May/09/ 2019
STRUGGLE BUS
Part 5
FAMILY/ PARENTING Struggles
John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Three ways that might have gotten you on the struggle bus:
1. ORDER
Exodus 2:3 “You shall not have other Gods before me.”
Matthew 22:37 ‘Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’
2. FOCUS or ATTENTION
2 Corinthians 9:6 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."
Galatians 6:4-7 “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct. 6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
3. PROCRASTINATION
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.”
How do we get off the Struggle Bus:
BE INTENTIONAL
A. Be intentional with your time
Psalms 126:2-3 “We were filled with laughter,
and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said,
“What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
3 Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!
What joy!”
Matthew 25:40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
B. Be intentional with your words
Philippians 2:2 “Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.”
Philippians 2:3 “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.”
May/05/ 2019
Struggle Bus
Part 4
Marriage Struggles
Three reasons marriages struggle:
1. Wrong Expectations
2. Poor Communication
a. Family expectations…
b. Calendar expectations…
c. Money expectations…
d. Children expectations…
3. Divided Vision
Amos 3:3 NLT “Can two people walk together
without agreeing on the direction?
Ephesians 5:21-27 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”
Three things to get you off of the marriage struggle bus:
1. Hope
Colossians 1:19 MSG “all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his (CHRISTS) death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
2. Help
3. Habits
Four habits you can institute for a great marriage:
A. Communicate daily
B. Attend church weekly
C. Date at least monthly
Two Elements of a good date:
a. Face to face
b. Side by side
D. Get away yearly
April/21/ 2019
The Struggle Bus
Part 2
Faith Struggles
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
In this world you will have trouble.
John 20:24-25 “Now Thomas … one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
1. I Doubt God’s existence
Jeremiah 29:13 “you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart:”
2. I Doubt God’s goodness
3. I Doubt God’s involvement
Two questions:
1. How did I get on the struggle bus?
A. When I put my faith in WHAT I SEE.
verse 25 “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:26-29 “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have NOT SEEN and yet have believed.”
B. Put my faith in WHAT I FEEL.
verse 25 “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
2. How do you get off the struggle bus?
A. Acknowledge your doubts
Philippians 2:12 “…continue to WORK OUT your salvation with fear and trembling”
B. Ask God for help
Mark 9:24 “I do believe, but help me with my unbelief”
C. Act on the faith you have
Luke 17:6 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
April/16/ 2019
Struggle Bus
Part 1
The Struggle is Real
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
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.
Mark 14:34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death…”
Why does God allow us to struggle? Four things…
1. So we will know God’s presence.
Psalm 23:4 “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…”
Jonah 2:2 “In my distress I called to the Lord…”
Jonah 2:7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you…”
2. So we will depend on God’s people.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 “Two are better than one…”
Galatians 6:2 “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”
3. So we will gain wisdom for future problems.
James 1:2-4 “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.”
4. So we will witness God’s power.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But God 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.
