Ok, so as part of my summer reading (for pleasure since I am finally out of school) I am reading both of Francis Chan’s books, Forgotten God and Crazy Love. Since everyone is crazy about Crazy Love, I started with Forgotten God. I like to swim against the current, because that is how I roll. Anyway, So I got to the chapter about Why do You Want Him (the Spirit). The chapter dives in to are you called to be where you are? Then is starts talking about the calling within the body and how important that is. He brings up 1 Cor 12 (below)
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
So then he says this, “Ask yourself, Do I believe that the church needs me like the body needs the mouth?” Do we really ask ourselves this question enough. So often we turn our backs on the body for so many reasons and never think, “Am I leaving the body without an arm?” “Am I leaving the body without it’s foot today?” Is the body going to be missing it’s ears today?” I think we need to work on being a little less selfish with our own time and more concerned about the body as a whole. The body is hurting in America and it is time for it’s parts to start coming back together!
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Here are my personal notes on this Bible Study
The Christian Life on THE INSIDE
Romans 10:9-13
9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Ephesians 3:14-21
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
So let’s look at the work of God on the inner man:
New Creation: 2 Cor 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Born again by the spirit: John 3:3-8
3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. ”
4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Eternal life/Never Perishing: John 10:25-30
Can hear and obey the voice of God: John 10:27
25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
Washed and Sanctified and Justified: 1 Cor 6:9-11
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Is capable of resisting sin: 1 Cor 10:13
13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.
A treasure in the vessel of the body: 2 Cor 4:7
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this allsurpassing power is from God and not from us.
Empowered: Romans 8:11
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And 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 through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Final Thoughts:
What happens when you are changed from the inside out?
Philippians 2:1-11
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature ◙ God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature ◙ of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Strengthens by the LAW OF GOD
Colossians 2:6-8
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
Announcements:
Sunday – Grads be in sanctuary at 10:15 am
Sunday – Be here Sunday night to give gifts to new 6th graders
June 2 – Pool Party at the giers
June 3 – Six Flags – Money is due this Sunday, May 23
Posted by Michael Walters on April 14th, 2010 | 4 comments
Ok, yesterday was bad…. Really bad … Emotionally, spiritually, etc… It is funny how badly satan is trying to run me down. He is using all sorts of things to do it and yet in the midst of it all, God keeps showing himself to be faithful. Yesterday, Satan attacked my hot button… What people think about me. This has been my week point my entire life. This particular button can cause me to melt into a pile of gelatinous goop and cause me to curl into a corner crying and rocking like some mental patient. Well yesterday, I was inches from the corner and regressing back into my shell of protection as a result of circumstances where my character and self worth were attacked. Thankfully I was allowed to get away for a couple of hours with my wonderful wife to think, talk, and be brainless. My wife encouraged me beyond anything you can imagine. I whined, griped, complained, and came within a very small step of being in tears. Then she reminded me of all we have come through over the past few months and reminded me that Satan is just going to ramp up the attacks as a result of this prayer ministry that we are launching. She is right, YET AGAIN! Thank you Mary for being not just an awesome wife, by my partner in the ministry. I could not do it without you!
When I returned, my mom gave me this…
Instead of asking, “What will I do if…
ask…
What will God do if …?
I the maker of heaven and earth, will:
-perfect everything that concern you (psalm 138:8)
-work all thing togerher for your good. (romans 8:28)
-contend with those who contend with you. (Isaiah 49:25)
-fight this battle for you. (2 Chron 20:15)
-equip you with divine powers. (2 Cor 10:4)
-delight to show you mercy (2 Micah 7:18)
-meet all your needs according to my glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)
-give you grace that is perfectly sufficient. (2 Cor 12:9)
-be your power in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9)
-do immeasurably more than all you could ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within you. (Eph 3:20)
He will have no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord, His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end, he will look in triumph on his foes. (Psalm 1127-8)
I am strengthened by the power of God’s word today and by the power of His spirit and ready to fight the good fight and finish the race!
Posted by Michael Walters on April 13th, 2010 | 0 comments
It seems that as a minister, one of the problems in our churches & youth groups, most prevalent/yet most glossed over in the church is gossip/group talk. We often will have conflicts arise in the church (and this is all churches) and people will gather in small groups to talk it out in hopes of making themselves feel better, but the problem is that this talking it out only amounts to gossip, because the person with whom the conflict exists is not even present in the discussion. Most often this person is oblivious that there is even a problem, because everyone puts on their Christian faces in front of this person.
From Col 3 … “15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
As you can see in this passage, God did not intend for so much drama to exist in His body, the church. He intended peace to exist in the body. When we gripe, fuss, gossip, and such; we are introducing cancer into the body. We are causing sickness to settle on the masses. The Bible says that our job in the church is to teach each other, admonish each other, and worship together. Nowhere does it says to tear down one another. When we have conflict with each other, it gives us instruction on this as well.
The biggest problem though is that we wear a mask of unity. We pretend all is well when we are around people that we have a problem with and then as they leave, we stab them in the back with our words to others who may have the same problem with a person. What does that accomplish?
Two things need to be done in order to handle conflict (1) we need to be reconcliled to God… 2 Cor 5:18-21 “18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2) We need to be reconciled to the the person we have a problem with, not the congregation or friends at large. Too often we air our grievances under the pretense of “VENTING”. The problem is our grievances continue going around with those we vented too and a posse of sorts gathers in opposition to the party who we have a problem with and they have not been given a chance to correct their ways, share their side, or reconcile. How sad, Christ continually forgives us we yet we are too good to forgive our brother/sister in Christ even just a few times. The Biblical model for handling your problem with your borhter or sister in Christ is found in Matt 18, “15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” How much better for 2 people to work out their problems and to bury them than to bring a whole group into a problem and kill the community of the church!
Is it any wonder that the church has not experienced revival in this generation? We are so busy building alliances like a bad episode of survivor that we are killing the whole purpose of the church. A body of believers united for worship and to reach the world for Christ. Well that is my 2 cents for today!
This was a little bit of a strange message for me, more of a teaching lesson than an actual message, but sometimes we get so caught up in telling people to go and witness that we fail to ever train them how to do it. That was the purpose of the message this past Wednesday.
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