Family Service-Extra Teaching

I have a question for you:

What are you looking to for strength?

Are you looking for your comfort zone to give you strength? Your skills and abilities? The praise of other people? Riches? Authority and power?

What THING do you feel like you’re not capable enough until you have it? And moreover - what thing in your life, when you get it, you say, OK, nothing else is all that important in comparison?

A lot of people, it’s money. Or perhaps recognition. Or intellect and knowledge.

It NEEDS to be Jesus. Which means that we consciously need to make SURE that it isn’t other things.

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We need to build our lives on trusting God

This story the kids learned, paul’s shipwreck, i want to make sure you guys understand the context. Paul had received a vision from Jesus:

Acts 23:11 NIV

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

so he fixes his face on this trip to Rome. But paul’s not going on a luxury cruise. He’s a prisoner on his way there.

Stands trial before two different leaders that don’t seem to go anywhere. Spends a few YEARS in prison.

Then he gets on this boat, and a terrible storm batters it around.

If i were paul -I’d be doubting hard. That doesn’t seem like a victory trip.

but paul says - no, i know God told me to do this.

In fact, an angel comes and reminds him of it.

So paul says, guys - we’re gonna be fine. The storm isn’t evidence that Paul should doubt - the storm is evidence that God will deliver.

Paul has built his life on trust. Trusting God that God can get it done. And paul refuses to trust in anything else.

Philippians 4:12–13 NIV

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Paul says, i’ve lived through want, and i’ve lived through plenty. I’ve lived through preaching to kings, and being adrift at sea after a shipwreck.

The SECRET he learned is not about ‘how to move from want to plenty’.

Everybody has answers for that one. We have industries dedicated to selling people answers to that one.

The secret is ‘How to be content in any and every situation’.

I want you to notice something. This means that

The goal is being content in any and every situation.

Sometimes, our goal is, I want things to go my way. I want to feel comfortable, and rewarded, and recognized, and blessed.

Even Jesus in the Lord’s prayer spoke against this. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. Reference to Proverbs 30:8 - don’t make me rich or poor, just give me enough to get by today.

And it’s in that context, of realizing that Goal, that paul says, ‘I can do all this through him who gives me strength’.

I have a question for you:

What are you looking to for strength?

Are you looking for your comfort zone to give you strength? Your skills and abilities? The praise of other people? Riches? Authority and power?

What THING do you feel like you’re not capable enough until you have it? And moreover - what thing in your life, when you get it, you say, OK, nothing else is all that important in comparison?

A lot of people, it’s money. Or perhaps recognition. Or intellect and knowledge.

It NEEDS to be Jesus. Which means that we consciously need to make SURE that it isn’t other things.

when we say, ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength’, do we actually meane ‘I can do all things through money that gives me strength’?

When you live this way - you can experience real contentment

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SECOND Thing:

God plans to help other people - through you

Acts 2:42–47 NIV

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

We’d LOVE to see the first part - watching many wonders and signs, and having spirit filled people doing awesome stuff in the room.

But we need to take the second as well. Being willing even to the point of sacrifice to take care of the other people around us. To gladly and sincerely appreciate and seek out each other’s company. To meet other people’s needs like they are our own.

God HAS a plan for those times that we’re in want and hungry. And it’s other people.

God has a plan when other people are in want and hungry. And it’s you.

When the early church created this atmosphere, Luke was really clear what came out of it - ‘The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’.

We want to see people join the kingdom? We have to be the kingdom.

The bible says that the love we have and practice for each other will be one of the surest signs to the world that the gospel is real.

And the best part is - God will help with this too!

You belong here

1 John 3:1 NIV

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!