Favorite Song:" I Love...I love Your Presence..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Young Adults leaving for Tanzania this week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Money already available for newest project. " God is expediting His plan." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer excerpt-"Lord, give us a hunger and thirst for You.." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sermon notes interspersed with my own thoughts and interpretations:
The church is going to change when we go beyond receiving information about God and begin to experience His presence for ourselves. Thomas was told that Jesus had resurrected but he needed to experience it for himself. (Jesus gave Thomas the reassurance that he needed:"Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; put it into My side." And with that reassurance, a rebuke of sorts, " Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.")
People want to see the truth; not be told it. What a teacher experience becomes. Sometimes we stop at information and miss out on experience.
We learn from Joseph's life.
He went from survival to success to significance.
When we are surviving and successful, it is all about us.
When we move to significance we are focused on what God is doing.
We are collecting treasure in Heaven rather than treasure on earth.
Do we want this thing to be bigger than ourselves?
The steps we take now will affect generations to come.
Matthew 25 tells the story of the talents.
Let's look at the man who was given the one talent.
He was afraid and took his talent and buried it.
He was unwilling to face the risk of using his talent.
"...to laugh is to risk appearing the fool...
...to weep is to risk appearing sentimental...
...to love is to risk not being loved in return...
...to hope is to risk despair...
...to try is to risk failure..."
The greatest hazard is to risk nothing.
A man chained to his fear has lost his freedom.
1)-Life is an adventure in responsibility.
Possessions are not belongings;they are for stewardship.
Stewardship and ownership are two different things.
The talents that the servants were given did not belong to them. God wanted them to be good stewards of the talents He gave them.
What we have we do not own.
The servant that was given the one talent took ownership.
He illegally possessed what was not his to have.
God is looking for a faithful steward.
What are you managing for God right now?
Someone who has been trusted with much
must have shown that he was faithful with little.
2)-Life is a treasure of diversity.
Not one of us are alike.
No one else can use your gift like you can.
Zig Ziglar said,"You are the only person on earth that can use your ability."
God will only ask us to manage something within the boundaries of our ability.
(George MacDonald said something like this. If there is in us, a God shaped vacuum that only God can fill, it stands to reason, that there is in God, a vacuum shaped like us, that only we can fill.)
(Having some trouble getting back to black print)
3)-Life is a Giver of Opportunities.
The master said to the servant regarding the talent he gave him,"You could have at least put it into the bank."
Jesus commended the Pharisees for giving a tithe. Then He encouraged them to go beyond the tithe.
300 years after Christ, every known people group was reached with the gospel. For the next 1700 hundred years, people wanted to be taught and fed information. The world population outgrew the church's outreach.
But today, people are realizing that it is way beyond them.
Reinhart Bonnke saw 3 million people come to Christ in one night.
(I think this was in Africa.)
God bless us with a move of Your Spirit that we may experience Pentecost again! Give us more of You!
Pastor described a book he was reading and I didn't quite understand the title but it has to do with an acrostic of the word epic.
E-experience-How can I experience the gospel?
P-participation-Information changed to participation.
I-image-The church must have the image of compassion.
C-connection-Jesus allowed people to belong before they believed.
Jesus didn't say, "Follow Me" after He made them into disciples.
He said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
If God can change my life, He can change anybodies life.
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In defense of Thomas' need to touch and see Christ in order to believe that He was no longer dead, I want to point out that in John 11, he was the one disciple who was willing to go to Judea to die with Christ. I think he loved Jesus so much that his despair over His death isolated him from the others. Where was he when the others had met together and saw Christ for the first time? He loved Jesus enough to die with Him and when Jesus died, his hope died and when hope dies, faith suffers, and we then need an extra touch from God to believe again.
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Oh Lord,
I do believe in You, without seeing You.
But I'd like to see You too.
I'd like to place my hand on your side
and feel the indentation of the scar where
the sword pierced your flesh.
I want to trace the outline of the wound
on your hand
and kiss the scars on your forehead
imprinted from the crown of thorns.
I want to wash Your feet
and let my tears fall on the nail prints
still visible on your calloused feet.
I want to hold you close
and breathe in the scent
of spikenard, Your Mother's tears,
the dust of the earth and heaven's air.
I want to know You
and the power of Your resurrection
and the fellowship of Your suffering.
I want You.
I need you.
I love you.
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