October 2009
I John 4:1-6
"The Source of Your Greatness"
October 25, 2009
Question: Why do Christians force their faith down others throats?
Affirmation: What we Christians are called to do is to testify to the truth and the truth is found in Jesus.
The Task
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 14:12
For false Christ's and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.
Matthew 24:24
The Test
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.
1 John 4:2-3
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."
John 14:6-7
Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the One who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the One who sent Me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.
John 12:44-46
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 3:19
The Temptation
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:5
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34
O LORD, You deceived me, and I was deceived; You overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, "I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name," His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Jeremiah 20:7-9
The Triumph
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:4
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you." And with that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." John 20:21-23
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! Revelation 12:10-12
They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers." Revelation 17:14
"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33
For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
1 John 5:4-5
The Price of Love
I John 3:11-24
October 18, 2009
Question: How can I tell if Christianity is alive and real?
Affirmation: The vital sign of the Christian life is love.
The Walking Dead
But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Genesis 2:17
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
Genesis 4:9-10
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.
1 John 3:12
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
1 John 3:14-15
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Matthew 5:20-22
The Price of Love
In Him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5 ESV
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:16
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:6-8
And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:38-39
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4
The Way of Life
As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
1 John 2:25-25 NASB This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
1 John 3:19-20
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 3:23-24
The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1 Timothy 1:5
King’s Kid
I John 2:28-3:10
October 11, 2009
Question: How do we counteract the things others think of "Born Again" Christians?
Affirmation: We Christians have to remember who we are so that we can remember how to live like we know we should.
Who We Are
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
I John 3:1
Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12
Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God…Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.
Romans 8:14 & 17
Dear friends, now that we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
I John 3:2-3
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love His brother.
I John 3:10
How We Live
Key Word: menw: meno – To remain, abide, reside
As for you, let that abide in you which you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
I John 2:24 NASB
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
And now dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears we shall be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.
I John 2:28
But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.
I John 3:5-6
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because the seed of God remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he is born of God.
I John 3:9
Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:37-40
And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Matthew 24:11-13
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6
"Antichrist"
I John 2:18-27
October 4, 2009
Question: How do I keep from absorbing the mess around me?
Affirmation: If we reside in Christ and His Spirit in us there is no room for the world to move in.
Spirit of the Antichrist
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.
I John 2:18
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the rulers of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1-2
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
I John 2:22-23
I am writing you this about those who are trying to lead you astray.
I John 2:26
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if it were possible.
Matthew 24:24
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they did belong to us, they would have remained with us.
I John 2:19
Spirit in Us
Key Word: menw: meno – To remain, abide, reside
As for you, let that abide in you which you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
I John 2:24 NASB
But you have the anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and no lie comes from the truth.
I John 2:20-21
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother saying, "Know the LORD", because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Jeremiah 31:34
See John 15:1-17 note the word "remain" or "abide"
As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it was taught to you, remain in Him.
I John 2:27
"Transforming Worship"
Isaiah 6:1-8
October 26, 2008
What can I do to spice up my worship?
True worship is an encounter with the living God by the Holy Spirit and transforms us.
Reality Check
"God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship in Spirit and truth."
John 4:24
In the year King Uzziah died…
Isaiah 6:1
"All men are like grass, and all there glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever."
I Peter 1:24-25
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you should care for him?
Psalm 8:3-4
Revelation
I saw the LORD…
Isaiah 6:1
(See Exodus 33:18-34:35)
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.
John12:41
Repentance
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined!"
Isaiah 6:5
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; for I am a sinful man!"
Luke 5:8
For I am a man of unclean lips, and live among people of unclean lips.
Isaiah 6:5
The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
James 3:6
Restoration
"See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Isaiah 6:7
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9
Revitalization
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
II Corinthians 3:16-18
"Here I am. Send me."
Isaiah 6:8
"Authority"
Romans 8:28-39
October 19, 2008
This world is so overwhelming. How can I find the strength to stand up?
Because of what Jesus has done, I have Christ’s authority in spiritual conflicts.
Our Position
For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brothers, and those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:29-30
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand of the heavenly, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:18-21
He who vindicates me is near. Who will bring any charge against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me?
Isaiah 50:8-9
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
You, dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
I John 4:4
Our Program
Then Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go…."
Matthew 28:18-19
"On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven."
Matthew 16:18-19 ESV
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes.
Ephesians 6:10-11
I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet.
Romans 16:19-20
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
II Corinthians 2:14-15
In all these things we are more than conquerors though Him who loved us.
Romans 8:37
"I am Free"
Galatians 5:16-26
October 12, 2008
Why am I so powerless in dealing with my own failings?
Because of what Jesus has done I am free from the power of sin.
First Things First
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14
For those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:29-30
To be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the Gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:16
Focus
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin… rather offer yourselves to God, as you have been brought from death to life.
Romans 6:13
Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Romans 13:14
Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things, for you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4
Crucify
Those who belong to Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:24-25
Put to death, therefore, what ever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But you must rid yourselves of all such things as these…. Since you have taken off your old self and put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Colossians 3:5-11
May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.
I Thessalonians 5:23-24
Because of what Jesus has done I am not alone.
based upon John 14:15-21
October 5, 2008
Rev. Peter Wood
How can I do all that is expected of me by myself?
Because of what Jesus has done I am not alone.
Orphan
The Spirit of truth. The world can not accept Him, because it neither
sees Him nor knows Him.
John 14:17
But your iniquities have separated you from you God; Your sins have hidden His
face from you, so that He will not hear.
Isaiah 59:2
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths,
you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far
side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold
me fast.
Psalm 139:7-10
Holy Spirit
The Spirit of truth. The world can not accept Him, because it neither
sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him for He lives with you and will be
in you.
John 14:17
I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is
more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Matthew 3:11
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am
sending you." And with that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the
Holy Spirit."
John 20:10
Life in the Spirit
You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit,
the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Romans 8:9
Don't be drunk with wine, because it will ruin your life. Instead, let the
Holy Spirit fill and control you.
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Galatians 5:22-23
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25