May/23/ 2021
Hey Siri
Part 8
How Can I Be Happy?
Matthew 20:1-16 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a DENARIUS for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a DENARIUS. 10 So when those came who were hired first, THEY EXPECTED to receive more. But each one of them also received a DENARIUS. 11 When they received it, they began to GRUMBLE against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only ONE HOUR,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a DENARIUS? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
3 ways be be unhappy…
1. EXPECT
Matthew 20:10 “So when those came who were hired first, THEY EXPECTED to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.”
2. COMPLAIN
Matthew 20:11 “when they received it they began to GRUMBLE”
Proverbs 18:21 “life and death are in the power of the tongue”
3. COMPARE
Matthew 20:12 “These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”
Philippians 4:11 “I have learned the secret of being content in every situation”
3 habits to cultivate…
1. REJOICE in God’s goodness to OTHERS
Matthew 20:15 “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you ENVIOUS BECAUSE I AM GENEROUS?”
Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn”
2. RECOGNIZE God’s goodness in YOU
Matthew 20:13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go.”
Ecclesiastes 6:9 “Better what the eye sees than a roving of the appetite. This, too, is meaningless. It is a chasing after the wind.”
3. REMEMBER you are not that GOOD
Romans 3:23 “All have sinned…”
Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death…”
Philippians 4:12-13 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
May/16/ 2021
Hey Siri
Part 7
Why Didn’t God Answer My Prayer
What doesn’t matter when I pray…
- PERFECTION doesn’t matter.
Romans 8:26 NIV
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
2. PLACE doesn’t matter.
3. POSITION doesn’t matter.
Acts 10:34 NIV
“…God does not show favoritism”
I Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…”
What does matter…
1. Your RELATIONSHIPS matter.
Mark 11:24 NIV
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."
Mark 11:25
"and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins."
2. Your MOTIVES matter.
James 4:2-3 NIV
“…You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the WRONG MOTIVES, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
Proverbs 16:2 NIV
"All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but MOTIVES are weighed by the Lord."
3. Your LIFESTYLE matters.
James 5:16 NIV
"The prayers of a RIGHTEOUS man are powerful and effective."
Proverbs 15:29 NIV
"The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the RIGHTEOUS."
4. God’s TIMING matters.
Psalm 13:1 NLT
“HOW LONG will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How long will you look the other way when I am in need?”
2 Peter 3:9 NIV
“The Lord is NOT SLOW in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
5. Your FAITH matters.
James 1:6-7 NIV
"But when you ask, you must BELIEVE and NOT DOUBT, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord."
Matthew 9:29-30
"Then he touched their eyes and said. ‘According to your FAITH will it be done to you, and their sight was restored.’"
6. GOD’S WILL matters.
I John 5:14-15 NIV
"This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: That if we ask anything according to HIS WILL, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us --whatever we ask--we know that we will have what we ask of him."
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NIV
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me, but He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"
Three Prayers:
- God SHOW me.
2. God GROW me.
3. God KNOW me.
May/02/ 2021
Hey Siri: How do I Measure Up?
Philippians 2:3-4 NIV
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.”
What happens when we try to measure up to others?
We lose focus of our purpose.
Psalm 23:2-3 ESV
“He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Ephesians 1:11 TPT
“Before we were even born, he gave us our destiny; that we would fulfill the plan of God who always accomplishes every purpose and plan in his heart.”
Romans 12:3 NIV
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”
James 3:14-16 NIV
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
We forget who really does the measuring.
1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
How do we stop comparing ourselves with others?
1. We learn to be Content
2 Corinthians 5:14-16 NIV
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”
2. We learn to get in the Word
Ephesians 5:8-9 ESV
“At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.”
1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”
Galatians 5:26 NLT
“Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”
3. We learn to Serve Others
Matthew 20:26-28 NIV
“…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
May/02/ 2021
Hey Siri
Part 5
Why Don’t I Always Feel God
Psalm 88:13-14 NIV “But I cry to you for help, O Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you... Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?”
WHY DON’T I FEEL GOD?
1. Maybe your attention is DISTRACTED.
Luke 10:38-40 NIV “Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was DISTRACTED by all the preparations that had to be made….”
Psalm 46:10 NIV “Be STILL and know that I am God.”
2. Maybe your heart is HARDENED.
Matthew 13:14-15 NIV “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become CALLOUSED; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
3. Maybe your lifestyle has become SINFUL.
Isaiah 59:1-2 NIV “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your INIQUITIES have separated you from your God; your SINS have HIDDEN HIS FACE from you, so that he will not hear.”
1 Timothy 4:2 NIV “…their consciences became seared as with a hot iron.”
James 4:8 ESV “If we will DRAW NEAR to God, He will draw near to us.”
4. Maybe you felt God and didn’t RECOGNIZE it.
Genesis 28:16 NIV “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
5. Maybe you're too FOCUSED on FEELINGS.
THREE PROMISES…
1. You will FIND God when you SEEK God.
Jeremiah 29:13-14 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord…”
A. Seek God through his word
B. Seek God through prayer
C. Seek God in worship
D. Seek him with other Christians
2. God’s presence is EVERYWHERE.
John 14:16 ESV “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to BE WITH YOU forever— the Spirit of truth.”
3. You can experience God NOW.
Acts 17:26-27 NIV “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”
April/25/ 2021
Hey Siri
Part 4
Why Do Bad Things Happen?
1. SOME THINGS happen because we live in a BROKEN WORLD.
Matthew 5:45 NLT “it rains on the JUST and the UNJUST…”
Romans 3:23 NIV “All have sinned and fall short”
John 16:33 NIV “In this world you will have TROUBLE…”
2. SOME THINGS happen because you made BAD DECISIONS.
Proverbs 19:3 NIV “A man's OWN FOLLY ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.”
Galatians 6:7-8 NIV “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
3. SOME THINGS happen so that GOD CAN GET THE GLORY!
John 9:3 NIV "Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened SO THAT the works of God might be displayed in him.”
4. ALL THINGS that happen can be USED FOR OUR GOOD.
James 1:2-3 NIV “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Romans 8:28 NIV “And we know that in ALL THINGS, God is working for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.”
Genesis 50:20 NIV “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
What do I do when bad things are happening in my life?
TRUST GOD!
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path’s straight.”
April/18/ 2021
How do I get my passion back?
Guest Speaker: Doug Reed
“The age will not die from SIN, but from a lack of PASSION — There is deadness and APATHY everywhere”
— Kierkegaard
“PASSION is void in our society — People don’t even SIN with much enthusiasm any more”
— Compollo
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 MSG “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God.”
- THE X-FACTOR (the unseen force - the invisible quality) behind anyone great in the KINGDOM of GOD is PASSION
- PASSION is what makes the IMPOSSIBLE — POSSIBLE
- PASSION can transform an ORDINARY person into an EXTRAORDINARY person
- TALENT can only take you so far — The X-FACTOR is PASSION
Mark 12:30 MSG “Love the Lord God with all your PASSION & prayer & intelligence & energy”
Romans 12:11 NIV “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord”
NLT “Serve the Lord ENTHUSIASTICALLY”
Two PASSIONATE EXTREMES
1. We are PASSIONATE about UNWORTHY THINGS
2. We are PASSIONATE about NOTHING
KEY QUESTION: “What is worthy of my DEEP DEVOTION and my DEDICATED EMOTION?”
Isaiah 55:2 AMP “Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight in abundance”
“People are instructed by reason but they are inspired by PASSION”
— Jeanne Mayo
The PASSION PRINCIPLE: Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward — It is the Lord Christ you are serving”
Passions Charge: “Whatever I am doing — I am going to do it for JESUS”
MOTIVATION is an OUTWARD FORCE — PASSION is an INWARD FORCE
Romans 8:11 NIV “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you — he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
INCREASING your PASSION begins with an increased FOCUS on your SPIRITUAL LIFE
3 PRINCIPLES of the PASSIONATE:
1. SOLITUDE — PASSION is birthed in PRIVATE
2. SACRIFICE — PASSION must PAY A PRICE
3. SIMPLICITY — PASSION needs a CLEAR CAUSE
April/11/ 2021
Why Should I Be Baptized?
Matthew 28:19 NIV “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
What is baptism?
1. Baptism is a PUBLIC DECLARATION
Matthew 10:32 ESV "Whoever acknowledges me before men I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven but whoever disowns me before men I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
2. Baptism is A NEW ASSOCIATION
I Corinthians 12:13 NLT "Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit”
Galatians 3:26-27 NIV "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
3. Baptism is about A LIFE TRANSFORMATION
Romans 6:4 NLT "For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
March/31/ 2021
Hey Siri
How do I get to heaven?
John 14:1-5 NLT “Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. So how can we know the way?”
John 14:6 NLT “Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.”
Acts 4:12 NIV “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
1. Jesus is THE WAY IN.
a. A FUTURE in heaven is only through Jesus
Revelation 3:7-8 NIV “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.”
Plan of salvation:
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death”
John 3:16 “for God so loved the world…”
I John 1:9 “if we confess our sins…”
John 10:9-10 NCV “9 I am the door, and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.”
b. A FULLER life here on earth
John 10:10 NCV “A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its FULLNESS.”
I Peter 1:18-19 NIV “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
Romans 8:11 MSG “It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!”
c. A FAMILY to do life with
Ephesians 1:5 NLT “God’s unchanging plan has always been to ADOPT US INTO HIS OWN FAMILY by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.”
2. Jesus is THE WAY OUT.
John 10:9 NASB “I am the door, and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out”
I Corinthians 10:13 NIV “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.”
