CREATING MOMENTS | CHANGING LIVES
Messages
Messages
+

Messages

November 2015
Message Notes | December 2015 | October 2015

Hope-2

November/29/ 2015 Filed in: Hope
Hope
Part 3
Hope of Gods presence

Hope = a strong and confident expectation.

Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[a] (which means “God with us&rdquoWinking.
 Christmas is not about presents it’s about presence.

Because God is with us we can have…

  1. A help when I’m in trouble.

Psalm 46:1-2 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,”

Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

2. A friend when I am lonely.

2 Timothy 4:16-17 “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me…

verse 17 “the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength”

Hebrews 13:5-6 “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

3. A guide when I am lost.

Isaiah 30:21 “ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Joshua 3:4 “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.”

How do we make sure we are experiencing the presence of God on a daily basis?

1. Be aware.


Genesis 28:17 “Surely the presence of the Lord was in the place and I did not know it.”

2. Be alone

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

Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

3. Be aligned

Matthew 18:19:20 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Hope

November/22/ 2015 Filed in: Hope
Hope: part 1
One Day of Hope

Hope = a strong and confident expectation.

Romans 15:12 “The heir to David’s throne[a] will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.”

Lamentations 3:1-9 “I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. 5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 7  He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. 8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. 9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.”

Verse 16 “He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

4 Hope Killers
  1. Delay

Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”

2. Denial

3. Disappointment

verse 18 “So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

4. Difficulty of Life

Key thought: One day of hope can change everything.

Lamentations 3:19-20 “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

How do we keep hope in hopeless times?

  1. Rely on the Lord’s Love.

Verse 19-22 “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21  Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.”

Romans 8:35-39 “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?… No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

2. Recall the Lord’s faithfulness.

verse 21 “This I call to mind and therefore I have hope.”

Psalm 103:1-5 “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

3. Rest in the Lord’s goodness.

verse 25 “the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him.”
verse 26 “it is good to wait quietly on him”

Isaiah 40:30 “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength…”

Verse 31-32 “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”

Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.”

Who Told You That? Part 3

November/15/ 2015 Filed in: Who_told_you_that
Who Told You That?
Part 3
God Wants Your Money

Key Thought: Even if something isn't true it can still affect us if we believe it.

Psalm 50:9-10 “I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.
10 For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.

If God doesn’t want my money then what does he want?

4 things…

1. God doesn't want your money… God wants to be first.

Matthew 22:37 “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Matthew 6:21 “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Giving is the proof of loving!

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”

2 Corinthians 8:9 “ You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”

2 Corinthians 8:8 “Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us[c]—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. 8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

2. God doesn't want your money…God wants you to grow.

  1. When we give we learn to trust

Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.[a] Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”



b. When we give we see God’s power at work

c. When we give God stretches our hearts

Acts 20:35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive"

3. God doesn't want your money… God wants you to be blessed.

God doesn’t want something from you, He wants something for you.

Psalm 25:12-13 “Where is the man who fears the Lord? God will teach him how to choose the best.13 He shall live within God’s circle of blessing, and his children shall inherit the earth.”

Galatians 6:7 “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.”

2 Corinthians 9:10 “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

4. God doesn't want your money… God wants to use you to meet the needs of others.

Genesis 12:2-3 “I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

2 Corinthians 9:10-12 “God is the One who gives seed to the farmer and bread for food. He will give you all the seed you need and make it grow so there will be a great harvest from your goodness. 11 He will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely. And your giving through us will cause many to give thanks to God. 12 This service you do not only helps the needs of God’s people, it also brings many more thanks to God.”

if giving does all of these things, then what should we do?

1. Start with the tithe.

2. Gradually raise your level of generosity.

Who Told You That? Part 2

November/08/ 2015 Filed in: Who_told_you_that
Who told you that? Part 2
God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle

Key Thought: Even if something is not true, it can still effect us if we believe it.

I Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

I want to show you 3 reasons that God will sometimes allow us to have more than we can handle?

1. So we will walk in God’s presence.

Jonah 2:2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.”

Jonah 2:7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”

We must never let the presence of a storm cause us to doubt the presence of God.

Psalm 145:18 “Lord is near to all who call on him. To those who call on him in truth.”

2. So we will work with God’s people.

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 “I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing. 9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

Exodus 18:17 “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. 18 “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.

Galatians 6:2 “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

3. So we will witness God’s power.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Who Told You That?

November/01/ 2015 Filed in: Who_told_you_that
Who Told You That?
Part 1
God Wants Me Happy

Key thought: Even if something is not true, it can still affect us if we believe it.

Psalm 97:12 "May all who are godly be happy.”

If you believe that Gods greatest goal for you is happiness then…

1. Whatever makes me happy must be right, and whatever makes me unhappy must be wrong.

2. Problems must not be God's will.

Acts 20:21-23 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.”

3. We unknowingly begin to worship the false gods of comfort, money, pleasure and things.

2 times when God doesn’t want us to be happy.

1. God doesn't want you happy when it causes you to do something wrong or unwise.

I Peter 1:15 “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do…”

 "But just as He who called you is happy, so be happy in all you do."

2. God doesn't want you happy is when it's only based on the things of this world.

Better possessions + peaceful circumstances + thrilling experiences = happiness.

I John 2:15-17 "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them/ For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires, they pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."

God doesn’t want me happy, God wants me more than happy.

John 16:33 “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome this world.

Psalm 97:12 “May all who are Godly be happy in the Lord."