’t let your failure be a stumbling block, but rather a starting block
    • If the Olympians didn’t have a starting block, they wouldn’t be able to win the 100 yard dash.
    • We have to detach ourselves from the failure and look at it as an event rather than part of us.  You are not a failure, perhaps you have failed like all of us, but don’t let it define you.
      • What God sees
    • Romans 8:28 NKJV- And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to Hispurpose.
      • God sees your failure as a starting block, not a stumbling block
    • Read on your own: Romans 3:21-31
      • Your sin/failure is less significant to God than your life.
    • Romans 3:24-26 NKJV – being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth  as  a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
      • Romans 3:25,26 – He passed over the sins previously committed to demonstrate His righteousness
        • Break Down: through Jesus, God made a “new covenant” way to get past the sin and failure of His people, so that He could demonstrate His righteousness.
          • Every time God looks past your failure and blesses, He is showcasing His righteousness.
          • Why wouldn’t He want to do that all the time?

God isn’t looking forward to your failure, but He’s looking forward to showcasing His righteousness. – Fail Forward

• Propitiation (G2435 – cover of Ark of the Covenant/Testimony)
• Mercy seat – defined in Hebrews
  • a means of appeasing
  • A discretionary pardoning
  • the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies
  • Leviticus 16:14 – sprinkled the blood 7 times on the Mercy seat
    • The number 7 means – completion, spiritual perfection, God’s seal, holiness
      • Seven is the second perfect number. In Hebrew seven is shevah (shebah) from the root shava (shaba or sheba), meaning “to be full.”
        • Full of His blood, not full of your sin.
        • “your full of it…”
        • Exodus 37:6-9 – the Mercy seat built
          • Cherubim looking at the blood on the Mercy seat not the sin
          • Example of what God is looking at in you.
            

SAMSON’S STORY SHOWS US

Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” 24 When the people saw [Samson], they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” 25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. Judges 16:23-25

• Not only did Samson look bad, but God looked bad through Samson
• God was getting a black eye on this.  Now, Samson had to separate himself from his own personal failures and realize that God will have the last say.  He needed to realize that God would still use him, even though he failed.  His regrets and remorse were probably more than he could bare, but he had to step past them and allow God to still have the last say through him.
• God wants to use you for His good purpose.  No matter how bad you’ve failed and messed up.  You must know this.  Don’t sit back in your failure, stand up in God’s success.
• Samson had some pillars to push down in himself prior to the ones that he pushed down on the Philistines.
  • He had to push down the failure and the ridicule.  He had to push down the regret of making the wrong choices on his way to captivity.
  • He had to push down the fact that God is alive and well and always looking to bless.

Push down the pillars of failure…Fail Forward

TWO RESPONSES TO FAILURE

• THE NATURAL RESPONSE IS REMORSE.
  • Remorse is the reminder of your failure.
  • After forgiveness, there is no more reminder for God outside of your reminding Him. “But God, I have fallen short so many times.”
    • God’s response, “And when was that again?”
• THE BETTER RESPONSE IS accepting His love and forgiveness.

…When they stood him among the pillars.26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them…” 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more… Judges 16:25-26, 28

• Samson decided that this was his end.  But, more importantly, he also decided that the victory was the Lord’s.  He allowed God to use his hands to get the glory.
• Not for one second do we see in this story that God looked down on Samson.  Of course, God would have rather had a different plan, but he won’t invade our will.  I’m sure the angels were celebrating when Samson cried out to God “just one more…”
  • Katherine Kuhlman (great revivalist)- fill me up one more time
    • Getting past her insufficiencies and failures and walking in the grace.
    • Surfer on the beach - well known speaker story
      • Ready to give up
      • “Hit the wall one more time.”
• In your time of need, you have God’s full attention no matter what got you there in the first place.
  • John 17:23 NKJV – I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
  • God sees opportunity to show Himself to this world…through you.

WHEN A MAN IS DOWN, HE’S NOT OUT!

• He’s only out when he talks himself into it.

EVEN IN OUR FAILURES, GOD CAN STILL ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES.

Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. Judges 16:29-30

• With all his might – Hebrew: koach-
  • Human strength, animal strength, strength of angels, and the power of God
  • Throughout Samson’s life, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him”

My story:

• Hired into the auto industry at a young age (right after high school)
• It went well for quite some time, but realized that I needed a degree to get past the ceiling for promotion.
• Raised in a lower class household, and not following God very closely
• I was looking for a review/raise/promotion, but my boss told me that I was at the ceiling without a degree. I felt like praying but knew that my relationship wasn’t what it should be with God.
• I prayed, but wasn’t sure that it would work, because what would make God want to promote someone that had backslidden.
  • Romans 3:25,26 – He passed over the sins previously committed to demonstrate His righteousness
    • God had a Failing Forward mindset for me… Like Samson
    • God wanted to demonstrate His righteousness through me.
• A week or so later, my boss called me back into his office. He wanted to let me know that he went to the president of the billion dollar company that I worked for and got approval to restart a college tuition program that had been stopped years ago.
• I got my tuition paid.
  • Don’t let your failure and regret define your future.
  • Every great man has failed.  He wouldn’t be a success without his failure.  However, many average men wouldn’t be average if they would have been able to get past their failure and see the opportunity.
    • Back in the starting blocks instead of the stumbling block
    • I had some pillars to push down just to pray. God pushed the other pillars down because I prayed.
    • God will always take an opportunity to show His righteousness

MOVING FORWARD

Get back into the starting blocks. God doesn’t see your failure, He sees the blood.

He wants to demonstrate His righteousness in you.

Fail forward into your Alternate Ending

Life Christian Church is moving – first service July 1st in new facility

Life Christian Church is moving.  Here are the details that you will need:

Service times will be changing starting on July 1st as follows:

Sundays – 9:30a

Midweek – Thursdays – 7p

We thank you for staying connected with us throughout this move.  We believe that God has opened this door for our church and are excited about it.  However, this is not our final destination, it’s a blessing to us and we’ll be looking forward to the future!

#LoveIs “Half Full” Pastor Tracy Boyd (notes & video)

Love is: Are you seeing half full or half empty

Pastor Tracy Boyd

Review:

• The best way to overcome evil is to do good (Romans 12:21).
• God has an ambitious plan for us to reflect who He is and what He has accomplished through Christ.
• agape an undefeatable benevolence and unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the highest good of the other person, no matter what he does. It is the self-giving love that gives freely without asking anything return, and does not consider the worth of its object. It is a love by choice and refers to the will rather than the emotion.
• Without the deposit of His love in us this can’t be done. He gives us the love to love others. Jesus knew that this world trains us to be self- oriented.
• God’s love enables us to have true deliverance of self
• The goal of love is to see in the World and in our personal life:

Ephesians 3:20 (NKJ)

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Growing in the fruits or actions of love does not effect God’s love for us; it determines our quality of life and effectiveness in reaching people for Christ

Similar words mentioned in 1 Cor. 13 4-8 are mentioned in most of the epistles! Why? It is important for us to experience the Life that Christ purchased for us as well as being a reflection of Him to so many who don’t know Him and are hurting.

This week: Are you viewing life as half full or half empty

Car example

• A memo went out not to park in a certain place that people were parking because it wasn’t a parking place and isn’t safe. There was one particular person that habitually parked there.
• I got to the church and that someone who habitually parked thee was parked there and the complaining/irritation began in my head.
• A few miniutes later this peraon exited the building with several people, went to the parked vehicle and began unloading a ton of stuff.
  • A couple of points: I filled in the blanks, it was a waste of my precious brain space, I looked at the situation half empty instead of half full

We all have a tendency to look at events that happen to us from a half empty perspective instead of half full and that’s why many times we end up behaving in the opposite of the love walk;

1 Cor. 13: 4-8 (NKJ)

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

Why do we get short, impatient, irritated, or hurt

• Subconsciously we believe they are purposely doing what ever to bother us
  • Driving, grocery store, with our kids, toilet seat, leaving things out, wronged by someone.
  • Most of the time people did not set out to hurt us or do what ever to irritate us; it is a product of being human.
  • Most strife or offense arise from misunderstanding, miscommunication or even a lack of maturity.
  • Recognize that outburst do not help the situation only hurt it.
  • A lot of the irritation or hurt derives from people not meeting our expectation

• Why do we complain to others when we are bothered
  • We looking to be justified: my example when mom said is God convinced
  • We don’t know how to solve it
  • If we complain or get irritated we have lost sight of our own flaws: Lets sow GRACE

Why do we envy

• We’ve lost sight of God’s unending supply for us

Proverbs 14:30 (NKJ)

A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones

Proverbs 15:30 (NKJ)

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, And a good report makes the bones healthy.

• When I get short or hurt I recognize I’ve disconnected from the His love

So when we  these feelings rise up, how do we activate God’s love to keep us in the Love walk

  Matt. 5:44 (NKJ)

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to             those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute

There are three actions that Jesus said would help us deal with negative emotions

1. Bless: means to speak well of, desire for them to prosper
2. Do good: see from their point of view
3. Pray

This is what it looks like:

Situation 1: Have you ever been in a situation where you come home from work, your tired your brain is just over loaded and dinner hasn’t even been started. You know that your spouse has been home all day-they had a day off- you have a sporting event that you need to go to for one of your kids. Perfect opportunity for havoc!

The negative emotion rises first, “What were they doing all day, don’t they know how hard I worked today, don’t they have any common sense to make a meal…..

Choose Love: I’m going to believe the best. There is a logical reason for this. Maybe the basement flooded and the spent their day off pumping water out. Maybe a bill or form was misplaced and they spent the better part of the day looking for it and going to the secretary if state.

Let’s just say we throw choosing love out the widow and we displayed our aggravation we got all mad for nothing and created a strife filled environment

Choosing to think something positive puts us in the right frame of mind to deal with a potential turbulent moment! It is for our benefit!

Do good start making dinner!

Situation 2: It’s the week of final exams and you make a decision to go easy on your teenager and ask them only to take out the garbage. You pull into the drive way after work and there in the garage on garbage day is the garbage still packed and it’s 80 degrees outside.

Negative happens first: “What in the world was he thinking! Don’t they know we have to smell that for a week! I bet their playing halo right now…. They haven’t met your expectation and your mad!!!!

Choose love: Love suffers long! They are a teenager they are hormonal there must be a logical reason. Even if there isn’t this puts us in the right frame of mind to deal with them in sanity. We give them consequences not wrath

Situation 3:

You have been working on a project that your boss asked you to do. You have been spending months on it. It’s the day before you have to present and they say to you that they are going in another direction taking the idea from another fellow employee.

Negative thoughts: How dare they? Do they know how much work I did on that even after hours? They don’t appreciate me…. I’ve been here longer than so and so…I’m done!

Choose Love: Love does not seek it’s own. The other plan must be better for the over all benefit of the company. If I were the owner I would choose what is best for the company even if a loyal employee came up with the wrong idea. Maybe the idea is going to save millions

• Things we can do when people aren’t watching to develop love: Patience is selfishness conquered.

Situation 4:

Sometimes someone may have abused or mistreated you and you still have ill feelings toward them. Jesus gave us the antidote to get free: Love does not take into an account a suffered wrong

Bless them, “Lord I Bless them.” Don’t talk negative about them, do them good.  Pray for them.

What to say daily:  “God loves me and I can love others the same way

It’s more for our benefit to free ourselves

• Choosing to give into our negative emotions- defend, resist, retaliate….-causes the strife to continue.

• When we do not resolve things in love, it’s as if we are carrying a back pack filled with some form of weight on our backs. At first it’s heavy then we get use to it. However; the ill effects have a toll on our body our mental well -being. Someone has to be the strong person and pull on the love inside.

• Loving each other is true spiritual maturity!

• God’s kindness towards us caused us to change; our kindness towards others helps them to change.

Romans 2:4 (NLT)

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin.

• God deposits His love to love him, others and self…..

Victory in Jesus vlog testimony

Victory in Jesus vlog testimony