A Real Man of Jesus

We gotta appreciate that we can talk a little different when the women aren't around.

• A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item she doesn't want.
• A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A husband never starts worrying about his future until he gets a wife.
• A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
• He does not “talks a lot about cars,” he has vehicular addiction.
• To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must lover her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
• A man is not quiet, he is a conversational minimalist.
• A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting she won't change and she does

(Hopefully you all know I am only joking)

Tonight I want to talk about being a man

• A lot of this can apply to being a woman—man in the general sense (mankind)
• But after grasping that we can get specific about our masculine gender
• Tonight's lesson is a Bible study

What is a man?

• That philosophical question is more relevant today than any othe
• And today, more than any other time, there are “forces that tend to depersonalize humanity...”
• For example, adjusting to technology (cell phone, Internet, increased mass production, global markets, growing impact of mass media)
• Sources outside the Bible have failed to fully describe man
• Ancient Greek view – idealistic emphasizing the spirit
• Marxist view – emphasizing the physical, how the person is only important based on how he/she fits in with society
• Skinner materialistic view – a person is conditioned by their environment. Study a person's environment and you will be able to accurately predict the person
• They fail to fully describe man by only considering “one aspect of the human being to be ultimate...
• We know of Romans 1 that leaving God out of the picture brings idolatry of man

For a Biblical perspective we turn to Genesis 1:27

• We were “created in God's image”
• What does that mea
• It certainly means a Creature/Person balance
• Acts 17:25, 28 Paul to Athens, makes it clear we cannot lift a finger apart from God—we are a creature totally dependent on His
• Life apart from God was never meant to be and will always be shown faulty
• Yet man also has relative independence or free-will—man is a person
• It can be challenging to fully grasp this mystery—
•  We are creature means God is the potter and we are the clay (Romans 9:21), while we are a person means we fashion our lives by our own decisions (Galatians 6:7-8)
• It takes thinking spiritual and loving God to fully appreciate the way He has created us in His image—completely dependent yet completely endowed with choice
• Praise God it is not a salvation issue for us to fully grasp deep theological principles..
• But we can simply know that being created in the image of God means being A Real Man of Jesus
• Not the beer commercial “Real Man of Genius” but “Real Man of Jesus”
• What do we mean when we think of being a “man”?
• No longer a boy, incapable of making decisions, immature, weak, childish
• Rather: strong, capable, hard-working, perhaps independent (not relying others in a bad sense)

But being A Real Man of Jesus means a lot of things...

• Jesus is the Perfect Image of God
• Let “us”
• Ref. John 1:1 We can look back—hindsight can get us closer to 20/20—and see how Jesus is there all along—hints of the Trinit
• Many passage state it directly or with similar wording
• 2Corinthians 4:4
• Colossians 1:15
• John 14:8-9 In Jesus' own words, a restatement of John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
• Hebrews 1:3 exact representation
• Of course we as Christians fundamentally believe, Jesus is without sin (Heb. 4:15) and there is no better way to see the image of God than to look to Jesus—
• Jesus is the perfect man!
• He is God's intention, God's perfection when He created man and said, “It is good!”
• He is the main point yet we can so easily miss Him as the main point!
• Hebrews 12:1-2 fix your eyes on Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith
• Jesus Restores God's Image in Us
• We are Conformed and Transformed into the Perfect Image of Jesus, who is the perfect image of God.
• Obviously sin corrupts God's image in us, but Christ restores God's image in us
• Romans 8:29 this is God's aim for us
• 2Corinthians 3:7-18
• There is a play on words in this passage
• The old ministry or the old covenant had a fading glory = like Mose's glow it would no longer remain
• One of the main purposes of the law is to show our distorted image—sinfulness (verse 7 and 1Corinthians 15:56 the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law)
• By extension the distorted image is fading—we become less and less like God over time as we get more engulfed in sin
• Also by extension we don't have to live in darkness—veiled fading glory
• We turn to Jesus, come out of darkness, and Jesus shines ever brighter through us
•  Even throughout this life we are being transformed into the perfect image—Jesus 
• This is all done, not by our own strength, but by the working of the Holy Spirit
• It is happening—in what may seem to be a snails pace—but it is happening still
• This transformation happens out of freedom, not rules—“have tos” or “ought”
• We are created as persons, able to freely make the choice to participate in this awesome thing, where God is totally restoring His image in us
• Death to Old Self/Life to New Self
• Colossians 3:9-10 (Ephesians 4:22-24 is a very similar passage that describes the process)
• Once and for all time taken off the old self and once and for all time put on the new self.
• This simply means we no longer look at ourselves (because God no longer sees us) as slaves to our sin—to the old selves
• Yet, since we're not in heaven, this new self that has been put on is being renewed in knowledge
• Not knowledge like a textbook or just learning something new
• Knowledge on a deeper level—to know someone in a relationship or “to know” in the sense of experiencing a relationship
• It renews us in our new self to connect and reconnect with that image
• Practically speaking: That is why it is so important to deepen our appetite for deep things
• Life of Imitation
• Imitation is copying the perfect image
• of God—Ephesians 5:1
• of Christ—John 13:14-15; Philippians 2:5-11
• in leaders—1Corinthians 11:1
• Paul is not saying he is perfect or that you have to be perfect to be worthy of imitation
• Not at all talking about a hierarchy—power structure
• Rather “Follow me as I follow Christ”
• We can put it all together quite simply: It is all about being as much like Christ as we can be!
• If we have that attitude—that new attitude of that new self—we will eagerly embrace discipling!
• We won't be concerned with our worldly, unholy, unspiritual, prideful attitude, which says, “who are you to assume you can help me be more like Christ.”
• Who is discipling who? Issue—it is all about best helping
• Not one of us is going to claim to reflect God perfectly or to have the pride to say, “I am more like Christ than you,” but we all have strengths and weaknesses.
• Perhaps, if we're humble, we have more to grow in than that we have already attained because we are relatively young and inexperienced in the process of becoming like Christ
• For the prideful among us:
• I eagerly desire to raise up leaders and give people the opportunity to preach
• One thing that scares me is a person's pride to assume Christlikeness without going through the process—
• To assume a level of maturity, to be able to disciple people, without being discipled (trained, raised up) into a greater degree of Christlikeness
• There is an evil spirit, called pride, which assumes a greater degree of Christlikeness without going through the growing process
• For the too often discouraged among us:
• First off, it is so encouraging to think about the body together—we are like a diamond, having many facets of Christlikeness when we come together. The church is much more like Christ as a whole than looking at its parts. We feel this more than any in our Campus Ministry.
• 1John 3:1-3
• From this passage we realize the blessing promised to us is perfect and total likeness to Jesus at His coming
• We who are being made like Him are also longing to see Him, and we will see Him as He is because we are being made like Him!

Conclusion—
God created us in His Image, aka to be “A Real Man of Jesus” because...

1. Jesus is the Perfect Image of God
2. Jesus Restores God's Image in Us
3. It is a complete...Death to Old (distorted) Image/Life to New (Perfect) Image
4. We are called to a Life of Imitation

The Called Out

These last few weeks I’ve been talking about some very important concepts: God’s Grace, Our Walk with God, and Repentance. Tonight I want to talk about another very important concept. Let me say, this lesson challenges my socks off!

Ekklesia—refers to a group of people in the New Testament—the group is “the church” –It literally means the CALLED OUT – If you do the church study, you put two and two together, it is a spiritual body that has been CALLED OUT of and added into a saved relationship in Christ.

Being a Disciple of Jesus is Not Part of your life, it is your new life in Christ. The American version of “Christianity” makes it a slice of your life, but that is absolutely unbiblical!

Every Disciple of Jesus is CALLED OUT

• Mark 1:14-20 – what do we learn about the calling?
• A CALL OUT of living for self and of following mere men, an invitation to follow Jesus
• It is a personal commitment by Jesus Himself to a relationship where you are being trained by Jesus
• CALLED OUT to an existence with a heavenly purpose, to live to save souls!
• 1 Peter 2:9-10
• Called out of the world, darkness, and sin
• Called out into a saved relationship with God
• 1 Cor. 1:9; Hebrews 2:11; Romans 8:28-30
• To fellowship with Christ—“brother!”
• To be made into the likeness of Jesus
• CALLED OUT to a very glorious process!
1. CALLED OUT Into the Family Business
• Romans 9:24-26; 1John 3:1
• Hallelujah it makes no difference what race/cultural background we are, whether we’re male/female, how much talent we do/do not have, what we look like, what financial status we have, what sins we have committed…
• God loves us the same and all the same calls us out of lost-ness and to be His children!
• Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:10; 2:19-22
• Jesus reigns on behalf of the called out (Eph. 1:22-23)
• God has called us out and adopted us into His spiritual family (2:1-10)
• He has given us a place in the family (2:10, 19-22)
• Specifically He has given us a work prepared in advance for us!
• Further on Paul’s faith in God’s calling (Galatians 1:15-17)
• Set-apart from your mother’s womb—God created you with a dream in His heart, hoping it would become a dream in your heart that you live out.
• Paul began to realize this and it got him so excited and driven to walk in that dream!
• Are you inspired to rely on God to live out the purpose He created you for?
2. The Walk of the CALLED OUT
• Ephesians 4:1; 1Thessalonians 2:10-12
• As we’ve begun to think about the greatness of His calling, and we think about our forgetfulness, we see the need for the urging!
• Paul urged this because our Lord is urging this
• 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:13-16
• Called by the Holy to live holy!
• What does that mean?
• 1 Peter 2:18-25
• We are called to what purpose?
• Live in a manner worthy of Christ
• Walk worthy of the calling in the face of unjust suffering
• AKA “Fellowship of His suffering” – Philippians 3
• 1 Peter 5:10
• We walk worthy in the face of whatever circumstance because we are called by the God of all grace to His eternal glory!
• We are not glorifying ourselves or our country or any great earthly cause—we are called to be all about the eternal glory of God!

Revelation 19:9, 11-13

9Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God." …11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

• Let’s just get down to the fundamental struggle we all have:
• So often, to one degree or another, we all struggle in our faith—to believe in the nature and depth of His Calling!
• We’re not sure if God has really said what He said—if God means what He means
• We’ve got to see our belief/unbelief for what it is!
• God has called it as He has called it—God has called us as He has called us!
• Jesus is called Faithful and True, His name is called the Word of God
• He is the Almighty—holding all power, all rule, authority
• He reigns for those He has His called (“He will shepherd them with an iron scepter!”) – “He is the Guardian of our Souls!”
• When we believe it as He called it—we believe we are called as He called us…
• His disciples, called out into the family business
• Called to a specific, unique work—He is our Father who looked at us while we were in the womb and designed us for His dream
• When we believe it is as He said…we believe we are ultimately called to walk in a worthy manner, to be all about His eternal glory!
• Treasures reflective of His eternal glory!
• To God be the glory!

 Peter Heins
Campus Ministry Leader 

Quiet Time by Ariana Henkel

Starting with: Ecclesiastes 5:1-8 → discusses a time for everything

-These events are purposefully executed.

Q: Think about the activities we do, independently, as a campus, etc. What are their purposes?
A: Many independent activities are either to sustain ourselves or for enjoyment. While many campus activities are to unite, reach out, or worship God. Yet all are to glorify God.

Continuing to: 1 Corinthians 12 → discusses the parts of the body

-The parts are also arranged purposefully; talents are allocated purposefully.

Q: How can we use our personal talents to help fulfill the purpose of the events of life? (behaviors, attitudes, etc.)
A (few examples of many possibilities): First it is helpful to think about the purpose of the event. For example, devotional serves a few purposes: to worship God, unite us, reach out to the lost. So if you have the talent of encouragement, it can be used to unite people as well as reach out to visitors. Or if your talent is leadership, it can be used to direct everyone’s thoughts during the worship. A second example, the purpose of a campus hangout/ activity is to unite us or reach out to people. Here encouragement again can be used to unite people and connect with them.

With love to my bothers and sisters,

Ariana

Summer Cleaning

Quiet Time by Bryan Baylon and Peter Heins
5/16/09

Matthew 12:33-37
(12:33) "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. (12:34) Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. (12:35) A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. (12:36) I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. (12:37) For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." HCSB

This passage makes us want to be "slow to speak and quick to listen," as the book of James states-being above reproach in the thinga we say.

It doesn't say not to speak or be shy to speak, rather it even encourages you to speak in that your words acquit you.

How well or strong you are spiritually shows by the very words you are speaking.
If you speak bitter, negative words about others you show what is in your heart.
There are two storerooms within: one good and one evil
What kinds of things are you storing up inside? What are you taking in through your eyes and ears?

What comes out of your mouth shows what's within you.

The Pharisees, "brood of vipers," were also the ones who cleaned the outside of the cup but not the inside (Matthew 23:25-26) and were like whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:27-28), and both relate with what he says here.

Matthew 15:11 "It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."

Quiet Time by Jeremy Melcher-Post

Jonah

Day 1

1. Background: Read Jonah chapters 1-2.
2. What was Jonah called to do by the Lord and what did he do instead?(Jonah:1-3)



3. Re-read Jonah 1:15-17 and Jonah 2:1-10. What great quality of the Lord is demonstrated in these passages?



4. God’s grace is so great that even though Jonah disobeyed a direct command from the Lord, God saved Jonah from certain death. What does this display about God’s love?

Fasting Verses

2Chronicles 20

2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, [b] from the other side of the Sea. [c] It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him... 14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

15 He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's...Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' "

Nehemiah 1:4-6

(1:4) When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (1:5) I said, “LORD God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands,° (1:6) let Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear Your servant's prayer that I now pray to You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins° we have committed against You...”

Nehemiah 9:1-3 On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads. (9:2) Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the guilt of their fathers. (9:3) While they stood in their places, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

Esther 9:31 ...just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting and lamentation.

Psalm 35:13 Yet when they were sick,

my clothing was sackcloth;

I humbled myself with fasting,

and my prayer was genuine.

Daniel (9:3) So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

(9:4) I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord — the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commandments° - (9:5) we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from Your commandments and ordinances...

Joel

(2:12) Even now-

this is the LORD's declaration-

turn to Me with all your heart,°with fasting, weeping, and mourning.°

(2:13) Tear your hearts,

not just your clothes,

and return to the LORD your God.

For He is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger, rich in faithful love,

and He relents from sending disaster.°

(2:14) Who knows? He may turn and relent°

Matthew 6

(6:16) "Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive° so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward! (6:17) But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face, (6:18) so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Mark 2

(2:18) Now John's disciples and the Pharisees° were fasting. People came and asked Him, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"

(2:19) Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests° cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. (2:20) But the time will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. (2:21) No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. (2:22) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins.° But new wine is for fresh wineskins."

Acts 13 (13:2) As they were ministering to° the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them to." (13:3) Then, after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them,° they sent them off.

Acts 14 (14:23) When they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Preaching Guidance

Preparation (study)—
The following are the steps to take in developing a lesson:
Read the passage and surrounding context in your favorite translation
If it is a letter, read the whole letter in one sitting because that is how letters are read
Read the passage and context in other good translations (NIV, HCSB, NASB, NRSV). Sometimes reading it only in one translation causes the reader to have a “unique” but not good interpretation that is cleared up by reading a couple of translations.
Make personal notes (as you read) where you see the author's themes and divisions of logic. This will help you get at the literary context.
After you do this consult outside sources (Bible dictionary, Greek Lexicon, good commentary) to get cultural, historical context. If you go straight to sources, it can be a form of laziness, not thinking for yourself, and it can hurt you when you don't really understand the passage well.
After all this write a paragraph that puts the principles into your own words.
All this work should take you a couple of hours, but it is necessary to interpret the Bible well, and it will actually save you time and make your preaching better in the long run

Developing an Introduction—
Catch the attention of the audience and draw them into the subject
The intro should also let the audience know why the subject is important
Clearly introduce the subject, which is where your title is introduced
This should be no more than 5 minutes, preferably less

Main Points—
This will be your longest section
The whole speech will go too long if your intro is more than 5 minutes because that will already put you in a rush to make the point clear
From your study of the subject, form logical divisions of the subject, which become your main points
You can use the divisions of the passage if it is a contextual sermon (For example, 1Corinthians 3 uses the divisions: plant, water, and God makes it grow).
Use an illustration at each main point to help the listener connect to each point
An illustration is not limited to one type: story personal experience, humorous story, analogy, poem, quote, parable, etc.
Give practicals at each main point
Some practicals to the Word Study, for example, are to read the Bible every day, make it your standard, start putting it into practice, use it to deal with sin, and tradition needs to be challenged with God's Word.
Use a few select questions throughout to help people think for themselves and relate it to their own lives

Conclusion—
Sum up your main points
Make the connection with the title in a succinct statement
Leave them on a good note

Grounded.

I was without truth
from all that you are
the form of your beauty before me!
how passionate, grace, YOU are IT!
Heaven sent…
a bliss,
an attempt,
You are grounded.
If once I could gaze,
just gaze at your beauty
would I then float away
from the powers that be?
Rescue me
from my pit,
I dig deep when without you…
I am buried,
no hope-
STILL you’re grounded.
I was without truth
so a part from “I AM”
I once could not see,
now I got it.

V.H.

In the Know

Introduction—

• Briefly explain being in the know.

• Are you in the know? What are you in the know about?

• But what are you in the know about Jesus?

Matthew 11:20-30

1. Keeping them out of the know

   1. Jesus is praising God for keeping His all-important gospel message hidden from “the wise and intelligent,” while revealing it to infants. What does that mean?

      1. Becoming a newborn spiritually

      2. We grow up in this world, and even as young, rather inexperienced, we can think we know it all—we so easily become wise in our own eyes!

      3. Personal Testimony—I grew up thinking I was a Christian and thinking I was saved. Everyone wants to believe they're saved and in the know! No “I'm in the know,” even if we have to fake it! I got this assumption I was saved and in the know from people not from what I saw and understood in the bible. My faith wasn't based on God's promises but other people's version. My parents were religious and raised me to think I was a Christian. They read the bible but were not in the know about repentance and living out God's word. So because the people around me were religious “Christians” by title and not by heart and action, I knew very little about living word of God! Sure I had a King James version and tried to read it. It was so hard to understand without someone to explain it to me. On top of the fact that I was not very literate. But I still thought and made others around me think I was in the know!

   2. Here we see how Jesus feels about our repentance!

      1. We know repentance means transformation—from the inside out—complete change.

      2. Powerful works had been done and their hearts were not moved!

      3. Look up Tyre, Sidon and Sodom

   3. Here we also see God's judgment is a very serious thing.

      1. I've heard people say, “You don't know my heart! God knows my heart!”

      2. That person was right, yet it was often said in pride or self-defense.

      3. The fact that God knows our hearts (all our inmost thoughts, desires, and secrets—what is hidden will be exposed) makes Him the only One fit to judge.

         1. That is actually one of the most humbling things to realize!

         2. It even helps you realize His love—that He knows you and wants a relationship with you.

   4. Practicals: Do you know what repentance is biblically? Are you in the know about your sin and how God feels about sin? Have you studied it out in the bible? I know mom, dad, grandma, youth pastor growing up are good people, but you'll never hear it from God unless you look at the Scriptures and see for yourself! They are there speaking even if we don't listen! So I want to encourage you to take a good look at yourself and the Scriptures

2. Bringing us in the know

   1. Jesus has a special relationship with the God Father.

      1. We can think we know God—most human beings think they are in the know about God and that is the problem!

      2. We may think we know God, but Jesus says no one knows the Father except the Son

      3. Jesus had this relationship before any of us were ever able to—think of Enoch, Abraham, Israel, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist—no one knows God unless Jesus makes Him known to them!

   2. We can know for certain He wants to personally invite as many as possible into this special relationship of knowing God.

      1. But He has to choose to reveal it to us!

   3. There is something we learn here that we cannot miss or we will never come into the know—we will remain in the dark and it will be kept hidden.

      1. What do you think is so important for us to realize from this passage?

   4. Practicals: Do you really know the Bible? Can you even teach the basic things? Humble yourself to learn from someone else (if you're new we're going to ask you to study the bible).

3. To know His rest

   1. It says He has a yoke—

      1. What is a yoke?

      2. It illustrates that you are bound to Christ

      3. He says it is easy though

         1. Sometimes it doesn't feel so easy to be bound to Christ—can you relate?

            • We want to be cool—the need to feel important perhaps?

            • So many of our sinful desires can be so easy to fulfill

   2. He has a burden—

      1. What is a burden?

      2. It illustrates a load that needs to be carried--work that He has to be done.

      3. It is light though

      4. Sometimes this work does not seem light though--can you relate?
         

   3. Although sometimes the yoke may not seem easy and the burden may not seem light, what makes His yoke easy and burden light?

      1. The constant refreshment we now have being in the know!

Conclusion—

• Summed up: God has a way for us to be in the know, and He keeps us out of the know if we don't come His way, but the know is what life is all about—where we know God

Prayer:

Praise you God for keeping your message hidden from us when we're prideful.

Thank you God for being our Father too.

You humble us and bring us to repentance—a childlike heart.

Thank you for all the ways you lead us to repentance because that is where have a relationship with you. That is where we become and stay close to you as your children. We get adopted through repentance and the blood of Jesus.

Praise you God for the never ending fountain of refreshment to our soul in you!

We want to totally surrender to your awesome and loving hands.

We want to have hearts that totally embrace your

Fear Biblically

 

2/11/09

By Bob Wedin

There are many rational fears? 1. Being eaten by sharks, 2. being burned alive, 3. fear of heights

Whatever you fear

Guys are pridefully insecure—putting on a front, shell, but you won't show anyone.

What are some of the things that make you afraid?

Some shared: birds, being static shocked, cockroaches, being home alone, people under the bed or hiding in some part of your house (maybe turn the lights on to help overcome fear?), drowning, spiders,

Fear is mentioned so many times in the bible—it is a really big thing that applies to all of us. It is mentioned in the bible 326 and afraid is mentioned over 200 times.

Definition of fear-a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid (www.dictionary.com).

There are so many phobias.

"Have no fear God is here."

• The fear of being without God is the greatest fear the bible talks about.

  • Example, we experience this when we fear being separated from our parents.

  • When we are young we can think we're indestructible.

Psalm 34:4-11

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
       he delivered me from all my fears.

 5 Those who look to him are radiant;
       their faces are never covered with shame.

 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
       he saved him out of all his troubles.

 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
       and he delivers them.

 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
       for those who fear him lack nothing.

 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
       but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

 11 Come, my children, listen to me;
       I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

• David represents the fearless person. He didn't fear man or animals but he did fear God.

• The Psalms are so real when you read them—we feel what he says here so often and he talks a lot about trusting in God and not fearing

Proverbs 9:10-11

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom

Isaiah 51

Why God takes people from this earth

Proverbs 22:4

4 Humility and the fear of the LORD
       bring wealth and honor and life.

• When you fear God, you stop trying to do wrong and you start trying to do right.

  • Your life has integrity and integrity has many rewards in the long run reward

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

13 Now all has been heard;
       here is the conclusion of the matter:
       Fear God and keep his commandments,
       for this is the whole duty of man.

 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
       including every hidden thing,
       whether it is good or evil.

• He tested all things, had wealth, pleasure, fame, and found it wanting—in the end it was fearing God that mattered most.

We realize that God wants to help us overcome fear in a relationship with Him. He wants to bring security where life has beaten us down. We need to start with fearing God.

Response: James 1 says if anyone lacks wisdom he should ask God.

Give it to the Lord

As the Campus4Christ I'd like to focus on one of our four-fold purposes
As a review, the four-fold purposes are:
Connecting to God
Connecting to one another
Connecting the lost to God
Connecting to the poor and needy
Would like to focus on the last purpose tonight: Connecting to the poor and needy
As you know, we in the Campus Ministry are held to a higher standard to serve because most of us do not have a full-time job, or kids to feed or kids to take to golf practice
If you are visiting tonight, some of the things that we do together as both a Campus Ministry and also collectively as a church are:
Serve the homeless at St. Vincent de Paul
Serve the elderly at Villa Ocotillo, which was this past Sunday
Great time to reach out and talk to those who have lived their life fully and can tell great stories about what life was like when they were young
Noblesse Oblige
High school motto
Etymology is French, and the literal meaning is "Nobility Obligates"
If born of a higher social class, you were expected to act with honor, generosity, and other attributes of that nature
The interpretation that my school made out of it was "To whom much is given, much is expected"
Sometimes difficult to see how we were given much
School has been around since 1927 and we never had a gym
We often wondered where all of our tuition money went, because it wasn't cheap
We were giving much, so we expected a gym
Finally after all these years we are getting a gym
Scheduled to be completed in May of this year
Looking back on it, we realized that we lost sight of all the things that we did have
In the Campus Ministry, sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have, that we don't see how much we have to give
Proverbs 19:17

Point #1: We Are Given Much

Let's look at an instance in the Bible when a woman who does not have much gives much more than is expected of her
Mark 12:41-44
As college students we are relatively poor
We have same struggles as this woman - always being in need/tight budget
Parallel that can be drawn in Western society is that time = money
We are all extremely busy, but if we were called to do so, would we be able to drop all we were doing to follow Jesus? Would we be able to drop all we were doing to serve God's kingdom?
This past week we saw an excellent example of three brothers who did just this
Reminds me of what a wise man once said, "An ounce of gold is not worth an ounce of time"
Dropped everything that was going on in their lives to help serve Campus ministries across the country for a year
This is truly inspiring, and has caused me to reflect on my bucket list
I'm sure many of you have a bucket list as well, and some of my goals are to:
Get a hole-in-one in golf
Bowl a 300 (perfect game)
Go skydiving/base jumping
But these are superficial and worldly ambitions
One of my major goals is to go to the Philippines, which is where my heritage lies, and help build the church and Campus Ministry there

Point #2: Much is Expected of Us

1 Peter 4:8-11
Romans 12:4-8
I really like this passage because it calls each and every one of us to use the gifts that God gave us to serve others
Relates to our four-fold purpose
Some of us are really good at praying to God and leading others in prayer
Others of us promote unity and can relate or connect with everyone in the ministry
There are also the evangelists, who are extremely bold and can go up to anyone and everyone to share their faith
Still others of us have a heart that rejoices in serving others, especially those who need it most such as the poor and elderly
As many of you know, I have gone on three medical missions to Mexico with a Christian Medical Organization, which got me interested in going into the field of Nursing
A group of surgeons, nurses, and general helpers (of which I was one) go down to Mexico to help the poorest of the poor
We perform surgeries that would cost tens of thousands to even hundreds of thousands of dollars in the United States at no cost to the patients
There's nothing like the feeling at the end of the week when we review the numbers to see how many people's lives we have touched
We not only help improve the quality of life for the patients, but also relieve a burden from the patient's families
Something that I have learned on these trips is that God will always provide because He never has failed us when we asked Him of things during the trips
Before the missions we have had times where we needed supplies, and the medical supply companies Air-Mailed it to us overnight completely free of charge
We have also had a few patients who should have died during the surgeries, but I believe it is by the grace of God that they survived
I am very excited about going to the Philippines this summer
Isaiah 6:8
Are we this eager to serve?
It’s a great thing for our hearts to serve those in a Third World Country
It also really helps those that are on the mission to see just how blessed we are to live in the United States
We will be helping the Campus Ministry there grow
According to an old Chinese proverb: "Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
This relates to our trip because instead of just giving money to the Philippines, we will be going there to help lead them
Full days
Evangelism
Getting to know what Campus Ministry life is like in the PI
Much like what Nick and Derek were doing
Visit HOPE sites
The trip is going to cost roughly $2,000
However, it includes:
Airfare
Hotels which are much nicer than you would expect
Transportation while we're there
We will need to start fundraising soon to lower the cost of the trip
Please be thinking of fundraising ideas, even if you don't plan on going
If you are interested in going on this trip, please see Peter or Vanessa
Let us all keep in mind the things that we have been blessed with as we consider going on the mission trip to the Philippines this summer

Summary

1) Much has been given - We have been given so much, it is worldly of us to complain about what we don't have and not see that we are blessed with what we have been given
2) Much is expected - Out of His love, God expects us to have the kind of heart that is eager to give back to those in need

Mentoring underprivileged teens, connecting to the Third World, all these causes are calling out at us and we need to connect with them.
When we give, we are giving to the Lord because we are giving to Him - they are His causes. Whatever you do for the least of these, you also do for me. I truly believe that we must give as though we are giving to the Lord.

The UNITY that is important to Christ

Intro—

• John 17 (vs.11, 20-21 here) Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

• God is using this Campus Ministry to reach the lost souls of the Phoenix Valley and the world!

• We've grown so much in our unity—5 highlights

  • Household and dorm hospitality has stepped it up!

  • Radical Random Hangout times (football and games into the late evening)

  • Super Spiritually focused times

    • Quiet times

    • Evangelizing together

  • Incredible Encouragements

    • Appreciating one another

    • Teaming up to go on dates together

• I'm confident there is no doubt God is building this Campus Ministry!

• Ephesians 2: 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

• But the foundation of this Campus Ministry is still being laid!

• Tonight I want to talk about the foundational glue—that which "builds us together": The UNITY that is important to Christ

Body—

Main Text: Ephesians 4

1. Unity of the Spirit (read vs.1-3)

   1. Not man made unity—not formed by a special organizational structure

      1. Putting people in Bts can serve to many ends

      2. Not worldly unity—not clicks, "just who I get along with or what feels natural"

   2. Not feel good unity—not a unity just with those I feel good towards (vs.2 refutes that practice)

   3. Not a gimmick unity—not formed by slogans, creeds, hype of the time

      1. For example, we have a 4-fold focus as a ministry, but we're not unified because we have it, rather we have it because we are unified in Christ!

   4. Our unity is of the Spirit!

      1. The bond is so exceptional that its almost unexplainable

      2. The Bible's illustration of the Spirit—He moves like the wind, power felt but not seen

      3. Our unity is formed with a bond of peace that is done by the Holy Spirit!

2. Needing one another (read vs.11-16)

   1. Jesus allocates roles within His body where we best function together

   2. Just like the toe can't say to the foot, "I don't need you," we need to realize that we cannot function nearly the same without one another—we do need one another to mature, to grow, to glorify God!

   3. Rather, without one another we will not grow and glorify God!

   4. Really think about verse 16 and how you factor in as part of the body

3. Immunity (read vs.32)

   1. Noble thought: Forgive as Christ forgave you!

   2. You can't be forgiven if you will not forgive (Matthew 6:14-15)

      1. Oftentimes we can be blinded by our pride—I know from experience

      2. Believe it or not, we can think highly of ourselves in the way we're resolved with a person and yet still have an unforgiving attitude about them not being resolved.

4. Truth (sum up the parts because there are so many)

   1. vs.15 speaking the truth in love

      1. Two huge false assumptions that hurt truth-seeking and hurt unity:

         1. I'm surely being attacked! (and)

         2. I must always defend myself!

• Examples: Fred saying to Suzy, "Oh, look, there's a rare bird in our backyard!" Suzy snaps back, "I know, it's an oriole, you don't have to show off to me!"

• We can respond defensively in the most ridiculous situations, which shows our problem.
  

• Instead it is Christlike to practice responding in loving truth even if you are attacked.

1. I've done a whole lesson just on this point because it is so important to our unity

2. It is really an ongoing lesson—for me—on how to be a better disciple in communicating love over hostility

1. vs.17-19 "ignorance rule within" the ungodly—we can't let ignorance rule in us!

   1. I love this saying, "Be angry! But don't sin!"

2. vs.25-29 tells us to put away lying, falsehood, speaking unwholesome

   1. I know it is so easy to be conformed to the world in this way, but we need to be a spiritual ministry that fights the world off here!

3. vs.20-24 says the truth is in Jesus—in the new way of life He gives us!

5. You took off, You put on (read vs.20-24 emphasizing words took off, put on)

   1. We have a new life—re-created—to be like God in righteousness and holiness

      1. That says a lot about our unity—unity with God which brings radical unity with others!

   2. Starts with a new attitude in our your minds—

      1. In any particular situation that seems to challenge our relationships with others, a lot of times the bond of peace comes with surrender

      2. When by God's grace, we realize, "that was the old Peter, and now is the new Peter"

   3. Repentance is when change (from the inside-out) is taking place

      1. It is (by God's grace) our opportunity to take off the sin and put on Christlikeness

   4. We can practice this repentance when our apologizing includes something along these lines: "I'm sorry, that was wrong. It was something the past me would do. I want to change. Please pray for me and help me change for God."

Conclusion—

• Why is unity important to Christ?

  • Because being one as He and the Father are one:

    • Brings God glory (and)

    • It is how the world will know and believe in Him!

• God wants all of us in His Campus4Christ Ministry to continue to develop deeper convictions on becoming more unified

  • To know the glue that builds us together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit

  • Just like each of these points comes together to spell UNITY—These things and more come together to bring unity

  • Our Unity is the kind that is of the Spirit; our unity is based on having a Need for one-another; our unity also comes out of giving one-another Immunity; our unity comes from speaking the Truth in love; all this unity is yours because You've put off sin, and You have put on a Christlikeness!

We LOVE Because He First Loved Us

1John 4:19

Introduction--

• God's Love (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8)

  • Train with two tracks illustration

    • Utilitarian moral philosophy uses this illustration to show we need to act for the greater good.

    • The argument against asks the question: Can such a sacrifice be expected of us?

      • I think the most persuasive answer when you think about it is "yes" but what a challenging situation.

    • God's love is different and on a much greater level

      • God didn't do it out of obligation, compulsion, following some moral standard

      • God didn't even have to do it and He would have been perfectly righteous if He didn't—because we sin and thus deserve spiritual death

        • If we misunderstand this we misunderstand God: He is most gracious and compassionate, loving on a level we stand in awe of!

      • Some other Theological Challenges to understanding God:

        • Humans ask the questions, "Would a loving God send souls to hell? Would someone be eternally separated from God (hell) if they sinned in ignorance—trying their best to be a good person but not knowing any better?"

        • Some of the questions the Scriptures might ask us: "Does God send people to hell or (when we break it down) is it our choice? Is it not a humanistic argument to a spiritual issue we do not understand? Are we spiritually enlightened to the nature of sin, what is sin and how does it affect our relationship to God?"

      • The lights must come on spiritually to begin to understand our loving God

        • God's saving, train and two tracks, is spiritual—involving the deepest, most important issue: dealing with our sin!

        • God is our hero, dealing with our sin by putting it's deserved punishment on His perfect Son!

        • We get to stand in awe of how is saving sacrifice shows the glory of His love!

        • We're also most grateful—a dying to self to become more increasingly grateful—for how He has loved us, choosing us to hear the good news, to have a new birth spiritually, and to come into a relationship with Him!

• We LOVE

  • L for Lord First

    • He takes supremacy

    • His will now trumps ours

    • This doesn't happen without sacrifice, without us denying ourself—putting to death the sinful flesh with the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13)

  • O for Others Focused

    • Your salvation is welling up in you to preach the good news

    • Paul saying, "Woe to me if I don't preach!"

    • The impact of His love is that you can't keep it to yourself

  • V for Volunteering

    • No one has to run after you because you volunteer

  • E for Enthusiastic

    • Rhetorical: Does that mean we're always hopped up on energy drinks or starbucks?

    • Colossians 3:23

• Conclusion

  • Sum it up:

    • We LOVE because He first loved us

      • We put the Lord First because He first loved us

      • We are Others Focused because He first loved us

      • We Volunteer because He first loved us

      • We are Enthusiastic because He first loved us

  • Practical statement that ties it in to a more practical focus for our Semester:

    • We, as the Campus4Christ Campus Ministry, know our 4 points of focus is all out of a heart for God and a response to His love:

      • Connecting to God—Our deepest conviction as disciples is our first love

      • Connecting to one-another—John 13:34-35

      • Connecting the lost to God—It is our Lord's mission statement and therefore ours

      • Connecting to the poor and needy—James 1:27

  • Thanks for coming!

  • Let's have a prayer, a final song, and dismiss for some great fellowship

Harmony With Others

• This lesson is my notes of a lesson done by Brian Craig last November

• Harmony is two notes that sound good together
• Think why some notes do not sound good played together?
• God gave us music for our enjoyment but mostly for His glorification

Isaiah 2:1-4
1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

 2 In the last days 
       the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established 
       as chief among the mountains; 
       it will be raised above the hills, 
       and all nations will stream to it.

 3 Many peoples will come and say, 
       "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 
       to the house of the God of Jacob. 
       He will teach us his ways, 
       so that we may walk in his paths." 
       The law will go out from Zion, 
       the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

 4 He will judge between the nations 
       and will settle disputes for many peoples. 
       They will beat their swords into plowshares 
       and their spears into pruning hooks. 
       Nation will not take up sword against nation, 
       nor will they train for war anymore.

• Living in harmony is living well together with others
• It is aspired to by so many and yet it is so difficult to live in harmony with others
• God has provided a way for us to do so
• This passage is about 750 years before Jesus and it reveals how He wanted His kingdom to be

Isaiah 11:6-9

6 The wolf will live with the lamb, 
       the leopard will lie down with the goat, 
       the calf and the lion and the yearling ^[a] together; 
       and a little child will lead them.

 7 The cow will feed with the bear, 
       their young will lie down together, 
       and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, 
       and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

 9 They will neither harm nor destroy 
       on all my holy mountain, 
       for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD 
       as the waters cover the sea.

• Word Nazareth is very similar to the word for "branch"
• What did God have in mind if not relationships, people who would not ordinarily get along do in His kingdom?
• This we see only happening by God and His gospel!

Mark 3:13-18
 13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

• Zealot with a Tax Collector is like a lion and ox eating together!
• If these are Jesus' close twelve, and they were to lead the way, can you imagine the kind of relationships that forge?
• What are you arguing about?
• Jesus makes this possible--He is the conductor that pulls us all together.
• What must we do in order to have harmony?

1.  Learn the song

• Jesus has so much teaching on relationships
• Most of Jesus' teachings are practicals on relationships, how you treat people and how you respond to certain situations
• Jesus not only taught the principles but He was the greatest example of living them out
• And He was killed for it!
• We need to sing the same song together to have harmony, just like we need to be unified as brothers and sisters (Acts 4:32-35)

2.  We got to stay in tune

• Cornerstone--everything aligns itself with that stone
• We need to tune and retune with one-another
• Are you in tune and or retuning yourself with Jesus and His teachings?
• Illustration: a couple of keys out of tune put the whole song out of whack
• Don't take the kingdom for granted
• Protect the unity and the congregation
• Jesus prays for our unity (John 17) because that is the key way Satan preys

Conclusion
What are you doing to promote unity in the body of Christ?  Are you a person who creates disharmony or harmony?  Do you cause disruption in the harmony within the body of Christ?  What needs to change so you can get more in harmony with others in the body of Christ?