Wk 30
Summertime: Reaching OutĀ Ā ā¢Ā Ā SermonĀ Ā ā¢Ā Ā Submitted Ā Ā ā¢Ā Ā Presented
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WORSHIP SETš¶
Counting on God
Bless the Lord O My Soul (10,000 Reasons)
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33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Seeking Father, His Will, His Righteousness sets everything in orderāand when we follow Godās Wayā FIRSTāMatthew says, āHe will see that we have what we need and He will care for us...EACH ONE OF US!ā
Letās Pray
š»UPDATEš
Hispanic church today at 2pm
Purple Heart Ceremony yesterday was a great time as we honored those who gave and gave some more. Thanks to all who were involved.
No Wed MidWeek Circle
Normally we have a Light dinner at 600p and Circle discussion at 630pā however Porch Ministry 2.0 is PAUSED for the SUMMER.
Our Jesus Sack ministry is pressing on. The CF Team is doing about 175 sacks per week
š LETāS PRAY šš½ for this IMPACT TO WIN SOULS!
šØš½āš« Current Series: Summertime ā Reaching Out
Grab a Life Card ā„ļø
INTRO š
We
We
LESSON š LAST WEEK
As we Ramped up last week for this new seriesā Summertime: Reaching Out is aboutā¦ we said we needed some TST.
Take the Gospel,
Show the Gospel, and
Tell the Gospel
ā¦All throughout the Summertime .
Our DIRECTIVE came from Romans...
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believesāthe Jew first and also the Gentile.
So, we said that our Key Points are...
KEY POINTS
1 The Gospel = Power
2. The Gospel = Jesus and None Other
3. The Gospel = The Future
LESSON š THIS WEEK
Letās look three more keys in being people who are Reaching Out with the Good News Of Jesus.
THREE KEYS IN REACHING
Reaching Up
Reaching In
Reaching Out
Picture this:
The CROSS: Upward and Outward
Reaching Up
Lifting my hand to God and admitting that I need Him. Let God take control of my life.
However, it is because God reach down to us first that we can "reach up" to Him in the first place.
But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!
That is a principle that we should remember more often
How about this passageā¦
Davidās poetic praise to God
1Ā The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough.
2Ā He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quiet brook of bliss.
3Ā Thatās where he restores and revives my life. He opens before me pathways to Godās pleasure and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to his name.
4Ā Lord, even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have!
You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way.
Your authority is my strength and my peace.
The comfort of your love takes away my fear.
Iāll never be lonely, for you are near.
5Ā You become my delicious feast even when my enemies dare to fight. You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit; you give me all I can drink of you until my heart overflows.
6Ā So why would I fear the future? For your goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life. Then afterward, when my life is through, Iāll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you!
Itās because of Jesus Christ, itās because of His grace, which we do not deserve because of our sinful nature, that we may once again come back to Him.
Reaching In
"We all need to grow and we need to help each other grow" ~Pastor Paul Tracy
"Reaching in" is about personal spiritual growth that comes with dependence on God and encouragement from fellow brothers and sisters in a church community.
It shine best when we walk in unity.
When we learn to love each other in the church we create unity.
We are told that this is important.
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
when we focus on loving God through serving we create unity.
This will start to cause a change in all of our lives... for the better.
Here are
8 Ways you can do your part to create unity in the church.
1.Remember Your Common Identity.
28Ā There is no longer Jew or Gentile,* slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29Ā And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children* of Abraham. You are his heirs, and Godās promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
2Ā Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3Ā Donāt be selfish; donāt try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
2. Acknowledge Your Need for Community.
We need each
š¶No Man Is An Islandā¦no man stands alone š¶
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Inspector 13 helps us in more ways than we know
3. Stay Humble.
The command to "always stay humble and kind" doesn't just come from country music. It comes from the Bible. In discussing the importance of unity to the Ephesians, Paul says,
Donāt be selfish; donāt try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Donāt look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
when we're mindful of our own weaknesses, we're less likely to act self-righteous and judgmental and more likely to be gracious toward our brothers and sisters in Christ who have weaknesses of their own. Even Jesus rode in on a donkeyĀ
4. Embrace Your Differences.
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.
To put it more simply, each of us has our own unique strengths and weaknesses. This passage makes it clear that unity doesn't mean we're all the same. We are each a unique piece that fits together to form a unified whole.
No one person needs to be great at everything because we have each other. So embrace and celebrate those differences. If everyone in a church was exactly the same, it would be a pretty dull place.
5. Believe the Best in Others.
When we're cynical and assume the worst about other people, we're bound to experience some disunity.
There may be times when someone truly is brushing you off deliberately, but you can do a lot more harm by assuming the worst and being wrong than you can by assuming the best and being wrong.
Wouldn't you want a friend to give you the benefit of the doubt?
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us* and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
All of us have beautiful qualities and some not-so-beautiful qualities. Choose to focus on the good.
Whether we look for the best in people or the worst, we'll find it.
6. Work Through Conflict.
Ā Whenever you're close with someone, it's inevitable that your faults and differences will lead to some conflict.
The question is how do we respond.
Do we pull away or lean in and work through the conflict?
Relationships with our church family can also get messy at times, and our response is just as important here.
As Paul closes his second letter to the Corinthian church, he urges them to "strive for full restoration" in their relationships.
This is a far cry from avoiding someone you've had a negative interaction or an argument with.
Instead of letting the issue drive a wedge between you and your friend in the church, work through the conflict with them.
And ādonāt sin by letting anger control you.ā* Donāt let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Don't hesitate to ask for forgiveness when needed and be quick to forgive so you can enjoy full restoration in your relationships.
7. Check Your Motives.
When conflicts arise or we're trying to respond, we should always check our motives.
Our goal should always be to restore relationships and enjoy unified fellowship ā not to get our point across, change someone's mind, make someone feel guilty or make them look bad.
There are times when we're called to correct others, but we should only ever do it in love, for their own good.
Galatians 6:1 saysĀ
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer* is overcome by some sin, you who are godly* should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.
This is a picture of kindness and humility, not a holier-than-thou mentality of condemnation.
If you can't wait to go tell someone off, this is a good sign it's time to take a step back and prayerfully check your own heart.
Leave your torches and pitchforks at home and approach the person in love, just as you would want them to do with you.
8. Don't Gossip.
Our culture tends to love gossip. Maybe it's because calling attention to other people's dirty laundry makes us feel better about ourselves.
Unfortunately, many people in the church love gossip too, though we tend to frame it a little differently.
We may say things like,
"Pray for so-and-so because I heard..." or throw in a "bless their heart" for good measure.
No matter how we frame it, the Bible makes it clear that there is no place for gossip in the church.
Gossip is an excellent way to create disunity in the church.Ā
Donāt say anything that would hurt another personāø„. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you.
A writer for the Gospel CoalitionĀ recommends that when Christians hear someone gossiping, they should take a hard stance by lovingly calling the person out and redirecting the conversation. No matter how tempted you may be to talk about a fellow believer, you should commit yourself to building others up rather than talking badly about them behind their backs.
Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.
Remember these are 8 Ways YOU can do to create unity in the church.
Reaching Out
Sharing how good God has been in our lives to people around us.
Jesus said that we must do this as Christians and we will do it bigger than He did.
We do not need to be afraid to invite people to know Christ because He will be with us when we do and all we have to do is ask.Ā
15Ā āIf you love me, obey* my commandments. 16Ā And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,* who will never leave you.
In John 14 Jesus says, another advocate?
ā¦To help you and be with you foreverāĀ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.Ā I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you...Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.Ā I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Whether it's reaching up, in, or out, God will always be there.
It's really a vicious cycle that all Christians must learn to go through.
A Christian that's not growing is like a seed that does not sprout or produce fruit - basically useless.
God doesn't want us to be useless; He wants us to serve in His kingdom but He doesn't expect us to do it alone. What god can provide such peace and security like Jesus Christ can?
Letās Remember.ā¦ this is the season to engageā¦
With GOD
With the Church Family and
With one another
THREE KEYS IN REACHING
Reaching Up
Reaching In
Reaching Out
NEXT STEPS
Turn to Christ
Trust Christ
Pray for opportunities to Take, Show, and Tell the Gospel
Choose obedience and expect God to use you
