Psalm 103:7 (NIV) He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.
“Jesus doesn’t simply want obedient followers; He wants intimate friends.” James 2:23(NIV) “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and hewas called God’s friend.
Mark 3:13-14 (NIV) 13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve--designating them apostles-that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.
“He chose you for nearness, and devotion follows.”
John 15:14–16 (NIV) 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Slow down, lean in, and listen up.
It all begins with him doing something in us. 1 John 4:19 (NIV) We love because he first loved us.
John 13:8-9 (NLT) 8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” 9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
Saul/David Acts 13:22 (NLT) God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’
1. A Chosen People 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
A. Chosen “He likes you, He loves you, He wants you, That’s it, that is the credential.”
B. Royal Priesthood
James 1:18 (NLT) He choseto give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.
C. Holy Nation
D. A people belonging to God.
When we realize that we belong to God 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) “…That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
2. A Chosen Purpose
Isaiah 61:3 (NIV) To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
3. A Chosen Posture 1 Peter 2:9 (AMP)God’s own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:10 (NIV) Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.
Ephesians 1:3-8 (NLT) 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Philippians 4:19(NIV) My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
John 20:1-9 (NLT) 1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
The Resurrection is reasonable. 1. Scripture. 2. Secular sources. 3. The tomb is empty.
Why is the resurrection so critical to Christianity? 1 Corinthians 15:17(NLT) If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.
“At the cross, the work was finished, and from the resurrection, new life begins."
John 11:25(NLT) “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
Encountering The Risen Christ 1. Respond to his voice (Mary) John 20:11-16 (NLT) 11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
John 6:44(NIV) No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.
Respond to His voice!
2. Reach out and touch him. (Thomas) John 20:24-27 (NLT) 24 One of the disciples, Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound on my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
Jesus went through great extents to have you.
Matthew 13:45-46 (NLT) “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!
Mark 15:20-25 (NIV) 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. 25 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
The Crucifixion
Mark 8:31-37 (NIV) 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
The Call to Follow “Deny Yourself”
Greek:” Deny: “Say no to yourself.” Disown yourself
“Pick up Your Cross” “He sees our life as worthy of a gift that He will receive.”
Self-worth is not self-centeredness.
“You are worthy of the His Cross. Is He worthy of yours?”
Put on your new self Ephesians 4:24 (NIV) Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
1. Stop trying to find yourself.
2. Give your life to him
Romans 6:4-6 (NLT) 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.
“You will never find freedom from sin until you find freedom from self.”
3. Submit your wants
The reward of “no.” Luke 22:39-46 (NLT) 39 Accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” 41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. 45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”
4. The prize is greater than the pain.
"We are the joy set before him, and He is the joy set before us."
Philippians 3:10-14 (NIV) 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. .
Matthew 27:27-31 (NLT) 27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped himand put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
Thorns:
Thorns are an ancient symbol of a curse. Genesis 3:17-18 (NIV) 17…” Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
Dysfunction
Shame
Emotional/ Mental trauma:
Galatians 3:13(NLT) But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
“Christ has broken the curse!”
Mockery:
Accusation
Humiliation
Shaming
Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV) 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Peace of Soul 1. Peace has been purchased and promised John 14:26-27 (NLT) 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
“You don’t get supernatural peace through natural means.”
2. Peace must be placed
A. By placing faith in Jesus Romans 5:1 (NLT) We have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. “To have the peace of God, you must have peace with God.”
B. By making sound decisions Romans 16:19-20 (NIV) I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
C. By renewing our mind Romans 12:2 (NIV) 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
“Worldly patterns produce worldly peace.”
Renewing our mind:
Repentance.
The Washing of the Word. (Eph 5)
Submitting our thoughts to Jesus.
Putting our past in its place.
3. Peace must be protected Philippians 4:6-9 (NLT) 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
“Peace is protected by praying and by thinking about the right things.”
4. Peace is a person “Peace has little to do with what is happening around us but more to do with who resides in us.” Ephesians 2:14 (NIV) For he himself is our peace.
Ephesians 1:3(NLT) All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we areunited with Christ.
Isaiah 53:3-6 (NLT) 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.
Ancient Flogging/Scourging
Why so much pain and suffering? Isaiah 53:5 (NLT) He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
You are worthy of healing!
False assumptions concerning healing.
1. Somebody Sinned John 9:1-7 (NIV) 1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
“Pharisees tend to prioritize preference and process over people.” “The religious will scrutinize methods, & ignore the results.”
John 9:25 (NLT) “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
2. Somebody doesn’t have enough faith.
James 5:14-15 (NLT) Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offeredin faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.
3. God doesn’t want to. (It’s not God’s will.) “We don’t build theology around unanswered prayers!”
Objections… 1. “His ways are not our ways….” 2. What about Paul’s thorn in the flesh!? (2 Cor 12 3. Doesn’t God use suffering?
Healing is available; God wants to!
Luke 5:12-13 (NLT) 12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” 13 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
Appropriating Healing 1. Believe
Don’t be passive about healing.
2. Nurture Expectation
Speak/Declare the word
Meditate on the Word.
3. Steward wholeness
4. Pray Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV) 9 “This, then, is how you should pray:” ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The Full Gospel of the Kingdom: “You can preach healing without the Gospel, but you can’t preach the full gospel without healing.”
Matthew 10:7-8 (NLT) 7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
HEaling is a mandate(Mark 16:18)
Psalm 107:19-20 (NLT) 19 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. .
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Ephesians 1:3-8 (NLT) 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
We are not worthless. We are valuable to the Father, who considers us worthy of Jesus.
Deserving vs. Worth 1. Deserving: is merit-based.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Moral Goodness 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
“We could not come to him in our righteousness, so he came to us with his!”
2. Worth: Value-based.
Worth is determined by what someone is willing to pay.
Value 1 Peter 1:18–19 (NLT) 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
“The Lamb of God.”
Hebrews 10:11–14 (NLT) 11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
Because of the Cross…. 1. Our value is revealed.
2. We belong to God. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV) 9 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
James 1:18 (NLT) He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.
3. We recognize our value, so we live with values. Ephesians 4:1 (NLT) I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
Matthew 13:45-46 (NLT) “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!
Core Values: -Presence: Every time we gather everywhere we go. -Family: We follow Jesus together -Honor: up, down, all around. -Power: God is moving today. -Generosity: Blessed to be a blessing
Four Mandates 1. Love who He sends 2. Keep the Fire burning 3. Open Wombs 4. So we do (Transform Haiti)
Ezekiel 47:1-5(NLT) 1 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2 The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway. 3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the River was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.
Depth in the Spirit. Psalm 42:7 (NIV) Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
Matthew 3:11 (NLT) “I baptize with water those who repent of their sinsand turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John’s baptism was for forgiveness.Jesus baptizes for fire.
Life In The River 1 Corinthians 2:10 (NIV) The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
1. Desire. You have to want it. Matthew 5:6 (NIV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
John 6:44 (NLT) For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me.
The draw can become a drag if we don’t give in.
2. Persistence. You have to Go after it. Luke 11:9-13 (NIV) 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
3. Continue: It’s an ongoing work. Encounters are the floor, not the ceiling. Ephesians 5:18 (NIV) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Ezekiel 47:6-9(NLT) 6 He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. 7 When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the River. 8 Then he said to me, “This River flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. 9 There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this River flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows.
The dead sea:
Its low: The Lowest point of the earth surface.
It’s salty: 5-10 times more concentrated than other salt waters.
It’s lifeless: Nothing can live there.
The River:
The low places filled.
The salty made sweet.
There is life and healing.
Ezekiel 47:12 (NLT) 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the River. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the River flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.”
Isaiah 44:3-4 (NLT) 3 For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. 4 They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
John 7:37-39(NLT) “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit
