Right now, we are going to do a little Word Association game – What do you think of when I mention theses things?
- Superman
- Steel
- A Professional Weightlifter
What one characteristic do these all possess? They possess great strength.
I'm sure most of us have had moments in our life where we had to be strong and courageous in the midst of a tough time. Can you think of a time in your life in which you had to be strong – not physically strong, but emotionally and mentally?
Let's think back on what Christ went through 2 Fridays ago. It took peace to get to that place, but it must have taken tremendous strength to withstand the beating he got.
Remember the crown of thorns? Remember the whipping he got? Remember all the guards beating him and mocking him? Remember him carrying the cross? Remember the cross? The pain and suffering he went through had to be unbearable. I just watched the “Passion of the Christ” this past week and if you want to see true strength and determination, you need to watch it.
He took a beating! It had to take strength to go from 1 beat down to another and still not die until he finally said enough. It had to take strength to resist saying enough with all of this, and just walk away or even call down lightening and kill all those responsible.
Where do you think he got that strength from? Where can we get that kind of strength?
We can get it from God.
Isaiah 41:10 – “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
What are the promises found here?
- Don’t fear, for I am with you
- Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God
- I will strengthen and help you
- I will uphold you with my righteous right hand
These are promises that God intents to fill. Remember God is always faithful and will always come through on his promise
So, then, what does this show us about the kind of relationship God desires with us?
- God desires to be in relation with us. He wants to give us strength in all situations.
- He wants to give us strength and help us – especially in those tough situations
- He wants us to know that we shouldn't worry or fear for he is with us
Challenge
So, what do yo do with this?
What is a situation(s) that you are in now that you could use God’s strength? Think of all that is going on around you – the good the bad. Where could you use some extra help?
Look at all the benefits there are to trusting him – he is with us, he is our God, he will strengthen us and help us, he will uphold us with his righteous hand.
Even if you think your situation is beyond help – know this: Philippians 4:13 – “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
- It doesn't say we can do somethings or most things.
- It says we can do all tings through Him who gives us strength
Nothing is beyond God's ability to help. He has strenght that will prevail!
If God’s strength and peace can get Jesus through his death…If God’s strength allowed Christ to rise again 3 days later…what do you think His strength can do for you?
I want you to think of 1 thing you can do this week in which you can tap into God's strength
Think of 1 way in which you can rely on Christ.
You can do it and you will benefit from it.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
Are we making the most of our Opportunities?
I have been going over Acts with my high school small group lately. It has been very encouraging seeing how the first church was formed and the leadership that Peter and the others have shown.
The main idea (in the beginning of the book) that keeps coming to me, especially with Good Friday and Easter here, is how these believers made the most out of their opportunities.
Read Acts 2:14-4:23
I know it is long passage, but ask yourself these questions:
1. What opportunities did the believers have to share about Christ?
2. What did they do about the opportunity they had?
3. What was the result?
I can identify at least 3 opportunities.
1. When the Holy Spirit came upon then.
2. When the crippled as for money
3. When the crowd gathered to see the healed crippled
Each time that an opportunity presented itself before the believers, someone stepped up and shared about Christ.
Challenge
So, what do you do with the opportunities that are there before you? Do they pass by with no action or do you seize the opportunity and present Christ?
I'm not saying that you have to get on your soapbox and share Christ with everyone in the halls. No - in fact, you probably don't want to do that. You may not get too many good responses.
What I am saying is that if you honestly look around you, you will see that there are many opportunities each day. If you are having trouble identifying them, ask God for help. He will show you opportunities. Then, it will be our job to act on those opportunities.
Back the the Acts passage. After Peter and the others acted on those opportunities, what was the result of their actions? Numbers were added! MORE PEOPLE BECAME BELIEVERS!
God will bless you and others when you act on the opportunities that are before you. I don't know about you, but I have spent too much time on the sidelines watching opportunities go by. This week, let's look for and act!
The main idea (in the beginning of the book) that keeps coming to me, especially with Good Friday and Easter here, is how these believers made the most out of their opportunities.
Read Acts 2:14-4:23
I know it is long passage, but ask yourself these questions:
1. What opportunities did the believers have to share about Christ?
2. What did they do about the opportunity they had?
3. What was the result?
I can identify at least 3 opportunities.
1. When the Holy Spirit came upon then.
2. When the crippled as for money
3. When the crowd gathered to see the healed crippled
Each time that an opportunity presented itself before the believers, someone stepped up and shared about Christ.
Challenge
So, what do you do with the opportunities that are there before you? Do they pass by with no action or do you seize the opportunity and present Christ?
I'm not saying that you have to get on your soapbox and share Christ with everyone in the halls. No - in fact, you probably don't want to do that. You may not get too many good responses.
What I am saying is that if you honestly look around you, you will see that there are many opportunities each day. If you are having trouble identifying them, ask God for help. He will show you opportunities. Then, it will be our job to act on those opportunities.
Back the the Acts passage. After Peter and the others acted on those opportunities, what was the result of their actions? Numbers were added! MORE PEOPLE BECAME BELIEVERS!
God will bless you and others when you act on the opportunities that are before you. I don't know about you, but I have spent too much time on the sidelines watching opportunities go by. This week, let's look for and act!
Monday, April 10, 2006
Where do you turn?
Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you faced an uncertain outcome or situation? Where you don’t know what is going to happen?
We all have stories of a time in which we had to face an situation where the outcome was uncertain. It can be scary at times and can be very challenging. Today, as we continue our series on Relying on Christ, we are going to look at how we can rely on Christ to give us the confidence and peace to get through all of life’s circumstances.
To best illustrate this, we are going to look at what Christ did when faced with a tough situation.
Read Matthew 20:17 – 19
- What does Jesus say here?
- What would you do, knowing that you were going to die once you got to a place?
So, knowing that he is going to die, what does he do?
Read Matthew 21:8-11
- What was Jesus doing?
- Why was he riding into Jerusalem? Wasn’t he going to die?
- Jesus answers that question a little later. Matthew 26:39 – “He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”
Obviously, Jesus didn’t want to die. But He turned to God in the midst of this tough situation. Why did he do that?
- It says in 1 Peter 5:7 to – "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Christ, in the midst of one of the toughest situations any person will ever have to go through, turns to God – His father – Our Father – for help. Why did he do this? Because of the truth found in the Bible that we should cast all our anxiety…all of our pain…all of our troubles on Him. Why? Because he cares for us. Because he cares for us, He will help us through the situation.
Challenge
So, what am I saying? That, in the midst of a great struggle, in the midst of doing something unthinkable (knowingly walk into a death trap), Jesus turned to God for guidance. He turned to Him and God gave Him peace.
So, my question for you is, where do you turn when life throws you a curveball? Where do you run to when things get tough? Do you turn to friends, family, substances, etc.? Forget tough situations, where do you turn to when you face any situation, good or bad?
Have you tried turning to God? Why or why not? After all, it says that we should cast all our anxiety on Him because he cares for us. So, if He cares for us, won’t he help you through it? I’m not saying God is going to whip out the Easy button for you, but he will help you through it.
So, again, where do you turn? What will it take for you to turn to God? Don’t let the situation get too out of hand before you turn to God, but know that God is faithful and desires to help.
This week, when you are facing decision after decision, situation after situation, let’s turn to God for guidance and see where he leads. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
We all have stories of a time in which we had to face an situation where the outcome was uncertain. It can be scary at times and can be very challenging. Today, as we continue our series on Relying on Christ, we are going to look at how we can rely on Christ to give us the confidence and peace to get through all of life’s circumstances.
To best illustrate this, we are going to look at what Christ did when faced with a tough situation.
Read Matthew 20:17 – 19
- What does Jesus say here?
- What would you do, knowing that you were going to die once you got to a place?
So, knowing that he is going to die, what does he do?
Read Matthew 21:8-11
- What was Jesus doing?
- Why was he riding into Jerusalem? Wasn’t he going to die?
- Jesus answers that question a little later. Matthew 26:39 – “He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”
Obviously, Jesus didn’t want to die. But He turned to God in the midst of this tough situation. Why did he do that?
- It says in 1 Peter 5:7 to – "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Christ, in the midst of one of the toughest situations any person will ever have to go through, turns to God – His father – Our Father – for help. Why did he do this? Because of the truth found in the Bible that we should cast all our anxiety…all of our pain…all of our troubles on Him. Why? Because he cares for us. Because he cares for us, He will help us through the situation.
Challenge
So, what am I saying? That, in the midst of a great struggle, in the midst of doing something unthinkable (knowingly walk into a death trap), Jesus turned to God for guidance. He turned to Him and God gave Him peace.
So, my question for you is, where do you turn when life throws you a curveball? Where do you run to when things get tough? Do you turn to friends, family, substances, etc.? Forget tough situations, where do you turn to when you face any situation, good or bad?
Have you tried turning to God? Why or why not? After all, it says that we should cast all our anxiety on Him because he cares for us. So, if He cares for us, won’t he help you through it? I’m not saying God is going to whip out the Easy button for you, but he will help you through it.
So, again, where do you turn? What will it take for you to turn to God? Don’t let the situation get too out of hand before you turn to God, but know that God is faithful and desires to help.
This week, when you are facing decision after decision, situation after situation, let’s turn to God for guidance and see where he leads. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Do you want what He is offering
What are some of the great debates of all time?
Now, what are some of the great debates about God?
Lastly, what are some of the great debates about the character of God (Who He is)?
These are so many that have been argued for centuries, and I’m sure there are many, many more that can be talked about for centuries to come.
Today, however, we are going to look at something that is undebateable – God’s desire to provide and bless us.
We will look at his desire to bless us, how we can be blessed and what that means for us. Let’s begin.
Romans 8:32 – “Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?”
He didn't even spare his own son for us, can you imagine what that mean? That means that there will be nothing that separates or stops His love from coming down on us.
Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
What is this telling us? It actually has 2 parts.
- The 1st part is that He will meet all our needs
- However, those needs that He will meet are closely tied to His son, Christ (the 2nd part). That, if we are in a relationship with Him, we will have those needs met. There is a reward in being in a relationship with Christ! He wants to bless us!
How do we get these blessings? Being in a relationship with Him!
John 15:7 - "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
Are needs are met by being in a relationship with Him.
Does that mean you won’t be blessed if you don’t have a relationship with Christ? No – people succeed all the time without Christ. HOWEVER, by staying close to Christ and by receiving his blessings, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are headed down the right path.
Challenge
So, to sum up:
God wants to bless us
We get those blessings by being in a relationship with Him
Whether you realize it or not, we have a choice – rely on our resources and our means to achieve the end goal – which is the norm, or rely on Christ and his provisions and blessings to achieve the end goal. Which path will you take?
Remember what we talked about last week - Numbers 23:19 - "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"
God wants to, He seeks too and will bless us. The thing we have to ask ourselves is, do we want what he is offering?
Now, what are some of the great debates about God?
Lastly, what are some of the great debates about the character of God (Who He is)?
These are so many that have been argued for centuries, and I’m sure there are many, many more that can be talked about for centuries to come.
Today, however, we are going to look at something that is undebateable – God’s desire to provide and bless us.
We will look at his desire to bless us, how we can be blessed and what that means for us. Let’s begin.
Romans 8:32 – “Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?”
He didn't even spare his own son for us, can you imagine what that mean? That means that there will be nothing that separates or stops His love from coming down on us.
Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
What is this telling us? It actually has 2 parts.
- The 1st part is that He will meet all our needs
- However, those needs that He will meet are closely tied to His son, Christ (the 2nd part). That, if we are in a relationship with Him, we will have those needs met. There is a reward in being in a relationship with Christ! He wants to bless us!
How do we get these blessings? Being in a relationship with Him!
John 15:7 - "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
Are needs are met by being in a relationship with Him.
Does that mean you won’t be blessed if you don’t have a relationship with Christ? No – people succeed all the time without Christ. HOWEVER, by staying close to Christ and by receiving his blessings, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are headed down the right path.
Challenge
So, to sum up:
God wants to bless us
We get those blessings by being in a relationship with Him
Whether you realize it or not, we have a choice – rely on our resources and our means to achieve the end goal – which is the norm, or rely on Christ and his provisions and blessings to achieve the end goal. Which path will you take?
Remember what we talked about last week - Numbers 23:19 - "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"
God wants to, He seeks too and will bless us. The thing we have to ask ourselves is, do we want what he is offering?
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