Michael's Blog

The Work of Christ on THE INSIDE (aka Inside Out)

No video?  Visit http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7051897

=======================================

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

Camp and WC Money due Sunday!

Judgmental Attitudes of Christians

Ok, so today I had an encounter that showed me how much church life needs to change in relation to judgmental Christian attitudes.  This knowledge given to me hurt me deeply today!   Climbing on my soapbox now.

For about 2 years now we have been homeschooling our children with a local Christian Homeschool cover.  Each friday I take the kids to co-op.  It has been a joy seeing our kids develop new friends and learn so much great stuff.  The relationships that I have built is another story.  I have developed no relationships.  As a matter of fact, I can count the number of people that actually know who I even am on both hands, but I would not need all the fingers.  No one took the time to get to know me, the new homeschooling dad.  #1, I am a dad (most of these folks are women), #2, I am new (pretty tight knit group), #3, I do not look like the rest of them (I am a youth minister, so I dress a little different, talk a little different, act a little different… I actually have more in common with the teens than the parents.)

I am not making jabs, but something was brought to my attention today that hurt deeply.  On the first Friday of each month is homeschool skate day and each month I am there with my kids.  I have been at this skate day at least a dozen times.   Each month I am there with my kids and I usually have my head buried in a book (been trying to finish my masters degree).  I do not necessarily look for interaction as I am able to get alot of studying accomplished while the kids are skating.  I do love it when someone talks to me though, makes me feel less invisible.  I can never find a place to sit unless it is one of the pylons where kids put on their skates or a corner near the exit.  I sit, get comfortable, and read.   Last month, the place was more crowded than usual and I found one place to sit (next to the prize wheel).  I sat their the whole time and then headed home, not knowing I was being stared down and judged very critically.  Now remember, I have been doing this for 2 years and no one knows me.

So today, the crowd was thinner than normal and I actually got a table.  I sat down with my iphone and a book and proceeded to read.  Then someone came over and introduced themselves with the comment, are you new to our group?  I said no and told her how long I have been doing this.  She said, “and I am just now meeting you?”  I tol her how I can never find a seat, so I usually find a corner and read.  She said, “were you sitting next to the prize wheel last month?”  I said yes.  She said, “I got several e-mails about you last month, worried about the guy by the door.”  I said, why?  Well, they said you were by the door and looked sketchy.  I said, “I looked like I do today (black t-shirt, jeans, converse), do I look sketchy to you?”  She said, honestly, no, but you do not look like the other homeschool parents either though.  I said, I have been doing this for 2 years and you are one of just a few people who has even bothered to get to know my outside of my church members.  I went on to tell her that I am a youth minister, about my family, etc.  We had a good conversation.   She apologized to me for the others in the group not being more welcoming.  See, this is The big problem, NO ONE HAS EVER TRIED TO GET TO KNOW ME!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  This burns me up. See here is the thing, if people would have taken the time to observe closer, they would have see a christian t-shirt or to write love on her arms shirt.  They would have seen me reading the book, “Knowing God.”   Homeschoolers who gripe about the lack of social acceptance of their chosen educational path who are judging one of their own with no effort to get to know me.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe they need the same recognition as public or private schools!

Here is the deal though, if I, as a minister got judged this way, think about the lost who do not fit our cooker cutter mold.  I am sorry, but I do not ever plan to wear pullover knit golf shirts, dockers, etc.  That is just not my style.  I am not a typical 35 year old.  I am a 17 year old trapped in a 35 year old body (just ask my wife).  I do not like the typical church mentality, I think it scares off the unchurched!   When will we stop trying to fit people to the mold we want to start going to the lost like Christ did.  We have become the Pharisees and the Sadducees.   Christ went to the weirdos, misfits, and ostracized people of this world.  Here is the thing, what if I had been depressed, overwhelmed, feeling lost and abandoned.  All these people would have done is written a bunch of e-mails talking about the guy by the door and never would have done anything to reach out to me.    This is unacceptable behavior by people in the church.  It is time for us to start reaching out instead of slamming people down based on appearances (clothing, skin tone, tattoos, body piercing, whatever).

Now, please don’t get me wrong, I love our homeschool group (I wish we could keep doing it).  I love the group activities.  I love the faith based education.  The problem, they shot one of their own and do not even know it.

Well, I shall now climb down from my soapbox.  I apologize if I offended, but this needed to be said.

Taming the Tongue and Avoiding Evil

Well unfortunately we forgot to record last night, but here are my rough notes on the taming of  the tongue from last night.  These are not complete, but here is a summary before you look at the notes.  The tongue has power of life and death.  It can lift people up, but we most often cause damage with out tongue.  Gossip, slander, back-biting, harsh words, pain, and all sorts of evil.  We must learn to stop using our tongues for evil and start using them to praise God and build people up.  Our churches are falling apart today as a result of bad relationships cause by using our tongues for evil.

The greatest thing we could learn to do with out tongue is healing broken relationships and praising God.   Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”

=====Here are my notes=====

Sharpness of the tongue…

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  Really?

Think to some of the events of recent past.

2 students in the past 2 years have made national headlines with suicides attributed to bullying of students via web and text.

I am sorry, I think the most powerful weapon on the face of the planet is the tongue because it can cause death and destruction without laying a hand on a physical weapon or a person!

Think about it… When was the last time someone said negative about you (whether it was true or not)…  Here is the problem.  The tongue hurts, but it hurts even worse when it is said about you and not to you.  Would you rather someone say something negative about you to others or tell you to your face?

We are going to talk about several things tonight, but lets first review one verse.

Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power of life and death

The tongue has the power to correct people and bring them back into proper fellowship with you and others.  It has the power to uplift people.  It has the power to bring joy.

The tongue also has the power to complete obliterate someone even to the point of death.  When you talk negatively about someone’s appears or features, talk about wrong they have done to you (but to other people), rip them apart behind their back, etc, you can lead them into reclusion, depression, and possibly even lead them to suicide.

Well you are all very familiar with ways your speech can be helpful.  Let’s examine what the Bible says about harm.

James 3:5

Taming the Tongue

1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt ◙ water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Ok, so let’s examine the tongue in great detail:

Psalm 34:13 (New International Version)

13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

Ephesians 4:29 (New International Version)

29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Proverbs 12:18 (New International Version)

18 Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

James 1:26 (New International Version)

26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

1 Peter 2:1-3

1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

So from this what do you consider evil talk?

Slander – Defamation – Tearing down a good name

Gossip

Talking back at authorities

Hate speech

Tearing down someone

What will God do if … ?

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!

Word or Deed

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 sin for 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!

Great information on conflict resolution can be found at http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/labor/features/conflict.html

How to Witness

If you do not see video, you can find it at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6030258

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.

The online version of this HERE’S HOPE tract can be found at http://www.thegoodnews.org/CD/heres_hope/heres_hope.html