September/25/ 2022
My People
Part 3
Accountability
Acts 9:26 "when Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was really a disciple, but Barnabas, his friend, took him and brought him to the apostles,"
What kind of people do you need in your life?
1. PEOPLE who LIFT YOU UP.
2 Corinthians 7:5-7 NLT “When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. 6 But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.”
I Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER and build each other up…”
2. PEOPLE who SEE YOU THROUGH.
Ruth 1:16-17 - "But Ruth replied, 'Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.'" (NIV)
3. PEOPLE who CALL YOU OUT
I Kings 19:19 “So Elijah went and found Elisha who was plowing a field with eleven other teams ahead of him; he was at the end of the line with the last team. Elijah went over to him and threw his coat across his shoulders and walked away again.[a]
20 Elisha left the oxen standing there and ran after Elijah and said to him, “First let me go and say good-bye to my father and mother, and then I’ll go with you!”
Elijah replied, “Go on back! Why all the excitement?”
21 Elisha then returned to his oxen, killed them, and used wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the other plowmen, and they all had a great feast. Then he went with Elijah, as his assistant.”
4. PEOPLE who SIT YOU DOWN
2 Samuel 12:1-7 “The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”
September/11/ 2022
My People
Why are we so lonely?
Notice a few quick things that keep us from our people.
1. Culture of independence
2. Increase in Mobility
3. Rise in online activity
4. Crowded schedules
5. Risk of being hurt
So what do we do about all of this?
Then in Genesis 2:18 “It is not good that man should be alone, I will create a helper”
4 things…
1. Proximity
Hebrews 10:24-25 “ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
2. Authenticity
Genesis 2:25 “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
3. Accountability
Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and work it. 16 The Lord God commanded him, “You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, 17 but you must not eat the fruit from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will die!”
Hebrews 10:24 “let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.”
Proverbs 27:17 “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.”
James 5:19 “My brothers and sisters, if one of you wanders away from the truth, and someone helps that person come back, 20 remember this: Anyone who brings a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and will cause many sins to be forgiven.
4. Responsibility
Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
