What does it take to be able to do the things God wants us to? To go forward into His dream for our churches and our personal lives? Answer: The presence and power of God Himself. Today we’ll look at a well-known account from Joshua 6 where the Israelites would learn the priority of God’s presence and power as they went forward into the land God had promised them. It’s the same for us. If we’re going to move forward, we can only go with God’s presence and His power at work in us.
In the early days of the church, God’s people saw exponential growth. In a matter of a few years, the church had grown by thousands of people who had come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Was this an isolated event or can we see a move of God in our communities and church bodies like that today? In this message we’ll see the priority that the church placed on prayer and the power of God demonstrated in response. God wants to do more in our lives than we know. Prayer is one of the things that opens the door to realizing God’s dream for His church.
What importance does God put on the priority of prayer in the lives of His people? What does it look like when God’s people pray? What does it look like when God’s people fail to pray? Maybe you’ve never considered these questions. In the following two messages in our series entitled, “Forward: Advancing into God’s Dream for His Church”, we’re going to see that God places the highest priority on prayer. In fact, cultivating a life of prayerful dependence on God is the only way forward into realizing His dream for our lives and for His church. We’ll examine two examples from God’s people in the Bible: one where they fail to pray and one where prayer is the top priority. We’re sure to gain some good insights into prayerful dependence and realizing God’s dream for His church.
The first nine verses of the book of Joshua are the rudder on the ship for everything God will tell Israel to do to realize His dream for them in the new land. If Israel was going to succeed in realizing God’s dream for them in a new land, careful obedience to His word would have to be their highest priority. As we go forward into the things that God wants for us, His dream for this church body, the rudder on our ship is the same – careful obedience to what God has revealed to us in His word.
God has a dream for His church; a foreseeable future of the church as it can and must be. God has called us to come and join Him in realizing His dream for His church. What is God’s dream for His church? Jesus said in John 14:3, “I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.” That’s God’s dream for the church. As we journey through this series, we’re going to learn what it takes to become a church body that moves forward into realizing the dream that God has for us.
We’ve seen that God is our encourager, that we can find encouragement from God’s word, but there’s one more source of encouragement we need – one another. God created us with the capacity for relationships – both with Him and with other people. When we encourage one another, we’re joining God’s work in another person’s life to build them up through our encouragement to be who He wants them to be. That’s a great thought! That’s what encouragement is all about in the body of Christ – helping another Christian be all that God wants them to be.
When we need encouragement, we need it. Where can we find the encouragement we need when we’re discouraged, disillusioned, or struggling to maintain our direction in following Christ? Answer: the Bible. It sounds very cliché and simplistic, but it’s the best tangible resource we have to find encouragement we need. The Bible is God’s word given to us. When we read it, believe it, and apply its truths to our lives, we’ll discover that it really is a great source of encouragement.
We all know what it’s like to feel discouraged. Like a grey fog, discouragement can settle over our lives and empty us of the energy we need to keep following Jesus. The antidote for discouragement is encouragement. But where do we find the encouragement we need to face life with joy and confidence? How do we respond when life becomes difficult and discouragement sets in? In 1 Samuel 30 we’ll see how David, the future king of Israel, handled a terrible situation that had the potential to totally overwhelm him with discouragement. (transcript only; recording not available)
In the Gospel of Matthew we read the biblical account of the visit of the wise men. These men came from far in the East to seek the one who was “born King of the Jews”. Their example of faith, worship, and obedience to God sets a standard that all of us can learn from. From them we learn that faith and worship must be accompanied by obedience to what God has shown us. Are we giving the Lord Jesus Christ the priority that He deserves in our lives through faith, worship, and careful obedience to His commands?
Is it possible to control what we say? God says that the tongue is untamable! Well, that is discouraging! And He says that what you say reveals the condition of your heart. So what are we to do? And what if we decide to do nothing and just keep grumbling?
In Luke 2:25-38 we meet two people who are often overlooked in the Christmas narrative: Simeon and Anna. This man and woman had served God faithfully all the long years of their lives, patiently waiting for Him to reveal the promised Messiah. God generously rewarded their patience and faithfulness when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple shortly after his birth. Their joy at finally seeing the Messiah was worth the wait. Waiting isn’t something most of us enjoy, but learning how to wait for God’s timing in our lives is an important part of following Christ. We’ll learn from Simeon and Anna’s example that we can wait for God who always keeps His promises at the right time.
To most people in Jesus’ day shepherds were undesirable outcasts, but to God they were precious in His sight. The first proclamation of the gospel came to these men who lived on the ragged edge of society. His generous grace cut through social stigmas to bring them the light of the glorious good news, “Unto you a Savior is born! He is Christ the Lord!” If you’ve ever felt like you don’t “measure up,” and God couldn’t possibly have a generous plan for you, come learn from God’s generous grace to the shepherds that He has His eye on you with plans of special generosity in mind.
Life has a way of not going how we expect it to go. People disappoint us and situations trip us up. Before we know it, we find ourselves complaining about our lot in life. So what? Doesn’t everyone have the right to complain sometimes? The Israelites certainly thought so as they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. But grumbling and complaining did not turn out well for them…
God’s outpouring of His generous grace to all mankind took hold of Mary’s life in a way that changed everything. In one moment her plans for marriage, family, and her future hung in the balance of God’s plan. Her response? “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as You have said.” What do you do when God wants to pour out His generous grace through your life in a way you never imagined? When His call for you to follow Him into His plans for your life drastically changes the direction and plans you’ve made?
As we begin looking into the biblical narrative leading up to the birth of Christ in Luke’s Gospel, we will meet an elderly couple who discovered that God’s generous grace can break into our unwanted circumstances, our disappointments, and even our struggles to believe His promises. Though our individual circumstances differ, God has generous gifts of grace in store for all of us as we follow Him in faith, believe His promises, and obey His will for our lives.
If our words are so powerful – if, as God says, ‘life and death are in the power of the tongue’ – then what can we do to make sure that our tongues are a source of life to other people? God also says that the tongue is impossible to tame. Well then, what are we to do?! God has the solution.
From Genesis to Revelation we discover that God is generous. He delights in pouring out His generous grace upon people who come to Him in faith to follow Him. The greatest outpouring of God’s grace happened when He sent His only Son Jesus to be our Savior from sin. Jesus set aside the riches and glories of heaven to become human and die in our place to set us free from sin.
How does cultivating a lifestyle of giving thanks affect our relationship with God and other people? How does it change us? Learn what the bible teaches us about the transforming power of gratitude.
Do the words we speak really matter all that much? Could they matter more than we realize? Is it possible that some of the rewards that God promises us in His word depend on OUR words? A very sobering thought – let’s look more closely at this.
Self-control is a supernatural result of God being in control of your life. In this podcast we will look at some biblical examples of people without self-control and of people who did have self-control. What are some areas of our lives that often reveal lack of self-control? And, what happens if we don’t develop godly self-control? Are there any warnings for us?
