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Naaman and Elisha

BC

July 4, 2021 • Nate Hilgenkamp • 2 Kings 5:1–19, James 1:15, James 4:6

Has there ever been a time in your life when the last thing you want to do is the very thing that will make you well? As we continue our series, BC, Nate Hilgenkamp teaches us the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

-A diagnosis removes distractions.

-Throughout Scripture, sin is compared to and very like leprosy. They both start small, but they always grow and they always lead to death.

-Sadly and too often, the diagnosis of sin in our lives doesn’t remove distractions. This shouldn’t be!

-What diagnosis would be more distracting to you: leprosy or sin?

-Pride prevents a cure.

-How often do your disappointments and frustrations with God have to do with what you thought would happen not happening?

-Our missed expectations lead to our biggest disappointments.

-Make no mistake, pride will kill you. It’s far more deadly than leprosy.

-Healing requires humility.

-Submitting yourself to God’s commandments and ways when you don’t understand is often when He chooses to heal us.

-To understand why, submit and apply.

-Jesus is the cure we need. He alone. That’s it.

-Admitting your brokenness and need for Jesus is the only thing you need to get to Him. All you need is need.


MENTIONED OR RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

-Suggested Scripture Study: 2 Kings 5:1-19; James 1:15; James 4:6

-Sermon: Daniel and the Lion’s Den

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Elijah and the Gentle Whisper

August 8, 2021 • Nate Hilgenkamp • 1 Kings 19, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Psalm 34:18

Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying your absolute best but no matter what you do your efforts are in vain? Where you try your best and your best isn’t good enough? As we finish our series, BC, Nate Hilgenkamp teaches us about God’s presence in times of trouble as we study the life of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. KEY TAKEAWAYS -Oftentimes in life your greatest successes are followed by your greatest disappointments. -When life gets hard and you are tired, what do you run to? -God will give you more than you can handle. -Sometimes life is simply hard. Our trouble is not that we don’t love God and don’t have faith. It’s the reality that we currently live in a fallen world. -When God asks Elijah what he’s doing, Elijah answers about everyone else, but not himself. He focused on what everyone else isn’t doing rather than answering the Lord about what he was doing. -Our God is not simply powerful, but present. -God will be close in your discomfort. -Why do we feel closer to God in the pain? Why can we hear the whisper when life is hard but not other times? Because our lives are too busy and too loud. -We can establish disciplines of silence and solitude. Of slowing down. Disciplines of spending time with the Lord to hear Him all the time, and not just when life is hard. -God will restore your purpose. -How often are your greatest anxieties something that God has already taken care of? -You might not be getting attacked by the enemy because you are not out on mission against him…you are dwelling in a self-created cave. You are a cave dwelling Christian. -Close encounters with Jesus change everything. -You can’t have God’s power without His presence, and vice versa. He is a God of both.

Elijah and the One True God

August 1, 2021 • Scott Kedersha • Revelation 3:15–16, 1 Kings 18:16–39, Ephesians 4:29, Galatians 1:10, Matthew 6:24

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Jacob and Wrestling with God

July 25, 2021 • Drew Greenway • Genesis 28:16, Genesis 32:22—33:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, James 4:8, Psalm 34:18

Have you ever had an injury that caused you to walk with a limp? Experienced something in life that left a mark and changed you? As we continue our sermon series, BC, Drew Greenway teaches us about how wrestling with God gives us a new identity, intimacy, and humility as he examines the story of Jacob wrestling with God. KEY TAKEAWAYS -It’s through the valleys in life that we grow the most. -If you can worry about it you can pray about it. -Wrestling with God gives new identity. -It was when Jacob was finally alone that he experienced God’s presence. -We worship a God who is willing to get in the mess with us. -If your identity is in anything other than Christ, it is an idol. You are not your enneagram number, your sin struggle, or your accomplishments. -Wrestling with God gives intimacy. -Jacob’s encounter with God is the closest encounter with God in the entire Old Testament. -Have you ever felt like God was distant? -When you face hardship, you have two choices: run to God or run away from God. That’s it. -To gain intimacy with God you must give up control. -Wrestling with God gives humility. -Only in the Christian life does surrender bring victory. -God’s economy takes worldly wisdom and flips it on its head. -What does God want you to surrender? What is He asking you to relinquish control of? -Are you harboring bitterness toward someone? Are you running away from God? -God may leave you limping toward Heaven so you aren’t running toward hell. -Our wounds remind us of our identity in Christ.