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This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
This year, we are asking our church family to "Look Unto Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2. To help us as we focus our attention on Jesus, we will be teaching through the curriculum "Consider Christ" from Striving Together Publications.
Each of us, when presented with the call of Christ, goes through certain stages of our commitment to Him. This happened with all the disciples, even Peter. We start out optimistic and full of hope and then, if we’re not careful, we end up sad, apathetic, and discouraged because things didn’t turn out the way we envisioned in the beginning. Or, we begin our relationship with Christ at a full sprint, with reckless abandon, only to lose our fervency over time as we see others do the same.But this is not the way our life with Him was designed from the beginning. If you remember, we were bought with a price and no longer belong to ourselves. We are now His and His alone.Just think, in John 2:11 the disciples believed in Him but had yet to totally commit their lives to Him. Their belief and commitment to Jesus at this time was much like our commitment to Him today. We maintain our independence and call our own shots yet claim total devotion to the Lord. But that is not what He was looking for then.Nor is it what He is looking for now.In this study, we’ll look at how long it took Peter to move from part-time follower to forsaking all for the Lord. It is a gradual process of letting go of what you know and embracing the unknown by faith. And as it was with Peter then, so it is with many of us today.What Are Our Stages of Commitment to Christ?Consider the following in the life of Peter:Peter is introduced to Jesus in John 1:41-42.Peter was obviously following Jesus as he witnessed the miracle in Cana in John 2:1-11.And Peter “believed in Him” (John 2:11) but had not yet fully committed himself to the Lord.Peter, still following Jesus part-time, went with Jesus to Jerusalem and witnessed His first cleansing of the Temple in John 2:13-22.Jesus calls Peter (and the other three) to follow Him the first time (but they later returned to their old life) – Matthew 4:13 -22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 4:31a.Jesus then heals in the Synagogue in Capernaum – Mark 1:22-28, Luke 4:13b-37.Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law in Matthew 8:14-17, Mark 1:29-34, Luke 4:38-41.Jesus continues to minister throughout Galilee – Matthew 4:23-24, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 4:42-44.And then something changed in the call of Christ and Peter’s response when Peter “forsook all” to follow Jesus.Jesus later calls Peter (and the other three) to follow Him the second time (and they responded and forsook all to follow Him) – Luke 5:1-11.Where are you in the continuum of God’s call on your life? Do you know what life He is calling you to? Do you know what is standing between where you are now in your spiritual life and where He wants you to be? Are there some things you are still holding on to and have refused to give to Him?If so, you are in good company. So don’t get depressed and quit. Keep moving forward. Keep striving to be more like Him. After all, each of us is on our own journey to completeness with Christ (Col. 2:10), and no two people’s journey is the same. Be faithful. Trust completely. And God will complete what He has begun in you.To download the slides to this message, click – HERE
God Knows How to Judge! Revelation 15:5-16:21 God’s wrath is real… and reasonable The scenes in Revelation are not chronological, but they are connected: trouble sweeps the word (seven seals), God warns (seven trumpets), God punishes (seven bowls). Each scene portrays the situation now and the at the return of Christ Consider the reality of the reasonable wrath of God…
God Knows How to Judge! Revelation 15:5-16:21 God’s wrath is real… and reasonable The scenes in Revelation are not chronological, but they are connected: trouble sweeps the word (seven seals), God warns (seven trumpets), God punishes (seven bowls). Each scene portrays the situation now and the at the return of Christ Consider the reality of the reasonable wrath of God…
Where did we get the phrase “United we stand, divided we fall”? The concept is a biblical one (Mark 3:25), but the phrase was penned in 1768 by John Dickinson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. In “The Liberty Song” Dickinson expressed the magnitude of the quest for the young nation and the importance of unity and collaboration: “Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!” In today’s passage, Joshua and his officers were preparing the people to gather supplies for their quest. In a few days, they would cross the Jordan River and attempt to take possession of the Promised Land which the Lord was giving them (vv. 10–11). This involved not just one person, but everyone. In verse 11, Joshua used the second person pronoun five times. Every single person needed to be on board for this treacherous campaign. In verses 12 to 16, Joshua stresses the value of unity with those who had already received their inheritance east of the Jordan. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had no compelling reason to leave their families or risk their lives. However, they could not sit on the sidelines while their neighbors went off to battle. This was a testimony to the Jewish value of companionship. German theologian Otto Eissfeldt observed, “To Israelite thought, unity is prior to diversity, the community is prior to the individual.” The tribes’ response (vv. 16–18) demonstrated that they were loyal to Moses, faithful to one another, but more importantly, they were devoted to God. Did God need them to fight His battles? No. Were their lives more purposeful, complete, and honoring to the Lord because of their willingness to stand with their neighbors? Absolutely! >> Today we celebrate the U.S. Independence Day. We remember the courage and unity of those who fought to establish this nation. How can we promote a commitment to unity within the body of Christ? Consider how you can strengthen unity with fellow believers.
SPEAKER: PASTOR STEVE GAULTNEY
Explore that a part of salvation is to be saved into a community of believers. The text in 1 Corinthians 12 is a clear picture of the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:21 tells us, "The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” Consider that the principle of unity is Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 asks us, "For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ." We are who we are because of where we fit into the body of Christ and not something we have in ourselves. The life we live is in Christ, because of Christ, and with Christ, our Head. Consider that in the New Testament, Christians cared for one another. We belong to a much larger community and have a responsibility in Christ to love and serve for the health and welfare of the whole body. What does Christ mean for our salvation? The Son of God has come into the world to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Philippians 2: 5-9 tells us, "You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross! As a result God highly exalted him ..." Ephesians 2:6 says, ". . . he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus . . ." The meaning of the word "Christ" is "anointed". Prophets, priests, and kings were recognized by anointing. Christ is the Anointed One. Explore that Jesus is all three anointed offices, Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus fulfills all three of these offices in a unique way. In John 5:39 Jesus says, "You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me . . ." Jesus is not just the Messenger but is also the Message. We read in Isaiah 52:7, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns!" Heaven is about the experience and presence of Christ. Heaven will be the fullness of the presence of Christ. What is the kingdom of Christ? Consider that the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual reality.
How should Christians relate to those who don't believe in Christ? Consider what Jesus had to say in this sermon from Rev. Chappie Chapman